You can tell it’s been a minute since the last Oilers game because I’m way too excited to be sitting here on a Saturday morning to write the first pre-season GDB of the season. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s game day.
Even though a lot of us are going to be miserable in a few days when we’re staring down what’s left of this never-ending pre-season schedule, here on day one, I’m fired up about the opportunity to watch the Oilers again. I don’t even care that most of the players suiting up this afternoon against the Winnipeg Jets won’t be anywhere close to Edmonton’s opening-day lineup — I’m just happy that we’re inching toward opening night on October 9th. I know that excitement will fade relatively quickly, but right now, I’m jacked up about watching some random humans play hockey in Oilers gear.
Whether you care about the pre-season or not, the reality is that these tune-up games aren’t for us anyway. These glorified scrimmages are for a) evaluating our prospects to see how near or far they are from being legitimate NHL options, and b) squeezing more money out of the fan base with a few extra games on the calendar. We all know the deal here, and I generally think the whole thing is annoying, but I’m choosing to take this opportunity as a reason to be excited about what’s to come instead of focusing on how much I can’t wait for the next two weeks to be over. I choose to be positive even though this is arguably the most boring stretch of an NHL season.
Of course, as we’ve already covered, these games aren’t really meant for us, but rather an opportunity for Edmonton’s prospects to show what they’ve got. And seeing as the big league roster is basically set outside of a few spots here and there, the real battle will be to leave a lasting impression on the organization in the hopes of earning further opportunity. The Oilers’ brass showed this past summer that they have no problem shipping off prospects if they think there are better options available, and I’m eager to find out who excels and who fizzles out.
Looking at this first game on the pre-season schedule, however, it very well could be some of these kids’ only opportunity to wear Oilers colours and play in a game at Rogers Place. Even if they get cut tomorrow morning, playing a pre-season game in an NHL rink is a very cool experience and one that I hope the prospects use as fuel to take the next steps in their development. So, as much as I’m here complaining about the length of the pre-season, I also understand that today’s game is likely someone living out their dream, and I think that’s awesome even if most of us are waiting for the show to get going for real two weeks from now.
Let’s see who’s lining up for both sides for night one.

LINEUPS ***UPDATED***

We FINALLY got the Oilers lines for today’s game…

Oilers

Podkolzin – Hamblin – Savoie
Lavoie – O’Reilly – Caggiula
Hoffman – Philp – Stefan
Wright – Grubbe – Nicholl
Dermott – Emberson
Gleason – Brown
Dineen – Carrick
Rodrigue
Delia
According to rule 15.4 of the NHL’s CBA, teams have to dress at least six NHL veterans — 30 GP or more — playing during the pre-season, and I’m guessing that’s where we’ll be today in game one. With such a young lineup expected to go, I’ll be watching to see who — if anyone — can excel against an equally green roster on the other side.
We’re nowhere near opening night rosters at this stage, and I want to know who can hang at this stage of the tune-up season and who can’t. I mean, the Oilers didn’t exactly have an inspiring Young Stars Tournament, and I’m curious to find out if that three-game set was an accurate breakdown of what the Oilers’ depth chart looks like.

Jets

Kupari – Gustafsson – Toninato
Anderson-Dolan – Torgersson – He
Zhilkin – Loponen – Fjallby
Ford – Walton – King
Stanley – Coghlan
Sautner – Salomonsson
Ahhorn – Bauer
Comrie
Kakkonen
The rookie-laden Jets fell 5-2 to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night in their first pre-season contest on the schedule, and it looks like we’ve got another young lineup hitting the ice this afternoon at Rogers Place.

GAME NOTES

  • It looks like we can watch the game at winnipegjets.com instead of having the broadcast behind the Oilers+ paywall.
  • The Jets lost their first pre-season game 5-2 after running into a very hot Jesper Wallstedt, who made 38 saves on Saturday night. Oilers fans will, of course, remember Wallstedt after the team opted to pass on the goaltender at the NHL draft in favour of Xavier Bourgault.
  • This afternoon’s vs. Winnipeg marks the first of five pre-season games this week, though Monday is a split squad day against the Flames. The Oilers will take the long bus ride to Winnipeg on Wednesday before coming back to Edmonton for a Saturday night contest against the Seattle Kraken.

TONIGHT…

Photoshop: Tom Kostiuk
Game Day Prediction: The baby Oilers beat the baby Jets by a 4-2 score.
Obvious Game Day Prediction: You will look at your laptop and ask yourself, “who is that” at least six times tonight.
Not-So-Obvious Game Day Prediction: I’m considering dropping the 4-2 win bit this year. But will I actually do it? Only time will tell.

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