Beers and Jeers #18 (Jan 11/09 vs. St. Louis Blues)

The game that we just witnessed was a strange affair. At times I was screaming and yelling and was having a gay ol' time. The next minute I am searching for a bandwagon to jump on. All in all, we won the game. At the end of the day that is all that matters. (yeah. I just said that.) It was nice to see MacT put some of the lines back together. Duh! I was once again a little stunned that Schremp wasn't called up. But by listening to MacT we all might as well give up on that. I expect Schremp gone by the deadline. That's too bad. I really liked him.

Back to the game. The 1st period was kind of dull. I hate it when the other team scores 1st. Hate it. But thank god for the 2nd period. Gagner to Potulny and way long to Brule who went up stairs for the goal. Wow! But don't forget the couple of shorthanded rushes that swung the momentum the Oilers way just before that goal. Those made me stand up and yell. We need more of those. I need more of those. Then the Cole/Gagner reunion. These guys seem to find each other and having Potulny play with them made everyone play well. That was a good line tonight. That was enough to hang on for the win. I really hate it when an announcer starts talking about stats before the end of the game. I hate it even more when there is 5 minutes left. 4:38 left in 3rd in fact. "This will be Gagner's 2nd game winning goal". Are you retarded? Don't say that. But I guess I am a little superstitious.

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BEERS

Ryan Potulny

- "Who is this guy?" That was my thought before the game started. I changed as it when on. He was pretty good tonight. He has pretty good hockey sense and a lot of hustle. 2 point night. Life is pretty good today now isn't it Ryan? However... knowing MacT, Reddox will probably take his spot with Gags and Cole. For a great 1st Oiler game and a welcome to the team. Have a cold one. Cheers!

Cole/Gagner

- Geez MacT. Do you like to look stupid? I defend you and you do the unthinkable and separate Gags and Cole. Glad to see you came to your senses. These two were good again tonight. I can't explain why they work so well but they do. Hopefully they stay together for the long haul. I think the team needs that in order to be consistant. Here a couple of beers for the dynamic duo. Cheers!

Steve Staios

- The guy that has taken tons of shots from me over the past while. (mostly bad ones.) Tonight he looked really good. Not just the couple of rushes but his overall game. 3 hits ans 3 blocked shots. That was the Staios that I used to love. The warrior. And he played simple hockey and that is all that I think he can do. So for playing well, have a frosty mug of brew. Cheers!

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Gilbert Brule

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-His best game as an Oiler. Glad to see him do well. He played pretty solid and ended up getting a pretty nice goal. His speed was on fast mode cruise control. I had fun watching him play tonight. So for a real nice effort tonight. How about a big beer? Cheers!

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JEERS

Not much to jeer here except for the lackluster performance from the 1st line. Sad how much Penner and Horcoff rely on Hemsky. Reddox is not a substitute.

The team really needs to play a full 60 minute hockey game. It happens from time to time. Not recently... But it happens. I sure hope we can do it on Tuesday as we are facing the Capitals. That won't be easy at all. But until then...

The Blame Game.

Now, I am not a fan of the blame game. Yet people's opinions are being tossed around all willy nilly and things are seeming to be out of touch with the reality of what is actually going to happen. Who do I blame for the Oilers troubles? Not who you think. Read on.

Craig MacTavish

- I know that most people really believe that it is the coaches fault. Is it? Really? I don't think so. I quite like MacT as a coach. Sure his style is a little unorthodox but it works when the players buy into it. He definitely is more of a younger guy coach. His way of helping Gagner and Cogs seems to be on track and working. I am curious on how Steve MacIntyre is going to look when he comes back. He's been working hard at doing whatever the coaching staff has asked. In Bobby Nilsson's case, it's hard to coach someone that really has no effort or desire to get better. I don't think that MacT really has control over the older players (Moreau, Horcoff, Hemsky) If he did he would have put Hemsky on the left side and Cole on his right. But Hemmer says no and the answer is no. End of story. I really believe that it takes Mact a little to long to figure out the older players and how to use them (ie: Peca). Cole has been very manageable this year and I'm sure that is going to help him during the next few months as we move along towards the playoffs. I really think that Cole is going to be a huge impact player by the time we are heading into the playoffs. (we will be in the playoffs this year) So for more reasons than I want to or feel like writing, MacT will NOT be fired this year. If we tank and not make the playoffs then he will resign after the season is over. I repeat. He will NOT be fired this year. Besides... how many coaches are ready to jump a plane and move to Edmonton? Not too many I would think.

Ok. Let's just say for example... I am a crappy worker (player). I come to work and kinda sorta do a little sweeping. I then read the paper for a bit. Then I walk around pretending to be busy. Then I go to the bathroom for 20 minutes. Then oh! Lunch time. Cya in an hour. Then my Foreman (coach) pulls me into his office. He gives me the "we need to be more productive" speech. "Ok. Loud and clear", I say. Then this continues for a couple of days. I seem to get the speech every 2 days for a week. The store manager (GM) starts to see me wandering around. He starts wondering what I am up to. How am I making him any money. Now the company owner (Mr. $$$$) gets wind of this. He's pissed off. So tell me. Who should be fired?

