Venita Aspen Promises No More Silent Drama If She Returns for Season 11 of Southern Charm
CHARLESTON — Venita Aspen is sounding off. After a season marked by betrayal, confusion, and unsaid truths, the Southern Charm fashionista says she’s ready to flip the script — if she returns for Season 11.
Drama with Jarrett “JT” Thomas provided Aspen with plenty of material in Season 10. She felt blindsided after JT announced having a girlfriend, shortly after her involvement in romantic/subtle entanglements with him (or his past) became a point of tension. While the relationship between them appeared to reconcile during the reunion, Aspen felt like some truths remained unspoken. Now, she hopes to let her voice — and her opinions — be heard more clearly.
Aspen said in a recent interview that “if I return, there will be no more holding of the tongue.” She wants Season 11 to show more of her internal life — her thoughts, her judgments, her perspective. She also emphasized that she plans to “keep it classy,” but won’t shy away from calling things out lest drama overshadow honesty.
Fans will be watching how Aspen navigates friendships, especially with castmates intertwined in love triangles and social misalignment. Her desire to speak up could shift dynamics—especially given that many cast relationships in
Between fashion events, business ventures, and her social presence, Aspen has always been more style than scene. But this promise signals a possible turn: from quiet social prudence to fearless transparency. If she follows through, Aspen might become one of the most vocal presences in the next season — one who shapes storylines instead of just reacting to them.
A look back at the 2005–06 Edmonton Oilers
Everyone loves an underdog story. For example, Rocky, Moneyball, the Mighty Ducks and even the 2005–06 Edmonton Oilers. After the 2004–05 season was cancelled due to the lockout, hockey fans were begging for NHL hockey. Still, expectations were low in Oil Country. If sports betting were popular back then, not many people would’ve taken the Oilers at +2500 to win the Stanley Cup. Little did they know that the Oilers would go on to have one of the best Cinderella stories in NHL history.
Similar to back in 2005 we’re also counting down the days until the new NHL season. So, let’s take a trip down memory lane and look back at a team that many Oilers f ans will have very fond memories of. The 2005-06 Oilers.
The Oilers started slowly, going 3–6–1 in their first 10 games. However, by the time New Year’s came around, the Oilers had a record of 22–14–4 which had them in sixth in the Western Conference. After turning the calendar to 2006, the Oilers finished 19–14–9 to finish the season and snuck into the final playoff spot in the West.
Off Ice Work
Going into the season, not many people would’ve had the Oilers making the playoffs in their preseason predictions. However, after the lockout, the NHL introduced the salary cap. The salary cap for 2005–06 was $39 M.
As a result of the cap, the St. Louis Blues couldn’t re-sign their captain, defenceman Chris Pronger. He was traded to the Oilers in exchange for Eric Brewer, Doug Lynch, and Jeff Woywitka. They also signed Pronger to a five-year contract worth $6.25 M per year.
Pronger registered 56 points in 80 regular season games for the Oilers and had 21 points in 24 playoff games, while having just over 30 minutes of ice time per game in the playoffs. However, not long after the Oilers were eliminated from the playo ffs, Pronger requested a trade and was later traded to the Anaheim Ducks, where he won a Stanley Cup the following season.
The Oilers also went on to trade Mike York to the New York Islanders in exchange for two-time Frank J. Selke Trophy winner, Michael Peca. Peca had 23 points in 71 games and had 11 points in 24 playoff games. Peca was one of the Oilers key standouts during the playoff run. Due to his play on the Oilers third line alongside Fernando Pisani.
The Oilers had a goaltending tandem of Ty Conklin and Jussi Markkanen. It wasn’t going well. So the Oilers made a trade at the deadline with the Minnesota Wild. Acquiring Dwayne Roloson in exchange for their 2006 first-round pick. Roloson had a 6–17–1 record with the Wild at the time. It was a gamble to take a chance on Roloson, but every Oiler fan knows how pivotal he was during the 2006 playoffs. Posting a .927 save percentage and 2.33 goals against average.
Round 1: Detroit
As the eighth seed in the Western Conference, the Oilers were matched up with the number one-seeded Detroit Red Wings in the first round of the playoffs. The Red Wings had one of the most dominant regular seasons ever, finishing with 124 points and a 58–16–8 record. The 2006 Red Wings rank sixth all-time in total points.
Edmonton lost Game one in double overtime but won Game two 4–2 to get the split coming home for games three and four. Game three would go to overtime, but this time it was the Oilers who emerged victori ous. Jaret Stoll was the hero in overtime to give the Oilers the series lead. After Detroit evened the series in Game 4, it was 2–2 going back to Joe Louis Arena for Game 5. However, the Oilers won Game five 3–2 and dragged the Wings back to Alberta with a chance to close out the series in front of the home crowd in Game 6.
Many fans say that Game six was the most memorable of the whole series. A packed Rexall Place watched anxiously as the Oilers were looking for their first playoff series win since 1998. The Oilers trailed the Red Wings 2–0 after two periods, and a Game seven in Detroit was looking more and more likely.
