Welcome everyone to another fine TweetCast by Oilers Jambalaya. Today is a little different as I am in the hospital with my wife and our newborn child. This is my second daughter and I feel very lucky to have two beautiful little girls.
So from the local hospital's maternity ward, enjoy this tweetcast by Smokin' Ray.
Tonight you will see the tweets/comments of Paq Twinn, Smokin' Ray, Nick Walker, Scarlett, OilFieldHockey, Dan Tencer, The official Edmonton Oilers and the official Detroit Red Wings tweets as well as the tweets from the Springfield Falcons and the Stockton Thunder.
Feel free to comment by typing in the box below. It's easy and no signup required. Once you comment, we will unmoderate you and you can then speak freely. Be patient if we don't see you right away. You will get on.
We hope you enjoy the TweetCast and we are glad you stopped by. GOILERSBUTNOTTOOMUCH!!!
Edmonton Oilers (24-44-7) at Detroit Red Wings (39-23-13)
I am officially going to say now that Pat Quinn is all but off his silver rocker. I've been good all year about giving the guy the benefit of the doubt, but enough is enough.
It appears that Patrick O'Sullivan is going to be the guy that sits out next game. What?!? I'm confused?
O'Sullivan was arguably one of the better Oilers last game and he's the one to sit? Really?
What about the shoddy play by the Captain Ethan Moreau? What about the non-existence of Fernando "2006" Pisani? What about Marc "The Waste Of A Draft Pick" Pouliot? What has he done? What about Stortini?
So while Quinn sits Mike Comrie and O'Sullivan on rotation, those wastes of roster spots keep playing. I just don't get it.
*shakes head and shrugs shoulders*
What else is bugging me today?
Is the Horcoff line really thought of as the #1 line? Really? Really?!?
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To make things a little easier for the Edmonton Oilers hockey club, the Windsor Spitfires are going to be playing the Plymouth Whalers in the 2nd round of the OHL playoffs.
That's right folks, Taylor Hall & Cam FowlervsTyler Seguin.
All three of the top draft picks playing in one great hockey series.
Action begins Thursday at 5 pm MT in Windsor.
Thurs., April 1 at Windsor 7:05pm EST Sat., April 3 at Plymouth 7:05pm EST Mon., April 5 at Windsor 7:05pm EST Wed., April 7 at Plymouth 7:05pm EST Thurs., April 8 at Windsor 7:05pm EST Sat., April 10 at Plymouth 7:05pm EST Mon., April 12 at Windsor 7:05pm EST
Reports out of Russia this morning are reporting that Oilers' prospect Linus Omark has left Dynamo Moscow of the KHL. He exercised an option in his contract not to return next season to Dynamo Moscow.
This could be a blessing for the Oilers, if they can convince Omark to come to North America to play. If Omark does decide to come play, it's safe to say that he might get that one way contract. This would open up the door to Jordan Eberle to continue his development in the AHL next season.
Omark was drafted by the Oilers in 97th overall pick in 2007.
SMOKIN' RAY: I don't know a whole lot about Linus Omark. From the reports that I have read, he's a real good player. Also from what I have been told, he's far more advanced than Eberle, MPS and Lander. I guess we will have to wait to training camp to see more about Omark and see if he makes the team or not.
- Devan Dubnyk was back between the pipes and he played pretty good. He wasn't knock em' dead, but he played pretty solid. I was glad to see him back. It's too bad the team in front of his sucks.
- The Nilsson/Potulny/O'Sullivan line was the best Oiler line. While Nilsson really didn't so much, the other two were great. They created the Oilers first goal and kept the pressure on the Blues all game.
- I like Dean Arsene, but he really needs to learn to fight.
- Anytime one of the guys drops the gloves I give him props. Pouliot is one of those guys tonight. He laid some good punches to Colaiacovo's helmet. I'm willing to bet his hand hurts after that.
- Gilbert and Whitney both played over 25 minutes again this game. They are leading the Oilers down the stretch in ice time.
- Andrew Cogliano had 4 hits. Too bad he wasn't a big guy to make those hits hurt.
- Potulny and Brule were the best on the Oilers squad for faceoffs with 65% and 67% respectively. Potulny also blocked 5 shots.
- Jason Strudwick played his game with 3 hits and 4 blocked shots.
- O'Sullivan had a team high, 6 shots on net. He also had 4 missed shots. That's ten in total. Wow!
The Not So Good:
- What's to complain about? 30th place is almost a lock. Now if only the gods don't screw the team with the 2nd overall pick.
The Side Dish:
- The Springfield Falcons lost in a ass kicking to the River Rats 5-1. Jordan Eberle had one assist in the loss. Read the recap here.
- The Stockton Thunder on the other hand had a barn burner of a game. They won a thrilling 6-5 game. The recap is here.
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STOCKTON, Calif. - Left winger Matt Robinson completed a hat trick on a dramatic, game-winning goal with 59.5 seconds left in regulation, helping the Stockton Thunder overcome two separate three-goal deficits in a thrilling 6-5 come-from-behind win over the Las Vegas Wranglers before a crowd of 6,845 at Stockton Arena on Sunday afternoon.
