How Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner turned failure into success

Mistakes. Goaltenders find them maddening. They also find them helpful. Notice how they act after giving up a goal. Sure, they react in the ways one would expect. But they also look up at the videoboard to assess what went wrong so they can learn from those miscues.

This is the exact process Edmonton Oilers rookie Stuart Skinner cites when talking about how he's arrived at this stage in his career and his life.

He readily admits he's a product of failure. He doesn't hide from the fact that when he was younger — a self-described «scrawny kid» — he couldn't do even 10 pushups and would vomit after doing one set of stairs or most any other physical workout.

Then there was the night in Wichita, Kansas, when he was the goalie for the Wichita Thunder of the ECHL. Skinner recalls giving up nine goals. League records show it was eight, but the point remains the same.

«I remember hanging out with [Oilers defenseman Vincent Desharnais]. We went back to our apartment and I remember saying, 'I don't know if the NHL is going to happen for us. It seems so far away,'» Skinner said. «Those are the moments you look back on and you feel a lot of gratitude. Because of that experience, it made me want to work that much harder.»

That failure spurred Skinner to become what he is now, a rookie goaltender who has a chance to play a significant role in helping his hometown Oilers win the Stanley Cup. To do that, Skinner and the Oilers will have to bounce back from a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 1 against the Los Angeles Kings, a game in which Edmonton let a 3-1 third-period lead slip away. (Game 2 is Wednesday night at 10 ET on ESPN.)

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