Oilers start hilarious new off-ice tradition, how they spent holiday weekend
Photo credit: Imagn Images
The Edmonton Oilers opened their first road trip of the season last night against the New York Rangers, and added some team bonding as well.
The Oilers saw a great bounce back effort from Stuart Skinner, possibly the most important thing for the team as a whole - and the team also may have got a bit closer over the weekend.
Connor McDavid hosts Oilers for Thanksgiving dinner before kicking off road trip
After the Oilers win over the Vancouver Canucks, Connor McDavid and his wife Lauren invited the team to have Thanksgiving dinner at their own house.
It's fantastic to see the McDavids put in the personal effort to open their house for a Thanksgiving celebration including all players from the team. Everyone from veterans like Leon Draisaitl to rookies like Matt Savoie were pictured sharing the holiday meal.
Gestures like this from the team Captain create some shared experience for all players, and make everyone feel welcome in the group - it's a great bonding activity organized by the McDavids.
Oilers also use matching tracksuits during team travel on first road trip
The Thanksgiving dinner was one traditional manner of team bonding, but the Oilers also picked a new strategy recently.
Arriving in New York off the team plane, every Oiler player was seen wearing a full matching tracksuit.
The tracksuits didn't carry through to their pre-game outfits as well, so it appears to just be an inside bit with the players only during travel.
It's kind of a hilarious and absurd idea to wear matching suits in the privacy of the plane, but it looks like every player had fun with it. On the Sportsnet broadcast last night, Gene Principe revealed the tracksuits were an idea from longtime trainer Brad Harrison.
It's unknown if the tracksuits will return, but after they won their first game it wouldn't be a surprise to see them stick around.
This group of Edmonton Oilers already appear incredibly close off the ice early this season. Building a relationship with teammates is essential for the long grind of a season and the trials of the playoffs, so it's great to see the Oilers already coming together this season.
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