Twitter feed ©2025 BellMedia All Rights Reserved EdmontonNewsFire damages garage at Edmonton townhouse complexBy Karyn MulcahyPublished: May 05, 2025 at 1:55PM EDT Join the conversation You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account A large wildfire broke out in the Redwater Provincial Recreation Area on Saturday prompting Sturgeon County to declare a state of local emergency on Sunday as crews continue to battle an out-of-control fire Sturgeon County sent out a media release late Saturday night confirming the areas affected are from Range Road 205 to Victoria Trail Township Road 574 to Range Road 205 and Township Road 574 to Range Road 203 Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience The county said the size of the fire is roughly 110 hectares Gina Slaney said this wildfire is one of four reported across the province on Saturday and two active fires are near Frog Lake First Nation RCMP announced that RCMP in Grande Prairie are helping assist a wildfire that broke out southwest of the city in the area between Township Road 710 to Highway 40 RCMP detachments in Sturgeon County have worked to direct traffic and knock on doors to notify residents of the wildfires and issue evacuation notices to some residents “Because of the amount of wildfires in the last few years the RCMP are very prepared for wildfires that may come up and we have the resources in place for instances like this.” Earlier Saturday night it was reported the fire in Sturgeon County had jumped the North Saskatchewan River but it was confirmed hours later that it didn’t cross the river By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc The next issue of Headline News will soon be in your inbox Interested in more newsletters? 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Sturgeon County reported that one home was lost in the fire and a herd of cattle was moved to a safer location “The last report I got from the fire chief was that the fire was east of the town of Redwater and moving in the southeast direction towards the (North Saskatchewan) river so we’re lucky that it didn’t reach our community,” said Ken Van Buul chief administrative officer for the town of Redwater Van Buul said he was told by fire crews that as of early Sunday morning they were putting fire suppression systems around some buildings and likely some residence in the area to ensure that roofs don’t catch fire especially when it’s that close to anybody’s home and our thoughts are with everybody at the town of Redwater for anyone who’s lost their residence or any land,” Van Buul said “I know that all our neighbours know that if there’s anything that we can do we’re certainly going to do anything we can to help out and assist.” The county is asking residents in the area to stay away from Redwater Provincial Recreation Area to allow emergency crews time and space to put out the fires All roads in the area are open to local traffic only The county said in its advisory that there isn’t a need for volunteers or extra support from outside agencies at this time Residents in the area are on evacuation notice until further notice and the county said in a media release on Sunday afternoon that fire crews are still working to put out the wildfires and the situation is evolving transmission or republication strictly prohibited This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. 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By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy You can manage saved articles in your account EdmontonOilers get 2nd shot at Golden Knights: ‘Everything’s magnified when we play Vegas’By The Canadian PressPublished: May 04, 2025 at 9:54PM EDT it at least appears as if Head Coach Kris Knoblauch will not screw with a good thing The Oilers hit their stride with this configuration against L.A Kris Knoblauch has frequently practiced one version of his lineup and played the other who was not coaching when Vegas eliminated Edmonton a couple seasons back: “I just see a bunch of that are as always motivated No matter who our opponent is (sic) my perspective I would think that no matter who we are playing our guys would be in this frame of mind as they are right now” On a healthier lineup as opposed to the start of the L.A series: “I wasn’t really sure what we were going to have just with guys coming back from injury” we’re going to have to adjust especially in Vegas they’ve got last change” Knoblauch notes how different The Golden Knights roster and systems are than L.A. and concluded “It’s going to be a much different series” Kane and Hyman being so productive against Los Angeles (xGoals% of 76.6 in Round One) it affords Knoblauch the opportunity to stick with McDavid and Draisaitl on the same line this could change from game-to-game and shift-to-shift went on to win the cup so definitely want to even things up Hyman added “This group (the Oilers) is finding its identity Its the first time in a while we are healthier than we usually are (but) we’re still missing a big piece obviously on the back end but up front obviously we have a lot of different looks” on facing Vegas: “Look forward to it obviously It was only a couple years ago when they beat us McDavid added “Looking forward to getting to Vegas and getting started Gotta find a way to start the series better”” At some point Stuart Skinner needs to play again but makes sense (again) for Pickard to at least get Game One Impossible to argue that he has not earned it Oilers broadcaster Bob Stauffer listed Pickard first Pickard: “We gotta be detailed and limit our mistakes cause Vegas is a well-rounded team with basically everything Knoblauch: “We’ll make that announcement (starter) before Game One” wondered if Troy Stecher would draw back in it would seem…even though Emberson has seen limited minutes (7:05 TOI in Game Six) But Stecher is now a healthy option (as he was in Game Six • Jeff Skinner remains in the press box despite a solid Game One I support running a winning lineup right back out there The Best-of-Seven series with the Golden Knights begins Tuesday in Vegas Game Three will be Saturday at Rogers Place There’s a major difference between contenders and pretenders a difference that was evident in both Vegas’ and Edmonton’s first-round series the Golden Knights and Oilers showed exactly why they’ve been frequent fliers past the first round — and why the Minnesota Wild and Los Angeles Kings were first-round fodder once again Now comes the true test: a battle between two teams equally equipped to win it all The Oilers start with a modest 52-48 edge in this series but there are a lot of variables that could tilt the scales in either direction The main one is the status of Pavel Dorofeyev which is one reason the Oilers are favored the Golden Knights’ odds would improve to 49 percent There’s also the matter of Edmonton’s goaltending situation As admirable as Calvin Pickard’s performance was against the Kings he’s still far from a safe bet as a career backup but his game has higher highs — enough to be considered a stronger option but more starts for Skinner would increase Edmonton’s odds further The teams weren’t all that different at five-on-five this year They both hovered around the 54 percent mark in expected goals to round out the top five in the league Their expected goal creation and suppression weren’t far off each other either — Vegas just had better results on both ends of the ice Scoring goals wasn’t a problem for Edmonton in Round 1 The Oilers poured chances on the Kings with a league-high rate of 3.44 xGF/60 (and scored 2.83 per 60 Vegas generated some good looks against Minnesota there may be an opportunity to do more damage at five-on-five which was one of the highest-scoring power plays in the regular season were red hot on the advantage in the playoffs so this may come down to whose penalty kill can return to form after a leaky first round The Oilers’ and Golden Knights’ expected goals against each jumped by more than three goals per 60 in Round 1 compared to the regular season The difference was Vegas’ goaltending controlled chaos with only three goals against in six games Can Vegas’ defense slow down Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl It stands to reason that having Minnesota as their first-round opponent was an ideal bit of practice for the Golden Knights the Wild have sublime offensive talents at the top of the forward group and then Vegas should hope its top pair learned a lesson With Alex Pietrangelo and Noah Hanifin on the ice together at five-on-five Vegas was outscored 5-2 and controlled just 43 percent of the expected goals That’s probably not going to work against McDavid and Draisaitl It’s also a bit of deviation from Pietrangelo/Hanifin’s regular-season numbers; in more than 770 minutes together they solidly controlled the run of play with an expected goal share of about 55 percent Vegas was outscored 38-32 with them on the ice but that had plenty to do with goaltending If the Games 3-5 version of Adin Hill shows up for the Golden Knights What should be a bit more concerning for Vegas is that it wasn’t always Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy doing the damage against Pietrangelo/Hanifin A lot of it came with Ryan Hartman on the ice — Minnesota held a 3-1 goal edge and 60/40 expected goal share with him on the ice against Pietrangelo The Shea Theodore-Brayden McNabb pair also got plenty of minutes against the top line and did an OK job territorially — playing to about an even split in expected goals — but was outscored 4-2 with Kaprizov on the ice even if it’s only forced upon the Golden Knights when they’re on the road and Theodore individually was outstanding against Minnesota It’ll also be interesting to see if Bruce Cassidy sticks with the pairings he rolled out for Game 6 against Minnesota but was chasing the puck for most of the night Pietrangelo’s most frequent partner was Zach Whitecloud; in about 10 minutes together Minnesota outshot Vegas 8-2 and scored a goal Theodore-McNabb was the only pairing to win its minutes overall but still lost in scoring attempts (8-5) and shot attempts (21-12) It’s ultimately a two-pronged issue for the Golden Knights Stopping McDavid and Draisaitl is one thing; we know teams can survive simply by not letting those two run wild taking their lumps and truly handling business with the rest of the forwards group showed real signs of scoring depth in the first round against one of the best defensive teams in the league but it’s fair to wonder whether it’s equipped to handle a team with two of the world’s best at the top of the lineup and a handful of competent players dotting the rest of it Are we witnessing a John Klingberg renaissance who do you think had the highest average Game Score for Edmonton in the first round If you guessed someone — anyone — other than John Klingberg whether it was a flash in the pan or a legitimate sign he’d turned back the clock finished the series against Los Angeles with three really strong outings Edmonton outscored the Kings 4-1 with Klingberg on the ice and controlled more than 63 percent of the expected goals When Klingberg was paired with Jake Walman The two of them (or even just Klingberg) managing something similar against the Golden Knights would be a major development That Klingberg is contributing at all to a playoff team in 2025 is a development in itself; he missed more than a year after double hip surgery and spent years in decline before that he was a force as a skater and playmaker along the blue line injuries and chaotic defensive play seemingly took their toll