Monday Mailbag: Meet the Blogger, Part 6

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, Part 6.

You can read the previous instalments here

If you had the chance to sit down with any hockey player (dead or alive) for an hour, who would it be and what is the first question you’d ask?

Dave Gordon

Gretzky, and I’d simply ask him “How?”

Jackie Dawson

This is a tough question!

I’d probably sit down with Drew Doughty and ask him if he’d be open to the human cloning process.

Alex Thomas

Wayne Gretzky. Having missed him play is something that kind of irks me haha. I’d love to pick his brain about the sport and the glory days. First question? Honestly, what was the Battle of Alberta like from in the trenches?

Jon McLeod

I would sit down with former Dallas Star Benoit Hogue and talk to him about his game winning OT goal against the Oilers in the 2001 playoffs. Then I’d duck tape him to the chair and throw rotten vegetables at him.

Megan Fowler

I’d love to ask Ken Dryden if he found law school harder than writing books.

I’d also like to sit down for a beer or two with Taylor Hall and find out more about him. He seems like a really good guy, and I’d like to prove to everyone once and for all that he doesn’t have character problems.

Kelly (BLH)

He isn’t a hockey player per se but I’d like to sit down with maybe Scotty Bowman and the first question I’d ask him is, “If you have to build the perfect hockey player with parts of players past and present, how would you do it?” I think from that question alone there would be stories galore and as I said above, I love a good story.

Kris Hansen

Wayne Gretzky: What did you like the most about Edmonton?

I’d just let him talk for an hour . Definitely on a bucket list. I never got to see him with the Oilers but he’s by far my favorite hockey player of all time. I’ve read so many books on Gretzky. A couple months ago I was lucky enough to pull my first ever Gretzky Autograph hockey card.

Ali Arshad

Shawn Horcoff. I would ask him what/who shaped his personality

Avry Lewis-McDougall

It would have to be British hockey legend Tony Hand.

For those who don’t know Hand for over 30 years was a star in UK hockey, recording over 4000 points but he was also the first ever UK born and trained player drafted by an NHL team when the Oilers took him in the 1986 draft. Hand was already a star overseas and could have had a long North American career but got home sick while playing in the WHL,

I’d love to ask him “How popular could hockey have become in the UK if you stayed and played with the Oilers?” If Hand never left and become a key cog in the Oilers dynasty, who knows where the timeline of this franchise goes! In his only training camp in 86 with the Oilers he impressed Glen Sather and will forever be a true “what if?” story in Oilers history.

Maybe David Beckham would have strapped on a pair of skates instead of cleats thanks to Tony if he was skating around with Gretzky, Messier and company.

 

Joey Degner

If I had the chance to sit down with only one hockey player, it would probably be Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. I would like to know if he’s ever had to use a razor and what his dogs name is.

Roman Maximus

Maybe Charlie Huddy, a valuable role guy on a star studded team, who also has coached players for a long time. Question would likely be; What was it like being in that room, with those type of skilled players? What was going through your mind?

Rex Libris

Oh man, you are killing me here. One player? I guess that depends. I’d probably like to hear the best player stories, the ones that make you go “and you guys SURVIVED?”

I have a feeling the best of those are probably from guys who played in the 70s in the WHA. That league was nuts in a “it’s safe to laugh about it now” kind of way. I read Dave Semenko’s book “Looking Out for Number 1” years ago and it was actually very funny. But if I had to talk to one person the guy who has had some of the best stories I’ve read about so far is Tommy McVie. He came from a very poor family and his first NHL gig was coaching the Washington Capitals from 1975 to 1978 where that first season they had just 8 wins and 32 losses and 5 ties. You don’t coach that sad-sack group of misfits three years and not develop one hell of a sense of humour.