Author: Stephen Vani

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

Oilers Game 6: Minnesota Wild

No F-bomb from the coach this time. The second game at Rogers Place was sort of like the first game at Rogers Place. The difference is the quality of shots, not just quantity, not finding the back of the net. Edmonton’s scoring chances looked more organized in this game than in their home opener, where […]

Oilers Game 5: Winnipeg Jets

Who had Jay Woodcroft dropping an F-bomb on their hockey season bingo card? A calmer, more optimistic coach had to lose his patience at some point. The sky is not falling, and there are still 78 games left to play. But for a team that said it’s “Cup or Bust,” they seem to be more […]

Oilers Game 4: Philadelphia Flyers

Oilers fans are sane again, splendid. Lose the first game by seven goals, then the next game by one goal, and win the next game by five goals. It’s just as the hockey gods intended. I didn’t realize this until the first goal was scored, but Leon Drasaitl is now Edmonton’s franchise leader in powerplay […]

Oilers Game 3: Nashville Predators

At least the second game was better than the first game. You know hockey season is back when Oilers fans lose their minds on Twitter/X. Edmonton seemed perfectly in control just a minute into the game when they’d already made it 1-0. Then momentum shifted, and Vancouver kept taking the lead back whenever the Oilers […]

Connor McDavid skating for the Edmonton Oilers

Oilers Game 2: Vancouver Canucks

If you’re an Oilers fan living in Vancouver or an Oilers fan who traveled to Vancouver and attended Wednesday night’s game, I am so terribly sorry. Every word I could use to describe Edmonton’s season opener would be an understatement. To put it politely, they just did not show up. Jack Campbell and Stuart Skinner […]

Oilers Game 1: Vancouver Canucks

We’re back. We’re finally back. It’s Christmas in October, and we can cheer and rant about hockey games again. The Edmonton Oilers season opener starts on the road against a team vastly different from them with regard to leaguewide view. In one corner, we have a team with the biggest Stanley Cup aspirations in Canada. […]

Keys To The Oilers Success In 2023-2024

Heading into Thanksgiving weekend, let’s all be thankful that NHL hockey is coming back. Every offseason feels too long, and every first week feels like Christmas in October. Much has been said about how much hungrier Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are to have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup. Last year’s second round […]

Ghosts Of Oilers Past: Nail Yakupov

After former Oilers defenseman, Sheldon Souray spilled beans on John Scott’s Dropping The Gloves podcast, inspiring an article of mine you can read here, another ex-Oiler appeared in an episode and gave his two cents on what went wrong during his time in Edmonton. Related Article: Ghosts Of Oilers Past: Sheldon Souray Nail Yakupov was […]

Ghosts Of Oilers Past: Sheldon Souray

It’s nice to sit through the last few weeks of summer, no longer worrying about Evan Bouchard re-signing. A big slapshot that every powerplay craves, right-handed, and making the league’s best man advantage even more lethal. The Edmonton Oilers have a gem in the 23-year-old defenseman. But the last time they had that kind of […]

Play It Again, Sam

An old friend is coming back to Oil Country. On Monday, the Edmonton Oilers signed forward Sam Gagner to a professional tryout. The 34-year-old, 16-year NHL veteran and former 6th overall pick of the organization has put up 317 points in 542 games for the Oilers. He played for Edmonton between the 2008 and 2014 […]