The Sky is Falling!!

I had a long post ready to go about the Malkin story, but something else has come to my attention. As for Malkin, check this out. I have to agree with it's opinion that Malkin's 'escape' was not an escape at all. Sure Malkin is a kid, sure he's being pulled in many different directions, sure life in Russia can be harsh and sure, he wants to play in the NHL. BUT, he's playing hockey in Russia, and they treat their hockey players very well. And, I'm sure Ovechkin was in the same situation last year but he managed to get out of Russia easily. He didn't sign ten different contracts, switch agents every week....

Anyways, on to something else; the possible and seemingly more likely demise of Hockey Night in Canada on CBC. With CBC's contract due to expire at the end of the 2007-2008 season, and the mobilization of forces by the evil opposition, otherwise known as Bell Globemedia, HNIC is possibly two years away from extinction.

"Bell Globemedia is reportedly considering paying the league $140 million a year for 10 years for the deal in an attempt to outbid the CBC, which has been broadcasting Hockey Night in Canada since 1952."

Since they might be offering $140 million per year compared to CBC's $65 million per year contract right now, it does not look good. With TSN/CTV winning the 2010 and 2012 Olympics (ugh I hate CTV Olympic coverage), exclusive rights to curling and possibly exclusive rights to the CFL, they're taking over the sports world.

I, for one, am not amused. I prefer sports on CBC. I have found TSN to be damn annoying, particularly their hockey broadcasts. Pierre McGuire and Bob Mckenzie are THE most annoying people in the entire world. When they are on tv, I change the channel. Yes, they are that irritating. And since they are taking sports away from CBC, I am beginning to hate TSN.

I remember back in 1995, I was in university and just moved into my first apartment. I finally got cable which included TSN. I no longer had to watch the local hour-long news to get the sports highlights. I now had sports 24/7. I was blissful. I still preferred my Olympics, football and hockey coverage to be on CBC but TSN had the highlights. Sportsdesk was the name, and highlights were their game. Those were the days!

So, is anyone else happy that TSN might be stealing our hockey and broadcasting it full-time?? CBC can't compete with that amount of money, if it's accurate. I read somewhere that maybe the federal government would pony up the rest of the dough to help save hockey on CBC. Soon, there won't be any sports on CBC. That's the only reason I watch CBC, yes the only reason. Also, with hockey moving to cable and not free tv, the audience might diminish (I read that somewhere too). I think that's a very good possibility.

So join me in denouncing satan, aka TSN.

Czech-arific?

Well, it's official.....Petr Sykora is an Edmonton Oiler. Personally, I'm not impressed. I think our forwards were already a good group, and I've never been a fan of Sykora. He's one of those typical Europeans.....inconsistent and lazy. Sure, you can see glimpses of brilliance, but it never lasts and fades away. He averages between 50-60 points so if the rumour of $3 million is true, then I'm really not impressed at all. I think that's too much money. Also, it's mid-August and no one else has signed him? Yeah I think that speaks volumes.

Ok ok, it's done so I guess we should give him a chance.

Moose and the Mullett

So with the hockey season less than two months away, let's first talk about the Moose. The greatest hockey player (in my mind) retired a year ago and I've been waiting to hear when the Oilers are going to retire his number. Lowe said last year, they would do it within the next couple of years. But I really hope it's done this season. We need a Messier week; we need the Moose. I saw Coffey's number retired last year (and Fuhr's the year before). It's such a magical night and Mess has always been my favorite. His physical play and intensity lifted his teams to greatness. So come on Lowe, let's get a plan!!!

Okay, I have an ulterior motive. I want to know if it'll be done this season because I'm going to Germany for three weeks and Manitoba for one week in October/November. I'll be here for the home opener but will miss the next six or seven games. So I really would like to know. I'd hate to miss the Moose's night. I will change my trip plans if I can, cause let's face it, my season ticket plus a Moose night comes first!

Okay, second, let's talk about Ryan Smyth, aka The Mullett. What's his future with the Oilers?? He has one year left on his deal, and could possibly be a free agent next summer.

