Will Oilers band break up of 2006 repeat in 2024?

A Connor McDavid card.

The business of hockey dealt a seemingly cruel blow to Edmonton Oilers fans in 2006.

On June 19 of that year, the Oilers took the ice for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final against the host Carolina Hurricanes at the RBC Centre. The Hurricanes prevailed in the contest 3-1 to win their first Stanley Cup.

The Oilers made the post-season finishing eighth in the NHL’s Western Conference with a 41-28-13 mark. They went on a magical run in the NHL Playoffs making the Stanley Cup final for the first time since last winning the iconic trophy back in 1990.

The run to losing Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final offered hope of a great new era for Oilers fans. The 2005-06 campaign was the first NHL season played after a lockout that wiped out the entire 2004-05 campaign.

Before the lost 2004-05 campaign, the NHL didn’t have a salary cap, and it was viewed small market teams like the Oilers would only be able to win the Stanley Cup through a miracle run where a goalie steals a number of games. That view was held even though a team like the Oilers had won the Stanley Cup five times in their history.

It was believed Stanley Cup title wins would be left for big market teams with big budgets like the Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs. Often, the Rangers and Leafs would be made fun of for their inability to buy a Stanley Cup win with an expensive roster.

A league wide salary cap leveled the playing field for small market clubs like the Oilers for the start of the 2005-06 campaign. Before the beginning of that season, the Oilers acquired all-world defenceman Chris Pronger from the St. Louis Blues. The Oilers proceeded to sign Pronger to a five-year contract worth $31.25-million US.

The Oilers also acquired star defensive centre Michael Peca in a trade with the New York Islanders before the 2005-06 campaign began.

In the era before the salary cap, the Oilers didn’t make these types of moves. When salaries in the NHL really started to escalate in the 1990s, the Oilers weren’t able to keep talented players, if they became too high priced.

When the salary cap came in after the lockout, the Oilers had new freedom to go out and build a winner. The additions of Pronger and Peca and the exciting long run in the 2006 NHL Playoffs brought out optimism for Oilers fans that their team was in for another golden age bringing back reflections of Wayne Gretzky’s and Mark Messier’s era with the club in the 1980s.

The Edmonton Journal front page from June 20, 2006.

On June 23, 2006 just four days after the Oilers lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final to the Hurricanes, Pronger requested a trade through his agent, Pat Morris, from the Edmonton franchise. Then Oilers general manager Kevin Lowe said the request was for personal reasons, while Edmonton media outlets reported that Pronger’s wife, Lauren, was not happy in Edmonton.

Oilers fans did not take that situation well. Pronger was dubbed by many as “Public Enemy No. 1” in Edmonton, and even to this day, a lot of Oilers fans don’t want to recognize he was ever a member of the team.

Pronger was dealt to the Anaheim Ducks on July 3, 2006. In that first season with the Ducks in 2006-07, Pronger joined star right-winger Teemu Selanne, head coach Randy Carlyle and general manager Brian Burke in helping the Anaheim franchise win a first Stanley Cup in team history.

At that point, Pronger became seen as the poster boy case of the NHL player that didn’t want to play in a Canadian market and looked to leverage his way to a team in the United States when his stock was up. That 2005-06 campaign was the only time Pronger played for a Canadian based team in his NHL career.

I remember dealing with a couple of Edmonton sports media colleagues during the 2006-07 campaign who described Pronger as being an asshole. I don’t know if those feelings have faded with time, but Pronger’s departure from Edmonton was a “don’t let the door hit you on the way out” scenario.

No matter what one thought of Pronger, you have to conclude looking back on video of his play in 2005-06 that he was that damn good. Standing 6-foot-6 and weighing 220 pounds, he had the skill of Ray Bourque and the toughness of Dave Manson.

When he was on the ice, Pronger controlled play when he had the puck, and he was presence whether he had the puck or not. He was in his prime, and if he was in his prime in today’s day and age, he would still be one of the top three defencemen in the NHL. Pronger was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015.

Pronger’s departure started the “Decade of Darkness” for the Oilers, who would miss the NHL Playoffs for the next 10 straight seasons.

A Leon Draisaitl hockey card.

Along with Pronger, it seemed like a mass exodus followed of players leaving from the Oilers 2005-06 roster. Peca signed as a free agent with the Maple Leafs on July 18, 2006.

By the time the 2006-07 campaign ended, the Oilers were also without all-time fan favourite and hero in left-winger Ryan Smyth. Smyth was playing through the final campaign of his contract, and the Oilers were trying to sign him to an extension before the NHL’s trade deadline.

Unable to negotiate an extension, the Oilers dealt Smyth to the Islanders on February 27, 2007 in order to not lose him for nothing as a free agent.

Looking back at the history of the 2005-2006 team, one wonders if the Oilers squad in the current day could break up as fast as that squad did. The Oilers posted a 49-27-6 mark in the recently completed 2023-24 campaign.

They went to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final falling 2-1 this past Monday to the Florida Panthers at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida. 

Supporting a team that contains superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and longtime star Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the excitement Oilers fans had for this post-season matched and maybe even exceeded the run from 2006.

The Oilers almost pulled off the reverse sweep in the Stanley Cup final. After the Panthers took the first three games of the series, the Oilers took Games 4 to 6 to force a series deciding Game 7. In their three wins, the Oilers outscored the Panthers 18-5, and Oilers fans thought the roll would continue in Game 7.

The Panthers rallied to take Game 7. McDavid claimed the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the NHL Playoffs.

With the Oilers down 2-1 with about seven minutes to play in the third period of Game 7, McDavid looked like he was going to net the equalizer. With Panthers star goalie Sergie Bobrovsky sprawled on the ice, McDavid moved the puck to an open left side of the Florida net and was about to pat the puck into the empty side of the goal.

Panthers defenceman Gustav Forsling reacted to make a critical stick check on McDavid that saw the puck drift into the left corner of the Florida zone and preserved the win for the Panthers.

A Ryan Nugent-Hopkins card.

At the moment, Draisaitl has one year remaining on his contract, and McDavid has two seasons left on his current deal. The Oilers have a number of unrestricted free agents coming up including forwards Connor Brown, Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark, Corey Perry, Warren Foegele and Sam Carrick.

Defenceman Vincent Desharnais also needs a new contract.

With his contract expiring, general manager Ken Holland and Oilers announced on Thursday they were parting ways. CEO of hockey operations Jeff Jackson assumed the role of interim general manager.

Holland, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder in 2020, is 68-years-old and won four Stanley Cups as an executive with the Detroit Red Wings. If he doesn’t retire and takes another job in hockey, odds are high that could be the last job he holds in the game due to his age.

Is Holland’s departure the first sign the band is breaking up?

Time will tell if the lasting effects of the appearance in the Stanley Cup final in 2024 is as fleeting for the Oilers as the one in 2006.

Tigers roar at NHL Entry Draft, other notes

Cayden Lindstrom (#28) take part in a goal celey in Nov. 2022.

