The week has been a long one for Oilers fans. The All-Star break gave us all a little breather apart from having Connor and Leon participating in the skills contest and following 3-on-3 tournament. But we’ve gotten to a point now where the fans are ready for this wildcard chase to resume and for Oscar Klefbom to come back and help us make it happen. Then, late last night, some news came out that meant that maybe fans will have to wait longer for that return, or will they?

This footage was grabbed by Mark Spector after Klefbom “took a stick on his injured left hand” and went over to speak to a trainer and have him take a look at it. For the Oilers and their fans, this clip is bad news and something they certainly didn’t need right now. This footage inspired Spector to wonder whether or not “Oilers’ Klefbom suffers an apparent setback in return from broken finger”.

If true, this would be devastating news to the Oilers. The return of Klefbom means that more guys are properly slotted and that they will be able to take the load off of guys like Nurse, Larsson, and Russell who have all played an extended role in his absence. It will also free them up to move around/out some of the D men they were forced to play more (Kevin Gravel, Matt Benning) or bring in from Chicago (Brandon Manning) and Florida (Alex Petrovic).

The reason I wrote “if true” because just before the clock struck midnight on the month of January the Oilers tweeted shortly after about a potential return for Oscar Klefbom as early as this Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers:

Admittedly, in my opinion, it was a strange time of day for the Oilers to be tweeting out a story that contradicts a story that came out shortly before. With that in mind, I was curious to see what would happen at this morning’s practice: Would he be there? Wouldn’t he?

While Gazzola’s tweet doesn’t necessarily clear things up, in fact it spawns more questions than anything, but the good news is that any setback he may have suffered wasn’t enough to keep him out of today’s practice. What that means for tomorrow’s game is anyone’s guess, but the good news is that he’s out there. All I know for sure is that Oilers need Klefbom back for a playoff push and they need him back sooner rather than later. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what the update is after practice is over.