"We're looking at offering Ryan Smyth, Ethan Moreau and Steve Staios extended contracts,'' admitted Howson adding, "Ryan signed a contract last year in a very uncertain market.''

So this was in the Edmonton Sun. Obviously the Oilers will make overtures to him, but the question is: Will Smitty resign? Does he want to stay or become an unrestricted free agent and test out the market? With all the changes made during the off season, will that play a factor? Will making the Stanley Cup finals keep him here or have all the changes during the off season been too much? I personally think Smitty will resign. All our young dogs are signed up, the goalie position is solid, and even though the defence looks possibly shaky, the team is really solid. And we know Lowe is not done dealing. Something will happen.

So will Smitty remain an Oiler? I sure hope so.

The Devil Speaks

I found this from here. So our little Chrissy has something to say. Check it out.

"As Pronger puts it, "I went from being the man to being manure."

Pronger, you speak the truth. You are manure.

"Pronger has a theory about why the rumors began. "It's to discredit me," he says. "Now I'm even more of a villain."

Umm Chrissy, the rumors began because you stuck your tail between your legs and ran off to Mexico. You did not have the courage to face the city and the fans. And second, there was more truth to the rumors than you let on. We all know what happened (couldn't keep it in your zipper and you got caught). You're a coward.

"When asked if fans should worry about him wanting to leave in a year, Pronger doesn't hesitate."No."He takes a long look away, then says it again."No."

Yeah I'd trust him.

Remembering June 27, 1996

I felt nostalgic today. Ten years today Donovan Bailey redeemed Canadian sprinters and made all of Canada proud.

Locked in for Six

Ales Hemsky locked in for six years. Wow great deal Kevin Lowe. It's a 6 years, $24.6M contract

1st Year - $3.5M
2nd Year - $3.6M
3rd Year - $3.6M
4th Year - $4.4M
5th Year - $4.5M
6th Year - $5.0M

It works out to 4.1 million a year (salary cap).

Wow. This is the future of the Oilers. Great deal signing our best player (or top scorer) to a very long term deal. I'm very impressed. He's our franchise player now. So now just Lupul left (and Smyth who is a unrestricted free agent next year. Please sign him up to an extension soon).

And Belfour signed with Florida. Oh Florida, why? Take him out back and shoot him. He's an old dog; on his last legs. It's over Eddie.

One Down....One to Go

Jarret Stoll has avoided arbitration and signed a two year deal. Good news, although I was hoping for a three year deal instead. Now, get Hemsky locked up and we're good to go (get a defenseman).

Speaking of d-man, the Oil sign Tom Gilbert. Who? I have no freaking idea. Another unknown. He played for the University of Minnesota the past four years. Umm, Kevin....what are you doing? You keep signing all these unknown d-men. What's the plan here? I think we have plenty of mediocre and/or young d-men now. Just be patient Kevin, the trade for a top 4 d-man will happen.

MacT Attack

TSN.ca is reporting Craig MacTavish is returning as the Edmonton Oiler's coach and with a four year contract. Good news for sure. I'd be interested in knowing for what amount, since they didn't pick up his option before the playoffs. I'm assuming he's getting a raise then.

So this is basically good news. Although, if MacT had crashed and burned during the playoffs, I have no doubt he would be gone. He made some questionable coaching decisions during the regular season. Actually, for his whole tenure. The thing that annoys me the most, he kept changing his lines. Keep Hemsky with Smyth, they have great chemistry. I noticed this two years ago and he did it again this year. It's okay to shake them up, but not every other game. Second, he needs to find a way to motivate his players. He managed to do this during the playoffs, but not the regular season. They always go through the January blues, and end up losing ten games in a row. Third, get your guys to play with intensity against the crappy teams (aka St.Louis, Minnesota, etc). The Oil always play amazing against the good teams, but the crappy teams, not so much. It's like they drop to their level. Third, the powerplay is such a liability so work is needed in this area too.

So fix those things MacT, and you'll have a much better regular season than last year!

