The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics are now over, and it is time to get right back into Edmonton Oilers’ regular season hockey. As all of Canada should now be aware, Team Canada unfortunately lost the Men’s Hockey Gold Medal Final to Team USA, 2–1, in overtime (not 5v5, but three-on-three).
On a bit of a side note, you have to feel for Oilers Captain Connor McDavid, as he has now lost back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals and a Gold Medal, all in the span of three years. Heartbreaking for sure, but hopefully, he will hit the ice more motivated to win when Edmonton plays the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday.
We need to look at the Edmonton Oilers and how they have performed after the break, and what they can do to avoid a slow restart to the season, given how they have recently played over the last few years at the start of the season. I will only be looking at the past three seasons to look at their record through 10 games after the break, and why they may have had a slower restart.
2022–23 had a mediocre start
The NHL pauses in February for the All-Star break and, every four years, the Olympics. During this time, there are no scheduled regular season games, and some players take a break from the ice to spend time with family or travel. For the Edmonton Oilers, this often results in slow restarts and poor records in their first 10 games back. In 2022–23, Edmonton recorded a 4–3–3 mark in its first 10 games after the break.
It is difficult to pinpoint why the Oilers start slow, as several factors may contribute. Though they are professionals, restarts can be affected by rust, pre-break injuries, illness, or lost chemistry. This pattern has been consistent for the Oilers in recent years, both after breaks and at the season’s start.
2023–24 was not any better
After the break in the 2023–24 season, the Edmonton Oilers went 4–5–1 and it took them a few games after to get back into their groove. When they came back on February 7, they beat the Detroit Red Wings 5–2, lost in the shootout to the Philadelphia Flyers 2–1, beat the Ottawa Senators 6–3, lost to the Montreal Canadiens 6–2, lost in the shootout to the Red Wings 5–4, lost in the shootout to the New York Rangers 5–4, lost in overtime to the Colorado Avalance 6–5, beat the Flyers 4–2, beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 7–2, and lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets 6–5. 43 goals for, with 39 against in their first 10 games back from the break.
What is the saying again? Once is bad luck, twice is a coincidence, and three is a pattern? If we judge the Oilers’ restart based on that, then it is a coincidence that Edmonton had yet another slow restart to the season after all the players and staff came back to work from their small break. It should not have happened in the first place, but with it being hard to explain why this has happened for the Oilers in the last few years, one can only hope that they will finally flip the switch and decide to change direction next time.
The start up after the 2024–25 break was awful
Last year, instead of the All-Star weekend, the NHL decided to change things up and run a mini tournament with four countries, which was called the 4 Nations Face-Off. With plans to allow NHL players back to the Winter Olympics in 2026 (just concluded), this event was a showcase of what was to come. The four countries involved were Team Canada, Team USA, Team Finland, and Team Sweden. Players from all over the league got to represent their country on one of the biggest stages, and it ended up being a massive success with the US and Canada meeting in the Championship game.
After the two-week break and a Team Canada 4 Nations Face-Off Championship win, the Edmonton Oilers got right back to business, and boy, was it a rough restart, awful some would say. When Edmonton’s games resumed on February 22, they lost 6–3 to the Philadelphia Flyers, lost 7–3 to the Washington Capitals, lost 4–1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning, lost 4–3 to the Florida Panthers, won 3–1 against the Carolina Hurricanes, lost 6–2 to the Anaheim Ducks, won in overtime 3–2 against the Montreal Canadiens, beat the Dallas Stars 5–4, lost 3–2 against the Buffalo Sabres, and lost 3–2 to the New Jersey Devils.
How to avoid a slow restart this season (2025–26)
A three-week break from NHL play is a long time to be away with no games being played. It is especially hard for the many players who did not get the chance to play for their home country in the Winter Olympics. I do not need to look into anything to understand that many players were left behind and that the list is way too long to count.
What we need to ask ourselves is how the Edmonton Oilers can avoid yet another slow restart to the season, which would be their fourth in a row. I believe that the three biggest keys to the team’s success are health, practice, and motivation. In terms of the health of the players, this long break should have given them more than enough time to get in the gym and back on the ice, to get back to 100 percent. Unless an injury barred them for the season or someone got injured at the Olympics, everyone else should be raring to go.
If we look at one element, practice is key. If the Oilers practice on and off the ice or come back and have as many morning sessions as possible, they should all be in a prime position to get back out there and continue from where they left off, or play even better than they did before the break.
Finally, they have to be motivated to get back on the ice and do everything that they can to end the season as strong and as ready for the playoffs as possible. I understand that losing out on Gold at the Olympics is heartbreaking and that Connor McDavid will not get over it until he is back in 2030, but with 24 games remaining, he and everyone else have to be on their A game to showcase their best hockey to bring with them into the playoffs.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
