The painful lockout did accomplish at least two things -- it picked up the pace of the game on ice, and it leveled the playing field to help smaller market teams keep their core players and even bring in established talent to help. Edmonton wasted no time landing favorite son Chris Pronger to solidify their defense. The longtime Blues captain left the Midwest behind and immediately became Edmonton's best player on the blue line. The revamped Oilers are contending in the Northwest Division and are only too happy to be playing in the new NHL.