Tonight’s hockey game will be the last ever played by the Edmonton Oilers in the only home they’ve ever known. Rexall place is going to be turned into the world’s largest beehive after the game* and the Oilers will move into the new downtown arena that Katz is building for the beginning of next season.

Rexall Place is getting a send off to the tune of more than 100 Oilers Alumni appearing at the Home Finale and what I can only imagine will be a wild after-party. The ceremony is scheduled for after the game, a list minute change, and it will be televised.

Rexall Place or Skyreach Center or Northlands or whatever we want to call it, has been a staple of my entertainment life. It’s the home of the Oilers, and that’s obviously a huge part of the building’s legacy, but it’s also been the home to countless events. The concourse isn’t just filled with Oiler memories, it’s been the major concert venue for Edmonton over the course of my life too.

My memories of actually being inside Rexall Place are more filled with music than they are of hockey. I grew up 10 minutes away from the building on Edmonton’s north side, but season tickets weren’t a reality for my family. They still aren’t a reality for me, even as a grown man with a real job. With the price increases reported by every current ticket holder going into the new arena, I doubt I’ll be signing up for that any time soon either.

I guess I’ve always been a Tier 2 or 3 fan. Sorry, Kevin.

So the end of Rexall and Northlands brings up a lot of memories for me that aren’t limited to just hockey. It’s been the focal point of entertainment in my life for a long time. Here’s a list of some of my favourite or lasting memories.

- Bob Dylan. Second worst live performance I’ve ever witnessed (Black Crowes was easily the worst) but I loved crossing a name off the music bucket list.
- Tom Petty. Crowd sings Learning to Fly.
- Ben Scrivens 59 save shutout. Three standing ovations.
- Barenaked Ladies. Kid requests to play drums on a sign he’s holding. They let him.
- Aerosmith. Because awesome.
- AC/DC with my younger brother. First concert we ever saw together.
- Front Row Floor for Fleetwood Mac with my wife.
- Taking the oldest to his first ever concert. Then seeing 3 in a year with him.
- Youngest dances on stage with her studio during intermission at an Oil Kings game.
- Heckling Tom Poti from the nosebleeds until he cries**
- Being really weirded out by how religious the Rodeo is when it comes through town.
- Eating hot dogs and pretzels every time I’m there even when I’m not hungry.
- Seeing McDavid skate live for the first time and being completely blown away.
- Sting and Annie Lennox. Annie Lennox was awesome. I couldn’t make it 3 songs into Sting before I had to leave because he was so incredibly boring.
- Leaving my first ever concert with my dad when I was maybe 13 and walking home feeling like I was going to be murdered on 82nd street. Looking back, I was probably right to be freaked out.
***Honourable mention though actually more of a Northlands memory – I worked an event at the Silver Slipper in Northlands where The The were performing and the creepy keyboardist took the girl working the cash register at the burger kiosk to the band bus for an hour. So gross it’s burned into my memory.

I imagine everybody from Edmonton has a ton of memories from Rexall. I’m in my early 30’s so the NHL hockey I’ve known as an adult in that place has been mostly bad with a few highlights, none more memorable than the 2006 Cup Run. It ended in heartbreak, but being a young man in the Spring of 2006 was incredible.

I was too young to get a sense of the way the city felt in the 80’s when the Oilers were cutting through scoring records and racking up bills on Stanley Cup rings. The 2006 run was the loudest I’ve ever seen the building and the most unified I’ve ever seen Oiler fans. It’s those memories I will probably look back on the most when I think about hockey in the old building some time in the future.

McDavid will ensure that the new arena is the place some great memories will be made. As Rexall closes its doors, it’s successor is still being built just a few blocks from my office downtown. Ten years of losing will probably keep me from getting weepy about the change. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product. It’s time to move on. I’m ready for it.

*Probably
**Also Probably

LINEUP

Hall RNH Draisaitl
Maroon McDavid Eberle
Korpikoski Letestu Yakupov
Kassian Hendricks Pakarinen

Sekera Fayne
Nurse Pardy
Reinhart Oesterle

Talbot

OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME

1) There’s Actually A Game. Putting aside the 100+ alumni in town and the massive celebration planned for tonight, there’s actually a hockey game that’s going to be played first. The Oilers have to make up for the mess they made on Saturday against the Flames. They have to come out with purpose and really get this thing done. The team – the entire team – has to actually show up tonight lest they feel the wrath of the fans, management, and be remembered forever as the losers who ruined the last game ever at Rexall Place. No big deal, but all the great Oilers of the past are watching you backcheck, Jordan.

2) McDavid’s Show. Let’s be real here. Connor McDavid is the real reason any of us are still watching entire games. It’s because he can do something amazing on any shift. Yes, he should be rookie of the year. No, Panarin shouldn’t even be an option but he is based on a technicality that exists only because the NHL doesn’t recognize the KHL due to financial issues. Still Panarin is finishing strong and will probably take the Calder. Will I hold it against NHL awards voters that they refuse to use their brains on these issues? Yeah, obviously. Still, tonight, for one last time in Rexall place (only his 24th time ever) he will be on the ice terrorizing Canuck defenders. He’s reportedly going to play for Canada at the World Championships (where he will be their best player). Let’s hope he’s ready to put on one last show for the Rexall faithful.

3) Surging Nucks. Guess who’s finishing the season strong? Not the Oilers, but the Canucks are on a three game winning streak that has brought them to a tie with Edmonton for 30 Wins this season. However, all those Bettman Points have pushed the Canucks 6 points higher than the Oilers. They cant finish last and I’m pretty sure a great number of Canuck fans are upset about that. It’s not just that they’ve won, but they did it against the Sharks, Ducks, and Kings all in a row. Every one of those games were close in score. They’ve pulled their possession game up out of the muck since the lows in February and have hovered around acceptable over the last month or so. As much as their fans want them to just roll-over and let the Flames pass them by in the standings, I doubt this group feels the same.

Puck drops tonight at 5PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet West. Goodbye Rexall!

Follow me on Twitter @Archaeologuy

Join the Discussion: » 268 Comments » Post New Comment

» Farewell

» The Most Dangerous Game

» Calling Kovalchuk

» Oilers Sign Koskinen

» Oilers Drafting 10th...If At All