Oilers at a glance
	Camp schedule: Sept. 11: Millennium Place (Sherwood Park, Alberta) Coach: Craig MacTavish (2nd season, 39-28-12-3) General manager: Kevin Lowe (2nd season)

It's a new era in the long-ago self-proclaimed City of Champions. One in which the Oilers will try to get used to a new sensation: Weight-lessness.

The usual culprit in small-market Canadian crises, money, led to general manager Kevin Lowe off-loading captain, leading-scorer, best passer and emotional fulcrum Doug Weight to the power-mad St. Louis Blues. Despite the compensation coming back their way, the Oilers are decidedly weaker without him.

To counteract the loss in productivity, Anson Carter will need to up his goal total from 16, Todd Marchant his from 13 and Dan Cleary his from 14.

The Oilers seem to perennially be in a dogfight to snare one of the final playoff positionings in the West, and this year seems to be no exception. Still, there's no denying the fans at Skyreach Centre, given the dull state of the NHL as a whole, are a lucky bunch, watching this fast, young group 41 times a winter.

In support of Salo: It might be advisable somewhere down the road to find Tommy Salo some relief help in nets. Salo deserved some MVP votes a year ago for his 4,364 minutes-played, 2.46 goals-against average, 36-win season. That he wasn't worn to a frazzle by playoff time was a minor miracle.

Smyth, step up: With Weight gone, the moment has arrived for Ryan Smyth to step up and be the dominant force on the Oil. His breakneck speed and fearlessness have drawn apt comparisons to former Edmonton kamikaze sniper Glenn Anderson. People tend to overlook the fact that last year he led the team in goals (31), game winners (6) and shots on goal (245). There is a scoring and leadership gap to be filled. He's the obvious choice to plug both.

Fame is Brewin': One of the largely-unheralded gems of the 2000-2001 NHL season was rangy defenseman Eric Brewer. He's a keeper and is only going to improve on his 21-point, plus-15 season. So good, so dependable was Brewer that he was invited to Canada's pre-Olympic orientation camp.

Oilers 2001-02 preseason schedule
Date	Opponent	Time
Sun., Sept. 16	at Calgary	Canceled*
Mon., Sept. 17	Minnesota	9 p.m.
Wed., Sept. 19	at Calgary	8 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 21	Vancouver	9 p.m.
Sat. Sept. 22	Vancouver	8 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 23	at Vancouver	5 p.m.
Tue., Sept. 25	at Minnesota	8 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 28	at Calgary	9 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 29	Calgary	8 p.m.
*Rescheduled for Sept. 19