Oilers salute Taylor Hall in return to Edmonton (Video)

The Edmonton Oilers welcomed back former forward Taylor Hall with a video tribute during the first period of their Thursday game against the New Jersey Devils.

Before the game Hall said he didn’t believe he would get emotional, and as the video played he stood stoically on the ice and eventually acknowledged the cheering crowd at Rogers Place.

The Oilers beat the Devils 3-2 in overtime and Hall notched an assist in 15:58 of action.

“It was a lot of different emotions,” Hall said according to The Record. “I said it was a weird night the first game playing them. Tonight was just a little different level, even though I never played in this building before. Hearing that from the fans, seeing the video, it was all kind of surreal. In saying that, it’s a night I’ll remember for a long time. I was very grateful for the applause and the way the people have treated me since I’ve been here has been awesome.”

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Last summer, the Oilers traded Hall, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft for Adam Larsson. The deal caught Hall by surprise and the forward unleashed his emotions afterwards. Hall played 381 games with the Oilers and notched 328 points. Hall has 26 points in 33 games for the struggling Devils.

“All in all, I had a fun night,” Hall said. “I got the ovation, even getting booed a little bit there by the end. I think you can say I’m a former player now if I can get booed. These last six days have been kind of stressful in not knowing what to expect in having to play your former team. We got two points out of the games but it should have been more.”

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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