MATTHEW SAVOIE ON WATCHING STANLEY CUP FINAL RUN: ‘I’M NOT AFRAID TO SAY I WAS AN OILER FAN FOR THOSE FEW WEEKS’
Before he officially became a member of the Edmonton Oilers, Matthew Savoie was rooting for the team as they made their run to the Stanley Cup Final.
“I got back to Edmonton right after the Memorial Cup in early June, and I’m not afraid to say I was an Oiler fan for those few weeks,” he told the media during the Oilers Rookie Camp. “I was living in the city, the city was buzzing. Me and all my buddies, we’d go watch the games at a restaurant and be a part of the atmosphere. So it was really cool just to watch the run and how good they did.”
Being in the city when your childhood team is making an inspired run to the Stanley Cup is always a special feeling, no matter how many times one gets to experience it in their lifetime. That experience certainly must have helped ease the pain of Savoie and the Moose Jaw Warriors falling to the eventual champion Saginaw Spirit in the semi-finals of the Memorial Cup.
While standing witness to seeing the Oilers coming a win away from reaching immortality, Savoie could have never envisioned that he would traded to Edmonton in exchange for Ryan McLeod and Ty Tullio just a few weeks later. He may not have been thinking about how badly he would have loved to help the Oilers get over the hump, but he is nonetheless grateful to be part of the team he grew up cheering for.
“I think you just want to have success wherever you are and you want to be in the right spot for you,” he said. “As a hockey fan, it was so fun to watch being an Oiler fan growing up. It wasn’t really in the back of my head, ‘I wish I was there,’ but it’s pretty cool to be here now.”
Savoie is coming off a busy season that saw him appear in NHL, AHL, and WHL games. He went pointless in his NHL debut with the Sabres, got in six games for the Rochester Americans, putting up five points (two goals and three assists), and played for both the Warriors and Wenatchee Wild. In 34 games split between the two teams, he put up a combined 71 points (30 goals and 41 assists) while racking up 24 points (10 goals and 14 assists) in 19 playoff games for the Warriors. He was also productive in the Memorial Cup, where he finished fourth on his team in scoring with four points (a goal and three assists) in four games.
Savoie and the Oilers prospects will make their way to Penticton to take part in the annual Young Stars Classic tournament this weekend, where they will take on the top rookies on the Canucks, Flames, and Jets.
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