' Christmas in Oil Country'

Twas the night before Christmas and all throughout Oil Country, not a creature was caring, not even a spouse. The banners were hung by the rafters with care, in hope that a new Stanley Cup would soon be there.

The fans were stressed, all snuggled in their beds, while visions of playoffs danced in their heads. And Lowe in his office and MacT in his, had just sat back for another long winter's nap.

When out on the ice, there arose such a clatter, a fan sprang from his bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window, he flew like a flash, tore open the curtain and saw such trash.

The shine from below, of freshly shaved ice, gave the impression of a team about to grow. When, what to my wondering thoughts should appear but a NHL team and eight little players.

With a little elite player, so sly and so slick, I knew that moment it must be the Nuge. More rapid fire, then ever did I see, he buzzed through the players like a saw cutting a tree.

Now Hall! now Perron! Now Eberle and Yakupov! On Gagner! On Petry! On Justin who's sticking! To the top of the standings! To the top of the heap! Now play on! Play on! Play on all!

As the fog begins to lift from the Rexall Ice, When they meet their opponent, all big and all proud. So to centre ice the players, they go. With their sticks squeezing tight and their heads too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the ice, the screaming and shouting, a fight on the ice! As i watch closely from my seat, eagerly awaiting a new found treat, down the ice Hall flies, stride after stride.

He was dressed in Oiler orange and blue, from his helmet to his skate, And his jersey was torn by skates and with blood. A bundle of hope he flung on his back, and he looked like a soldier, leading the pack.

His stare- how it pierced! His face how serious! His drive was like a tornado, his alertness like a Tsunami! His look was simple all wrapped up in one face and the dreams of a Stanley nestled beyond.

The vision of a goal he held tight to his sight and the fog from the ice encircled his head like a wreath. He had a broad face and a real tight belly, that appealed to the girls like nice fine pearls.

He was cute and adorning, definitely a stud. And the girls squealed at his site, in spite of the gash on his head. A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, and the puck was in the net to the other team's dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to the bench. And filled up his water bottle then turned with a look. And pointing his finger toward the net, And giving a nod up the ice he choose!

He sprang to the goal, to his team he said, it's ok, and away they all skated, at the sound of a whistle. But I heard him exclaim, as he scored another goal, "Happy Christmas to all fans and to all fan's a good night"

In a time where there is much to cheer about, I thought taking a moment to reflect on something from a positive standpoint may be something to add some holiday cheer. Merry Christmas!

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NHL
Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OT	ROW	PTS	GF	GA	Home	Away	Last 10	Streak
1	Anaheim	39	27	7	5	25	59	127	98	13-0-2	14-7-3	9-0-1	Won 9
2	Chicago	39	26	7	6	22	58	145	107	13-2-5	13-5-1	6-2-2	Won 1
3	Pittsburgh	39	27	11	1	24	55	121	88	17-3-0	10-8-1	8-2-0	Lost 1
4	Los Angeles	38	25	9	4	19	54	106	76	13-5-2	12-4-2	8-2-0	Lost 1
5	St. Louis	36	24	7	5	21	53	128	85	14-3-2	10-4-3	6-2-2	OT 1
6	Boston	37	25	10	2	24	52	106	77	15-3-2	10-7-0	7-3-0	Won 2
7	San Jose	37	23	8	6	18	52	121	94	13-1-3	10-7-3	4-5-1	Won 2
8	Vancouver	39	22	11	6	20	50	106	93	11-5-3	11-6-3	8-1-1	Won 2
9	Colorado	36	23	10	3	21	49	106	88	12-5-1	11-5-2	4-3-3	OT 2
10	Tampa Bay	37	23	11	3	18	49	106	87	14-3-1	9-8-2	7-1-2	Won 5
11	Montreal	38	22	13	3	20	47	96	84	12-7-2	10-6-1	6-4-0	Won 1
12	Phoenix	36	19	10	7	15	45	111	110	10-3-2	9-7-5	4-3-3	OT 1
13	Minnesota	39	20	14	5	15	45	88	96	14-3-2	6-11-3	4-6-0	Lost 3
14	Detroit	39	17	13	9	16	43	99	108	6-10-6	11-3-3	3-5-2	Lost 1
15	Dallas	36	18	12	6	15	42	106	107	7-4-4	11-8-2	5-3-2	Won 1
16	Washington	37	19	14	4	11	42	117	112	12-8-1	7-6-3	5-3-2	Lost 1
17	Toronto	39	18	16	5	13	41	106	113	12-8-1	6-8-4	3-5-2	OT 2
18	Philadelphia	37	17	16	4	16	38	93	104	11-7-0	6-9-4	5-3-2	Won 1
19	NY Rangers	38	18	18	2	16	38	88	102	8-10-2	10-8-0	4-4-2	Won 2
20	New Jersey	38	15	16	7	15	37	92	99	7-5-4	8-11-3	4-4-2	Lost 1
21	Ottawa	39	15	17	7	14	37	111	126	8-10-4	7-7-3	4-3-3	Won 1
22	Winnipeg	39	16	18	5	11	37	103	116	8-8-4	8-10-1	3-6-1	Lost 2
23	Nashville	37	16	17	4	16	36	85	109	8-8-3	8-9-1	3-6-1	Lost 1
24	Columbus	37	16	17	4	15	36	101	106	9-8-2	7-9-2	6-3-1	Won 2
25	Carolina	37	14	15	8	13	36	86	105	7-8-4	7-7-4	4-3-3	Lost 1
26	Calgary	37	14	17	6	11	34	95	118	7-7-3	7-10-3	4-4-2	Won 1
27	Florida	38	14	19	5	10	33	88	123	7-8-3	7-11-2	7-3-0	Lost 2
28	NY Islanders	38	11	20	7	7	29	96	129	5-7-7	6-13-0	3-5-2	Won 1
29	Edmonton	39	12	24	3	10	27	101	135	6-11-1	6-13-2	3-6-1	Won 1
30	Buffalo	37	10	24	3	6	23	66	105	7-12-2	3-12-1	4-4-2	Won 1

While this season seems to have been lost some time ago, we can at least take solace once again that the rebuild continues into the draft season once again. It is very highly likely we will enter this season's 2014 NHL Entry draft with a top 3 pick and at worst a top 5. That pick may be traded, we may keep it. Regardless , I think now is the time that we here at Oilers Jambalaya give a further look into the top 15 prospects around the world and what we could be looking at as our consolation prize. Let's call this our Oiler Christmas Gift all wrapped under the tree this christmas.

NEXT UP: #3 prospect of REVS Top 15 2014 Draft Prospects.

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