Edmonton Oilers player goes undercover to find 'true love' in Germany
An Edmonton Oilers player took an unconventional route to find love this summer.
With the offseason in full tilt and players not due back in Edmonton for training camp until next month, many players are still enjoying the offseason. Oilers forward Josh Samanski is no exception, as the 24-year-old has seemingly been enjoying his time off in his native Germany.
Samanski recently attended GĂ€ubodenvolksfest, a festival in Straubing, Germany, and it appears he took that as an opportunity to find love. Though he opted to go undercover to do it.
While sitting on something called the “Singles Couch,” Samanski introduced himself as “Finn” rather than his real name, Josh.
“I’m pretty much a normal guy,” Samanski said in his native German. “I like to go to Volksfest with the guys. Just looking for true love and, hopefully, it works out today.”
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The Singles Couch apparently has a long and storied history at the festival, which may be why Samanski was drawn to it in the first place. A report from a local German newspaper said a total of 93 singles took a seat on the couch, including Samanski and another hockey player named Filip Varejcka, both of whom went by different names.
The need for a pseudonym may be that Samanski spent four seasons playing for the Straubing Tigers of the DEL, making him a bit more recognizable to locals.
For those interested, it appears that Samanski really only values beautiful eyes for any potential suitor. When asked if he was more of a sports guy, Samanski continued to hide his professional hockey career and instead said he’s more of a homebody than anything else.
If his NHL dreams don’t pan out, Samanski could certainly try his hand at some acting.
“Beautiful eyes, the rest doesn’t matter,” Samanski said of his perfect partner. “Of course, we have to get along well… Maybe non-smoking would be nice.
“I just loaf around at home on the couch and stare at the ceiling waiting for the day to be over. If a nice girl likes doing that as well, I’m her guy.”
Samanski will enter training camp in Edmonton next month with his sights set on a full-time NHL roster spot. He spent the majority of last season playing with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors, but did earn a late-season call-up to the Oilers and played in all five of Edmonton’s playoff games.
During 29 games split between the regular season and playoffs, Samanski scored three goals and had six points and seemed to leave an impression with the Oilers coaching staff at the time.
With Mike Babcock now the man behind the Edmonton bench, Samanski will have to continue to impress if he wants to start the season in Alberta.