Downfall

This basically sums it ALL up!

Deadline Madness

Deadline madness begins now with 24 hours of craziness!! But what do our beloved Oilers do in the next 24 hours??

Who is traded? Cole is my bet and I'd be shocked if he was not gone. Why? He's an unrestricted at the end of the year, he is not resigning here and has been a bust. Sure he's played somewhat better over the past month but it's not enough. I say get rid of him for someone who can win faceoffs, kill penalties or a shut-down defenseman. He won't get you that winger for Hemsky.

Several big name players were put on waivers today including one Miroslav Satan, a former Oiler from the mid-1990s. He has 17 goals for the Pens so he might be a nice temporary fix for our top line. He's unrestricted after this year and his salary is $3.5 million so that might be about a $1.3 million hit for the Oilers. Doable especially if they unload Cole (or even not). According to nhlnumbers.com, Oilers have $2.1 million in cap space. Soooooo, maybe this works or is at least an option if you can't get anything else going?

I don't see the Oilers making a big splash at the deadline. They're not mortgaging the future in order to make the playoffs. If they can get a couple small deals, they're probably okay. They need some help in killing penalties. They're getting slaughtered out there. Satan would probably help the powerplay too, and they need help with that too!!

Who else might be leaving in smaller deals? Pouliot or Nilsson are two players that come to mind, but I'm not sure if they're going to cut them loose after all the time they're put into them. But it's possible.

A busy 24 hours are coming up. But how busy?

Big game for the Oilers tonight as they are in Nashville, trying to distance themselves from the pack which includes the Preds, who are only one point behind. This is a hard game to judge since the Preds are coming off an 8-0 victory over Detroit. They have also only won once in the last 11 games against the Preds so another mountain to climb!

Good news for captain Ethan Moreau as he won't require surgery to repair the damage to his eye. Even better news, Moreau is out for at least a week so we can be free of his awesome penalties for at least a few games. Glad you're okay dude, but also extremely elated that you are out of the lineup for a few games.

GO OILERS!!

Update: Apparently, the Oilers are not interesting in Miroslav. That's too bad; at the very least, his name would fit in nicely with this team and their Ladislav and Lubomir!!!

Fernando - The Return

Oilers welcome Columbus to Rexall tonight and Fernando Pisani makes his return to the ice after sitting out for 14 weeks with a broken ankle. Pisani will be playing with Cogliano and Moreau on the third line.

Will he be effective after such a long lay-off? I'm sure they'll manage his ice-time carefully tonight and he won't play big minutes. It would be nice to see a strong return and someone who can help with the power kill which still remains near the bottom at 28th spot (did I see that right on nhl.com? Detroit is 27th on the PK? Gives me hope if that's correct).

The Oilers need some scoring, even strength AND powerplay (20th is not good enough) to get the team into the playoffs. A big game tonight (they are all big from now on) as a win jumps them over Columbus into possibly 6th place.

Make this easy boys.....WIN!!

Battle of Alberta

This picture basically expresses my sentiments clearly, non?

One thing needs to be said: STOP TAKING PENALTIES MOREAU!! You are a moron!!!! Try being the leader of this team, instead of putting them a man down several times a game. I'm going to suggest something radical....be the captain!! Shocking eh?

Oilers have won 2 of the 3 games so far with the Flamers so far, let's make it 3 of 4.

Down one d-man

When Lubo came off the ice, we all knew it was bad. It has been confirmed that Visnovsky needs surgery on his injured shoulder and is done for the season. That is really too bad. He was having a very nice season. The only good news is that we have three other offensive and puck-moving defensemen on the team. I don't think the Oilers can move any of them now. If Lubo was not hurt, I think one of them was going to be moved for either a left winger or a center.

Montreal is in town tomorrow night and they are floundering right now, losing 8 of 10. They held a players-only meeting following their loss to Calgary last night (6-2) so the Oilers need to show up in the first period and play the whole 60 minutes. They are tied for 8th place after going 2-4-1 since the All-Star break. Miraculously they are still in the hunt but they need to be better.

I've just renewed my season ticket for next year and signed up for playoff tickets. Now, get to the promised land boys!!!! Edmonton needs playoff hockey....

UPDATE: Jagr as an Oiler?? Rumor is out there that he is close to signing a deal. His stats for far for Omsk is 51 points in 48 games (25 goals, 26 assists). Not bad. Have we finally found someone to play with Hemsky? Don't tease us Oilers, don't tease us!!!

UPDATE: Yeah not happening this year at least. Jagr remains in Russia.

Oilers vs Bluejackets

The Bluejackets are in town tonight in a big game before the all-star break. The Oilers are tied for the 8th playoff spot with Minnesota but a win tonight could vault them into a tie for 5th with Anaheim and Vancouver. Yes, the west (as usual) is that frickin' tight so this is such a big game. A loss does not mean they are out of it but we'd sure like to see them make things a bit easier on themselves. Like everyone else, I'm tired of the Oilers taking the bumpier road. Get on the paved road boys!!!!

Hemsky returned on Sunday in the game against Phoenix. First, what a great night for Glenn Anderson and his sweater retirement ceremony. It took way too long for that man to get into the Hall of Fame. I believe many of the Oilers were sporting cheesy 'staches in honor of him. They were some of the ugliest 'staches in the history of the 'stache! It was awesome!

