Oilers' Kane Playing Beer League Has Fans Chomping At the Bit for Summer Hockey
The NHL should bring back summer hockey
Edmonton Oilers' winger Evander Kane was seen playing in a beer league in Edmonton last week under a fake name.
He is playing for the “Broadstreet Bullies” under the name “Fa Afo” or put differently F.A.A.F.O. which means f*** around and find out — a phrase he used in a post-game interview last playoffs against the Vegas Golden Knights after a scrum ended with Kane punching Keegan Kolesar.
Related: Oilers 2023 Off-Season Guide
Now, while the Oilers’ power forward is playing in a beer league, the NBA is holding its Summer League, raising the question of whether the NHL should also have its own.
However, if the NHL wants to bring back summer hockey, I’d rather see the World Cup of Hockey instead of a Summer League.
But this is unlikely to happen, even though multiple NHL players, including Oilers' Connor McDavid, have expressed interest in playing in a World Cup.
So how could the NHL offer summer hockey?
An alternative I would suggest is for the NHL to take rookie development camps up a notch and turn them into bigger events, broadcast them, and make actual tournaments, perhaps allowing competition between teams of the same division.
Who wouldn’t like to watch a rookie version of the Battle of Alberta in July?
This more realistic option for summer hockey would turn development camps into big events, which would give fans the chance to see Oilers' prospects and rookies in a close-to-NHL environment before the pre-season.
Let’s also keep in mind that prospects are harder to keep track of when they're all playing in different leagues during the regular season.
And as short as the NHL off-season is, hockey fans do get bored, so since these rookie camps are here, teams should go all out to give fans a way to stay connected and learn more about the teams' future talents.