Despite a poor performance in the Pre-Season, can the Canucks stamp their name on their first win of the new season or can the heavyweights of the NHL, Oilers drown them before they even start?
Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks had a difficult Pre-Season winning 2 of their 7 Pre-Season games. One of their victories was against one of Canada’s stronger teams, Edmonton Oilers thankfully.
Funnily enough, they’ll be facing the Oilers again in their opening game, but how will a string of recently injured players have for their chances in the opener?
Travis Dermott has a head injury, Tyler Myers, Phil De Guiseppe and Ilya Mikheyev have lower body injuries and Karel Plasek has something but we’re not sure what for.
On the bright side, Brock Boeser could be back on the ice after a hand injury. He’s still listed on the day-to0day injury reserve but he was working well alongside Tanner Pearson and JT Miller on their power-play practice on Tuesday.
Can Canucks make it to the final 8 this season?
Edmonton Oilers
Canada’s strongest team going into the new season. Despite losing to Colorado Avalanche last season, do they have the grit to take the Stanley Cup this year?
The pre-season and the camp have been a huge help to the team, giving big names like Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse, the playtime they needed to get back in the flow.
‘We’re pleased with the amount of work that was put in. We thought we got a lot of things done and we’ve worked hard to prepare for the test, but the race begins in earnest (Wednesday) when we begin our NHL regular season,’ Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said in a presser.
Wednesday’s game against Canucks will be the first of 4 games against the Canucks and the first of 2 games they’ll play at home. The Canucks game also features the debut of the new goaltender Jack Campbell. He’s signed a 5-year contract with the team.
Tyler Benson (F), Vincent Desharnais (D), Oscar Klefbom (D), Raphael Lavoie (F), Carter Savoie (F), Mike Smith (G) are on the injury reserve.
