It may not have been one of those season defining moments we all went on to describe as something “you just had to be there for,” but as anyone who watched the Edmonton Oilers in 2023 will say, “that was rough.”
The Oilers had a series loaded and almost executed against a group of Las Vegas Golden Knights they still say didn’t win, that they just lost.
Take a minute to figure that out, because so is Adam Henrique.
“I think we were playing really good at the time,” argued Henrique while reminiscing about a series that remains all to fresh compared to the one that’s just been secured.
A “little self inflicted wounds” that’s lingered as a reminder to the Oilers of what could have been.
Missed opportunities will do that to a team.
The kind of opportunities that make them tie a series twice before going 0-2 until a heartbreaking game six, that still get’s dredged up a couple years later.
Much like a certain other final recently experienced, the frustration just lingers, kind of like the Vegas heat, or poor reffing, or…
“A little chip on your shoulder. Playing against a team that knocked a lot of these guys out a few years ago. I’m sure that’s (the case) for us,” guessed offseason signing, Connor Brown who views Vegas as just “another team in the way.”
“They score a lot of goals off the rush, and they have a high powered offence. Their Defence jump into play. And they also defend it in their own zone, so it’s tough to get the net.”
Oh, and for last minutes sakes.
“Making sure we’re not giving them odd-man rushes.”
It’s all very scientific and calculated. Almost as if no ill will remains between players not yet present with organization at the time.
The Oilers head coach perhaps?
As Kris Knoblauch pointed out following an optional practice on May 3rd, the big components from each team have remained largely the same as their 2023 selves — Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, Shea Theodore, Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, to name a few.
“Of course, there’s been some change. A lot of time has passed, but I think there’s some things that we can take from it, whether it was line match ups, who did well, who didn’t, what they were looking to do, their systems are very similar,” per Knoblauch, while addressing if he feels removed the “redemption” sentiments.
“I think there may be a little bit of information that’s relevant to going forward, but most of it, I think, is just noise.”
Again, he’s one year removed from a lingering blow that could be classified as background noise, if there weren’t elements so plainly obvious.
To start. This is the National Hockey League, these are still hockey players, and old grudge style redemption games en route to a Stanley Cup have never tasted so good.
Even when guys were dropping like flies before the playoffs, and the Oilers rolled into LA on two wheels. Or even when the Knights almost handed Marc-André Fleury a slightly better ending to his career.
And so, Knoblauch’s unwanted noise remains just as real as Henriques desire to play his game, play it well, and get one past the knights for old times sake.
“I felt like we kind of let it slip out of our hands, and they’re a good team over there, and they ended up winning,” remarked Henrique. “So for sure, that one stuck with us.”
