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| 0-1-0, 0 points, 0 p/g | Ranks | 0-0-0, 0 points, 0 p/g |
| Western Conference - 3rd | Western Conference - 10th | |
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| - | ES | - |
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It's Here, It's Finally Here
It's been exactly eight years or so 180 days since the Oilers last played in a game that counted. Tonight begins yet another season in the chapter of the Edmonton Oilers hockey club, one that begs the Oilers to show some improvement after eight consecutive years outside of the playoff picture. If they don't, surely someone will have to answer for something. That's usually what happens here, right?
The Oilers are saying
"Is he going to have hiccups along the way? Absolutely. He' s a teenager...We're ready to help him right away and, in the end, he was better than our other options right now"
That's Oilers coach Dallas Eakins on the third overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, Leon Draisaitl.
Unless he's all sorts of awful, Leon Draisaitl will be with the Oilers for well more than nine games. While I'm excited for his future, I'm still left holding my hands out wondering why an eighteen year old who has yet to play an NHL game is "better than (y)our other options right now". MacTavish was on Oilers Now yesterday chatting about how you have to draft a big centre, and how you can't just pluck one off in a trade. I don't necessarily disagree with MacT, but unless every free agent centre didn't want to come to Edmonton, there's no reason why an NHL vet couldn't have been brought in to help shore up the middle.
The Opponent is saying
"I guess really I wanted to play and I'd do anything to make the team and play in the NHL this year, so...I guess maybe I should have come out with something sooner, but I didn't think it was that big a deal. I guess it's a little bigger deal than I thought.
- THE FIRST CUT IS THE DEEPEST - Craig MacTavish went shopping this offseason, and in his big bright bags he brought home Nikita Nikitin, Benoit Pouliot and Mark Fayne. All three will make their regular season debuts for Edmonton tonight.
- JEFF PETRY - Yeah, let's trade him away for a centre. That way, the club can have another fresh face on defence with eighteen or so career NHL games. If you trade Jeff Petry, I'm going to hurl hot garbage at things. Don't do it, man.
- Martin Marincin should be on this team. Forgive me if I'm a little apprehensive about Brad Hunt on my second power play line. Maybe Hunt can work with Jultz on defence. (rolls dice)
- Ben Scrivens will start tonight's game between the pipes for Edmonton. Karri Ramo will do the deed for Calgary.
The Calgary Flames
Curtis Glencross - Sean Monahan - Jiri Hudler
Mason Raymond - Mikael Backlund - Lance Bouma
Johnny Gaudreau - Joe Colborne - Paul Byron
Brandon Bolig - Matt Stajan - Brian McGrattan
Mark Giordano - T.J. Brodie
Ladislav Smid - Dennis Wideman
Kris Russell - Deryk Engelland
Karri Ramo
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The Edmonton Oilers
Taylor Hall - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle
David Perron - Leon Draisaitl - Nail Yakupov
Benoit Pouliot - Mark Arcobello - Teddy Purcell
Matt Hendricks - Boyd Gordon - Jesse Joensuu
Andrew Ference - Jeff Petry
Nikita Nikitin - Mark Fayne
Brad Hunt - Justin Schultz
Ben Scrivens