Mike Comrie Coming Home

For veteran forward Mike Comrie Friday night’s tilt with the Florida Panthers was anything but a meaningless home exhibition game for the newest Edmonton Oiler. This eight- year veteran who was an unrestricted free agent this past off season decided after weighing some previous offers to come home again by signing with Edmonton a couple of days prior to camp. Originally drafted by the Oilers in 1999 this Edmonton native spent three seasons with the Oilers until December 2003 when he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers. Since then Comrie who had his best season with Edmonton a year earlier in scoring 60 points has bounced around from the Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes, New York Islanders and the Ottawa Senators. Even though he left the Oilers on not the best of terms Comrie is excited to be back again and based on the home crowd’s reaction in Friday’s 4-0 whitewash of the Panthers they were pretty excited to once again have him back. “ “It was pretty special to hear them chanting,” Comrie who posted four assists in the game said about the fans chanting his name. “It’s always great to hear that but especially with what I have been through. I’m just thrilled. When I signed here it was something I hoped could happen. You never really expect that from a crowd.”  Comrie who now has six points in two pre-season games had the fans chanting not only for his assists but also when he found himself engaged in a fight with Panther’s Eric Himelfarb. Coming into the pre-season Comrie knew that he had some work to do to win over the fans that were on him when he left town. Putting things in perspective Comrie knows that there is still lots of work to do before the real season begins. “It’s not a one game thing though. I’m going to have to work hard every night. They expect that from their players here and when they see it, they acknowledge it.” New Oilers coach Pat Quinn has acknowledged that Comrie who last year had only 27 points in a season split between the Islanders and Senators is playing at camp like he’s on a mission. “He is a guy who has not had some seasons that he is really happy with and he wants to prove to himself that he is still a good player,” Quinn said. “You don’t play as well as he has and get the point that he has on the first couple of nights without concentrating on how you intend to play. He’s off to a really good start.”