There’s a line in a David Bowie song that goes “we live for just these 20 years, do we have to die for the fifty more?” and if you’re an Oilers fan of a certain age, that lyric hammers your brain like the world’s worst migraine.
Some day, I know not when, the McDavid-Draisaitl era will end and we’ll move on to the next. As difficult as those trades listed above were to experience (the Messier deal was a jagged knife to the heart, a pothole to middle earth on the Henday), there were five Stanleys to remember.
What happens if the Mike Babcock era fails to bring glory? We will have much to discuss, very little of it fun. There were two trips to the finals, three traditional general managers who had success elsewhere, four Hart Memorial trophies, a mile of other awards, some stunning goals and many series wins. No Stanley.
The last time the Oilers won the Cup, 1990, there were 21 NHL teams. There were maybe seven teams (Oilers, Flames, Blackhawks, Bruins, Sabres, Canadiens, Rangers) who had a chance to win it all. You could have included the Winnipeg Jets but they would have needed to get past the Oilers and Flames and that wasn’t going to happen.
I have long felt the league is so big now that we need to acknowledge making it to the Final each season. I call the idea “pennants” in a nod to mlb. Since 1967 and expansion, here are the pennant winners, from most to least:
1. Montreal (12): ’68, ’69, ’71, ’73, ’76-’79, ’86, ’89, ’93, ’21
2. Boston (10): ’70, ’72, ’74, ’77, ’78, ’88, ’90, ’11, ’13, ’19
3. Edmonton (9): ’83, ’84, ’85, ’87, ’88, ’90, ’06, ’24, ’25
- 4. Philadelphia (8): ’74, ’75, ’76, ’80, ’85, ’87, ’97, ’10
- 5. Pittsburgh (6): ’91, ’92, ’08, ’09, ’16, ’17
- 6. Chicago (6): ’71, ’73, ’92, ’10, ’13, ’15
- 6. Detroit (6): ’95, ’97, ’98, ’02, ’08, ’09
- 8. Dallas (5): ’81, ’91, ’99, ’00, ’20
- 8. New Jersey (5): ’95, ’00, ’01, ’03, ’12
- 8. New York Islanders (5): ’80, ’81, ’82, ’83, ’84
- 8. Tampa Bay (5): ’04, ’15, ’20, ’21, ’22
- 12. Florida (4): ’96, ’23, ’24, ’25
- 12. New York Rangers (4): ’72, ’79, ’94, ’14
- 12. St. Louis (4): ’68, ’69, ’70, ’19
- 15. Carolina (3): ’02, ’06. ’26
- 15. Vegas (3): ’18, ’23, ’26
- 15. Calgary (3): ’86, ’89, ’04
- 15. Colorado (3): ’96, ’01, ’22
- 15. Los Angeles (3): ’93, ’12, ’14
- 15. Vancouver (3): ’82, ’94, ’11
- 21. Anaheim (2): ’03, ’07
- 21. Buffalo (2): ’75, ’99
- 21. Washington (2): ’98, ’18
- 24. Nashville (1): ’17
- 24. San Jose (1): ’16
- 24. Ottawa (1): ’07
- 27. Winnipeg
- 27. Columbus
- 27. Minnesota
- 27. Seattle
- 27. Utah
- 27. Toronto
Based on Mike Babcock’s coaching past, which Edmonton Oilers prospects have the best opportunity to impress?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7454330/2026/07/19/edmonton-oilers-prospects-mike-babcock/
Liked it. Rooting for Samanski!
ps. Quite the clutch of young Oilers-to-be on that Leafs team. Willie is the only one we’re missing, to have a complete set.
Unofficial stats from today’s game from ESPN:
Shot Attempts: 20-3 Spain
Shots on Target: 11-0 Spain
xG: 1.94-0.20 Spain
Argentina were totally outplayed and lucky it was as close as it was.
The shot attempts were 20-0 at one point.
Spain dominates possession like the 87 Oilers in the first half but can’t cash. Messi marked closely. 0-0 at the half.
Argentina is a team of destiny.
Aesthetically you have to like how Spain plays “the beautiful game.” One touch passes all over the pitch.
Rope-a-dope at its finest. Argentina will pour it on in the last 5 minutes or extra time.
Suspect you’re right.
