Things I'm watching for:
Last season the Oilers were 9th in goals for. Scoring was not a problem - especially considering that Comrie sat out for the first part of the season forcing Smyth to play out of position. The important stats here are that they were 6th in 5 on 5 scoring, 5th in 4 on 4 scoring, 13th in 3 on 3 scoring and 29th on the powerplay. At the end of last year Bergeron showed some potential at being able to quarterback, and there is no doubt that Pronger will help. The only remaining questionmark is who will step up and actually put the puck in the net. I'm looking for D-vo, Hemsky, Horcoff and Peca to step-up.
Last season the Oilers were 27th in the league in penalty kill percentage; but, much of this rests with the fact that we had a goalie with the yips for most of the season. I'm pretty confident in the Jussi/Conklin tandem, and there is no doubt that Pronger and Peca will help destroy this stat
First, will there actually be any changes. Second, will BG be able to take advantage of the changes. Third, how quickly will Smith, Staois, and Pronger be able to adjust to not cross-checking in front of the net.
Definitely the biggest question mark. Will Horcoff/Peca be effective on the first two lines. The buzz is that Horcoff is playing with new confidence after his season in Europe, and he did look very solid in the Joey Moss Cup. Also, will Reasoner be able to come back after his knee injury. He was, for much of last season, the team's best forward. In speed tests yesterday, he was blazing, which is a good sign.
Will Rita finally get it. He has been kicking around the organization for too long to think that this isn't his final chance to get something done.
# posted by sacamano @ 10:58 am
: September 16, 2005 12:09 pm 
