Music: {allcanada} Peckham finds a little breathing room

Friday, October 1, 2010

{allcanada} Peckham finds a little breathing room

Theo Peckham (notes) doesn't care that there's now more elbow room on the Edmonton Oilers defensive corps.

"Until they call you in and tell you you're going to be staying, there's no relief," Peckham said on Thursday after the Oilers assigned blue-liners Alex Plante (notes), Taylor Chorney (notes) and Jeff Petry (notes) to the Oklahoma City Barons.

Winger Colin McDonald (notes) is also on his way to the Oilers' American Hockey League affiliate.

That leaves 32 players in Oilers training camp at a time when the cuts really start to hurt, when those players on the bubble start to feel even more anxious.

"Once you're on the ice, everything else goes out of your mind. I don't think about impending cuts, I don't think about the fact that this is an Oilers training camp—it's just playing as well as you can and winning the game," said forward Ryan O'Marra (notes), who will play tonight when the Oilers host the Calgary Flames at Rexall Place in one of two remaining pre-season games. The teams meet again on Sunday in Calgary.

"Before, it was an all-the-time concern and worry, and that can be paralyzing. As you mature, as you gain the experience. You learn to block things out and focus on what's important," O'Marra said.

"But guys who are on the bubble would be lying to you if they said they weren't a little anxious, that they didn't have a little anxiety."

The Oilers still have three goaltenders in camp, nine defence-men, 20 forwards, and some hard decisions, according to head coach Tom Renney.

"We have to afford ourselves the luxury of (more evaluation time)," he said. "I'd love to have our squad together with a chance to play, but we have four days before we play a game of any consequence."

Devan Dubnyk (notes) and Jeff Deslauriers (notes) are competing for the backup job behind veteran goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin (notes). Peckham, Shawn Belle (notes), Richard Petiot (notes) and Jason Strudwick (notes) are looking to lock down the sixth and seventh positions on the blue-line.

Up front, Linus Omark (notes), Ben Ondrus (notes), Chris Vande Velde (notes), O'Marra and Ryan Jones (notes) are looking to secure work on the third and fourth lines —alongside Andrew Cogliano (notes), Gilbert Brule (notes), Colin Fraser (notes), Zack Stortini (notes) and Steve MacIntyre (notes).

J.F. Jacques still hasn't played a game, so he'll surely start the season on the injured reserve list.

"Three years ago, I was the first cut after the Joey Moss Cup, then two years ago I was the last cut. Last year, I didn't play in the pre-season," said Peckham, who missed all of last year's camp with an ankle injury.

"I've done it all so far. Hopefully I can pass on all that this time. But this is what I thought it would be. It's tough.

"I just need to put no doubt in their mind that I can play in the NHL. It just comes down to me playing my best game (tonight). I need to show them what I can do in the Battle of Alberta," Peckham said.

"There are still three here and my goal is to get into the top two," said Dubnyk of the goaltending situation. "I have been doing my best not to think about it."