Paul Martin) by ESPN with a 6.33 rating. When you look at the list, he's in good company. Hopefully, after a decent year this season, he will move up the list to possibly the top 30, maybe even the top 20.
The Pages Of Oilers Jambalaya
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
ESPN "Experts" Rank Justin Schultz
Paul Martin) by ESPN with a 6.33 rating. When you look at the list, he's in good company. Hopefully, after a decent year this season, he will move up the list to possibly the top 30, maybe even the top 20.
Monday, September 9, 2013
A Look At What Could Be Opening Night 2013-14
Forward line guesses
1st line guess
LW Perron C Hall RW Eberle
LW David Perron, Perron's skill will fit nice with Hall and Eberle who are already highly skilled forwards.
C Taylor Hall, This line has Hall at centre because of the fact Hopkins could be hurt for 10 games or so, (give or take) Hall is also at centre on this line because Eberle is a first line player and he has more chemistry with Hallsy than Gagner. Yes, I do know Hallsy is not very good away from the puck, but he has outstanding speed that will help him with back checking.
RW Jordan Eberle, Eberle is a good little forward that has great skills that would blend well with anyone especially with Hall and Perron in this case.
2nd line guess
LW Hemsky C Gagner RW Yakupov
LW Ales Hemsky is another highly skilled forward who will hopefully bring leadership to Yakupov and if he can pass more, he might be valuable in the long run on this line.
C Sam Gagner I don't think has the defensive game to play 1st line minutes, so thats why I slot him here. He will finally have the contract stuff off his back and hopefully plays well because of it.
RW Nail Yakupov, His shot, his skating, and his puck skills will hopefully work well with Hemsky this season. Hopefully they can find some offensive chemistry.
3rd line guess
RW Omark C Gordon LW Smyth
C Boyd Gordon, Maybe a bit of an overpayment, but still a good signing. Gordon is a good player that is two way.
RW Linus Omark, He was signed recently and it could be because the Oil want three scoring lines, or just for depth. Any such way, I have him here to add some scoring on this line.
4th line guess
LW Jesse Joensuu, He was a first round pick, Lowetide says he is "very similar player to Temmu Hartikanien" which means he is a big grinder who will chip in a few goals, but is pretty slow.
C Anton Lander, He is a a good PK player which with Horcoff gone, he fills. He will chip in maybe 9 goals. He is a bubble player.
Other players that could be in on opening day.
Andrew Miller, Will Acton, Ryan Hamilton and Mike Brown.
Player to watch on offence: Taylor Hall who had 50 points last season and I Think will have 70 - 80 points this year keep your eye on him.
Defence pairing guesses
1 pair guess
LD Smid RD Petry
LD Ladislav Smid, He is a good heart and soul player who will block shots. Sometimes he will make a dumb play, but he's been improving every year. He is a good shutdown guy who logs PK mins and also can be trusted late in a game.
RD Jeff Petry, He was not as good as some people would have thought last season, but I think he will bounce back and not score on his own net vs the Wings and cost us a game (yes i'm still hurt over a regular season game.)
2 pair guess
LD Ference RD J.Schultz.
LD Andrew Ference, Ference was a good signing. Maybe not because of his contract, but because he is a solid veteran D man and will help J.Schultz when it comes down to those tough times.
RD Justin Schultz, Schultz is our best defence if not now then in the very near future. He had a pretty good season with points (27 points) but, I think he is going to get more. If he really wants to be good this season, he will need to improve without the puck.
3rd pair guess
RD Anton Belov, Some say he was the best D man in the KHL last year. He has some grit to him and will be good guy to keep your eye on. Not sure how he will adapt to the smaller ice surface though. Should be interesting.
Other D man that could be in on opening night
Phillip Larson, Oscar Klefbom and Denis Grebeshkov
Goalies
Starting goalie:
Backup goalie
Jason LaBarbera, Jason is a proven backup who might actually challenge Dubnyk if he faulters. Chances are that doesn't happen, but if they do, LaBarbera would love to step in.
Remember, this all could change if RNH comes back early or if more injuries happen from now until the regular season starts. but if nothing does change, these are my opening night lines.
This was written by NHL rumors guy AKA Noah Fuchs

