Long-suffering Oiler Ryan Nugent-Hopkins waited 13 years for this game

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If you look up “long-suffering” in the dictionary, you will see a picture of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins missing the playoffs.

No member of the Edmonton Oilers personifies the struggles of this star-crossed franchise more than the 31-year-old forward who’s been on this long and winding uphill journey for 13 seasons, a lot of them bad.

“Thirteen years sounds like a lot,” laughed the longest-serving member of the Oilers, who is now one win away from a Stanley Cup championship. “But in some ways it’s flown by.”

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At the start of his tenure in Edmonton, there was no flying. The Oilers couldn’t get off the ground if you pushed them off a cliff.

Drafted first overall in 2011, Nugent-Hopkins has been through nine head coaches, four general managers and a team that finished 30th, 29th, 24th, 28th, 28th, 29th, 23rd, and 25th in eight of his first nine years.

There’s been some very tough sledding, more lean years than fat ones, but there was never a complaint. He’s always been the good soldier.

And now, 13 years to the day since being drafted, he is one game away from all of this being worth it. The endless rebuilds, the Decade of Darkness, one game can make all of it right.

“This is what we’ve all played for our whole lives, an opportunity like this,” said Nugent-Hopkins. “It’s a dream come true to be in this position. I couldn’t be more proud to do it with this group.

“I’ve been extremely lucky to have been here my whole career, not too many guys have made it 13 years. I’ve been extremely fortunate. We’ve built something here. We have an unbelievable opportunity before us.”

Nugent-Hopkins could have walked away as a free agent in the summer of 2021 and signed with a contender. Nobody would have blamed him for wanting a change of scenery, but he stuck with Edmonton, wanting to finish what he started with the Oilers.

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By the time his eight-year extension is complete, he will be the longest serving Oilers player of all time. He’s third on the list with 881 games, behind Ryan Smyth (971) and Kevin Lowe (1,037).

He’d be lying if he told you he wouldn’t change a thing — missing the playoffs in eight of his first nine seasons wasn’t fun — but he’s glad he stayed. And the growing pains, he says, are just part of being a hockey player.

“As an 18, 19, 20-year-old kid you’re just getting your feet into it a little bit, you’re getting a feel for being a pro,” he said. “It’s almost better to go through when you’re that young. It definitely gives you a hunger to make the playoffs and be on a good team. We’ve taken that step.

“All around the league most guys have to go through some hardships. It’s not easy to just be on a good team every single season if you’re going to play a long career. I went through it my first few years but always believed that the core would find a way out of it.”

What turned it around?

“Getting Connor certainly helped,” he grinned. “You get a guy like that … and Leo (Leon Draisaitl) and (Darnell) Nurse. You can really build a team around guys like that. We’ve kind of gone from there. It’s been a long journey for those guys as well.”

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And it’s culminating in the longest season of their careers, with the last game of the year on June 24. They fought back from 31st place. They fought back from 3-0 down to the powerful Florida Panthers. And now everything they’ve been dreaming of since they put on a pair of skates is 60 minutes away.

“You get down 0-3, it’s easy to fold. But we’ve truly believed in each other this whole season and the whole playoffs,” said Nugent-Hopkins. “You’re in a Stanley Cup Final, it’s what we play for. Nobody is going to give up, nobody is going to turn on each other. We’ve shown the belief and the character that we have in this group.”

As the Oilers get ready for the biggest game of their careers, it’s fitting that Nugent-Hopkins has his fingerprints on almost every aspect of their game — he’s part of their historically-good power play, part of a penalty kill that’s been one of their most valuable weapons in the playoffs and their best two-way player is tied for fourth in playoff scoring.

“A lot of players have a lot of respect for him, just because he’s seen it all,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch. “A lot of down years not making the playoffs, playoff disappointments. And now for him being able to have the opportunity to win that last game of the season, everyone is very happy for him.”

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Being able to force Monday’s Game 7 and celebrate the Game 6 moment with a fan base at Rogers Place that knows what he’s been through, because they’ve been through it themselves, was the highlight of his whole career.

So far, anyway.

“Those fans have been behind us since I’ve been here,” he said. “To be able to do the job in front of them was really special. But the job is not done.”

E-mail: rtychkowski@postmedia.com

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