Edmonton Oilers: Top 10 moments from 2015

Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

Number One: Connor McDavid

April 18th, 2015

April 18th, 2015 goes down as one of those days where you can remember exactly where you were when it happened. I remember where I was: I was at my friend Matt’s house, with his wife and our friend Bobby. We were watching the Draft Lottery for giggles. I thought, for sure, he’d be going to Arizona or Toronto. I mean, it was meant to be Toronto right? A Toronto Boy, one of the best prospects in the past ten years, had to go to Toronto.

Number Five: Carolina Hurricanes. Number Four, after some build up, The Toronto Maple Leafs. When it was Number Three, I had a funny feeling: wouldn’t it be a riot, if the Oilers won?

Sure enough. Number Three. “We have a winner!”

Bedlam. All four of us were jumping up and down, screaming. I called my brother, my dad and another friend, to let them know the news.

The Edmonton Oilers won the Draft Lottery. The Edmonton Oilers were going to draft Connor McDavid.

I immediately ordered a 97 McDavid jersey right afterwards.

June 26th, 2015. 

The Edmonton Oilers made it no surprise: Connor McDavid was drafted first overall. The most hyped prospect, the best since Sidney Crosby, is an Edmonton Oiler! Also debuted, was the Orange Oilers jersey.

Rookie Development Camp:

Since it was summer I decided to check out every day of development camp. The turnout for a rookie camp was unreal: it was moved to Rexall Place. There were loud cheers as McDavid stepped on the ice and even louder cheers when he shot the puck during warm up.

The scrimmage game was free and the entire bottom bowl was filled. McDavid only scored five goals effortlessly that night.

The Season:

McDavid started slowly enough: within the first four games, he had one goal, which was his first of his career against Dallas. Then, after the Calgary Flames game, McDavid would go on a tear: he would produce 12 points in 13 games played.

However, 2015 was cut short for McDavid. On November 3rd, against the Philadelphia Flyers, McDavid hit a rut and went hard into the boards with two Flyers on top of him. The Oilers would win, but McDavid would be out for months with a broken Clavicle. Go figure, this was the first game of the year that I went to.

What McDavid brings to the organization is hard to explain. After such a dreadful season last year, as a fan, I felt like I was at my limit. However, after a set of lottery balls were revealed, everything changed for the Edmonton Oilers.

In came Peter Chiarelli and Todd McLellan. Andrej Sekera, one of the most sought after Free Agents, said that McDavid was a factor for him joining the team.

It was just about the team either. The city was, and still is, in a complete buzz about this 18 year old wonder kid. His Rookie Card, the Young Gun released in November, was a mania in Edmonton that was not seen since Sidney Crosby. Buying those packs or boxes hoping to grab a McDavid? Good luck. Retailers supplies started to dwindle.

Number one Jersey seller in stores? Connor McDavid. Most talked about player in Edmonton? It’s still Connor McDavid, as we eagerly await any update on his injury.

Next: Edmonton Oilers May Have Deep Trade in Works

It’s a damn shame that his 2015 Calendar year ended the way it did, because McDavid was starting to live up to all the hype and then some.