EDMONTON — “We’re only six periods away to getting this thing going.”
Maybe it’s the disparity between the intense, nerve-wracking games we watched in Rogers Place this past June, and the first six pre-season games that have now thankfully passed, with the Edmonton Oilers beating the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 in a shootout Monday night to even their pre-season mark at 3-3.
But either way, everyone is ready for the season to start. No one more than the 39-year-old veteran Corey Perry, the author of the quote above who is attending his 20th NHL training camp here this autumn.
“It’s getting to that point where you’re sick and tired of playing against your own guys in practice, and the seven or eight pre-season games. It’s a long training camp,” admitted Perry, who walked off the wall and slipped a puck past a very solid Kevin Lankinen in the Vancouver net on Edmonton’s first goal. “But it’s about getting your game in order as a team, working your way through all the kinks and being ready for Game 1.”
Connor McDavid led with two assists, as he ramps up his Hart Trophy game, while defenceman Travis Dermott played a game-high 23:25 and finished with an assist and a plus-1 rating.
Viktor Arvidsson led the Oilers with four shots on goal, had an assist and scored the game-winner on a nifty backhand deke in the shootout. It was the first time this fall that the Oilers second line of Leon Draisaitl between Jeff Skinner and Arvidsson got a game together, and they’ll need a few more reps.
Skinner was the least noticeable, without a shot on goal. The six-time 30-goal scorer will get likely two more pre-season games to forge some chemistry on that line.
Nurse Cleared To Play
Darnell Nurse is a lightning rod whose salary casts shade on his game.
When he plays great, well, for $9.25 million he’s supposed to be great, right? And when he’s average, well, ‘average’ isn’t what they’re paying for.
What does he want to change this season, after a so-so season last year?
“I just want to be myself,” he said. “The way I play — the way I’m capable of playing — I think I have a pretty good picture of that in my mind. So if I can play to my capabilities, the way I feel I can play, that’s all that matters.”
“There were times that he didn’t play his best,” allows head coach Kris Knoblauch, “but there were times that I don’t think he got appreciated enough for how well he did play. I know Darnell’s eager to get the season going and having a stronger season than you did last year.”
Nurse has participated in camp despite dealing with some kind of core injury left over from last spring’s playoff run. He hasn’t played a pre-season game yet, but head coach Kris Knoblauch said in his post-game media address Monday that Nurse is cleared to play in one or both of the Oilers final two pre-season games.
“I don’t feel like I’ve missed anything,” said Nurse, who may play Wednesday in Seattle and Friday at Vancouver. “At the end of the day the objective is to be 100 per cent when the season opens up, and whatever route that is, it’s on me to be prepared, mentally and physically.”
Nurse is charged with breaking in Ty Emberson on the second Oilers pairing. His plan?
“The best way to help someone else is to be the top your own game,” he said. “I’ve got to be at the top of my game for the (start of the) season, and then you know when it starts, and carry it throughout.”
Said Knoblauch: “That second pair, as well as it’s going to play is going to (revolve) around how well (Nurse) plays. I don’t think there’s anybody who closes time and space as well as he does, and if guys want to protect the puck from him, he’s got the power and strength to push him off that puck.”
35 Pounds of Silver
Phil Kemp was drafted in the seventh round seven years ago, and he’s back at camp, chasing a job on an Oilers team that is surely getting closer, but likely has not arrived for him yet. Honestly, it may never arrive, which would be a shame for a stand-up young guy.
What’s different for the big defenceman about this camp?
“There’s definitely a different feel,” said the six-foot-three Yale grad. “These guys are chasing 35 pounds of silver, you know, and you can feel it. It’s really competitive. They want to win. They’re here to win.”
Kemp got into his only NHL game last season in Montreal and played three shifts — all at right wing. He hung around the team through the playoffs however, and had a window into what a Stanley Cup run is all about.
“Being a Black Ace you realize how many people are part of the team, how many people care about the Oilers,” he said. “To see them lose like that, it was obviously heartbreaking. But to see how many people make up this team is pretty amazing,”
Kemp, 25, seems like a very smart, attentive and capable player. But with Josh Brown signing a three-year deal here, it’s hard to see a scenario where Kemp breaks camp with the Oilers.
What’s his mindset?
“No job’s too small,” he said. “You’ve got to be reliable. If you do your job, you’ll take care of business.
“I’ll keep pounding the song and see what happens.”