Back to Hemsky, he made his return on Sunday and damn, what a game from our star player. He scored 2 goals, one was another highlight reel goal. Moreau got a hat trick (no, that is not an error)....first of his career. But it was Hemsky who was the game-breaker. Everytime he was on the ice, he made something happen. He rejuvenated his linemates, and Penner had one of his best games in weeks, maybe months. He was tough on the boards, fighting for the puck and actually skating to keep up to the play. Wow, I wish he'd play like that every game.

This team is all about Hemsky. So watch out for Torres who returns to Edmonton for the first time tonight. We don't want to see a high hit that takes Hemmer out for another 10 game spell. He's too important!

Sabourin has been waived and will probably end up in the AHL.

Oilers vs Capitals

Edmonton travels to Washington to play the Caps tonight. Edmonton just finished a home stretch where they went 3-2. They didn't play great but got a few wins out of it. They now head into a town where they have not win since 1997. The only good news is that Hemsky is traveling and skating with the team. That is good news and maybe this means he could play on the road trip. That 'mild' concussion has kept Hemmer out since Dec 28th. The team has not looked good during that period so his return will be very welcome!

With such a mediocre stretch of hockey, the Oilers are only TWO points out of the 8th playoff spot. The Oilers play two teams they are either tied with or ahead of them in the standings on their three game road trip. After Washington, they head to Minnesota and Colorado. While we expect the Oilers to be in tough for a win against the Caps, they have a good chance against the Wild and Avs. These are two games they MUST win.

It'll be a tough game tonight, especially since they haven't won there in over a decade. Plus, they have the Ovechkin factor. If I were to ever like anyone else (I'm an Oiler-only fan), this is the guy I would go for. He's physical, gritty and wow he's got skill. But is anyone else getting annoyed with his goal celebrations yet? Celebrate great goals, yes. Celebrate game-tying or winning goals, yes. But going crazy for the 5th goal in a 5-1 win is ridiculous and not even borderline disrespectful. He's being an ass. Stop. You're getting into Crosby territory (with his fake-dying). If you do that again, I want Souray to one-punch you unconscious!

Since the Oilers haven't won in Washington since '97, let's go out on a limb and say they win. They almost got the W last year. Remember when it went into a shootout. I can't remember how long it went, but it was something like 10 players each?? Crazy.

GOILERS!

Update: Horcoff is fighting the flu and will be a game-time decision!

The sharks are circling....

Let us remember the good old days!

A Christmas Miracle?

Okay, the Oilers host Phoenix tonight and this should be an easy victory but nothing has come easy this year.

After the loss to the Ducks in the shootout on Friday, MacT threw another player under the bus, Robert Nilsson, and then drove over him again and again. Nilsson got a chance to play on the top line but was benched midway throught he second period since he was a "non-competor" according to the coach.

I must disagree with the coach on this one. Sure, Nilsson floats at times but this is bullshit. He called out a player that has been pulling a decent amount of his weight this year, and certainly when compared to others (hello Gagner). Sure, we'd prefer to see more than 10 points but I think that low point total is in direct correlation to the many different line combinations we've seen this year. We all know MacT has his favorites and Nilsson has NEVER been one of them. Gagner has received a FREE pass all season long while Penner and Nilsson get thrown under the pass, called out publicly and bashed. I don't mind players getting called out but do it fairly. Gagner has not been benched nor scratched once this year. I'm tired of his non-competing too so let's call him out too. Why not? Oh yes, he's young and we're scared to damage him. Bullshit. If Nilsson is benched, Gagner should follow suit. He's been a dead-weight all year long (he seemed to wake up last game playing with Cole).

I personally like Nilsson and think he has a lot of talent. Sure, he could be playing with more passion BUT that's the job of the coach to get that out of him. According to MacT, he's talked with Nilsson many times but I get the sense that Nilsson either had no idea or it wasn't pressed upon him heavily enough. It's too bad he's probably sitting out tonight. I hate seeing players getting fucked over while others get a free pass. Bash them all Craig, or don't bash any!!!!!

Anyways, Oilers need to come out strong tonight and win. I don't want to go out again in -30 celcius weather to see them lose. I'm tired of it. Maybe Santa shows up and gives them the gift of victory? I'm willing to go with it.

The Oilers are hosting the Chicago Blackhawks tonight and I'm curious which team will show up. The one who was physical and competed quite well against Vancouver or the other team who forgets to forecheck, gets few shots on net, can't kill a penalty and has no passion (we've seen that team much too often).

The Oilers have won 4 of their last 5 games so that is a positive start. But let's face it, Roli and Hemsky have been carrying this team. I'd like to see more contribution from some other players. Visnovsky and Souray have been excellent thus far this season, and I think both are getting better. I love the way Lubo carries the puck and I'd like to see the coaching staff encourage him to carry the puck into the offensive zone more often. He is so smooth and exciting.

So I think the Oilers might win tonight as long as Hemsky and Roli carry the ship.

Update: Garon gets the start tonight. Good, I hope they get him back in there on a regular rotation. You need to find out if this is your goalie of the future. It's nice that Roloson is playing well, but we all know this is his last year in Edmonton and will be gone by the trade deadline. Give Garon a real chance if possible....let's find out what he can do!