Stuart Skinner: The Mental Game of an Oilers Goalie

EDMONTON, Alberta — It took Stuart Skinner quite some time to confront the deep pain of losing Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last season.

“Definitely. Internally, something was buried. That`s a kind of easy way to handle it, instead of actually thinking about it and trying to process it. I just stuffed it down,” Skinner recalled. “Normally, I open up the wound fairly quickly, but this took me a while into the summer. It ended up biting me in the rear halfway through.”

Having now faced that difficult experience head-on, the challenges Skinner endured last season have positioned him to potentially hoist the Stanley Cup this year.

“I feel completely different. I think everyone in our locker room feels different. Because we`ve already experienced it,” he stated before the Stanley Cup Final rematch against the Florida Panthers. “We`ve already gone through it. And frankly, we`ve been through the absolute worst-case scenario: losing Game 7.”

Skinner, age 26, is playing in his fifth NHL season, all spent with the Edmonton Oilers, the team that drafted him 78th overall in 2017. Before becoming an Oilers goaltender, he was a passionate Oilers fan. The Edmonton native remembers cheering from the stands, chanting “NUUUUUUUGE!” for forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, his childhood idol – and now, his teammate in the same dressing room.

“It`s pretty incredible. He was obviously my favorite player growing up, and being able to play alongside him has been one of the coolest things,” Skinner shared.

The Game 7 loss to the Panthers last season was thus crushing on multiple levels. The Oilers mounted a remarkable comeback from a 3-0 series deficit to force a deciding seventh game, only to lose 2-1, extinguishing their chance to win the Stanley Cup. Captain Connor McDavid openly wept in the dressing room afterward, and Skinner`s own tears began even before the post-series handshake line.

It wasn`t merely the missed opportunity to live out a childhood dream and win the Cup as an Oiler. Skinner felt he had, in a way, disappointed his entire country, which has waited since Montreal`s victory in 1993 to see another Canadian team claim the Cup.

“It`s a bit harder because it`s a Canadian market. All of Canada is watching you. All of Canada is disappointed in you,” he explained.

Skinner suppressed these feelings for as long as he could. He told his wife, Chloe, he was “totally fine,” prompting her response, “I don`t think you are.” Skinner credits her with being crucial in helping him “open the wound” and process the profound anguish. He talked about his devastation with her, as well as with friends, teammates, and coaches.

“I have many people in my corner where I can `word vomit` a bit, letting all the emotion out,” he said.

He also journaled extensively. This is a practice Skinner adopted at 18 to “calm the mind” and stay grounded in the present.

“I think that`s my main goal through all this. Last year, with all the emotions, you could sometimes drift away from the present moment,” he noted. “There are just small tools that can genuinely help you.”

Then, a few weeks before the 2024-25 season began, he deliberately revisited the pain point: Skinner finally watched Game 7.

“I`m not entirely sure why. Maybe for a little motivation. Maybe to release some of the remaining emotions,” he mused.

He reviewed the two goals he allowed. He thought about the handshake line, where he congratulated his counterpart, Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, despite being an emotional wreck at the moment.

“That`s obviously difficult to do when you`re in the middle of being crushed and crying. So yes, in a moment like that, you have to be a man about it and show kindness to everyone,” Skinner said. “I mean, it`s one of the best days of their lives, so I`m not going to throw my own little pity party with them.”

Bobrovsky remembers their interaction as well.

“I tried to support him, naturally. I told him he played great. He gave his all. It was a good fight. It was a tough battle,” the Panthers goalie recounted.

Skinner finished watching Game 7, and that was it. “Now, it`s in the past,” he declared.

This approach characterizes Stuart Skinner. Adversity strikes. He processes it, transforming its energy into a positive force for personal development.

“A lifetime of difficulties, a lifetime of moments of triumph. All the things you experience where you think it`s the end of the world. You get a choice in that moment: to either get back up or to give up,” Skinner reflected. “I`ve always held the true conviction that if you just never, ever give up, you`ll be capable of achieving it. And I believe that`s true for anyone.”

