{"id":615998,"date":"2026-04-20T06:45:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T06:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/615998\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T06:45:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T06:45:20","slug":"oilers-excited-to-begin-playoffs-after-monotonous-regular-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/615998\/","title":{"rendered":"Oilers excited to begin playoffs after \u2018monotonous\u2019 regular season"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the eve of the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> series opener against the Anaheim Ducks, the team practiced on Sunday morning and met with the media afterwards. McDavid was asked<\/a> about the vibe of the team now compared to five or six weeks ago, when the Oilers\u2019 place in the playoffs wasn\u2019t so certain.<\/p>\n

The Art Ross Trophy winner may have said the quiet part out loud when he admitted that the regular season can get a \u201clittle monotonous\u201d for a team that has the Stanley Cup on its mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a little bit dire, obviously, with some health questions and fighting for a playoff spot. We\u2019ve earned the opportunity to be in this position, Pacific Division or not. We\u2019re here. We\u2019re in the playoffs, and we have an opportunity to play a Game 1 tomorrow, and that\u2019s exciting. I know this group is excited for it,\u201d said McDavid.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe regular season has become a little bit monotonous for this group, and I think you see that through the day-to-day. But this is what we get excited for.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

McDavid has been more candid than usual the last couple of months. He infamously labelled the Pacific Division a \u201cpillow fight\u201d<\/a> in the same post-game scrum as talking glowingly about the Tampa Bay Lightning and their structure.Before the Olympics, he penned a Player\u2019s Tribune article<\/a> where he openly talked about his legacy, and how much he wants to not only win the Stanley Cup, but do it in Edmonton.After a 41-30-11 regular season<\/a>, the Oilers\u2019 lowest win total since the 56-game campaign in 2020-21, the Oilers can now embark on trying to reach the Stanley Cup Final for a third straight time, and this time close the deal.<\/p>\n

McDavid said he likes his group, as they can lean on experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing what to expect, knowing what it\u2019s going to feel like, the environment, the game, the pressures, the momentum swings. Playoffs is really a different game. It really is, and you have to understand all of that. And this group understands that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith that being said, we got a big challenge in front of us. We had a really good, young, skilled, exciting Ducks team coming in that we got to play hard. We gotta be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

More of that experience could be re-injected back into the lineup Monday night. Jason Dickinson skated<\/a> on a regular line, and Leon Draisaitl continued to progress. Both need to be cleared by the team\u2019s medical staff before they can return, confirmed coach Kris Knoblauch.<\/p>\n

Michael Menzies is an Oilersnation columnist and co-host of PreGaming and Oilersnation After Dark. He\u2019s also been the play-by-play voice of the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the AJHL since 2019. With seven years of news experience as the Editor-at-Large of Lakeland Connect in Bonnyville, Menzies collects vinyl, books, and stomach issues. Follow him on X at Menzies_4.\u00a0<\/p>\n

PRESENTED BY THE NATION NETWORK\u2019S PLAYOFF COVERAGE\"\"<\/a>
\nThe Nation Network is your ultimate playoff headquarters. From expert shows and deep-dive articles, to live social updates, analytics, and fantasy insights\u2014we cover every moment. Whether it\u2019s epic goals, big hits, or game-changing plays, we\u2019ve got you covered. One Network. Every moment. Tune in to the Oilersnation<\/a> and Daily Faceoff YouTube channels!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On the eve of the Edmonton Oilers series opener against the Anaheim Ducks, the team practiced on Sunday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615999,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,23752],"class_list":["post-615998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edmonton","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-edmonton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}