This is it. 15124 days after it opened, the Rexall Place ice surface is seeing its final pro hockey game tonight. (And of course, it’s against Vancouver.)
For reasons unknown to man, the game starts at 5pm MT (so if you need to leave work early, you have my permission); the celebration is after the game and will be televised nationally on Sportsnet). There’s a large alumni contingent in town for this game (Jari Kurri! Jari Kurri!), and I can only hope that the Oilers play well enough to win in front of their predecessors.
Last Game
The Oilers laid an (ostrich) egg on Saturday night against the Flames. I didn’t watch live (thankfully), but it sounded like a pretty terrible game all around. I did watch a bit on Sunday morning, but then I fast forwarded so I could see what the HNIC panel had to say because my dad told me it was good stuff. (And, as I’ve said before, he knows a lot more about things than I do.)
Instead of rehashing it all, I’ll just let Todd McLellan tell you about it (though by now I’m sure we’re all pretty familiar with what he said):
Keys to the Game
I’d really like to see the Oilers put together an actual complete effort tonight. A full 60 minutes where they outplay the other team and earn the win. I know that it seems to be a lot to ask of late, but there would be no better send-off for Rexall than for the Oilers to really stick it to the Canucks.
Sure the games mean nothing anymore, and the Oilers can’t finish higher than 28th, but a win against the Canucks would be a nice little cherry on top of the tire fire.
Players to Watch
Taylor Hall. Despite the team effort on Saturday, he had a pretty good game (all things considered). I’d like him to have a big night tonight, and prove me right when I say he’s so so so good at hockey. I know his production has tailed off in the second half of the season, but he still drives offence and makes other players better. The way people talk about him, though, you’d think he was single-handedly responsible for the Oilers not making the playoffs for the last ten years.
I’ve got a secret for you: He’s not. He’s played the majority of his career with a (mostly) skeleton crew on the blue line, and has been (at times) tasked with carrying the team on his back (which he’s done with almost no complaints). This season, the NHL’s leading point-getter among defencemen is Erik Karlsson in Ottawa (with 80 points in 80 games). Hall’s never played with a D-man of that calibre.
Since Hall entered the NHL, the most points an Oilers defender has had in 1 season was 33.
If you want a sense of the help he’s had.
— Matt Henderson (@Archaeologuy) April 5, 2016
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(To put that in perspective, this season alone, there are 40 defencemen in the league who have more points than that. The Oilers top-scoring D-man is Andrej Sekera, with 30 points.)
Tl;dr – Taylor Hall is not the problem. Haters to the left, please.
Projected Lineups
Edmonton
Patrick Maroon – Connor McDavid – Jordan Eberle
Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Nail Yakupov
Lauri Korpikoski – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Iiro Pakarinen
Matt Hendricks – Mark Letestu – Zack Kassian
Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne
Jordan Oesterle – Griffin Reinhart
Darnell Nurse – Adam Pardy
Cam Tal-Bot
Vancouver
Daniel Sedin – Henrik Sedin – Jannik Hansen
Jared McCann – MarkusGranlund – Linden Vey
Chris Higgins – Bo Horvat – Emerson Etem
Andrey Pedar – Brendan Gaunce – Alex Burrows
Dan Hamhuis – Chris Tanev
Ben Hutton – Nikita Tryamkin
Matt Bartkowski – Alex Biega
Ryan Miller (maybe??)
Final Thoughts: Farewell Rexall Edition
Tonight marks the final NHL game at Rexall Place, a building that I look back at with a little bit of fondness and a lot of melancholy. Sure, some great things happened there, but the last 10 years have seen not much other than misery and heartbreak. As much as I’m looking forward to the new building, and as much as I hate almost everything about Rexall, I’m going to miss it. The crowded concourse, the bathroom lineups (except that one time I went to see Iron Maiden and didn’t have to wait at all), the magnificently overpriced food, the crack beer…. there’s a certain small town charm to the place that I’m sure won’t be replicated at the new arena.
It’s time for a change. We’ve got demons around this team, demons that need to be exorcised, and I can’t help but think that a new building might be the thing.
Edmonton’s own Natasha Staniszewksi (from TSN) was kind enough to share her favourite Rexall Place memory with us.
(Huge thanks to Avry Lewis-McDougall for setting that up.)
My mom took me to Rexall (then Skyreach) for Gretzky’s jersey retirement ceremony. I was more excited about seeing Jari Kurri in the flesh than I was Gretzky, and I was not disappointed. The skybox they were all in was closest to my seat, and instead of watching the game, I kept looking up at my childhood hero. We didn’t end up staying for the whole game because I’d had my ACL reconstructed three days prior, and it hurt like you can’t imagine to have my foot on the floor for two hours. I’m glad I saw that, though. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard that kind of cheering before or since.
The best memories I have of Rexall involve my dad. He and I were there for Game 3 against Detroit in 2006, when everyone thought the Wings scored in OT (but didn’t). We used to go to a few games a year together, and we’d always get ice cream during the second intermission. A few years ago, we went to a game, and instead of him buying the ice cream I picked up the tab. We hadn’t done that in a long time, and it brought me right back to my childhood.
One of the memories that stands out in my mind was from when I was about 3 (maybe 4). Dad and I were at the Coliseum for a game, and were down along the boards during warmup. This was during my “I’m going to marry Jari Kurri” years, and I’m not really sure if I ever noticed other players. Anyway, when the warmup ended Dave Hunter skated over towards us and tapped his stick on the glass, so Dad lifted me up to stand on the boards. Hunter reached over the glass and handed me a puck, which was one of the coolest things that had ever happened to me. I still have that puck, John Zeigler’s stamped signature reminding me of days gone by.
Most recently, we were at the 5-0 HNIC loss to the Red Wings a couple years ago (on tickets from his office) and I exclaimed at the end of the game “I want my money back”. Dad laughed because I think he agreed with me. The game might not have been good, but at least we had ice cream.
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