The Oklahoma City Barons and The Truth

What? I'm not sure what I mean either.

Well I guess the truth is, that it is an interesting time to be a OKC Barons fan right now. This is OKC history in the making and the lucky ones that get to witness it all unfold are very fortunate people. I WISH I COULD BE YOU! **Kind of, but not really. I like Alberta**

With only two guys officially on the roster at this time, it makes getting excited right now, a little harder.

Who's on the team this year asks the average fan? Don't know for sure.

Who's going to be the face of the Barons for the 2010-11 season? Omark? Eberle? Paajarvi? Giroux? Ondrus? Don't know that for sure yet either.

Well relax and enjoy how it all unfolds. Everything is about to start and the ball will really get rolling then. Or the puck will get sliding, either way, the analogy works. ;)

I did write up a post about the team last month and after looking at it again, this should be pretty darn close -- minus a player or two-- to the actual roster. Take a look. Not a bad roster at all if you ask me.

So if that doesn't get you fired up then... well, you will have to wait till training camp starts like the rest of us. Only then will we know for sure who will be with the Barons of Oklahoma City.

IMPORTANT DATES
September 9 Oilers Rookie Camp
September 12 – 15 Prospects Camp in Penticton, BC
September 17 Oilers Training Camp begins
September 27 Barons Training Camp begins
October 2 OKC @ TEX 7 p.m. Preseason Game
October 9 HOU @ OKC 7:05 p.m. Home Opener

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Now that the Barons/Oilers have the Cox Convention Center ready to go, it's almost time to fill those seats. Have you bought your tickets for any of the games yet? No? Well then, go here to buy some. Single seat tickets are now available. Woooo!

The prices are very affordable --$14 is the cheapest and $36 is the most expensive-- and it should be fairly easy for the general fan to go and watch a game and not break the bank. HINT: date night

If you have never been to a game and you don't really understand hockey, no problem. Let us know and we can have Eric or Scott --shhhhh... they don't know this yet-- come and meet you at the game. These guys can explain anything about the Barons or hockey in general and they are pretty nice guys to boot.

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Did you pre-order or want to buy a OKC Barons jersey right now? Well you can't have one just quite yet is what I am told.

For some strange terrible marketing reasons, the jerseys are not quite ready yet to buy. In fact, many Barons fans have pre-purchased the Barons jersey months ago and they still don't have one to wear. We wonder out loud what the hold up is?

Anyone else find it strange that it's September 7th and you still can't buy a Barons jersey?

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What, if anything, is going to happen to Doug Sauter? For many OKC hockey fans that's a burning question. No matter where I go, I see "What is Doug Sauter going to do for the Barons?" It's like the fans want him more than hockey itself. It's on that scary level of obsessiveness.

I had a feeling the other night that he might be the new Play by Play radio guy for the Barons. Could Sauter effectively be a PxP guy? I don't have that answer, but I wouldn't put it past the Barons to make such a bold move. I think it wouldn't matter if he was good or not, the fans want Sauter in some capacity. Is this the job for Sauter?

Remember when I suggested Sauter become ambassador for the OKC Barons? I still stand by that and I wish the Barons would consider it. It's the best suited job for him. Sauter for Ambassador!!!

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Make sure to check out both OilersJambalaya.com and OilFieldHockey.com throughout the season. Both sites together are striving to bring you steady news and opinions involving the Oilers, OKC Barons and the Stockton Thunder. If you ever have questions or comments, feel free to ask us.

-Written by Smokin' Ray-

@JohnnieOil Speaks His Mind About Taylor Hall

Our friend JohnnieOil stopped by tonight and had this to say about Taylor Hall "taking" the #4 from the only NHL Oiler to wear that number, Kevin Lowe;

"JohnnieOil said:

I dunno, in a way I like this and in another I don’t.

I understand the synergy of Lowe giving Hall “his” #4.

Lowe being the first ever Oiler pick, scoring the first goal etc there is a lot of Oiler history with that man.

Regardless of what people may think and say of Lowe now there is no denying that he has a very special place in Oiler history and his jersey should be up in the rafters, without any doubt.

And now we have Hall, our first ever #1 pick, a great talent to be sure but he is unproven in the NHL at this time. So does he deserve to take a local legends number and all that it means in the history of the oilers? I just don’t know but it does show the class and unselfishness of Lowe and his love of the team. He is demonstrating a team first attitude as president as he did when he played and I tip my Oilers hat to him.

No one was more excited when we picked Hall, definitely the right pick in my mind I just hope he lives up to the class and love of team and city that the man before him that wore that #4.

Now drop the puck already!"

It's also posted at his blog. Check it out here.

