Battle of Alberta

So with two wins in a row, yes let's even call it a winning streak, the Oilers go for number three tonight against the Flames. Which team will show up? The Oilers from the first period of the Ducks game or the Oilers from the second and third periods? Let's hope the latter.

After being pushed around like a bunch of little girls lately, the Oilers finally showed some physical play vs the Ducks. And now they have called up Zack Stortini, and hopefully this time he'll play.

This is something I do not understand about this year's team: their lack of physical play. Last year, they were physical, forechecking hard and this in turn created many scoring chances. This year, the boys are so timid. Jason Smith isn't laying out the opposition much. Even Torres, who we all know can make those big open ice hits, is sitting back. This team seems to be afraid to make a mistake, get out of position and give up a scoring chance. Well, when you play with no intensity or physicality, that is what happens.

Game Day updates:

ROSTER UPDATES: Edmonton — Ethan Moreau (shoulder) is out. Daniel Tjarnqvist (inflamed public bone) is doubtful. Ales Hemsky (upper body) is questionable. Steve Staios (knee) is out. Jarret Stoll (fractured nose) is out. Raffi Torres (flu) is questionable;

LINEUP UPDATE (11:10 AM): Raffi Torres was ill and did not take the morning skate. He will be a gametime decision. Ales Hemsky is also a gametime decision while Jarret Stoll will not play.

So we could be down a few forwards tonight. Yikes. Looks like Ryan Smyth will have to keep carrying the offensive (although Sykora has been hot against the Flames but needs his little buddy Hemsky).

Eight hours until the puck drops. I'll be at Rexall as usual to cheer on the boys. With three points out of the playoffs and four points behind Calgary, this is another big game. They all are at this point. Oilers have to start winning against their divisional opponents. Oh good news, Iginla finally admitted he's out for at least a month. hahahahhaha. Now only if the Flames would start losing. Actually, they really suck on the road (lost 16 of 22) so let's hope that trend continues!!!

Oilers will win 3-1, with goals by Sykora, Smyth and Horcoff.

update: Oilers lose 4-0.

Some thoughts from tonight:

-bad penalty call on Roli led to goal one (he was apparently in the no-fly zone, ahuh sure)
-horrible second goal, Roli should have had it
-Hemmer and Smid cause third goal
-game over

-Flames are very ladylike. Everyone refused to fight Stortini. What a bunch of pansies.
-Dion Phaneuf should change his name to Celine.
-Stortini gets a 10 min misconduct for doing nothing. Another good call refs.
-Nice to see Smith fight
-Good hip check by Bergeron
-Kipper played fine, not spectacular. Gave up lots of rebounds but the Oilers were NEVER in the right spot to pounce on it

Oilers, please fire Craig Simpson. With Stoll injured and unable to play the point on the powerplay tonight, guess who Simpson put out in his place? Peterson. Who? Yeah exactly. Nice to see Simpson really mixing things up.

While I drove home after the game, I was listening to 630 CHED and their post-Oiler show. A caller mentioned that Ryan Smyth wants $6 - 6.5 million instead of the $5 - 5.5 mill. we've been hearing. Could that possibly be true? I thought Smitty was pushing it at $5 million, but $6 million??? I have one thought on that, if it's true: trade the greedy bastard.

Anyways, in conclusion: It is VERY tough being an Oilers fan right now.

They let that one slip away

So we lost to Minnesota again and now we're 3 points behind them for the final playoff spot. They owned us last year, winning 6 of 8. Is this going to be more of the same? We're 1-1 so far. That also means we play Minnesota 6 times in the second half the season, including back-to-back games on the road near the end of the season. UGH!! Please change the schedule. All this divisional play is too much. You can't create rivalries. You need to boost the ones that already exist. There are discussions right now about possibly changing the schedule, to make sure everyone plays at least once. I'm on board with that. At the minimum, make sure all Canadian teams play each other. I don't give a shit about seeing Atlanta or Florida, I want the Canadian teams.

