The Edmonton Oilers Mean Business This Season
Last season the Edmonton Oilers lost to the eventual cup winner, Vegas Golden Knights. Just as they did the previous season, they got swept by the Colorado Avalanche. The difference between these two series is they had a chance to beat the Golden Knights.
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Edmonton Oilers Mean Business This Season
The Edmonton Oilers are already starting to have captain skates. Edmonton Oilers official training camp doesn’t start till September 20, with preseason games not starting till the 23rd. With the team getting together so early this is a good sign that this team is serious.
This season the Edmonton Oilers have to look at anything but a Stanley Cup as a failure. Looking at how this team is built and how they have finished the last couple of seasons this is a reasonable expectation.
I think the players have the same attitude. They have proven this by getting to the city and skating as a team extremely early. While they may not be working on plays or figuring out lines, they are working on team chemistry and bonding.
This will come in to be a big difference-maker as the season goes on. What you want in a team is a team that plays for each other rather than playing for themselves. This has a big difference on the defensive end. When a player cares about his team more than himself they work hard to keep the puck out of their net.
This is an area where the Edmonton Oilers need to improve. Over the last few seasons, the Oilers have had no issues scoring goals. With McDavid and Draisaitl on your team getting goals is never the issue. The issue has been gift goals.
Gift goals are where a big breakdown or giveaway takes place. It almost seems like the Edmonton Oilers gave up a goal like this almost once a game. This becomes an issue when playing against stronger teams.
Against Vegas, they did this several times, but due to them being a strong team, they were able to capitalize on their chances. They also have a very good defensive team so the Oilers were unable to outscore this issue.
If the Edmonton Oilers can work this out of their game they will be my team to win the Cup. To me, they will still need to add a couple of depth additions at the deadline. Their current lineup is good, but it could always be better.
It is a long 82-game season and with this team expected to go far, I hope they don’t sleep through the regular season. In order to win the Cup you need to make the playoffs, this is my biggest fear this coming season.