On August 8, 2024, Oscar Klefbom made an announcement that Edmonton Oilers fans knew was long a time coming: he was officially retiring.
Having not played since 2020, the only reason the announcement is coming now is he was still under contract, and if he retired he would lose out on that money (although it actually expired after the 2022–23 season, which gave Oilers fans some small hope that maybe he would become healthy enough to come back).
In honour of Klefbom’s retirement, here are some of the top moments in his NHL and Oilers career.
First Oilers playoff goal in 11 years
After the Decade of Darkness, Oilers fans were beyond excited for their first playoff appearance. While many people would have picked Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl to be the first goal scorer, it was Klefbom who got the team off the schneid just under seven minutes into the first period of Game 1.
It was a fitting moment, however, as Klefbom was in the first year of his new seven-year deal and had shown the Oilers were right to place their faith in him as he rose to be the Oilers #1 defenceman that season when he lead the d corps in scoring with 12 goals and 38 points.
Playoff Howitzer
This is by far the most famous Klefbom moment. In the same first round as the above goal, the Oilers were down 3–2 with under three minutes left in the third period. It was a crucial Game 5, with the series tied 2–2. Klefbom’s goal tied the game in dramatic fashion, and the Oilers finished the job in overtime to take the series lead. Funny enough, this wasn’t the first time Klefbom had scored a third period tying goal on a slapshot against the Sharks that season. It’s not a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice, right?
It should be noted that Klefbom was tied for the team lead in goals that series with two, and was tied for second in points with three, so this round could very easily be considered the round of Klefbom.
Mask off
In case anyone was doubting the “Klef-Bomb” moniker, the above clip should help put that to rest (also the fact that basically every goal the man scored was a slapshot).
Klefbom literally knocked the mask right off future teammate Mike Smith’s head. We’ve all seen a shot hit a mask knocking it loose and the goalie then shaking it off, but I don’t think Smith did it on purpose here, it definitely looks like the shot was that hard.
Game winners galore
Klefbom scored 34 goals in his NHL career—seven of them were game winners. That 20.6% is tied with McDavid for second in Oilers history (believe it or not, but Kelly Buchberger holds that record with a ridiculous 29.3%). Also, three of those goals were against Dallas, so clearly Klefbom was an Oilers fan from the late ‘90s to early 2000s and held a grudge.
Here are some of the “walk-off” game winners Klefbom potted:
Mid-Game message
While not a playing highlight, Klefbom found a way to help the Oilers in another playoff run, where is mid-game big screen message in a 2–2 game against the Stars gave some extra oomph to both the fans and the team, leading to a 5–2 victory and tying the series. It certainly seemed like a TSN turning point.
