Thursday, September 10, 2009

Oilers double up Canucks in rookie game

It was a pretty chippy game that featured hits, fights, goals and saves in Leduc tonight, and saw the Oilers freshmen skate away with a 6-3 win. Here are my thoughts on who stood out good or bad.

Jordan Eberle seemed to be in a scoring spot all night long, made a nice play to help set up the Oilers first goal combining with Milan Kytnar and Philippe Cornet for the marker. Eberle also scored a doosy weighting just long enough to put it into an empty net. Now before we put him on the team, it's just rookie camp, but he did look very good.

I've been impressed with Johan Motin all rookie camp and he was good again tonight. Positionally he was solid and moved the puck well.

Kurtis Mucha made several very good stops as well, especially in the 3rd period.

Oil King forward Michael Burns looked ok, but didn't do anything to stand out, however being at this camp should help him elevate his game this year. I mentioned Kytnar above and the chemistry continued with himself and Jordan Eberle. As pointed out earlier in the week, Kytnar is heading back to Saskatoon. Following him will be Derek Hulak and Burke Gallimore, neither did much tonight.

Here now are 10 players I expect to get an invite to main camp starting Sunday:

G-Bryan Pitton
G-Andrew Perugini
G-Olivier Roy
G-Kurtis Mucha
D-Johan Motin
D-Alex Plante
F-Jordan Eberle
F-Philippe Cornet
F-Jamie Bates
F-Stepan Novotny


Who's on your list that isn't on mine?

7 comments:

B.C.B. said...

I really don't see the Oilers having 7+ goalies in camp. Dubnyck, JDJ, and Bulin Wall are coming, plus the four you have mentioned. What about Sorochan? Is he coming. I would think Pitton might not be coming and just sent to the AHL/ECHL camps.

I Kytnar needs to come to camp, so he can experience the NHL players (their size, skills, and mental states). It will be a benefit for his development next year.

Dean Millard said...

I was debating between Kytnar and Bates and went with Bates simply because he's a vet, but could easily see Kytnar getting a day or 2 of main camp. I think you will see 8 goalies as well, also atleast for a day or 2.

Guy Flaming said...

We've been told that 8 goalies will start main camp, that might only last as little as 2 days, but that's the number we've been given.

Anonymous said...

Great post! It was an exciting game to watch last night... First taste of hockey in a while, lol.

Though I wouldn't necessarily suggest that he will get an invite, I was impressed last night by the play of Milan Kytnar. I personally don't follow prospects as closely as I should, but he looked good every shift for the most part.

Anonymous said...

I really wonder why Kytnar is going back to junior when he is good enough to play AHL...I understand that the roster is full for the most part in Springfield but Milan has nothing left to prove really in the WHL other than maybe scoring 40 goals and dominating as a 1st line center.

Last season he had 27-37-64 in 65 games....I wonder what the Oilers would expect him to do this year because he already has a sound defensive game and wins the majority of his faceoffs. Maybe they view Saskatoon as a strong team and feel they can keep an eye on him just the same in Saskatoon

A question I have is when are the Oilers going to make their first set of cuts?

Dean Millard said...

The Oilers want Kytnar to play every night and a lot of minutes every night. They don't feel that will happen in Springfield, and under the coaching of Lorne Molleken in Saskatoon he can become an even better all around player.

I expect the first set of cuts to come Tuesday or Wednesday as the team needs as much time as possible to go through new systems etc with the new coaching staff.

MattL said...

G-Perugini
G-Roy
G-Mucha
G-Jung
D-Motin
D-Plante
D-Prout/Dudas
F-Eberle
F-Cornet
F-Lee
F-Novotny

It's 11 or 12, mainly because it's hard to pick between the goalies, who only got 30 mins. gametime max. Hope to see Jung get some game action in main camp, as well as Sorochan, but how are they going to squeeze in all those keepers? I feel Pitton is on his way out.

Prout and Dudas were both a force on the back end. I was impressed by Lee and Novotny, I think once they bulk up they will be legitimate AHL threats at least.

I didn't think Kytnar showed much in either game, but was at least responsible, and didn't make any big mistakes.

Also wasn't terribly impressed by Cornet. He's got some talent, but I'm not sure he'll fair very well against bigger pros. Also seemed a little selfish on the ice in both games, holding on the puck too long.