Tag: blog

By Neil Becker

Embed from Getty Images

Edmonton Oilers management definitely made a statement with their off-season moves.

The Edmonton Oilers, who all hockey fans know is led by star forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, got a big lift when on the first day of Free Agency, signed former Toronto Maple Leafs winger Zach Hyman to a seven-year deal worth $38.5 million.

Hyman, who played in Toronto for six years, is coming off a solid campaign that saw him score 15 goals and 33 points in 43 games played. He will provide secondary scoring behind McDavid who had 33 goals and 105 points along with Draisaitl who scored 84 points.

In another key move to acquire more scoring, the Edmonton Oilers pulled the trigger on a July deal that sent hard-hitting defenceman Ethan Bear to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for winger Warren Foegele.  

Foegele, who is only 25 years old, scored 10 goals and 20 points last year in 53 games played. In his career, he has played 200 games with Carolina where he produced 35 goals and 68 points.

Two other forwards who signed with Edmonton Oilers was free agent left winger Brendan Perlini and center Derek Ryan.

Perlini, who was drafted 12th overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft by the Arizona Coyotes, played 21 games last season in the Swiss-A league, where he scored 9 goals and 16 points in 21 games for the Ambri-Piotta.  In his career, Perlini has played 239 NHL games with the Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks, and Detroit Red Wings.

Meanwhile, Ryan who last season scored 2 goals and 13 points with the Calgary Flames, signed a two-year 2.5 million dollar contract.

Other offseason moves at forward include buying out the contract of veteran left-winger James Neal and getting centerman Tim Soderlund from the Chicago Blackhawks in the Duncan Keith deal.  

Following a solid season, the Edmonton Oilers decided in late July to re-sign veteran goalie Mike Smith to a two-year $4.4 million dollar contract. Last year, Smith put together a 21-6-2 record with a .923 save percentage and 2.31 GAA.

On August 1st, the Oilers made big news when they locked up their number one defenceman Darnell Nurse to an eight-year $74 million dollar extension. Nurse is coming off a solid campaign which saw him score 16 goals and 36 points.

Another big addition Edmonton Oilers made came in a blockbuster trade with the Chicago Blackhawks which landed them 38 year old defenceman Duncan Keith. Keith brings experience to the Oilers blueline and he is a three-time Stanley Cup winner. During his career with Chicago, he played 1,192 games and produced 105 goals along with 625 points.

Also re-signing with the Oilers was veteran offensive defenceman Tyson Barrie who in late July agreed to a three-year deal worth $13.5 million. This power-play specialist last year led the Oilers blueline with 48 points.

The Oilers lost three physical hard-hitting shock-blocking defenceman in Bear who was traded to Carolina and Adam Larson who went to the expansion Seattle Kraken and Caleb Jones who went to the Chicago Blackhawks.

 Also in late July, Edmonton improved their blueline by signing former Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Cody Ceci to a four-year $13 million dollar contract.

Edmonton should be an improved team this year but are still not a Stanley Cup contender. 

Follow us at GoucheLive for daily hockey updates.

Check out The Gouche Live Podcast!

Embed from Getty Images

By Jordan Laroche

Having played his minor Hockey career in Saskatchewan, Rene Bourque made the move to Alberta at 19 years old to play for the St. Albert Saints in the AJHL. After just one season in St. Albert, Bourque committed to the University of Wisconsin where he played for four years. His last year in the NCAA, Bourque was given the “C” to represent them as a captain, that year he had 16 goals, 20 assists for 36 points in 42 games.

After his last year at Wisconsin, Bourque was signed by the Chicago Blackhawks, but spent the 2004-2005 season with the team’s affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals. He had an impressive rookie campaign where he had 60 points in 75 games, along with 105 penalty minutes.

This caught the eye of the Blackhawks, and Bourque would start the 2005-2006 season in the NHL.

After three seasons in Chicago, Bourque was traded to the Calgary Flames in exchange for a second round pick. In the 2008-2009 season Bourque hit his stride with the Flames, and he set a personal season high in his second year with the Flames where he had 27 goals, 50 points in 80 games.

However, injuries during his first season with the Flames would plague his career, as for the next four seasons he struggled to play in more than 40 games in a single season.

Bourque would spend the rest of his NHL career bouncing between a few teams including the Montreal Canadiens, Anaheim Ducks, Colorado Avalanche and the Columbus Blue Jackets. But his last season of professional Hockey he played for Djurgardens IF in the Swedish Hockey League.