The Thunder, whose magic number was reduced to three to clinch a Kelly Cup Playoff berth, moved to within two points of the idle Bakersfield Condors for first place in the Pacific Division, scored three goals in the final period and five of the last six goals in the game.
Matt Robinson celebrates his second goal of the game in the third period, giving the Thunder their first lead of the game, 5-4.(photo by George Steckler)
Chris D'Alvise (1g-2a) and J.F. Caudron (1g-1a) chipped in with multi-point games while Bryan Young added a first period goal for the Thunder, helping backup goaltender Kurtis Mucha earn the first win of his pro career.
The Wranglers raced out to a 3-1 lead by scoring on their first shot and first three out of ten. Chris Neiszner fired a bullet from of the rush past Andrew Perugini just 1:18 into the game for a 1-0 Las Vegas edge, and Alex Bourret followed with a rebound at the doorstep into an open net for a 2-0 lead and a Las Vegas power-play goal just 1:48 later.
After Greg Collins converted a turnover with a snapshot at the left circle to put the Thunder in a 3-0 hole with 8:28 remaining, Perugini was lifted for Mucha, who made his Thunder debut.
The move sparked an early Thunder rally when Young's one-timer beat Jimmy Spratt from between the circles with 4:13 left in the period, cutting the deficit to 3-1 when Young converted on Kelly Czuy's pass from behind the net.
Barry Goers' first goal of his pro career stunted the Thunder comeback early in the second period with a slapshot at the right point that glanced off Mucha's glove for a 4-1 Las Vegas lead, coming 21 seconds into the period.
Back-to-back goals by Robinson and Caudron sliced the deficit to one goal before the end of the period, beginning on a Robinson rebound for his 27th goal with 6:55 left to cut the Las Vegas lead to 4-2.
Caudron beat Spratt on a breakaway, converting off Oren Eizenman's outlet pass with 1:29 left in the period, closing the gap to 4-3 on his 17th goal of the season and putting the Thunder back in the game.
Following a series of near-misses in front of Spratt to being the third period, D'Alvise's 31st goal of the year leveled the score at 4-4 on the power-play with 7:05 left when he rifled Justin DaCosta's cross-ice pass with a one-timer past Spratt's glove from the right circle.
Just 27 seconds later, Ryan Constant's drive from the left point caromed off a Robinson screen to the back of the net, sending Stockton Arena into delirium with the Thunder's first lead of the game at 5-4.
Yet, the Wranglers regrouped and tied the score with three minutes remaining at 5-5 on Adam Miller's 32nd goal of the season, the beneficiary of a Craig Switzer centering feed at the goal mouth that caromed through Mucha's five-hole.
The stage was set for Robinson's heroics and his 29th goal of the year and hat trick restored pandemonium in Stockton Arena with the eventual game-winner with 59.5 seconds left when he picked up a loose puck at the neutral zone on a counter-attack and drilled a slap shot past Spratt's blocker side from the left wing.
After Las Vegas pulled Spratt for an extra skater, Las Vegas worked the puck deep but failed to register a shot on net, preserving Stockton's comeback win.
NOTES: The Thunder scratched Brett Hemingway (healthy), Mark Pavli (injured reserve), Matt O'Dette (injured reserve), Trevor Hunt (healthy), Riley Emmerson (injured reserve) and Craig Valette (injured reserve) ... the Thunder finished the seven-game homestand at 4-3-0 ... Stockton registered its second comeback win when trailing after two periods ... the Thunder outshot Las Vegas, 32-27 and went 1-for-4 on the power-play ... eclipsing the 200,000 fan mark in attendance for the fifth straight season, the Thunder drew 20,615 fans during the weekend.
The Thunder returns to play Tuesday with its next game at 7:00 p.m., visiting the Bakersfield Condors at Rabobank Arena. The game can be heard on radio at 1280 KWSX and viewed online exclusively at www.stocktonthunder.com, courtesy of B2 Networks (audio is free of charge).
The Thunder was voted "Best Local Sports Team" by readers of the San Joaquin Magazine, has led the ECHL in attendance for four consecutive seasons and drew 223,854 fans to Stockton Arena in 2008-09. Season Tickets for 2009-10 are on sale now. For more information about tickets, merchandise, or other inquiries contact the Stockton Thunder offices at (209) 373-1500 or visit http://www.stocktonthunder.com/ .
THREE STARS:
1. STK - 71 Matt Robinson
2. STK - 10 Chris D'Alvise
3. STK - 12 J.F. Caudron
*Reprinted by Oilers Jambalaya with permission from Stockton Thunder Professional Hockey Club, ECHL. The Stockton Thunder are a proud 'AA' affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers (NHL) and Springfield Falcons (AHL) *
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Oilers Jambalaya is in no way, shape or form associated with the Edmonton Oilers or the Bakersfield Condors. This is a fans blog for fans. We happen to love those teams, so we write about them.
