GENE'S BLOG: The D's from ND

It was quite a week for the pair of Dillon Simpson and Drake Caggiula. In fact it's been quite a season for these two kids from eastern and western Canada. Separated by a year-and-a-half in age and by thousands of kilometres in hometowns; one from Edmonton and the other from Pickering, Ontario.
Yet, despite the difference in age and birth place they have something in common: both are Oilers, both have made their NHL debuts and both made it here from the University of North Dakota hockey program.

Dillon Simpson was the first to get to UND and he remembers when Drake showed up on campus.
"He was young and an upcoming freshman," said Simpson. "He was a powerhouse player. A great player who had some maturing to do."
A statement that Caggiula didn't disagree with but instead concurred with from his college elder.
"I was fresh out of high school and I had to learn how to be a professional," explained Caggiula. "You are living on your own and you make kid mistakes. Dillon helped me out with the whole growing up process."
That's the way it works at a successful program. Like a hockey team in the NHL, those with experience pass on what they know to those that are younger.
Now here they are back together again. After two years together at UND, they are now both members of the Edmonton Oilers. Caggiula on a road trip that started with a promotion to the Connor McDavid line. He responded with a pair of assists and did it with over 60 family and friends who made the road trip to Buffalo. For Drake, it ended with a UND fan braving the well below zero temperatures to get Caggiula to sign his jersey upon the early morning arrival in Minnesota.

For Dillon, all he did was make his NHL debut. Three weeks after his former college teammate came out alone for a pre-game skate in Dallas on November 19th, Simpson did the exact same thing on Thursday in Philadelphia. Ironically it was in Buffalo where the Oilers started the trip. It's in the Western New York city that Simpson first remembers being on the ice as his dad Craig was wrapping up his career. Think of all those days and nights he spent around his father and the dressing room and now he was in it. Following in his father's footsteps to the National Hockey League.
They were never roommates during the two years they spent together in college. They had some great games in Grand Forks and lots of fun. Dillon and Drake went their separate ways but forged a long-lasting friendship. One that came into play this past summer when Caggiula was being wooed by NHL teams. He came out to visit Edmonton and guess who was one of the first to greet him in the Alberta capital.
"Dillon was basically around for my entire visit," is how Caggiula explained it. "It was great to see a familiar face. We always had that friendship and he's someone I could trust for any inside information."
Whatever Dillon told him it worked.
"I had seen him in the summer when I went back to UND to skate and train," said Simpson." This summer we golfed in Edmonton and it was exciting for me to help recruit him."
Two youngsters with a past, a present and a future as friends and teammates on the Edmonton Oilers.