Tonight is the Battle of Alberta. I'm not sure what to expect. We saw the Oilers take 5 of 6 points on their road trip, then come home and lose to Minnesota. That was a game they should have won. How many chances did they have? And especially on the powerkill. I've never seen so many short-handed chances. Another game they let slip away.

Oh yes, back to Calgary. So the next week has Edmonton playing Calgary twice, back to Minnesota (zzzzzzzz) and the Pronger-less Ducks coming back to town. These are all must wins, especially our divisional games (which we are 7-8-1 against our divisional rivals. Ouch). This could be the season for real. Win all four, we're good going into the All-Star break. That also gives Lowe time to make a deal.

Everyone has been on Lowe's ass for not making the deals, myself included. But let's step away from his ass for a moment. Everyone knows the Oilers need defense, and that makes the price very steep. We can't give up our future for an unknown present. So that brings us back to the next week. If the Oilers can win 3 of 4 (hopefully the 3 against our division), we're still in the playoff picture so deal away Kevin, deal away. If we can't win, and fall further behind in the standings, is it time to consider becoming sellers and start building for next year? I hate to even think that, I hate to see our team give up, but you need to be realistic.

So I will remain slightly positive, hope the boys realize the gravity of the situation and really push hard tonight. I'm predicting an Oiler victory tonight, 4-1.

update: Ryan Smyth is an All-Star. But we already knew that.

Pull it together boys!!

Time is ticking away on the Oilers season. The next two weeks will probably determine whether they make the playoffs or not. They play 7 games, starting with tonight's game in LA. That's 14 points to be had. Tonight is the second game of a three game road trip. Time to start winning on the road. Their record is 6-11-2. Ouch.

So going into tonight's game, they are seven points behind Vancouver (ouch again) but only three points out of the playoffs. It's definitely in reach, but everyone needs to play better (except Smyth). Everyone else.

Thoresen was recalled from the farm team and Pouliot and Jacques were sent down (finally, a brain is working in MacT). In two games for the farm team, Thoresen had a goal and three assists. Irreverent Oiler Fans talked about this move as a precursor to upcoming trades. We all hope so.

So if trades are to be had, who is coming and who is going? Rumors have been swirling over a possible Torres/Lupul for Pitkanen. Quite a steep price for a defenseman who is having a horrible year with the Flyers. I know very little about this player. Is he a good defenseman? Is he a defensive or offensive kind of D-man? Is is only having a bad year because the Flyers suck so much, it's contagious to all the teammates??

So other trades? I never thought I would say this, but what about Smitty?? He's a free agent after this season, and is not resigned yet. How hard is Kevin Lowe trying to resign him? Is Smitty demanding too much? Do you mortage your team and its future for him? A few months ago I would say hell yes. Now, I'm not so sure. He was offered a good deal before the season started ($4 mill a year for 3 years). He obviously turned it down, but what happened? Why didn't Smitty keep negotiating. He could have countered with his own offer, and got this done. It makes me think he doesn't want to be here. If that's the case, we must trade him before the deadline if he can't be resigned. We'll get some good prospects and probably a first round draft pick (maybe even a player who is NHL ready now?).

Trade deadline is February 27th. So the Oilers have two courses of action: trade now to keep in the playoff race. Trade later to rebuild for next year. Both could possibly happen. We all hope it's the first option and only the first. The last three games, sure two losses (in OT and the shootout) but the team played better. It's a start.

So let's be optimistic for our boys. The playoffs are within reach, put it together Oilers!!!

update: Oilers win 2-1 in OT with rookie Hedja scoring the winning goal. Good victory for the boys. They outchanced LA and dominated the game. Too bad they couldn't snag a few more goals but that 2 points puts us one point out of the playoffs (1 pt behind Minnesota, and tied with Colorado).

Did that just happen??

More of the same

Did that really happen? What a bloody goal. Hemsky is amazing, but even more amazing was how stupid Dallas is. That's what you get for your showboating Patrik Stefan.

