The story of Kelly Buchberger’s hockey career has some very fascinating chapters. From starting in the WHL, to being a 9th round pick of the Edmonton Oilers, to becoming one of those beloved players in franchise history. I mean, the guy started his NHL career by going from a black ace to lifting the Cup…
Kyle Brodziak skated in his first NHL game on October 15th, 2005 in Calgary against the Flames. Fourteen years later he likely played his last NHL game on March 30th, 2019. When he was a 21-year-old rookie he didn’t know he’d play another 916 games after his debut in Calgary, and when he left the…
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was on the latest edition of the 31 Thoughts: The Podcast, and had some very insightful comments on his 2018-19 season, Ken Holland and what to expect from the new regime, his ideal linemate, the Jesse Puljujarvi saga, and how his game has improved over the course of his NHL career.
Dave Tippett loves golf. Not coaching the past few seasons has allowed him to play a lot more, but he is hoping today will be his last round for a while. The Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation had their golf tournament this afternoon at the Mayfair. The weather wasn’t ideal, but Tippett was still excited to…
Two areas that must improve for the Edmonton Oilers to be in the playoff hunt in March are the penalty kill and production from the bottom six. There are other areas, but today let’s look at those two specifically, as they are connected. The majority of the penalty killing forwards, excluding Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, will come…
Glen Gulutzan ran the Oilers powerplay last season and he will be in charge of it again this year. Edmonton was ninth on the PP at 21.3%, scoring 47 goals on 222 opportunities. They were 25th in PP chances last season and over the past three years only Columbus has had fewer chances. The Oilers…
Edmonton Oilers captain, Connor McDavid, spoke to the media this morning and offered up an update on what’s going on with his injured leg and it has Twitter freaking the funk out.
Cooper Marody will turn 23 on December 20th and where he will celebrate his birthday is undetermined. He could be in his second season in Bakersfield, or he could a member of the Edmonton Oilers. Marody had an excellent rookie season with the Condors, scoring 19 goal and 64 points in 58 games. He also…
James Neal’s best asset is goal scoring. He and Bobby Orr are currently tied at 250th for the most goals in NHL history at 270. If he scores 20 goals this season he will move up to 215th all-time. Scoring goals has been his calling card for the vast majority of his career.
When an NHL team misses the playoffs in 12 of the past 13 seasons there isn’t just one person or strategy that failed. Virtually all of them did, especially when you consider only four franchises in the history of the NHL have endured such a streak of losing.
Dave Tippett played eleven seasons in the NHL, skating in 721 games which is 56th most in NHL history for an undrafted player. He was a solid checking forward, and when he was 33 years old he was out of the NHL and played one season with the Houston Aeros of the now-defunct International Hockey…
Mike Smith has played 766 pro games in his 17 year career. He played 27 in the ECHL, 132 regular season and 12 playoff AHL games and another 571 regular season and 24 playoff NHL games. He’s played in Lexington, Utah, Houston, Iowa, Norfolk, Dallas, Tampa Bay, Arizona and Calgary, and he’ll wear his 10th…
