In the feature interview, presented by Sense Arena (https://www.sensearena.com/for-goalies) , Skinner shares some great stories from a crazy couple of days that saw him scramble from the Oilers to their AHL affiliate the day before chatting with InGoal, including flight delays, a 2.5 hour car ride from Los Angeles to Bakersfield that got him to the rink 15 minutes before he needed to be on the ice … to backstop a win, of course. It’s all part of a whirlwind 2021 that saw Skinner win his first NHL start for his hometown Oilers way back in January only to realize immediately after how much work he had to do to become an NHL regular.
Skinner did that work, and returned this season ready to show he belongs in the NHL, which he did with a .916 save percentage through 10 games this season. The 23-year-old takes us through that journey, how his focus shifted after that initial win, the influence of veteran Mike Smith. and what it’s like playing for the team you grew up watching, gathering around the TV for “Game Night” with 8 brothers and sisters, and managing the emotions of finally getting to play in front of them this season.
All that, plus incredible savings on Warrior sticks at The Hockey Shop Source for Sports.
In this episode we mention being able to view on YouTube old Gear Segment where we looked at Warrior’s V1 stick line (https://youtu.be/4UfX7fapWLs) . We also talk about Puckhandling lessons our feature guest Stuart Skinner learned from Mike Smith, and noted this video segment on puckhandling with Mike Smith (https://ingoalmag.com/magazine/2021/08/17/puckhandling-lessons-from-mike-smith/) which is unlocked and available to everyone, not just InGoal Members.