and Edmonton’s signing of him in January seemed like a Hail Mary We all know exactly why the Oilers win games The two best players in the world are an unstoppable force capable of dragging an otherwise middling (if that) roster to some very high places Edmonton’s top duo has a combined projected Net Rating of plus-51 If you ever wondered how good a team would be with the two best players in the world and an otherwise average lineup their combined plus-5.9 Net Rating in six games translates to plus-81 per 82 games As gruesome as the rest of the roster looks on paper they actually delivered when it mattered in the opening round That’s sparked some real optimism in Edmonton Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins finally looked closer to their usual selves with five points apiece and Hyman earning 66 percent of the expected goals Evander Kane provided a vital offensive spark after a year on the shelf Corey Perry and Vasily Podkolzin all found the scoresheet at least three times with Brown earning a surprising five points Mattias Janmark scored as many goals in six games as he did in 80 games this season And Adam Henrique was a stabilizing defensive presence in the bottom six For a team whose top concern was forward depth going into the playoffs the Oilers couldn’t have scripted a better opening round for the entire group While the expectation should still be that the depth is probably a weakness their ability to rise to the occasion and elevate their games when it matters most is extremely notable It makes the Oilers much more difficult to game plan against as they’re starting to prove they are capable beyond McDavid and Draisaitl It was especially true in the final two games; those very depth players combined for eight goals while McDavid and Draisaitl sat back and relaxed with a single assist between them That duo may have brought the Oilers back from the brink but the team’s depth put them over the top where the depth stepped up in Mattias Ekholm’s absence; Walman Klingberg and Brett Kulak all played incredible hockey against the Kings The new concern: Can Evan Bouchard and Darnell Nurse handle the heat at the top of the lineup that pair has been on the ice for seven goals in 58 minutes with a middling xG percentage The Oilers allowed only seven goals in 254 minutes otherwise (1.65 GA/60) Bouchard at least added enough individual offense to make up for it the team’s top pair has not been good enough allowing 3.24 xGA/60 is a recipe for disaster given each player’s penchant for adventurous chaos but their performance so far shows just how valuable Ekholm is — as a stabilizing presence next to Bouchard and as someone who allows Nurse to thrive in secondary matchups Vegas’ top four is as solid as it gets with four legit top-pair options Where Vegas’ blue line differs from Los Angeles’ is in the amount of offense coming from the back end the Golden Knights have the horses to go toe-to-toe with Edmonton’s dynamic blue line They can keep up with the run-and-gun hockey in a way the Kings couldn’t and are also stable enough defensively to hold the fort it’s noticeable how defensively sound everyone is from top to bottom Mark Stone and William Karlsson — are complete players The difference between Vegas’ best and Los Angeles’ best up front is that their offensive game is more reliable Eichel is obviously a massive part of that a true franchise player capable of putting up 90 points It’s not just about slowing down Edmonton’s best Eichel is better equipped for that than any Kings player Eichel and Stone struggled early in the series at five-on-five but were dynamite once Karlsson moved up to the top line Can Vegas afford to stack the deck like that against the Oilers That probably depends on how the Oilers line up and whether they choose to split up McDavid and Draisaitl the Golden Knights do have real depth down the lineup Tomas Hertl is still an effective top-line player anchoring the second line while Ivan Barbashev Brandon Saad and Nicolas Roy provide an edge in the middle six It’s those players that need to be the difference in this series for Vegas They need to be able to make up for whatever damage McDavid and Draisaitl do The top guys can only do so much in that battle the biggest question mark for Vegas right now might be between the pipes The Oilers made a Vezina finalist look mortal and Adin Hill hasn’t exactly been sharp in these playoffs His .880 save percentage and minus-1.3 GSAx ranked third last in the playoffs among starters Vegas has the goaltending edge no matter who starts for the Oilers the Golden Knights will need Hill’s best self The last time the Oilers and Golden Knights faced off in the playoffs Eichel and McDavid didn’t see much of each other at five-on-five Neither team opted for a power-versus-power matchup Eichel’s all-around game has taken strides over the last couple of years and now he takes on matchup minutes for the Golden Knights McDavid always sees his opponents’ best shutdown talents but few have the offensive game that Eichel brings These are elite skaters in transition who can play end-to-end against each other It should make for a star-powered battle between two of the West’s best centers If you’re more about depth and “heavy hockey,” you’re with Vegas Stylistic differences can make for great entertainment and everything about this series suggests it’ll deliver in a big way How these projections work Understanding projection uncertainty  Evolving Hockey Natural Stat Trick Hockey Reference NHL All Three Zones Tracking by Corey Sznajder (Top photo of Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel: Ethan Miller / Getty Images) Police are investigating after a head-on collision between a truck and an SUV in west Edmonton on Thursday night killed a 46-year-old man a 2024 Ford Bronco was travelling west on Yellowhead Trail near Winterburn Road when it crossed the median into the eastbound lane and collided with a 2018 Ford F-350 Police said the Bronco ended up flipping on its side and catching fire The 46-year-old man driving the Bronco died on scene driving the pick-up truck along with a 43-year-old woman and nine-year-old boy were sent to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries The EPS major crime investigation section is continuing their investigation have died after a head-on vehicle crash south of Edmonton Mounties say an GMC Acadia was passing other vehicles on Highway 2A just north of Ponoka on Saturday when it struck an oncoming Volkswagen Tiguan They say a 41-year-old woman driving the Acadia died at the scene A 26-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy inside the other SUV were also pronounced dead A second 14-year-old boy in the Tiguan was taken by air ambulance to hospital but died Police have charged a 21-year-old man with second-degree murder in connection with the death of a 33-year-old man in west Edmonton earlier this week officers responded to a disturbance in the area of 56 Avenue and 199 Street Officers located a vehicle with a man dead inside and the death was determined to be suspicious and police said they aren’t looking for any other suspects involved at this time An autopsy was conducted on Thursday and it was determined that Emanuelle Moraga of Saskatoon died of multiple gunshot wounds Police have laid charges against one of the men taken into custody of Edmonton has been charged with second-degree murder The other man who was initially taken into custody along with Boyaci has been released Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Katheryn Speck said she used to be a Canadian nationalist travelled the world with a maple leaf on her backpack and once lived in Quebec so she could become fluently bilingual We apologize, but this video has failed to load.Try refreshing your browser, ortap here to see other videos from our team.Play VideoArticle contentBut on Saturday she was among hundreds of people who rallied at the Alberta legislature to support separation from Canada with many in the crowd waving Alberta flags and a few even displaying the U.S I’m literally crushed that we’ll never be represented in this country and there’s never a chance of changing the government,” Speck said Get a dash of perspective along with the trending news of the day in a very readable format The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox Premier Danielle Smith’s government proposed legislation that would lower the bar for holding a referendum While Smith told reporters she won’t presuppose what questions Albertans might bring to a ballot the move would make it easier for citizens to call for a vote to secede from Canada The federal Liberals’ election win Monday has also prompted some people in the province to demand an exit Speck said the National Energy Policy of the 1980s eroded her Canadian pride a decade of Liberal policies that she said have blocked pipelines and stymied the province’s energy industry have her thinking there’s no fix under Confederation a 17-year-old who attended Saturday’s rally said she might have felt differently about separation if the Conservatives had won I feel we’d have a lot more hope than a third or fourth Liberal term which is just going to ruin our country,” Henze said said Canadians are worried about losing auto manufacturing jobs due to U.S but they don’t seem concerned about protecting jobs in Alberta’s oil and gas sector “I don’t see how a province like Quebec takes all of our dirty money but they won’t let a dirty pipeline go through Quebec to aid an oil refinery in New Brunswick,” Jensen said A few dozen counter-protesters attempted to drown out the rally many holding signs saying that separation would violate treaties with First Nations Piikani Nation Chief Troy Knowlton said in a letter earlier this week that it’s understandable many in the West are frustrated their rejection of the federal Liberal party in the election didn’t play out elsewhere But he said Alberta doesn’t have the authority to interfere with or negate treaties On her provincewide radio call-in show on Saturday the premier said she fully respects treaty rights “Everything I do is changing Alberta’s relationship with Ottawa First Nations have their own relationship with Ottawa and that’s enshrined in treaty Smith threatened a “national unity crisis” if the next prime minister doesn’t acquiesce to a list of her demands within six months but reiterated this week that she supports a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada Rally attendee Susan Westernaier said she believed everything would be better if Alberta separated noting she believed Monday’s election was rigged This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. 