Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Edmonton’s Taylor Hall shoulders the franchise’s future, takes Kevin Lowe’s number

Oilers Hall Hockey

Edmonton Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini, left, holds up a jersey with draft pick Taylor Hall, center, and Kevin Lowe, the NHL team’s president of hockey operations, in Edmonton, Alberta, on Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2010. Lowe, the Oilers’ first-ever draft pick and only player to wear the number since Edmonton entered the NHL in 1979, passed his No. 4 to Hall, the centerpiece of a full-scale rebuild in Edmonton and the franchise’s first No. 1 overall draft pick. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, John Ulan)

AP

While last year was one to forget for the Edmonton Oilers, the future is shaping up to potentially great. Today, the Oilers introduced three of their rookies who could be the cornerstones of the next wave of Oilers greats in Taylor Hall, Magnus Paajarvi and Jordan Eberle. One of those three will be wearing a number that’s been worn by only one other player in Oilers history.

With eyes fixed on the future, the Edmonton Oilers reached into their storied past Wednesday as president of hockey operations Kevin Lowe presented Taylor Hall with jersey No. 4.

In a symbolic and timely gesture, Lowe, the Oilers’ first-ever draft pick and only player to wear the number since Edmonton entered the NHL in 1979, passed his No. 4 to Hall, the centrepiece of a full-scale rebuild in Edmonton and the franchise’s first No. 1 overall draft pick.

“It’s a very cool number,” Hall said. “It’s just kind of passing the torch, you know?

“He’s been a big part of this organization for a very long time and I realize that. At the same time, they feel I’m a player who can come in and make an impact. Maybe wearing this No. 4 is going to do that.”

Hall wore No. 4 with the Windsor Spitfires in the OHL and after being drafted by the Oilers, most fans wondered if he would get to wear his number. With Lowe being an executive with the Oilers and being the only guy to wear the number, some thought it might not happen even though the number isn’t retired. Instead, Lowe gave Hall his blessing to wear it. Clearly, the Oilers aren’t worried about putting any pressure on Hall.

It’s expected that all three players in Hall, Paajarvi, and Eberle will start the year in Edmonton and stick there and why shouldn’t they? The Oilers were brutal last year and while Ales Hemsky and Sheldon Souray were out for most of the season and Nikolai Khabibulin’s back wouldn’t allow him to play, hopes are high in Edmonton and while it may not pay off immediately, the amount of fun young talent there will eventually pay off. This is just the beginning.