Oilers and Flames will play rookie game in Red Deer

Over the past few years we’ve watched the Oilers take part in the Penticton Young Stars Tournament in British Columbia. This year, the Oilers and Flames have pulled out of the classic and will instead play their own exhibition game in Red Deer on Sept. 12.

We don’t know the exact reason why the Oilers chose to pull out of Penticton, but it was assumed that doing an exhibition game or series closer to home was one of the motivations. The “Battle of Alberta” rookie game will be played at the end of Edmonton’s rookie camp right before the beginning of the Oilers’ main training camp. The roster won’t be announced until a later date.

In the past, we’ve watched Ryan Taylor Hall, Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl, Darnell Nurse, and Connor McDavid play for the Oilers in Penticton. This time, the focus of the exhibition game in Red Deer will certainly be No. 10 overall pick Evan Bouchard. The Flames, who didn’t have a draft pick until the fourth round this year, will have a bit of a difficult time creating hype around their rookie roster.