Last night the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Seattle Kraken by a score of 5-3. This was the Edmonton Oilers 8th and final preseason game. To put this into perspective, if these were regular season games the Oilers would be just under a 1/10 done the season.
As much as it is nice to watch Edmonton Oilers hockey I just think that 8 games is way to many preseason games. I understand it is good for the players trying to make the team, but for the likes of McDavid and other stars it is just a waste of time.
I assume the coaches like the extra time to work on plays and game plans. Playing against an opposing team versus learning them in a practice scenario where the other guys know what’s going to happen makes it sink in more.
The thing about playing that many preseason games is there is always a chance for a player to get injured in any game they play. Preseason games have no effect on whether a team will win the Stanley Cup or not, so why risk an injury if you don’t have to. This why you only see the star players a small portion of time.
Time to Look Forward To The Edmonton Oilers Season
Now that there is no longer any preseason games to be played we can start looking forward to meaningful games. This starts Wednesday at home against the Vancouver Canucks.
This should be a win for the Edmonton Oilers in my opinion. The Canucks do have a lot of skill up front and in the net, but their defence just isn’t that good yet. That is an area the Edmonton Oilers will take advantage of.
This is going to be the first meaningful game since the Edmonton Oilers were swept out of the playoffs by the eventually Cup winner’s the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Finals. This is another reason I think the Oilers will win on Wednesday.
The Edmonton Oilers are coming into this season with not only the expectations of marketing the playoffs, but of winning the Stanley Cup. A team needs to get better each offseason and I believe they did.
I think the Edmonton Oilers will end up with the best record in the Western Conference this year. They had a good record last year and that included a terrible December. This year they won’t go on such a slide.
The team is one older and wiser than it was last season, and after seeing how close they got to the Cup makes me believe they have the drive to do it again. I expect this team to not have a losing streak that exceeds 4 games this year.
The reason I think that is because I don’t think there is 4 teams in the league that are better than the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers are a top 5 team in the league this year. This is why they have the pressure and expectations of winning the Cup.
Later this week Oil On Whyte will post our staff predictions for this coming Edmonton Oilers season and you will that most of us think the Edmonton Oilers will have good success this season.