Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Oilers Rookie Camp Day 2-Kytnar update

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Day 2 of rookie camp is in the books for Oilers hopefuls. Line combinations were the same as what Guy reported yesterday so I won't go through them, but will share some thoughts I had on day 2 and some of the hilites I saw.

Before that, I had the chance to speak with 2 players and Assistant G.M. Kevin Prendergast. You can here the conversations with Kevin as well as Olivier Roy and Alex Plante here. During the Prendergast interview he reveals that Kytnar will be returning to Saskatoon along with Burke Galllimore and Derek Hulak who are also at rookie camp. Guy and I had thought he would have a chance to play in Springfield, but Prendergast makes a good argument for why going back to the Blades is the Slovakians best option.

As for today's scrimmage Philippe Cornet opened the scoring taking a pass from the point and dragging the puck across the crease and tucking it past Andrew Perugini.

Perugini was tested shortly after that when Jordan Eberle shifted to his backhand in the slot, but the goalie was equal to the task.

At the other end Saskatoon Blade and Edmonton product Burke Gallimore set up Oil King and fellow Edmonton kid Michael Burns but he fired high over the net occupied by Kurtis Mucha.

Mucha wasn't so lucky when Jamie Bates dropped the puck for Jesse Dudas who beat Mucha through a crowd to tie things at 1.

One of the blueliners who impressed me today was Sweden's Johan Motin. He made a nice spin move and moved the puck up ice with poise. He's just 6.01 and 201 pounds but looks pretty comfortable on the ice. He's played with men for a couple of years, was a defence partner of Victor Hedman's and is hoping to make a smooth transition from the SEL to the AHL.

There are 2 to many goalies at this camp, but Bryan Pitton was able to make a nice stop in his limited time between the pipes. Dudas was set up in the slot but Pitton shot out his blocker to keep it out.

That's pretty much it from day 2. I think everyone is looking forward to the games against the Canucks and Golden Bears where the action can really pick up.

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