For the second consecutive season, the Edmonton Oilers rookie squad will be taking on the NAIT/MacEwan All-Stars as another kickoff to their season. This yearly tradition sees the boys in blue and orange taking on the best of the best from NAIT and MacEwan University as a means to give fans a glimpse of the future while also looking at how our rookies match up against some of the best local collegiate players that NAIT/MacEwan have to offer.

Last season, the Oilers rookies got shutout by the college all-stars and that means that there’s revenge to be had in tonight’s game, especially considering that some of the returning Oilers prospects will want to right that wrong from a year ago. Losing is one thing, but getting shutout in front of a Rogers Place crowd like they did 12 months ago? Forget about it. Not to mention, the shit kicking the boys took against the Flames’ rookies on Sunday should hopefully inspire a passioned outing. Even though we fans will hope or possibly think that the Oilers rookies should win this game, the reality is that they’ll be facing a very strong test tonight and these college kids are going to come in ready to play.

Over the past six years, the NAIT Ooks have finished in first place in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference while winning the league championships three separate times. Not to be outdone, the MacEwan Griffins have also won their fair share of games, including a pair of ACAC championships of their own. Needless to say, the Oilers rookies will be up against stiff competition tonight and the game should be an entertaining one. If nothing else, this game will certainly help to scratch the itch that’s been built up over a long Oiler-less summer.

You can watch the stream of tonight’s game over on the Oilers official site starting at 7:00 pm MST.

Gambardella – Marody – Yamamoto
Benson – McLeod – Vesel
Vesey- Esposito – Maksimov/Hebig
Polei – Gust/Larkin – Van Stralen

Jones – Bouchard
Crevier-Morin/Samorukov – Bear
Lagesson – Kuvelich
Wilson – Day

Stuart Skinner
Dylan Wells

Admittedly, these lines could be good or they could be completely wrong. These were the combinations that were posted on the Oilers site ahead of the game against the Flames rookies on Sunday, so I’d assume that some of these are still good? Maybe? No?

Nolan Yaremchuk – Tanner Dunkle – Thomas Foster
Tyler Robertson – Brett Smythe – Ryan Baskerville
Brandon Ralph – Jake Mykitiuk – Cam Gotaas
Brett Njaa – Brayden Harris – Dallas Smith

Brendan Jensen – Colton Waltz
Austin Yaremchuk – Tyler Morrison
Stefan Danielson – Jordan Davies

Nathan Park
Marc-Olivier Daigle

Now, I’ll fully admit that these lineups are nothing but a guess I put together based on the roster the Griffins put up on their website. I don’t know if these scholars are in their right forward positions or not outside of general position, but I wanted to make sure to get everyone a shout-out ahead of tonight’s game. If I can find accurate lines from NAIT/MacEwan I will be sure to throw them in here.

GAME DAY PREDICTION: Some hockey gets done on both sides. Goals are scored, saves are made, and fun was had by all. I won’t tell you who wins this game but I will tell you the score will be 4-2.

OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Beers are full price.

NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION:  Evan Bouchard will shave three times during tonight’s broadcast but it still won’t be enough to rid him of his five o’clock shadow.