I'm definitely looking forward to getting out there and playing against some real competition, seeing where I'm at and seeing where our team's at." "I feel like my game's in a pretty good place, but we'll find out tonight pretty quick where it's going to be at. "You can practice so much, but you don't really feel comfortable and confident out there until you start playing games. "We want to get those games in and start to feel like hockey players again," Nugent-Hopkins said. But eventually, game action becomes a necessity for building chemistry, getting the legs going, and preparing yourself for the rigours of an 82-game regular season. While they haven't been involved in any pre-season action so far, the veterans who'll make their debuts tonight have been hard at work skating daily since the start of captain's skates near the beginning of September. "I think that's where we're at now in Camp and I thought everyone's come in and done everything that's been asked of them, but I think it's time for us to get our game to where it needs to be so that we're ready for opening night." "Guys that are going to be on the opening-day roster, you want to get your game up to speed and get our team game up to speed," McDavid said. The Oilers captain, who'll face a different opposition tonight other than his teammates for the first time at Camp, shared his coach's sentiments about pushing forward into a new phase of preparation. I've been very pleased with the pace of practice, the amount of teaching that we've been able to get done, while balancing the need for the work rate to be high, especially early." "That first day I saw our leaders come in in top condition and show how important it was to be in top shape in order to have the type of year we want to have," he said. So far, the Oilers head coach has been pleased with how Camp has progressed and how strong of an impression his veteran players have made early in the year. Woodcroft spoke on Thursday about turning the page at Training Camp into Stage Two, where preparation for the regular season really ramps up and the number of players begins to inch closer to that of a normal roster size. While we've got a lot of good practices in, I think our top players are excited about playing against a different opponent." "I'd think that they're sick of practicing and they're ready to go against the live-fire competition, jerseys of a different colour, jerseys of a different logo and those types of things. "I would say that we've got a lot of really good practices in with some players that haven't played. "We're excited about the lineup we're introducing," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said. The Oilers will bring names like Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Evander Kane, Zach Hyman, Darnell Nurse and Jack Campbell into the fold for the first time this preseason as the Oilers look poised to ice an experienced lineup and kick Training Camp into another gear with five exhibition games remaining before the start of the regular season.
The Flames iced a veteran-stacked lineup on Wednesday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome, and now it's Edmonton's turn on home ice. The preseason continues on Friday night at Rogers Place for the Edmonton Oilers with their fifth exhibition tune-up match, but the roster that the club is set to deploy on home ice against the Calgary Flames feels more like Game 5 of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. > READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE OILERS BLOG PRE-GAME REPORT News and notes from Oilers practice at Rogers Place on Thursday, where Head Coach Jay Woodcroft turned the page to the second stage of Training Camp. You can watch Friday's game on at 7:00 PM MT.
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