GENE'S BLOG: No European Vacation

It feels like a vacation or at least it looks like a vacation when you take a peek at the itinerary for the Edmonton Oilers. A trip to Germany and more specifically Cologne and then another stop in Sweden in a place called Gothenburg. It's not exactly Saskatoon for a neutral site game. Now let me add that I really like Saskatoon. Great town, great people but it's a five-hour drive from Edmonton. Cologne is a nine-hour flight from the Alberta capital. Maybe that's why it feels like more of a 'vacation' than a trip to play hockey.

Make no mistake, it is a road trip but it just doesn't appear to look like one. What thoughts are going through Leon Draisaitl's head? This is, as he described, a 'once in a lifetime opportunity'.
Yes, I would agree with that assessment. Think about it. A young German boy brought up in a country that would be more in tune with a World Cup than a Stanley Cup develops and then sends a teenager to Prince Albert (another Saskatchewan town with great people). He gets drafted third overall, becomes a star in the league and now heads to his hometown for an exhibition game against a team coached by his father Peter. All this happening in Cologne. Smells to me like the makings of a TV movie. Not to mention there's another German Tobias Rieder on the team from Landshut. An incredible journey to their homeland.

As if that's not enough from Germany, it's off to Sweden. Gothenburg to be exact. It's another trip home for Oscar Klefbom (Karlstad) and Adam Larsson (Skelleftea). Swedish players in the NHL was a barrier broken in the 1970's so there isn't the same newness as there is with NHL'ers from Germany. Still no less thrilling for these Oilers to make their way back to where they were born. Through their entire careers they have played their NHL games in North America. Now finally a chance to take the North American game and move it overseas. The smiles on their faces since they came back from Sweden to Edmonton have been easy to notice. While carrying a hint of jealousy watching other Swedes go home to play now it's their chance.
It's also a chance for players from Canada, the U.S. and other countries to see some places they've never been to before. It's an incredible life experience along with a couple of games thrown in. It's a long way to go to play a pre-season match and kick off the regular season but Edmonton makes sense. Having Leon and now Tobias is a natural fit for the Oilers to visit Deutschland. Having Connor McDavid makes it a natural fit to go anywhere. The idea of the league's back-to-back Art Ross trophy winner taking his speed and skill and putting it on display in two countries outside North America makes an incredible amount of sense.

I understand Oilers fans might be concerned that hockey could get lost within the travel and sight seeing that are bound to be a part of this trip. One is an exhibition game. I'm not saying it doesn't matter but it won't be seen in the standings. The other is for real.
If I've heard it once, I've heard it six hundred and thirty three times in training camp the Oilers will be READY to start the season and it begins October 6th against New Jersey. It just so happens it's not in a North American rink but for the Edmonton Oilers this is still no European Vacation.