Author: Stephen Vani

Oilers fan in Toronto. Staying up past my bedtime for Western games since the mid 2000s.

Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

Oilers fans are happy again… For now. Before I talk hockey, in case you missed it, Edmonton claimed forward Kasperi Kapanen on Tuesday before their Ottawa game started. He was placed on waivers by the St. Louis Blues. Picked 22nd overall by the Maple Leafs in 2014, he has played 470 NHL games, putting up […]

Edmonton Oilers Post-Game Thoughts

First Period Summary It was Hockey Fights Cancer night at Scotiabank Arena, both teams started with a ceremonial puck drop for a young Senators fan and cancer patient. Evan Bouchard opened the scoring with a Connor McDavid impression. He skated on a rush from his own zone and then shot the puck top shelf on […]

Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

Boy, do I have a lot to talk about or what? First of all, healing vibes for Darnell Nurse. We all hope he can heal up soon, but seeing screenshots of that hit the next day makes my head hurt. It was announced yesterday that Maple Leafs enforcer Ryan Reaves had been given a five […]

Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

Before I talk about the obvious, Darnell Nurse deserves a lot of love. A 3 point game, two of them being goals and one of those being the overtime winner on Thursday night. I even remember a shift where he blocked an attempt at the puck getting to his team’s net. He normally overcommits to […]

Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

They won, that’s all that matters. They won. Tuesday night’s game had no business going to overtime. Edmonton made it a two goal game in the third period against a team riddled with injuries, and then they just couldn’t buy a save. The first Islanders goal was a nice shot, I don’t blame Stuart Skinner […]

Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

Brett Kulak is on pace for a 21 goal season. I just thought that was a fun thing to say. The way the second period ended brought flashbacks of last year’s second round, when the Oilers had a 3-0 nothing lead in the third period of Game 7 against the Canucks and nearly blew it. […]

Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

At least the captain is back, that’s cool. Although Connor McDavid didn’t get a single point in his return on Wednesday, he did have two pretty good rush chances. In his first game back from an injury last season, he had two shots then as well, along with an assist and two blocked shots. I […]

Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

First, I’ll recap a trade that happened before Monday night’s game. The Edmonton Oilers acquired prospect defenseman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for prospect defenseman Ben Gleason. It was pretty much an AHL move, but it doesn’t hurt to have another right-handed blue liner in the system. We’ll see how it turns […]

Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

I liked that Battle of Alberta better than the first one. Leon Draisaitl has had two consecutive 3 point games. For all the talk from outside the Oilers fanbase that he can only get points on the powerplay or his stardom is only a product of Connor McDavid, he has historically performed well in the […]

Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

That was a fun Halloween night of hockey. Leon Draisaitl once again went trick-or-treating on the Predators with another productive game against them. Viktor Arvidsson and Zach Hyman finally scored their first goals of the season. Their struggles to put the puck in the net haven’t been for the lack of trying or signs of […]