Former Oilers captain Ference details dysfunction and toxic culture in team’s locker room

Former Edmonton Oilers captain Andrew Ference was on the latest edition of Sportsnet’s 31 Thoughts podcast with Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman to talk about his role with the NHL as director of social impact, his Stanley Cup championship with the Boston Bruins and his brief time as captain of his hometown Edmonton Oilers.

While the entire episode is definitely worth a listen, it was Ference’s frustration about his time in Edmonton that produced some of the best soundbites. It’s no secret that Ference and the Oilers weren’t exactly a great fit, but it was Ference’s words about the team’s dysfunction and its toxic culture that should have Oilers fans extremely concerned with how things are going in Edmonton. In short, it might also explain just why this team has been so bad for so long, despite drafting some of the most talented young players over the past decade.

Check out these quotes:

"It’s really tough to play there and to be the center of so much negativity."

“I don’t think it’s one thing. I think there’s a combination of elements that go into it, right? Like I said, that aspect of feeling more scared to make a mistake and be the whipping boy rather than being good and taking your chances and having the confidence to try and make a play. I think some guys might get into that role of being scared to be the whipping boy. You take less risks, your urge to win and be bold is less than your urge to not be the whipping boy or stand out, right? I think that is one aspect.”

"But I think the most frustrating part for me as a player like I said, when I went in there straight from Boston, was that talk is cheap. I went in, Dallas Eakins is a fantastic coach, there’s another whipping boy who got dragged over the coals, he’s a fantastic coach who was dealt a pure crap hand and a team that would actually listen. You had a group of players that talked about how they wanted to make the playoffs and talked about how sick they were of losing and then by game three after losing 6-1, they’re straight out to the bar until three in the morning lighting up the nightlife in Edmonton. It was to the point to where it was ridiculous where the lifestyle was way more important than actually playing the game and making the playoffs but like I said, talk is cheap.”

“Even in practice, I came from a group where you’re practicing with guys like Bergeron or Chara and you’re going at each other, in-game intensity, and that’s how you get better, that’s how you be a playoff contender, that’s how you be a champion and you try to instill some of those values and there were guys that were on playoff teams that had the same frustrations. They come and practice hard and there’s a group of guys there that like it was too cool to try hard. Having derogatory terms for trying hard in practice.”

"Your voice only goes so far with people who only respect how good your toe-drag is or whether or not you're out partying."

“It wasn’t only frustrating but it pissed me off because it was a waste of years of your NHL career where you never get those back and you see a coach like Dallas get really unfairly treated. Was he perfect, no? He’d be the first to admit that he’d rather do some of those things different but taking the blame for, what are you supposed to do with a culture like that?”

“I hate to rag on the media, we were a bad team. We lost a lot of games and got scored on a ton but there is a narrative where it’s just easy to write about something and stick to it whether it’s a player or a concept or whatever it is. You stick to it and it’s fun to write negative things on it and I’m sure that people that call into the show have lots to talk about. It makes it easy. It’s an easy way to talk about a crappy situation. You could’ve had any kind of defense or any kind of system but if you go out on a western swing and your guys are out every single night until five in the morning, you’re not going to win too many games.”

Yikes… there’s a lot to chew on there, Oilers fans. Suffice it to say though this explains A LOT of why the Oilers have been so bad for so long. Not even Connor McDavid himself can drag this team out of the depths until there’s some serious changes in its management structure.