NEW YORK — Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has become, like green onion cakes at The Fringe, Edmonton’s comfort food.

For us, he’s a sunny, minus-5C skate at Hawrelak Park, something Edmontonians don’t care if you love as much as we do. He’s No. 9 at Riverside — not exactly Augusta, but a darned good hole we’ll play every summer, as long as we’re still swinging a club.

“It’s still a little surreal,” he said of Tuesday's pending milestone, passing Kevin Lowe for most games played as an Oiler. “It does take me back to getting drafted by Edmonton as a little 18-year-old kid.

“The dream is to play your whole career with the team that drafted you, and have success. I've been very fortunate to have been able to stick around through some hard years, where pretty much everybody that I came into the league with, you're seeing them get traded. There were some hard years, some down years — team-wise and even personally — and to be able to have the faith from the organization to keep me around, and be able to stick around …

“I've been very fortunate.”

So have we, Nuge. So have we.

Even if you won’t take our quiz to name all 11 head coaches you’ve had in Edmonton.

“I’m sure I could do it,” he said. “But I wouldn’t want to leave anyone out.”

And he’s just as diplomatic when asked about his favourite uniform over the 16 seasons, waffling over the soft spot he has for........

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