THE SIX EDMONTON OILERS GOALIES OF THE 2013-14 SEASON
It was a tough time to be a fan of the Edmonton Oilers in their decade of darkness.
After making it to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007, the Oilers went on a lengthy postseason-less drought, lasting all the way until the 2016-17 season. Thankfully, I was lucky. I only started cheering for the Oilers in 2008 and regularly tracked the team around 2010. Others weren’t so lucky, though.
There was a glimmer of hope in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season after three straight first-overall picks in the three preceding drafts. On April 3, 2013, the Oilers had 39 points from 36 games, sitting a point up on the St. Louis Blues after a five-game win streak. However, they won just three games (3-9-0) over their last 12 games.
Now, there were numerous reasons why the Oilers were in a playoff spot in April. Head coach Ralph Kreuger got a lot out of his players, while Nail Yakupov had a terrific rookie season. However, Devan Dubnyk became a starter that season, posting a .921 save percentage and a 2.57 goals-against average in 38 games played (14-16-6 record).
All of that positive momentum came crashing down in 2013-14. Let’s take a look at the six goalies the Edmonton Oilers used during the 2013-14 season.
Devan Dubnyk
After a .921 save percentage in 2012-13, Dubnyk brought his career save percentage to .913, while he had a 2.78 goals-against average in 139 games with the Oilers. The start of the 2013-14 season was horrendous for the large netminder, as he started the season with an .894 save percentage and a 3.36 goals-against average in 32 games.
Early in 2014, the Oilers traded Dubnyk to the Nashville Predators for Matt Hendricks, a solid fourth-line player who spent parts of four seasons with the Oilers. That said, there must’ve been some buyer’s remorse for the Oilers, as after a few trades, Dubnyk returned to form in 2014-15.
Between the Arizona Coyotes and Minnesota Wild the following season, Dubnyk had a .929 save percentage and a 2.07 goals-against average in 58 games played, winning the Masterton Trophy while finishing third in Vezina Trophy Voting and fourth in Hart Trophy voting.
The next season was a solid one for Dubnyk, but he earned even more votes for the Hart Trophy (finishing 15th) and Vezina Trophy (finishing fifth) in 2016-17. From 2014-15 until 2018-19, Dubnyk had a .920 save percentage and a 2.35 goals-against average in 317 games played before his play faltered in 2019-20.
It’s a story of what could’ve been, as the Oilers made a reactionary move and traded away a stud starter with a track record after 32 poor games.
Ilya Bryzgalov
A month prior to signing with the Oilers, Ilya Bryzgalov signed a try-out with the ECHLs’ Las Vegas Wranglers, never playing for the team. On Nov. 8, 2013, Bryzgalov signed a one-year deal with the Oilers.
Although he was 33 years old by the time he signed with the Oilers, Bryzgalov was pretty solid with the team, posting a .908 save percentage and a 3.01 goals-against average in 20 games, eventually becoming the team’s starter once Dubnyk was traded to the Nashville Predators.
Bryzgalov himself was later traded to the Minnesota Wild for a 2014 fourth-round pick that was used to select William Lagesson, who is still playing in the National Hockey League. The netminder had a .911 save percentage in 12 games with the Flyers, and was out of the league after eight games with the Anaheim Ducks in 2014-15.
Ben Scrivens
Really think about this question: Out of everything that happened in 2013-14 for the Oilers, what was the most memorable moment?
The clear answer for me is Ben Scrivens’ record-breaking 59-save shutout on Jan. 29, 2014. Two weeks prior, the Oilers acquired him from the Los Angeles Kings for a 2014 third-round pick that turned out to be Dominic Turgeon. No harm, no foul, as Turgeon played just nine National Hockey League games, but why is a rebuilding team trading a third-round pick? No idea.
Anyway, Scrivens had that terrific shutout that everyone was on the edge of the seat for, but he also had a .916 save percentage and a 3.01 goals-against average in 21 games played to end the season.
Scrivens’ play faltered in 2014-15, as he had an .890 save percentage and 3.16 goals-against average in 57 games played. He didn’t even play in the National Hockey League with the Oilers in 2015-16, as the Oilers acquired Cam Talbot from the New York Rangers at the 2015 draft. Scrivens was traded to the Montréal Canadiens for Zack Kassian, which is a pretty good trade in hindsight.
