OilersNation has reported:

Chaz Horton travelled with the Edmonton Oilers through California from Oct. 6 to 14, chronicling three team wins and a string of surreal side trips in the fourth instalment of the “Unfrozen” series. The sports writer, presented as a 92-year-old figure from 1979 who is actually 45, was brought back because the Oilers are in “show me” mode with Connor McDavid. His account mixes road-trip logistics and game results with invented encounters, including a Disneyland duet, a climb up the Golden Gate Bridge to retrieve notes and dinner with sea lions.

Before leaving Edmonton, Horton said he was eager to see whether the Golden State had changed since 1979. He described it in comic percentages as 30 per cent sunshine, 28 per cent seafood buffets, 13 per cent Disney, 10 per cent hidden taxes and 95 per cent California girls. He expected the trip to be wild because media members would travel with the team for most of it.

Horton arranged for a dog sitter to look after Sue while he was away, and said his mailman, Max, would watch his trailer. He described the Daily Faceoff Edmonton staff as getting used to him, adding that the trip could help colleagues bond with a 92-year-old from the past. He also said he was 45 in reality and that most people considered his emotional capacity to be at a 12-year-old’s level, which he took as a compliment.

The trip began Tuesday, Oct. 6, with Horton arriving at Edmonton International Airport at noon. He argued with other media about which 1970s album to play on the flight and who should get the window seat. At 1 p.m., he flew to Anaheim and spent the journey binge-watching “The Dukes of Hazzard,” which he called a way for a 1970s man to stay connected to his culture.

The plane landed in Anaheim at 3:24 p.m. Horton took an Uber to the hotel and discussed the Iranian revolution with the driver. He wrote that he hoped they could travel back to the 1970s and be stopped by California Highway Patrol officers, adding that he missed “CHIPs!” He checked in at the Disneyland Hotel at 4:01 p.m., then returned to reception nine minutes later after discovering he had been assigned the Cinderella Room. He refused to sleep in a pumpkin carriage.

At 4:53 p.m., Horton headed to Disneyland for the evening, where he joined a duet with a man dressed as Mickey Mouse to sing “Let it Go.” He returned to the hotel at 8:39 p.m. and watched “Frozen” and “Chariots of Fire.” The following morning, Wednesday, Oct. 7, he reenacted the beach scene from “Chariots of Fire” with other media at 6:10 a.m. He thought they were starting to like him, though he joked that people he had lost in the surf might disagree.

Horton took an Uber to morning skate at 9:30 a.m. and learned that the Ducks had resulted from the success of a Disney movie, which he found bizarre. At 11:18 a.m., he attended an optional morning skate and an optional media doughnut session. He also learned that Spencer Stastney had been traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Filip Hallander, a new Swedish forward whom he thought might surprise people.

After returning to the hotel at noon, Horton played cards with bellhops. He took an Uber to the game at 4:15 p.m. and watched warm-ups at 6:28 p.m., while chatting about Devon Levi’s interest in Star Wars. Horton said Levi was quickly becoming one of his favourite players, despite most media believing reporters should not have favourites. He added that most media were not as smart as he was.

Puck dropped at 7:08 p.m. The Ducks took a 2-0 lead, but Edmonton rallied and took over the pond, according to Horton’s account. The Oilers won 5-2 at 9:47 p.m. He rode back to the Disneyland Hotel at 10:38 p.m., stayed overnight in Anaheim, and at 10:54 p.m. ordered fish and chips and watched “Reservoir Dogs.”

On Thursday, Oct. 8, Horton joined a Beijing tourist group for two hours of tai chi beginning at 7:23 a.m. He checked out of the Disneyland Hotel at 10:30 a.m. and took an Uber to the airport. His noon flight went to San Jose, where he landed at 12:59 p.m. He then travelled to a hotel in San Francisco’s Nob Hill neighbourhood and checked in at 1:22 p.m.

In the lobby, Horton met a group he called “Nobs” and joined them for a wine tasting. He later took an Uber to Washington Square in North Beach. The driver explained that the statue there depicts Benjamin Franklin, not George Washington; that the location is a park, not a square; and that North Beach is not a beach. Horton said he understood, then ate what he called the best tuna melt he had ever tasted.

