The NHL held their NHL entry draft combine in Toronto last weekend. This is the opportunity for NHL draft eligible players to show off their fitness, athleticism and conversation skills in a variety of tests and interview opportunities. The draft website has the results from the physical testing, along with which player won each competition. The Oilers conducted several interviews and have made them available.
Most of us had a sneaking suspicion when it happened, but Jordan Eberle's first NHL goal made TSN's play of the year tournament. Not only that, but it of course won, beating out Mike Camalleri.
Tanner House was a late season NCAA Oilers signing. House has a finance degree and served as the captain of the Maine team. Playing in the final 6 Oklahoma City Barons' games, House made a great impression on his fellow team-mates and is looking forward to next season already.
Oilers' defenseman Ryan Whitney is a proud Bostonian, and has been cheering for his Boston Bruins through the playoffs, and especially through the Stanley Cup Finals. In fact during game four Whitney was only a few seats away from Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Harper's trip to Boston of course raised questions about how much this game cost tax payers. Word is that Harper and his guests will be paying not only for their game tickets, but also for their flight.
Ex-Oilers' trainer Ken Lowe is back with the Oilers, but working as a liaison between the Oilers training and medical staff and the training staff of the junior teams where the Oilers' prospects are playing. The idea is to keep a better record of what Oilers' prospects are doing and avoiding injuries.
The Edmonton Oil Kings have signed their 2011 first round draft pick Aaron Irving. This defenseman hails from Edmonton and was selected ninth overall. This week, Irving signed a standard WHL contract. The Oil Kings rookie camp is scheduled to begin August 25th, and Irving will be sure to be there.
In NHL news, I missed reporting last week that Shanny, Brendan Shanahan is not only the new spokesman for Dove for Men products but has taken over for Colin Campbell as the NHL's league disciplinarian . Some argue that the league did right in getting a player who is only recently removed from the game, while others would argue that by taking a player they are introducing more chance for favouritism or conflicts of interest. As much as people would like to believe that they could be impartial, what is the likelihood that that will happen.
Roberto Luongo was likely the most talked about NHLer of the week due to the fate of his team in the finals. Of course it is a team sport and it is difficult to place all praise or blame on one man alone, but even though the joke is old, what time is it? Why it's twelve past Luongo. True, the Canucks did manage a 1-0 win on Friday night. Notice how I didn't use any adjectives like convincing, or momentum changing?