Author: Stephen Vani
Oilers fan in Toronto. Staying up past my bedtime for Western games since the mid 2000s.
Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts
Bruce McCurdy, a long-time hockey writer for the Edmonton Journal, passed away on Tuesday night shortly after the Oilers win in Vegas. Along with the journal, he also co-hosted the Cult Of Hockey podcast with fellow Oilers writer David Staples. His son Kevin tweeted out this news yesterday. Our thoughts, prayers and well wishes go […]
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Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts
It’s my job to talk hockey, but before I do, I hope the fan who had the medical emergency at Saturday night’s game is healing okay. It happened just 1:15 into the first period, and not having a commercial break while the medical staff was working on it made it scarier for the viewers. The […]
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Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts
In 2023, I attended an Oilers game in my home city of Toronto. That is still the longest second period I’ve ever sat through, but Thursday night was pretty close. Put aside the trip to Seattle, this team has actually done a solid job at gutting it out and scoring goals without Connor McDavid or […]
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Edmonton Oilers vs. Seattle Kraken Post-Game Recap
After valiantly attempting a third period comeback against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night, the Edmonton Oilers took on the Kraken in Seattle. Calvin Pickard started the game in net, and Bakersfield callup Olivier Rodrigue took the backup role. Stuart Skinner didn’t make the trip due to a concussion he sustained after making contact with […]
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Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts
The 4th goal Edmonton allowed while the crowd sang Livin’ On A Prayer was a reversal of Evander Kane’s goal in the second round last year. Did anyone else think that, or just me? I wouldn’t call Saturday night’s win the prettiest, but given recent circumstances, it was still impressive. Hard to complain too much […]
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Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts
Darnell Nurse has had a better season than he did last year but he played his worst game of the season. He was on the ice for all the goals against, but the one in Overtime was the most egregious. It was a mistake for Kris Knoblauch in the first place to play two defensemen […]
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Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts
Tuesday night was a bittersweet win, I’ll start with the sweet side. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins appears to be back. He’s had back-to-back three point games, including a shorthanded goal. Sometimes, you just look at a player playing a good game and then suddenly remember, “Oh yeah, that guy was a first-overall pick.” Viktor Arvidsson and Vasily […]
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Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts
Team wins are magical, aren’t they? Viktor Arvidsson takes a lot of heat, his shot gets a lucky deflection, and it’s a game-winning goal. Zach Hyman was out of the lineup, Corey Perry took his spot on the powerplay,y and the old man now has 15 goals. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins hasn’t been the Nuge we know […]
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Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts
Mike Smith set up OT winners before it was cool. After the Overtime winner was scored, Leon Draisaitl was asked about Calvin Pickard’s play with the puck to set him up. He called him “a heart and soul of the team”. It’s no secret that Edmonton’s goalie tandem have struggled this season compared to last. […]
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Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts
Just when we thought there’d be no loss, it pulled us back in. Losing last night felt worse than losing the Buffalo game, if you can believe it. The Devils don’t have their #1 centerman, and they now also have their #1 defenseman out, and they played their backup goalie(who is actually good). The home […]
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