The Medicine Hat Tigers had a banner two days at the NHL Entry Draft.

The legacy major junior franchise didn’t need any luck at the Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada, leading the WHL having four players selected in the drafts seven round that were held on Friday and Saturday. That marked the first time since 2005 the Tigers have had four players selected in the NHL Entry Draft.

That development wasn’t that much of a surprise considering the Tigers had a breakout campaign with a relatively younger roster finishing seventh overall in the WHL with a 37-23-6-3 mark. The NHL Entry Draft selections were deserved.

Tigers 18-year-old centre Cayden Lindstrom was the first player from the WHL to be taken in the draft going fourth overall in the first round to the Columbus Blue Jackets. On June 1, he was named the winner of the CHL Top Draft Prospect award.

In 32 regular season games in 2023-24 with the Tigers, Lindstrom, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 213 pounds, piled up 27 goals and 19 assists to go with a plus-12 rating in the plus-minus department. A disc herniation in his back saw his participation in the regular season come to an end on December 16, 2023.

Lindstrom returned to play in four of the Tigers five games in the 2024 WHL Playoffs recording one goal and one assist after his extend layoff where he was recovering from his injury. The best is still to come from the Chetwynd, B.C., product who has a tremendous upside.

Tigers left-winger Andrew Basha, who will turn 19-years-old in November, went in the second round and 41^st overall to his hometown Calgary Flames. Basha, who stands 6-feet and weighs 187 pounds, recorded 30 goals, 55 assists and a plus-six rating in 63 regular season games with the Tigers. He has a tonne of potential to be a hometown hero with the Flames one day.

Tigers skilled 18-year-old centre Tomas Mrsic was selected in the fourth round and 113^th overall by the St. Louis Blues. Mrsic, who stands 6-feet and weighs 170 pounds, had a solid sophomore season with the Tigers recording 23 goals, 39 assists and an even rating in 63 regular season games.

Andrew Basha was taken by the Flames in the NHL Entry Draft.

The Surrey, B.C., product will likely get to be part of potentially strong Tigers teams over the next two seasons, which will further help him make the jump to the professional ranks.

Tigers 19-year-old left-winger Hunter St. Martin was the last player from Medicine Hat to be selected in the NHL Entry Draft. The Edmonton product went in the sixth round and 193^rd overall to the recently crowned Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

St. Martin, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 175 pounds, had a breakout campaign for the Tigers in 2023-24 posting 24 goals, 28 assists and a plus-14 rating playing in all the club’s 68 regular season contests. St. Martin has all the potential to one day show the Panthers they got a gem with his late in the draft selection.

Prince Albert Raiders star right-winger Ryder Ritchie, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 177 pounds, went in the second round and 45^th overall to the Minnesota Wild. Ritchie was limited to 47 regular season games in 2023-24 after being injured on a knee-on-knee hit by Kelowna Rockets left-winger Max Graham in a Raiders 4-3 loss at home on December 15, 2023.

Ritchie, who will turn 18-years-old in August, still recorded 19 goals, 25 assists and a minus-one rating in those 47 regular season games.

Saskatoon Blades netminder Evan Gardner, who had a breakout rookie season in 2023-24, was picked in the second round and 60^th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets. In 30 appearances in the regular season with the Blades in 2023-24, Gardner posted a 21-5-2 record, a 1.91 goals against average, a .927 save percentage and four shutouts.

In the WHL Playoffs, Gardner, who is 18-years-old, played a key role in helping the Blades make it to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Championship Series, where they dropped a 3-2 decision in overtime to the eventual WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors. Gardner appeared in 15 games in the WHL Playoffs posting a 10-4 record, 2.33 goals against average, a .910 save percentage and one shutout.

Hunter St. Martin was picked by the Panthers in the NHL Entry Draft.

Gardner stands 6-feet and weighs 175 pounds, so it was nice to see he wasn’t overlooked due to the fact he wasn’t at least 6-foot-3 in height.

As expected, 18-year-old centre Macklin Celebrini went first overall to the San Jose Sharks. Celebrini played last season as a 17-year-old with the Boston University Terriers in the NCAA Division I ranks.

He had 32 goals, 32 assists and a plus-25 rating in 38 overall games with the Terriers.

Saskatoon product and skilled centre Berkly Catton was chosen in the first round and eighth overall by the Seattle Kraken. The 18-year-old has a sensational campaign in 2023-24 with the Spokane Chiefs.

Catton finished fourth in the WHL regular season scoring with 116 points coming off 54 goals and 62 assists to go with a plus 15 rating appearing in all of the Chiefs 68 games. In 140 career regular season games in the WHL, Catton has posted 78 goals and 97 assists.

He has strong potential to make the Kraken’s roster as an 18-year-old rookie.

• Right-winger Reggie Leach of the Philadelphia Flyers in 1976 and Flyers netminder Ron Hextall in 1987 both won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the NHL Playoffs. Both played on the team that lost the Stanley Cup final. The award presentation was done away from the ice surface for both players. If a player from the team that loses the Stanley Cup final is named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner in the future, they should go back to making that presentation away from the ice surface. That way you don’t get a situation like this past Monday where Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid didn’t come out to accept the award after his team fell 2-1 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final to the host Florida Panthers.
• Since the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup in 1993, Canadian based NHL teams have lost seven straight games when they’ve had the opportunity to win the Stanley Cup. The Vancouver Canucks have been part of three of those losses including one in 1994 and two in 2011. The Calgary Flames had two chances to clinch a Stanley Cup win in 2004. The Oilers dropped a pair of chances to capture the Stanley Cup with one chance coming in 2006 and the other this past Monday.
• Doesn’t it seem that with each passing day the social media line Platform-X, which is formerly known as Twitter, gets more and more toxic? It feels like any time spent on that social media line is wasted time.
• The Kelowna Rockets, who are working in partnership with the City of Kelowna, and Brandon Wheat Kings, who are working in partnership with the Keystone Centre, have declared their intentions to big on the 2026 Memorial Cup, which is the next time the WHL gets to host the CHL championship tournament. The Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL will host the Memorial Cup in 2025.
• The under-18 AAA level of the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League is an under-appreciated circuit. On Sunday at Cairns Field, the Saskatoon Diamondback and Saskatoon Cubs played a fantastic game. Trailing 4-1, the Diamondbacks scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning to pull out a 5-4 victory.
• The defending Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes (4-0) and the Saskatchewan Roughriders (3-0) are the remaining undefeated teams in the CFL. They are slated to meet on Thursday, July 25 in Montreal. One also wonders when excitement for the Roughriders hits high level heights in Saskatchewan, or if a knee injury to quarterback Trevor Harris throws cold water on a possible excitement burst.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Oilers fans should soak in Stanley Cup moment win or lose

Ice District parties bring back 2006 Whyte Avenue memories

An Oilers fan talks to a reporter on Whyte Avenue in 2006.

