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Rookie game fight leaves Oilers prospect Colten Teubert on sidelines at start of camp

Colten Teubert

When the Oilers traded Dustin Penner to Los Angeles last year they were able to get top defensive prospect Colten Teubert from the Kings as part of their bounty. Teubert was the Kings first round pick, 13th overall, back in 2008, the same year they drafted Drew Doughty second overall. Now with Teubert part of the Oilers system, he’ll have a chance to bring his big body and physical presence to Edmonton.

He’ll be able to better do that if he can avoid getting his head taken off in poorly chosen fights during rookie camp.

During the Oilers rookie camp in Penticton, British Columbia, the Oilers kids were taking on the Vancouver Canucks prospects when Teubert and Canucks defenseman Adam Polasek decided to put on the foil. Polasek was a fifth round pick of Vancouver in the 2010 draft and while the kids want to impress, Polasek was able to show Teubert that he’s not the only kid that can throw a big punch as he knocked Tuebert out with a crushing right hand.

Polasek’s punch broke Teubert’s nose and gave him a concussion, the latter injury of which is keeping him off the ice at the start of Oilers training camp and something that leaves him frothing at the mouth to get back on the ice quickly as Joanne Ireland of The Edmonton Journal finds out.

The good news is that Teubert, acquired from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Dustin Penner last season, said he felt real good on Saturday, so good that he felt like he was ready to go.

“It’s definitely frustrating to watch, but we’re just trying to be smart with it,” he said. “We’re trying to take the safe road and think about the future, too.

“I just have to be patient.”


Patience is tough to have when you’re a highly touted 21 year-old kid and hoping to break through into the NHL. It’s even more frustrating when other defensemen drafted in the same year have already broken out and gotten their chance to prove themselves in the NHL.

The 2008 draft could prove to be the one where defenses were built. Doughty, Luke Schenn, Alex Pietrangelo, Zach Bogosian, Tyler Myers, Erik Karlsson, and John Carlson are all big time stars and starters that came out of that draft just three years ago. Add in guys like Michael Del Zotto and Luca Sbisa to the mix and that’s a ton of talent that’s already shown themselves off in the NHL. Teubert wants to be the next one to make his mark on the league and being with the Oilers gives him the chance to make a big impression at camp and potentially win a job in Edmonton.

It’s tough to make that impression when you’re sidelined with a concussion though and earning it in a foolish rookie camp squabble makes it all the more frustrating for him. He’s still young and he plays the sort of physical game where fights are going to happen, but saving that kind of feisty play for a preseason game or even the regular season in the AHL or NHL would be more beneficial for him. Then again, making sure you don’t take a straight right to the middle of your face would help too.