The Young Stars Tournament, is it Important to the Oilers?

If the Edmonton Oilers rookies don't dominate the Young Stars tournament and go undefeated, is that considered a fail? Is this tournament a definite measure of how good our rookies actually are? How much impact does this have for these kids in the long run? How is this Oilers team going to fare against the other rookie teams they are facing? Hmmmm...

After looking at the Calgary Flames Young Stars roster, I think the Oilers have a good chance to win that game. Other than the more experienced goaltending and a couple of forwards, the Flames don't have a top notch roster. No doubt though, based on skill (Hall, Eberle & Paajarvi) I think the Oilers should win this one.

Here is the San Jose Sharks roster. They look beatable no? Sure the Sharks rookies are pretty big, but with the Oilers speed and skill, they should out preform those pesky sharks. If the Oilers do lose one game out of the three, it's this one against the Sharks.

What about the Vancouver Canucks? Here is their roster. Do think the Oil can win this game too? I do. They are led by Cody Hodgson who has some experience so they will be a decent group, but with the Oilers fire power, the Oilers should have the advantage in a straight up run and gun game. If I'm a betting man, this game I put my money on the Oilers.

So if the Oilers play it out like that, a 2 wins, 1 loss record is pretty good. Let's just see what happens. I suppose the big question will be to see if they can get it together and work as a team right from day 1?

Anything less than a 2 wins 1 loss record will not be disastrous, but definitely not a good thing for the organization, publicity included. But then again, I may be reading too much into a rookie tournament. Maybe this is all fluff and show and not meat and potatoes like I'm thinking it is?

Regardless, I can't wait to see these kids in action.

On a side note: Look at the roster below and pay attention for these games. Many of these kids might be with the OKC Barons this year and there isn't much footage from there.

HERE IS THE OILERS ROSTER

Forwards
Cameron Abney RW Right 6' 4" 192 23 May 1991 Aldergrove, BC, CAN
Philippe Cornet LW LEFT 6' 0" 173 28 Mar 1990 Val-Senneville, QC, CAN
Drew Czerwonka LW LEFT 6' 2" 192 1 Jul 1992 Glenavon, SK, CAN
Jordan Eberle C Right 5' 10" 174 15 May 1990 Regina, SK, CAN
Taylor Hall LW Left 6' 1" 185 14 Nov 1991 Calgary, AB, CAN
Curtis Hamilton LW Left 6' 3" 202 4 Dec 1991 Kelowna, BC, CAN
Teemu Hartikainen C Left 6' 1" 198 3 May 1990 Kuopio, FIN
Milan Kytnar C Left 6' 0" 180 19 May 1989 Topolcany, SVK
James Livingston RW Right 6' 1" 210 8 MAR 1990 Newmarket, ON, CAN camp invite
Ryan Martindale C Left 6' 3" 183 27 Oct 1991 Brooklin, ON, CAN
Magnus Paajarvi LW Left 6' 1" 201 12 Apr 1991 Norrkoping, SWE
Kristians Pelss F Left 5' 11" 179 9 Sep 1992 Preili, LATVIA
Tyler Pitlick C Right 6' 2" 194 1 Nov 1991 Centerville, MN, USA
Chase Schaber C Left 6' 0" 194 3 JAN 1991 Red Deer, AB, CAN camp invite
Mike Thomas RW Right 6' 0" 185 8 FEB 1990 New Maryland, NB, CAN camp invite
Chris Vande Velde C Left 6' 2" 190 15 Mar 1987 Moorhead, MN, USA

Defencemen
Jordan Bendfeld Right 6' 2" 216 2 FEB 1988 Leduc, AB, CAN
Jeremie Blain Right 6' 2" 190 19 Mar 1992 Longueuil, QC, CAN
Brandon Davidson Left 6' 1" 190 21 Aug 1991 Taber, AB, CAN
Dallas Ehrhardt Left 6' 4" 210 31 Jul 1992 CALGARY, AB, CAN camp invite
Martin Marincin Left 6' 4" 187 18 Feb 1992 Kosice, SVK
Johan Motin Right 6' 1" 202 10 Oct 1989 Karlskoga, SWE
Jeff Petry Right 6' 3" 176 9 Dec 1987 Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Alex Plante Right 6' 4" 225 9 MAY 1989 BRANDON, MB, CAN
Dominik Schlumpf Left 6' 1" 175 3 MAR 1991 Switzerland camp invite
Nolan Toigo Left 6' 1" 187 22 JUL 1989 Delta, BC, CAN camp invite

Goaltenders
Tyler Bunz Left 6' 1" 196 11 Feb 1992 St. Albert, AB, CAN
Bryan Pitton Left 6' 2" 168 26 Jan 1988 Mississauga, ON, CAN
Olivier Roy Left 6' 0" 165 12 Jul 1991 Amqui, QC, CAN

HERE IS THE SCHEDULE

Game 1 Vancouver vs Edmonton Sept. 12 4:00pm
Game 2 San Jose vs Anaheim Sept. 12 7:30pm
Game 3 Anaheim vs Calgary Sept. 13 4:00pm
Game 4 San Jose vs Vancouver Sept. 13 7:30pm
Game 5 Calgary vs Edmonton Sept. 14 7:30pm
Game 6 Anaheim vs Vancouver Sept. 15 4:00pm
Game 7 Edmonton vs San Jose Sept. 15 7:30pm
Game 8 Calgary vs Vancouver Sept. 16 12:00pm

**Don't forget that we will have the LIVE TweetCast of the tournament AND we will have the LIVE streaming Oilers games shown right here in the comfort our site. ;) **

-Written by Smokin' Ray-