No matter what happens in the Stanley Cup final, Edmonton Oilers fans should soak in the moment win or lose.

You never know when a time like this will come again. Of course for the Oilers, this is their first time in the Stanley Cup final since 2006, when the fell 3-1 in a series deciding Game 7 to the Carolina Hurricanes.

After two games of this year’s Stanley Cup final, it is likely the enthusiasm from the Oilers faithful has lost some steam. The Oilers traveled to Sunrise, Florida, for the first two contests of the NHL championship series dropping a 3-0 decision on Saturday in Game 1 and a 4-1 decision in Game 2 on Monday to the Florida Panthers.

The series now shifts to Edmonton for Games 3 and 4 to be held on Thursday and Saturday respectively at Rogers Place at 6 p.m. local time on both nights. With the stellar play of Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and the frustration the Oilers are having breaking through on the scoreboard, there is a potential those two upcoming contests could be the last games of the series.

Oilers fans hang out at a pub on Whyte Avenue in 2006.

For me personally, I have for a long time been one of those that has elected to not concern myself with the makeup of the Oilers roster or getting into debates on who should be the second line centre, the third line right-winger, on the third defensive pair or other things like that. If the Oilers win or lose, I don’t treat it like it is life or death, and I’ve long ago realized the sun comes up tomorrow no matter the result of the game.

The way I treat wins and losses from the Oilers might have come from the aftermath of the 2006 run. After falling to the Hurricanes in Game 7 of that year’s Stanley Cup final, the “Decade of Darkness” started for the Oilers where they missed the post-season for 10 straight years.

With all that said, I do come away very happy when the Oilers win.

Throughout the Oilers post-season run in 2024, the most heartwarming sights for me have been seeing the video of the Ice District in downtown Edmonton on TV broadcasts. That area has also been dubbed the “Moss Pit,” named after beloved long time Oilers dressing room attendant Joey Moss who passed away at age 57 in 2020.

Oilers fans cruise Whyte Avenue in 2006.

When I see video from the Ice District, I mostly see lots of young adults out having the time of their lives. The parties look like pure fun.

The images from those videos take me back to reliving the fun that happened on Whyte Avenue during the Oilers run to falling to the Hurricanes in Game 7 of the 2006 Stanley Cup final. Back in 2006, I was at the right young adult age to be able to go out and enjoy the fun on Whyte Avenue, which was also known as “The Blue Mile.”

Living in Medicine Hat at the time, I made it to Edmonton at least on three occasions to take part in the festivities on Whyte Avenue, which was a strip filled at the time with various bars and nightclubs. 

The final trip was for the Game 7 loss, where I went to the watch party at the Oilers long time former home in the Northland Coliseum before venturing out to Whyte Avenue.

A trio of Oilers fans share a laugh on Whyte Avenue in 2006.

Back in those days, Rogers Place hadn’t been built yet, and there was not gathering epicenter by the Northlands Coliseum like the Ice District that exists now.

While the Oilers ultimately lost that night in Game 7 in 2006, the party on Whyte Avenue was still great as the people that went out wanted to hold one last celebration for the run that was. Back in 2006, it was a surprise to have the Oilers in the Stanley Cup final, because they hadn’t been to a conference final since 1992 or to the Stanley Cup final since last winning it in 1990.

I remember that party provided a chance to put a bow on how good that run was. You did get to enjoy some adult fun.

There were also some rowdy episodes that occurred on Whyte Avenue during the 2006 run, but those episodes didn’t occur on my visits there. With that noted, the Edmonton Police Service did have bigger presence along Whyte Avenue during the final game nights of the Stanley Cup final and there were some pretty rough arrests where the police were trying to make a show of force.

The Edmonton Journal from June 20, 2006.

On the final night, I saw the increased police presence, and I did witness two tough arrests. With that said, I didn’t think the police presence took away from the fun that was had on that night.

Those that went out still got to live out one great final party chapter that provided a final and lasting memory of that run.

When I see the video of the festivities out at the Ice District with the current generation of young adults, it makes me wish I was that young again. They might not know it yet, but they are making memories that they will always carry with them.

Now, it would be great to see rally back to win the Stanley Cup. Still for Oilers fans, they should try their best to enjoy the moment right now, because you never when they will get back to the Stanley Cup final again. Missing out would definitely be no fun.

Berries game night experience a blast, other notes

Ryan Olchoway sets to unload a pitch for the Berries.

The Saskatoon Berries have turned Cairns Field into the place to be during the spring and summer in “The Bridge City.”

The Berries are playing through their debut season in the Western Canadian Baseball League, and the game day experience might be one of the best you will find in minor league baseball. They have numerous promotions going on throughout the game, brought in numerous new concession options that feature items with Saskatoon Berries in them, sell a locally made beer with the team name on it that has a Saskatoon Berry taste to it and added a cool jumbo video board in the outfield next to the scoreboard.

The club’s mascot in Barry The Bear helps create a positive vibe that you can feel throughout the park. The Berries have produced the perfect spot where you can go out and enjoy quality high level baseball on a hot summer day or night.

They also have a small store at Cairns Field, where you can pick up their wonderful merchandise. They have the best merchandise you will see from any sports team anywhere.

Of course with the Berries being a first year team, the wins have been a little hard to come by. After 13 games, the Berries have posted a 5-8 record and sit fifth in the WCBL’s East Division. At the moment, they have won their last two straight.

A look at Cairns Field during a Berries home game.

They will face a big challenge in their next two games taking on the Medicine Hat Mavericks, who top the East Division with an 8-4 mark. The Mavericks have been one of the WCBL’s top five teams for most of the past 22 years. The two sides go at it on Wednesday and Thursday at Cairns Field with a 7 p.m. start time on both nights.

The management of the Saskatoon Entertainment Group, which owns the Berries as well as the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades and the NLL’s Saskatchewan Rush, made the astute move of hiring Joe Carnahan to be the Berries head coach. Carnahan had a storied playing and coaching career with the WCBL’s Swift Current 57s.

He was a played on three league championship teams with the 57s and guided them to three more league titles as head coach. Carnahan is putting the pieces in place that should allow the Berries to reach lofty heights on the field one day.

Still, the first year Berries team in the current day battles really hard. With how outstanding the game experience is at Cairns Field, Berries home games provide a great time at the park watching baseball.

