LINUS OMARK: LET’S GO, INDEED

"Lets go!!!!! #23isback"

I don’t know if Linus Omark has a snowball’s chance in Hades of working his way into the plans of the Edmonton Oilers beyond the 17 games remaining in this season, but he’ll get his first crack at it against the San Jose Sharks tonight.

As for that "Lets go!!!!!" and the accompanying hashtag, taken from a Tweet on Omark’s Twitter account this afternoon, it’s got all the pizzazz that we’ve come to expect from the unquestionably talented and creative Swedish winger – on and off the ice.

It’s that kind of flair that has a lot of fans excited at the prospect of seeing Omark back in Oilers silks again after a difficult season in Oklahoma City of the AHL, a campaign stalled by a broken ankle.

It’s that kind of flash the 25-year-old Omark first showed in YouTube clips before his arrival in Edmonton and later, sporadically, live and in-person as he tallied 5-22-27 in 51 games with the Oilers last season. The kind of stuff that has some people convinced Omark and all that brass he’s packing can make a splash with the Oilers if he only gets a prolonged chance at it.

That splash, now and down the road, is likely going to have to come while playing among Edmonton’s top-six forwards, if it’s going to come at all, alongside Taylor Hall, Ryan-Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle, Sam Gagner and Ales Hemsky, who accompany the other five spots.

Can Omark, pointless in five games he played with the Oilers at the start of this season, make enough of an impression in the games that remain to stay in the plans? Has that decision, spoken or otherwise, already been made? I don’t like his chances, but there’s only one way to find out — play the wheels off him in these final 17 games, starting tonight.

Like Omark said, "Lets go!!!!! #23isback"