Sunday, January 13, 2013
The Oilers Hockey Battle at Hawrelak Park
On twitter right now, Oilers hotshots Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall are talking trash about setting up a shinny game for 4pm today at Hawrelak park. I can only Imagine this will draw a fairly large crowd. They have mentioned names like Nail Yakupov, Ryan Whitney, Nugent-Hopkins and newcomer Justin Schultz participating. We can only imagine most of the team showing up to play in this "unorganized" pick up game.
So if your not busy today around 4pm, head down to Hawrelak park and snap some photos. Your going to experience what hockey is all about. Just pure, fun hockey. Wish I could be there.
-WRITTEN BY SMOKIN' RAY BURNT-

Thursday, December 6, 2012
NHL Lockout is Affecting the Oilers in 3 Good Ways
Please stand by while greedy people fight. |
If there is a sliver lining for this NHL lockout, it's that the Edmonton Oilers have three things in this NHL lockout going for them!
Number one;
Letting Taylor Hall have more time to recover, because if the NHL season would have started on time, he might have been rushed in a little bit to fast then he would have liked.
Number two;
Developing their farm team by getting their players that will hopefully be in Edmonton someday to hang out and play with some of the great young faces of the Edmonton Oilers. Hopefully most of the kids playing in OKC will be playing someday with guys like Ebs, Hallsy and RNH on the Oilers. This is great experience to have them "gel" ahead of time.
Justin: Thanks for signing me Steve: No problem. It's fun locking out people after I sign them. Yakupov, Hallsy, Eberle and now you. |
Number three;
Getting Schultz time in the AHL so it's not as big of a step from college to the NHL. That's a big leap and if I may say my thoughts on him, what a player he is turning out to be. He's better than anyone could have thought, even with the high expectations people had on him.
This article is written by Noah Fuchs.

Sunday, November 18, 2012
High Skill Isn't All You Need / OKC Barons Need Some Help
What nice Jerseys eh! |
In my opinion, they really haven't hit their stride with Taylor Hall (coming off injury), Jordan Eberle, RNH, and Justin Schultz. At this point, they should be better. There are reasons for this and its not all because of their young guns not putting up the points. Schultz is leading the league in scoring with Eberle trailing not far behind.
The Barons biggest weakness is defensive depth. Especially with the veteran defensemen. I think, because of the hype of the young guns, the forward depth players have been passengers instead of adding secondary scoring. Even the young guns have on occasion, made some errors defensively which is bound to happen. The only cure being more experience.
Hopefully we will see the trio of Hall, Eberle and Nugent-Hopkins on Rexall ice soon. But when its all said and done in OKC, this team is doing well. But they could still do more with all their talent.
I hope they make some kind of AHL trade for more experienced D.
-WRITTEN BY NOAH FUCHS-

