"Skinner wasn't perfect last game but the rest of the team was far from it": Reddit defends Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner amid fan backlash

Time of India

21 hours ago

Stuart Skinner (via Getty Images)
Following a deflating 4–1 defeat to the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final, the Edmonton Oilers fan base (or at least the most vocal corners of it online) has turned to an old scapegoat: their goaltender.
Stuart Skinner finds himself back in the crux of criticism. From Twitter rants to Reddit comments, outrage is bubbling over.
And here's the reality: Stuart Skinner isn't the issue. The Edmonton Oilers are.
Fans upset with Stuart Skinner's performance, but Reddit discusses otherwise
Edmonton Oilers absorbed a whopping 85 minutes of penalties in Game 3 — pretty much giving Florida Panthers a free evening of prolonged power-play training.
One Redditor hit the nail on the head starting the debate, "What is skinner supposed to do for people to stop shitting on him? My god."
In Games 2 and 3 combined, the Oilers allowed 12 breakaways. It's not about opening the door to the occasional softie. It's about a system failing at defense as a team. Whether it's pinching carelessly, not backchecking, or just losing fights on the boards, Edmonton's blue line has hung Skinner out to dry, time and again.
POST-RAW | Stuart Skinner 06.09.25
There's a disturbing trend in all sports, but particularly in hockey's intense Canadian markets: blaming goalies—unfairly and, increasingly, with cruelty.
Some of those so-called "fans" have crossed the line into obscene abuse, reportedly sending threats against Skinner and his family. It's shameful behavior that goes way beyond criticism and is a reflection of the poisonous combination of sports fanaticism and online anonymity.
One Reddit commenter summed it up bluntly: "It's disgusting how common this behavior has become amongst sports fans. It seems like there's some kind of headline about fans threatening players because of poor play at least once a week.
There's 2 ways to look at it. 1) Is the gambling aspect. If you've gotten to the point of threatening athletes for poor play because you're losing bets, you need to get help for a gambling addiction.
It's not on the players. 2) Is the obsessive fans aspect. I understand people being crazy passionate about their favorite teams. But I don't know how some people let a sports team that has no bearing on them dictate their entire lives.
The nature of being a fan is becoming unbearable because of these people."
Criticism is part of the gig. Abuse is not. And no one wins a Stanley Cup without a defense structure — no one, not even with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl up front.
Skinner is not Bobrovsky. He's not Igor Shesterkin. But he doesn't need to be. He's a $2.6 million goaltender, and the majority of nights, he provides his team an opportunity to win. What he does require is support — from his defense, from the system, and the fans.
One of the more thoughtful voices in the Reddit thread offered this: 'Whiners online don't represent the fan base. We love Stu, he gets hung out to dry a lot, he lets some softies in sometimes, but he also has had magnificent shutouts and fantastic saves even in the games they've lost."
Also read:
'DMs filled with death threats' - Stuart Skinner's wife admits getting threats from Oilers' fans
This isn't about if Stuart Skinner is the next Carey Price. It's about if the Oilers care to play defense like a Cup champion, or continue to pretend their goalie can bail them out of themselves.