Brule Gets His Shot!

The Falcons have been robbed of another one of their star players as Gilbert Brule will get his first taste of regular season NHL action with the Oilers. It has been my opinion all season long that Brule needed more time in the AHL to gain more consistency and more confidence.

Unlike Liam Reddox and Rob Schremp, Brule is on a short leash in terms of how many games he has left to play in the NHL this season before he's waiver bait. Brule can play only 13 more games in the NHL this season before #14 makes him have to stay up with the big club or get waived on return to the Falcons.

What Gilbert will bring to the Oilers is speed, a guy who likes to shoot the puck, and a guy who can dish out some solid hits (when he picks his spots). Like Schremp he will undoubtedly be hungry to stay with the big club.

Speaking of hits, in his last game Brule skated in with speed and absolutely hammered a player for a 5 minute major and a game misconduct. As a result of that hit, Brule has been suspended by the AHL for 4 games. Brule can hit when he's not looking to take on bigger bulls that are ready for him. He can however crush smallish opponents and bigger guys that are off balance. If he can choose his spots instead of looking to hit everything on every shift like he did at times in camp, he could be on his way to making a case for a permanent roster spot with the Oilers.

Good luck to Brule, because I feel that there's room on this Oilers team along with Schremp and the other kids as long as our coach plays the game to our teams strengths.