Oilers and Flames looking good on the eve of another NHL season - Abbeyfeale Golf Club Abbeyfeale Oilers and Flames looking good on the eve of another NHL season Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram The Oilers’ Evander Kane celebrates a goal against the Seattle Kraken during third-period NHL preseason action in Edmonton on Oct. 7, 2022.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press With the start of the NHL season imminent for all but two teams, it is time to consider which head coaches make the most dashing appearances. According to a recent poll, the two most handsome are Jay Woodcroft of Edmonton and his counterpart in Calgary, Darryl Sutter. The latter tells you, of course, that this is all in fun. Unless one is judged the best looking or the worst (Peter Laviolette of Washington). What is not in dispute is that Woodcroft and Sutter, whose contract was extended for two years on Saturday, till the rudders of two of the best teams in the league. The Oilers reached the Western Conference final last year before getting thumped by the Stanley Cup champion Avalanche. In the off-season, Edmonton strengthened its goaltending by signing the best available in Jack Campbell. The Flames won the Pacific Division in 2021-22 but then got smoked in the second round of the playoffs by the Oilers. Since then, Calgary added Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri, who would seem to be more than adequate replacements for Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk, now in Columbus and Sunrise, Fla. It would be a surprise if Edmonton and Calgary did not battle for supremacy in their division. There is no doubt that the Maple Leafs are a playoff club. Maybe even the best in the very competitive Atlantic Division. Of course, that won’t matter a whit if Toronto fails yet again to win a playoff series. It should have last season. That wasn’t a learning experience; it was yet another exercise in futility. The remainder of the Canadian teams are a jumble. The most interesting among them is Ottawa. It is easy to dismiss them because, of course, they are the Senators. But they may have had the best off-season of anyone. They already had two top young players in Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle and brought in Claude Giroux, Alex DeBrincat, Cam Talbot and Mathieu Joseph as reinforcements. This could be the year that Ottawa returns to the postseason. Winnipeg is always competitive, Vancouver is usually (an unpleasant) mystery, and Montreal went winless in eight games during the preseason. Nobody really pays much of an attention to exhibition contests – unless the league’s worst team a year ago appears to be a stinker again. Edmonton has been the biggest buzz in the league over the past few months. Not only did it exceed expectations last go-around, but it has two of the sport’s greats in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, a goalie who went 31-9-6 in Toronto last year, and re-signed Evander Kane and Brett Kulak. Campbell was the prize among netminders on the free-agent market. It is a huge upgrade for the Oilers from the aged Mike Smith and the erratic Mikko Koskinen, now in Europe. Campbell won two starts during the preseason and had a .915 save percentage. Not spectacular, but good. “I thought we did a great job together in preseason,” Campbell said after an Oilers victory Friday night over the Kraken. “I think the team is playing really well. We are all just champing at the bit. “So far I think it has been a smooth adjustment for me in coming here. We are all feeling good.” The Maple Leafs will likely go as far as Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner carry them. Matt Murray, acquired in a trade from Ottawa, has been excellent in the net so far, posting a .969 save percentage over three appearances in preseason. If he can play that way over the course of the regular season, it could become a year to remember in Toronto. Calgary locked up Sutter on Saturday for two more years. He has turned the Flames around since he replaced Geoff Ward in March of 2021. “When I came here, I promised we would get this straightened back out again,” Sutter, who is in his second tenure in Calgary, said Saturday. “It’s not just a straight-out one-year thing. It’s the long haul. “I really like our team. Quite honestly, it’s a mature group that understands the whole process a lot better, for sure, than they did two years ago. There has been a big turnover, which we didn’t expect to happen this quickly, but I still really feel the foundation is there.” “We’re fortunate to have him,” Calgary general manager Brad Treliving said. “I think he’s one of the best coaches in the game here today. He has and continues to have a Hall-of-Fame career. The structure that he puts in place, his ability to drive teams… it was a natural [fit].” Nashville and San Jose have already played two regular-season contests in Europe, each won by the Predators. But outside of their own cities, it is unlikely that few fans took notice. For everyone else, this is the beginning. . Related Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Advertisement Recent Posts 6 seconds ago Oilers and Flames looking good on the eve of another NHL season 1 min ago APSU Soccer falls at home to North Florida 1-0 – Clarksville Online 2 mins ago Gervonta Davis Will Knock Out Ryan Garcia Says Leo Santa Cruz 3 mins ago Chase Briscoe catches ‘ Hail Mary’ to reach Round of 8 4 mins ago Carolina Panthers Baker Mayfield to have MRI on injured left ankle Back to top button Abbeyfeale Golf Club