Hendricks jump-starts the Oilers
a lot of times with youth, comes quiet. He is anything but quiet in the room.
“He’s loud, and it forces us to talk and have dialogue and that’s part of what he brings,’’ said Gagner.
“On the ice he blocks shots and makes big plays ... that’s infectious.”
The 32-year-old veteran arrived when the Oilers were in the midst of a losing streak that stretched over a span of six games.
They have since gone 9-43 and will look to improve upon that when they open a six-game homestand against Nashville.
“I just wanted to fill my role, fill a niche, one that got me to this level,” Hendricks said of his mission.
“I think one of the biggest things is that we didn’t want tolosegames.Wedidn’twant to keep losing and losing and losing because that would have been miserable.
“And guys have been playing great. It’s been a lot of fun.”
David Perron, the club’s leading goal scorer, said the acquisition of Hendricks is significant given what he’s brought to the team, on and off the ice. He gets no argument from Eakins.
“He is not afraid to sacrifice his body. He is 100 per pent a team player and he’s rubbing off on our group,” said the bench boss.
“You can look at all the stats you want, but you have to have players like that on your team. They’re (usually quiet on) the stats sheet but they are very loud in the game. And they’re able to do a lot of the dirty work.
“A lot of their dirty work helps the team, inspires the team and it rubs off on the team. That’s critical to us taking the next step,” said Eakins.