Kelowna was 'Oil Country' for a day

• The weekend brought the Edmonton Oilers to Prospera Place. I was one of the few local media to witness the workout. CHBC made a visit, as did the Kelowna Daily Courier. No other local radio, outside of AM 1150 were present. TSN was there, as was CBC. Those national broadcasters don't take the weekend off.


• It probably isn't following the rules, but I made my way up towards Oilers' head coach Tom Renney, who was watching the workout from the stands. I thought welcoming him to Kelowna was an appropriate thing for me to do without sticking my mic in his face looking for an interview. Renney could have given me the cold shoulder but he didn't snub me in any way. He may be harder to deal with as the season goes on but Renney was a class act during the exchange I had with him.


• I introduced myself to new Oilers' radio play-by-play man Jack Michaels. Michaels was at the workout at Prospera Place with a watchful eye. No, I was not tempted to push Michaels down the stairs in an attempt to injury him. If you don't understand why I would jokingly suggest that, just ignore the comment. Michaels is living the dream and is in a spot that many of us, me included, would love to be. Congrats to him for getting the Oilers' radio gig. Envious? Yes. Sour grapes? No.


• After introducing myself to Michaels, I ran into Oilers' color analyst Bob Stauffer. Let me state, while my encounters with Stauffer have been few, I like him. Smart, personable and solid at what he does, I have the utmost respect for him and believe the feeling is mutual.


• My goal at the workout was to obtain a comment from Taylor Hall which pertained to his visit to Kelowna. The Oilers number one pick from this summers draft spoke about the Rockets winning tradition, and specifically pointed to a painting of Tyler Myers, which is on the wall just outside the Rockets dressing room. Hall is no stranger with Kelowna, having played in a minor hockey tournament here years ago.


• Hall is a classy kid. He could have bolted to an awaiting bus outside of Prospera Place once the workout was over, but he put on the brakes to sign a few autographs for the fans that were waiting for a glimpse of the future star.


• Is Jordan Eberle 30? The reason I suggest that is his composure or relaxed approach in media scrums. It looks like he enjoys being behind the mic or in front of the TV camera. Eberle spent some time this summer in Kelowna working out at the Redline High Performance Hockey Centre. He obviously played a few games in Prospera Place as a junior with the Regina Pats. For the record, Eberle is 20.


• I spoke quickly to Milan Kytnar. Kytnar, a former Rocket, was playing in the middle between Hall and Eberle during Saturday's workout. Kytnar is no longer junior eligible after an injury riddled campaign with the Saskatoon Blades.


• No one is playing more in the shadows of Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle than Kelowna product Curtis Hamilton. Hamilton was the Oilers second round pick in this summers draft, yet few fans, at least now, don't know who he is.


• So the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton is playing host to the Vancouver Canucks Prospects Tournament this week, but could Kelowna host an event of this magnitude? If you looked at the existing dressing rooms in the arena, the answer is no. Until R.G Properties does some major work to improve the cramped quarters, hosting an event like this won't happen. Sad, but true.