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h to contend for one of the top picks in the 2014 Draft Lottery. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia
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2015/09/29 11:36PM
Latest post: 2015/09/29 11:36PM, Views: 149, Posts: 1
Latest post: 2015/09/29 11:36PM, Views: 149, Posts: 1
lili
EDMONTON - Theyve got three of their own No. 1 draft picks on their roster but its a former St. Louis Blues first-round selection who has quietly emerged as the Edmonton Oilers leading scorer. Edmonton picked up David Perron from St. Louis last summer, and the 2007 first-round selection, despite missing four games with a neck injury, has 12 goals and 25 points for the Oilers (10-18-3, 23 points). Whats more, the 25-year-old is just one of three players on the squad not on the negative side of the plus-minus rating. "Its only 25-30 games so I dont want to go ahead of schedule," said the native of Sherbrooke, Que. "I want to keep going, keep working hard and help this team. "I like the way its going lately with the team and with a lot of the individual play so we have to keep it up." But Edmonton first-year coach Dallas Eakins said Perron is more than just an offensive player. The Oilers landed Perron from the Blues for Swedish-born forward Magnus Paajarvi and a 14 second-round pick. "I love his competitiveness," Eakins said. "As much skill as he has, hes got that little bit of nasty in him." Eakins adds the seven-year veteran has wasted no time becoming a leader in the dressing room. However, the six-foot, 198-pound Perron admits hes frustrated with the Oilers inconsistent play this season. "I dont know if its a roller coaster but thats not the way were trying to build," said Perron. "I know its frustrating for everybody but were trying not to get on that roller coaster. "Were trying to stay on an even keel. Were trying to find that good balance." Thats been difficult for an Edmonton team thats alternated wins with losses over its last eight games. The Oilers continue their five-game homestand Tuesday night hosting the Carolina Hurricanes. At no time, perhaps, was their inconsistency more evident than their two games last week — a 6-2 loss to Phoenix on Tuesday, then an 8-2 win over Colorado on Thursday. The Oilers followed that up with a 2-1 overtime loss to Calgary and the frustration of being unable to score led to another breakdown in the system that resulted in a lot of unsuccessful individual play. "I dont know if its a case of (players) saying it doesnt matter what the system is, Im going to do it myself but theres just too many turnovers," said Perron, who is third on the team in penalty minutes. "Its probably throughout the year some of these guys are so good its almost like, and Im guilty of it once and while also, that you want to show you can take care of the game, you want to step up and be the difference maker. "I know we want to make plays but we have to be smart and keep plays going." And that means shooting more rather than trying to make an abundance of fancy passes. Perron has taken a team-high 98 shots so that wouldnt appear to be an issue for him. "My first two years when Andy Murray was my coach (in St. Louis), he was saying Youre selfish when you dont shoot the puck because the team needs you to shoot the puck, " said Perron. "The first couple of years I was like, what is he talking about? "But sometimes it does make sense. When you overpass it when you have a lane to shoot, whats the point? You have to put it there (on net)." Perron scored 13, 15 and 20 goals his first three NHL campaigns before injuries restricted him to just 115 games from 2010 to 13. Still, he had a career-best 21 goals in 57 contests with the Blues in 2011-12. Perron said while many of the young Oilers are great playmakers, they also have greats shots that they dont make enough use of. "When (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) has the puck and hes on a 2-on-1, I know hes going to try to make a play," Perron said. "But if he sees something he has to try to go for it." J... Tatum Youth Jersey . -- Tim Miles is tired of hearing about the old Nebraska program that made a habit of bumbling and stumbling its way through the past two decades. Ti... Brown Youth Jersey . On Tuesday, Ottawa placed forward Cory Conacher and defenceman Joe Corvo on waivers as trade rumours swirl around the Senators. J... Tatum Jersey . Caron Butler scored 22 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out four assists in his return to the lineup after missing 12 games with a swollen left knee, leading the Bucks to a 106-96 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers Saturday night. . For the past two games, hes looked rather good for any age, and has pulled the Pelicans out of a slump. Davis had 29 points and 14 rebounds and New Orleans defeated Milwaukee 112-104 on Friday night.The defending-champion Miami Heat hold top spot in the preseason edition of the TSN.ca NBA Power Rankings, but they have challengers lined up to knock them off their perch. Last years finalists, the San Antonio Spurs, are ranked second, ahead of the Indiana Pacers, a team that took Miami to the seventh game of the Eastern Conference Final. After those two, the Heats closest challengers last season, come the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Clippers, two teams that made notable upgrades in the offseason. In the Nets case, they plucked proven vets Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry from Boston, along with Andrei Kirilenko from Minnesota, to give them a much more formidable rotation. In addition to a new coach, Doc Rivers, the Clipperrs brought in shooters J.dddddddddddd.J. Redick and Jared Dudley to spread the floor, ideally creating more room for Blake Griffin in the low post and giving Chris Paul more options as he runs the offence. The Oklahoma City Thunder are ranked notably lower than might have been expected, at nine, because point guard Russell Westbrook is recovering from knee surgery. As for Canadas entry, the Toronto Raptors are ranked 22nd, stuck between contending for a playoff spot and being bad enough to contend for one of the top picks in the 2014 Draft Lottery. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. [url=http://www.cheapnfljerseysonline.co.uk/]Cheap Jerseys UK Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys NFL Jerseys From China Jerseys NFL Cheap ' ' '
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