Well, actually, I should backtrack to September. It's not often you fly eight hours and 40 minutes for an exhibition game. Cologne was beautiful. The atmosphere was wonderful. Gothenburg was appealing in a different way. Now it was getting real. The first game didn't sit well with Edmonton. A loss to NJ. Another cross-Atlantic flight later and another loss to Boston. No excuse but maybe better put as an observation. The body clock just didn't seem quite right. I didn't block a shot, chase down a puck or take a hit but the back-and-forth to Europe was felt.
I have been around the Edmonton Oilers for 20 years as a host. I never felt as much perceived tension and tightness after two games. This isn't the NFL. It's the NHL. That's only 1/41 of the schedule. Milan Lucic put it best saying it felt like a seven-game series and the Oilers were down two games to none. I mean, it was only the first week of October but it felt more like the last week of March. Everyone understood coming off last season this season and the start to 2018-19 had to be different. It has been.
The Oil has started to flow. Rattling off a scorching stretch of 6-1-1. Forget 500. Heading into their final game of October they were flirting with first place in the Pacific Division. Todd McLellan, since about the first day he arrived on scene, has spoken of breaking up the season into five-game segments. Count the first five at 3-2. Second five is 3-1-1. Those numbers as a stand-alone are impressive enough but then throw in who they played. As noted by Bob Stauffer, an analyst for the Oilers Radio Network and host of Oilers Now, starting in Winnipeg and finishing in Nashville Edmonton faced six straight teams that had 100 or more points last season. The others were Boston, Pittsburgh, Washington and another meeting with Nashville.
It has left the Oilers with the start they so desperately wanted and needed. They have bolted out of the gate. All the early season tension has been lifted or at least slightly eased from the organization. They're happy with what they have done but they have a coach and leaders who won't let complacency infiltrate their mindset. Edmonton, like every other team, is in the baby steps of the entirety of a season. It's hard not to want to pat yourself on the back but it might be better to give yourself a kick in the butt. Better to do it now than when you actually need it. Things have been going well and the Edmonton Oilers want to desperately to keep it that way because when it comes to this season, so far, so good.
