In 2007, the Edmonton Oilers made a big splash, signing veteran defenseman Sheldon Souray. In this cover story from THN's Archive, Souray loudly and proudly spoke of the opportunity to play at home.

The Edmonton Oilers are one of the hottest teams in the NHL at the moment. In this cover story from THN’s Sept. 4, 2007 edition (Vol. 61 Issue 1), then-THN senior writer Ken Campbell wrote about Edmonton’s free-agent coup when they landed veteran defenseman Sheldon Souray.

(And this is today’s reminder: for full access to THN’s exclusive 76-year archive, you can subscribe to the magazine by visiting THN.com/Free.)

Souray, who grew up in Edmonton, joined the Oilers in summer 2007 on a five-year, $27-million contract. He had health issues in his first and final seasons with the Oilers, appearing in only 26 games in 2007-08 and 37 games in 2009-10. But along with fellow free agent acquisition Dustin Penner, Souray joining the team was a shot across the bow of anyone who thought playing for Edmonton was a non-starter for above-average UFAs.

“(To acquire) these players, we had to make offers that would be significant enough to acquire them and if you don’t do that, you’re just kicking the bee’s nest, aren’t you?” then-Oilers president and CEO Patrick LaForge told Campbell. “If you don’t come away with any honey, then what was the point? We realize with these guys that we’re paying for the future, unlike with UFAs where you’re paying for history. It’s a different way for the league to look at assets and I think we’re on the leading edge in that matter.”

Souray played a rugged physical game, and although his stint with the Oilers lasted only three seasons before his contract was bought out in 2011, he took pride in being a member of the Edmonton organization.

“Put it this way, I won’t be asking for a trade out of Edmonton,” Souray told Campbell. “You have to show up and be proud to wear the jersey and there’s nobody who’s going to be more proud to wear the jersey than me when I get there. Hopefully I’ll endear myself to (the fans) early and things go great, but if not, I’m prepared to withstand whatever attention or rough times lay ahead.”

Souray could’ve chosen a low-profile job in a non-traditional hockey market, but he preferred the passion of a high-pressure gig.

“In Toronto and Montreal, you lose a game and they should trade everybody…You hear people saying, ‘This guy is overpaid,’ or ‘Boom-Boom Geoffrion would have never made that pass,’ ” Souray said. “But you deal with it. Would you rather play in a place where you have to show your I.D. every time you go to the rink? You want to have to play in front of 7,000 fans a night? That sucks, man.”

A BANNER HOMECOMING

Vol. 61, No. 1, Sept. 4, 2007

By Ken Campbell

Alright, Sheldon Souray didn’t come back home just for the meatloaf, but that undoubtedly entered into the decision. You see, his mom makes a ground meat casserole to die for and she just happens to live in Edmonton. But her real specialty is gourmet breakfasts and that will be a welcome change for a 31-year-old guy who has survived most mornings the past seven years on a steady diet of double-doubles and a muffin from Tim Hortons.

“And I’m going to be able to wear an Oilers jersey,” Souray said. “So it’s minus-30. Who cares? That was so totally not in the equation.”

Just so you know, Souray was talking about the winter temperature in Edmonton and not his plus-minus last season (although, he was a forgettable minus-28).

Time will tell whether securing Souray to a five-year deal worth $27 million was a good signing, but it was certainly good news for a team and a fan base that desperately needed it. After being burned and spurned by everyone from Chris Pronger to Michael Peca to Michael Nylander, the Oilers finally found someone who wanted to call Edmonton home and in this case, the optics of the move were almost as important as the 26 goals and lethal shot Souray brings with him to Edmonton.

“I see them as incidents more than a pattern, but unfortunately it looks like a pattern,” said Oilers president and CEO Patrick LaForge on the team’s recent inability to attract and keep players. “I believe it will take us a while to prove to the world that everything is alright and we’re on the right track and we’re winning again.

“The Pronger decision was a huge event and it’s going to take a while for us to recover. But we’re not making silly decisions because of that. I think we’re making good decisions.”

Several of Oilers GM Kevin Lowe’s colleagues would beg to differ on that one. Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier had some pointed words after Edmonton offered 43-goal sophomore Thomas Vanek a deal that will average $7.14 million over the next seven seasons, a deal the Sabres were forced to match in order to retain Vanek. And Anaheim Ducks GM Brian Burke, who lost 29-goal scorer Dustin Penner to the Oilers when they signed him, another restricted free agent, to an offer sheet that will pay Penner $4.25 million each of the next five seasons, blasted Lowe when he announced the Ducks would not match the offer and instead take the first, second and third round picks next season as compensation.

“Given Kevin’s recent performance,” Burke said, “I expect them to be excellent picks.”

