Two former Edmonton Oilers blue liners will play internationally this summer.
Two former Edmonton Oilers blue liners will play internationally this summer.
EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers will begin their second round series against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday.
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While the Oilers gear up for that series, all eliminated players are prepping for a long summer. Some combination of training and relaxation away from the rink and gym is in order for most.
There will be others still, who play hockey in some fashion for a little longer. Of course, I'm referring to the World Championships. The event is happening this year from May 10th to the 26th in Czechia. Yesterday, team USA added nine players to their roster.
Oilers fans with recognize a lot of the names on this list (for good reason) but two in particular should stand out for their Edmonton connections - Jeff Petry and Michael Kesselring.
Petry has almost played 1000 games in the NHL - and spent the first five seasons of his career with the Oilers. He was a workhorse that entire time, playing between 20-22 minutes a night during his Oilers tenure.
He spent this past year with the Detroit Red Wings - helping them with their push to qualify for the playoffs. He did so in a more limited role than he is used to, only averaging 18:47 of ice time this season - which is the lowest total for any season of his 14-year career.
Kesselring on the other hand, was more recently with the organization. He was sent to the Arizona Coyotes as part of the Nick Bjugstad trade at last year's trade deadline.
Since the trade he's played in 16 AHL games and 74 NHL games with the Coyotes. The 6-foot-4 right-handed defender spent 63% of his even strength time on ice paired with either Juuso Valimaki or Sean Durzi and did very well.
Team USA should be one of the favorites going into this competition - and the adds they just made only increase their chances.
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