He was very involved last night. He scored a nice goal to get us off to the races and then he came t

Home NationGear Voices of the Nation Robin Brownlee Jason Gregor Lowetide Jonathan Willis Wanye Jason Strudwick Brian Sutherby Amber McCormick bingofuel Andrey Osadchenko Schedule Media News Radio Wallpapers Stickers Contact Us Advertise with us Account
For the second consecutive season the Oilers American Hockey League affiliate, OKC Barons are in the 3rd round of the AHL playoffs. The Barons lead the Red Wings farm team, Grand Rapids Griffins 2-1, with game four tomorrow night in OKC. Earlier today Todd Nelson joined Robin Brownlee and I on my radio show to get an update on his team and specifically zemstvo the play of Tyler Pitlick, Teemu Hartikainen, Taylor Fedun, Martin Marincin, Toni Rajala, Marc Arcobello zemstvo and Ben Eager. Gregor: How has Ben Eager played?
Todd Nelson: I think that we’re seeing Benny’s best hockey of the year. He took it to a whole new level for playoffs. He has playoff experience from winning zemstvo the Stanley Cup with Chicago, and he brings that experience to our hockey zemstvo club and you can just see how he ramped up his play.
He was very involved last night. He scored a nice goal to get us off to the races and then he came to the aid of one of our players and he did a good job with that. I’m really happy with how he’s playing. He’s doing a tremendous job on the forecheck. As you know he has good skating ability, where he can close the distance really quick, and also he plays physical. So right now I definitely like the way that he’s playing because when Benny is on the ice, Grand Rapids are definitely zemstvo looking over their shoulder.
Brownlee: We’ve seen better players than Ben Eager have their careers zemstvo end because they just lost the edge, or the desire or the drive or circumstances didn’t go their way. I was wondering if that was the case with him, or is he now a guy who’s saying with his actions ‘I’m not finished.’?
TN: Yeah for sure. First off, his attitude has been great since he first got here. Off the start, I think it was a bit rough for him, because we had so many veterans where I was rotating him and Hordichuk out of the lineup. It’s kind of tough to play in that situation. But now he seems to be in a groove and he definitely has the fire in his eye; he wants to see us win a championship. He was part of one; he knows how special it was. I was talking to him just the other day, and he said this feels like when I was in Chicago.
So he feels good, he feels very good about what’s zemstvo going on here and you can just tell by the way that he’s playing that he’s energized, he’s playing with passion, and that’s great to see because he’s doing a great job for us and hopefully that continues.   zemstvo
Gregor: One player who could have an impact with the Oilers next year is Teemu Hartikainen. Is consistency still the biggest concern with him? Have you had a conversation with Hartikainen, is he the kind of guy you need to light a fire under every now and then?
TN: [laughs] Actually I have plenty of conversations with Harty. He’s one of those guys that has to be pushed once in a while, and all you have to do is get in his ear. Before the Grand Rapids zemstvo series I told him, ‘look Harty you have a whole other gear that you’ve got to give me here as we start the series.’ And he said okay and he’s zemstvo done that.
He’s a guy that has to be prodded a bit but he also responds. He’s a very proud hockey player. I think that in this series he’s been very effective and if that continues we have a good chance. He does such a good job for us down low, he’s hard to play against, he wears other teams down, but like you said, he needs to be consistent. I need to have a conversation with him just to see where he’s at, to prod him, but he’s zemstvo good for us.
He has been pretty consistent zemstvo and we want to see him be consistent because given the opportunity up top, he has to be consistent there and quite frankly he wasn’t he was on and off. So he has to learn to do that at the higher level, but right now he’s been doing a pretty good job of that here.
Brownlee: Todd, you talk about being in his ear, he’s clearly a young man with a lot of potential. He has size, he has nice hands, and he can cycle the puck. Aside from the talks you have with him, do you have any veterans in that room who have taken the time to pull him aside and do what you’re talking about and maybe impress upon him that he can play in the National Hockey League is he plays to his strengths on a nightly basis?
TN: Yeah for sure, besides [Jonathan] Cheechoo and Josh Green, they are always trying to lead by example, also being vocal in those situations. A guy like Darcy Hordichuk,a guy who hasn’t played a whole lot in the playoffs, he’s played three games, but he care