The Edmonton Oilers were not good during the Decade of Darkness.

Aside from being in the playoff conversation in 2007-08 and 2012-13 (mainly because of the lockout), the Oilers were almost always at the bottom of the league. From 2006-07 until 2015-16, the Oilers didn’t make the playoffs once, hence the nickname the “Decade of Darkness”.

There were certainly bright spots over the course of the decade. Winning the draft lottery for the 2015 draft changed the course of the franchise, as they were able to select Connor McDavid first overall. Another highlight during the Decade of Darkness is Sam Gagner’s eight-point night, and though it came before the pain really set in, who could forget Aleš Hemský’s last-second goal against the Dallas Stars after Patrik Štefan missed the empty-netter?

It’s great to see how far the Oilers have come over the past decade with McDavid leading the way. Sure, it may have taken way too long to win three consecutive games in 2025-26, but they finally got the job done on Thursday with a 4-3 overtime comeback win against the San Jose Sharks.

Ironically, one of the other most notable games........

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