However, Fernando Pisani scored two goals early in the third period to tie the game. Johan Franzen was able to reclaim the lead for Detroit. But shortly after, Ales Hemsky scored to tie it at three. Then, with 1:06 left in the third period, Hemsky did it again. Scoring the eventual series-winning goal for the Oilers, completing one of the biggest playoff upsets in NHL history.
Round 2: San Jose
The Oilers’ reward for beating the Presidents’ Trophy winners was a date with the San Jose Sharks in the second round. The five-seeded Sharks defeated the Nashville Predators in round one, easily taking care of them in five games. The Sharks had a high-powered offence led by Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo. Who respectively won the Art Ross Trophy for most points and the Maurice Richard Trophy for most goals.
The Sharks took care of business at home, winning the first two games and taking a 2–0 series lead. However, the Oilers cut the lead in half after Shawn Horcoff scored in triple overtime to secure the win in Game 3. Game three ended up being a turning point in the series, and the Oilers went on to win four straight. Stop me if you’ve heard that before. 19 years later, the Oilers had a similar situation in round one against the L.A. Kings.
Conference Finals: Anaheim
The Oilers advanced to the Western Conference Finals, where they would be taking on the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. They were on a Cinderella run of their own, beating the Calgary Flames in seven games in round one and sweeping the Colorado Avalanche in round two.
Edmonton was back in the conference finals for the first time since 1992, and the only thing standing in their way of the finals was Teemu Selanne and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. However, Selanne wasn’t their only weapon. The Mighty Ducks had the 2003 playoff MVP J.S. Giguere. The Mighty Ducks also had two rookies who were blossoming into future stars, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.
The Oilers were able to win Game 1 for the first time in this run by a score of 3–1 and followed it up with another 3–1 win in Game 2. Taking a 2–0 series lead back to Edmonton. The Oilers took a stranglehold on the series in Game 3, winning 5–4, and after dropping Game 4, the Oilers finished the job in Game 5 back in Anaheim.
The 2005–06 Oilers became the first eight seed to advance to the Stanley Cup final in NHL history. The Oilers w ere back in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1990.
Stanley Cup Final: Carolina
The Oilers were back in the Finals for the first time in 16 years in pursuit of the sixth Stanley Cup in franchise history. Their opponent was the Carolina Hurricanes, who had lost to Detroit in the Stanley Cup final in 2002, so the Hurricanes had been there before and were back with a vengeance.
The Hurricanes finished the season with 112 points, earning them the second seed in the Eastern Conference. Carolina had already beaten the Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, and Buffalo Sabres on their path to the Finals.
With a 4–4 tie in Game 1, all signs pointed toward overtime. When Hurricanes forward Andrew Ladd crashed the net, Oilers defenceman Marc -Andre Bergeron took exception to it. Hitting Ladd and stopping a scoring chance. Even though the hit stopped a scoring chance, it sent Ladd flying into Roloson. The Oilers would lose game one but it would only get worse from there.
It was announced after the game that Dwayne Roloson had sustained an injury and would miss the remainder of the series. Ty Conklin had come in in relief of Roloson in Game 1, and the Oilers were forced to recall Jussi Markkanen. It ended up being Conklin who cost the Oilers Game one after misplaying the puck to Hurricanes captain and now head coach Rod Brind’Amour who scored the game-winner for Carolina.
Roloson’s injury was a back breaker for the Oilers. He’d been the MVP for the Oilers throughout this run, and many fans wrote them off after Roloson went down. However, the series is best of se ven for a reason. The Oilers would lose Game 2 5–0, going down 2–0 in the series. However, after the most electric intro in hockey history, the Oilers were able to win Game 3 2–1, getting them back in the series.
The Oilers lost Game 4 at home 2–1, and Carolina put a stranglehold on the series, going back to Raleigh for Game 5 up 3–1. In Game 5, the Oilers played desperately with their season on the line. It took overtime, but the Oilers won the game via a shorthanded goal from Fernando Pisani. Pisani led the Oilers in goals during the 2006 playoffs with 14. None bigger than his shorty in overtime to force game 6 back at Rexall Place.
You wouldn’t expect it, considering Jussi Markkanen had a .880 save percentage in the regular season. Markkanen got a shutout in Game 6 when the Oilers had their backs against the wall to force a winner-take-all Game 7 back in Carolina.
Monday, June 19, 2006, is a date Oilers fans of a certain generation will remember forever. For the wrong reason. What could’ve been a day of celebration for Oilers nation quickly turned into a day of mourning. The Oilers lost Game 7 3–1 and the Hurricanes won their first and to this day only championship in franchise history.
Almost 20 years later, the legacy of the 2006 Oilers lives on, and fans will always reminisce about where they were during the memorable moments of the run. Like Hemsky’s game-winner in Game 6 against Detroit, Horcoff’s OT winner in Game 3 against the Sharks which changed the series. Pisani’s shorthanded goal to win Game 5 against Carolina, and most notably, the injury to Dwayne Roloson in Game 1 of the Finals.
A lot of fans like to wonder if the series would’ve ended differently had Roloson stayed healthy, but unfortunately, as Kanye West said… “I guess we’ll never know,”
