On Monday morning the Edmonton Oilers had an optional skate. What does optional mean? It’s a simple explanation as it's the player’s option whether he practises.
With that in mind, Dwayne Roloson, Dustin Penner, Shawn Horcoff, Sheldon Souray, Lubomir Visnovsky, Ethan Moreau and Robert Nilsson didn’t skate.
Now when you look over that list, which player doesn't fit? If you picked Robert Nilsson, you are correct sir. Nilsson is neither a veteran nor a player who, like Penner, is fighting a nagging injury. There appears to be no reason for Nilsson to skip the skate.
He is just slowly starting to crawl out of the coach’s doghouse after Craig MacTavish called him out for not competing. He is a player who at one time last season was playing in the minors. Even though it was considered a no-strings attached optional, sometimes you have to read between the lines; like you might not be on a line if you don't make the appropriate sacrifices.
MacTavish said after practice that there is always something a player can work on and your game doesn't find you, you have to find your game. When Nilsson finds his, it is as dynamic as anyone’s on the team saving Ales Hemsky, but he's never found it for long enough periods.
This is just one side of the story as Nilsson wasn’t around to tell his side of it. There may be a valid explanation for all this.
I like Nilsson. He's a nice kid, very talented and someone who more than likely understands the games within the game. He grew up in a hockey household with his father, Kent. His dad was called the "Magic Man"; Robert's nickname is "Mini-magic" but we'll have to wait to hear from him to find out why he disappeared from practice.
