Hearsay: Krueger not bitter toward Oilers

Ralph Krueger was fired as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers on June 8, 2013.

Hockey Hearsay compiles stories from around the hockey world and runs weekdays, 12 months a year.

KRUEGER: NO HARD FEELINGS AGAINST OILERS

The Edmonton Journal illustrates how fired Oilers coach Ralph Krueger, replaced by Dallas Eakins, still says he’s not bitter the way it ended in Edmonton. Krueger wasn’t the day it happened and he’s not now. Hurt, maybe, but not bitter.

He’s eternally upbeat.

“I haven’t had time for that (getting mad),” said Krueger, who finally made it back to Edmonton to clean out his apartment a few weeks ago.

“It was very quiet in town, there was nobody there, but the people I did run into were wonderful. I was down on Whyte Avenue and on Jasper for a few ways. People treated me warmly and I was able to reconnect with some of the staff members there,” said Krueger. “The most important thing I’ve learned in life though is to refocus on new goals and endeavours.”

The Journal notes Krueger was introduced as a part of Team Canada’s coaching staff for the Sochi Games because coach Mike Babcock wanted Krueger to tell the Canadian coaches and players how European teams played Canada.

Krueger won’t lose track of one unassailable fact, though.

“You can’t lose what makes Canada great (playing with emotion). If you do, you become weak. You need to keep Canada’s personality mixed in with all the changes they’ll see (European ice),” he said.

OATES: CARLSON BELONGS ON TEAM USA

The Washington Post points out that among the invitees to the U.S. Olympic orientation camp this week, Ryan Suter, Brooks Orpik, Jack Johnson and Erik Johnson were part of the 2010 squad. Only one member of that group, Erik Johnson, is a right-handed shot like John Carlson. Other right-handed defensemen who will be in attendance include Winnipeg’s Dustin Byfuglien, Jacob Trouba and Zach Bogosian, Nashville rookie Seth Jones and St. Louis’s Kevin Shattenkirk.

Capitals coach Oates, while admitting his bias toward his players, has made his opinion known that Carlson belongs on the U.S. Olympic roster.

“No question in my mind. I already told Dan Bylsma that,” he said of his former teammate, the coach of the 2014 Olympic team. Oates said he ranks Carlson second behind only Byfuglien among the available right-handed defensemen.

“He’s won a [Stanley] Cup and is a force,” Oates said of Byfuglien. “Carly’s not as well known as him, but he will be.”

BRUINS’ BERGERON AT 95 PERCENT

The Boston Globe relays Patrice Bergeron said he is currently at “95 percent” healthy in his return from a host of physical ailments that he suffered during the Stanley Cup Final, including the punctured lung that landed him in the hospital.

“I feel pretty good,” Bergeron said from the Team Canada orientation Sunday. “I’m pretty much at 95 percent.”

Bergeron said he is confident that he’ll be ready for training camp, and that he’ll “definitely” be ready for the start of the season in October.

RINNE NOT SKATING FOR PREDS YET

The Nashville Tennessean notes goaltender Pekka Rinne is in town but has not resumed skating activities, Predators GM Poile said.

Rinne had hip surgery in May. The Preds indicated at the time of the surgery, on May 9, the recovery time for this operation was expected to be four months, and that he was expected to be at full strength for camp in September. The Predators begin training camp on Sept. 11.

RED WINGS SEEING FRESH FACES AT ALUMNI GAMES

The Detroit Free Press indicates Joe Kocur is expecting a little younger look out of the Detroit Red Wings alumni team in 2013-14.

“We have a lot of fresh retirees that are working for the Wings that we’re trying to pull out this year,” Kocur, the president of the alumni association said. “With the Winter Classic alumni game coming up, I think some of these guys are going to want to get a little ice time to come and skate in a few games with us.”

Among the “younger” alums who could be available: Doug Brown, Jimmy Carson, Chris Chelios, Dallas Drake, Kris Draper, Jiri Fischer, Tomas Holmstrom, Manny Legace, Kirk Maltby, Darren McCarty and Chris Osgood.

“We had Jimmy Carson come out and play a few games, we had Petr Klima come out and play a few games,” Kocur said of last season. “Guys like that are so important.

“It’s tough when guys retire because they’re not ready to play for the alumni. When they get back in the locker room and see it’s the same thing, maybe a little slower, they start to come out and enjoy it and want to come back again.”

NHLERS TUNE IN THE VMAS

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