• The Saskatoon Entertainment Group has a big store on the north end of Saskatoon, where people can buy Saskatoon Blades, Saskatchewan Rush and Saskatoon Berries merchandise. The store, which is called “The Fez,” is located at 105-2803 Faithful, Avenue. The store is open from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For those looking to make purchases online, the link to get to making online purchases is right here.
• On Thursday, the Saskatoon Blades traded 20-year-old left-winger Vaughn Watterodt to the Victoria Royals in exchange for 19-year-old centre Ben Riche. Watterodt, who was a Blades fan favourite, recorded eight goals, 14 assists and a plus-eight rating in the plus-minus department in 59 regular season games with the Blades in the 2023-24 campaign. Riche played 67 regular season games split between the Moose Jaw Warriors and Royals this past season recording 15 goals and 20 assists for 35 points.
• On Saturday, the Saskatchewan Roughriders opened their regular season downing the Elks in Edmonton 29-21. If Roughriders veteran starting quarterback Trevor Harris can stay healthy, they might be able to be a surprise team in the CFL this year after missing the post-season the past two years. Early on, it feels like the Roughriders are better throughout their playing roster. Rob Vanstone, who is the team’s senior journalist and historian, puts out tonnes of great stories on the team. Those stories can been found on the Roughriders website www.riderville.com.
• On Sunday, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a piece on Muriel Gieni, who has set Canadian masters record in track and field on at least 60 occasions. That story goes into Gieni’s journey through the sport and can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that was highlighted by the Saskatoon Berries first ever WCBL home game and showed the busy happenings of baseball, football, softball and track and field. That post can be found by clicking right here.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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If you knew Skinner in the WHL, it is easy to cheer for him

Stuart Skinner raises the Ed Chynoweth Cup in 2018.

“Skin-Ner.”

Inevitably, that would be something Stuart Skinner heard every time played goal in an opposing WHL rink. In suiting up for three-and-a-half seasons with the Lethbridge Hurricanes and a half campaign with the Swift Current Broncos from 2014 to 2018, someone in an opposing rink would inevitably get up and bellow out “Skin-Ner” is his or her best imitation of Simpsons character superintendent Gary Chalmers.

During the 2018 WHL Playoffs as Skinner was backstopping the Broncos to a WHL championship win, he was asked about that heckle. The star netminder, who was 19-years-old at the time, took that noise with some amusement.

“I’ve been around it for four years,” said Skinner at that time. “I hear it every place I go.

“I like it. I think it gives more energy and kind of gets me pumped up.”

These days Skinner, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 230 pounds, is a 25-year-old professional goaltender who has played last season and the current campaign full time in the NHL for his hometown Edmonton Oilers. He has backstopped the Oilers to their first appearance in the Stanley final since 2006.

The Oilers currently trail the best-of-seven Stanley Cup final series 1-0 to the Florida Panthers. Game 2 is set for Monday in Sunrise, Florida (6 p.m. Saskatchewan time, Sportsnet West).

Back in his WHL days, Skinner was good natured and had a good youthful energy to him. It felt like nothing ever got to him, and he had a lot of fun handling the big moments. In 207 career regular season contests played between the Hurricanes and Broncos, Skinner posted a 104-72-15 record, a 3.22 goals against average, a .908 save percentage and 12 shutouts.

It seemed like he was made for the big moments. He was also made for fun moments too like on March 18, 2016, when he scored an empty-net goal for the Hurricanes in a 9-3 home ice victory over their biggest rivals the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Stuart Skinner dives on a puck for the Hurricanes in 2017.

The packed crowd of 5,320 spectators at the Enmax Centre broke into a thunderous ovation as Skinner made sure to do the goal scorer’s flyby of his team’s bench. At that point in time, not too many people saw someone do a goal scorer’s flyby dressing in full goalie gear.

Skinner was a key reason the Hurricanes went on a long playoff run in 2017 and the Broncos captured the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions in 2018.

In the 2017 WHL Playoffs, Skinner backstopped the Hurricanes to the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series for the first time in nine years. They fell in the conference title series in six games to the Regina Pats.

During the 20 contests the Hurricanes played in the post-season, Skinner posted a 10-10 record, a 3.09 goals against average and a .916 save percentage.

On January 9, 2018, Skinner was dealt to the Broncos in a blockbuster deal as Swift Current was loading up for a potential long run through the post-season. 

With Skinner holding the fort in goal, the Broncos won their first WHL championship since 1993. In 26 games in the WHL Playoffs, Skinner posted a 16-10 record, a 2.20 goals against average, a .932 save percentage and six shutouts.

Skinner’s sixth shutout was a 31-save beauty as the Broncos claimed the WHL Championship Series win a 3-0 win over the Everett Silvertops in Game 6 before a sellout crowd of 2,890 spectators at the then Innovations Credit Union i-Plex in Swift Current.

At the Memorial Cup tournament that was hosted in 2018 in Regina, the Broncos were playing on fumes at the event that crowns a CHL champion. They were trying, but it was noticeable the battles they went through in the WHL post-season took their toll.

Stuart Skinner (#74) got the Hurricanes to a conference final in 2017.

While the Broncos lost all three of their games at that event, Skinner posted a .902 save percentage. In a round robin clash against the OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs, Skinner made 54 saves trying to steal a game the Broncos would ultimate lose 2-1.

In the professional ranks, Skinner would face a whole different challenge. 

He was selected by the Oilers in the third round and 78^th overall by the Oilers in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. The Oilers signed him to three-year NHL entry-level contract on May 14, 2018.

Skinner spent his first two seasons as a professional playing in the Oilers minor league system. He made his first NHL start in the 2020-21 campaign, and played 13 games for the Oilers in the 2021-22 campaign before becoming a full time member of the team in 2022-23.

He has put up some good numbers so far in his NHL career. In 123 career regular season games with the Oilers, Skinner has posted a 72-36-10 record, a 2.69 goals against average, a .909 save percentage and four shutouts.

If you know someone who plays in the NHL for a Canadian team, it is advised to not look at the Platform-X social media line. That goes double if the person you know is a goalie for his hometown Canadian team.

While Skinner was a finalist last year for the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year, it seems like some of the Oilers supporters in the social media world expect Skinner to be Patrick Roy right now. When struggles have come Skinner’s way, some Oilers fans will basically post their team would be better off with anyone else in goal.

Stuart Skinner helped bring a WHL title to Swift Current in 2018.

In the WHL, those who play for their hometown teams are viewed that much bigger of being a hero when they succeed in good times and take seemingly twice the harder criticism in the bad times. Those extremes are seen in a larger way at the NHL level.

The Oilers dropped Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final 3-0 on Saturday in Florida despite holding a 32-18 edge in shots on goal. 

Skinner stopped 15-of-17 shots sent his way. He had no chance on the two goals the Panthers scored on him, and the Florida side sealed the win with an empty-net tally.

Still, you are going to hear voices about how Panthers star netminder Sergei Bobrovsky is going to put Skinner in his back pocket in this series. Bobrovsky was sensational making 32 saves for the shutout in Game 1, where the Oilers likely would have had seven or eight goals on any other netminder.

For those that knew Skinner during his WHL days, the soft spot in the heart for him is always there. If the Oilers ultimately don’t win this series, you hope the there won’t be an effort by some fans in Edmonton to run him out of town.

If that materializes, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Vegas Golden Knights and their brilliant general manager Kelly McCrimmon swoop in to pick him up.

Right now, it would be preferable if the storybook situation plays out here. 

Stuart Skinner will try to add a Stanley Cup win to his resume.

