Capilano Rehab Centre Injury Report – February 16, 2016

I think this is the first time this season that our IR has not changed for two straight weeks. This is amazing. Go team! The trio of Oscar Klefbom, Andrew Ference, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are still ‘kicking the dust up’ in the press box, and I can just imagine all the fun times they’re having, slowly becoming best friends from being together so much. 

Since they’ve been together in the press box for so long, I’m sure they’ve talked about literally everything. I imagine Nugey telling the story of losing his first baby tooth, and how his dad convinced him that tying a string to it and attaching it to a doorknob would be a good idea. When Nuge was young, his dad called himself, “Dr. Nugent-Hopkins.” Ryan fell for this trick almost instantaneously, by trusting his dad because he now can relate to him as a doctor. Even young-baby-Nuge knew, at that age, that doctors are smart, trustworthy people. Then, all of a sudden, BAM! The door slams before little Ryan can catch his breath, and the baby tooth he was once proud of is now trickling down the hallway with a trail of blood following it. Nuge explains that he’ll never fall for the ol’ doctor trick again. Andrew and Oscar roll their eyes and dig further into their buttery, press-box, popcorn. 

I bet Ference would be rambling on about stories about his two daughters, and how he missed his oldest, Ava’s, first piano recital because he was busy winning a Stanley Cup with the Bruins. Sure his wife videotaped it, but Ference tells the boys that it’s just not the same thing seeing it through a video camera, and he would give his Stanley Cup ring up in a second, to go back in time and attend Ava’s recital. Ryan and Oscar look at each other with beaming smiles. They’re too young right now to ever imagine giving up playing in the Stanley Cup Finals to watch a 6-year-old play piano in public for her first time. She is most-likely making many mistakes as the keys under her fingers are getting wet and slippery from her sweaty, nervous palms; mom’s spaghetti. They may not get it now, but Andrew explains to them that their time will come, and they will later understand life is not all about hockey. 

Oscar Klefbom then goes on to tell stories of his childhood back in Sweden. Driving with his family in the family Volvo, pigging out on Herring, and listening to ABBA. (I googled Swedish stereotypes before writing this). He tells the boys that he secretly hates it when Americans try speaking in a Swedish accent. It may sound funny to them, but really it just comes out as Dutch or German. He, along with most Swedes, try to avoid conflict, so it takes a lot of guts for Oscar to come out and say this. Ference and Nuge take this as a sign of Oscar opening up to them. This builds and strengthens their relationship. All this team building happening in the press box will transition into the dressing room upon their returns, and further build morale. This is how I see it, anyways.

Unfortunately, Andrew won’t be there to witness this new-found bond and team morale because he won’t be returning this season because of a hip surgery. RNH, on the other hand, will be returning in a few more weeks (hopefully) from his broken hand. He is supposed to return with a couple weeks remaining in the schedule, but I have a feeling that if the Oilers are out of contention at that time, we won’t see him for the remainder of the year. Time will tell.

We are all still waiting patiently for Oscar Klefbom to come back to us. McLellan got all our hopes up by saying he will return shortly after the All-Star break. It has now been over two weeks and WHERE IS HE TODD? WHERE IS HE! I sure as hell don’t know. Maybe if he would stop bragging to Ryan and Andrew about all his blonde, Swedish girlfriends back home, he could FOCUS MORE ON HEALING THAT STAPH INFECTION! I’m not mad at you, Oscar… I just miss you, and need to vent. We all miss you, especially Justin Schultz and Darnell Nurse, who are trying ever so hard to replace you. It’s hard to blame them when they don’t have much of a choice to play 20+ minutes in a game, but we find ways. We at OIlersnation, always find ways.

For any of your injury needs, please contact our good friends at Capilano Rehab Centre or call (780) 466-1104. (Staph Infections probably not included). 

We are back from Jasper and still licking our wounds! This week we talk about McDavid’s five point night, if McDavid has a legit shot at the Calder, what could have been for McDavid this season, and other, non-McDavid related things! McDavid, McDavid, McDavid!

We are pumped to announce we have another big guest coming in this week to record our next podcast. He has a very special honour that goes with his name. Stay tuned, and make sure to listen next week to find out.

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