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Edmonton’s Nugent-Hopkins is excited for six-game road trip

2011 NHL Entry Draft - Portraits

ST PAUL, MN - JUNE 24: First overall pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Edmonton Oilers poses for a portrait during day one of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft at Xcel Energy Center on June 24, 2011 in St Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

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The Edmonton Oilers are heading out on a six-game road trip today and boy is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins excited he’s not riding the buses in junior anymore.

“The bus in Red Deer was a nice-looking bus, but it’s sometimes eight hours on the road and you have to play the next day,” Nugent-Hopkins told the Edmonton Journal.

The 18-year-old rookie is also pretty pumped with his daily expense allowance.

“I got $80 every two weeks when I played in (WHL) Red Deer,” he said. “I think per diem in the NHL is $98 a day. I don’t think I’ve touched much of that yet.”

How adorable.

Nugents-Hopkins will get sick of NHL road trips soon enough. Actually the novelty might have worn off completely in exactly 12 days, after the Oilers visit Los Angeles, Phoenix, Montreal, Boston, Detroit and Chicago.

Edmonton is 7-2-2 and a huge early surprise, but eight of its first 11 have been played at Rexall Arena.

“I honestly don’t know if I thought we’d have these results (in October), but I did know we’d have the effort, that there was some continuity from last season,” said coach Tom Renney. “There’s all sorts of ebbs and flows in a season, though, and there will be on this road trip. I’m sure of that.”

PS -- Nugent-Hopkins is going to try and grow a mustache for “Movember”.

PPS -- Be funny if he grows a really good one.