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By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy The Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations is weighing in on talks of separatism and calling Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s “promotion” of the idea of a referendum “reckless.” Talks of separatism have regained steam after the federal election and are being pushed further after Smith’s government tabled legislation that would lower the threshold for citizen initiatives to call for a referendum Grand Chief Greg Desjarlais of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations called on Smith to “abandon this dangerous rhetoric” and for her to recognize that treaty obligations “are not optional.” He added the treaty relationship between First Nations and the Crown cannot be “dismissed or overridden by separatist ambition.” “Let us be absolutely clear: our nations do not and will never consent to the separation of our treaty territories The grand chief said Smith’s recent comments and actions regarding Alberta potentially separating from Canada are a violation of the treaty relationship between First Nations and the Crown Chief Sheldon Sunshine of Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation and Mikisew Cree Nation Chief Billy-Joe Tuccaro accused Smith in their cease-and-desist letter from April 30 of making “irresponsible statements” and said the actions are in breach of Treaties No “Alberta did not exist when our ancestors agreed to share the land with the Crown The province has no authority to supersede or interfere with our treaties even indirectly by passing the buck to a ‘citizen’ referendum,” the letter said responded to letters from two other First Nations chiefs accusing her that the proposed legislation does not breach treaty rights “Any Albertan can put an idea forward on any topic and if they’re able to get the number of signatures and that includes a vote of members of First Nations and we encourage Indigenous peoples to participate in the process,” she said Leaders of four First Nations in Southern Alberta have weighed in saying “First Nations will not separate” and efforts to separate will be met with “full opposition.” The statement from Friday is signed by Chief Roy Whitney of Tsuut’ina Nation Chief Aaron Young of Chiniki Nation and Chief Clifford Poucette of Goodstoney First Nation Indigenous Relations Minister Rick Wilson told reporters on Thursday that the province is advocating for a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada and has made the position clear when speaking with chiefs “If somebody else is saying something different and there’s a lot of that going on right now the mothership has crashed for the NDP and they’re looking for issues out there,” Wilson said Alberta NDP Indigenous relations critic Brooks Arcand-Paul said he’s heard from chiefs across the province who are standing solid against talks of separation and said Smith needs to “say no to separatism.” “We need her to stay firm and say that she stands with the chiefs that Alberta will never be separated from the rest of Canada The treaties are formational to this province and she needs to remember that they have an obligation to their constituents with respect to how we move this forward,” Arcand-Paul said — With files from The Canadian Press and Matthew Black ambitious visions of a Paris on the Prairies the focus is not on city-building so much as city-fixing — a natural instinct that comes from being an engineer by trade That’s a decidedly unsexy way to run a campaign but it may also be the game plan Edmonton needs right now directly and with a confidence born of two terms under the city hall pyramids It felt like the kind of speech he’s been waiting to give for seven years and it easily allowed him to pass the eye and ear test as a mayoral figure it’s still mostly in the plans-to-make-plans stage without a lot of specifics in what became the unofficial tagline of the event “I want to surround myself with people who want to get sh– done Not talkers who want to talk about what should happen.” Excessive restraint can carry as much risk as ambition but Cartmell is likely right to sense a mood among voters for modesty I suspect we will soon hear similar refrains from other candidates there is simply too much uncertainty these days what can be promised these days that isn’t subject to considerable doubt And even if these broader political pressures eased the city’s internal financial struggles still don’t allow for much investment Cartmell’s major promise Thursday was to appoint a blue-ribbon panel to dig into the city’s budget line by line and help make Edmonton’s taxes more competitive (That suggests a significant tweak to the city’s new zoning bylaw which has increased density allowances throughout Edmonton) But they’re the foundation of a functioning city,” he said “We can’t afford to be the city that almost got it right.” parts of the speech came across as an indictment of the current mayor and council “We should have slowed our roll on a few things we approved.” That was refreshing to hear and yet I think there will be questions as to whether Cartmell’s accountability goes far enough Despite his opposition to recent high tax hikes it’s fair to ask about spending choices — police and whether he made sufficient efforts to find savings Those won’t be easy conversations with voters Another intriguing moment came when Cartmell talked about plans for building a party His comments revealed a further evolution of his views on municipal parties which have moved from initially decrying their introduction to reluctantly embracing their financial advantages to now touting some political benefits as well Cartmell argued city hall can be more effective if it is governed by a bunch of teammates that have been practicing together for months ahead of time rather than having a collection of strangers try to figure it out together I don’t know that I entirely agree with that diagnosis The current council has certainly had its dysfunctions at times perhaps in part due to a heavy presence of rookies over veterans but that situation is something of an anomaly among the council dynamics I’ve observed over the years it was interesting to see Cartmell vehemently push back against any ideological or political characterizations that might pin him down the label he seems to covet most is that of engineer “A pothole doesn’t know if it’s liberal or conservative,” he said while acknowledging Cartmell still has a lot of holes to fill in his policy platform Thursday’s speech was still a tonally strong start to the campaign — particularly in his focus on fixing the old over fabricating the new we don’t want this to kickstart a race to the bottom and yet serious candidates should feel a responsibility to keep their commitments contained there is merit in making this the election of modest promises kgerein@postmedia.com EDMONTON - The Edmonton Oilers head into an NHL second-round playoff series with the Vegas Golden Knights looking to make up for a series that got away just two years ago The two teams also met at this point in the 2023 post-season with Vegas beating the Oilers in six games en route to winning the Stanley Cup who had Cup aspirations that year before running into the Golden Knights Vegas won Game 1 and never trailed in the series "We feel like we have another good team (and) as good as chance as anyone, so looking forward to getting to Vegas and getting started," Edmonton captain Connor McDavid said Sunday "(But we've) got to find a way to start the series better Vegas will host Game 1 on Tuesday and remains a tough opponent The Golden Knights' goals four to goals against differential of plus-56 this season was tops in the Pacific Division and second in the Western Conference Both teams have issues between the pipes. Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said his Game 1 starter is a game-time decision after Calvin Pickard took over from Stuart Skinner last round when the Oilers fell into a 2-0 hole against the Los Angeles Kings Adin Hill allowed four goals in back-to-back games as Minnesota took a 2-1 lead last round but he looked better by the end of the series as Vegas came back to take it in six games Both teams bring a wealth of recent playoff experience the Oilers advanced to Game 7 of last year's Stanley Cup final a year after Vegas won it all Both teams were able to "test the waters" in preparation for a likely playoff series back on April 1 with the Oilers coming out with 3-2 win after a goal-heavy second period and nothing to follow Everything is magnified when we play Vegas "Obviously we got to be detailed and limit our mistakes cause their a well-rounded team with basically everything So it's going to be an exciting challenge."  Vegas selected Pickard from Colorado with the first pick of the 2017 expansion draft "I spent a month there in spring training camp but there's a lot of moving parts," said Pickard who was quickly traded to Toronto then picked up on waivers by Philadelphia that season Hyman was part of the Oilers team that lost to Vegas in 2023 While he acknowledges the teams are different now he says they have a chip on their collective shoulder "They beat us then landed the Cup," Hyman said Knoblauch acknowledged there might be some hard feelings against Vegas but doesn't believe the Oilers need that for motivation in the playoffs maybe there was some hatred," Knoblauch said I would think that no matter who we were playing our guys would be in this frame of mind as they are in right now." One area Knoblauch said the Oilers will have to address is the penalty kill Edmonton had a pedestrian 60 per cent kill rate against the Kings "I think the most important thing when assembling who's going to kill penalties is who is going to kill the penalty," Knoblauch said I think it's most important for us to have the personnel who's going to work well together and McDavid and (Zach) Hyman are good together and they have been out there for some of the kills."  This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4 2025) – The National Hockey League announced today the schedule for the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs The Pacific Division champion Vegas Golden Knights will face the Edmonton Oilers in a best-of-seven series that opens on Tuesday Puck drop between Vegas and Edmonton on Tuesday for Game 1 is scheduled for 6:30 p.m Fans can watch the series on ESPN or TBS (U.S.) and Sportsnet or TVA (Canada) All seven games will be broadcast on the VGK Radio Network presented by Lee’s Discount Liquor 1340 AM) and in Spanish on Deportes Vegas (1460 AM) Sign In Register – A Saskatoon man has been identified as the victim in a west Edmonton homicide earlier this week and a 21-year-old Edmonton man is now facing a charge of second-degree murder was found dead inside a vehicle in the area of 56 Avenue and 199 Street shortly after midnight on April 29 Edmonton Police Service (EPS) officers from the West Branch responded to reports of a disturbance at approximately 12:15 a.m. where they discovered Moraga deceased at the scene The circumstances surrounding the death were deemed suspicious and two males were taken into custody the same day Police indicated they were not seeking additional suspects at the time the Edmonton Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that Moraga died from multiple gunshot wounds Following an investigation by the EPS Homicide Section has been charged with second-degree murder The second male taken into custody has since been released without charges Police have not released details on the events leading up to the shooting EDMONTON — The Elks have made a series of moves in advance of next week’s Rookie Camp Edmonton has signed American quarterback William McElvain 185) joins the Green and Gold after spending the previous three seasons at the University of Central Arkansas (2022 to 2024) Iowa product completed 610 of 965 passes (63 per cent) for 7,163 yards McElvain spent four years at the University of Northern Iowa — redshirting in 2018 before dressing in 24 games from 2019 to 2021 McElvain set the school’s freshman passing record with 2,778 yards and 20 touchdowns He was named to the 2019 All-Newcomer Team and was named to the Phil Steele Freshman All-American Third Team © 2025 CFL ENTERPRISES LP. All rights reserved. Terms Of Use Privacy Policy We apologize, but this video has failed to load.Try refreshing your browser, ortap here to see other