Author: Stephen Vani

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

Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

They overcame the US turkey legs coming from the other side of the border. Edmonton started last night’s game playing like they’d just taken a week off. It’s normal, layoffs aren’t always kind to any team. Goals against came off of turnovers and bad line changes. A 2-0 deficit in the first period wasn’t part […]

Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

I hope you all had a nice week away from hockey. I hope any American hockey fans possibly reading this enjoyed their Thanksgiving holiday with their families. I also learned that former Oilers goalie prospect Kristian Antila, a 4th round pick (113th overall) in 1998 tragically passed away a couple of weeks ago. Condolences to […]

Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

At least the opening goal was funny. On a night where Marc-Andre Fleury moved up to third all-time in NHL games played with 1,030 and 4th in games started among goaltenders with 1,000, he allowed possibly the goofiest goal that’s ever been scored on him. Leon Draisaitl cleared the puck from his own team’s blue […]

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 […]