Edmonton Oilers Game 1 Thoughts

Photo via Getty Images

Was Edmonton’s preseason bad? Yeah. Am I concerned? Not really. We’re talking about practice.

During the Decade Of Darkness, the Oilers sometimes had much better preseasons than regular seasons. Jack Campbell was pretty good in last year’s preseason and a lot of us thought that meant he’d have a bounce back year. Spoiler alert, he didn’t. The real hockey starts now. It’s also kind of funny to celebrate the NHL season starting yesterday when the first couple of games were actually played this past weekend.

I don’t really have anything new to add for this piece that I didn’t already mention in my season expectations on Sunday. You can look back and read that at your leisure. I can’t go over parts of a season that haven’t happened for us yet, and as our captain told the media yesterday, “Enough about last year… We’re moving on”. The keys to the game are…

First Impressions: The Oilers don’t have exactly the same roster as last season, there are some interesting new faces in the opening night lineup. We got a brief glimpse of the line combos we expect to see all year long last week Friday. We’ll see over time how they all gel.

First Day Record: In the first nine seasons of McDavid’s NHL career, his team has a 5-4 record in season openers. The homer opener record is 6-3.

Missing Big Boys: Forward Evander Kane and defenseman Logan Stanley have both been placed on Injured Reserved by their respective teams. The Jets are a team with lots of size, and Kane, when healthy, is meant to be a physical presence as an add-on to his offense for Edmonton. Darnell Nurse is back in the lineup from his injury. Will these teams start their seasons being rough around the edges.

ITR 34: End Of The Road Inside The Rink

 Join Conrad and Chris as they discuss the Boston Bruins front office, Logan Couture's retirement, Edmonton Oilers Injuries leading into the playoffs, and playoff matchups! 
  1. ITR 34: End Of The Road
  2. ITR 33: The Gr8 One
  3. ITR 32: The Final Countdown
  4. ITR 31: Let Them Fight
  5. ITR 30: Down The Stretch

Discover more from Inside The Rink

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Stephen Vani

Oilers fan in Toronto. Staying up past my bedtime for Western games since the mid 2000s.

Leave a Reply

Stanley Cup Playoffs Gameday Thoughts: Winnipeg Jets vs St. Louis Blues Game One

St. Louis rolls into the Canada Life Centre for game one of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Inside The Rink’s own Conrad Jack has some pre-game thoughts ahead of the Central Division clash. Round Three of Hellebuyck vs. Binnington The first big matchup between Connor Hellebuyck and Jordan Binnington came way back in 2019, while […]

Read More

NHL Playoff Preview: St Louis Blues at Winnipeg Jets with Line Combinations (04/19/2025)

St Louis Blues (0-0-0) at Winnipeg Jets (0-0-0)Venue: Canada Life CentreDate: Tonight – Saturday, April 19thTime: 5:00 pm CST TV: Sportsnet, CBC, TVAS, TNT, truTV, MaxRadio: 680 CJOB (Winnipeg) & 101 ESPN (St. Louis) DraftKings Sportsbook Betting Lines:St. Louis Blues +1.5 ML +160Winnipeg Jets -1.5 ML -192O/U 5.5 Purchase tickets via Ticketmaster St. Louis Blues […]

Read More
NHL Playoff Preview: Colorado Avalanche at Dallas Stars with Line Combinations 4/19/2025

NHL Playoff Preview: Colorado Avalanche at Dallas Stars with Line Combinations 4/19/2025

NHL Playoff Preview: Colorado Avalanche at Dallas Stars with Line Combinations 4/19/2025

Read More