videos from our team.Play VideoArticle contentAlways have It started in my early 20s — back when I had a full head of hair and a press pass that could open almost any door except the ones to common sense I was covering wheelchair basketball across the western U.S I’d stumble into hotel dining rooms just in time to see the breakfast buffet being wheeled away drop a polite Canadian “eh?” into conversation like seasoning and ask if I could please still order bacon my hair looked like it was styled by a blender My T-shirt: In the process of a nervous breakdown And I was falling deeper in love with the quiet Coffee pots circled like Zambonis on remote Teams playing in the tournament stayed at the same hotel I scribbled in notebooks already stained with maple syrup The next issue of Edmonton Sun Headline News will soon be in your inbox Hardly TikTok-worthy display of fine motor skills But something happened last week that turned a regular breakfast into a story I’ll never forget the gorgeous restaurant on the northeast end of the J.W a Braven manager with kindness in her step and compassion in her eyes She remembered me from an earlier breakfast a few weeks ago one where Craig MacTavish helped me eat while Kevin Lowe shared stories placed her water bottle on the table like she had all day And when I asked for strawberry jam but got raspberry — an easy mix-up when your words run together — she swapped it without a word She didn’t post about it on all social platforms National Volunteer Week in Canada ended Saturday But what Geeta showed wasn’t just volunteerism  where the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation turns Rogers Place into a living classroom—where math sparking young minds through the power of place the lessons that stick aren’t on the scoreboard This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy EdmontonNewsSing it, Edmonton! Library releases free album for children by local artistsBy Karyn MulcahyPublished: May 05, 2025 at 1:53PM EDT EdmontonNewsProvince dedicates $141M in funding to Alberta Hospital Edmonton construction and improvementsBy Steven DyerPublished: May 05, 2025 at 4:14PM EDT Every year in CFL free agency there is a team that feels slightly chaotic This is a win now and keep winning business so any and all efforts should be taken to reach the end goal A hyperactive team in free agency always feels a bit dangerous and risky because you’re throwing so many pieces together in training camp and the science experiment can either work or create a tremendous explosion I have a feeling with new leadership in place from the top down in Edmonton this concoction will result in a much more exciting and successful Elks squad than we’ve seen the last few years it should be a more consistent team with Mark Kilam leading the room We all know Cody Fajardo is looming large in the background and will undoubtedly play some this year but this is now truly Tre Ford’s team for the first time in his career All offence goes through a play call designed around his strengths and should result in Tre having a season to remember as he attempts to prove all the doubters and naysayers wrong Leake shows promise as more than just a package player and with Rankin they could both stay healthy and offer a true change of pace keeping defences on their toes The role is still Tanner Green’s, but Bradley Hladik is next in line Green is one of the most consistent and reliable players across the league since being drafted out of Concordia back in 2018 and should help smooth any ruffled feathers in the now Ford-led backfield You’d be hard-pressed to find a more exciting trio of Canadians at any position on the same CFL roster Arkell Smith should get an increased role from 2024 but Canadian Zach Mathis is a big target who I believe will work his way from depth option to potential third Canadian starter by Labour Day Want to upgrade your secondary and get younger Just go target a pair of the top Canadian ballhawks on the market The Elks essentially have the new age Adam Bighill-Solomon Elimimian duo in Nyles Morgan and Nick Anderson Looking back through the hard numbers from 2024, it’s easy to see these guys stand head and shoulders above many big name linebackers in pure production and with Derrick Moncrief gone to Calgary the strong side ‘linebacker’ will be leaned on heavily to keep up with these two studs but if you’ve seen Toronto’s pass rush over the last couple years it makes all the sense in the world why a variety of Double Blue standouts have been targeted and landed in Northern Alberta Robbie Smith gets a real chance to be an All-CFL in this setup especially leaning on Jake Ceresna’s return as big Jake will get plenty of attention up front in pass protection Boris Bede was cut and is still a free agent but these appear to be the options to start 2025 Leake continues to work his magic at the returner position The sun shone bright in Edmonton on Sunday as a crowd of several hundred citizens gathered at Light Horse Park to observe the 80th anniversary of the Netherlands being liberated in the Second World War the Canadian Army was tasked with liberating the Netherlands after years of Nazi occupation Canadian forces fought bravely while sustaining heavy losses and ultimately accepted the Nazi surrender on May 4 which is recognized in the Netherlands as Liberation Day Canada’s role in freeing the Dutch formed a long-lasting bond between the two countries forged in the brutality of war Canada and the Netherlands continue to celebrate the liberation anniversary jointly 80 years later Salma Lakhani opened the ceremony and talked about the unique challenge of the liberation campaign by the Canadian Army while also highlighting the reverence for Canada that the Netherlands continues to have “Anyone who has ever visited the Netherlands will tell you their affection for Canada is as strong as ever,” said Lakhani “Today is a day to celebrate a hard-won victory of freedom over fascism but it is also an occasion to remember that democracy can vanish very quickly and that the fight against oppression and hate continues and must continue.” which included current and former members of the Canadian Army listened closely to speeches of remembrance who was a young boy when the Canadians liberated his hometown in the north telling the story of a Canadian soldier offering him and his friends their first stick of chewing gum before discussing again the deep respect from the Dutch towards Canadians “You and I cannot repay them for the sacrifices they made it is — it always will be  — that the Canadians liberated them,” said van der Meulen Several speakers at the ceremony referenced the nearly one million Canadians who claim Dutch heritage as proof of the two countries’ ongoing connection Among the Canadian-Dutch citizens is John Assen who was born in the Netherlands and sat with his wife Joyce in the sun The two donated to the Anne Frank statue that stands in the park and said they appreciate the chance to remember Canada’s role in the conflict “They really were important,” said John Assen recalling stories his father told him of Canadian soldiers calming the angered Dutch while handling the remaining Nazi soldiers after their surrender “Those Canadians were the original peacekeepers,” Joyce Assen said Commanding officer of the South Alberta Light Horse Regiment Thomas Bradley said the Canadian military’s efforts in liberating the Netherlands turned Canada and the Dutch into something more than allies “When it comes to the Netherlands and Canada and that’s as a consequence of the friendship and the suffering that both sides took in 1944 and 1945 and through acts of remembrance such as today’s,” said Bradley zdelaney@postmedia.com Alberta Premier Danielle Smith congratulated Prime Minister Mark Carney on winning the federal election and invited him to work with the province to “reset” the relationship between Ottawa and Alberta “The federal government has taken hostile actions against Alberta and against the Constitution and against our right to develop our resources and every action we have taken has been to reassert that the Constitution matters the division of powers matters,” Smith said is going to be able to change course remains to be seen but he said different things in different forms to different people in different parts of the country I think what we put on the table is very reasonable and very much in sync with the idea of being an energy superpower and finding new markets The ball will be in his court to see how he responds to that.” Smith said she will continue to fight for Alberta and will no longer tolerate industries being “threatened” and “resources landlocked” by Ottawa “A large majority of Albertans are deeply frustrated that the same government that overtly attacked our provincial economy almost unabated for the past 10 years has been returned to government,” Smith said I will not permit the status quo to continue.” Smith also gave a nod to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre who she said is a “true friend of Alberta” and boasted about his election campaign which highlighted Alberta’s energy sector Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi has floated the idea of breaking ties with the federal NDP and said the decision will come this weekend at the party’s provincial convention where members will be able to vote on the future of the relationship with the federal NDP “What we really learned in doing that is we’re already financially independent which is if you are a member of the provincial party you are automatically a member of the federal party,” Nenshi said He said despite policy differences he’s had with federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh over the years Singh can walk away with his “head held high.” “He is a tremendous public servant and if it wasn’t for Jagmeet Singh then Albertans and Canadians struggling with the cost of living every day would not have affordable childcare dental care and would not have the beginnings of a national PharmaCare system So while politically this was a tough night for him I think he can look back with some satisfaction on what he’s been able to do for Canadians,” Nenshi said he called for unity in Canada and enforced the need for Alberta to work with the federal government “She’s gambling with the future of the country over plastic straws My country is worth more than plastic straws,” Nenshi said As final results for the federal election continue to roll in disgruntled former MP Preston Manning suggests a fourth Liberal term may be doing harm to disgruntled Western provinces who is also the founder of the Reform Party of Canada said polling is currently being done to determine whether a Liberal government is pushing Canadians in Western Canada away “Consultations are being held on the merits and means of organizing a Canada west assembly to provide a democratic forum for the presentation analysis and debate of the options facing Western Canada (not just Alberta),” Manning said “Only time will tell whether the newly elected Carney government ignores or addresses the root causes of national disunity But whether it does so or not will positively or negatively influence the direction in which the responses of the Western provinces and the proposed Canada west assembly will point.” When Smith was asked whether or not the door is open to Alberta separating she said “not by me” but pointed to citizen-initiated referendum processes that would allow Albertans to put a question on a ballot and if enough people sign the petition then those questions would be put forward