The Store Manager (GM)? Perhaps. He did hire me for $20 an hour. But not likely.

How about the Foreman (coach). Should he be fired because I suck? Maybe. Although he did try and inspire me and really you can only help someone for so long before you come to a realization that the guy that was hired is a moron.

So who ends up being canned? Me (the player) I can blame management all I want. But I suck. So I deserve to be fired. Unfortunately that can't really happen in the NHL. Buy outs are costly. And it's hard to trade nothing for something.

So what am I getting at here? Blame the players for being crappy. It's not always the coach. I'm not saying that Mact hasn't screwed up. He has a few times. I'm just saying it not his fault. Just ask Tampa Bay. or the Islanders.

Kevin Lowe

- Despite the little story that you just read. In this case I do blame Kevin Lowe for 50% of the teams woes. He is the one responsible for bringing in talent and he's the one who makes the deals. In a hockey world this position is very important. A coach can only do so much with what he has. Sure the Oilers are stacked with talent. Small talent for the most part. But that is really a small reason. Well... half the reason.

When the leaders of the team are struggling then the rest of the team struggles too. This isn't new. It happens in all sports. I am the coach/captain of my slo-pitch team. When I am "on", the rest of my team feeds off it and we play well. If I'm not going good then I can hardly expect anyone else to be. Right? I live by the motto "Leadership is Action... Not Position". Ask Messier. No action. No position. Therefore your team will stink too. For this I put the other 50% blame to these three guys.

Horcoff/Moreau/Staios

- These three are supposed to be the leaders. The amount of "power" these three have in the locker room is enormous. These three have not been living up to their leadership position. The last couple of games, Chopper has been good. But before then.... c-r-a-p-p-y. And he's the Captain. Sure I am sure he is good at organizing player functions and all the other crap he does, but we need an on ice leader. Any "A" can do what he does. But the "C" needs to be a game changer. He needs to be able to throw a huge hit or score a goal when you need it. And Moreau hasn't done that for the team.

Staios has not been very good this year. It kinda sucks that his spot is pretty golden. He takes bad penalties at bad times. Almost borderline over aggressive. That is not what a leader is supposed to do. Not one that I would want to play with anyways. I believe that he needs to be moved.

Now Mr. Horcoff. Mr. Money Pants. I liked the 3rd line $2 million dollar Horcoff better. That guy played like he wanted to be 1st line guy. I just see no real effort from him this year. He was a good pk guy. Now he's an ok pk guy. On the PP he is a one trick pony. And other teams now know what he does. That is why last game he wasn't effective. I wonder why people that get big contracts always suck for the first couple of years? The last year is always their best year. So that means we have the next three to four years of the crappy Horcoff. Yay! I always said that he was a great 3rd line guy. He was a good 2nd line guy. But he is an average 1st line guy. We need a awesome guy to be 1st line guy and that isn't Horcoff. So now what? Not sure. A trade? A demotion? That falls into Kevin Lowe's department, the other 50 %.

I'm sure I may have made some people mad at me because of this. But so be it. It's my opinion. And my opinion only. This is not written without thought. It just has been driving me nuts that people want MacT fired. It comes down to the core players. The veterans. Then it falls on Lowe. (how much authority does Tambellini really have here?) Bottom line... I support MacT. There. I said it.

Beers and Jeers #8 (Dec 17/08 vs. Vancouver Canucks)

BEERS

Ethan Moreau

- For a guy that was non-existent yesterday, he sure came out with a bang. He played a pretty solid game and actually looked like the leader out there. He beat on guys when he needed to. He laid some nice hits. He even was shooting. Not sure how he didn't get any hits? I'm sure I seen a few. But regardless... it was about time our Captain showed up. 1st Beer of the year Chopper. Cheers!

Erik Cole

- Once again he was good. He was hitting everyone in sight and took a lot of shots. Mind you most of them we deflected. But it was still a good game by Cole. He just needs to score a goal and people will relax. Don't worry folks. He gets better every game. Have a cold one Cole. Cheers!

Sam Gagner

- Hard work and determination paid off. I just seen the monkey jump off his back. See what happens when you get a little dirty in the crease? A goal. And... He led the team in hits with 2. Go figure. We should see him play a little more confidant now. Good game Gagner. A frosty one for ya? Cheers!

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JEERS

Steve Staios

- Nice check moron. A little to aggressive dontcha think? What the hell man? Your lucky Roli didn't get hurt. That blunder changed the game after that. Dumb Staios. Dumb. Booooooooooo...

Shawn Horcoff

- Did you even play tonight? (yes I looked at the stats) Every time the camera showed you you were sitting on the bench shaking your head. Quit shaking and do something. You are considered a leader and you blew it tonight. If the Oilers are going to be successful this year you need to be a consistent player and leader. Maybe he needs that #1 spot to be taken away for awhile? Show up next time please. Boooooooooooooo...

The Entire Team

- Two in a row guys. Need I say more? Booooooooooo...