The Edmonton Oilers revenge tour starts Wednesday night at home against the Winnipeg Jets with some familiar and new faces in the organization.
Most notably the Oilers will have a new General Manager overseeing the team, Stan Bowman. Bowman spent the better part of his career building the Chicago Blackhawks dynasty.
Speaking to media earlier this week, Bowman wants to put an emphasis on the differences between this years roster and last years roster saying “You don’t want it to be last year’s team and try to recreate what you had. You have to look into it like there are things that are going to be different, even with the same players.”
Some of the new faces added to the team this year include former Calder Trophy winner Jeff Skinner who scored 40 goals in 2018/2019 will bring some added offensive firepower to the lineup. The Oilers also signed Viktor Arvidsson who spent the better part of his career in Nashville. Arvidsson brings some much needed two way ability down the middle for the forward group and newly signed Leon Draisaitl mentioned his excitement to have him on the team this year.
Audio PlayerDespite coming agonizingly close to their “Cup or bust” mantra, the Oilers stumbled out of the gate in the 2023-24 season with a 3-9-1 record, leading to Jay Woodcroft’s dismissal and Kris Knoblauch taking over as head coach. The message echoed across the locker room for this season is starting the season on the right foot. Goalie Stuart Skinner had his fair share of ups and downs throughout last year and says, managing those peaks and valleys will be crucial this year but also accepted it’s a part of life.
Audio PlayerBuilding off last year, the Oilers just need one more win. If it wasn’t clear from their feature in the latest Prime Video behind the scenes of the NHL Playoffs, there will be alot of motivation for this group to get the job done this year.
The road to glory begins Wednesday night at Rogers Place when the Oil take on the Winnipeg Jets at 8pm.
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