Interesting to see the Spain manager do what England would not, subbing in some young burners early in the 2nd half to keep pushing the pace on Argentina.
This is why people can’t watch this game in North America unless there’s a wild amount of national pride on the line.
This is the height of “don’t lose”.
Don’t see it that way myself given the amount that Spain is attacking, but you’re entitled to your opinion.
Canada US Olympic Gold Medal Game Vibe.
Pretty poor call disallowing that goal in extra time imo
Very happy for Spain and their supporters. I was living in the Costa del Sol when they won their first World Cup and it was absolute euphoria with the locals. The Spaniards LOVE their football and imo they play a very entertaining brand of it. Well played!
LT has 22-year-old Carter Savoy 1LW, and 22 year-old Ike Howard 2RW coming into camp.
It’s going to be an exciting start to the season!
LT has 22 year-old Matthew Savoie 1LW, and 22 year-old Isaac Howard 2RW coming into camp on a team with Mike Babcock sounding the death knell (September Song) on the McDavid era.
On pennants: I’m with you. I was spoiled as a child, as my pennant-winning teams also won Cups. But watching the 2024 and 2025 SCFs, and the 2025 World Series, as disappointing as the losses were, I was -and remain- a proud fan of those teams. They gave me many hours of joy and entertainment. They also gave heartbreak. But as a teacher I revere says, one thing about heartbreak, it lets you know you’re alive!
For those who may have missed it, the Elks had 20,020 fans in attendance for Friday night’s tilt against the BC Lions
‘We’re past those dark days’: Edmonton Elks celebrate increased attendance after ‘ugly’ win – 3DownNation https://share.google/dCHq1wuhqes7vFdWd
The team avenged their only loss of the season against the Lions with a 19-17 win, and are now 5-1 and first in the West Division. Next up, the team heads to Regina to take on the 4-1 Riders.
With 4 picks in the first half, the green and gold continue to ride the winning formula of a stout defense, excellent special teams, and an excellent running game paced by early league MOP candidate, Justin Rankin.
For those looking to jump back on the wagon, my 3 players to watch (aside from the obvious Fajardo and Rankin) are #22 Javon Leake, running back and kick returner, #50 Joel Dublanko linebacker, and #13 Kordell Jackson, cornerback. Longtime EE fans will appreciate the sight of another #13 manning the hot corner for Edmonton.
A feel good sports story is emerging in Etown in real-time. Fun stuff.
20k is big attendance now?
Yikes…
Attendance is growing. That’s the lede here.
I still wish that letter L in the middle of ELKS was still an S. It’s amazing how one small thing like a single letter can change things. But it looks like they’re finally back thank goodness.
I think a big segment of the team’s fanbase painted themselves into a corner on the name change. In branding the name as “woke,” whatever the hell that means, these fans decided to prioritize a political ideology over simply being a sports fan of the home team.
I certainly can’t speak for others on this, but politicians and politics ruin enough things in this world without letting them kill the local football team for me.
I’ve never actually met a woke Elk. They seem like pretty cool creatures to me and definitely an animal I have an affinity for as an Albertan. If I do have the good fortune to encounter this animal in the wild, I’ll be sure to ask for its thoughts on DEI and ICE, etc. That should be a productive conversation.
Sir, this is a Wendy’s.
Apparently you have never met a bull elk on the Jasper Park Lodge golf course during rutting season.
They are definitely not “cool”
Many on this this board might be inclined to feel that an Elk being aggressive towards you would be a good thing. 😉
You seem nice.
LOL I’ve also met Grizzly Bears on that golf course and wolves too. Great golf course.
The wolves were on hand to get rid of the dam elk.
I once hit over an Elk that was standing in the middle of the 14th fairway. That was fun.
We had a group of 8 from CFRN TV that went to JPL every fall.
Dodging the elk was common as were the borderline antics of Steve Hogle that could have landed him behind bars.
I wonder if the resort ever found their laundry truck.
I think a significant segment of the population hangs on too tightly to the past. I am aware of the difficulty that so many have to accept change, even a small change can be Everest for a lot people. But change is constant and inevitable. Not sure how they navigate this digital world.
Also, Elks are actual entities in the province, I’d always thought (since I was 6 years old, so since the 70’s) that the former namesake was catering to a typical American’s perception of the inhabitants of the province living in snow-built structures, and some still think that.
