Boudreau dines with No. 99
Anaheim Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau had a dinner date with Wayne Gretzky in Vancouver.
The invitation from No. 99 was out of the blue when he was there for an o -ice thing.
“Coolest moment of my life,” said Boudreau. “I was blown away.”
“I phoned my wife at two in the morning (back east). I said, ‘You’ll never guess who I was with.’ I was really excited.”
Gretzky remembered the o ensive-whiz Boudreau who played junior for the Toronto Marlies when Gretzky was 12 and living in Brantford. The Marlies played 20 games in Gretzky’s hometown.
“I was really shocked how knowledgeable Wayne was, how he knew so much about me. I thought I knew a lot about him and I didn’t think he knew anything about me. But he knew an awful lot from 30 years ago and that’s another reason why he’s so great. He loves hockey.”
Petry set to return
“Barring any complications, Je Petry, who took a puck in the face last week, should be back on the Edmonton Oilers blue-line against the Anaheim Ducks for their final home game on Thursday.
There were no broken bones on the play when Petry raced over to try to keep Los Angeles Kings forward Anze Kopitar’s clearing attempt in along the boards, but his face was badly swollen, so he didn’t play in Anaheim or Los Angeles earlier this week.
“The swelling has gone down tremendously and I found out there was no concussion,” said Petry, admitting it was scary stu .
“The puck came o the glass and I couldn’t get my hand up quickly enough. That play (keeping the puck in at the point) happens a thousand times and nothing happens. The puck clipped my visor, right below the eye. I wasn’t sure if there were any fractures at the time. I’m fine now. I’ve still got all my teeth.”
While Petry will be back, Ladislav Smid (neck), Theo Peckham and fellow blueliner Corey Potter (both concussions) are out.
“It’s status quo,” said coach Tom Renney.
They likely won’t play again this season. Smid got drilled from behind by Kings forward Dustin Brown last Friday night and Potter was clobbered by Ducks forward Bobby Ryan along the boards in Anaheim on Sunday. If Petry plays, Bryan Rodney will likely return to Oklahoma City. He was up on emergency recall. Colten Teubert was summoned the same way, but as long as Potter is out, he can stay.
Oil ready for lottery
The Oilers are guaranteed a spot in the NHL draft lottery on TSN next Tuesday night. They’ll be no worse than fourth pick going into the event. General manager Steve Tambellini has been there the last two years, but maybe he’ll take a pass this time around.
“We hoped we’d eliminate ourselves from that process a couple of weeks ago. Can we do it by proxy (with no Oilers personnel there)?” Renney asked jokingly.
The Oilers have 73 points, two behind Montreal in 28th spot. Both teams have two games left.
This ’n’ that:
Former Oilers farm team coach and NHL assistant coach Rob Daum, whose team won the Austrian Hockey League title in Linz last weekend, has been offered a new four-year deal to stay there. Daum likely has an out clause to take a North American professional job, but would also be a candidate for the vacant University of Alberta Golden Bears head coaching job. But could the Bears a ord him, if he wanted to return? Other possibilities for the Bears job: Kris Knoblauch, the Kootenay Ice Western Hockey League coach who used to play for the Bears, and Rick Carriere.
From Wednesday’s Oilers practice, it appears Linus Omark is again out, along with Ben Eager up front. Andy Sutton gave Omark a rude slash across the leg in practice, annoyed about something. Renney said of Omark, “He’s an Oiler today.” True enough, but it doesn’t appear the team wants to play him. He has been scratched four straight games and six of the last 10. It would be a shock if they don’t try and trade him at the draft. Maybe they’ll get the same fourth-round pick they used to take him in the first place. “He’s a good, helpful player but we have depth. He’s proved he can play at the NHL level,” said Renney.
Oilers winger Ryan Smyth, who would love to know his situation for next season, still doesn’t have his contract settled. The Oilers may have o ered a two-year deal rather than go year-by-year, but there is salary to consider, too for Smyth, who is stuck at 19 goals for the last 12 games. Smyth is the only Oiler to play all 80 games.
Oilers captain Shawn Horco only has four points in the last 20 games.
The Oilers are 2-8 in their last 10 home games, 18-175 overall. “We want to have a good game and we want the fans to leave the building with a good feeling about next year,” said Renney.
The Oilers probably had their last o -day practice Wednesday. They decided not to have a morning skate Thursday (unusual for a home game unless it’s backto-back games) and won’t be skating on Friday before flying to Vancouver. They will likely have a game day skate in Vancouver Saturday.