again “I believe in Alberta’s sovereignty within a united Canada,” Smith said The government will be holding a caucus meeting on Friday to discuss the results of the election and what’s to come National Post had sent the video to the Liberal campaign on Thursday seeking its response to the comments After multiple requests for a response over several hours the campaign finally responded Thursday evening that Loyola was out Loyola is no longer our candidate for Edmonton Gateway,” wrote Liberal campaign spokesperson Isabella Orozco-Madison in an email then a rapper with a group called People’s Poets said in the 2009 video that Hamas and Hezbollah both listed terrorist organizations in Canada “Organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas really are trying to stand up for their people and that needs to be recognized These are movements for national liberation not terrorists,” said Loyola — under the stage name Rosouljah — at the start of the set He and a bandmate were performing on the steps of Edmonton’s Churchill Square for a “Canada out of Afghanistan and say no to NATO” rally marking the military alliance’s 60th anniversary The National Post sent a request to comment on the video to Loyola’s personal email address on Thursday morning but didn’t get a response by the end of the day “(Carney) is the man of the hour that we need especially to stand up to Donald Trump south of the border,” said Loyola at his March 29 campaign launch Loyola has drawn criticism for the past for his public support of autocratic Latin American political strongmen including Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro saying he believed that Cuba and Venezuela were more enlightened than Canada in some respects “It’s not necessarily saying that I want us to become the next Venezuela or the next Cuba… I’m just saying that we can learn from how they stress particular rights,” said Loyola which was billed as “an opportunity to express solidarity with the Venezuelan people and support for the Bolivarian Revolution.” “The event will also share with the media and local community the hard work dedication and achievements of President Hugo Chávez and his government,” read the description “Essentially we’re talking about communities that are trying to defend themselves from these economic systems and the oppression that those economic systems have created,” Loyola told the magazine Loyola ran in the 2014 Alberta NDP leadership election finishing last with two per cent of the vote Carney confirmed at a Friday media appearance that Loyola is no longer the Liberal party’s candidate for Edmonton Gateway but didn’t say why his candidacy was pulled that Loyola was allowed to run under the banner of both the NDP and Liberals “The fact that Loyola got this far into the process is appalling But it’s also rather revealing in that radical Islamist views and progressive politics have become increasingly aligned in recent years on matters related to Israel and the Jewish world,” said Babb “This is — unfortunately — another example of someone who harbours dangerous ideologies looking at a progressive collective and thinking ‘I’d be a good fit here.’ This needs to change and people need to do a better job at vetting.” “I did not think that an intro at a hip-hop segment 16 years later would get me ‘cancelled’ after close to a decade of serving as an elected representative at the Legislative Assembly of Alberta Loyola said in the statement that he’s against all forms of violent terrorism ”I want to be clear: I unequivocally condemn brutal killings and abduction – whoever does it,” he wrote Loyala added that he now plans to run as an independent candidate in neighbouring Edmonton Southeast citing the Palestinian cause as one reason he’s continuing on “Just as (Canadians) are standing together against the threat that is Donald Trump… the Palestinian people are standing up to the same threat of Trump’s proposed annexation of Gaza and his de facto support for Netanyahu to commit endless violence against a civilian population.” AB – The Edmonton Oilers announced Sunday they have signed defenceman Atro Leppänen to a one-year entry-level contract for the 2025-26 season The 26-year-old is coming off a remarkable season for Vaasan Sport in Finland's Liiga recording a league-high 63 points (21 goals which set an all-time Liiga recod for points by a defenceman His 42 assists were also tops among all blueliners while his 21 goals ranked second He also added three assists in eight post-season contests Through two seasons in Finland's top league the left-shot rearguard has appeared in 115 games piling up 33 goals with 58 assists for 91 points EDMONTON -- With the Edmonton Oilers dealing with injuries to several key players down the stretch of the regular season, captain Connor McDavid said it would be a mistake to discount his team's chances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs McDavid is confident most of the injured players will return for Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round against the Los Angeles Kings “I don’t like the theory that people are counting us out,” McDavid said Tuesday We’ve had bumps and bruises along the way here but we’re a dangerous team when we’re rolling and we’re healthy I think you’ll see that over the next little while and we’re looking forward to showing that.” The Oilers (48-29-5) will finish third in the Pacific Division behind the Kings (48-24-9) After concluding its regular season with a 3-0 win against the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday Edmonton will begin the playoffs at Los Angeles It’s the fourth straight season the teams will face each other in the first round with the Oilers winning the previous three series McDavid had an assist against the Sharks to reach 100 points for the eighth time in 10 NHL seasons -- and the fifth straight season -- and will be ready for Game 1 The center missed eight games with a lower-body injury sustained in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets on March 20 He returned to play three games and had nine assists before sitting out Monday for precautionary reasons in the second game of a back-to-back and Edmonton’s third game in four days night and day better from before the injury just in terms of rest,” McDavid said “Not getting a break for the 4 Nations (Face-Off I feel night and day better since the injury.” McDavid has 100 points (26 goals, 74 assists) in 67 games. He missed three games after sustaining an ankle injury at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 28 and was suspended for three for cross-checking Vancouver Canucks forward Conor Garland on Jan Draisaitl missed four games with an undisclosed injury from March 20-27 returned for three games and was injured again in a 3-2 win at San Jose on April 3 He missed his eighth straight game Wednesday Draisaitl leads the NHL with 52 goals and is tied with Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak for third with 106 points (54 assists) in 71 games “I feel Leon is going to feel the same way [as me],” McDavid said “Everybody is going to feel the same way coming out of that The Oilers will enter the playoffs looking to return to the Stanley Cup Final where they lost 2-1 in Game 7 to the Florida Panthers last season They’ve been fortunate to avoid too many injuries the past few seasons Evander Kane has been out all season after the forward had surgery to repair a sports hernia and a knee injury but he could be ready to rejoin the Oilers in the playoffs Frederic was acquired from the Boston Bruins in a three-team trade also involving the New Jersey Devils on March 6 He made his Edmonton debut at Los Angeles on April 5 but was limited to 7:10 of ice time before reaggravating a high ankle sprain The Oilers do not expect him to be available for Game 1 against the Kings kind of unprecedented for our group,” McDavid said “We’ve had a great string of health for a long time and I saw [coach Kris Knoblauch] allude to it It is true; guys are healthier than it may seem I think guys have kind of this aura about us that we’re the walking wounded everybody is doing whatever they can to be back.” Ekholm is one player not expected back in the first round He has been dealing with his injury since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off Ekholm had missed 13 of 17 games since March 4 before returning against San Jose on April 11 He was ruled out of the first round by Knoblauch on Monday but it’s obviously disappointing,” McDavid said he’s going to do everything he can to get healthy whenever that may be maybe the best all-around defenseman there is “… Would it have been nice to get some games with a full lineup but that’s not the case we’re dealing with everyone is doing everything they can possible and not everything is as it seems.” EdmontonNewsWildfire northeast of Edmonton spurs state of emergency alertBy Stephen HuntUpdated: May 04, 2025 at 7:31PM EDT EdmontonNewsShopping, shows and sunshine: Here’s what’s happening in and around Edmonton this weekendBy Steven DyerPublished: May 02, 2025 at 5:42PM EDT Mounties have arrested a man after an excavator was used to smash several police cruisers at an RCMP detachment in Bonnyville on Saturday night a stolen trackhoe went into the parking lot of the RCMP detachment in Bonnyville and dumped several boulders in front of the prisoner bay before damaging five police cars that were parked in the lot RCMP said a suspect fled on foot but officers were able to use the services of a police dog to track down a man a short time later in a treeline northwest of the detachment Slaney said at this time the suspect can’t be named but he’s currently in custody pending a judicial interim release hearing It’s expected that RCMP will release more information about this incident on Monday “Incidents like this would be frightening for any community but we want to stress that there is no further harm or risk to the community,” said Slaney “Soon we’ll be able to give a full update and potentially the reason behind the cause of such a crime.” EdmontonNewsMan killed in single-vehicle crash on Anthony Henday DriveBy Diego RomeroPublished: May 05, 2025 at 12:09PM EDT EdmontonNews4 people, including 2 teens, killed in central Alberta crashBy Diego RomeroPublished: May 05, 2025 at 12:24PM EDT EDMONTON -- Connor McDavid said he believes the Edmonton Oilers are better equipped to face the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Second Round than they were two seasons ago The six-game loss to Vegas in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs stung the Oilers and their captain considering they had the lead in Game 5 with the series tied 2-2 and let it slip away to the eventual Cup champions Edmonton is looking forward to its shot at redemption starting with Game 1 of the best-of-7 series at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday (9:30 p.m “It’s definitely helpful when you’re going up against a veteran team like Vegas who is also more experienced and played a lot of playoff hockey and played in big moments In 2023, Game 5 in Vegas proved to be the turning point in the series. Edmonton led 2-1 on first-period goals from McDavid and Zach Hyman and were in control through the middle of the second However, a holding penalty assessed to defenseman Philip Broberg at 12:49 and a high-sticking minor to forward Mattias Janmark 44 seconds later put the Golden Knights on a two-man advantage Forwards Mark Stone and Reilly Smith then scored power-play goals 29 seconds apart to give Vegas a 3-2 lead. A goal by forward Nicolas Hague a minute