EDMONTON - Winning was all Taylor Hall knew prior to joining the Edmonton Oilers.

He won the under-18 world hockey championship with Canada in 2008 and back-to-back Memorial Cups (including MVP honours) with the Windsor Spitfires in 2009-10.

But over the past five seasons, no one in the National Hockey League has experienced more losing than Hall and his Oilers teammate Jordan Eberle.

That’s why the recent world championship was such a special treat for Hall and Eberle, who not only won the gold medal, but also had the pleasure of playing on a line with Sidney Crosby and worked with new Oilers coach Todd McLellan. Hall scored the most even-strength goals in the tournament and was named an all-star.

“You kind of forget how fun it is to be a part of a group of guys who win and have results,” Hall said. “And it’s not an insult to anyone in the (Oilers) organization or anything, but it just didn’t happen for us the past five years.

“To end the season like that and to go into the summer feeling good not only about yourself, but what you can bring to a team, is a really good feeling.”

McLellan will be Hall’s fifth head coach in the NHL, but he already knows what to expect from his new bench boss.

“I think Todd did a really good job of making sure everyone not only had a role, but knew what it was and knew how to excel in it,” Hall said. “There were guys who were not playing as much as they were used to on their club teams, but everyone felt important in their role and everyone felt like what they were bringing to the team was something that was important.

“I think you’ve got to bring guys into the fire, make sure you make guys feel important, and I think that everyone really did feel like that in Prague.”

Hall was impressed with McLellan’s energy, passion, how organized he was, and how well he prepared the players in the world championship.

“This is a little thing, but what stood out for me was we’re over in Europe playing against European teams, guys who don’t play in the NHL, and he never messed up a name on the other team,” Hall said. “It was obvious he researched a lot about the other team, he knows a lot about hockey and he’s a very precise guy and that showed in our team.

“He obviously believes a really important aspect of coaching is telling us why we would do something, because he did that a lot during the tournament. We had a power-play meeting before the tournament and most of it was explaining why we need a shot within seven seconds of a power play starting. Not how to get the shot off, but why it was important. He made you understand why we do the things he asked us to do.”

Hall also said McLellan was strict about playing a certain way, but that his explanations were “easy to understand and implement on the ice.”

Only Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Ryan Getzlaf and Steven Stamkos averaged more points per game than Hall over the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons, but the Oilers winger isn’t in their league yet.