EDMONTON -- It was a whirlwind 24 hours for Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse as he and his fiancé Mikayla welcomed their son Aiden into the world on Tuesday.
Nurse played 62 minutes in Monday’s triple overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets before flying straight to Edmonton to head to the hospital.
WATCH: RECAP: Jets complete sweep of Oilers
During a press conference on Tuesday, Nurse said he was very happy to be able to make it just in the nick of time for the birth.
“It was up in the air there for a bit,” he explained. “We FaceTimed all day while she was in the hospital.”
“Mom is healthy, baby is healthy. It’s crazy she had this baby this morning.”
Nurse says he’s averaged about 30 minutes of rest since Monday and has felt a lot of different emotions after the Oilers were swept out of the playoffs.
“Obviously there’s disappointment,” he said. “Any time you put in as much into a season as we did as a team, and then our not playing deep into the playoffs, and then for the Stanley Cup later on in the summer, it hurts.”
“But, having to come back and have a son, I mean it puts life in perspective a little bit.
“It brightened my world, I’m very fortunate.”
When asked if Nurse had changed a diaper yet, he laughed and admittedly said he hadn’t, adding that he’s taking baby steps into his new role as a father.
“I did my first swaddle blanket, I was pretty good at that,” he beamed.
“We’ll start with that, and the diapers are coming at any moment.”
