A New Way For Josh Samanski To Find Love

Josh Samanski is spending his summer in Germany before returning to the Edmonton Oilers for training camp next month, and while he's preparing for the season, he's also looking for love.

Samanski recently attended Gäubodenvolksfest in Straubing, Germany, where the 24-year-old Oilers forward decided to take a seat on the festival's "Singles Couch." It's exactly what it sounds like. Singles sit on the couch, talk a little bit about themselves and hope somebody likes what they hear.

There was only one problem. Samanski didn't exactly introduce himself as Josh Samanski. Instead, he went with Finn.

“I’m pretty much a normal guy,” Samanski said in German. “I like to go to Volksfest with the guys. Just looking for true love and, hopefully, it works out today.”

Samanski spent four seasons playing for the Straubing Tigers before coming to North America, so using a different name probably wasn't the worst idea. There's a decent chance somebody around the festival would recognize a player who spent several years playing professional hockey in the city.

Fellow hockey player Filip Varejcka also reportedly used a different name, with the two among 93 singles who took their shot on the couch.

Although, Samanski may be making this more difficult than it needs to be.

Has he ever tried banana bread? I hear it works.

There's no need to pretend you aren't a professional athlete. Just make some banana bread and hope for the best. Worst-case scenario, nobody falls in love with you and you still have something to eat.

Samanski, instead, really committed to being Finn.

When asked whether he was a sports guy, Samanski avoided mentioning that he plays professional hockey. He played 29 games between the regular season and playoffs for the Edmonton Oilers last year.

Finn, however, isn't much of an athlete.

“I just loaf around at home on the couch and stare at the ceiling waiting for the day to be over,” Samanski said. “If a nice girl likes doing that as well, I’m her guy.”

Nothing says true love like finding somebody else who also enjoys waiting for the day to end.

At least Samanski doesn't appear to be particularly picky.

“Beautiful eyes, the rest doesn’t matter,” he said. “Of course, we have to get along well… Maybe non-smoking would be nice.”

That's about it.

Beautiful eyes, doesn't smoke, willing to spend an afternoon staring at the ceiling. If anybody reading this fits the description and happens to be near Straubing, Finn may still be available.

Samanski will have something else to worry about soon enough.

He spent most of last season with the Bakersfield Condors before earning a late-season call-up to Edmonton, then stayed in the lineup for all five of the Oilers' playoff games. He finished his 29 NHL games between the regular season and playoffs with three goals and six points, and did enough to suggest he'll play with the big club this fall.

There should be room for him to do it. Edmonton's bottom six isn't locked down or particularly competitive, and Samanski already did ok in the NHL. At 24, this training camp is also an important one if he wants to establish himself as more than a player who moves between Edmonton and Bakersfield.

For now, Samanski is back home in Germany, single and willing to lie about both his name and profession to change that.

Again, Josh, banana bread, worth a shot.

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