With the Oilers finally clinching a playoff spot last night there was nostalgia aplenty flowing through social media and the comments section of this very website. Personally, I love the trip down memory lane and I can’t get enough of looking back at where we’ve been to get ready for where we’re going.

Personally, I love reading about the changes you guys have lived through and just how far we’ve all come in our lives since the last time the Oilers made the dance, but I still think we could add another shout out from that magical run from 2006. While much has changed over the last 10 years a lot of things have stayed the same and that includes our admiration for a local legend. I think there’s an opportunity there.

ONE MORE FOR PAUL LORIEAU?

For anyone old enough to remember the 2006 Cup run vividly, one of the memories most people will bring up is the way Paul Lorieau used to do the anthems. As you can see from the video above, Paul would start things off and let the crowd take it from there and the result usually sent chills running up your spine. I was lucky enough to go to several games back in ’06 and I can tell you that being in that building while 16,000+ belted out the Canadian anthem was an experience that was something I’ll always remember.

The Oilers played one of those Cup run videos of the late, great Paul Lorieau doing the anthem at the very last game at Rexall Place and it still has a similar effect despite the Oilers being long out of it by then. Why not do it again?

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As much as I love current anthem singer Robert Clark (seriously, I do. I shout him out on Twitter all the time because he’s fantastic) I think even he would understand and appreciate the connection that Oilers fans have to Paul Lorieau. I think even Rob would say that playing one of those timeless clips of Lorieau bringing the house down would be a fitting tribute to a man that spent decades of his life performing for the Oilers and fans alike. We already know that the Oilers will be pushing the nostalgia buttons as we get closer to the playoffs and it seems to me Paul Lorieau’s 2006 dominance would be a logical add.

I’m not saying that they have to do it every night, but could you imagine the reaction at Rogers Place if the very first playoff game had a throwback one of the greatest anthem singers of all time? That’s a moment I’d like to see and I don’t think I’d be alone in that sentiment either. What do you guys think?



