Edmonton Oil Country got its first look at Finnish d-man Atro Leppanen and forward Ike Howard against NHL competition and the two impressed, as the Oilers beat the Calgary Flames 3-0 in one half of the night’s split quad games, this match in Calgary.
Here are two good things, two bad things and two numbers about the contest:
Good Thing #1: Leppanen and Howard
Leppanen, top scorer in the Finnish league last season, led the Oilers in ice-time at 23:42 and I strongly suspect he also led the team in completed passes. He came out strong, coolly passing the puck out of his own zone on repeated plays. He had something of an iffy second period, then came on strong again in the third. His passing success came both forehand and backhand, up the boards, on the move and into the middle of the ice