It's funny I was reading various NHL stories today and I came across a story about the Oilers and the Preds maybe making a trade. I threw out Jordan Tootoo maybe coming to Edmonton, while no one else has that I know of. I read a story about it (HERE) and it says it had good local sources that said it. Could it be that I'm that source? *gasp while doubting it*
JF Jacques and Dustin Penner have been two out of three of the biggest surprises of the pre-season. (Comrie being the 3rd.) I've never been a fan of either one, but I'm starting to be now. They have been very impressive. Can they hold up for 82 games and then some? How long does Jacques stay on the #1 line? Can he score 20 goals? Can Penner stay skinny?
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Tonight's Starting Lines
Jacques Horcoff Hemsky
Penner Comrie O'Sullivan
MacIntyre Gagner Cogliano (Reddox replaced Big Mac after one shift)
Reddox Brule Stortini
Souray Staios
Smid Gilbert
Strudwick Visnovsky
Khabibulin
Deslauriers
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FINAL SCORE
Vancouver Canucks - 4
Edmonton Oilers - 5 OT
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Bad Timing Penalty™
none
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BEERS
Mike Comrie - The mini Brick had two goals and was a +1. He keeps playing well with O'Sullivan and continues to surprise the Oiler faithful. I still keep thinking it's some crazy screwed up dream that he's back as an Oiler. *deja vu* Does little Mikey want a beer? Of course he does. Cheers!
JF Jacques - A goal and an assist and another solid performance on the 1st line. This guy is unreal. I think that he can do well this year as long as his previous injuries don't comeback to haunt him. He was awarded 1st star tonight. For tonight's excellent performance... a cold frosty Bud. Cheers!
Ales Hemsky - 7 shots and 2 assists tonight for Hemmer. This was his best game by far this pre-season. About time I might add. I was wondering when he was going to show up. He just needed to wait until the last game I suppose. How about a nice Harold traditional Czech lager? Cheers!
Lubomir Visnovsky - +3 and an assist. This guy also needed to have a solid game tonight. And he did. He made a sweet 4 moves before he slid the puck over to Comrie for an easy tap in. Over 23 minutes of ice time showed that Quinn and Co. have faith in him. We will need Lubo if the Oilers are going to be great this year. How about a cold beer for Lubo? Cheers!
Shawn Horcoff - Scored a goal and an assist and was pretty solid. Nice to see him and Hemmer meshing with Jacques. This may be a good year for Horcoff as it seems like the coaches are not going to skate his bag off. Solid game Horc. Beer? Cheers!
Honorable Mentions: Gilbert Brule (He had an assist on the GWG and had a great fight. Limited minutes, but a very solid night.), Sam Gagner (The little guy was pretty good.), Dustin Penner (Also pretty good tonight (1 assist). Most consistent in pre-season.), Ladislav Smid (played very good tonight. Ended up +2.), Andrew Cogliano (Seems to like to play with Gagner. It is showing.), Tom Gilbert (Scores the winning goal and was excellent all game.)
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JEERS
Nikolai Khabibulin - He had a real off start to this game. He seemed really slow and kind of out off it. He did play a little better as the game went on, but man he's starting to scare me. 4 years Tambo?!? I'm hoping I wrong because I was fired up about the signing when it happened, but I might be getting buyers remorse. For a pretty crappy game tonight... Booooooooo!
Sheldon Souray / Steve Staios - It's strange. These guys suit each other in the styles that they play, but man do they suck as a pairing. That was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. They were the only Oilers that ended the game with a minus rating. If I was Quinn, I would reconsider keeping these two together. For a stinky game.... Booooooooo!
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GOAT WATCH
Ethan Moreau - Did not play.
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Well a good game for the most part. Lots of action and thank god the Oilers pulled off the win. The Canucks sure seemed hell bent to beat us. But the boys pull out a stellar/lucky win. Some jobs were secured in this game and some were lost. As of this writing, Devan Dubnyk, Kip Brennan, Rob Schremp, Taylor Chorney and Jordan Eberle have all been cut from the Oilers. Eberle naturally is going back to Junior and Schremp is going on waivers. Good luck to Rob in the future as I'm sure that some team will pick him up. ~He will no doubt turn into a star and we will have to debate it for the next 10 years.~
This may have been Big mac's final game as an Oiler. :( I've liked him from day one. His story is awesome and one that I was glad to watch for the past year or so. Thanks for the memories big guy. *once again I hope I'm wrong and he sticks with the big club*
Ok... next up is the regular season. Who excited now? *hand up*