Well you can't be completely happy about Thursday's game with Dallas. First, the Oilers blow a 4-1 lead. They played the first half of the game great. I think all the fans were thinking, hmmm after a nice win over Florida and a 4-1 lead over Dallas, is our team finally back? Umm, no. No, no, and no. Yes they gutted it out, played until the end and tied the game up only to lose in the horrible shootout.

Memo to Gary Bettman: GET RID OF THE SHOOTOUT. I hate it so much. It's so wrong to end a game with the shootout. Maybe I could get on board with it if the overtime lasted longer. 5 minutes is not very long. At least make it 10 or even better, a whole 20 min period. Then go to the shootout.

The Oilers are about to take the ice in Vancouver, and I am not sure what to think. What team will show up, and will they stay around for the whole game?? Let's just hope they don't get embarrassed. I'm assuming Jussi starts tonight (update: Roloson is in net. MacT, what the hell are you thinking? You have a goalie, not playing his best. He's a bit aged, and yet you have him playing on back-to-back nights. Roli needs more rest. This speaks volumes, you don't trust Jussi. You need to give him more starts).

Smid is out; nothing serious but probably out for at least a week. Maybe this is a good thing, and gives the kid some rest. I love the kid, but he's a rookie and has been playing some serious veteran minutes. So it could be a good thing.

Oh yes, Oilers claimed Petr Nedved off waivers this week. Surprise! Kevin Lowe makes a deal finally, but wait, it's not for a defenseman?? He's watching the same team we are, right? Cause this team needs help ASAP. With picking up Nedved, he's stocking up on forwards and maybe it's Horcoff that will be going.

So Petr returns to Edmonton, minus one supermodel. For those living under a rock, Nedved played for Edmonton down the homestretch in 2004 and almost single-handedly dragged Edmonton into the playoffs. After the season, he decided to leave for sunny Phoenix since his supermodel wife did not want to live here (that sounds familiar, does it not?). Well the marriage is kaput and Petr is back in Edmonton after being offered up to everyone, like a cheap whore. After a third time on waivers, we finally claimed him (rumor was Ottawa was going to take him, but after we nabbed him, they traded for Mike Comrie. Ugh good one Ottawa).

So with Petr having the worst year of his career, Lowe jumped at the chance to snag him (for a damn good deal, about $600,000). He scored a powerplay goal versus Dallas, so a good start. But is this the answer to our woes? Is this the answer to anyone's woes?? Ummm probably not. We'll see if he can revive his career, cause it's on life-support right now.

On a positive note, Canada won GOLD at the World Junior Championships today, smacking Russia around with a 4-2 win. Way to go boys!!!

All Hands on Deck

I'm not even sure how to start this post. I think this sums things up....FUCK!!!!!

Oil, what the hell are you doing to me? I can barely formulate a clear sentence; the Oilers have caused me multiple strokes with their inconsistent play of late. Inconsistent? That doesn't even begin to describe it. Let's go over some stats for December (updated after the Calgary game).

-5 Wins and 9 Losses
-46 goals against and 35 goals for
-9 PP goals total (3 were in one game, a loss to LA). 26th on PP
-12 PP goals given up (3 in one game, twice). 3rd in PK
-Following a 3 game winning streak in early December, the boys have 2 wins and 8 losses in their last nine. Ouch

Okay, much of December was played without Smitty and Hemmer. BUT.....does that explain the Oiler's inability to play defense? The last time I looked, they weren't defensemen nor goalies. Whoa, hold it. Why not? I can't see it making things worse

Other thoughts: why is Thoresen not playing? He's sat the last five games and I'm not sure if he's playing tonight in Calgary. But Pouliot and Jacques are playing. Jacques is a lovely -8 and no points in 14 games. MacT, what the fuck are you doing? Put the Norwegian back in. He's sat long enough. Time to act like a coach, see if sitting will motivate him (update: he's playing tonight).