The same year he was chosen to represent Canada at the Olympics, and was recognized as an Assistant Captain on the team. Bourque had an impressive tournament where he had 4 points in 6 games and Canada would win the Bronze Medal that year.

Ray also traveled on the Ice Hockey Classic tours and was not only an amazing player but a tremendous ambassador for the game and our causes. Ray is always an incredible person, when Kerry Goulet’s sister was extremely sick in Kelowna, he went out of his way to visit her in the hospital and kept Kerry informed on her condition.

Embed from Getty Images

By Jordan Laroche

For John Scott an NHL career seemed like a long shot, but against all odds, he became an NHL All-Star.

The Edmonton native started his Junior career with the Thorold Blackhawks, in what is now the GOJHL, tallying just 11 points in 40 games. He would move on to play for the Chicago Freeze in the NAHL where he would put up 12 points in 53 games. While Scott’s offensive numbers seemed low for a young forward, he made up for it with his physicality with 99 and 240 penalty minutes respectively.

His year with the Chicago Freeze was enough for him to earn a spot on Michigan Tech’s team. Scott would do much of the same as he had 350 penalty minutes in 126 NCAA games. Scott would finish his four years at Michigan Tech if his Hockey dream failed, but as a Free Agent in 2006, Scott would sign with the Houston Aeros in the AHL.

Scott would spend the next two years with the Aeros, where he would put up a combined nine points and 291 penalty minutes before being called up by the Minnesota Wild. After one more stint in the AHL during the 2008-2009 season, Scott would spend the majority of his career in the NHL playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres, San Jose Sharks and the Arizona Coyotes.

Scott would be named an NHL All-Star during the 2015-2016 season, in what was one of the biggest storylines in the NHL over the past decade. Scott had just one point in 11 games after spending much of the season as a healthy scratch. But with the NHL allowing fans to pick who they wanted to appear in the All-Star game. As a result, Scott received the most votes of anyone in the NHL that season, which allowed him to be a captain for the All-Star game. Scott became the only player in NHL history to make it to the All-Star game while not playing in the NHL, also stating in his book “A Guy Like Me” that the NHL tried to persuade him to not play in the game. Another exciting story about John is the fact right after his All-Star MVP win, he joined the Ice Hockey Classic Australian tour where is was selected to the All-Star team and was Player of the Game. He enjoyed it so much he saved a page to talk about his experience in his book. He was not only a tremendous asset ion the ice as he entertained the large crowds but he was even more impressive off the ice.

“John Scott is a giant of a man but one of the nicest ice hockey players I have ever met. He took time to sign ever autograph, pose for every picture and took time telling stories, class act.” – Aaron Cusack, Melbourne, Australia

“I have had several unbelievable characters join us on the Classic Down Under, like Eric Neilson, Kyle Quincey, Tim Stapleton and the man “Brent Burns” but no like John. Larger than life, always smiling and joking with his teammates and the crowd and a very talented player in his own right. He brought his beautiful family and we saw first-hand what a wonderful husband and father he was too,” – Kerry Goulet, Global Director of the IHC.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

By Jordan Laroche

Nick Paul started his professional career with the Brampton Battalion in the OHL during the 2012-2013 season, the same year he was drafted in the 4^th round (101^st overall) by the Dallas Stars. Paul would stay in Brampton for two more seasons scoring 46 and 66 points, respectively, before making his Team Canada debut at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship. Paul would score three goals in seven games for the Canadians as they took home the Gold Medal at the tournament.

Paul’s first taste of the NHL came in the 2015-2016 season where he had five points in 24 games as he split time between the Ottawa Senators and their AHL affiliate at the time, the Binghamton Senators Paul’s highest NHL point totals have come from his last two seasons where he tallied 20 points in 56 games both seasons.

In 2019 Paul participated in the Ice Hockey Classic in Australia and New Zealand. He put on the Team Canada jersey with pride and was an incredible ambassador as well as a star in the series. He gave an allstar performance both on and off the ice.

“Nick Paul is a true sportsman. Not only did he have chat with my 10-year old nephew during pre-game warm-up at the 2019 Ice Hockey Classic but he found him after the game and gave him a signed puck and his hockey stick” – Michelle Bond, Australia

What will most likely be Paul’s highest accomplishment would be scoring the OT winner against Finland at the 2021 IIHF World Championship Final, securing another Gold Medal for Canada. The Canadian team had a tough start to the tournament going 0-3, so chances for them to even qualify for the elimination games were slim. But the group came together quickly after losing their first three games, beating the Russian Olympic Committee and Team USA on route to a 3-2 Overtime win against the Finns.