EDMONTON — The first half of the year 2018 was, for the Edmonton Oilers, like so many six-month stretches that have happened before. The kind that makes a hockey fan pine for the draft and the ensuing training camp that allows everyone to turn over a brand-new leaf.
After a 103-point season in 2016–17, the Oilers stumbled — no, face-planted — out of the gate in October of 2017. They had won four straight to crawl back to .500 just prior to Christmas, and the feeling was that perhaps the ship had been righted. Edmonton could hopefully win a few more than their share and sneak into the playoffs.
From there, anything can happen, right?
Well, the Oilers would lose seven of eight games between Dec. 27 and Jan. 9, and whatever malaise that had engulfed the team prior to the Yuletide season returned with a vengeance, painting the remainder of the season as completely irrelevant.
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No matter how dark, however, there is always light that shines. Or so we’re led to believe.
So we’ve managed to come up with some Oilers highlights in amongst the most memorable moments from 2018 — not surprisingly, the majority of which happened from the June draft and onward.
1. Back-to-back 5-0 losses
That’s how Edmonton celebrated New Year’s — sandwiching Dec. 31 with losses to Winnipeg and L.A. at home by identical 5-0 scores. In the first game of 2018 the Kings scored three times on the same major penalty.
“It just sucks the life out of us,” then-coach Todd McLellan said of a league-worst PK.
2. McDavid’s five-point night
Connor McDavid had four goals and an assist in a 6-2 victory over Tampa Bay on Feb. 5.
Even the Bolts’ Chris Kunitz got into the spirit, punting one into his own net.
“You kick one in the net for him,” Kunitz said, a wry smile on his lips. “It’ll be a good story to tell one day.”
3. The seller’s market
At the February Trade Deadline the Oilers dealt Mark Letestu to Nashville for Pontus Aberg, and got just a third-round pick and prospect Joey Dudek for Pat Maroon.
“I don’t like being a seller. It feels like we’re subtracting,” GM Peter Chiarelli lamented after a middling deadline had passed. “It’s not a happy time.”
4. The salty wound
In early March, the NHL held a conference call with a player who was on his way to a Hart Trophy season. His name? (Gulp.) Taylor Hall.
“I’ve always wanted to play on a playoff team. A winning team. A successful team,” the New Jersey Devil declared. “For whatever reason, it just didn’t happen in Edmonton.”
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5. RNH moves up
On March 10, McLellan elevated Nugent-Hopkins up to McDavid’s wing, a deployment Oilers fans had been asking for ad nauseam. He delivered with a goal and an assist in a 4-1 win over Minnesota, while McDavid had 2-1-3.
He would start this season there, but under a new coach, RNH is back to being a trusty 2C in Edmonton.
6. Over and out
On the last day of the season, April 6, Henrik and Daniel Sedin played their final NHL game at Edmonton. The Oilers won in a shootout, but locally, the game will be remembered for how an Oilers fan base — one that had seen the Sedins clobber their team for over a decade — sent the honourable Swedes off with long standing ovations and a true appreciation for their greatness. It was true class on both sides.
7. Three metres of… who?
On May 1 the Oilers announced they had signed Finnish goalie Mikko Koskinen out of the KHL. He had not played in the NHL in eight seasons, and was 30 years old. Oh, and he would be paid $2.5 million and given a No-Movement Clause.
Today, Koskinen’s numbers are all top five among NHL starters, and he has stolen the No. 1 job from Cam Talbot. Who knew?
8. The firings begin
On May 25, the Oilers announced that they had fired assistant coaches Jim Johnson and Ian Herbers, and assigned Jay Woodcroft to coach the farm team in Bakersfield. This was fallout, mostly, for having the league’s worst power play in 2017-18, and the 25th-ranked penalty kill.
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9. Chia-realize
The day before the NHL draft, we spoke to Chiarelli on the phone. We talked about some trades he’d made, and how — even though we knew the reasoning behind them — they were like a triple-bogey in golf. There was no room on the scorecard for an explanation.
“By all means, the golf match isn’t over yet,” Chiarelli warned. “I understand how they look now, or at least how some of them look now.”
10. Good luck in Dallas
How the top-scoring defenceman in the entire CHL fell to No. 10 is still a mystery, but the Oilers — who seemingly didn’t catch a break all season — couldn’t get to the podium fast enough to claim London’s Evan Bouchard.
“It’s hard to acquire those guys in trades,” reasoned Chiarelli. “We figured we’d draft one.”
11. Bad luck in Brataslava
Long after all the good free agents had signed, when most team’s rosters were virtually set, the Oilers received news on Aug. 14 that defenceman Andrej Sekera had blown out an Achilles while training back home in Slovakia. This, after tearing his ACL in May of 2017.
12. No Connor honour
On Oct. 16, during a come-from-behind win at Winnipeg, McDavid set an NHL record by recording a point on every one of his team’s first nine goals of the new season. He had a four-point night, but the thrust of the new record was not flattering — that the Oilers were a one-man team.
“You know what? It’s whatever,” McDavid said of the record. “I’m not overly proud of it. I don’t think it’s a stat we should be proud of either.”
13. Trade fade
On Nov. 16, Chiarelli traded away 3C Ryan Strome for ineffective forward Ryan Spooner. In hockey circles, this trade was seen as a precursor to a bigger move. A trade that would allow the GM to say, “Well, I tried to help him….”
14. The other shoe
Sure enough, four days later — after a pair of losses — the Oilers fired Todd McLellan and hired Ken Hitchcock, the seventh Oilers head coach in 11 seasons. Under Hitchcock the Oilers won 4-2 at San Jose that night.
“I was worried,” admitted Hitchcock, “that it was past my bedtime and I wouldn’t be able to stay up. I don’t think I’ve seen a third period all year out West.”
15. Back, at last
With a 4–3 win over Detroit on Nov. 3, the Oilers raised themselves into a playoff position for the first time in 2018. While that standing didn’t last long, they would get there again by laying claim to the first wild-card spot with a 6-4 win at Colorado on Dec. 11.