IT HAS NOT BEEN EASY being Stuart Skinner during the Stanley Cup playoffs.

“Yeah, he`s had some ups and downs. I think people tend to focus more on the downs than the ups,” observed Oilers GM Stan Bowman.

Skinner became the primary starter in 2022-23, giving up at least three goals in six of his 12 playoff appearances before Edmonton was eliminated by the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round.

The following season solidified the “roller coaster” label often applied to Skinner`s playoff performances. He was benched in the second round against the Vancouver Canucks after allowing four goals on just 15 shots in a Game 3 loss. Calvin Pickard stepped in for the next two games, going 1-1. With the Oilers facing elimination, Skinner returned to the net, conceding only one goal in their Game 6 win and two goals in their Game 7 victory.

Despite the criticism, Skinner delivered exactly what the Oilers needed in the subsequent two rounds, limiting the Dallas Stars to just one goal in each of the last two games of their series and then allowing two or fewer goals in the final four games of the Stanley Cup Final loss to Florida.

Fittingly, the 2025 postseason has followed a similar pattern. He lost the first two games in the first round against the Los Angeles Kings, surrendering a total of 11 goals and again losing his starting position to Pickard, who posted a 6-0 record until an injury sent Skinner back into the starter`s role in their Game 3 loss to Vegas.

“We`re working towards the same goal. Obviously, he`d prefer to be in the net. His job was to support me then, and now it`s my job to support him,” Pickard commented before the Final.

Since Game 4 against the Golden Knights, Skinner has arguably been the top goaltender in the playoffs: a 7-1 record, a .938 save percentage, and a 1.54 goals-against average. His earlier benching now seems as distant a memory as it did after last season`s turnaround.

“It`s sort of the Oilers` story. We get knocked down, we just keep getting back up, right? You`ve witnessed that throughout the playoffs this year, both as individuals and as a team,” Skinner reflected.

Opposing fans and media have been rather unsympathetic towards Skinner`s struggles. Road arenas often ring with chants of “SKIN-NER!” even when he`s playing well. Los Angeles fans went so far as to chant “WE WANT SKINNER!” while he was on the bench after being pulled. On a Stanley Cup contender loaded with elite talent, he`s often viewed at worst as the team`s weak point, and at best as “the guy whose primary job is simply not to lose the series.”

Ray Ratto of Defector recently published a column titled “Oh God, Stuart Skinner Controls The Oilers` Destiny,” writing: “As the Oilers` goaltender, he has encapsulated both the joys and the anguish of being an Oilers fan, because there is never any certainty about the level of performance he will deliver.”

As expected, Skinner`s teammates consistently defend his play when faced with such criticism. Many point out that the goaltender position naturally attracts more intense scrutiny and negative commentary.

“Being a goalie in this league, especially a starting goalie in Canada, is a pretty demanding job,” Pickard noted.

“It`s arguably the most pressure-packed position in all of sports, considering the amount of attention they receive. You look up and down the lineup, everyone makes mistakes. When the goalie makes one, that`s when everyone pays attention,” Bowman added.

“It has to be one of the most high-pressure positions in all of sports,” said Oilers center Adam Henrique. “Obviously, the media is a huge factor, too. In this market, there`s so much that goes into it. I think he handles all of that remarkably well, adjusting and doing what`s necessary to simply be himself.”

Yet, beyond expressing sympathy for his difficult role and defending his playoff performances, Skinner`s teammates also find inspiration in the dramatic swings of his playoff journey.

“That`s the greatest thing about hockey: You can be on top of the world one day, and the next, you can be at the bottom of the mountain, trying to claw your way back up,” commented defenseman Ty Emberson.

