By Brian Swane /
Spend a few minutes picking the brain of Edmonton Oil Kings general manager Bob Green, and one gets the feeling his team might have a bit more maturity than your average expansion club.
Sure, the Oil Kings will have some rookies in uniform when they begin their inaugural Western Hockey League season later this month, but it’s their veteran acquisitions who are likely to set the tone.
‘I think the older guys have certainly all showed the willingness to be leaders,” Green said on the eve of his team opening their exhibition schedule. “And for us, early in our franchise, those guys are going to be very important.”
Green used the WHL expansion draft and swung a couple trades to obtain several players that, while not household names, have spent a season or two in the WHL.
“We’ve taken a good solid group of kids as our older players and we think they will all be leaders one way or another,” he added.
Head coach Steve Pleau’s frontline includes New York Islanders prospect Robin Figren, who had 10 goals — most on this roster — as a junior rookie with the Calgary Hitmen in 2006/07.
Other WHL veteran forwards include J.P. Szaszkewicz (16 points in his third season with Spokane last year) and 18-year-old Brenden Dowd (15 points for Kamloops).
The most experienced of the lot is 6-2 left-wing Karey Pieper, who has played 164 games over four WHL seasons split between Moose Jaw and Red Deer.
“Karey, as a 20-year-old, we expect him to be a leader,” said Green. “He’s shown some abilities there. He’s going to be a big strong guy for us up-front and be a physical presence and chip in offensively.”
Anchoring the defensive corps will likely be a trio of 1987-born players that have suited up for at least 186 league games: Michael Hengen, Matt Swaby, and Bretton Stamler.
The latter, coming off a 32-point season with the Seattle Thunderbirds, has already established himself as a leader in his new surroundings, Green said.
Pencil in Alex Archibald as Edmonton’s No.-1 goalie. The 20-year-old is on an expansion team for the second straight year, after going 8-15-4 for the Chilliwack Bruins in 06/07.
“He knows what to expect, there’s no unknowns for him and he came to camp in good shape, he feels good about his game right now,” Green said of Archibald, who will have a WHL-experienced backup in either former Kamloops Blazer Dalyn Flette or Chris Ward (Portland Winter Hawks).
“He’s just got a great attitude towards it and I think he’s going to be pretty good.”
As for the younger guys? The one that seems a lock to make an impact is 16-year-old centreman Tomas Vincour. A 6-2, 200-pound native of the Czech Republic, Vincour was selected first overall at the recent Canadian Hockey League draft, prompting much fanfare in the provincial capital.
“We had heard he was pretty good, he was a big guy, but I think he exceeded our expectations,” said Green. “I think he’s going to be a terrific player and has a chance to have a pretty good career in hockey.”
It’s difficult to predict how Green’s newly assembled squad will fare. Recent WHL expansion teams have won division championships (Everett three years ago) and finished last overall (Vancouver in 2002). Last season, Chilliwack made the playoffs, but was ousted in five games.
If nothing else, the team’s old hands appear ready to begin the 72-game grind.
“Overall, with the vets, the guys we took in expansion, they all came to camp in excellent shape and it’s just a great way to start,” Green said. “Because we wanted everyone to start off on the right foot, and certainly we were able to do that.” |
