EDMONTON — James Neal isn’t one of those polite voices that tells you what you want to hear, whether you’re a journalist or a teammate. It’s just not who he is, and we’ve learned that much about him.
So on the morning of the first game between Neal’s old club and his current one, we asked teammate Zack Kassian who, exactly, is this much-traveled goal scorer, who arrived in Edmonton after a sour year as a Calgary Flame.
“Awesome guy. Fun to be around,” said Kassian. “You (media) guys don’t get to see that side of things, but we spend a lot of time together away from the rink. It’s important that you have good guys, good locker room guys. He’s always cracking jokes. He doesn’t take things too seriously away from the rink, and I know the guys enjoy that.
“He’s a little bit of a chirper, which can get under your skin a little bit. But he’s been great for us.”
In an interview earlier this season, Neal admitted that there are times where he should perhaps think before he speaks when he’s chirping someone.
“If I did that, I don’t think I’d have played on this many teams,” he laughed. “That’s just my personality. There aren’t many times I’m not talking — probably talking a little bit too much. We have a bit of a quieter room, we have a lot of younger guys. Just trying to keep it upbeat. I love being around the rink, I love hockey, and I think that comes with a smile.”
Tonight Neal and his Oilers face the Calgary Flames and Milan Lucic, the player/contract that Neal was traded for back in the summer. It’s the first meeting this season and adds a fresh layer to the moribund Battle of Alberta, as two players try to justify their $6 million salaries on two teams that likely should have spent their money more wisely in the first place.
Neal, at least, has produced in Edmonton. He has 16 goals — 10 on the powerplay — and 23 points, as the Oilers complete the first half of their season with Game 41 tonight.
Lucic has three goals and eight points, as the two fan bases go back and forth on what team schooled which in the trade.
“When you get traded one-for-one, that’s the way it’s going to go. Especially when it’s Edmonton and Calgary, the fans like it,” said Neal, who really does not know Lucic well. “I don’t, no. Lots of mutual friends, played lots against him in the playoffs lots against him in Boston.”
In Edmonton, we are learning that the 32-year-old Neal still has elite hands on the powerplay. He can tuck in goals from in-tight and has the requisite skills to work a powerplay with players like Connor McDavid, Leon Draisiaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — finer skills that have abandoned Lucic later in his career.
[snippet id=4748264]
“Getting that chance to play a lot more is the biggest thing. Being surrounded by a lot of great players who are helping me out too,” Neal said. “(In Calgary) I felt like I wasn’t getting that chance, and as a player you just want that chance. I got that here and it’s worked out well.”
Neal is a minus-22 player, however, which speaks to his relative ineffectiveness at five-on-five. Lucic is a minus-7, but those numbers are exacerbated by the fact that Neal still lines up as a Top 6 forward, and plays against higher-scoring competition that Lucic on a nightly basis.
Those Top 6 minutes are something that Neal thought would happen in Calgary. In his penchant for calling a spade a spade, he did not bite when given a chance to accept responsibility for the failed relationship.
Asked whether there was something he could perhaps have done differently to make the Calgary situation work, or if the only solution was simply moving on and starting again elsewhere, Neal spoke plainly.
“Moving on,” he said. “I signed a five-year contract. I went into Calgary thinking I was going to be counted on in Calgary as one of the top guys, and when you sign that kind of contract you want to be.
“My whole career I’ve been counted on to score goals, and I have,” he added. “It was a lot different there. So we moved on and I feel like it’s been a good fit for both players.
“Both players needed a change.”
[relatedlinks]
