Author: Stephen Vani

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

Oilers Playoffs Preview: Round 2 – Game 1 Preview

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl scored goals in an elimination game on Saturday night, as you expect superstars to do in big moments. And yet, it’s not even their goals that were talked about. It was evident throughout the first round that the Edmonton Oilers no longer fit the one- or two-man team narrative they’ve […]

Oilers Playoffs: Round 1 – Game 6 Preview

The Oilers put on a dominant performance in Game 5 after a stellar comeback win in Game 4. The roles on both sides of the rink are reversed from last year. Edmonton went into Game 6 in LA, needing to force Game 7 back at Rogers Place. This year, after the aforementioned Games 4 and […]

Oilers Playoffs: Round 1 – Game 5 Preview

“Up and down like a toilet seat.” Monday night was the return of Ken Holland’s famous words for the first time in these Playoffs. Whatever was said in the Oilers locker room after that first period worked. Down 3-0 after 20 minutes, they started the game looking deflated. They looked like they were too afraid […]

Oilers Playoffs: Round 1 – Game 4 Preview

Even though every sports fan is slightly biased, I try not to be THAT fan. However, it is admittedly hard to preview the next playoff game without mentioning the elephant… I mean, hockey stick in the room. The Edmonton Oilers are swallowing yet another tough loss. Gabriel Vilardi’s high stick before the OT winner is […]

Oilers Playoffs: Round 1 – Game 3 Preview

I said don’t take stupid penalties; they took a couple more stupid penalties. I alluded to McDavid not having any points in Game 1, and he only gets one point out of four goals in Game 2. They needed to be better at hanging on to a lead, then blew another two goal lead, and […]

Oilers Playoffs: Round 1 – Game 2 Preview

We were 17 seconds away from going to bed earlier. Going up 1-0 in the series looked promising after the first and second periods. But there are three periods in a hockey game, and the Oilers let the third one slip away. That is seventh out of eight series openers that they have lost in […]

Oilers Playoffs: Round 1 – Game 1 Preview

Sometimes, last year’s trip to the Western Conference Finals still feels like yesterday while we wait for Round 1 to get underway. As exciting as it was, we can’t view it as the standard. Expectations for the Edmonton Oilers grew higher after that wild run. At that moment, the franchise’s Stanley Cup window finally opened. […]

This Week On Oilers Hockey: 26

Happy Easter, Oilers fans. Your holiday gift, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, is a 100 point player. The longest current Oiler, who had played through many of Edmonton’s darkest seasons since being drafted, and now part of a Stanley Cup contender after 12 NHL seasons. Turning 30 on Wednesday, he still looks like an 18-year-old going first overall […]

This Week On Oilers Hockey: 25

A week without a single loss. Kane, Draisaitl, and McDavid all reached 300 career goals. Draisaitl recorded his third 50 goal season. Back-to-back shutouts from both goalies after not having even one all season long. And the Edmonton Oilers are officially a playoff team in 2023 after Saturday night’s win. Yes, this was a very […]

This Week On Oilers Hockey: 24

Congrats to Cody Ceci for playing his 700th NHL game on Saturday night. He has notoriously been a whipping boy for the analytics community and has not played his best hockey paired with Darnell Nurse throughout most of this season. But it’s still a significant accomplishment for any player, and there’s still a lot of […]