Edmonton Oil Kings

I've just returned home from the franchise opener (of sorts) for the Edmonton Oil Kings hockey club, which plays in the WHL, against the Kootenay Ice (the franchise which used to play in Edmonton a few years back). Despite scoring the first goal a little more than 2 minutes into the game, the Oil Kings skaters found themselves mostly outplayed. Nevertheless they hung on and tied the game at 3 a little more than halfway into the 3rd period before a bad bounce goal gave them the victory with less than a couple seconds left in the frame.

All in all it was an enjoyable evening, especially since the ticket was free, but there's still something to be said for the player calibre of the NHL. These Oil Kings guys (not to mention the Ice players) were falling all over themselves, getting tangled up with one another and generally looking amateurish. There were still some nice plays, but it's not hard to tell the players aren't quite ready for primetime.