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Eller regrets ‘poor choice of words’ after calling Oilers ‘junior team’

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The day after his words apparently fired up the Oilers to the point where they were able to win a hockey game, Lars Eller was apologetic.

Eller, who referred to Edmonton as a “junior team” that was “all over the place” prior to Tuesday’s 4-3 loss, admitted he used a “poor choice of words,” in describing the Oilers.

“It wasn’t my intention to be disrespectful against [Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins] or anybody else,” Eller explained, as per the Canadian Press. “You win some, you lose some, you learn from it.”

The effect of Eller’s words was heightened thanks to Eakins, who made a point of calling out the Danish forward for firing up his team, which was 2-6-1 heading into last night.

“When you have a player like Lars Eller running his mouth before the game, it makes for great banter in our dressing room and great motivation,” Eakins said. “That is a total hockey god thing. I’m sure that young man has learned his lesson, and I highly doubt you’ll see anything like that out of his mouth again.”

Now feels like a good time to point out that, 10 games into his NHL coaching career, Eakins is hat-tipping Eller and the “hockey gods” for helping his club win its third game of the year.