THN.com/free Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MTk2Nzg4NDk0NjU4NDQ2OTc4/usatsi_19327626.jpg] Though hockey is a sport where players are generally expected to keep a team-first attitude and not show too many individual quirks, goalies have the latitude to be weird. Whether it was Patrick Roy talking to his goalposts, Ed Belfour fiercely protecting the gear in his dressing-room stall or Ilya Bryzgalov waxing rhapsodic about the vastness of the universe, it’s understood that it takes a unique mindset to allow vulcanized rubber to be fired at your head at 100 miles per hour. Never mind those 225-pound power forwards who accidentally-on-purpose crash your crease to create scoring chances. So far, however, there’s no sign rookie Stuart Skinner will be joining the ranks of his craft’s most quirky characters. Oilers goalie coach Dustin Schwartz has overseen Skinner’s development since the team drafted him 78th overall in 2017 and says his charge has a big heart, keeps his feet on the ground and is now practically a member of the family. “I have two boys, and basically Stu’s their big brother,” Schwartz said. “We spend a little bit of time on the golf course, and he comes to my kids’ practices.” An Edmonton native, Skinner is the youngest of nine children, but his older siblings didn’t force him into the net. He started out as a skater – and while he doesn’t remember how old he was when he first strapped on the pads, the impetus for the move came entirely from within. “I always kind of wanted to be a goalie, ever since I was playing Timbits hockey,” he said. “It’s just something that was calling me. Every time I got to go in the net, I just had the most fun and always wanted to stop all the pucks.” One childhood memory does linger. As a seven-year-old, Skinner parked himself in front of the family television to watch the 2005-06 Edmonton Oilers reach the Stanley Cup final. “The big thing I remember was Dwayne Roloson getting hurt,” he said. “That’s why I believe we ended up losing. It was a fun, fun team to watch.” Schwartz also remembers that run vividly. In 2006, he was with the AJHL Fort Saskatchewan Traders and in his first year as a goaltending coach. At the time, Schwartz was just one year removed from his playing days at the University of Alberta. The fundamentals of goaltending have shifted dramatically since the then-36-year-old Roloson went on the otherworldly run that was halted when he tore the ligaments in his right knee late in Game 1 of the final. But Schwartz nonetheless sees a through-line to Skinner’s present-day experiences. “That ’06 run was something that the city embraced,” Schwartz said. “You got a real appreciation for the guys that grinded through to get to the Stanley Cup final. I think Stu saw a lot of that. And what ‘Rollie’ brought that year, that’s what Stu’s started to build his game around. “There’s no situation that’s just going to roll out a red carpet, and I think Rollie was a good example of that. He just found a way to win games, and I think Stu’s working his way toward that as well.” Skinner, who was born in Edmonton, grew up as an Oilers fan and has quickly grown into an unexpected No. 1 role for the team. [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MTk2Nzg4NTExNTY5ODgwMTI2/usatsi_19685067.jpg] Skinner, who was born in Edmonton, grew up as an Oilers fan and has quickly grown into an unexpected No. 1 role for the team. In Skinner’s first season as a full-time NHLer, his unflappable demeanor and ever-improving technical game have been invaluable to the Oilers. Originally expected to spend 2022-23 backing up off-season acquisition Jack Campbell to the tune of 30 games or so, Skinner has ably managed a larger-than-expected workload as Campbell has struggled to adjust to his new environment. As the calendar flipped to 2023, Skinner owned a 12-9-1 record and an impressive .917 save percentage. Two weeks earlier, while playing on the second year of a two-year, two-way, league-minimum deal, Skinner signed a three-year, $7.8-million contract extension – cementing his place in the NHL ranks for the foreseeable future. It’s a major milestone for a player who had some success in his youth but has required tremendous perseverance to reach the top of the hockey mountain. “He has good size to play the position, he’s a good athlete, and he’s able to get himself around the crease quite well,” Schwartz said. “Those are all attributes that he had from a young age. He was a real coachable kid and always willing to look at his game through an opportunity lens, if you will.” A first-round pick (17th overall) by the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the 2013 WHL bantam draft, Skinner saw action with Team Canada at the U-17 and U-18 levels, but he was never selected for a World Junior Championship roster. On March 18, 2016, Skinner joined some heady company by scoring a goal for the Hurricanes against the Medicine Hat Tigers. Just over a year later, the Oilers made him the fifth goalie chosen in the 2017 NHL draft. Returning to junior, Skinner moved from Lethbridge to the contending Swift Current Broncos at the 2018 WHL trade deadline. He backstopped his new squad to a league championship that spring – outduelling a familiar foe in two-time CHL goaltender of the year and fellow Edmontonian Carter Hart of the Everett Silvertips in the WHL final. Just two-and-a-half months apart in age, Skinner and Hart have been squaring off against each other since their days in minor hockey. Hart tended the twine for Sherwood Park, and Skinner suited up for the South Side Athletic Club – at one point playing