BLOG: Preaching the positives

EDMONTON, AB - The Law of Attraction says positive thoughts yield positive outcomes.
So, the Edmonton Oilers aren't dwelling on the negatives of Thursday's lopsided 6-0 defeat against the Florida Panthers or their winless seven-game slide.
Members of the Orange & Blue are preaching optimism ahead of a critical Battle of Alberta matchup by building on the constructive components of their latest game. Those include the opening half of the match and out-shooting Florida 40-28 at the sound of the horn.

"We have to find some positives to build on," forward Colton Sceviour said on Friday. "That first period could have been easily 1-0, 2-0 or 3-0 with some of the looks we had and some of the pucks that squeaked through but didn't go in. We come out that way most games, we're going to have a lot of better results."
Sceviour said that flashing back to successful instances in his career, whether when coming up as a minor skater or junior professional, can also be a healthy exercise when feeling the squeeze of a struggling stretch.
"Try to find positives, either in your game or in the way you've played in your career, at this level or other levels and try to focus on those things that have led to success," he continued.
"Everyone's had success to get to this level at some point or multiple points. You can find some of those positive aspects and focus on them. The rest of the game will come with you. It's what I try to do and sometimes it's easier said than done but that's the attempted focus."

Forward Warren Foegele can relate to Edmonton's current situation after withstanding the peaks and valleys of his rookie campaign with the Carolina Hurricanes. In that 2018-19 season, the winger appeared in 77 up-and-down regular-season games before experiencing a lengthy and memorable post-season run.
"At the halfway point, we weren't in the playoffs," Foegele said. "We finished the second half battling back just to get into the final wildcard and then we ended up making it to the Eastern Conference Finals. There's still a lot of optimism."
There are few benefits to letting frustration take over, and with 46 games remaining in the regular season - holding games in hand on their Pacific Division counterparts - plenty of hockey is left.
"We're not out of this and we know we have great players," Foegele added. "It's just about doing it together as a group. We saw yesterday that we had really strong details in that first 40 minutes. Now, it's about executing those for a full 60 and sticking together."

Earlier in the week, Brendan Perlini professed his devotion to the Law of Attraction and how he applies that philosophy to hockey and life.
"Law of Attraction, for me, is so big," said the forward. "Just staying positive through everything. Sometimes things can get too much in the past or future and I just try to stay in the pocket and in the present, which is tough. For me, it's a mindset of trying to stay present, staying happy, going out and enjoying everything."
As the Oilers get ready for a densely-packed schedule, a chance to return to the win column presents itself on Hockey Night in Canada against the Calgary Flames.
"We're one win away from starting a positive streak," Sceviour said. "We can get some momentum and something going that way. That's got to be our focus, that's got to be our goal and we got to find a way to do it."