After an atrocious start, the Edmonton Oilers have set an all-time record for consecutive wins by a Canadian National Hockey League team, leaving fans excited and pundits wondering if the excellence will last the rest of the season.
The Edmonton Oilers won their 13th straight game in a 3–1 decision against Calgary Jan. 20, one better than the 12 straight wins by Montreal in 1967–'68 on the way to a Stanley Cup-winning season. The Oilers’ feat marked an incredible turnaround from their first 12 games when they suffered 10 losses.
Mike Benton, a radio host for the Seattle Kraken, appeared on the Rod Pedersen sports talk show on Jan. 22 to say Seattle’s division rivals in Edmonton had become real contenders.
“They’re playing on another planet at this point, and whatever steps that they had from their bad start in the first several weeks is now gone,“ Mr. Benton said. ”It’s crazy to think how far out of the playoff picture they were back in November, and now they may have a shot to win this thing and win the Pacific Division, let alone of course go on a deep, Stanley Cup run.”
Mr. Pedersen, a Florida-based broadcaster whose show is carried on radio, TV, and the internet, told The Epoch Times the Oilers turnaround rivals rookie sensation Connor Bedard as the story of the season. Pedersen, who grew up an Oilers fan, said current fans have sky-high hopes.
“The overall NHL record is 17 straight wins [set] by the 1993 Pittsburgh Penguins who didn’t even reach the Stanley Cup final, let alone win it. So that’s why I’m cautioning people–[but] there’s no point talking to Oilers fans,” he said with a laugh.
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“Trust me. I live with one. They’re excited and they should be.”
Mr. Pedersen said a “fascinating” part of the turnaround is the “marvellous job of management” by general manager Ken Holland, who previously won three Stanley Cups with Detroit. On Nov. 12, 2023, he fired head coach Jay Woodcroft and defensive coach Dave Manson.
The change surprised some, given Mr. Woodcroft had the fifth-best coaching record in the league since being hired in February 2022. Despite the brutal start to the season, he left the Oilers with the team’s all-time best coaching win percentage of .643.
When Chris Knoblauch replaced Mr. Woodcroft as head coach, he become Edmonton’s 10th coach in 15 seasons and the fifth since 2015 when phenom Connor McDavid joined the team. By Jan. 20 this year, the Oilers had won 23 of its previous 29 games for a .793 win percentage.
‘Cultural Shift’
Former Oilers defenceman Paul Coffey was hired as the defensive coach at the same time as Mr. Knoblauch. Mr. Pedersen says the hall-of-famer brought a “cultural shift.”“If you’re asking me what I see as the biggest difference, it’s the presence of Paul Coffey and what he has brought to that bench and dressing room,” he said.
“I know Paul, personally. It’s just his demeanor, his teaching ability. And players have talked about that too—not every mistake is the end of the world. I’ve heard that it doesn’t hurt to be able to point up to the rafters and see your coach’s jersey number.”
An upper body injury to Mr. McDavid contributed to the team’s early slump, and his recovery helped power the team’s surge. Moshe Lander, an Albertan who lectures on sports at Concordia University in Montreal, believes the Edmonton Oilers’ dismal beginning may have been more noteworthy than the recent winning streak.
“It shows the value of coaching, but I don’t know that it’s totally surprising given that they have two of the arguably top five players in the NHL. It was probably more an anomaly what they were doing in the first part of the season than what they’re doing now,” Mr. Lander said in an interview.
“It’s entirely possible that the entire environment around the locker room was wearing a little thin in the first [part] of the season. So it might not just be the player’s ability to connect with the coach, but maybe even the coaching staff’s ability to connect with the coach.”
He said the coaching change may have motivated players itself, prompting a “fear factor” that their own jobs would be gone in a continued slump. He suggested other intangibles have played a role.
“Maybe newness, maybe a little more flexibility, maybe a little understanding that everybody is now pulling in the same direction. Sometimes it’s commonality of purpose, and everybody realizes that, ‘Hey we all have something at stake here in making sure that we finish well,” Mr. Lander said.
Shortly before the coaching change, the Oilers sent their highest-paid goalie, Jack Campbell, to the minor leagues, leaving young goalie Stuart Skinner to shoulder the load. He rose to the occasion and won 17 of the 19 games through Jan. 20, with a goals against average of 1.84 and a save percentage of .932. His tenth straight victory tied a team record.
Mr. Pedersen said Mr. Skinner has proven the detractors wrong who discounted his value, despite being a finalist last season for rookie-of-the-year honours.
“At the start of the year, even in the summer, Oiler fans in Alberta said that [the Oilers] don’t have NHL-calibre goaltending,” he recalled.
“It shouldn’t be five guys and a goalie. It should be six guys playing together on the ice. And that’s what I think the Oilers are doing, not leaving Stuart Skinner to fend for himself. That had been happening before with disastrous results.”
Addition of Corey Perry
Mr. Holland isn’t done tinkering yet, as shown by the recent signing of 2007 Stanley Cup champion Corey Perry. The right-winger arrived with 892 career points (421 goals, 471 assists) in 1,273 career games. The former league MVP also played in three consecutive cup finals on three different teams from 2019 to 2021.Mr. Benton believes Mr. Perry elevates the Oilers to an even higher “tier.”
“He’s got more games than you can shake a stick at for his career in this league. You look at Edmonton and what they gain with that kind of presence in the room … that’s only going to make their team stronger,” he said.
Mr. Perry was released by Chicago earlier this season for conduct-related issues and has since undergone treatment for alcohol abuse. However, Mr. Pedersen says the signing of Mr. Perry can still work out, given recent Oiler history. Left-winger Evander Kane had a history of legal and personal issues prior to signing with Edmonton in January of 2022, but has since been a team-building asset of toughness and goal-scoring.
“He was allowed, clearly in San Jose, Buffalo, and Winnipeg, to act however he wanted. When he got to Edmonton that was very clear that wasn’t going to be tolerated,” Mr. Pedersen said.
“We should know with Evander Kane, that worked out; there’s no reason to think that this won’t work out [with Perry]. When you walk into a dressing room that’s got good leaders, it’s pretty hard to be a bad actor.”
