The Fan Experience with Scrubs Contracting

This week in our fan experience series, we hear from longtime Oilers fan Ryan (Scrubs) who was gracious enough to answer my questions.

1. How long have you been an Oilers fan?
   I have been an Oilers fan, sort of off and on, since my earliest hockey watching memories in the mid 80’s.
2. What prompted you to start cheering for the Oilers?
   I began cheering for the Oilers because my father is an Oilers fan. I am from a small central Alberta town called Mirror, that is located almost exactly in the middle between Edmonton and Calgary. Apparently, in the early 80’s when both the Oilers and Flames were actually good at the same time, the town was split almost evenly between Oilers and Flames fans. My dad told me how everyone would gather to watch the games on CBC at the local “hotel” (bar), and come playoff time there was always fierce rivalry between the two sides. I don’t know exactly why my dad ended up on the Oilers side, he grew up a Habs fan, but when the Oilers burst into the league he jumped on board. The rivalry between he and his peers I’m sure only served to increase his passion. That’s the passion he instilled in me.
3. What is your first real memory of the Oilers?
   My first memories are just glimpses and flashes of my dad watching, probably around ‘86. I was 6 years old and I can clearly remember seeing his legs twitch and seeing him on the edge of his seat, and the hoots that would erupt when the Oilers scored. My first REAL, clear memory is of the Gretzky trade and how heart-breaking and un-fathomable it was. For 8 year-old me, I was so angry that I immediately became an LA Kings fan. I started to be swayed back from the dark side during the ‘90 cup run, but honestly I had kind of lost my passion for the game as a whole. It wasn’t until my teens in the mid-90’s that I really became a fan on my own terms, not just because of my dad. Part of it was that some of my closest friends were Oilers fans and we would watch the games together, and some of it was centered around the ‘96 World Cup where I acquired an intense hatred for USA hockey (Derian Hatcher) and just wanted to cheer for a Canadian team again above all else. Who better to chose than my “childhood” team?
4. Did you have a favourite player when you first started cheering for them?
   Who was it, and why did you pick him?Of course Gretzky was my first favourite, although that was during my “vicarious” fan days. The first player that I really came to love on my own terms was Ryan Smyth. He entered the league just as I was forming my own passion for the Oilers, and I always respected the way he played. The effort was always there, he was a warrior, and one of the things I remember most of all, he was always the last player to leave the ice after warmup and he always threw three pucks out to kids in the crowd. Also, because the Oilers were a painfully mediocre team during those days, Smytty (I don’t get why some people insist on typing “Smitty” ?!?) Smytty had ample opportunity to play internationally, and he always answered the call. As mentioned I have really become a fierce hockey patriot, so that only heightened my respect for Smytty. The day #94 was traded was the closest I came to switching my allegiance again, in fact I tried not to care about the Oilers for a while, but it didn’t take.
5. Has it been hard maintaining enthusiasm for the team over the last few years?
   Definitely! And to some extent I haven’t maintained my enthusiasm. Up until about the 2014-15 season, I was a guy that NEVER missed a game, like ever. But the last couple of seasons (14-15 and 15-16 while McDavid was injured) I couldn’t bring myself to watch all the losing. It actually started to affect my real life. I would be grumpy and snappy with my family after losses, and turned into a guy I didn’t like, so I had to take a break.
6. What’s your favourite memory of seeing the Oilers live?
   Firstly, I was attending NAIT during the 1999-2000 season and had a cousin who worked in PR for the Oilers. She was able to get me tickets pretty regularly so I went to a lot of games. That year the Oilers met the Stars (again!) in the first round, and I bought a first round playoff package. Unfortunately, I only got 2 games (1 win), and the Oilers were later eliminated in game 5, but the atmosphere in Skyreach was incredible!! I went with a few guys from school who were huge fans, and boisterous to say the least! We dressed in coveralls and hardhats, face paint, the whole 9… I even got the Oilers logo shaved into my head. We were interviewed for Dallas radio, my face was very briefly on Sports Night, and to top it off, there were back-to-back hat tricks, one by Weight, the other by Guerin! It was AMAZING!!Number 2 was February 4, 2012… The game AFTER Sam Gagner’s 8 point night. It was a special game for me for several reasons:
   -We had incredible seats, 7 rows up in the corner where the Oilers attacked twice.
   -It was Nugent-Hopkins’ first game back from injury in his rookie season.
   -It was a HNIC Saturday night.
   -Sam Gagner scored ANOTHER 3 points, 2G 1A.
   -Eberle scored the tying goal, his second of the game, to make it 4-4 with 0:39 seconds left in the third, and he celebrated right in our corner!
   -Sam Gagner scored AGAIN in the shootout, which went 6 rounds the winning goal scored by RNH!
   -Myself and my 10 year old nephew made the HNIC closing montage with a sign that read “Hooray, Nuge Is Cured!” Unbelievable experience!
7. Do you think the Oilers are on the path to a Stanley Cup, or do they have more work to do to get there?
   There is definitely more work to do. They have some really nice core pieces to build around, and the right management and coaching staff to get there, but so much about building a Stanley Cup winner is catching lightning in a bottle. I believe that FINALLY the Oilers are on a path to being COMPETETIVE for a Stanley Cup, but I’m not going so far as to make a Ron Maclean-like prediction.
8. What transaction (since 2006) would you change if you could? Why?
   I would change the Pronger trade. The Oilers got absolutely hosed on that deal. The guy wanted out, but the Oilers had no obligation to move him as quickly as they did. They 100% could have gotten a better return for a guy who was unquestionably a Top 5 Defenseman in the league at the time, if not #1 (well… maybe #2 after Lidstrom)
9. What’s the best part about being an Oilers fan?
   The camaraderie, the passion, the history, the bragging rights we STILL hold over Calgary, no matter how much they want to deny it. It’s a rabid and loyal fanbase that KNOWS hockey. The last 10 years only serve to cement Oilers fans as some of the most loyal and resilient in the world. I’m proud to be one of them.
10. If you had to pick another team to cheer for, what would it be and why?
    Any team playing the Calgary Flames because I absolutely despise them. There are lots of people who “claim” to hope that the Oilers-Flames rivalry will once again rise to prominence… I am not one of those people, I want Flames fans to know the pain that I have known, and I want to kick them while they’re down just as I have been kicked. I wish nothing but years of last place finishes, drafting mistakes and lottery losses to those Southern Bastards!! Other than that, I used to really like the Bruins and Blackhawks for beating up Ryan Kesler and the Canucks, but now that the Canucks are nearing irrelevancy, that has lost some of its flavour… Maybe I could become a St. Louis or Washington fan, if only to see them leave Vancouver as the oldest NHL team to have never won the Stanley Cup… That would be delicious!!

    Up Next

    Next week, look for an interview with longtime Oiler fan Camper Dave