Music: {allcanada} OILERS MANAGING JUSTIN SCHULTZ'S MINUTES

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

{allcanada} OILERS MANAGING JUSTIN SCHULTZ'S MINUTES

The Edmonton Sun believes Justin Schultz may not have hit the wall, but he knows it's there.

Between the American Hockey League and NHL, the Edmonton Oilers defenceman has already played 25 more games this season than he did all of last year with the University of Wisconsin Badgers. And he still has 20 regular season games left to go.

"It's a lot different here," Schultz said. "In the AHL it was more like a college schedule, but coming here, you're playing a game every other day, so it's a lot different than college for sure. There are a lot more games, it's a lot more tiring, it's a lot of hockey for sure.

"You just have to be smart with your days off, recover in the right ways and eat the right things. You have to make sure you're doing the little things to conserve some energy."

In an effort to help keep Schultz from slamming into the wall, which a lot of college players have a tendency of doing, the Oilers have cut down on his minutes. They have also paired him with Ryan Whitney, who can help share the offensive load Schultz has been carrying from the back end this season.

"It's the minutes that he's played that have probably held him back a little bit from showing the offensive spectacle that he was able to show in the AHL or earlier in the season," said Oilers coach Ralph Krueger. "We've definitely pushed him back down a little bit. Paired with Ryan Whitney and the two being power play players, has given him a little less of the defensive burden that he had earlier in the season as well, which we hope gives him more energy for offence."