“I think you just have to credit him immensely for his mental resilience. To get pulled from a game, to not win a game, and then come back and perform like the best goalie in the world,” Emberson stated. “That`s something I`ve been telling [Skinner] over the last couple of weeks: `I genuinely think you`re the best goalie in the world.`”

ADAM HENRIQUE IS IN his 15th NHL season. Where does Stuart Skinner rank on his “weird goalie meter”?

“I wouldn`t rank him that high. He`s not an exceptionally strange guy, so I`d place him somewhere in the middle, between `crazy, wacky goalie` and `completely normal person.` Somewhere in between,” Henrique assessed. “I truly like the guy. Getting to know him and seeing how he handles pressure, he does a fantastic job with the mental side of everything.”

It might surprise some that a goaltender known for such volatile performance swings during the playoffs is considered a calming presence by his teammates.

“Things are never too chaotic with him,” Pickard remarked. “You play a lot of games throughout the season, and there will inevitably be many highs and lows. He`s very even-keeled, and that`s a significant strength.”

Bowman described Skinner as having a “good demeanor” for a goalie. “I believe you need that ability to let things go, and his capacity to handle adversity has been impressive,” the GM noted.

In Game 1 against the Panthers, adversity struck when Florida took a 3-1 lead in the second period. The Panthers were relentlessly pushing to extend their lead, holding a 30-16 shot-attempt advantage at 5-on-5 in that period. Ironically, this was when Skinner`s mind was perhaps most at peace.

“Honestly, it quiets everything down because you`re doing so much work. In that specific moment, I`m actually thinking the least,” he explained. “Where I find my mind starts racing is in the third period when I only face two shots and I`m essentially just waiting for something to happen.”

When the Oilers tightened up their team defense in the third period, a trend seen throughout their past two playoff rounds, Skinner said he uses breathing exercises to keep his heart rate elevated and his adrenaline flowing slightly, even without facing a constant barrage of shots.

“You`re almost a bit anxious for [the puck] to come your way,” he admitted, “and naturally, there are many thoughts like, `I really hope we score.`”

The Oilers eventually rallied to tie the game and then scored near the end of the first overtime to take a 1-0 series lead, with McDavid setting up Leon Draisaitl for the winning goal – a sequence Skinner has witnessed numerous times playing for Edmonton.

“I definitely have the best seat in the house,” Skinner said after the game. “It`s a special moment. It`s excitement, it`s relief, a wave of emotions coming up, a lot of pride. You fight for a long, long time throughout the entire game, and then you`re able to win.”

McDavid had mentioned how the Stanley Cup Final felt different this time. “It`s different in the sense that it feels less enormous, you know? Last year felt monumental. Very dramatic. This year feels very normal,” he said. “It`s easier to play and function when it just feels like another day.”

Skinner shares this sentiment. “Last year, it was your first time experiencing it. That naturally brings a lot of excitement, a lot of energy,” he said. “I`m truly thankful for that experience last year because this year, I feel completely the opposite.”

He noted that he`s getting better rest between games this year, which was a challenge last season due to difficulty sleeping. His sense of awe has also diminished year over year. Skinner recalled feeling overwhelmed when the Stanley Cup was presented on the ice before the first game last year. On Wednesday, when the Cup made its appearance again, Skinner said his emotional reaction was entirely different.

“When I saw the Cup on the ice last year, I was kind of looking at it with starry eyes,” he said. “This year, I`d already seen it. So now, it`s time to get back to work. Emotionally, it felt completely different.”

Skinner revealed that he has visualized lifting the Stanley Cup and experiencing all the joy that Game 7 denied him last season.

“I`ve used all the manifestation techniques,” he stated.

However, he has also imagined scenarios where things don`t go as planned.

“You might think I`m a bit unconventional, but I visualize both outcomes. I visualize being able to win, and I visualize losing again,” he said. “You have to be prepared for everything. So many different things can happen.”

Stuart Skinner should know. He has experienced nearly everything in the Stanley Cup playoffs, save for one crucial thing: winning his final game.