later made it 4-2 going into the third period McDavid scored on the power play at 2:40 of the third to make it 4-3 but that was as close as Edmonton would get The Oilers were eliminated with a 5-2 loss at home in Game 6 two nights later Vegas then defeated the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final and the Florida Panthers in the Final to win the Stanley Cup “It’s difficult anytime you lose in the playoffs especially when you feel you had a good team,” McDavid said and obviously they had a great team as well We feel like we have another good team this year and we have as good a chance as anyone We look forward to getting to Vegas and getting started.” Edmonton advanced by defeating the Los Angeles Kings in six games in the first round and Vegas also needed six games to eliminated the Minnesota Wild Edmonton has played five playoff series since losing to Vegas in 2023 advanced to the Stanley Cup Final last season where they lost 2-1 in Game 7 to the Panthers “You learn from your failures and that [Vegas loss] was one of them,” McDavid said “Definitely we changed some things systemwise from that series The Oilers applied the lessons from the loss to the Golden Knights last season and are looking to put that knowledge to good use again Edmonton was able to battle back from 2-0 series deficit against Los Angeles and win four consecutive games understanding certain situations,” McDavid said “I think about that Game 5 (against Vegas) we had the lead and we found ourselves in a 5-on-3 and we can’t put ourselves in that position We had to grab it there and gave up three in however minutes and the game kind of flipped Those are all learning lessons along the way and hopefully we can use them moving forward in this series.” Edmonton was a playoff savvy team going into the series against Vegas in 2023 having made it to the Western Conference Final the previous season before being swept by the Colorado Avalanche The Oilers are now a battle-hardened team after nearly winning the Stanley Cup last season “They’re a division rival and they beat us and went on to win the Cup so we definitely want to even things up,” Hyman said “It’s different teams and different players but when you lose against a team you want to win it the next time.” Vegas is expected to present a different challenge to Edmonton than Los Angeles did in the first round The Golden Knights are expected to press the issue a little harder “They’re both really good teams and completely different so we have to be really careful at the [blue] lines and make sure we have guys going back They also play a completely different [defensive] zone one plays man-on-man and the other kind of zone Edmonton had a number of players recovering from injury heading into the series against Los Angels and it took a while for the team to find its rhythm Going into Vegas, Edmonton is healthy, with the exception of defenseman Mattias Ekholm who was ruled out of the series by coach Kris Knoblauch because of an undisclosed injury “I think Games 1 and 2 were definitely clunky with a lineup that hadn’t played together a whole lot,” McDavid said “I think we’re getting more in the rhythm of things guys are getting healthier and healthier and getting their timing back It’s starting to look a little bit more like it’s supposed to look and I expect our best coming into this series.” EdmontonNewsWildfire north of Edmonton prompts emergency advisoryBy Karyn MulcahyUpdated: May 04, 2025 at 12:21AM EDT This isn’t exactly the same thirst for revenge that the Los Angeles Kings just felt when they came face-to-face with the team that punted them out of the playoffs for three-straight years Facing the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round of the playoffs means revisiting a few scars of their own we definitely want to even things up,” said Oilers winger Zach Hyman It was just two years ago that the Oilers were tied 2-2 in the series and leading 2-1 in the second period of Game 5 on the road when they gave up three goals in 1:29 dream-killing collapse from which they never recovered whose as excited about the rematch as anyone They’re a great team and it was only a couple of years ago that they beat us There’s been a lot of playoff water under the bridge since that painful night but you still can’t help wondering what might have been Vegas blew through the rest of the playoffs beating Dallas in six games (including 4-0 and 6-0 wins) and Florida in five to lift their first and only Stanley Cup If the Oilers hadn’t let that series slip away they might be the ones wearing the rings today The next issue of Oil Spills will soon be in your inbox What they do know is that they can’t let it happen again “You have to learn from your failures and that was one of them,” said McDavid adding it forced the Oilers to re-examine what they do as a team “It definitely changed some things for us system-wise we had the lead and found ourselves on a five-on-three (short-handed) We gave up three in however many minutes and the game kind of flipped All lessons learned along the way and hopefully we can use them in this series.” Only nine of Edmonton’s 18 skaters remain from that series and the Oilers have a trip of their own to the Stanley Cup Final to draw from and whichever team emerges from this will see its Stanley Cup odds improve dramatically “We’re a totally different team with a lot of different players but this group is finding its identity,” said Hyman “It’s the first time in a while that we’re healthy We’re still missing a big piece (Mattias Ekholm) but up front we have a lot of different looks we can run We’re finding what our identity is and what makes us successful We’re rounding our team into form at the right time.” The Oilers do look a lot better going into Round 2 than they did going into Round 1 gaining momentum and feeling much more confident about what they are as a team a lineup that hadn’t played together a whole lot,” said McDavid guys are getting healthier and getting their timing back “It’s starting to look a little bit like it’s supposed to look I expect our best coming into this series.” anything less than your best gets you sent packing no matter who his team is playing in the second round head coach Kris Knoblauch expects the exact same thirst “I see a bunch of guys who are motivated no matter who our opponent is,” he said “Maybe there was some hatred (toward Vegas) but I would think that no matter who we were playing our guys would be in the same frame of mind they are right now.” The Vegas Golden Knights have reached the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fifth time in franchise history and will take on the Edmonton Oilers for the right to reach the Western Conference Final Edmonton knocked out the Los Angeles Kings in the first round for the fourth consecutive season as the Oilers won the series in six games Los Angeles jumped out to a 2-0 series lead before Edmonton rattled off four wins in a row including a 6-4 win in Game 6 to advance to the second round Connor McDavid led the Oilers with 11 points (2G 9A) in the first round while Leon Draisaitl posted 10 points (3G Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi spoke to a charged-up NDP convention crowd in Edmonton on Saturday preaching unity and decrying the recent wave of Alberta separatism hammering Premier Danielle Smith and various elements of the UCP government’s policy on healthcare The latter topic has grown in the last week following the results of the federal election and neither were the party’s members in the crowd “No more dividing Albertans from each other no more dragging Alberta away from the rest of the country to feed extremist fringe agendas,” Nenshi said “No more playing stupid separatist games with the future of our province No more disrespecting Indigenous communities Nenshi’s speech began with his experience during the 2013 Calgary flood which killed one Calgarian and caused over $5 billion in damages Nenshi pulled once again from his experience as mayor in Calgary noting the success of its economy that led to it being in the top five most livable cities in North America He said the NDP would build an economy that -among other things- creates “great jobs now and great jobs forever,” which he said would mean supporting Canadian energy in all its forms from conventional to non-conventional to renewable every single worker deserves to get home safe every day with more than enough money in their pockets to support their families,” said Nenshi He also spoke about education and its role in ensuring the prosperity of the province and its people. “Every single thing I’ve gotten in this life is because of one thing, and that is public education,” said Nenshi. Nenshi’s speech landed just an hour before a few hundred supporters of the Alberta separatist movement descended upon the Alberta Legislature several blocks west of the Convention Centre to hold a rally. Supporters of the movement were met with a smaller, but still vocal, contingency of anti-separatist protestors. Members voted in a leadership review after Nenshi’s speech, which garnered him 89.5 per cent support. Following the leadership vote, the Alberta NDP also passed an amendment to party membership to allow an optional departure from the federal NDP party. Now, Alberta NDP members will have the choice of whether they are affiliated with both NDP groups or just the provincial party. Article contentSaid Ferraro of the Oilers on the Ray & Dregs podcast: “They are healthier than they were at the start of the (Kings) series who was a total question mark due to his health and unavailability for the past year does that give you much more confidence than it did at the start of the series Is there goaltending much more solid than it was at the start of the series “But they got better as the series went on At the very least they should have had a split in Edmonton And I thought the Kings got progressively worse They (Edmonton) can’t win against Vegas playing like that Ferraro did like the play of some Oilers depth players “I really like him because I’ve been to where he’s been health-wise is Connor Brown And all you do is you go home and you’re like I just can’t.’ And that was him a couple of years ago And then now he looks like he’s a viable player that can play up and around their lineup who is a hell of a nice kid that they didn’t have since the trade deadline Now he can get back in and he’s just going to get better… Him and Kane in particular they’re the type of guys that really have to be able to play against Vegas It is really hard to compete against them if you don’t have guys that can’t.” is well-known to Edmonton fans for his strong NHL career and yeears of sharp game analysis but he’s nonetheless an astute student of the game He’s been a hardcore member of the amateur Vegas hockey scene for years as a player VGK season ticket holder from the start and a seller of hockey cards and memorabilia In 2023 he picked Vegas to beat the Oilers But Gawlike argued that Vegas would do it because VGK had better coaching and better goaltending as Adin Hill was much better than Stuart Skinner in the nets that year and even though the Oilers had more Grade A shots than Vegas Vegas was able to shut down the Oilers attack by stacking players in the defensive slot while Vegas generated goals by cycling the puck to the point then beating the Oil’s stretched out man-to-man defence by crashing the net from all sides and slamming in rebounds But on his Locked On Golden Knights podcast Gawlik pointed out several issues with the the Oilers “I’ll just put my take out there right now: Is a Calvin Pickard-led goaltending team capable of defeating the Golden Knights I’m not selling those guys short by any means and I’d argue that this team is capable of doing it now I think he has six or seven games of playoff NHL experience the Golden Knight cut him for a reason in the 2017-2018 season his helmet design was in honor of Vegas and for the fans and everything (Vegas hockey boss Kelly) McCrimmon’s like Gawlik also noted how much time on ice the Oilers were playing the pairing of Even Bouchard and Darnell Nurse tell me that Darnel Nurse out there for 24:54 a game that (Vegas coach) Bruce Cassidy’s mouth is watering at that one “Can Knoblauch find a way to do something different that Coach Cassidy is not going to be ready for?