That would see the Oilers become the first Canadian based team to win the Stanley Cup since the 1993 victory by Roy and the Montreal Canadiens, and Skinner materializes as the ultimate hometown hero in the Alberta capital city along the way.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Lightning are the team to beat in the NHL

Expect Stanley Cup to reside in Tampa Bay once again

A Victor Hedman card.

All players and staffers with the Tampa Bay Lightning can do the Ric Flair strut followed by the trademark, “Woo!”

Of course, the Lightning players and staffers handle things in more of a classic humble manner traditionally expected winners in professional hockey that is without bravado and swagger. Flair does attend Lightning games, so maybe that is the team’s way of bringing in bravado and swagger.

Still when it comes to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, to be the team you have to beat the team.

As the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, the Lightning are the team. It feels like it is going to take a supernatural effort to pry the Stanley Cup away from Tampa Bay’s grasp.

On Wednesday, the best-of-seven Stanley Cup final starts in Denver, Colorado, with Game 1 (6 p.m., CBC). The host Colorado Avalanche, who finished second overall in NHL’s regular season standings with a 56-19-7 record, face the Lightning, who finished eighth overall with a solid 51-23-8 mark.

The Avalanche won the NHL’s Western Conference title, and they are the team on the rise that has seemingly arrived.

The Lightning won the NHL’s Eastern Conference crown, and they are chasing history as the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.

A Steven Stamkos card.

Tampa Bay is trying to win the Stanley Cup for a third consecutive year, which is something that hasn’t happened since the New York Islanders won the Stanley Cup four straight years from 1980 to 1983. Those storied Islanders squads were going for a fifth straight title before grudgingly giving way to the revered Edmonton Oilers in 1984 and the start of their dynasty run.

The Lightning are still in their prime. They have a dependable core of players who are used to willing their club to victory in Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov, Alex Killorn, Brayden Point, Ondrej Palat, Anthony Cirelli, Mikhail Sergachev, Patrick Maroon, Ryan McDouagh and Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Through three rounds of the playoffs, the Lightning made seemingly all the extra effort plays when it comes to blocking shots or winning one-on-one battles for the puck. Those extra effort plays are added in addition to the fact they play the game on a systems front seamlessly and often flawlessly.

On top of that, the Lightning have gotten Hockey Hall of Fame level goaltending from Vasilevskiy.

Teams that get all those things inevitably win Stanley Cups.

In the Lightning’s case, the fact they’ve won the last two Stanley Cup titles, and they go all out in the shot blocking department and winning one-on-one puck battles can create “shock and awe” doubt in opponents.

An Andrei Vasilevskiy card.

When opponents see the effort the Lightning still put out after having won the Stanley Cup in each of the past two years, opposing teams have to question themselves in where they are in the “how bad do you want it” department.

You begin to see why the Lightning are the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions and the other 31 teams in the NHL are not.

Veteran Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois and long time head coach Jon Cooper have built a team for sustained success and not to be a one-year wonder club.

If the Lightning knock off the Avalanche to win a third straight Stanley Cup, BriseBois and Cooper have to be locks for the Hockey Hall of Fame.

If the Lightning capture a third straight Stanley Cup title, the debate begins on which players from their team will be locks for the Hockey Hall of Fame. Stamkos, Hedman and Vasilevskiy have to be the non-debatable locks for the Hockey Hall of Fame, if the Lightning win a third straight Stanley Cup.

Had Stamkos, Hedman and Vasilevskiy played on a NHL Canadian team their entire careers, they would be talked about like hockey royalty.

Put it this way, Avalanche 23-year-old star Cale Makar has been mentioned quite a bit among Canadian mainstream media as the best all-around defenceman in the NHL. The graduate of the junior A Alberta-based powerhouse Brooks Bandits is deserving of big praise.

A Nikita Kucherov card.

The best all-around defenceman praise came after the Avalanche swept away Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Championship Series.

However, it can be argued the 31-year-old Hedman is a better all-around defenceman than Makar. To be honest, Hedman might be the best all-around defenceman in the NHL.

With Hedman playing his entire NHL career dating back to his first season in 2009-10 with the Lightning, he hasn’t received much attention from Canadian mainstream media outlets until the Lightning reach the Stanley Cup final.

When the Lightning play in the Stanley Cup Final, an acknowledgement is made of, “Wow! I didn’t realize Victor Hedman was that good.”

Actually had Hedman played his entire career for the Toronto Maple Leafs, you could almost see Toronto media outlets making the case that Hedman was the greatest defenceman to ever play in the NHL.

That leads to another intangible the Lightning have. They don’t get phased when things go south for a game or adversity rises up.

Back in the first round of the current NHL Playoffs, the Lightning lost Game 1 of their best-of-seven series to the Maple Leafs 5-0 in Toronto. There was talk that the Lightning were finished and the Maple Leafs would be Stanley Cup champions.

An Alex Killorn card.

The Lightning seemingly had the collective confidence and calm knowing that was only one game and the Stanley Cup is not won in the first game of an opening round series. The Lightning took out the Maple Leafs in seven games claiming Game 6 by a 4-3 score in overtime in Tampa Bay and prevailing 2-1 in Game 7 in Toronto.

During the Game 7 win over the Maple Leafs, the Lightning lost Point to a lower-body injury. Without their high-scoring centre, who plays a strong two-way game, the Lightning swept the Florida Panthers, who finished first overall in the NHL regular season standings with a 58-18-6 record, in a second round series and took out the New York Rangers in six games in the Eastern Conference Championship Series.

In Game 1 against the Rangers in New York, the Lightning fell 6-2. The Rangers followed up by posting a 3-2 victory in Game 2 to take a 2-0 lead in the series to once again start banter that the Lightning were dead.

Four straight wins later by Tampa Bay, and the Rangers were making plans for which golf courses they would hit in the off-season. 

After the Lightning took Game 5 in New York by a 3-1 score, numerous Rangers fans were waving white flags on social media channels.

Regarding Point, the Lightning say they expect him to return to action in the Stanley Cup final.

A Brayden Point card.

The Avalanche will provide a stiff challenge to the Lightning. With players like Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Andre Burakovsky, Gabriel Landeskog, Devon Toews, Valeri Nichushkin, Erik Johnson, Josh Manson, Darren Helm, Pavel Francouz and Darcy Kuemper, maybe the Avalanche will be the answer to the Lightning like the Oilers were to the Islanders back in 1984. If the injured Nazem Kadri makes it back, the Avalanche will be even more of a challenge to deal with.

In this round between the Lightning and Avalanche, it feels like experience is going to matter, and it will play out like the 1983 Stanley Cup final where the Islanders swept the Oilers providing a big learning experience for the Edmonton side.

If the Lightning did sweep the Avalanche, that would be a surprise. At the moment, the Lightning are the two-time defending champs, and it is hard to envision them getting knocked off. They are far from being old and done.

The Lightning will be the favourites to win the Stanley Cup until someone indeed knocks them off. Look out Avalanche, because the champs are here.

