GENE'S BLOG: Shape Their Season

EDMONTON, AB - Sixty-two. It's the number of players who will be at the Edmonton Oilers Main Training Camp which begins today. Rogers Place is where they will be poked, prodded, tested and challenged into showing off what kind of shape they are in. From the rawest of rookies to the most veteran of players it's a day no one likes. It's a necessary evil so they can go from the medical and fitness rooms to the dressing room and then to the ice.
It's only a day but it's the first day of the rest of the season.

OILERS MAIN CAMP

DAY 1 CONTENT
OILERS TODAY | Fresh Start
BLOG: RNH becoming a wingman
BLOG: McLellan structuring lines, team identity
BLOG: Rattie worked to become McDavid's right-side man
BLOG: McDavid welcoming more minutes
Full Camp Roster
CAMP RAW | Head Coach Todd McLellan
CAMP RAW | Lucic
CAMP RAW | Nugent-Hopkins
CAMP RAW | McDavid
CAMP RAW | Rattie
It's hard to believe we're here. It feels so fast for some (but not many) and so slow for others. I can still remember their final game of the season. It was more of a tribute and NHL-sized stick tap to Daniel and Henrik Sedin as the twins skated off into the sunset at Rogers Place. Unfortunately, the Oilers did the same. For them, it was simply for the season. While 16 teams ramped up for the postseason the Oilers were scaling down for spring. Much too early for a franchise who had just found their way back into the hunt for hockey supremacy.
Looking back is necessary but moving forward is what the opening day of training camp is all about. There isn't a single person in the game who doesn't look at the day as a fresh start. A chance to see old friends and, with time, make new ones. It's also the beginning of a new path to the playoffs. It's where Edmonton is headed. Hard to qualify for something that happens in April when the calendar still says September but it's where the first steps, jumps, bench presses and bike rides provide the backdrop for starting something exciting and new.
The goal is simply the same and always is when the leaves begin changing colours. Put your team together and make sure they play together. Peter Chiarelli's job description handles the first part of the previous sentence while Todd McLellan's handles the latter half. They are two experienced hockey men who have agonized over the 2017-18 campaign. They have dissected it many times over and figured out what went wrong and where it went wrong. Once they did their due diligence of analyzing the past it was off to the future.
A bright future it is for Edmonton. It can't be anything but with the game's most exciting player. Connor McDavid is something special. It is a treat to watch him develop into what will likely turn into a Hall of Fame career. As much as he will be judged by numbers he wants to be judged by championships. It's what the best players in every sport want stapled to their resume. It's clear he is the leader but with him must come followers. He can do a lot but can't do it all.

There are new coaches, new players and you can guarantee a new feel to what will become the 2018-19 version of the Edmonton Oilers. It will take some time but this is a team that will find what was missing. Whether it's a save, a score, a pass or a blocked shot plays will be made and games will be won. It's early but never too early to predict the captain will help right the ship. The great shape the Oilers will show off on opening day will be the start of showing or maybe proving this team will also be in great shape when the season comes to a close.