Viktor Fasth
Backing up Ben Scrivens during the 2014-15 season was Viktor Fasth, who the Oilers acquired at the 2014 trade deadline in exchange for a 2014 fifth-round pick and a third-round pick in 2015. With the fifth-round pick, the Ducks selected Matthew Berkovitz, while the third-round pick was used on Dennis Yan in the following draft. Again, no harm, no foul, but why is a rebuilding team trading picks for “meh” goalies?
Fasth broke onto the scene in 2012-13 after signing with the Anaheim Ducks. That year, he had a .921 save percentage and a 2.18 goals-against average in 25 games, along with a 15-6-2 record. In fact, he started his NHL career with eight consecutive wins.
The following season with the Ducks, he only started five games, with Jonas Hiller playing 50 games and Frederik Andersen playing 28 games. Moreover, current Ducks’ starter John Gibson played three games that season, prompting the Ducks to move him to the Oilers.
Fasth was solid with Edmonton, posting a .914 save percentage and a 2.73 goals-against average in seven games played to finish out the year. However, the 2014-15 season was rough for Fasth, as he had an .888 save percentage and a 3.41 goals-against average in 26 games, leaving the NHL for the Kontinental Hockey League in the off-season.
Jason LaBarbera
Do you remember Jason LaBarbera’s tenure with the Edmonton Oilers? I sure as hell don’t. The netminder was drafted back in 1998, and after a career as a backup (save for the 2007-08 season with the Los Angeles Kings), LaBarbera found himself with the Oilers to start the 2013-14 season.
His tenure didn’t last long, though, as he had an .870 save percentage and a 3.28 goals-against average in seven games. Like Dubynk, LaBarbera was traded for future considerations to the Chicago Blackhawks, where he had a .901 save percentage and a 2.62 goals-against average in 32 American Hockey League games.
The netminder had a cup of coffee in the league the following season, playing five games with the Anaheim Ducks (who also had Ilya Bryzgalov at this time) before LaBarbera hung up the skates at the end of the 2015-16 season.
Richard Bachman
Prior to the start of the 2013-14 season, the Oilers acquired two different players from the Dallas Stars through different means. One was enforcer Luke Gazdic (claimed off waivers), who scored his first goal in his first game on his first shot on his first shift, with the other player being Richard Bachman.
The netminder had NHL experience in the three prior seasons, as he had a .901 save percentage and a 2.94 goals-against average in 32 games with the Dallas Stars. In 2013-14, Bachman only played three games for the Oilers early in the season, but he looked darn good as he had a .916 save percentage and a 3.03 goals-against average.
In Bachman’s first game with the Oilers, he faced an insane number of shots, 48 to be exact, while allowing just one goal in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings. This game was overshadowed by Ben Scrivens’ incredible performance, but all Oiler fans listened to Bachman-Turner Overdrive on this random October night. Unfortunately, there appears to be no video of this one.
His next two games weren’t great, allowing six goals on 35 shots before suffering a hamstring injury and spending the rest of the season with the Oklahoma City Barons. Bachman returned in 2014-15 with the Oilers, posting a .911 save percentage and a 2.84 goals-against average in six games played.
After the 2014-15 season, Bachman signed with the Vancouver Canucks, spending five seasons with the organization and playing seven more games in the National Hockey League.
So, what to take away from this?
Admittedly, this article doesn’t have a theme or larger narrative to take away. During the All-Star break, I came up with this idea because I thought it would be a cool article to write during the off-season. Perhaps you can relive one of the worst seasons of the decade of darkness (it landed them Leon Draisaitl, though), or perhaps you can look at the Oilers’ poor asset management around this time.
All six of these goalies have retired from play, some due to age, others due to ability. However, Jason LaBarbera currently serves as the Calgary Flames goaltending coach, while Richard Bachman is the AHL Iowa Wild’s goaltending coach. Moreover, Ben Scrivens got his master’s degree and is the University of Denver’s team manager.
Devan Dubnyk went on to have a great career after departing the Oilers, while Viktor Fasth won two Swedish Hockey league titles with the Växjö Lakers. Ilya Bryzgalov is off running from bears in the Siberian Wilderness or something. Who knows?
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2024-09-13T15:05:12Z dg43tfdfdgfd