Oilers playoff run was fun entertainment, other notes

A Connor McDavid card.

For the casual hockey fan, nothing beat the Edmonton Oilers running it back to the fire wagon days of the 1980s in the NHL Playoffs.

The Oilers finished 11^th overall in the NHL’s regular season standings with a 49-27-6 record, and in the post-season, they attempted to emulate their all-time great clubs from the 1980s by piling up the goals. They went on a run that saw them make the Western Conference Championship Series for the first time since 2006, when the Oilers advanced to the Stanley Cup final and fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games.

Edmonton’s venture through the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs came to an end on June 6 with a 6-5 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche that was highly entertaining. While the Avalanche to the Western Conference Championship Series in a sweep, the Oilers legitimately could have won Games 1, 3 or 4 of the series.

The Oilers run had lots of nostalgia points too.

With the Oilers being blessed with two of hockey’s best players in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, it was easy to follow the team’s exploits. In 16 post-season games, McDavid piled up 33 points coming off 10 goals and 23 assists to go with a plus-15 rating in the plus-minus department.

Draisaitl also appeared in all of the Oilers 16 post-season outings piling up 32 points coming off seven goals and 25 assists to go with a plus-four rating.

That allowed fans to dream back to the 1980s, when Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and company were putting up insane offensive numbers for the Oilers.

The Oilers took out the Los Angeles Kings in a first round series that went the distance to seven games, where the Oilers took the deciding contest 2-0. That brought memories of the playoff encounters the two sides had in the 1980s and early 1990s.

In the second round, we had Battle of Alberta for the first time since 1991 between the Oilers and Calgary Flames. The Oilers took the series in five games with storylines jumping around all over the place as much as the offence.

The rivalry had a bit of snark in it too. The Flames took the first game in Calgary 9-6, before the Oilers rolled off four straight wins. Edmonton’s victories in Games 2 and 4 of the series came by respective 5-3 final scores.

The Oilers clinched the series with a 5-4 win in Game 5 in overtime with Draisaitl setting up McDavid for the winner.

A lot of nostalgia surfaced during that series between the Oilers and Flames as fans recalled their playoff meetings in 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988 and 1991.

A Leon Draisaitl card.

In the Western Conference Championship Series, the Oilers weren’t able to outgun an Avalanche team that also has lots of offensive talent in Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Nazem Kadri.

The series began with an 8-6 victory by the Avalanche in Game 1 in Denver before Colorado closed things out with their 6-5 overtime win in Game 4.

The post-season run seemed to take heat off Oilers standout general manager Ken Holland, who faced criticism because his Oilers teams hadn’t made a long playoff run like his old Detroit Red Wings teams used to do including four Stanley Cup title wins.

Midway through the 2021-22 campaign, the Oilers made a coaching change, which seemed to spark their run to making the playoffs. Dave Tippett was out as head coach and Jim Playfair was out as associate coach, and Jay Woodcroft was in as head coach and Dave Manson became an assistant coach.

Obviously, Woodcroft and Manson have done enough that they need to be retained.

The Oilers need to get a little bit better on defence and find a way to improve their goaltending situation. In goal, the Oilers got all they could get from 40-year-old Mike Smith, but he had way too many shaky and error prone moments.

The Oilers other goaltender in Mikko Koskinen signed a two-year contract with play with Switzerland’s Hockey Club Lugano on Monday.

Edmonton has to decide if 23-year-old local product Stuart Skinner, who was a WHL star with the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Swift Current Broncos, is their goaltender of the present or do they have to acquire another puck stopper.

Unfortunately across the NHL, there aren’t many goalies to go after that would be an upgrade and are sure things. Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers aren’t going anywhere any time soon.

Sure thing upgrades are left to desperate measures like sending five first round draft selections to the Winnipeg Jets for Connor Hellebuyck.

Despite what the Oilers need to do to more forward, it was refreshing to see them make a long playoff run once again.

• On Monday, Sage Watson, who is a star 400-metre hurdler on Canada’s National Women’s Track and Field Team, announced she is taking the upcoming season off to allow her body to recover from various lingering injuries. The 27-year-old from Seven Persons, Alberta, which is just southwest of Medicine Hat, has represented Canada at the last two Summer Olympics.
• On Monday, the Saskatoon Blades announced they signed 15-year-old forward Hudson Kibblewhite to a WHL Standard Player Agreement. The Blades selected the Vernon, B.C., product in the second round and 35^th overall in the WHL Prospects Draft held this past May 19. Last season with Rink Hockey Academy Kelowna’s under-15 prep team, Kibblewhite piled up 61 points coming off 19 goals and 42 assists.
• On Monday, Softball Canada announced 19-year-old right-handed pitcher Jorde Chartrand, who is from Weyburn, Sask., was one of 20 athletes named to the Women’s National Team roster for the organization’s 2022 Celebration Tour and the Canada Cup International Softball Championship, which runs June 20-26 in Surrey, B.C. The Celebration Tour helps commemorate the bronze medal win by Canada’s women’s team at the 2020 Olympics, which were actually held last year in Tokyo, Japan. The tour includes a stop at Bob Van Impe Stadium on July 1 for a doubleheader against Czechia starting at 1 p.m. Chartrand, who has played and trained in Saskatoon, is coming off her first season playing for the University of Central Arkansas Bears women’s team in the NCAA Division I ranks.
• On Monday in Madison, Wisconsin, Canada downed the United States 3-2 in the gold medal game of the International Ice Hockey Federation’s Women’s World Championship tournament. Canada built a 3-0 lead and held on for the one-goal win at the LaBahn Arena. Ava Murphy had a goal and an assist for Canada, while Jocelyn Amos scored the winner. Mari Pietersen made 29 saves to pick up the win in goal for Canada.
• A hidden gem in Saskatchewan might be the action in the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League. The play at all levels in that league is strong. The action in the under-18 AAA division is stellar. On Wednesday in the under-18 AAA division, the Saskatoon Cubs (10-2) will face the Saskatoon Diamondbacks (8-4) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Cairns Field in what should be a really good game. If you want to check out a contest from a curiosity standpoint, that would be a great contest to check out.
• Last Thursday, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a feature story on track and field stars Michelle Harrison and Nicole Ostertag taking on busy outdoor seasons. The piece on Harrison and Ostertag can be found by clicking right here. I also created a new photo roundup that can be found by clicking right here.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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NHL’s Battle of Alberta is great sports entertainment

Oilers, Flames run it back in “old school” series

Hockey cards of Connor McDavid and Matthew Tkachuk.

After two games of the Battle of Alberta, we’ve learned Connor McDavid can skate on water and Matthew Tkachuk is working his way to sainthood.

On the ice, McDavid, who is the captain of the Edmonton Oilers, seemingly has the ability to turn water into wine filling highlight reels with the two goals and four assists he has collected in two outings. Tkachuk, who is the high-scoring agitator of the Calgary Flames, showed he does have a heart of gold during a hat trick performance offering to give Oilers pest Evander Kane a few bucks after hearing Kane might be having some money problems.

