What is hope? Hope has the possibility for many meanings. For some, it could mean just hoping you can make it through a long day at work. Or for some people, hope can come in the form of wishing you’d win the lottery.
For me, hope represents the potential for the Oilers to win the Stanley Cup and succeed as a franchise, amongst other things.
5 years ago, the Oilers had were preparing for what fans hoped would be a season of change. The team had just come off one of the team’s worst statistical season and an offseason that saw winds of change. Taylor Hall was drafted 1st overall, Tom Renney was hired in June and the team looked to change the corner.
HOPE. Hall, Omark, Paajarvi and Eberle. They were the four that were once thought as the group that would lead Edmonton out of the bottom of the NHL and towards the promise land. As you all know, that season ended up just like the year before and the team landed the first overall pick, drafting Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
I myself have been one who has came into every season with hope. Hope for change, and hope for a better season. However, that hope soon died. The last five years have been tough.
So here we sit five years later, and the team has finally taken the steps fans have longed for. Peter Chiarelli and Todd McLellan bring in a level of credibility that Edmonton has longed for.
As we go into this new season with a new look organization, HOPE has been restored.
HOPE NEVER DIES.
GAME ONE VS ST. LOUIS
TALE OF THE TAPE:
Game: Edmonton Oilers (0-0-0) @ St. Louis Blues (0-0-0)
Location: Scotttrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Time: 6:00 PM MT
Where to find it: TV – SN360, Radio – 630 CHED
Edmonton Oilers Preview:
connor mcdavid connor mcdavid connor mcdavid connor mcdavid connor mcdavid connor mcdavid.
I would look for the Oilers to come out strong in the first game of the season. Hopefully rookies Connor McDavid and Anton Slepyshev can shake off the “first nhl game jitters” and have a big night. I predict a multi-point night for McDavid.
The otherside:
The St. Louis Blues are in coming into a season where they could either end up Stanley Cup Champions, or out of the playoffs completely. Game Previews are difficult when teams haven’t even played a regular season game yet, but I would look for the Blues to have a weaker season then they did last year. They’ll still be a playoff team though.
Line Combos c/o Daily Faceoff:
Oilers:
Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Teddy Purcell
Taylor Hall – Connor McDavid – Anton Slepyshev
Lauri Korpikoski – Anton Lander – Nail Yakupov
Matt Hendricks – Mark Letestu – Luke Gazdic
Oscar Klefbom – Justin Schultz
Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne
Griffin Reinhart – Eric Gryba
Cam Talbot
Blues:
Alex Steen – Paul Stastny – Vladimir Tarasenko
Robby Fabbri – Jori Lehtera – Jaden Schwartz
Dmitrij Jaskin – David Backes – Troy Brouwer
Steve Ott – Kyle Brodziak – Ryan Reaves
Jay Bouwmeester – Alex Pietrangelo
Carl Gunnarsson – Kevin Shattenkirk
Joel Edmundson – Colton Parayko
Brian Elliott
