Here’s A Quick And Dirty Look At My Opening Night Lineup

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They’re back. Mandatory Credit: Jason O. Watson-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s roll.

HALL – NUGENT HOPKINS – EBERLE

HEMSKY – GAGNER – YAKUPOV

SMYTH – HORCOFF – PAAJARVI

EAGER – BELANGER – JONES

extra: 56-37-16

SMID – J SCHULTZ

PETRY – N SCHULTZ

WHITNEY – POTTER

DUBNYK

KHABIBULIN

The lockout has been over for six hours. We’ve much to talk about.

Teams aren’t going to be afforded the luxury of an extended training camp, as the season will start in (roughly) two weeks.
I’ve got Magnus Paajarvi making the club on the third line next to Horcoff. Throwing darts at this point, but I’m pretty sure that the Oilers want to see him on the big club and will afford him every opportunity.
That fourth line is going to be hilarious. I do think Hartikainen makes the squad eventually, but not out of camp. “Team Toughness” is something that’s going to be talked about again, and while I think being “tough” is important, it’s not an excuse to put a guy in your lineup who will play 2 minutes a night. I don’t care what your “role” is. Tough guys need to be able to play. If your role isn’t contributing to scoring goals or keeping them out of your own net, find a new role. That being said, I think the team is going to keep one of the tough guys. I choose Eager over Hordichuk, with 16 and 37 spelling in and out. I expect 56 will be up, it’s just a matter of when.

With Andy Sutton unavailable following knee surgery, who gets his spot? Oilers management strongly considering trade options on this front.

— Dan Tencer (@dantencer) January 6, 2013

Who’s ready for that “wow” move that Bob Stauffer was talking about a few months ago? You can start and end with the defence. Dan Tencer stated that Sutton will likely be out of the lineup after recovering from knee surgery. If the team is going to make one improvement, let it be on the defence. Same old song and dance. The defence is wafer thin now. If someone else goes down, it’s a truly ugly scene. Again.

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