In an era of sports where rivalries are really lackluster and just rivalries in name only, the Oilers and Flames are seemingly turning back the clock to the 1980s with their best-of-seven NHL Western Conference semifinal series.

Over the first two games of the set at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, the Oilers and Flames have done their best to shoot out the lights on the scoreboard. The Flames took a wild Game 1 on Wednesday by a 9-6 final and the Oilers rebounded with 5-3 come-from-behind victory in Game 2 on Friday.

The two sides combined for 23 goals and were one tally shy of equaling the NHL record for most combined goals in the first two games of a playoff series at 24 set in the 1981 post-season by the Boston Bruins and Minnesota North Stars in a first round tilt.

There have been four other post-season series that have opened with a combined 23 goals in the first two games, and all of those sets were played in the 1980s with Wayne Gretzky’s high-octane Oilers being involved in three of those series.

There have been hard hits, scrums, heated exchanges and one-on-one personal rivalries are developing right before the eyes of all onlookers.

With Oilers and Flames meeting in the NHL post-season for the first time since 1991, fans of both teams were hoping to get a rivalry series that lived up to the five playoff encounters the teams had between 1983 and 1991, but there was probably a guarded expectation of realism that likely wouldn’t happen. To the surprise of supporters of both teams, the Oilers and Flames are giving them a Christmas gift in May.

Game 1 of the series has the feeling of chaos. The Flames built a 6-2 advantage only for the Oilers to even the score a 6-6 early in the third period.

A Johnny Gaudreau card.

Calgary closed things out scoring the final three goals of that contest, which included Tkachuk scoring his team’s eighth and ninth tallies to complete a hat trick night. Flames star left-winger Johnny Gaudreau had three assists in the win as well.

On top of the goals, Game 1 of the series had so many side plots happening you could miss something with a blink of an eye.

One of those included Tkachuk trying to get under Kane’s skin regarding reported money troubles the Oilers’ left-winger was facing. In January of 2021, Kane filed for bankruptcy after accruing more that US$26-million in debt.

In Game 2, the Flames took a 3-1 lead early in the second before the Oilers closed the contest scoring four straight goals. McDavid had a goal and an assist, while his high-scoring partner in centre Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists.

Like McDavid, Draisaitl has two goals and four assists after the first two games of this series.

In the Game 2 win, the Oilers received a key goal by veteran defenceman Duncan Keith and timely singles from defenceman Evan Bouchard and left-winger Zach Hyman.

As far as personal battles go, Tkachuk is having his aforementioned clash with Kane. Power forwards Zack Kassian of the Oilers and Milan Lucic of the Flames appear to like crossing paths and exchanging pleasantries.

Lucic played for the Oilers before being traded to the Flames before the start of the 2019-20 campaign.

Kane also appeared to have his with issues Lucic too. Near the end of the first period of Game 1, Lucic laid a massive hit on McDavid, and Kane immediately skated in to confront the Flames aggressor.

Overall, this series has been the overall tonic needed to pull in the casual fans. Even here in Saskatoon, the Oilers and Flames jerseys are seemingly popping up everywhere as closet fans continue to emerge.

Often those fans will be sporting jerseys that done of the names of Oilers and Flames players from years gone by.

So far, the Oilers and Flames are delivering great “sports entertainment,” and their games have become must watch television. Concerns for normal strategies and tactics of the game have been thrown out the window.

Instead, we are getting jokes from Flames fans about how difficult it is for Oilers fans to count to nine with regards to Calgary goals scored in Game 1, and Oilers fans joking back they are surprised Flames fans can count past one referencing how many Stanley Cups the Calgary side has won. The Oilers have won the Stanley Cup on five different occasions.

A Leon Draisaitl card.

Now the series shifts to Rogers Place in Edmonton for Game 3 on Sunday, which will on CBC at 6 p.m. Saskatchewan time.

Even people that don’t cheer for either team are going to be tuning in to see what happens next.

In the current day, the Oilers and Flames are showing sports rivalries can still be fun and colourful. That is important to remember, because too many people involved with professional sports forget that pro sports are a part of the entertainment industry.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Oilers hit under the radar homer naming Manson AC

Prince Albert hero had major impact on Raiders’ bench

Dave Manson works the Raiders bench in February 2016.

For the first time in about 20 years, Dave Manson is back in the big league.

On Thursday, the 55-year-old was named an assistant coach with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. He was promoted from his assistant coach position from the Oilers AHL affiliate in the Bakersfield Condors.

When the Oilers host the New York Islanders at Rogers Place on Friday, Manson will be behind an NHL bench for the first time since he played defence with the Toronto Maple Leafs way back in the 2001-02 campaign.

In NHL circles, Manson is remembered as a solid defensive defenceman that played in two NHL all-star games and was one of the toughest to ever lace up the skates on the circuit. From 1986 to 2002, Manson played 1,103 career regular season games collecting 102 goals, 288 assists and 2,792 penalty minutes with the Chicago Blackhawks, Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, Phoenix Coyotes, Montreal Canadiens, Dallas Stars and Maple Leafs.

Of course, Manson became an assistant coach with the Oilers after they made some major changes in their coaching ranks.

On Thursday, the Oilers fired head coach Dave Tippett and associate coach Jim Playfair.

That opened the door for the Oilers to promote Condors head coach in 45-year-old Jay Woodcroft to Oilers head coach and Manson to the role of assistant coach.

The promotion of Manson to assistant coach was an under the radar move that was overshadowed by what happened at the head coach position. It might be the best move the Oilers ever made in recent years.

Following the end of his NHL playing days, Manson and his wife Lana settled back in their hometown stomping grounds in the Prince Albert area with their four children. Oldest son Josh, oldest daughter Meagan and twins in son Ben and daughter Emma grew up in a stable environment playing sports of all sorts in one community area.

Josh is currently a veteran defenceman with the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks.

Dave and Lana wanted to make sure their kids weren’t being constantly uprooted, which happens a lot in the pro sports environment.

In Prince Albert, Dave Manson is a forever hero cemented by his playing days with the WHL’s Raiders. His time with the Raiders started by being called up for six games in the 1982-83 campaign.

Manson followed that call up by playing three full seasons with the Raiders.

Dave Manson delivers instructions on the Raiders bench in 2015.

In total, Manson played 218 regular season games for the Raiders between 1982 and 1986 recording 24 goals, 72 assists and 666 penalty minutes. 

After the franchise’s third season in the major junior ranks, Manson helped the Raiders win a WHL championship and junior hockey’s ultimate prize in the Memorial Cup as CHL champions in 1985.

His #4 was retired by the Raiders and hangs in the rafters of the legendary Art Hauser Centre next to the #9 of Mike Modano.

