Eakins: Oilers brotherhood is firmly bonded together

Edmonton Oilers coach Dallas Eakins spoke to the media Tuesday morning, ahead of the evening's game against the Colorado Avalanche.

On why his team is still buying in and hasn't 'pulled the chute' with so few games left and nothing on the line:

"Listen, when you're in that room... it may sound a little interesting, but listen - these guys love each other and they're going to - it's like a brotherhood.

"It always amuses me when people just go, 'well, we'll just starting mailing it in and that's it.' Well, no, that's a team in there and when you think about everything they've gone through this year - great things can happen, bad things can happen and they bond you together and this team is firmly bonded together and they're fighting hard for each other.

"And that doesn't mean it's not going to come off the rails like the game against Calgary. It came off the rails that night, but the guys are able to recover from it and move on.

"So for me, it's firmly the love for one another and to work for each other no matter what the situation is and that's an encouraging thing for me. I know we're going to have to wait until September, again, but that doesn't go away."