Oilers looking ahead at life inside the NHL bubble in Edmonton

With NHL players arriving in Edmonton tomorrow, the Oilers are getting ready for life inside the bubble. 

At a zoom press conference on Saturday, head coach Dave Tippett and Oiler centerman Cooper Marody explained to reporters their expectations. 

"I give our medical staff a ton of credit making sure everybody was doing the right thing," Tippett said. 

"But you are also going to give the players and staff a great deal of credit because they have really decided to hunker down and do what's needed to get yourselves into the bubble healthy and without any virus in there."

Tippett said he has been staying at the Marriott Hotel for the past month and going into the bubble will be no different. He said he doesn't believe life would be any different for the players either.

"I have not heard any comments from our players about not wanting to do it," he said. 

Marody echoed the coaches statement, saying he doesn't believe things will be any different. "Because we have all been quarantining and whatnot this entire time" he said.

He did say that going into the bubble is something he will remember for the rest of his life. But he didn't have any crazy plans before going in, save for the usual routine of making food, watching some Netflix, and playing some music. 

"I mean guys are going to have to find stuff to do but at the end of the day we are here to win the Stanley Cup."

Marody also talked about his song, Agape, he wrote and recorded in memory of his late teammate Colby Cave. 

Cave died at age of 25 in April due to a brain bleed. 

Marody said the song hit 65,000 streams on Spotify in a span of a month. The song also has more than 23,000 views on YouTube. 

"It has had a tremendous reaction. You see people all around the world inspired by their story, Colby and Emily and the love that they had," he said. 

Earlier on Saturday, the Oilers also held a scrimmage in honour of their late teammate. 

Tippett said the players did a great job respecting the memory of Cave. 

"It's a day you wish you never had but because of the circumstance, I think the guys paying respects is the right thing to do," he said.