While it may be hard to believe, this coming week marks the 10th anniversary of Connor McDavid’s first-ever game in Edmonton.
The current Edmonton Oilers captain made his debut in the city he has now called home for a decade on Sept. 16, 2015, in an exhibition game at Rexall Place between a team comprised of players in Oilers rookie camp and the Alberta Golden Bears men’s university team. McDavid recorded three assists to help the Oilers’ rookies to a 6-3 win.
That night has largely faded from memory over the last decade, but it is historic for all kinds of reasons. Here’s a look back:
Game Against Golden Bears Was Annual Tradition
The match-up between a squad of Oilers rookies and the University of Alberta’s men’s hockey team was an annual tradition beginning in 1988, but hasn’t taken place since 2017, because of “business issues” between Oilers owner Daryl Katz and the university.
Incredibly, a first-round draft pick had never suited up for the Oilers’ rookies against the Golden Bears. That was about to change in 2015.
Oilers Versus Bears Set University Attendance Record
The excitement about the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft was so high that the game between the Oilers’ rookies and the Golden Bears was relocated to Rexall Place from its traditional location, the 2,700-seat Clare Drake Arena on the University of Alberta campus.
.@GBHKY Thanks for a great game, you guys! pic.twitter.com/6zizhIDjmL
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) September 17, 2015
A total of 14,434 spectators turned out at the then-home arena of the Oilers, setting the record for the largest attendance ever to watch a Canadian university team play a hockey game (from ‘Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl lead rookie offence in win over defending CIS champions,’ Edmonton Sun, 9/17/15).
This was also the prelude to the final season of Oilers hockey at Rexall Place, which the team had called home since 1974 when the arena opened as Northlands Coliseum. The Oilers moved into Rogers Place in September 2016.
McDavid’s First Oilers Game Came in Penticton
This was McDavid’s second time donning an Oilers jersey for game action. The first such instance had come five days earlier at the Young Stars Classic tournament in Penticton, B.C.
On Sept. 11, 2015, McDavid had a goal and an assist as the Oilers’ rookies destroyed the Vancouver Canucks’ rookies by a score of 8-2 at the South Okanagan Events Centre, which was packed to the rafters with fans wanting to get the first glimpse of the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft.
McDavid and Draisaitl Show Immediate Chemistry
Today, they’re best friends, but McDavid and Leon Draisaitl were only just getting to know each other in September 2015. Draisaitl, who Edmonton had drafted third overall in 2014, was attending his second Oilers rookie camp.
Not surprisingly, their chemistry was evident from the get-go. The future dynamic duo played together on Edmonton’s top power-play unit, which generated a pair of goals. Draisaitl scored Edmonton’s first goal of the night in the first period, with McDavid drawing the secondary assist.
McDavid’s First Linemates
McDavid and Draisaitl each centered their own lines against the Golden Bears. McDavid’s lucky linemates were left wing Anton Slepyshev and right wing Cole Sanford.
Slepyshev went on to play parts of three seasons for the Oilers. But for Sanford, who McDavid set up for a goal in the third period, sharing NHL ice for one night with a generational talent probably ranks as his greatest moment.
“It was exciting to play with him,” Sanford said following the game (from ‘Edmonton Oilers linemate capitalizes on shifts with Connor McDavid in tilt versus University of Alberta Golden Bears,’ Edmonton Sun, 9/17/15). “It was a great opportunity for myself. Him as a player, he’s pretty good and the way he skates out there, handles the puck at full speed, it was an honour to play with him. It was a lot of fun.”
Then a 20-year-old with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League (WHL), Sanford had gone undrafted and was attending Oilers rookie camp on an invite. He never got close to making the NHL and has spent nearly all his pro career with the Cardiff Devils of the British Elite Ice Hockey League, where he continues to play today.
Related: 3 Oilers Prospects Who Stood Out in Rookie Game Against Flames
Edmonton’s 2025 rookie camp is currently underway, and the Oilers’ rookies faced off against the Calgary Flames’ rookies in an exhibition game at Rogers Place on Friday (Sept. 12). There was a lot of young talent on the ice for that game, but nothing remotely on the level of McDavid. What went down a decade ago between the Oilers’ rookies and the Golden Bears was truly a once-in-a-lifetime event.
