Rockford, Chicago, Vancouver, Hershey, Washington, San Antonio, Cleveland. Those have all been stops for Ryan Stanton in his pro hockey career. His current location has a much better nicer ring to it.
Home.
“I grew up being an Oilers fans. All my family and friends are Oilers fans,” the St. Albert native said. “It definitely does feel like home.”
Stanton, 28, has had an interesting journey through the game. He played for Moose Jaw in the WHL and wasn’t drafted. Then he had to battle mono in his final season with the Warriors. He thought he was going to combining hockey and school as he moved into his 20s.
“In my 20-year-old year, I thought I was going to be going to the U of A,” Stanton recalled. “Then halfway through the year, I had some interest from some NHL teams. I didn’t even have an agent. I had to go find an agent. I was lucky enough to sign with Chicago, and I’ve been doing pro hockey ever since.”
Stanton has played 120 NHL games, his most recent being with the Capitals in 2015/16. The Oilers signed him as a free agent this summer.
“It’s a great story, a local kid who has made well on his opportunity,” Edmonton Oilers head coach Todd McLellan said. “He has an opportunity to play on our team. With Sekera’s injury, it’s opened up that supporting spot. I think it’s going to be very competitive battle for number seven and maybe number eight in our organization.”
“There were a few teams with interest, but as soon as my agent told me that Edmonton was involved and wanted to give a two-year deal, it was pretty hard to pass up,” Stanton said. “I just want to come and work hard and make any decision tough on them. I think I can still play in the NHL.”
Stanton was on the winning side Sunday afternoon as the Oilers scrimmaged at Rogers Place. Team White rallied from a 5-1 hole to win 6-5 in a shootout.
“Ironically, we’re working on defence and defensive zone coverage and that type of stuff, and then we got a ten-goal game,” McLellan said. “I thought some of the higher end players really took charge of the scrimmage today and had an impact on it. It was a little tougher day for the goalies.”
The Oilers open the pre-season Monday night with split squad games against the Calgary Flames. The game at Rogers Place will be on 630 CHED with the Face-off Show at 5:30 p.m. The game starts at 7 p.m.
The team trimmed its training camp roster by five on Sunday, sending Kirill Maksimov, Ostap Safin, Dmitri Samorukov, Stuart Skinner and Dylan Wells to their respective junior teams.
Comments