Meet the Blogger: Mailbag Edition 3

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to reintroduce our readers to the crew here at the Oilers Rig. With a number of new writers on board, we thought it would be a good idea to let you all know who exactly is writing about your favourite team. Basically, we thought it would be a good opportunity for you all to Meet the Blogger.

You can read the previous installments here and here.

Who is your favourite Oiler (current players excluded) and why?

Dave Gordon

Gretzky, because he’s the great one. I had a giant poster of Bill Ranford in my room though. It’s rare but he’s my favourite Oilers goalie of all time.

Jackie Dawson

It’s impossible for me to pick just one.
I’d be nuts not to include Gretzky. I mean…50 goals in 39 games…amirite?

I did have a torrid love affair with Petr Klima and his Jofa and I have a soft spot for Messier and his style of play.
Doug Weight was also one of my favorites.
I like the kind of guys that can do unreal things with puck…or bust their asses.

Alex Thomas

Ryan Smyth, without doubt. Smyth played his ass off every single night and while he wasn’t the most athletic or most talented, he got it done. His hard work really stuck with me and he’s the biggest reason I’m an Oilers fan.

Jon McLeod

I don’t really have a favourite former Oiler. I do remember that I liked it when Tikkanen shadowed Gretzky in the playoffs way back when. Gretzky had been my favourite, but that changed after the trade.

Megan Fowler

I loved Jari Kurri as a kid. I was convinced I was going to marry him, actually. (Now I realize how silly that sounds.)

Doug Weight was my favourite for a long time. He just seemed so nice, and he was obviously one of the best players we had at the time. Plus, he came into the movie theatre I worked at a couple times, and once asked me how my Physics test had gone the week before.

Kelly (BLH)

My favourite Oiler of all-time is probably one I never got the chance to see as a boy because I was too young to remember. Paul Coffey was a player that was suggested to me by my father because of Coffey’s skating style which was both graceful and full of immense power. This was fine by me, I loved playing hockey and being a good skater made me a better player which in turn made hockey even more fun. But I reckon the real reason why I liked him was because he put points up like an All-Star center but he was a defenseman!! My mother liked him too but because he was a handsome chap back in the day and I think that irked the old man a bit, which amused me.

Kris Hansen

Doug Weight is my all time favorite Edmonton Oiler growing up because he was simply the best. He was the last Oiler to score 100 points in a season. I loved the way he played the game: he was just such a pure skilled player. It also helped that he wore the C for a couple seasons. I was absolutely crushed when he was traded to St.Louis because I heard the rumors that his impending move was coming and plus it happened just a week after my 12th birthday. Happy birthday Kris!

I also really enjoyed Chris Pronger when he was here because he was the best defenceman that I got to see in Oilers silks. It’s a damn shame that he played only one season and was traded again, shortly after my birthday. Still loved the player.

Ali Arshad

Shawn Horcoff scored two goals in the very first game I watched, and since then he’s been my favourite. But it wasn’t just that. It was his leadership, his two-way play, and his off-ice persona. I really wanted to be like him, and I think in some ways I am. He endured a lot during the mismanaged years of the Oilers, and I think a lot of it was unfair. His dexterity deteriorated but he was the same person. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up in a very high position in the NHL post-retirement.

Avry Lewis-McDougall

The pride of Warren, Michigan in the form of Doug Weight. For people of my age demo we were not able to live through the days of the Cup runs and for a lot of us he was the icon that we thought was the personification of what it meant to be an Oiler. He was one of the hardest working guys on the team, he was the captain and good luck trying to stop him from scoring if he was going to drive to the net.

I also had the chance to interview him a few years ago at the Brick Hockey Invitation at West Edmonton Mall. I thought about hugging him after it was over but that would have been kinda weird.