After settling back in the Prince Albert are following his NHL playing days, Manson rejoined the Raiders as an assistant coach part way through the 2002-03 campaign. He left the Raiders briefly to be an assistant coach with the Prince Albert Mintos under-18 AAA team for two full seasons from 2009 to 2011.

Manson rejoined the Raiders as an assistant coach in 2011 and took on the role of associate coach before the 2012-13 season. He remained with the Raiders to the end of the 2017-18 campaign.

With Josh, Meagan, Ben and Emma all having graduated high school, Dave Manson joined the Condors as an assistant coach for the start of the 2018-19 season.

During his time as a Raiders coach, Manson was a big influence in helping the Raiders players with their games on the ice and their personal lives. 

Those that have played under Manson are pretty unanimous in agreeing he was one of their favourite coaches.

His knowledge for playing the defence position in hockey is vast and impressive. Manson is able to give defencemen all sorts of little tips that help them make big strides in improving their games.

While he wasn’t on the Raiders staff when they won the WHL championship in the 2018-19 campaign, Manson played a major role in helping shape veteran defencemen in captain Brayden Pachal, Zack Hayes, Jeremy Masella, Max Martin and Sergei Sapago into the standouts they were that season.

Kaiden Guhle had a head start on being a solid 16-year-old rookie defenceman in 2018-19 thanks to being called up for eight games in and working with Manson in the 2017-18 campaign.

All the Oilers have to do is let Manson do his thing and even the defencemen they have now will get a lot better.

 At the moment, the Oilers sport a 23-18-3 record and sit six points behind the 23-16-9 Ducks for the final wildcard berth in the NHL’s Western Conference. The Oilers have four games in hand on the Ducks.

Dave Manson addresses the Raiders during a timeout in 2018.

It is easy to find media criticism and tonnes of negative social media fodder on the Oilers, who went 16-5 over their first 21 games and have posted a 7-13-3 mark over their last 23 contests.

Many have said the Oilers are wasting the talents of superstar centres Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Draisaitl is also an alumnus of the WHL’s Raiders.

Manson’s promotion to assistant coach won’t be the one thing that cures all that ails the Oilers. His arrival is one piece of the puzzle that needs fixing.

Still, the Oilers will be better off having Manson behind the bench than they were when he wasn’t there.

Super Bowl team stories easy to follow, other notes

It should be easy to engage the casual fan in this year’s Super Bowl.

Super Bowl LVI set for Sunday in Los Angeles when the host Rams take on the Cincinnati Bengals. It is a contest that features a team that has everything to lose against a team that has everything to gain.

The Rams are the team that has everything to lose. They pushed all their chips to the centre of the table to win right now with the Super Bowl being held in their home park of SoFi Stadium.

During the off-season leading up to the 2021 campaign, the Rams acquired star quarterback Matthew Stafford in a trade from the woeful Detroit Lions in exchange for standout signal caller Jared Goff, a third-round selection in the 2021 NFL Draft, a first round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft and a first round choice in the 2022 NFL Draft.

The Rams had selected Goff first overall in the 2016 NFL Draft. Goff guided them to the Super Bowl following the 2018 season.

On February 3, 2019, the Goff led Rams fell 13-3 in Super Bowl LIII to the Tom Brady led New England Patriots in Atlanta, Georgia.

After not returning to the Super Bowl following the 2019 and 2020 campaigns, Rams management believed they had a better chance of going all the way if they acquired Stafford, who had a stronger arm than Goff.

The Lions selected Stafford first overall in the 2009 NFL Draft. He played 12 seasons for the Lions making them look more respectable than they should have qualifying for the post-season three times.

Stafford put up passing numbers with the Lions that alone should get him elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He also took a physical beating with the Lions, who never had the supporting cast to help him win an NFL title.

The Rams acquired Stafford with the promise that they now had the quarterback that could take them to the Promised Land.

If the Rams don’t win the Super Bowl, they will be heaped with piles of criticism. It is remarkable the Rams posted a 12-5 regular season record to win the NFC West Division title despite facing huge pressure week after week.

Anytime they lost, the team was written off as being finished.

Even during the Rams three playoff wins to get to the Super Bowl, it seemed like the vultures were circling overhead waiting the pounce and proclaim the team as being a crappy organization.

If the Rams win the Super Bowl at home, the critics will become bandwagon jumpers and talk about how they believed in that team all along that they could accomplish a glorious championship season. In the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, the Rams and their critics are enjoying a honeymoon state, but that can all changed with a loss in the Super Bowl.

The Bengals are the team with nothing to lose and everything to gain.

They reached the Super Bowl with a number of people asking the question, “How did you guys get here?”

Entering the 2021 campaign, the Bengals hadn’t won a playoff game since early January of 1991 and hadn’t made the post-season since the 2015 campaign.

The Bengals enjoyed a Cinderella season in 2021 posting a 10-7 record to win the AFC North Division title. They proceeded to win three exciting playoff games to make an unexpected Super Bowl appearance.

Cincinnati is led by second year quarterback Joe Burrow, who might be the signal caller with the most swagger since Joe Namath was the quarterback of the New York Jets in the 1960s and 1970s.

The Bengals selected Burrow first overall in the 2020 NFL Draft after he piled up all sorts of Godly statistics leading the Louisiana State University Tigers football team to an NCAA championship in 2019 as the Heisman Trophy winner.

Burrow was injured in the Bengals 10^th game of his rookie season in 2020 tearing his anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament in his left knee. He claimed the NFL Comeback Player of the Year honours for his sensational play in the 2021 campaign.

Burrow and his Bengals believe they can win the Super Bowl right now. If the Bengals win the Super Bowl on Sunday, Burrow will sit alone as the team’s all-time leader in playoff victories.

So who is going to win?

Will it be the Rams who face all sorts of pressure to win right now? Will it be the Bengals who are playing with house money?

Those two storylines alone make the Super Bowl intriguing and must watch TV.

• On Wednesday, I created new content that went live on the Howe Happenings blog. The feature piece was about four members of the Saskatoon Lions Speed Skating Club cracking the Top 30 RBC Future Olympians list. That piece can be found by clicking right here. The new content also contains the latest photo round up of pictures I shot at the Complex. It can be found by clicking right here.
• On Thursday, the Spokane Chiefs fired Adam Maglio as the team’s head coach. The Chiefs sit last in the WHL’s B.C. Division with a 12-26-3-1 record. Associate coach Ryan Smith takes over as the Chiefs interim head coach. Part time assistant coach Dustin Donaghy moved into a full time assistant coach role.
• On Thursday, star right-winger Connor McClennon had a hat trick to lead the Winnipeg Ice to a 6-2 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings in a WHL regular season contest held at the Wayne Fleming Arena in Winnipeg. The Ice improved to 30-6-2-1 with the win, while the Wheat Kings fell to 21-15-2-2.
• Going into Friday’s action, Saskatoon Blades star left-winger Kyle Crnkovic is still leading the WHL in scoring. He has 29 goals and 37 assists for 66 points appearing in all of the Blades 42 regular season games.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.