Oilers hometown kids Dach and Savoie heat up at the perfect time before the playoffs |
It’s no secret that the odds of playing hockey as a youth and making the NHL are extremely difficult, with a study showing that the chances of playing minor hockey to one day playing in the NHL are roughly one in 4,000, or just 0.025 percent.
On top of that, the odds of a player making it to the NHL and also playing for their hometown team are even slimmer than 0.025%. Not very good odds at all, yet the Edmonton Oilers have two hometown kids defying them in Colton Dach and Matt Savoie, who have made an impact lately and are gearing up for their first playoff run with the team they grew up cheering for.
Dach and Savoie are both from St. Albert, AB, which is a very quick drive just northwest of Edmonton and is considered part of the Edmonton region, and both have mentioned that they grew up cheering for the Oilers.
For Dach, when he was acquired alongside Jason Dickinson on March 4th from the Chicago Blackhawks, he posted on his Instagram shortly after the trade thanking, the Blackhawks organization, ending his post by saying, “Excited to come home and get to work.” The final picture in the post showed the Oilers fan in him, sporting a retro Oil Drop jersey at centre ice, which, given his age at the time, would have been at the old Rexall Place, as seen below.
Photo courtesy of Colton Dach (@colton.dach) on Instagram
Savoie, on the other hand, expressed his Oilers fandom in September 2024 at the Oilers’ rookie camp while reminiscing about the previous season’s deep playoff run, saying, “As a hockey fan, it was so fun to watch, being an Oilers fan growing up.”
Both Dach and Savoie are living the dream of many who grew up in Oil Country, and are set to get a taste of playoff hockey in front of close to 18,000 fans at a rocking Rogers Place as the Oilers prepare for Game 1 against the Anaheim Ducks on April 20. That said, both should be heading into the postseason full of confidence, as we take a closer look at the impact they’ve been making lately.
Colton Dach
Dach has four points in eight games with the Oilers after putting up eight in 53 with the Blackhawks, accounting for 33.3% of his season total in far fewer games in Edmonton, meaning that so far, in the small sample size, he’s settling quite nicely in Oilers’ silks.
The 23-year-old ended the regular season on the highest of notes, almost the perfect one you’d want from your 6-foot-4, 218-pound bottom-six........