Saturday, October 6, 2012
The NHL Lockout Provides Oklahoma City With A Boost
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Oklahoma City |
Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Justin Schultz, Anton Lander and when ready and healed, Taylor Hall are going to be in the OKC Barons lineup.
This is a once in a lifetime (probably not now with Bettman still in charge) opportunity for the people of Oklahoma City to come out and watch some very good NHL talent play right in their own back yard.
Jordan Eberle was a Lady Byng finalist this year. He piled up the numbers while playing a gentleman's game. He's classy through and though. To have him around your community is something to cherish and embrace. He's a great ambassador of the game.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was a finalist for the Calder trophy which is awarded to the NHL's top rookie. Some say he should have won. Who better to be a part of your hockey club to show what hard work really is than RNH? His work ethic will rub off on the rest.
When he's ready to play again in a couple of weeks, Taylor Hall is going to bring leadership to the team like they have never seen before. He oozes a winning attitude and no doubt, he will help bring the team to new heights in their quest to winning the Calder Cup.
Let's not forget the fact they still have Oilers prospect Magnus Paajarvi on the team. He's a year older and another year wiser. I'm expecting a big year from him too before he can make the jump to the Oilers.
Oklahoma City is extremely lucky to be getting these guys. Coach Nelson was given an NHL top line to have at his disposal. I can guarantee he isn't going to squander this. You can hear it in his voice, he's excited.
Not only are the OKC Barons going to flourish because of the NHL lockout, so will the ECHL affiliate, the Stockton Thunder. With the Barons gaining a few new players, that means they are taking spots from guys up there. Those guys will go down to Stockton until a spot becomes available with the Barons.
Goaltender Tyler Bunz and at least 3 other players will be sent to the Stockton to play in the ECHL with the Thunder. It could even be more.
The ripple effect has begun. Enjoy this Oklahoma City, it won't last forever.
-WRITTEN BY SMOKIN' RAY BURNT-

Saturday, September 15, 2012
Edmonton Oilers Young Stars Head To Oklahoma City
The Edmonton Oilers assigned several players down to Oklahoma City today to play with the Barons during the NHL lockout. This is great news for Barons fans.
Here is the official press release from the Oilers;
"Edmonton Oilers General Manager Steve Tambellini announced today the club has assigned the following players to Oklahoma City of the American Hockey League.
Cameron Abney
Mark Arcobello
Tyler Bunz
Dane Byers
Philippe Cornet
Yann Danis
Brandon Davidson
Jordan Eberle
Taylor Fedun
Curtis Hamilton
Teemu Hartikainen
Tanner House
Anton Lander
Martin Marincin
Ryan Martindale
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Magnus Paajarvi
Kristians Pelss
Tyler Pitlick
Alex Plante
Toni Rajala
Olivier Roy
Justin Schultz
Colten Teubert
Antti Tyrvainen
Chris VandeVelde
Tambellini also announced defenceman David Musil has been assigned to the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League and forward Nail Yakupov has been assigned to the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey League."
-WRITTEN BY SMOKIN' RAY BURNT-

Saturday, June 30, 2012
The Edmonton Oilers... Destination #1? Schultz Says So!
The past is the past for the Oilers now. Long gone are the days of not wanting to be in Edmonton to play hockey with the Oil.
The advantages of coming here are at a high.
Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Magnus Paajarvi, Nail Yakupov, Anton Lander, Teemu Hartikainen, Jeff Petry, Oscar Klefbom, Martin Marincin, Devan Dubnyk, Tyler Bunz.
Now the Oilers have free agent Justin Schultz to add to the list.
I'd hope and expect the Oilers to land a few more good players to compliment the kids listed above. With all this youth and excitement, I have no doubt the Oilers will be Stanley Cup challengers sooner, rather than later.
Our door is open in Oil Country... we welcome those who want to join the fun.
GOILERS!!!
-WRITTEN BY SMOKIN' RAY BURNT-

Friday, June 15, 2012
The Edmonton Oilers... Destination #1? Schultz Says So!
The past is the past for the Oilers now. Long gone are the days of not wanting to be in Edmonton to play hockey with the Oil.
The advantages of coming here are at a high.
Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Magnus Paajarvi, Nail Yakupov, Anton Lander, Teemu Hartikainen, Jeff Petry, Oscar Klefbom, Martin Marincin, Devan Dubnyk, Tyler Bunz.
Now the Oilers have free agent Justin Schultz to add to the list.
I'd hope and expect the Oilers to land a few more good players to compliment the kids listed above. With all this youth and excitement, I have no doubt the Oilers will be Stanley Cup challengers sooner, rather than later.
Our door is open in Oil Country... we welcome those who want to join the fun.
GOILERS!!!
-WRITTEN BY SMOKIN' RAY BURNT-
