Camp Begins

As on ice sessions began Saturday morning at Rexall Place, it was evident the Edmonton Oilers coaching staff want to push the envelope from the get go...while putting together four lines that will get no complaints from yours truly. The trios I was hoping to see upfront seems as though they will be given a shot to start camp, be it at the Joey Moss Cup or in the clubs first couple of exhibition games. 

Comments from Eberle - Nugent-Hopkins - Smyth

They had the players split into three teams, which saw Team A hit the ice at 8:15am

TEAM A

Taylor Hall - Sam Gagner - Ales Hemsky

Hunter Tremblay - Anton Lander - Ryan Keller

Darcy Hordichuk - Gilbert Brule - Lennart Petrell

Curtis Hamilton - Ryan Martindale - Cameron Abney

Chase Schaber

Ryan Whitney - Jeff Petry

Andy Sutton - Corey Potter

Kirill Tulupov - Alex Plante

Tyler Schmidt

Nikolai Khabibulin

Olivier Roy

TEAM B

Ryan Smyth - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle

Antti Tyrvainen - Chris VandeVelde - Teemu Hartikainen

Phillipe Cornet - Tyler Pitlick - Kristians Pelss

Tobias Reider - Colin Smith - Toni Rajala

Cam Barker - Tom Gilbert

Taylor Chorney - Colten Teubert

Johan Motin - Jeremie Blain

Martin Gernat - Wes Vannieuwenhuizen

Devan Dubnyk

Tyler Bunz

TEAM C

Magnus Paajarvi - Shawn Horcoff - Linus Omark

Ben Eager - Eric Belanger - Ryan Jones

Josh Green - Ryan O'Marra - Brett Ferguson

Drew Czerwonka - Tanner House - Mark Arcobello

Ladislav Smid - Theo Peckham

Martin Marincin - Brandon Davidson

David Musil - Taylor Fedun

Ryan Lowery

Yann Danis

David LeNeveu

The line of Darcy Hordichuk - Gilbert Brule - Lennart Petrell is an intriguing one, as Brule and Petrell are both out to prove they deserve a spot. Petrell is here with one intention and that is to make the big club. That being the case, look for Petrell to be physical throughout camp in hopes of making a lasting impression on the coaching staff. The 27 year old forward has a legit shot at the 13th/14th forward spot on the club and it would not be a big surprise for him to earn one of those spots.

As for Gilbert Brule, everyone including Gilbert, knows he must reestablish himself as an everyday NHL player. Be it because of illness, injury, poor play or some sort of combination, he has been unable to form any consistency in his game. If Brule wants to stay in the NHL, he needs to show it this season or his career could  very well be in jeopardy.

According to all reports, Nikolai Khabibulin had a strong first day of camp. This is no surprise to me, as I fully expect the Russian netminder to have a bounce back season. I know that I am in the minority but I feel he is out to prove a point. Having him come to camp focused and ready to go, on Day One, is a great sign for this team.