BLOG: Kassian reminiscent of good times in Oil Country

EDMONTON, AB – The last stop of a lengthy 14-game road trip for the Arizona Coyotes feels a lot closer to home for Zack Kassian than the rest of his teammates.

Maybe only his teammate Dylan Guenther, who played four seasons and won a WHL Championship with the Edmonton Oil Kings, comes anywhere close.

On Wednesday night, Kassian makes his first visit to Rogers Place as a member of the Coyotes after his off-season trade to Arizona ended his seven-year run in Oil Country that brought a lot of great moments from number 44 in Blue & Orange.

“It was different, for sure,” Kassian said of arriving back in Edmonton. “I had a lot of good memories here.”

“I enjoyed my time here. My family enjoyed my time here. It’s cool to be back and see all the faces.”

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Over seven seasons with the Oilers, Kassian became a club favourite with his passion for the fan base and penchant for physicalilty that gave him a direct line to the energy levels of Oil Country. No one can forget his incredible performance in Game 2 of the First Round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs, or his breakaway tally and celebration with a fan in the clinching Game 6.

We’d be remiss failing to acknowledge as well his personal attachment to the Battle of Alberta, and rivalry with a certain Matthew Tkachuk over the years.

Off the ice, Edmonton is where Kassian worked on himself, started a family, and where their roots were firmly planted around family and friends throughout the Oilers extended community.

“Both my kids were born here,” Kassian. “Obviously, (the Oilers) threw out a lifeline for me in the beginning of my stay here, so a lot of good memories and a lot of good friends, lifelong friends. So, pretty special.”

Kassian has spent as much of the two days that Arizona’s in town catching up with old teammates and friends, meeting for dinner like they would’ve on the road or at home when he was still with the Oilers.

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“I went for dinner with guys, caught up with guys all yesterday, so it was nice to see them,” he said. “It’s like we never left. We hit it off right away, so like I said, there’s teammates and stuff over there that I have a lot of respect for and are friends for life.”

But as the saying goes: ‘Once an Oiler, Always An Oiler’, and Edmonton will always be home for the Kassian’s.

“You can’t put a price on those things,” he said. “Like I said, you only can play hockey for so long, right? You only can play for so long. It’s the memories you create, the friendships that you create, that ultimately, when you’re done playing and you see guys and you hang out with guys and you start reminiscing a little bit, that’s the stuff that’s truly special at the end.”