Jobs and roster spots, specifically those of the NHL variety, won't be won or lost at the Edmonton Oilers rookie camp over the next three days at Millennium Place.
Not with the opening of the main training camp and beginning of the 2004-05 season about to come to a grinding halt with the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement Wednesday.
Besides, these camps being what they are - a collection of prospects, suspects and draft picks - you can name all of the kids who've made the jump straight from rookie camp to the Oilers lineup over the last decade on one hand.
That said, impressions, good and bad, will be made by the likes of Robbie Schremp, Marc-Antoine Pouliot, Zach Stortini and Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers when 30 prospects hit the ice today. They are impressions that can last a long time.
Show us something, kid.
"They have to," said chief scout and vice-president of hockey operations Kevin Prendergast, who'll be keeping tabs on proceedings between today and Sunday. "We don't anticipate these kids being in the NHL this season, if there is one, but there are jobs down the road. There's an opportunity here, but that opportunity has to be seized. It's a learning process. This is an NHL camp. You have to learn."
While it's not business as usual, given there aren't invitations to main camp in the offing because of the impending work stoppage, Prendergast, assistant GM Scott Howson and the rest of the Oilers brass will be taking notes over the next 72 hours.
They expect to see kids making their second trip to camp, like Pouliot and Drouin-Deslauriers, improve on what they showed last time. They want to see first-round picks like Schremp and Dubnyk prove what all the fuss was about last June.
"For guys who were at camp last year, we want to see an improvement," Prendergast said. "These kids get an opportunity to learn and figure it out the first time. Now, we want to see them make some strides and we'll see where it goes."
Pouliot, a first-round pick in 2003, is coming off abdominal surgery. He'll get some slack, but the hope is he'll build on his visit last September before returning to Rimouski of the QMJHL.
Drouin-Deslauriers is tabbed as the starter with the Edmonton Road Runners in his first year of pro. All eyes will be on Schremp before he returns to London of the OHL. Then, there's Ed Caron, who has given up his college eligibility to turn pro.
"Obviously, Drouin-Deslauriers is a key figure," Prendergast said. "We know there's going to be pressure on him, but we think he's going to be able to respond.
"A kid like Caron is coming out early after a couple of disappointing years of college. This is a big thing for him. He's got the ability to be a pro, but it's a big step."
THIS AND THAT
- While it would be worth the price of admission, at least to those who prefer their hockey knuckles-first, tough guy Rocky Thompson won't be in Edmonton's lineup for Monday's game against Calgary's rookies at Clare Drake Arena.
Thompson, 27, will participate in drills and scrimmages, but won't play against his former team. Imagine how many hard-nosed kids trying to make an impression would come calling on Thompson. It would be a Gong Show.
- Marty Reasoner has arrived in town and he'll give his surgically repaired right knee a test. Reasoner missed the Oilers final 37 games last season after surgery to repair badly crushed cartilage.
- Kelly Buchberger, named an assistant on Geoff Ward's coaching staff with the Road Runners Wednesday along with Joe Paterson, will join Craig MacTavish, Bill Moores, Charlie Huddy and Craig Simpson for on-ice sessions at the camp.
AROUND THE RINK
Camp sessions today, tomorrow and Sunday begin at 9 a.m. and are open to the public.
