Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

How many times have you all rewatched Connor McDavid’s golden goal? Wait, hold that thought. I need to rewatch it again quickly.

McDavid had to wait until the 10th season of his NHL career to play a major tournament for Team Canada and have a huge Team Canada moment. Just like Sidney Crosby at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver 15 years ago, Connor introduced a new generation of Canadian hockey fans with his international heroics at the 4 Nations Faceoff while being the current face of the sport.

I didn’t mind the two week break from writing articles, but it does feel good to be back. The Oilers get back to the regular season while 1st in their division. The Golden Knights could pass them if they win more and our team loses more. Over the last five or so years, Edmonton has always been a better team in the second half of the season, as opposed to the first half. However, I must say that I find this season to be the best first half they’ve had in a very long time. In other seasons, they may’ve started really well or decent but then went into a massive slump. Last year, in the first month and a half, they were one of the worst teams in the league and then slowly made an immense comeback in the standings. Despite a sluggish October, their 2024/2025 season has not required any 8-game or 16-game winning streaks. They’ll look to continue their momentum in the standings this afternoon. The keys to the game are…

Edmonton Oilers Thoughts

Shake It Off: Two weeks feels like a month in hockey, unless you played on one of the 4Nations rosters. For both teams, I expect a weird and rusty for first period.

Left Over Stu: Firstly, I disagree with Stuart Skinner starting in net today. No disrespect to the Philadelphia Flyers, he should just be starting against Washington tomorrow. I know his save percentage against Playoff teams is terrible, but it poses an even bigger problem if you can’t have enough trust back to play your branded #1 goalie in those games. Nevertheless, Skinner’s had 2 weeks to think about his last game before the break, where he got pulled. Is he still taking that pull to heart?

Remember your first: Oilers prospect Matthew Savoie, who they got in the Ryan McLeod trade last summer, will be making his NHL debut this afternoon. He has 37 points through 45 AHL games in his first season with Bakersfield. Let’s call this a two-week audition before the Trade Deadline to determine whether or not Stan Bowman needs to acquire a top 9 forward.