After a disappointing season with the Edmonton Oilers, Darnell Nurse is with Team Canada at the 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship looking forward to playing some meaningful hockey.
Nurse, who completed his third NHL season, admitted it was difficult being on the outside looking in when the Stanley Cup playoffs began last month.
"When you don't reach the playoffs, you're still hungry to play and this gives you an opportunity to play more games and I'm excited for it," he said. "I wasn't happy being home so early so I'm very excited to get back on the ice and
play some meaningful games."
After finishing second in the Pacific Division last season with a 47-26-9 record and defeating the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the playoffs, expectations on the Oilers, led by captain Connor McDavid, were understandably high.
However, Edmonton faltered out of the gate going 3-6-1 in October and were 17-20-3 through the first three months of the season before finishing sixth in the Pacific Division with a 36-40-6 record - 17 points back of the second wild card spot in the Western Conference and once again found themselves back in the
NHL Draft lottery.
"It was disappointing; it was disappointing for everybody," said Nurse. "At this point, you reflect, you see what went wrong and you just move on, get ready for next camp. It was a season where there was a lot of expectations going into it. We didn't handle that well enough and found ourselves in a hole,
and home early.
"It's tough to look back on, we've kind of just got to look past it."
Nurse led all Oilers defencemen with 26 points in 82 games this season and was second in ice time only to Oscar Klefbom averaging 22:15 a night.
The 25-year-old Hamilton, Ontario native admitted many things went wrong this season in Edmonton.
"As a team we didn't play to our full potential, and anytime you don't play to your full potential, especially early on, and dig yourself a hole," he said. "It's tough to get yourself out of it so looking back and reflecting, it just comes down to each and every player, we can all be better."
The six-foot-four, 221-pound blue liner doesn't watch the Stanley Cup playoffs,
instead he prefers to keep tabs on the hard court.
"I don't watch the playoffs. I watch the NBA playoffs," Nurse said. "I don't watch the NHL. I get jealous if I watch hockey.
"(NBA has) been a lot of fun to watch. Philly might be the sleeper. I'm a big Raptors fan so I always try to keep tabs on the Raptors, and hopefully they can
make a run of it.
Following the conclusion of the regular season Nurse elected to stay on the ice
and get right into his off-season workout program in preparation for the World Championship. Nurse says he'll likely take a summer vacation after the international tournament.
The 2013 Oilers first-round pick is no stranger to international competition. He's worn the Canadian colours on four occasions previously including the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship and Hlinka Memorial Tournament. The previous experience has Nurse confident and comfortable joining his country at the worlds for the first time in his career.
"Especially the first couple times I had the opportunity to play for Canada, very never-wrecking," Nurse recalled. "I think to be able to have a little bit of experience and to be able to just go out and enjoy the tournament, and obviously when you get there, there's a lot of work and we're going to have a goal to win.
"At the same time, it'll be good experience to go out there and play with some of the best from our country and have my family with me there too."
It wasn't difficult for Nurse to pinpoint his favourite moment in Canadian colours: the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship where Canada won gold in Toronto.
"That's probably one of the best memories that I have playing hockey," he said.
"Just the atmosphere, the group of guys that we had, being able to be part of such a special moment. It was something I'll never forget and always brings back fond memories, especially when you see guys that you played in the tournament with."
The World Championship isn't the only thing Nurse is experiencing for the first
time this off-season, it's the first time in his career he's without a contract. Nurse's entry-level contract will expire this summer making him a restricted free agent.
"It hasn't been too stressful on me," he said. "I think I kind of just sit back
and I have an idea of what I want to do. You just kind of sit back and let things play out. That's kind of the approach I've had.
"It's for the agent and the GM to hash out. When something comes to the table, then I get to make the final decision, that's kind of how I look at it."
Nurse says he enjoys Edmonton, and being a part of the Oilers, but at the end of the day the situation is out of his hands.
"It all comes down to what they want to do," said Nurse. "Obviously those guys on that team are like brothers to me. That's great group of guys, great coaching staff. I love playing for them. With that said, I just kind of let the
rest of it play itself out."
Dhiren Mahiban˙
http://https://www.new-iihf.com/en/events/2018/wm/news/2234/meaningful-hockey --- SBBSecho 3.04-Win32
* Origin: TequilaMockingbird Online - Toms River, NJ (1:266/404)