GDB 01: THE WAIT IS OVER...
Jason Gregor
January 20 2013 12:12PM
Is Ralph Krueger yelling, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls are you ready?"
After 288 days that included watching other teams compete for the Stanley Cup, drafting Nail Yakupov, winning the Justin Schultz sweepstakes, being frustrated by another lockout and being teased by the success of Schultz, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall in the American League, the Oilers will finally play another meaningful NHL game, and Krueger will step behind the bench for the first time with the title of head coach.
WILL THE OILERS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS?
Jason Gregor
January 18 2013 02:23PM
On the eve of another lockout-shortened season, there are many questions surrounding the Edmonton Oilers. How good will Justin Schultz be in the NHL? Is Devan Dubnyk ready to be an everyday starting goalie? Can Ales Hemsky and Ryan Whitney have bounce back seasons? Who will lead the Oilers in scoring: Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins? How much of an impact will new head coach Ralph Krueger have?
All great questions, but the most important one is, will the Oilers make the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons?
OILERS MAKE CUTS
Jason Gregor
January 17 2013 12:30PM
The Oilers re-assigned Chris Vande Velde, Colten Teubert and Taylor Fedun to OKC today, but they also recalled Yann Danis.
THREE IN FIFTY IS GOOD
Jason Gregor
January 16 2013 10:38AM
TSN released their Top-50 NHL player rankings on Monday and Oiler fans should be pretty excited, if you believe these rankings are accurate.
DAY TWO OF CAMP
Jason Gregor
January 15 2013 12:44PM
The first thing you notice with Ralph Krueger as head coach is how little time is wasted during practice. The Oilers first session lasted 30 minutes, but without any long breaks. Krueger has preached "pace" since being named head coach, and through two days of training camp his players have gotten a taste of what he'll expect.
There is nothing worse than wasting time during practice standing around. Krueger outlines all his drills prior to going on the ice, he expects his player to remember them, and when practice starts it is non-stop action.
Through two days it is easily the most up-tempo practices I have watched in a long time.
