Oilers fans buzzing in Joey Moss pit during game 1

The energy was electric at the newly-opened Ice District Plaza, Monday night, as thousands of Oilers fans cheered on the team.

“To finally, finally, be able to welcome people into the plaza to cheer on the Oilers in the playoffs, really it was a big moment for the organization and a big moment for the city,” said Tim Shipton, executive vice president of Oilers Entertainment Group.

And while it’s quiet here now. A new name for the plaza is buzzing around unofficially dubbed the ‘Moss Pit’ in honour of Joey Moss.

“The raptors have ‘Jurassic Park’ as their unofficial name, but what’s our unofficial name? The Moss Pit is such a fitting one,” said Conor Clarence, head of sports, Twitter Canada.

Moss, who was born with Down Syndrome, was a beloved member of the Edmonton Oilers and became the team’s locker room attendant in 1984. He passed away in 2020.

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“There is so much footage of Joey out there in the city, working on the Oilers bench, singing the anthem with all he could. Just the passion he had for the team, was something that fans embraced and saw him as an integral part of the team for decades,” explained Avry Lewis-McDougall, freelance sports writer.

The hashtag #MossPit has been making its rounds on Twitter, something the Oilers vice president says they will be embarrassing.

“It’s pretty cool that fans have come up with that name themselves, and to me, anyway that we can celebrate Joey Moss is a good thing,” said Shipton.

So could there be room for a name change in the future?

“You never know (smirks),” remarked Shipton.