Oilers players out of their comfort zone

I just wanted to do something a little more productive and we are trying to trend the team toward a tougher attitude,” Ference said Sunday afternoon before the group headed out with a tank commander and a soldier with the reconnaissance unit in the Canadian Army, as well as Carr.

They were going to run the players through the same kind of procedures that they’ve had to do in the field, from foot patrols to setting up a base camp to finding food and water.

General manager Craig MacTavish had just asked Ference if he’d talk to the players during the development camp.

It’s not a little camping trip,” said Ference, who visited the Ranger Training Brigade at Fort Benning, Ga., with Carr as well as a sniper school, but he was also new to Sunday’s experience.

“If guys are going to complain after one night, well, every one of these guys has done six to nine months straight, with people actually shooting at them,” Ference continued.

Throughout the course of the orientation camp, there has been less focus on intense on-ice drills and more focus on teaching and team building.

Those players who didn’t golf visited a seniors’ lodge and toured the new Glacier Skywalk off the Icefields Parkway.

The group did have bear bangers and the military experts spent Saturday night constructing practice bombs out of their MRE packs (military meals ready to eat).

They were exercises to stretcher people out, hockey bags were loaded up with 50 pounds of gear that required hauling, and the players were pushed to exhibit some leadership skills.