FWIW, I had always thought the name was ignorant on that basis, so I can say that I never really ever embraced it.
I think an elk’s call not being intimidating is akin to calling a team something innocuous like lint, acorns or ducks.
But elks are indeed a mighty beast, despite their voice. Reminds me of when a buddy installed a VW horn in their 75 Chrysler Cordoba.
To be clear, I like the name, it grew on me very quickly. Also, that antler adorned helmet looks pretty slick. Also, this team is pretty solid, although the offense is a worry.
I agree. Resistance to change was the number one issue here. The team’s fanbase was aging out and the younger demographics did not like the name. The team was between a rock and a hard place. Embrace change to try and survive or double down on the same old and inevitably become extinct. Washington in the NFL. Cleveland in the MLB. There is a way to do this and not kill the home team in the process.
You’ll just have to trust me, there’s nothing cool about Elk. I guess the only good thing would be if they all band together to complain about a football team using their name. That would be cool if they did.
The one thing that’s never made sense to me is the pluralization as “Elks.” I thought the team should simply have been called the “Edmonton Elk”. They’re not called the Utah Mammoths for a reason.
The s was added because there’s an s at the end of Esks. So they are now the Elks as opposed to the Esks. Short for Eskimos.
Word to the wise. It would appear if you edit a post for typos more than once, it gets thrown immediately into some unrecoverable spam purgatory.
That’s a shame. I liked that post. lol
or even once sometimes.
I had a rebuttal drafted against some misinformation in your post but I’ll take it as a sign that the content was too political and leave it as is. That the post is not available is likely for the best.
Easy to label something as “misinformation” when it’s not visible. Much harder to prove it as misinformation if it was still visible.
You’re new here and this isn’t the first time you’ve disregarded our host’s house rule. Let’s leave politics to other forums.
You seem confused. I’m celebrating the accomplishments of the local sports team and arguing that personal politics should NOT be involved in diminishing the growing support for this team in the community.
A little ironic wouldn’t you say so? Watch what you wish for.
There’s a lot of things to not like about the cfl. I didn’t like the name change, I think the whole controversy was ridiculous. But more than that, the many rule changes to make the game more like the American game really turned me off. Why watch a niche minor league playing American football when you can watch the real thing at the top level from the American cities? Seems crazy to me. I liked our Canadian game just fine. Quit monkeying with it
Ironically one of the rule changes paid off this weekend. Toronto lined up to kick a chip shot field goal that would have won the game against Hamilton. The kicker missed out the end zone and instead of failure being rewarded with a single to put the game into OT, the miss proved consequential and the Argos lost the game. The reaction from the kicker on the easy miss was priceless and the hometown fans went home happy.
Not the Canadian game though.
The rouge still exists if the ball is in play in a punt or kick return. It’s only been taken away for missed field goals, which was a stupid rule because it rewarded failure. Just make the damn field goal if you want to score.
Classic Sather in those trades though. Gets Damphousse and keeps the scoring going. Acquires Berube from a previous deal and uses him for this one. That Kurri to Philly deal gets them Mellanby too.
The well never ran dry by his doing. Not ever.
He was the best.
Damphousse brought one season before being traded away for an utter loss of value. Unless you consider 60 games from Brent Gilchrist and 40 games from Vladimir Vujtek to be fair value. Oh, and three seasons of Shayne Corson’s brand of leadership.
Scott Mellanby and his 149 games in EDM only to be lost in expansion to (*spits) FLA is not what I’d consider fair market value for the likes of a legend like Kurri.
Now, I miss Sather’s genius as much as the next guy, but he lost value in trades (Miro Satan being the worst example). Thing is he fleeced enough rival GMs in deals that the wins made up for the losses.
During this era, Slats was in damage control mode. Not every trade was a winner but many were. And it wasn’t an easy task with Pocklington wanting to blow out the Stanley core at fire sale prices to protect his bottom line.
Lack of money from ownership caused essentially all of those issues. If the $$$s had been there, they may well have won in 92 even without the legends. And of course we all know he never would have traded so many of them away by choice. They’d have just kept on winning.
Also – Corson’s on-ice contribution was far from nothing. People really stay after the off-ice, and fair enough, but he was a very good player.
Yeah, the money was the issue for far longer than it should have been.