… Is Knoblauch capable of out coaching Bruce Cassidy is a better coach than the useless Jay Woodcroft.” Ferraro and Gawlik raise credible issues about Edmonton’s defensive play and goalie Pickard and Skinner have been iffy at times this year The top pairing of Darnell Nurse and Evan Bouchard did have some awful moments on defence against the Kings so much so that Edmonton should likely split up the two Edmonton as a team also lacked commitment and discipline on defence in most of the games against the Kings And Vegas has indeed demonstrated that it’s a big in particular in the slot in front of its own goalie where it’s zone defence is like a wall of iron All this is troubling when it comes to the prospect of the Oilers winning this series 2 outstanding defensive play and good health but seem to have come out of the series against the Kings in relative good health Leon Draisaitl and Jake Walman got stronger as the series went along That leaves the big question about the Oil’s defence They gave up 14.3 Grade A shots against the Kings per game much more than they have done in other playoff series the Oilers had an outstanding defensive game giving up just six Grade A shots and 1 goal when Edmonton’s players were again sieves on defence They gave up a shocking number of odd-man rushes It wasn’t a performance to bring hope as they come up against disciplined Vegas Edmonton’s forwards are going to have to make sure in the offensive zone that they have one forward back to help the defence prevent odd-man rushes They’re going to have to limit their proclivity to make turnovers at the offensive blueline they’re going to have to commit like they haven’t done all season to playing sound defensive hockey Bouchard and Niurse have struggled as a pairing At this point I’m not sure why they’re together Paul Coffey can be stubbron on issues like this but Edmonton might well be best served to go with Bouchard paired with Brett Kulak and Nurse paired up with his regular season running mate Troy Stecher They were out for 19 goals for and 16 goals against in the regular season in 474 even strength minutes Stecher got better as the season went along Or Edmonton could go with Bouchard and Walman on one pairing Nurse and ever improving John Klingberg on the other Either option would appear to better than sticking with Bouchard and Nurse eight against in six games against the Kings Little wonder Gawlik suggests that Cassidy would love to see that pairing in Game One against VGK Knoblauch has one advantage over Woodcroft He’s been willing to rotate goalies out when they’re playing poorly in the past two playoff seasons something that Woodcroft was unwilling to try with Skinner in 2023 even as Skinner was struggling to make saves against Vegas This formula seems to work bettter than the notion of sticking with a goalie who is not making big saves and not winning games Hockey is full of twists and turns especially in goal so we now bring you this playoff storyline — Calvin Pickard vs the Golden Knights the fledgling NHL team that called his name first in the NHL expansion draft eight years ago but didn’t like him enough through their first training camp and traded the goalie just before their first-ever game Fleury helped Vegas get to the Cup Final in their debut season was long gone before camp even started and he signed in Chicago but just days before the 2017-2018 season started Vegas claimed Malcolm Subban off waivers from the Boston Bruins who could get the start against Vegas in Game 1 Tuesday was dealt to Toronto on the day the Golden Knights played their first NHL game Subban played three seasons as Fleury’s backup in Vegas but bounced around after that He was with Ottawa’s AHL farm club in Belleville this past season Pickard certainly remembers the expansion draft “I was technically their first pick and was announced first but because it was based on reverse order of standings the year before when I was in Colorado (the Avs had the league’s worst 48 points),” said Pickard who had played 50 games (a career high with a .904 save percentage) in the 2016-2017 season “I spent a month with Vegas in training camp but was gone by the time the season started,” said Pickard who played two exhibition games competing to be Fleury’s backup but there were a lot of moving parts in the expansion year They were trying to move a lot of things around I just never landed on my feet there,” said Pickard who wasn’t surprised Vegas took him in the draft “I played the world championship the year prior and (Vegas GM) George McPhee was there and had a good worlds leading into the expansion draft I remember not sleeping the night before,” he said But there was giddiness to being part of a new expansion journey “There was some disappointment (leaving Colorado) I wanted to be part of the solution (in a rebuild) then it quickly turns to excitement (draft)  I played just one game for the Leafs that season (2017-2018) I was in the minors the whole year with the (AHL) Marlies,” he said The waiver claim for the younger Subban caught him off-guard Obviously it (waiver claim) was in the works for awhile It certainly underscores the crazy quilt of being a goalie who has played on six NHL teams and six more in the minors Pickard has started just one career game against Vegas a good primer if he opens at T-Mobile Arena Pretty tight defensive game and everything is magnified when we play Vegas We have to play detailed and limit our mistakes because they’re a well-rounded team with basically everything It’ll be an exciting challenge,” said Pickard who hasn’t played since Game 2 in Los Angeles was in the usual practice starter’s net Sunday but coach Kris Knoblauch has been the master of practice misdirection in the playoffs with his morning skates Jack Michaels and Louie DeBrusk will continue to call the Oilers on the national Sportsnet playoff feed for the Vegas-Oilers series and rightfully so They aren’t using an Eastern crew as in past springs Vegas didn’t have their 35 goal-scoring winger Pavel Dorofeyev (lower-body) in the last series game against Minnesota and he’s questionable to start the second round He had a goal and an assist on Nic Roy’s score in the April 1 loss to the Oilers Vegas only has two players they actually picked in the expansion draft off another team (not traded for like Shea Theodore and Reilly Smith) still on their roster today — Karlsson (Columbus) and Brayden McNabb (Los Angeles) One thing to watch for in this series: Vegas’s PK was a tawdry 26thin regular-season at 75.6 percent Golden Knights’ goalie Adin Hill had a rocky start in the first three games against the Wild (.827 save percentage) but was .918 in the last three against Minnesota When he helped beat the Oilers in their 2023 series in Round 2 The Oilers just signed right-shot defenceman Alec Regula to a two-year He never played a game after the Oilers claimed him off waivers from Boston in December because of knee issues EdmontonNewsOld Strathcona Farmers’ Market ‘full, crowded’ on first Sunday of businessBy Craig EllingsonPublished: May 04, 2025 at 6:33PM EDT Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch had Stuart Skinner in the starter’s net at Sunday’s practice We apologize, but this video has failed to load.Try refreshing your browser, ortap here to see other videos from our team.Play VideoArticle contentKnoblauch has said he’ll make his decision on which goalie will start against Vegas before the game “I feel that we have two goalies that can give us a great game and win us that night every single time I’d say I’m very fortunate to have that opportunity.” Draisaitl – McDavid – Perry Kane – RNH – Hyman Frederic – Henrique – Brown Podkolzin – Janmark – Arvidsson Nurse – Bouchard Walman – Klingberg Kulak – Emberson Winning the next game is all that matters in the playoffs and whatever games he’s playing now in practice in order to unsettle Las Vegas It’s hard to imagine that the Oilers will move away from Calvin Pickard who just won four straight games to help vanquish the Los Angeles Kings who lost the first two games against the Kings Pickard let in an iffy goal on an outside shot from Brandt Clarke early in Game 6 but he then stopped seven straight Grade A shots in a row from the Kings early in the game That included huge saves on Trevor Moore’s breakaway He made a huge stop off a rebound with five minutes left That bad early goal against had me wondering if there was a Game 7 whether Skinner might play But Pickard’s big saves the rest of the game made a huge statement I strongly suspect the Oilers will go with a “win and you’re in” mentality for the Vegas series one advantage that Edmonton has over 2023 when they lost to Vegas is that the team is willing to quickly turn to the second goalie if the first one isn’t getting the job done the Oilers had little trust in Jack Campbell so stuck with Skinner Pickard has proven himself to the equal to Skinner for now But both goalies can get hot and provide solid netminding In four games Pickard had a .893 save percentage while Skinner had an .810 save percentage in two games this favours Pickard getting the next game The Oilers are evidently sticking with Darnell Nurse and Evan Bouchard in the top-pairing Brett Kulak did not make one major mistake on a goal against the Kings at even strength Nurse and Bouchard both combined to make major mistakes Not sure why Oilers defensive coach Paul Coffey doesn’t change things up The Oilers could also bring back Troy Stecher to the line-up and pair him with Nurse The two were solid enough in the regular season EdmontonNewsOilers, Golden Knights start second-round NHL playoff series on Tuesday in VegasBy Craig EllingsonUpdated: May 04, 2025 at 2:35PM EDT In what will be their second-ever meeting in the postseason the Edmonton Oilers will face their Pacific Division rivals the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second time in three years The last time these two teams met was during the 2023 playoffs where the Golden Knights eliminated the Oilers in six games before going on to win their franchise’s first Stanley Cup – the second of three straight losses for the Blue & Orange to the eventual NHL champions (Colorado Those who were on Edmonton’s roster during that series in 2023 feel strongly that they were the architects of their own demise and there’s still some sour feelings on how it all played out after the Oilers and Golden Knights each earned a road victory to split the first four games “I think we were playing really good at the time,” said forward Mattias Janmark “It felt like we had something really good going and we kind of let it slip out of our hands with some self-inflicted wounds and they're a good team over there and they ended up winning "That one stuck with us going into last year and now we've got a chance at revenge.” The Panel recaps the Kings series & looks ahead to Round 2 vs the Oilers scored two power-play goals to take a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes before the Golden Knights struck three times in a 1:29 span of the second period to ultimately take the series lead and push Edmonton to the brink with a 4-3 win With Edmonton leading 2-1 again at home in Game 6 Jonathan Marchessault’s natural hat trick in the second period of an eventual 5-2 loss wound up sealing their fate in the Second Round Vegas didn’t look back the rest of the way beating the Dallas Stars in the Conference Final and the Florida Panthers to win their first Stanley Cup For most players in the Oilers dressing room another meeting with Vegas in the Second Round is a chance at redemption while the others who joined the club over the last seasons feel they’ll be able to use their teammate’s history as extra fuel to help bring about a different result this postseason “I think it becomes a little chip on your shoulder playing against a team that knocked a lot of these guys out a few years ago and I'm sure that's at the top of their minds,” Connor Brown said "It always comes back around to those sorts of things and you see them year after year and hear different stories with different teams," Adam Henrique said you watch and see those things that happen and that kind of gets that extra emotion going early on "There's a little bit of history there and it's going to add to the storyline of the entire series." Mattias chats with the media on Saturday afternoon at Rogers Place The Oilers earned themselves a few extra days between series to rest recuperate and get ready for a fresh but familiar challenge against the Golden Knights after dispatching the Kings in the First Round for the fourth straight season by beating them in six games In terms of what they can expect in Round 2 the Oilers are preparing for an entirely new opponent that will present a brand new challenge tactically than what Los Angeles threw at them over a hard-fought series where they found the winning formula to string together four straight wins after falling behind 2-0 it's important to understand where they can be exploited and where we need to improve," Brown said we need to get better every single game and continue to improve The series isn't going to be won and lost in that first game The Golden Knights pose much bigger offensive threat than the Kings across their four forward lines – specifically on the rush – that will force the Oilers into adapting their game Their defence is a lot more active going up the ice too while their blueline holds plenty of stopping power in their own zone Tomas Hertl and Jack Eichel lead the Golden Knights offensively in the playoffs with six points in five games apiece and three of their blueliners in Shea Theodore Noah Hanifin and Brayden McNabb have all pitched in with at least three points and they have a high powered offence," Brown added "Their D jump into the play and they also defend well in their own zone I think those two things – getting to the net and making sure we're not giving up odd-man rushes [will be important]." They got a lot of offensive skill," Henrique added getting LA four years in a row and the way they play the game it's going to a different team now that plays a different style They got a lot of firepower over there from top to bottom and on the back end too Connor speaks after Saturday's Oilers practice at Rogers Place Head Coach Kris Knoblauch wasn't behind the Oilers bench either in 2023 but feels confident in saying that this year's meeting won't pose too many differences due to the fact that the cores of each team remain mostly intact "I guess the biggest pieces from each team are still here so I think there are some similarities," Knoblauch said but I think there's some things that we can take from it – whether it was line matchups who didn't and what they were looking to do so there's some things that we want to look at but I think there's been a lot of time that's passed There may be a little bit of information that's relevant to going forward Knoblauch said the despite the little break the Oilers have between series there's never enough time to get fully prepared so they'll be relying on what they know and what's immediately in front them in Game 1 as they try to feel out their Pacific rivals to get the early advantage "From the end of the LA series to the next one there's not enough time and I think we move on to Vegas as quickly as possible," he said "We look at what Vegas is – what type of team they are what their systems are and things that we have to be aware of – and there are weaknesses they have that we can try and exploit or take advantage of It doesn't feel like that we have enough time to do that but I think the best thing is for us is to review and look back on the LA series but we were doing that last two weeks during when those games were being played I said after my last post-game that LA 's systems compared to Vegas are drastically different in the way they play so I think a lot of what we need is moving forward is just kind of get prepared for Vegas." Kris talks to the media from Rogers Place on Saturday afternoon Edmonton WatchWestJet reducing flights to American destinations from EdmontonWestJet will no longer offer direct flights from Edmonton to Atlanta and is reducing flights to other U.S. destinations. This in from broadcaster Daren Millard of the VGK Today podcast his interview with massive Vegas Golden Knights d-man Nicolas Hague who made a strong play on the boards to help set up the winning OT goal against the Minnesota Wild in Game 6 with Hague giving the recipe to Vegas’ secret sauce for winning in describing the play This is what Oilers are up against. Monster d-man pinching. Big forwards on the boards and going to net. pic.twitter.com/OjwIJJrDzl Said Milard: “I haven’t had a chance to catch up with you since the pinch that you made that led to the overtime goal You could have easily played a safe there and backed off We’re just kind of five guys supporting all over the ice Hague continued: “Obviously we want to try to keep pucks alive in the o-zone and we’re out there to win a game It’s as wonderfully simple as a forward or two filling in for a d-man when he pinches in the neutral or offensive zone It’s one out of three forwards in the offensive zone aware of the danger of enemy counterattacks and making sure he’s there in the high slot area to help out his d-man in case of a break-out It’s the support that Vegas d-men are confident they will get but it’s not something any Oilers d-man can count on For most of this season and in every playoff game except Edmonton’s brilliantly executed Game 5 win against Los Angles the Oilers were relatively erratic and undisciplined on defence All three forwards would often get too deep on the attack Forwards were too slow/lazy on the backcheck Forwards made turnovers at the offensive blue some of them kept getting caught out of position often through over-aggression and/or risky decision-making As a team the Oilers often were caught puck watching in their own zone no one looking at or covering the danger man coming in late to the slot to take a pass and hammer on net a Grade A shot I’ll suggest there’s a 50 per cent chance it will continue Bad habits and bad decision-making are hard to overcome though Edmonton showed last year in the playoffs and in Game 5 against Los Angeles — when they allowed just six Grade A shots the entire game — that they have it in them to play superior defensive hockey just as Vegas is more inclined to do on a regular basis Vegas beat the Oilers in 2023 because Edmonton’s man-to-man defensive system broke down too often leading to Vegas out-numbering the Oil at the Edmonton net Vegas clogged their own defensive slot with solid d-men and forwards But their most successful player in that regard excellent at reading the play and understanding where the danger was coming from something that several veteran Oilers d-men still struggle to grasp They’re busy puck-watching while the danger man shoots to the net behind them Vegas still relies heavily on the old stick-swinger The sharp teeth and brick wall of the Vegas zone allows smart gutsy and forceful attackers right near the net to beat the zone then fire in outside shots and have those intrepid crease-crashers slam home the rebounds Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to spin and weave their thrilling plays The goals will be scored in tight at kill shot corner now that the Avs are out of the playoffs at least But Vegas will win this series if they play better defence than the Oilers with a special focus on having a strong net front presence great move stealing Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway And a colossal screw up by Holland and Jackson I like John Klingberg to win this year more than Broberg Maybe Albertans should have taken Danielle Smith’s advice to Edmonton after the last provincial election: Edmonton should have voted for the party that would win. If we had followed that advice, we would have a Liberal majority in Alberta and would get a “fair deal.” The difference is, I believe Mark Carney when he says he will represent all of Canada. I don’t believe Danielle Smith when she says she represents all of Alberta. I hear our current premier, and others, bemoan the premise that our province is being taken advantage of by others in Canada. Perhaps the premier is too young to remember when Alberta was considered a have-not province that depended on support from other provinces. separate unit rather than be a member of a united Canada fighting together for the betterment of the entire country If the governments could work together instead of constantly challenging each other Canadians’ faith and trust may be affirmed in governance for all as is evident in the deals made with the U.S When I hear their leaders crow about military support troops came into Canada because we were under attack I can remember the times when Canadians have come to the U.S.’s need for assistance: 9/11 I’d also appreciate to have my tax dollars used for our benefit and not for the premier to go globe-trotting to raise funds for the right-wingers in Florida As a senior I wholeheartedly agree with Cheryll Watson’s opinion piece It almost appears the city administration is deterring people from visiting the downtown core I used to visit downtown on Sundays and have lunch in one of their fine establishments and now they created another hurdle by forcing people to download yet another app on one’s cellphone It is either an oversight by the administration or is it because an app developer sold them a bill of goods it is somewhat reminiscent of the overpriced ArriveCan app (initial cost $80,000 final cost almost $60 million) where the federal government was under the impression all travellers own a cellphone The city should have adhered to the old adage AB – The NHL has announced the schedule for the second-round series between the Oilers and Golden Knights which is set to begin on Tuesday at 7:30pm MT at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas Edmonton and Vegas will meet in Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second time in three years after the Golden Knights eliminated the Oilers in six games in 2023 en route to capturing the first Stanley Cup title in their franchise history A limited number of tickets for home playoff games are now available at EdmontonOilers.com/Tickets Tickets for the Rogers Road Game Watch Party for Games 1 and 2 inside Rogers Place are now available at EdmontonOilers.com/WatchParty