Josh Samanski will be making his Edmonton Oilers playoff debut tonight in Game 2 against the desperate Anaheim Ducks.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not an easy situation to be thrust into, but with Adam Henrique sidelined by a knee injury, the Oilers are banking on Samanski\u2019s speed, energy and youthful enthusiasm to pick up the slack on Edmonton\u2019s fourth line with Colton Dach and Trent Frederic.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be special,\u201d said the 24-year-old. \u201cI\u2019m not really a nervous guy, I\u2019ll just happy to be out there. Watching (Game 1) and seeing the fans, how much pride they have, seeing the boys battling, made me really want to be on the ice. I\u2019m excited to get out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a whirlwind year for the rookie, who was playing in the German League a year ago at this time. Now he\u2019s an NHLer, he\u2019s played in the Olympics with Leon Draisaitl and his coach has enough confidence in him to slot him in in a playoff series.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m building my game, taking pride in the D zone, battling for pucks and trying to do the little things right,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not easy for a coach to trust a young guy, especially since I played in the DEL last year and they\u2019re not sure what to expect.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the staff and the teammates did a great job of helping me adjust.\u201d<\/p>\n
Making the jump from the German League to the NHL is one thing, but the jump from the regular season hockey to playoff hockey is another level altogether. But the six-foot-two, 195-pound centre says playing at the Olympics will absolutely help him deal with the atmosphere at Rogers Place.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a big stage, you\u2019re playing against the best players, you\u2019re playing with some of the best players. It definitely helped me.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a big step for a young kid, but head coach Kris Knoblauch feels confident that this is going to be a good fit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been very happy with him all year. We anticipated him being an Oiler in the future, but we weren\u2019t expecting it to be so fast \u2014 maybe down the road next year. But he had an outstanding training camp and caught our attention immediately, then went down to Bakersfield and played very well down there.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s somebody who makes the coaching staff very comfortable when he\u2019s on the ice. He\u2019s wired to play good defensive hockey; he was never going to hurt us when he was on the ice.\u201d<\/p>\n
E-mail:\u00a0rtychkowski@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n Related<\/p>\n Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don\u2019t miss the news you need to know \u2014 add EdmontonJournal.com<\/a> and EdmontonSun.com<\/a> to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters<\/a>.
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