Corson’s legacy is definitely tarnished by the off-ice issues, he wasn’t a bag of pucks but losing a player like Damphousse was a hole that didn’t get filled until Weight and Guerin were acquired.
I had a Mellanby jersey as a kid. Probably the only person other than his wife who also had one.
I enjoyed seeing Mellanby in Oiler colors.
Not being able to win the Cup with McDavid and Draisaitl is still a nice problem to have compared to the fates of most other Canadian hockey fans. Vancouver is embarking on another half-ass rebuild, zero Cups in 56 years. Calgary’s rebuild looks it may peak with the team stuck in the mushy middle, 1 Cup to show for 46 attempts. Ottawa just traded their franchise center and Winnipeg’s best player wants out. Neither look like a credible contender for Stanley atm. 0 Cups in the modern era between them. The Leafs are a slow burning tire fire leaking out their elite talent and still 0 for 59 attempts since 1967.
The only Canadian team with an arguably brighter future than the Oilers is the Montreal Canadiens. The last Canadian team to hoist the Cup with 24 titles in total, the Habs are without a doubt the standard by which all others are measured. Hockey’s New York Yankees.
Disappointing as it could be if the Oilers can’t bring it home with two generational talents and 4 1OV picks factored in, complaining about it would seem to me the epitome of “first world problems” especially compared to the fate of most Canadian hockey fans.
Montreal’s always been easy to cheer for as someone who came into hockey in the late 90s/early 2000s. They’ve always seemed to prioritise skill, even if it wasn’t the flavor of the day. They feel like a fun B team to follow this year. I wonder, will we look at them as losers if they don’t win Stanley with their current core, or as a fun team that was built smartly and provided lots of entertaining hockey?
There so much parity in the league now, I don’t think you can reasonably “expect” any team to win the Cup. It was dam hard for the Lightning to break through and finally win it and they had all the necessary elements for a number of years. That’s what makes the NHL so great imo. Winning the Cup is so difficult, it feels like destiny whenever a team does it.
Just an interesting tidbit I came across. Apparently when Tampa and Columbus were in trade talks over Zach Werenski, none other than Ryan O’Reilly was included in their proposal. LOL how does that grab ya. I surely wouldn’t get too hung up on Ike Howard.
Why even trade for the Iceman when all they’re trying to do is turn him into a 4th line grinder we could buy at the five and dime store Bowman needs to wisen up no more Mr. Nice Guy it’s time to put the Hobey Baker winner in a position to succeed are else why trade away a Memorial Cup winner who could be 3C for a decade.
I don’t think they’re trying to turn him into a 4th line grinder. They just want him to be more of a complete player. Who knows? He could lose his spot on the roster to a fourth line grinder.
Need to let the horses run not waste their time away on Snapchat in a Motel 6 in Bakersfield look at his USNTDP peers they’re all making hay in the N.H.L. look at what happens when they get opportunity for crying out loud.
This was bang on. Either that, or your account got hacked.
Reading it every day for months has a way of making it second nature and great fodder for parody.
There’s no doubt he’ll get the opportunity. And his time in Bakersfield would only be a waste if he acually did spent it on Snapchat in a Motel 6.
Sam.
You’re correct as usual. SAM not Ryan.
I kinda figure win or lose it just doesn’t matter, we still have fun around here.
The point of sports (beyond breaking your heart) is to be entertained. Adding in our discussions here is a bonus that gives not just greater insight into how the team is developed /developing, but also gives us a chance to speculate, to dream, to vent & to have a different perspective. I’d say goal achieved for me these past 20 years.
I remember that ‘91 trade well. I was a teenager at the time. Fuhr was my favorite player while Anderson was my favorite skater. I was pissed they were traded and actually began following them on the Leafs, even had a Fuhr Leafs jersey. Turned out well as I was able to watch some decent Leafs teams with the Gilmour/Clark/Potvin era. While the Oilers were of course mired in terribleness. I returned to the fold a few years later once Weight, Arnott, Smyth, Cujo and the boys lured me back 😁
Gross.
Good question but I will pose another: what happens if Mike Babcock does help bring a cup, or even two, to Edmonton? It’s 100% within the realm of reasonableness.
If Babcock helps the Oilers win two Stanleys, he and the team will go down as one of the best in this century. A delayed run of Stanleys would wipe away all of the bad vibes, and still the thunder.
