Puljujarvi ready for a tongue lashing every shift
Lots of NHLers skate with their mouth guards flapping in the breeze rather than protecting their molars, but Jesse Puljujarvi simply lets his tongue hang free every single shift. He’s like a big puppy dog. “That’s my thing. I don’t know why I do it but I’ve been doing it my whole life. My mum is the same,” said the Edmonton Oilers winger, who knows he could take a stick to his tongue, but shrugged it off. “Not yet. I wait,” he said, with a laugh.
“I’ve obviously noticed it but haven’t thought about the habit or why they do it. Everybody has their own unique looks. No rhyme nor reason to it, just what he does,” said Oilers coach Todd McLellan. “You worry about him getting hit there. It’s a dangerous thing ... teeth, tongue, lips but I’m not going to work with him and force him to keep his tongue in his mouth.”
Puljujarvi had his biggest NHL point-night against Vancouver on Saturday with a goal and two helpers.
“Big thing for Jesse was he’d gone dry for eight games (no points) and he could have regressed and lost his confidence but he was very good against Vancouver. That tells me he’s continuing his growth to fight off those negative demons,” said McLellan.
COFFEY BACK ON ICE WITH OILERS
McLellan had newly-hired skills adviser Paul Coffey on the ice for a second straight practice Monday morning. He sees Coffey’s big strength as his ability to talk to players.
Whatever he teaches them, great. “We’ve seen that he has a relaxed demeanour and we want him to make himself available to the defencemen here and in Bakersfield. We want them to feel comfortable talking to Paul,” said McLellan. “We want them to hear how he felt at their age. The game’s changed a bit since then but some of the cues he used to create, to find space and teammates ... when to join rushes and when not to, shot selection, he can help.”
As for some fans ripping on the Oilers that the Coffey hire is another tip of the hat to the Boys on the Bus, and that he’s never been a pro coach before, would they be saying the same about lack of pro coaching experience if it was Ray Bourque or Sergei Zubov coming in?
Coffey played for the Oilers, true. But he’s 13th (1,531) in career points—defenceman and forwards. He has some skills to impart.
POWER OUTAGE
The Oilers power play continues to let them down, just one goal in their last 22 tries over nine games. They’re 29th in the league. They need to shoot more. Also draw more penalties. They’ve drawn the fewest (126) in the league with Anaheim 30th at 129. In the same 47 games, Philly’s drawn 163 PP’s.
“The power play has to score or create momentum and we’re not doing either. We tense up a bit more at home with the pressure here (10 for 68 in 23 games), we’re better on the road (marginally, nine for 58),” said McLellan.
The Oilers have scored a PP goal in just three of their last 16 games. Last time they had more than one was the two they popped in Columbus Dec. 12.
“We haven’t had a lot of powerplay time. Post-Christmas it’s one or two max per game and sometimes they’re segmented with a penalty we take. We haven’t had a lot of reps,” said McLellan. “… We need everybody to draw more than they take and we’re on the negative side of that ledger.”
Needless to say, the Oilers special teams have been anything but this year. They’re 31st on the PK (55.9 per cent at home), and 29th on the PP.