EDMONTON, AB – Don’t get too far ahead of yourselves.
It’s still only early September.
The official start of Training Camp is still over one week away for the Edmonton Oilers. After that, there will be another hard regular season filled with plenty of unknowns for them to navigate their way through in order to earn themselves another chance at competing for another championship in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
If you’re the Blue & Orange, your sights aren’t straying from the goal of getting back to the Stanley Cup Final, where they fell one game short of lifting the Cup in Game 7 against the Florida Panthers. But the process of getting back for the Oilers this season begins with having a better start to the regular season, hoping that a less-intensive approach in September will pay dividends during the year and keep some extra energy in the reservoir for when they need it in April, May and June.
“I think lots of guys are here already,” Leon Draisaitl said following Monday’s informal skate at the Downtown Community Arena. “Obviously, there's some excitement to get going here, but you do have to pace yourself a little bit. We saw it last year and it didn't work in our favour. I think we’ve got a great approach and a great mindset in here. We'll make sure we're ready to go.”
"I'd be lying if I said that I wouldn't like another three weeks of working out just to catch up on some things. But at the end of the day, we're all professionals. We all take care of our bodies, we take care of ourselves and I’m excited to get going.
"The itch is coming back a little bit, so I’m just excited to be back and get going with the guys.”