Lupul? I suggest we take him out back, shoot him. Put him and more importantly, the fans out of our misery. I just don't understand this kid. Is it the pressure of playing in his hometown, an actual hockey town? Bullshit. Suck it up bitch and show some intensity. I forget he's on this team many nights, he's that invisible.

I won't single out any defensemen out, but you all suck right now. ALL.

Roli....come back. I know you're in there. Please come back. Hang in there, you're get some defense help in March. I know it's a long wait (paging Kevin Lowe, get off your ass, make a deal. Or if time machines are plausible, go back and undue the Pronger trade. How fucking stupid do you have to be to trade one of the best d-men to someone in your conference, who already has one of the best d-men in the league already, and in return you get rookies. Nothing substantial, yet. Sure, in five years we're going to be loving Smid, hell maybe in two years. You needed to get a top two d-man in return. You got screwed on the deal. Burke is a bloody genius. He took you, and hard).

So Battle of Alberta tonight and I hoping this will turn the tide. Calgary always brings out the best in us and if there was any a time to bring out the best, it is NOW. Urgency boys, we need to see some urgency.

In closing, fire Simpson and MacTavish please. Off with their heads too.

UPDATE: Good and bad news. The good: Pronger broke his foot (hahahahahaha). The bad: Oilers suck. Lost to Calgary 4-2.

Coming Home

The greatest hockey player ever (in my mind) will have his number retired February 27th. Yes, Mark Messier, aka Moose, comes home to Edmonton. I've been waiting for this moment since he announced his retirement. Of course, New York had to retire his number first, but the best have been saved for last.

I want one thing on February 27th: TEARS. Mess blubbered like a wee little baby when the Rangers retired his number, and I want lots of tears for the Oilers. I want Mess to be crying on Gretzky's shoulder. Is that too much to ask?

Anyways, I'm looking forward to this night. I have my season ticket but I am going to buy a gold seat, sit practically in the front row. I saw front row for Fuhr's retirement, and it was truly a magical night. Coffey had his last year, and of course I was there to see it.

Of course, it's too bad it's against Phoenix. I don't like the thought of giving them two more points. We always seem to lose these ceremony nights, so don't expect the boys to win. Sad.

On another note, the boys rebounded quite nicely against Vancouver. They played a pretty good game. I can't remember the last time I said that. A complete game. Yeah they got a couple lucky goals, but this team needed to get a break go their way.

The Oilers will be playing some crappy team from the US. I can't remember their names, I've blocked it out. Ok, it's Carolina Hurricanes. Blah, blah, I hate them, blah, blah. I have never watched the end of game seven, nor do I intend to. I'm sure my friends remember me turning the tv off after the empty net goal. I refused to watch it. But of course, I could not keep away the pictures of Brind'Amour's ugly ass mug holding OUR cup. It was on every paper, on every website, everywhere.

Also, our favorite ref will be working tonight....Magoo. I hope he gets hit with another beer!!

Wow, I'm watching TSN and they're showing an Ottawa game. Wow, shocking. But of course, that means we get to watch TSN kiss Ovechkin's ass all night. I'm glad to be at the Oilers game later, so I don't have to listen to Pierre McGuire raving about the Canes. Oh yes, Brind'Amour is amazing, Ward is the greatest goalie ever. Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss!!!

Jussi will be starting tonight. I'm actually not surprised. Roli had a good game against Vancouver so he can sit and relax. Let's hope Jussi can bring back his magical play from the playoffs. Keep smiling at the Canes, the reflection from your teeth should blind them!!!

Where's that button?

It is time. Time to hit the panic button.

Last night is the bottom of the barrel. The Oilers lost to Columbus. Yes, Columbus. One word describes last night: embarrassing. I don't care if Hitchcock has taken over reigns of the Bluejackets, this is a nightmare. Columbus is horrible. HORRIBLE. Icing to this cake, we've lost Smitty for some time due to a fractured thumb. He's been played on the IR, so that means what? Probably gone for over a month, maybe two?

