Andrew Ference brings leadership lessons to Oilers

Following a vicious headshot that sidelined Nathan Horton in Game 3 of the 2011 Stanley Cup finals, a well-worn Starter jacket hung alone in his vacant locker stall. The jacket was awarded to the player of the game, and embodied the camaraderie of the tight-knit locker room. On that night, it served as a rallying cry.

The jacket was the brainchild of Andrew Ference.

Ference was an integral part of building a championship culture in Boston, on and off the ice. Now hes trying to take what hes learned to his team in Edmonton.

Following the 2012-13 season, Ference signed a four-year deal with the Oilers and was named their captain. Hed served as an alternate captain with the Bs, and it was clear Edmonton coveted him for his locker room presence in addition to his performance on the ice.

Those are really great lessons, Ference said yesterday of what he discovered as a Bruin. To see something that did take time and effort to build, but could be so successful once it was there. Thats some of the same messaging that you try to pass on to the situation that Im in, in Edmonton.

When Ference arrived via trade on Feb. 10, 2007, the Bs werent a playoff team and Dave Lewis was their coach. Their ascension to becoming among the NHLs elite was a process that occurred over the course of his seven-year tenure with the team, as was the jelling of the locker room.

In Edmonton he realizes that itll take time for a transformation to happen as well. The Oilers have been mired in mediocrity for almost a decade, but are one of the youngest teams in the league. They have four top-five draft picks that have yet to turn 23. The 35-year-old captain is trying to lead by example, as the youth on his club makes it an even more impressionable than most.

Ference says hes trying to create solidarity by doing things like, making sure the young guys, and everybody, are coming into the rink with a positive outlook. Creating an atmosphere that doesnt get rattled with that negativity or anything like that, and has the ability to look at the bigger picture.

The defenseman was resigned to the press box for last nights contest, as he was serving the second of a three-game ban for an illegal check on Vancouver forward Zack Kassian.

Ference wasnt happy about having to sit out at the Garden.

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Andrew Ference brings leadership lessons to Oilers