Welcome to Oilersnation’s top 15 stories of the year, where we count down the most-read stories you, the reader, clicked on in 2024.
Number 14 on the list is a classic, as Cam Lewis once again came up with a brilliant April Fool’s joke for the website. This year, his ploy was that the Edmonton Oilers had agreed to a five-year contract extension with then-GM Ken Holland.
We mixed in a nice photoshop this year for it, further helping pull the wool over everyone’s eyes, even though an easter egg was giving it away, while mixing in some great fake quotes, too.
Here’s some of what Lewis wrote in the piece:
The Edmonton Oilers won’t be searching for a new general manager any time soon.
The team announced on their social media channels on Monday morning that Ken Holland has signed a five-year contract extension that’ll keep him in his role through the 2028-29 season.The Oilers hired Holland in May of 2019 after back-to-back seasons out of the playoffs. They’ve made it to the playoffs in each of Holland’s four seasons with the club and they’ll make it again this year thanks in part to a franchise record 16-game winning streak.Holland told the media after his contract extension was announced that he has “unfinished business” in Edmonton and that fans should expect a “big splash” at the trade deadline eventually.“I came to Edmonton with the goal of building a Stanley Cup Champion with the Oilers,” Holland said. “We haven’t quite reached that point yet but signing this contract will give us a few more kicks at the can. Now there should be enough time to invest in some green bananas.”Jeff Jackson, the Oilers’ CEO of Hockey Operations and Alternate Governor, noted that chatting with Holland about his time with the Detroit Red Wings is what ultimately led to this new contract.“We had some really productive meetings with the rest of the front office and the pro scouting staff throughout the season,” Jackson said. “We would be going over whether to add a goalie, to find another right-shot defender, and the conversation would just keep coming back to Detroit.”“Three Stanley Cups, four Presidents’ Trophies, 10 division championships, the list goes on and on. When you hear him talk about it, it’s really quite something.”
This one is a classic, for sure. Edmonton had a solid run through March leading up to April 1st, going 10-3-2, even though there was an argument for Holland having an underwhelming trade deadline.
It turned out his acquisitions of Adam Henrique, Sam Carrick and Troy Stecher paid off, even though the team probably gave up a little bit more than any would’ve liked to bring them to town. Henrique would score four goals and seven points in 17 playoff games, and Carrick would have one assist in 10. Stecher, meanwhile, ended up drawing in for seven regular season games, but ankle surgery kept him from any playoff action.
Top 15 articles of 2024
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist, making up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
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