For a while there it looked like Darnell Nurse’s injury had something to do with his tongue.
Like maybe the cat had it, given how tight-lipped the Oilers defenceman was when answering questions about whatever is ailing him.
Nurse is taking part in training camp practices but the Oilers plan on holding him out of pre-season games as he recovers from an undisclosed injury suffered in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final.
“I’m not going to dive into the injury,” said Nurse, fending off the first question in his media scrum Thursday morning.
How did he feel out there?
“It’s a fluid thing. It’s day-by-day but I feel good out there.”
Will he be getting into any pre-season games?
“Honestly, I’m not sure.”
Is he confident he’ll be able to go when the season starts?
“Yeah… pretty confident.”
So there you have it.
It’s not ideal, but at least the veteran blue liner, who took part in all of the drills Thursday, can be out there working with the new defencemen.
With Cody Ceci, Vincent Desharnais and Philip Broberg gone and an opening on the right side of the second pairing, Nurse’s partner for opening night, assuming he’s in the lineup, is yet to be determined. So it’s important to begin forging that chemistry right from the start.
“That’s a big part of camp, go out there, get touches, get familiar with each guy,” said Nurse, who skated with Ty Emberson Thursday. “It’s communication. You get the second sense of where your partner is going to be. That’s what pre-season and training camp is all about, building that foundation. I thought it was a good first day.”
Baby makes three
After scoring 54 goals last season, Zach Hyman and his wife notched the best hat-trick of his life Wednesday with the birth of their third child.
“A boy, Cam,” smiled the Oilers winger, adding he and his wife Alannah will be parenting under a new system this year. “We’re in a zone D now. It’s awesome, one of the best days of your life.”
So it was understandable that Hyman cut things pretty close for the opening session of camp Thursday. Players normally hit the ice 10 or 15 minutes early to get some laps and shots in, but Hyman made it with three minutes to spare.
“It was funny,” he laughed, “The guys were giving me a little grief. But I was like ‘You said 9:30 and it’s 9:27.’”
No pressure
After going to the 50-goal club last season, Hyman moved into an exclusive neighbourhood that’s hard to stay in. Showing he can hit 50 twice in a row would be nice, he said, but he’s not setting any goals when it comes to goals.
“There’s no pressure, honestly. No one expected me to score 50 goals last year. Going into a year, I’ve never been a guy who says I want to score this amount of goals and this amount of assists and points. Every year is different.
“For me it’s about what can I do to help the team win and how can I be a better version of myself, whether that’s scoring more or doing something else, that’s something you figure out along the way.”
Scars of Game 7 healing
Losing Game 7 to Florida is going to haunt the players in that game for the rest of their careers and beyond, but all they can do about it is try and give themselves another chance.
There’s no undoing the past, said Hyman, only working toward the future.
“(The loss) is always going to be with you, even guys who are no longer on this team are going to have that feeling because you were so close,” he said.
“But having learned from years past, you have to put the past behind you and move on. Each year starts at zero. Your identity last year isn’t necessarily going to be your identity this year. Training camp is all about figuring out what kind of team you are. We just want to get off to a good start and feel good about the group and yourself going into the season.”
The lessons from last season are already kicking in, with the Oilers realizing you can’t win a Stanley Cup in September, but you can get sidetracked so badly it almost derails your entire year.
“We kind of learned a lesson last year from looking way too far into the future and not taking care (of the present),” said Nurse. “We have to get through a good camp and build a foundation of the team game we want to get to when the regular season starts.
“For us it’s just taking it one step at a time and focusing on that as opposed to focusing nine months away.”
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