Everybody loves a great story where a guy comes out of nowhere, against all odds, to emerge victorious or to redeem himself. Great sports movies like Rocky, Rudy, Cinderella Man and Hoosiers all carry this kind of theme. And so does Edmonton Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard. Calvin Pickard, Edmonton Oilers (Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via
Oilers Goaltending
What happened to Edmonton Oilers goaltender Jack Campbell after he earned the opening-night start against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday, Oct. 11? Well, I’m not going to place the blame solely on him. It wasn’t a great start, and the numbers don’t suggest he deserved to win, but the Oilers didn’t play well in front
The Edmonton Oilers may have a glimmer of hope in another young goaltender they’ve developed as Olivier Rodrigue has been on an upward trajectory this season, his third in pro. Though it still may take a couple of years for him to get anywhere close to where Stuart Skinner is right now, the potential and
The Edmonton Oilers have completed a great signing by locking up goaltender Stuart Skinner to a three-year, $2.6 million average annual value (AAV) contract that will kick in next season. Considering the great play he has shown in his time in the NHL this season and last, the Oilers got a steal here. Skinner is
The Edmonton Oilers have not received what they paid for or expected from Jack Campbell in his first season with the team. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how things go, it’s early in his five-year contract worth $5 million AAV. It isn’t the best time for Campbell to start struggling, but at least the Oilers
Entering the 2022-23 season, most felt the Edmonton Oilers were an improved group after an already very successful 2021-22 outing, in large part due to their change of goaltenders. A duo of Jack Campbell and Stuart Skinner felt like a clear upgrade to almost everybody; however, through the first quarter of the 2022-23 campaign, it
It’s far from ideal for any organization to be cornered into relying on goaltending support from anyone other than those they positioned as their No. 1 and No. 2 heading into the season. Yet, that’s precisely where the 2022-23 Toronto Maple Leafs currently find themselves, with both Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov now sidelined. That
Following a rather busy offseason around the NHL, it was only fitting that the game’s goalies began drafting their 2022-23 storylines early on in the campaign. From internal battles among new tandems, underperforming superstars, rookies earning a spotlight, and everything in between, October offered quite a glimpse into what fans should expect from their favourite
The NHL Goalie Report is back! Poised to be better than ever, this series will cover all that matters most throughout 2022-23. Expect these writeups to showcase league leaders, highlight-reel saves, backups battling for starts, spotlight-worthy debuts, questionable calls, all-star performances, injury updates, and everything in between. 2022-23 NHL Goalie Report (The Hockey Writers) In anticipation of
The Edmonton Oilers have a big offseason ahead of them with a number of free agents they must decide what to do with as well as more than one trade they must pull off. In the midst of all that, the biggest need is finding a starting goaltender with the future of Mike Smith up
It seems evident that the next three to four years are the window in which the Edmonton Oilers have the best chance to win the Stanley Cup. Both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are signed for the next three years (Draisaitl for three, McDavid for four) and after tasting some playoff success in the 2021-22
Just two months after the Edmonton Oilers signed goaltender Ryan Fanti out of college to bolster their prospect pipeline, it seems they will lose another prospect in the process. It is all but official that they will terminate the contract of their 2019 third-round draft pick, Ilya Konovalov, when the season is over. Alexi Sopin,
The 2021-22 NHL season has had its share of twists and turns unlike any other season in recent memory for the Edmonton Oilers, and it seems the Oilers’ goaltending situation has mirrored the ups and downs of the season. However, both Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen look like they might be on the upswing as
Once again we are talking about another viable option in net that the Edmonton Oilers could trade for and soon. Since general manager Ken Holland sat down with the media and made it clear he’s not trading top prospects or picks for a rental, that limits the Oilers to what they can go out and
After what Mikko Koskinen has done for the Edmonton Oilers this season, it’s unreasonable that fans are still hating on him and blaming him for any misfortunes. He is a 12-2 goalie, tied for second in the league in wins, and doing so in just 14 games. What makes him so impressive this season is
After Matt Murray of the Ottawa Senators was a healthy scratch in last night’s game, it brought up speculation that the team was done with him and will run with Anton Forsberg and Filip Gustavsson moving forward. Elliotte Friedman suggested that the Senators will be placing Murray on waivers. That now came to pass. Matt
The Edmonton Oilers received bad news at the start of their main training camp. Oilers general manager Ken Holland announced that goaltender Alex Stalock is unlikely to play this season as he continues to get evaluated for a possible heart condition he developed after contracting COVID-19. This may not seem like big news to a
The average Edmonton Oilers fan might have seen the recent videos of Alex Stalock in something called Da Beauty League and figured that the veteran goalie is onto his next stage of life now, back home in Minnesota and just having fun playing shinny with the guys on weekends. It’s an understandable presumption, given Stalock