Ouch. But the way the Oilers see it, they’re simply playing by the rules of the new collective bargaining agreement. (Lowe was out of the country on vacation and unavailable for comment on this story.) Where other GMs see them needlessly driving up salaries, the Oilers see themselves as trailblazers.

“For these players, we had to make offers that would be significant enough to acquire them and if you don’t do that, you’re just kicking the bee’s nest, aren’t you?” LaForge said.

“If you don’t come away with any honey, then what was the point? We realize with these guys that we’re paying for the future, unlike with UFAs where you’re paying for history. It’s a different way for the league to look at assets and I think we’re on the leading edge in that matter.”

With Souray though, the Oilers were looking for a defenseman who could put up some offensive numbers. Last season, their defense corps scored 23 goals – and that includes eight by Marc-Andre Bergeron, who was traded at the deadline. That’s three fewer than Souray scored all by himself.

For his part, Souray wasn’t necessarily looking to continue his career in Canada, but was intrigued and excited when the Oilers entered the fray late in the process. And he vows nothing is going to change his thinking, not a lack of team success or mornings when he’ll be forced to clean seven inches of snow off his windshield.

“Put it this way, I won’t be asking for a trade out of Edmonton,” Souray said. “You have to show up and be proud to wear the jersey and there’s nobody who’s going to be more proud to wear the jersey than me when I get there. Hopefully I’ll endear myself to (the fans) early and things go great, but if not, I’m prepared to withstand whatever attention or rough times lay ahead.”

When many players think of Edmonton, they often focus on the cold weather, but this past February, the average temperature in Edmonton was fewer than three degrees lower than it was in Montreal and fewer than two degrees colder than Ottawa.

Players such as Bill Guerin, Ryan Smyth, Doug Weight and Jason Smith have all left Edmonton, but they rave about the place.

The dressing room is as tight as any in the NHL and with no provincial sales taxes and a favorable income tax structure, it’s one of the top places to play in the league from an economic standpoint.

“As a dressing room and a group of guys, there’s not a place that has a better reputation than Edmonton,” Souray said. “I know when I signed here there were more than a few eyebrows raised, but for me it’s more important to have a great group of guys I can hang out with all season long.”

A number of unique factors made Edmonton attractive to Souray, not the least of which is he lived in the city from the time he was six until he was 15. His father, whom Sheldon describes as one of the biggest Oiler fans ever, regularly travels from the Fishing Lake Metis Settlement where Sheldon was born, two-and-a-half hours northeast of Edmonton, to the city. His mother, Lillian Parenteau, lives in Edmonton and is CEO of the Metis Settlements Child and Family Services Authority.

And it’s not as though Souray is unaccustomed to living in a hockey fishbowl. He played seven seasons in Montreal, don’t forget, where the pressure to perform can be as difficult to deal with as anywhere in the league.

“In Toronto and Montreal, you lose a game and they should trade everybody…You hear people saying, ‘This guy is overpaid,’ or ‘Boom-Boom Geoffrion would have never made that pass,’” he said. “But you deal with it. Would you rather play in a place where you have to show your I.D. every time you go to the rink? You want to have to play in front of 7,000 fans a night? That sucks, man.”

But perhaps the biggest saving grace is that Souray, at least in the short term, is single. His very public, very ugly breakup with former Baywatch actress Angelica Bridges made life difficult in Montreal, but Souray said Edmonton provides a much better situation for themselves and their two children.

The couple is divorced, but on good terms and Bridges has agreed to make trips to Edmonton with the children throughout the season. Souray said the two-and-a-half-hour flight from Edmonton to L.A. is much better than the five-and-a-half-hour trip from Montreal. He’ll spend summers in California.

“It’s half the time and when she gets here, her support system is 50 people bigger, so she welcomed it with open arms,” Souray said.

Souray also looks forward to working with native youth, who often face a troubled existence pockmarked by teen pregnancy, alcoholism and drug abuse, family violence and suicide. He said the desire for a better life was one of the reasons his parents moved the family off the settlement and into Edmonton, but he still has many uncles and a grandmother living on the Fishing Lake settlement, which had a population of 813 in 2006. (Metis consist of descendents of marriages of aboriginals to French Canadians and are recognized as aboriginal people in Canada.) His uncles and other kin still hold many of the Metis traditions and rituals close.

“It’s not like they’re going out and killing buffalo with their bare hands,” Souray said, “but they haven’t forgotten where they’ve come from and nor have I.”

And that’s one of the main reasons why he’s going back.

The Hockey News Archive is a vault of 2,640 issues and more than 156,000 articles exclusively for subscribers, chronicling the complete history of The Hockey News from 1947 until today. Visit the archives at THN.com/archive and subscribe today at subscribe.thehockeynews.com