We’re back. We’re finally back. It’s Christmas in October, and we can cheer and rant about hockey games again. The Edmonton Oilers season opener starts on the road against a team vastly different from them with regard to leaguewide view. In one corner, we have a team with the biggest Stanley Cup aspirations in Canada. In the opposite corner, we have a team with exceptional talent but faced negative culture problems last season. I mentioned in one article last year that Vancouver Canucks reminded me of the Oilers when they had Dallas Eakins as their coach. Even if you weren’t expecting a playoff appearance, you at least expected them to look better in the standings. The only difference is this Canucks team has better goaltending than those past Oilers teams. If they can put last year’s drama behind them, they should be good enough to compete for a Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. In Edmonton, every year will be a Cup parade or bust from now on. The Oilers are looking to move on from a tough early Playoff exit last year and have more things go right for them this year. It’s only the first game, but that’s where the season starts. The keys to Game 1 are…
Skating Off Bruises: Ryan McLeod and Mattias Ekholm sounded pretty banged up with minor injuries during the preseason. They didn’t play one game but appear to be no worse for wear. McLeod is penciled in to center the third line, and whichever pairing Ekholm is on depends on how he feels as the game goes on.
Fresh Starts In Net: Jack Campbell won the preseason Vezina trophy, and it seems he will probably get the start. He too, is looking for a fresh start after a write-off season. Thatcher Demko wasn’t that much better, but is also better than last year’s record shows.
No Lead Is Safe: In all the games these two teams played against each other, comfortable leads were blown. The Oilers came back and won the first meeting, then the Canucks came back and won the second meeting, and the Oilers won the last meeting but nearly blew a big lead again. A lesson for both of the teams, especially the Oilers, something hockey experts can never emphasize enough, they need to learn how to shut things down with boring hockey when leading comfortably. The game is never over until all 60 minutes, plus maybe overtime/shootout, are played.
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