Oilers’ Darnell Nurse rips into naysayers in candid interview!

Oilers star defenseman Darnell Nurse joined a former player of the team Luke Gazdic on his Mitts Off podcast, where the blue liner dropped quite the take on the pressure of playing in Edmonton. Especially since playing under an 8 year, $74,000,000 contract comes with its loads of pressure. That’s when the interview heated up and got quite candid on the defenseman.

“I mean there was expectation before I signed the contract, of what I think I’m capable of performing and being at each and every night. I think the value or whatever you want to describe it is going to bring, I mean I’ve played in a high-pressure market since I first came into the league like it’s, it’s great. Me, personally I love it because there’s that juice, fire in the summer.”

Nurse then talked back at all the naysayers, who he hears loud and clear throughout the season.

“I mean you also have to take a lot of stuff with a grain of salt, like sometimes I feel like I’ve been blamed for everything from a goal against to the traffic on Stony Plain, right so like it’s just you have to be really cognizant of what the pressure you put on yourself.”

Nurse has high expectations for himself and nothing the fans can say cannot be compared to the internal drive that motivates him to do better on the ice.

“That’s why for me the pressure will never be more than I’m gonna put on myself, secondly I think any time that you’ve earned and put yourself in the position to play a lot of minutes and be a big part of your team, you don’t take that lightly, that’s a responsibility I’ve always wanted, that’s a responsibility I feel like I need to earn each and every day also and then you know there’s also a thank you to like the owners and management and my teammates because you know they trust that I could do that job each and every day and you don’t want to let them down.”

There is no doubt that fans expect a huge 2023-24 season for the defenseman, and it’s certainly good to hear that Nurse is ready to deliver just that.

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