So now the Oilers are without Moreau, Hemsky and Smyth. So how many rookies do we have on the team now? And how many players with extremely limited experience? Too bloody many. Stoll, Horcoff and Pisani must step it up and help carry the load. Roloson is tired of carrying this team. Help that man out.

So does Smitty's injury postpone a trade for a d-man? We can afford to give up any forwards right now, but after losing three games, they need help. Can they afford NOT to make a trade? Roloson needs help. Without him, this team would be sitting at the bottom of the standings.

Send out the SOS!!

Dear Oilers....

You blew it tonight.

But I still love you.

With love,
S.

Five Months in the Making

The devil returns to Edmonton tomorrow night. I was going to review all the articles and media coverage concerning Pronger's return to Edmonton, but I've been beaten to the punch. Thanks Andy! Check out the long long list of articles that he mentions (Edmonton Journal, another Edm Journal story, Edmonton Sun, TSN, Sportsnet, Globe and Mail, and so on). I'm going to comment on a select few.

The media is really stoking this fire, and yet are asking for the fans to restrain themselves. Yeah I'm sure you want that. If we did, you'd have nothing to write about. So the media tells us to be respectful, restrain ourselves and don't get carried away. Umm, stop throwing wood on the fire. By admonishing the fans, you're making them angrier. You can't tell us how to feel.

The general consensus in most of these articles is: booing Pronger is the equivalent of being a schoolyard bully. Seriously? Oh and it's immature. I pay my season ticket (it ain't cheap) and if I want to boo some whiny cheating bastard who didn't have the balls to stand up and be a man about this whole fiasco, it's my bloody business.

In today's NHL, players change teams all the time, but this was more painful than all others combined. It was days following losing game seven, his agent leaked the info to the media before contacting the Oilers, Pronger was off in Mexico, refused to comment for weeks, and when he did, it was via a conference call where he refused to answer why he wanted out. Oh yes, and this happened following the signing of a five year deal. Oiler fans finally could attract the big names, and be able to afford to keep them. Years of losing players because of money was over. Pronger stated, I woudln't

I take issue with one man in particular, Kelly Hrudey. Now, I used to absolutely hate him and that damn rag he wore on his head when he played. However, he became an excellent commentator on HNIC. Actually, he became one of my favorites. No longer is that the case. Kelly has waded in on the Pronger issue and comes off sounding like an ass. The excellent Battle of Alberta has commented on this already, so check it out. The most hilarious part is his attack on the blogging community, which something he readily admits that he knows nothing about. Yeah Kelly, way to state that expert opinion, which you admit is baseless.

I did enjoy Kevin Lowe's comments. Basically, trading Pronger is going to be an advantage. Without trading him, there would be little money for the Hemsky's and Smyth's on this team. He makes an excellent point. He freed up a lot of money by trading the devil, and sure, they lost some skill on the back end but by keeping the young core of this team, he's giving this team a real chance.

There's a bit of Kevin Lowe that wants to boo, too.
"I can understand how people feel duped,'' he said. "They warm up to a player quickly. The player has a hell of a year. The team has a great year ...''
The Oilers appear to be taking the high road as Pronger arrives today, but Lowe said that's not because of any team policy.
"I'm not afraid to bad-mouth Chris Pronger,'' said the GM.
"And I'll tell you I still don't understand it.

Well said Kevin. It's still shocking.

I'm very disappointed with all the media coverage. Most of it is supportive of Pronger and his decision to demand a trade. They want to feel morally superior to the average fan, and ask us to take the high road. Puhleeeze. Stay on your knees boys, I'm sure Pronger appreciates what you're doing down there and won't clam up on you (or zip up). It's all for the interview. You can't bash a "superstar" and live to talk to him.

The game will be on pay-per-view, brilliant move by the Oilers. They should rake the money in from this game. Oilers must win. MUST.