Day two of training camp and the Oilers are not only working in their new surroundings but are also in the process of regaining their in-season fitness.
With two players returning - Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - from World Cup, and two players - Leon Draisaitl and Andrej Sekera - still preoccupied in the tournament, Oilers forward Jordan Eberle said they are already way ahead of the team, having been in game mode since the beginning of September.
"Those guys are going to be flying," said Eberle. "They're in game shape already. They're making decisions at game level already, so they definitely have an advantage. It's much like when we came back from the [2012-13] lockout and [a few of us] played in the minors, you have that [extra] step. The challenge for the rest of us is going to be to find our games early and catch up to that speed."
It will be challenging to catch-up but worth working towards. Having gotten their feet out on the ice, the players are now trying to familiarize themselves with their new digs before the start of the season.
"It's the first time I've actually been on the main ice," said Eberle. "I think there's a lot of excitement any time you get back the first day. You're trying to get rid of your summer habits and trying to get back into real game habits. It was a tough first day, we didn't do a lot of stuff but we definitely got skating."
Getting their groove back
© Andy Devlin