on a team with future Oilers (and AHL Bakersfield) teammates Tyler Benson and James Hamblin. These days, Skinner and Hart spend their summers working as training partners with Schwartz, along with Pittsburgh’s Tristan Jarry. Both stoppers made the jump to the pros in the fall of 2018. But Hart’s AHL apprenticeship lasted just 18 games before he was called up to the Philadelphia Flyers for good. Skinner went on to spend the better part of four seasons in the minors – mostly with Edmonton’s AHL affiliate in Bakersfield but also for 44 games with the Wichita Thunder of the ECHL. “Stu had to kind of grind his way out,” Schwartz said. “He really worked his way through the levels in his development, and I think that has served him well now. He’s more mature about it, and he’s gone through a little bit of adversity a bit sooner than Carter maybe did. I think that’s helped him out.” Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MTk2Nzg4NjE4OTQ0MDYzMTA2/usatsi_19243613.jpg] Whether he was in Bakersfield or Wichita, Skinner faced plenty of rubber. He appeared in a total of 51 games in 2018-19 and in another 44 games the following year – before the COVID-19 pandemic put hockey on hold in March 2020. “Experience is the greatest teacher,” Skinner said. “I had to play in the ECHL, and I’ve gotten lit up a lot in my day. It helps you kind of learn how to make more saves and become stronger mentally and emotionally and also helps you become a better teammate.” When games resumed in January 2021, Skinner landed on Edmonton’s taxi squad. Eleven games into the season, with Mike Smith sidelined by injury and the Oilers in a back-to-back situation, Skinner made his NHL debut against the Ottawa Senators – on home ice but in a fan-free Rogers Place. The Oilers prevailed, 8-5. Skinner stopped 33 of 38 shots in what would be his only game of that season. “Fortunately, he got his first win,” Schwartz said. “But the benefit of it was not the ‘W.’ It’s more the learning things that came out of it. As soon as the game was over, I congratulated him, and he just said to me, ‘I’ve got so much to work on.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but you got your foot in the door. You’ve seen the little parts of your game that need to improve.’ “I think of the five goals he gave up, three of them were through traffic. He started to understand how much work needed to be done with things like net presence, reading the play. Different skills that only experience can teach you.” When Skinner returned to the Condors in February, that experience paid dividends. He shaved nearly a full goal off his goals-against average. His save percentage spiked from .892 to .914. And he posted a regular-season record of 20-9-2 before backstopping Bakersfield to a win in the AHL’s condensed 2021 Pacific Division playoff tournament. The following season, he took another step. His SP rose to .920 over 35 AHL games. And when injuries shelved Smith again, Skinner played 13 more games with the Oilers. He posted a 6-6-0 record with a 2.62 GAA and .914 SP. “Stu had to kind of grind his way out. He really worked his way through the levels in his development, and I think that has served him well now.” - Oilers goalie coach Dustin Schwartz Both during the season and when he returned to the Oilers as a black ace after the Condors’ playoff run concluded in mid-May, Skinner took full advantage of the mentorship offered by his veteran teammate, who was playing in his 16th NHL campaign. “I have a ton of time for Mike Smith and respect his career to the (highest) degree for what he did on the ice,” Schwartz said. “But from my standpoint, the biggest piece that Mike was able to bring to our team from a long-term perspective is his role in mentoring Stu.” Skinner soaked up Smith’s advice on the technical elements of the game, including Smith’s signature puck-handling skills. He also bore witness to the relentless practice habits and daily body-maintenance work that kept Smith performing at the highest level at age 40 – all the way through to a Western Conference final that re-ignited the city of Edmonton, just like back in 2006. “All the games that I was able to go to, the fans were unbelievable,” Skinner said. “They made the building shake, which gives the boys a ton of energy to play. Very exciting and also something I think we all learned a lot from. Losing out in the third round is obviously tough, but at the same time, it’s huge for us to go through that. Now we know how to win.” This season, with Skinner and Campbell holding the reins, the Oilers’ goalie dynamic has taken on a new personality. Campbell’s affable, team-first approach is well documented. “He’s always there for a good laugh and a joke,” Skinner said. “He’s very kind, very genuine, very generous as well. He’s always supportive when I play, he’s happy to see when I get a win, and vice-versa. I think we’ve grown to have a great partnership and friendship.” As Skinner and his wife, Chloe, start their own family with the birth of their first child, Schwartz says Skinner will make a terrific father. “All the things you hear about Jack, Stu’s got a very similar demeanor in his care for people and the way he treats people,” he said. “He’s one of a kind. I’ve got a lot of respect for him as a person and, obviously, as an athlete.” So while some goalies may be odd fellows, there's no weirdness this year in Oil Country. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This article appeared in the 2023 Rookie Issue of The Hockey News magazine. Get the issue for free with an annual subscription at THN.com/free [http://THN.com/free].