UPDATE: Da Fuhrer says it's all good.......Oil are good. If Grant says so, then it must be okay.

Another one bites the dust

Good news!!! Peca has signed with the Leafs (or according to my friends, the "Leaves") for $2.5 million. I still think quite overpaid for someone with only 23 points last year, and -4. Sure he played much better down the stretch and in the playoffs playing like the Peca of old but is he worth this much money? Of course not. The Oilers signed Marty Reasoner who will take the place of Peca in the face-off circle, killing penalties and being a third/fourth liner grinder. Also, Marty is getting paid $950,000....that's what he should be for the role he plays. It's important but not worth 2.5 million when you score barely over 20 points (Reasoner had 34 pts last year.....hmmm more than Peca).

So thank you Leaves.....for taking an overpaid, overrated third or fourth liner off our hands. This is just another string of signings by the Leaves.....paying too much money for overrated players (hello McCabe, Kubina, and so on). I fully expect Peca to continue to fall short of expectations, as do most players in Toronto.

UPDATE: Neil Smith has been canned in favor of..........Garth Snow. What? He goes from the Isles backup goalie all the way to GM. Really? Is this an April Fool's joke? It can't be since it's not April. Apparently, owner Charles Wang (his name suits him) wanted the GM to work in collaboration with the coach Ted Nolan, Pat Lafontaine, Bryan Trottier and even the janitor. Too many cooks in the kitchen dude. And since when does an owner hire the GM and coach. That's the President's job. The owner should be signing the cheques and nothing else. What an embarrassment. The Isles have become the Leaves.....hahahahaha. ESPN has more info to this story so check it out. It's hilarious: Wang is a complete wang!

UPDATE: Okay, I guess Peca isn't quite the peckerhead I thought he was. He had some very nice things to say about Edmonton and said it's gotten a bad rap over the past few weeks. I totally agree.

On Second Thought....

I've been thinking (yes it happens from time to time)......things are not as bad as they seem. The Oilers have made a lot of changes, but that's not a bad thing. This team was already borderline contenders before the arrival of Pronger. His loss will not be that bad. Sure, we'll miss his 56 points and the minutes he played. BUT.....I didn't think he was the tour de force that broadcasters said he was. I didn't think he was that great defensively. He was only +2 for the regular season (+10 in the playoffs, much better), was tentative at times and not very physical. Sure he played much better in the playoffs, but hell, the whole team did. We can live without him.

Pre-Pronger, the Oilers were one player short of being contenders. I said it for years....all they needed was a goalie. Well, I believe we have the goalie now. Roli will have to be very sharp since our defense is not great. It's good, but not great. The forwards are good, even great at times. So I think we're going to be okay.

The thing is.....the Oilers are the underdog. That's the way it has been for 15 years. We're used to it, so this is nothing new. The Oil are constantly being underestimated, not given much credit and always expected to fail. BUT.....they don't. Sure we had some rough years, going out in the first round to Dallas like twenty times. However, those series, even if lost in five or six games, were always close. The Oilers were always on the verge of making that break. They certainly made it last year and I think that will give the boys confidence this year.

So the moral of the story.....the Oilers are going to be fine.

If I can have one thing, can we please ask the media to stop saying people want out of Edmonton? The media seems to have grabbed hold of the the Pronger mess, twisted it to suit their needs and now any player that doesn't sign with Edmonton, the media say they hate Edmonton and do not want to live here. Stop it (hello TSN.....you're getting on my nerves).

Roloson

The Oilers have signed our RFA, Shawn Horcoff, to a three year deal worth $10.8 million (3.6 avg/year). I think this is smart....he scored 73 pts last year and while I hate players getting big raises based on one year, I don't think he's a flash in the pants. So good deal Lowe!

''I'm ecstatic, happy to be in Edmonton for three more years,'' Horcoff told The Canadian Press from B.C. ''After last year and us going as far as we did, I obviously wanted to stay with this team and try to get back there to win one extra game.''

''I enjoy the city, they treat me great there.''

So Shawn likes Edmonton....report that TSN!!!