As the Edmonton Oilers approach their Christmas break, a Top 3 position in the Western Conference is within reach.
That would be a pretty nice present from Santa’s sack considering the lump of coal the Oilers delivered at the start of this season.
But how did they turn it around? By their best being their best.
That and more in this Holiday edition of…
9 Things
9. After that thrilling come-from-behind OT win over San Jose Saturday afternoon, the Oilers battle Ottawa Sunday night. Those Senators will only have had twenty-two hours of rest since their own overtime win against Vancouver. Edmonton should have the advantage. But they will need a better start.
8. Former Oiler Justin Schultz retired this week. Edmonton spoke to his agent in the off-season, but it is believed the Schultz camp was looking for something specific which did not ultimately transpire. Schultz played five seasons in Edmonton and in my opinion, was never fully appreciated by the organization or the fan base.
7. People have opinions on Evander Kane. But it is hard not to recognize the impact he has made in the community. This past week was the 3rd Annual Evander Kane Christmas Shop. It meant that over two hundred Edmonton kids got love, support, and gifts over the holidays that they otherwise may not have.
6. Meanwhile, various Oilers including Leon Draisaitl and Mattias Ekholm and their significant others visited Edmonton Ronald McDonald House. Connor Brown and Darnell Nurse also paid holiday visits to Kids Kottage. These events continue the long and proud tradition of Oilers being deeply involved in their community ever since the franchise began.
5. If an Oilers player this season has consistently flown under the radar it has been Calvin Pickard. The guy who rescued Edmonton from a goaltending meltdown last year has been solid again in the back-up role this, especially of late. His 2.37 GAA and .901 SV% are rock solid. And those three stops Saturday afternoon with the game still 2-1 Sharks helped save the Oilers bacon.
4. Former Oiler Sam Gagner will represent his country at The Spengler Cup this Christmas as a member of Team Canada. Gagner has been unable to snag a deal with an NHL club this season but has worked hard to keep in shape and still has an insatiable thirst for the game. A robust performance could change Sam’s final NHL chapter. It is impossible not to cheer for Gagner to succeed.
3. Meanwhile, two current Oilers prospects are representing Edmonton at the World Junior Hockey Championships. Defenceman Beau Akey cracked the difficult-to-make Team Canada roster. Akey was selected by the Oilers fifty-sixth overall in 2023. Meanwhile, Paul Fisher made Team USA. Edmonton acquired him from St. Louis in the summer concurrent with the double offer sheet situation. He is off to a strong start to 2024-25 with Notre Dame.
2. Speaking of Team Canada, how about Zach Hyman. Nine goals in his last eight games. If Hyman’s breaknose, er…breakneck pace continues, will Don Sweeney and Jim Nill step in? Will they admit that the decision to omit Hyman from the Four Nations Cup roster based on a pretty darn small sample size was wrong and that their selection team made a mistake? Or will they instead risk waiting to see whether leaving the fifty-goal scorer out of the mix is an error that costs them at the most critical time?
1.The Oilers are now 10-2-0 in their last twelve games. The club is truly on a roll, and that includes two resilient, come-from-behind overtime wins over the Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks. A lot of people, places and things have converged at once to help Edmonton finally reach the lofty heights that many people expected from them at the start of the season. The goaltending has solidified. The resurgent play of Darnell Nurse and Brett Kulak has bolstered a blueline many (me included) questioned. Depth scoring has helped balance the attack. And players stone cold at the start of the season have warmed up. The coaching staff have also made some critical adjustments.
But at the end of the day, as Oilers fans prepare to hang their stockings with care in hopes that Lord Stanley soon would be there…it has been Edmonton’s very best players being…well…Edmonton’s very best players. In the Oilers’ last eight games, Connor McDavid is 3-14-17 (now sixth in league scoring) and Leon Draisaitl 7-12-19 (he is second in scoring and first in the NHL in goals with twenty-four, and a leading MVP candidate).
In a hockey mad town like Edmonton where we fall all over ourselves over new D-pairings in practice that do not actually materialize in games, I sometimes wonder if we talk about McDavid and Draisaitl enough? The biggest difference makers. The 1-2 punch that no one seemingly has an answer for short of Game 7 of a Stanley Cup final.
Oilers fans can wish all they want for some new presents beneath the tree. And hey, who would not hope to unwrap and other veteran D-man or a depth center with some size and grit?
But we may not want to lose sight of the shiny toys they already have. You know…the kind that all the other kids only wished they had.
A Merry Christmas from my family and Me, and on behalf of my Cult of
Hockey Colleagues have a Happy 2025!
Newly on Bluesky @kurtleavins.bsky.social. On Twitter @KurtLeavins, Threads @kleavins, Instagram at LeavinsOnHockey, and even on Mastodon at [email protected]. This article is not AI generated.
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