It would be completely understandable if Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner did not know a great deal about Grant Fuhr.
After all, Skinner was just 17 months old when Fuhr played the final game of his decorated NHL career. He just turned five on the weekend of Fuhr’s induction to the Hockey Hall of Fame. And he wasn’t even alive when Fuhr was backstopping the Oilers to championships.
But Fuhr is a lot more than just a name on one of the banners that hang above Skinner’s head every time the 25-year-old netminder skates onto the ice at Rogers Place. Fuhr is the legend whose record Skinner just broke.
Skinner Has 11 Straight Victories
On Tuesday (Jan. 23), Skinner stopped 27 shots as Edmonton defeated the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1. That result gave him a victory in 11 straight games, as he surpassed Fuhr for the longest single-season win streak by an Oilers goalie. Fuhr won 10 games in a row from Feb. 14 to March 25, 1986.
As he met with media following Edmonton’s franchise-record 14th consecutive win, Skinner spoke of Fuhr with great reverence and revealed that not only has he gotten to know an awful lot about the Oilers legend, but he’s also gotten to know Fuhr personally.
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“I was feeling a lot of emotions, especially when I went out on the ice for First Star, just because it’s pretty cool to be able to break a record from one of the best goalies that ever lived,” said Skinner, who started his streak on Dec. 22 in Edmonton’s 4-3 road triumph against the New York Rangers.
“He’s obviously a guy that I look up to, I guy that I’ve talked to. He’s just one of the best, so I’m very fortunate to be able to break it.”
Fuhr Won 5 Cups in Edmonton
The only goaltender to have his number retired by the Oilers, the diminutive Fuhr is one of hockey’s most iconic figures. He’s a five-time Stanley Cup champion, six-time All-Star Game selection, and one-time Vezina Trophy recipient, all during his 10 seasons with the Oilers from 1981-82 to 1990-91.
He’s one of only 13 goalies with more than 400 NHL regular season wins, and was included on the list of The 100 Greatest NHL Players. No less of an authority than the GOAT, Wayne Gretzky, called Fuhr the greatest goalie in the history of the game.
Skinner hasn’t even played 100 career regular season games yet and is already having one of the greatest stretches of goaltending. Over a two-month span dating back to American Thanksgiving, he is 18-2-0 with a goals-against average (GAA) of 1.80 and a save percentage (SV%) of .933. He’s gone 10 straight games allowing two or fewer goals, the first netminder in franchise history to do so.
Skinner Resurgent After Oilers’ Poor Start
This season has seen a remarkable turnaround for Skinner, who had a 3.66 GAA and .865 SV% over his first 13 appearances as the Oilers stumbled out of the gate, at one point sitting second from last in the NHL’s overall standings.
But while the sky was falling in Oil Country, with Skinner’s partner between the pipes Jack Campbell performing so poorly that he got banished to Bakersfield, he remained calm and composed. He might have learned to be so Zen from studying Fuhr, the coolest customer to ever lace up a pair of goalie skates.
“I’ve watched every single YouTube video possible on him, from interviews to his incredible saves,” Skinner said. “Obviously it’s really cool what he did for this organization, he’s one of the best to ever play the game.”
Likely no goalie will ever match what Fuhr achieved as an Oiler, but Skinner is starting to rack up some pretty decent accolades in his own right. He was a Calder Trophy finalist, has appeared in an All-Star Game, and now has the franchise record for consecutive W’s.
The next step, of course, is to do even once what Fuhr did five times: backstop the Oilers to a Stanley Cup. Skinner has seen those highlights, too.
Skinner Praises His Predecessors’ Courage
“It is pretty wild to see how they played,” said Skinner, an Edmonton product who the Oilers drafted in 2017. “What I think about it how heavy their gear would have been, the masks that they wore and getting shots in the collarbone. They didn’t have too much protection. It takes a lot of guts to do what they did at that time.
“Especially for Grant, watching all those videos, knowing him personally, he’s just such a competitor, and you saw that when they won the Cup when he was always playing.”
And Edmonton fans are seeing that now in the hometown kid that they appreciatively serenade with a collective “Stuuuuu” after every big save. Chances are that will echo throughout Rogers Place again Saturday (Jan. 27) afternoon when Skinner and the Oilers look to keep on winning against the Nashville Predators.