At 3 p.m., he visited the Ferry Building and yelled at sea lions for a while. He returned to the hotel for dinner at 6 p.m. At 9:12 p.m., he said he discovered an underground Nob Hill club called “Homage to Hitchcock,” operated by a plumber, a lounge singer and a Russian martial arts expert. The bouncer was named Sputnik, and the password was “Axe me a question.” Inside, Horton and his companions tussled with an elderly bagpipe band, danced with a young woman in a butcher’s outfit and sang karaoke with prison guards from Alcatraz.

Horton toured Chinatown at 7:45 a.m. Friday, Oct. 9, then took an Uber to practice at 9 a.m. His notes blew out of the vehicle, he wrote, forcing him to climb up the Golden Gate Bridge to retrieve them. He called the experience intense. Practice was at 11 a.m., followed by an Uber ride back to the Nob Hill hotel for lunch at 12:42 p.m. At 7:11 p.m., he had dinner with the sea lions.

On Saturday, Oct. 10, Horton checked out of the Nob Hill hotel at 10:15 a.m. and took an Uber to the rink. At 12:15 p.m., he walked across the ice to the bench, fell several times and was rescued by Kapanen. Warm-ups began at 12:28 p.m. Another sports writer remarked on how odd it was to see Darnell Nurse in a Sharks uniform.

The game began at 1:10 p.m. Edmonton put on what Horton called a checking clinic and gave the young Sharks little room. The Oilers won 3-1 at 3:35 p.m. Horton went to the airport at 4:10 p.m. and flew to Los Angeles at 4:45 p.m., landing at 6:26 p.m. He took an Uber to a hotel by the arena, checked in at 6:58 p.m. and had dinner with media at Gavin Newsom’s house. Newsom, Horton wrote, did not know who they were.

Sunday, Oct. 11, was a day off in Los Angeles. Horton had breakfast on the Santa Monica pier at 7:42 a.m., where he met a gang of teenage vampires. At 8:21 a.m., he reenacted the beach scene from “10,” with Vasily Podkolzin standing in for Bo Derek. He had lunch with cowboys on Rodeo Drive at 11:47 a.m. and then took a nap.

At 5:45 p.m., Horton met Daily Faceoff Edmonton staff for dinner at a restaurant in Malibu. He said they rescued a boat from a shark attack, adding that the boat would need to be replaced. He returned to the hotel at 9:50 p.m.

On Monday, Oct. 12, Horton checked out the Wayne Gretzky statue before practice. At 11:30 a.m., he decided that putting a traffic cone on Gretzky’s head would be stupid, then asked who would do that. Practice began at noon, after which he returned to the hotel for a nap. That evening, at 8:46 p.m., he went to the Rams-Bills NFL game, ate hot dogs and drank beer for dinner, and ended up making pyramids with the Rams’ cheerleaders. Horton said the idea was his and that it was a good one. At 11:59 p.m., he returned to the hotel and wrote that he was not alone.

Horton took an Uber to morning skate at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13, and attended the skate at 10:45 a.m. He returned to the hotel by the arena at 11:30 a.m. At 4:45 p.m., he walked to the rink for the game while listening to the “Reservoir Dogs” soundtrack on his phone. During 7 p.m. warm-ups, he noticed Will Ferrell in the stands dressed as Donald Trump.

Puck dropped at 7:39 p.m. Horton described Los Angeles as old, slow and confused about its identity. The Oilers won an ugly 4-1 game at 10:15 p.m. He walked back to the hotel at 11:32 p.m. and began an “Anchorman” marathon with two room-service waiters at midnight.

The trip ended Wednesday, Oct. 14. Horton checked out at 9:37 a.m. and paid a large bill for room service, two massages and “Anchorman” viewings. He took an Uber to the airport and boarded an 11 a.m. flight to Edmonton, writing that he was escaping Los Angeles. He landed in Edmonton at 3:48 p.m. and took an Uber back to his trailer beside the North Saskatchewan River.

The fourth instalment follows three earlier entries: “Unfrozen Part 3: Time traveller goes to his first Oilers games in 47 years,” “Unfrozen Part 2: Chaz Horton joins the Oilers on the road,” and “Unfrozen after 47 years: Ace sports writer brought back in Oilers’ time of need.” Daily Faceoff Edmonton also invited readers to submit letters of up to 200 words, including their name and place of residence, to managing editor Zach Laing at zach.laing@bettercollective.com. Submissions are to be titled “Letters to the Editor,” may be edited for length or clarity, and must arrive by Sunday morning for consideration in that week’s edition.