Some people will still say we didn’t win as many as we SHOULD have. An idea guaranteeing that whoever holds it will be forever disappointed regardless of any future success this team may have. But I digress…
I have discussed the idea of pennants with a variety of chums. Most seem to feel it’s still a loser award. It’s too bad, because one of the biggest side effects of unending expansion is that most teama are essentially guaranteed at this point to never win a Stanley.
They will say (1) they didn’t win as many as they should and, also (2) management fell in to the cups and got lucky as they didn’t build the championship team the way they should have.
Narrative created bad vibes.
Fair enough and I look forward to it.
As an aside, “bad vibes” as it relates to the team is often simply a choice. I mean, there are some that continue to talk about how poorly management has been for years and years yet they are one of the most successful on-ice franchise of the last 5-7 years. Yes, they have McDavid and Drai but superstars is not a cheat code in the salary cap ear.
There are some that have posted vitriol management for not moving Skinner and Nurse for years and, now that they are moved, have simply switched to vitriol towards management for not moving Savoie.
I know I am a very optimistic poster but I do criticize management and coaching decisions all the time (and players as well but, at the same time, I will generally try and look for the positive side of a decision/player as I’d much rather post with good vibes than the opposite an they can be narrative creations.
Woof-Woof-Woof ” Cut the negative vibes baby “.
Donald Sutherland (Oddball). Kelly’s Heros.
I never said anything about anyone changing anything about how they fan – I simply explained my opinion re: how vibes can be, at least in part, a choice.
And i was just referecing a classic movie that i think I’d love to see again.
I love that show!!!!!
I am generally positive as well, but there’s no way to look past the massive blunders by hockey men since 2015. I endorsed Chiarelli, because I thought he could do it. Holland almost did it but made some real boners. We’ll see on Bowman.
Here here.
I have no problem not winning a cup.
But handicapping chances in a string of “no hindsight required” bad bets (trade, signing, contract extensions, fast track and knee jerk management decisions devoid of due dilligence) is infuriating.
Bowman so far has these below average paper cuts:
-> frederic contract (don’t even care about amount as much as length is insane)
-> not matching holloway (which leads to adding frederic…hell i bet he would’ve signed that frederic contract even…could you imagine?)
-> not firing knoblauch when team performance and strategies were clear change surely worth doing (holland firing woodcroft when he did was 1 of his worst moves like they reversed proper order on these in way i think surely beyond just GM’s hand at work)
-> running back pickard and skinner then trading for jarry before even trying “free candy” ingram….fear losing pickard enough to keep him on roster 3 headed
->trading ardvisson to use money to sign magniapane just insanity this one was
-> not wisely changing strategy with capped out when changes made to rules as far as playoff cap. The teams that did have free cap clearly had an advantage.
Even Tulsky and Brisebois and Guerin and Zito and McCrimmon have blunder along these lines.
Just to play devils’ advocate on a few:
1) Fedric is currently a blunder (he was awful last year) but we are talking about like under 4% of the cap now (and decreasing) – with what $4MM buys you these days, he very likely covers the bet for a good part of that contract.
2) Not matching Holloway, sure, but you mention it leading to the Mang signing without mention of the Podz trade
3) touch to fire a coach months after he was in back to back Stanley Cup Finals
What about:
4) the Podz trade and re-signin for $2.95MM X 3 a year early – Podz could get $6MM at market
3) the great GM work to get Roslovic at $1.5MM (a target on July 1, refuesed to overpay, circled back and got him at a massive value) and then letting him walk
4) Adding Levi and Andersen at a combined less than $2MM on the cap
5) The Nurse trade which is crazy great given the 3, expanding to 4 team market
6) Re-signing both Dickinson and Murphy prior to July 1 – yes, they both got term but $4MM is a huge diccount to market for Murphy and probably Dickinson as well – given what we saw in early July
7) A 1st and 2nd for Murphy (signed for term at value), Dickinson (signed for term at value) and Dach – re-signe to 2 X $1.2MM and team control thereafter
Lowe (especially) and MacT were also breath taking in their management moves with rare exceptions.
Of course there have been past blunders, many, some of them massive.
The Lucic signing (and related moves) set off a series of blunders.
Similar with the Jack Cambell signing.
When that happens, I can die happy!
I could care less who the coach is, or even who the players are.
I just want to see the Oilers win another Cup (or two).