The Countdown Has Begun!

The pre-season starts next Tuesday for Red Deer's favourite WHL team..the Rebels. And that means only 1 thing. That the NHL can't be far behind.
The Edmonton Oilers open training camp Sept.14 in one of my old stomping grounds, Grande Prairie, Alberta (if you stop by make sure to hi to Grant Buchanan...and then throw something at him because he's a Flames fan)
As it stands, the Oil are inviting 53 players to camp, which is a big drop from recent years. But it begs the question, why waste time on the fringe players?
The fewer players that come to camp, the more time that can be spent with some of the rookies or prospects.
Now, I know some people are worried that #15 won't be in camp, but I'll bet my wife (she doesn't know) that Joffrey Lupul will be signed, sealed and delivered by Sept.8.
My guess is that he'll take the 3 year/$6.75 mill option, as opposed to the 1 year/$1.55 mill.
And don't fret about the blueline. It's good enough to start the season with, but methinks Kevin Lowe ain't done dealing yet. Look for Brad Stuart to join the club within the next 1-2 weeks, with Marc-Andre Bergeron (good riddance), Marc-Antoine Pouliot (what? do they not like Marc-A names in Edmonton?) and a conditional draft pick.
If the Stuart option doesn't work out, I'm guessing Lowe will call up his old buddy Slats to see if they can't get a deal done for Roszival.
That's what I got right now. And no, I don't want to talk about the merits of welfare.

By the way, I can't figure out how to link (yeah yeah yeah, I know, take Computer 101) but I encourage everyone to check out www.atypicalalbertan.blogspot.com it's slightly left leaning, ok it's way overboard to the left, but it's worth a read just for the differing views. Plus, he's a big Oiler fan!!