Free-agent forward Jeff Skinner signed with the Edmonton Oilers on Monday (July 1) to a one-year contract worth $3 million. The 32-year-old joins Edmonton after playing the last six seasons for the Buffalo Sabres. Before that, he spent the first eight years of his NHL career with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Skinner’s NHL resume is pretty well known. He won the Calder Trophy in 2011, has played in two All-Star Games, and is a 10-time 20-goal scorer.
He also has the infamous distinction of playing the most games (1,006) and scoring the most goals (357) in NHL history without appearing in a single Stanley Cup Playoff contest. But there are a lot of things that Oilers fans probably don’t know about the 14-season NHL veteran. As it turns out, Skinner might have one of the most interesting childhoods in all of hockey.
Skinner Won Bronze at Figure Skating Nationals
During his pre-teen years in Markham, Ont., Skinner was heavily involved with figure skating. And he was good. So good in fact that in 2004, an 11-year-old Skinner won bronze at the juvenile level at the Skate Canada Junior Nationals.
During an interview with WGRZ-TV in Buffalo, Skinner explained how he first got into figure skating: “My mom tells this story, that my sister was a figure skater and I went to the rink and she won a medal, and I said my mom, ‘I want to win one of those’, and she’s like, ‘Ok, well then you have to skate.’”
Skinner eventually chose to pursue hockey, which he “enjoyed just a little bit more.” But his figure skating roots are evident when he’s playing hockey, especially with how good he is on his toes and edges. And even after giving up figure skating, he was still able to land an axel – on hockey skates, no less.
Skinner Used to Play Soccer with Steven Stamkos
Hockey and figure skating were far from the only sports that a young Skinner participated in. He and his older brother, Ben Skinner, played soccer around Markham with another kid by the name of Steven Stamkos.
That’s the same Stamkos who is a two-time Stanley Cup champ, has won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy twice, and played in seven NHL All-Star Games. And like Skinner, Stamkos also signed with a new team on Canada Day, joining the Nashville Predators after spending his entire 16-season NHL career with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Imagine a youth soccer team featuring two players that would go on to score well over 900 goals (Stamkos has 555 in the regular season, 50 more in the playoffs) in the NHL, and counting.
Skinner Was a Minor Hockey Teammate of Zach Hyman
As it turns out, Skinner has a few childhood chums that now possess a Stanley Cup ring. He played on a Toronto area minor hockey team that featured several future NHLers, including Devante Smith-Pelly and Tyler Toffoli, who won championships with the Washington Capitals in 2018 and the Los Angeles Kings in 2014, respectively.
Former Florida Panthers forwards Chase Balisy and John McFarland were also part of that team. But it was Skinner’s reveal of one particular minor hockey teammate that got Oil Country talking, that being Edmonton’s 60-goal scorer Zach Hyman.
“I’m not sure the history is well-known, I actually played minor hockey with him,” Skinner said on Tuesday (July 2), during his initial Oilers media availability.
To top it off, this generational team was coached by Kevin Donoghue, brother of Canadian comic Gerry Dee, who starred in the TV sitcom Mr. Dee.
Skinner Had a Role in a Robin Williams Movie
But that’s not the only connection Skinner has to a famous comedian: When he was age nine, he had a small part in the 2002 dark comedy Death to Smoochy, starring the legendary Robin Williams. The flick also starred Edward Norton, a three-time Academy Award nominee (for American History X, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), and Primal Fear).
Skinner was one of several young skaters from around Toronto that filmmakers cast as extras to appear in the climactic scene, which was shot at Maple Leaf Gardens.
In the scene, the villains attempt to assassinate children’s TV character “Smoochy” (portrayed by Norton) during an ice show. Skinner’s role is as one of the kids who are part of the show.
Between mastering the performative art of figure skating and spending time on a movie set, Skinner obviously knows about drama. And that’s not even mentioning the conflicting emotions of joy and envy that must come from watching so many friends party in hockey’s penthouse while he can’t even get a room on the first floor.
Could there be a story more ready-made for Hollywood than Skinner finally getting to the playoffs after 16 years and helping Edmonton end its Stanley Cup drought after 35 years? Oilers fans hope that 2024-25 will be a blockbuster.
