Free agent forward Jeff Skinner signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the Edmonton Oilers on Monday (July 1). Skinner, 32, joins Edmonton after playing the past six seasons with the Buffalo Sabres. Prior to that, he spent the first eight years of his NHL career with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Skinner's NHL resume is well-known: He won the Calder Trophy in 2011, appeared in two All-Star games and recorded 20 goals 10 times.
He also holds the infamous record for most games played (1,006) and most points (357) in NHL history, but never appeared in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But there's a lot Oilers fans probably don't know about the 14-season NHL veteran. As it turns out, Skinner may have had one of the most interesting childhoods in hockey.
Skinner wins bronze medal at national figure skating championships
During his early teenage years in Markham, Ontario, Skinner was passionate about figure skating—and he excelled. In fact, in 2004, an 11-year-old Skinner won a bronze medal at the junior level at Skate Canada Junior Nationals.
In an interview with Buffalo's WGRZ-TV, Skinner explained how he got into figure skating: “My mom told me this story: My sister was a figure skater, and I went to the rink and she won a medal. So I said to my mom, 'I want to win a medal, too,' and she said, 'Okay, well then you've got to skate.'”
Skinner ultimately chose to continue with hockey, which he said was “just a little bit more fun,” but his figure skating roots were evident while playing the game, especially in his ability to do toe and edge tricks. And even after he quit figure skating, he was still able to land an Axel — on hockey skates!
Skinner played football with Steven Stamkos.
Hockey and figure skating weren't the only sports young Skinner participated in: he and his older brother, Ben Skinner, along with another kid named Steven Stamkos, also played football around Markham.
Stamkos has two Stanley Cup championships, two Maurice “Rocket” Richard Awards and seven NHL All-Star Game appearances to his name, and like Skinner, Stamkos signed with his new team on Canada Day, joining the Nashville Predators after playing his entire NHL career, 16 seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Imagine a youth soccer team with two players who go on to score over 900 goals in the NHL (Stamkos had 555 in the regular season and another 50 in the playoffs).
Skinner was a minor hockey teammate of Zach Hyman.
In fact, Skinner has several childhood friends who now have Stanley Cup rings: He played for Toronto-area minor hockey teams that included several future NHL players, including Devante Smith-Pelly, who won one with the Washington Capitals in 2018, and Tyler Toffoli, who won one with the Los Angeles Kings in 2014.
Former Florida Panthers forwards Chase Barisi and John McFarland were also part of that team, but it was Skinner revealing one of his minor hockey teammates, Edmonton 60-goal scorer Zach Hyman, that got the word out in Oil Country.
“I don't know if that history is well known, but I actually played minor hockey with him,” Skinner said during his first Oilers media availability on Tuesday (July 2).
Additionally, this generation of team was coached by Kevin Donahue, brother of Canadian comedian Jerry Dee, who starred in a number of TV sitcoms. Dee.
Skinner starred in a Robin Williams film.
But that's not Skinner's only connection to the famous comedian: When he was nine years old, he had a small role in the 2002 black comedy The Man from Nowhere. Death of SmoochieStarring the legendary Robin Williams, the film also stars three-time Academy Award nominee Edward Norton. American History X, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)and Primal Fear).
Skinner was one of several young skaters from the Toronto area who appeared as extras in the climax scene, which was filmed at Maple Leaf Gardens.
In the scene, villains attempt to assassinate a children's TV character, Smoochie (played by Norton), during an ice show, with Skinner's character being one of the children taking part in the show.
RELATED: Edmonton Oilers sign Jeff Skinner to one-year deal
Having mastered the performing art of figure skating and spending time on movie sets, Skinner clearly knows his way around drama, not to mention the conflicting emotions of delight and envy that come with watching a bunch of his friends party in a hockey penthouse while he doesn't even get a ground-floor apartment.
Is there a story more suited to Hollywood than Skinner helping Edmonton reach the playoffs for the first time in 16 years and win its first Stanley Cup in 35 years? Oilers fans are hoping the 2024-25 season will be a blockbuster.
