Every once in a while, a moment pops up through the chaos of an NHL season, and you realize you’ve been watching the same player your entire adult life. For many Oilers fans around our fair city, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is that guy. As I write this today, my man is knocking on the door of his 1,000th game, he’s closing in on 800 points, and if the Hockey Gords are kind, 1,000 points isn’t out of the question either. And somehow, through 15 years as an Oiler, he’s still just… Nuge. Same calm presence. Same quiet confidence. Same guy who never makes it about himself.

It’s wild to think that I’ve been shouting Nugent-Hopkins’ praises since June 24, 2011, when Steve Tambellini walked to the podium in Minnesota and called his name as the first overall pick. I didn’t know it at the time, but that moment kicked off one of the longest, dumbest, and most heartfelt fan commitments of my life. It was then that I appointed myself as the President and CEO of the RNH Fan Club, a schtick that’d I’d carry forward for nearly two decades. And I remember when it happened, too. Three games into his career, Nuge picked up a hat trick against Vancouver, and my brain decided, “Yep. This is the guy.”

From that moment on, it was ride or die. #KeepNugeForever wasn’t just a slogan — it was a belief system.

What makes this approaching milestone so wild is everything Nuge has lived through as an Oiler. The Decade of Darkness........

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