I'm an emotion kind of fellow and I did get caught up in the Hall hoopla. I love a good story and this has interesting written all over it.

JohnnieOil brings up some great points and I'd have to say, I agree 100%. I personally do hope that Taylor Hall leads himself with class and dignity much like Kevin Lowe did and makes all of Oil Country proud. He's going to be even more under fire now with that digit. Can he handle the Oil Country heat?

*fingers crossed* Hope so.

-Written by Smokin' Ray-

Taylor Hall Will Wear #4 For The Edmonton Oilers

Taylor Hall Will Wear #4 For The Edmonton Oilers!!!

Yours truly has been bitching and griping about why the Oilers, more importantly Kevin Lowe, haven't given Taylor Hall the elusive #4.

Well, it's happening. Unless someone is messing with my mind.

Expect a press conference tomorrow (?) as the Oilers (Lowe) present Hall with the #4 blue and orange jersey.

ON A SIDE NOTE: Our own Marsha (Scarlett) Boyd called the PC a couple of weeks ago. Atta girl Marsha!

Roster, Roster, Roster! The New Look Edmonton Oilers

Here is the Oilers roster before the big change. Steve Tambellini had a very busy summer and did quite a lot of work around here.
LAST YEAR OILERS ROSTER

He did some real wonderful stuff like getting rid of the three terrible Oilers from last year, Ethan Moreau, Patrick O'Sullivan and Robert Nilsson.

He managed to re-sign all the Restricted Free Agents that were needed to be signed, except Cogliano. From the reports that I have heard, Cogliano's camp has a contract and they, so far, have not signed. It's completely in their court now. Just sign the damn thing and have a great year to prove them, and us, wrong.

The Oilers still seem hell bent on running the team this year with a bunch of rookies and it's looking more and more like I am wrong. I said that Hall and either Pääjärvi or Eberle would be on the team. It does appear like all three have a legitimate chance of making the team. Training camp should be fun, especially if you throw in Linus Omark. That's four potential rookies on the roster. Can't wait to see what happens.

Tamby signed Martin Gerber for more than just insurance reasons. That is one hell of a deal and a two way contract to boot. Gerber will be called upon more than once this year so this one will end up being a great signing.

I suppose the biggest shocker was the Potulny/Pouliot walking. I was a little shocked that they weren't brought back. I really liked Potulny and I thought he played well enough last year to get another shot this year. I guess it wasn't meant to be.

I never really liked Pouliot, but still didn't think the Oilers would give up on him like they did. He did deserve a real solid chance that MacT never gave him.

Ryan Stone also left and went south (to Calgary). He also played well IMO, and once again, it will be strange to see an ex-Oiler in a fLames (I'm looking at you Glencross) uniform.

Mike Comrie was left to leave as well. The New Mrs. Duff has just signed with the Penguins so good luck to him.

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So let's now take a look at the roster that the Oilers might start the year with.


FORWARDS

Dustin Penner          Sam Gagner        Ales Hemsky
Taylor Hall             Shawn Horcoff      Jordan Eberle
Magnus Pääjärvi  Andrew Cogliano    Gilbert Brule
Ryan Jones               Colin Fraser        Zack Stortini

SPARES: Steve MacIntyre, Linus Omark, Liam Reddox, Alex Giroux

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DEFENCE

Ryan Whitney      Tom Gilbert
(Souray Trade)   Ladislav Smid
Jim Vandermeer  Kurtis Foster

SPARES: Jason Strudwick, Theo Peckham, Shawn Belle, Taylor Chorney, Jeff Petry, Johan Motin

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GOALIES

Nikolai Khabibulin
Devan Dubnyk

OKC Barons:
Martin Gerber
Jeff Deslauriers

SPARES: Bryan Pitton (Stockton Thunder), Olivier Roy (Juniors)

-Written by Smokin' Ray-

Too Many Irons In The Fire

Well it's been a madhouse around here lately. We found a huge house for the same price that we were paying at the old place, so we moved. Life is better, yet very hectic right now.

The Young Stars tournament is approaching soon and I'm trying to get that all sorted out and ready to rock. We have TweetCasts planned and the LIVE video feeds of the games that will be on both, OilersJambalaya.com and OilFieldHockey.com. Should be exciting times so make sure you are here to see it all unfold.

We have Shawn as our eyes and ears there at the tournament. He will be at every game and he will be tweeting and posting pictures as it all happens. We thank Shawn up front for his help with this project.

I have also been working on some changes for OilersJambalaya.com. I can't really say what they are yet, but you should dig it. Trust me.

I have also been working on some changes for the NEW Flames Jambalaya. Dearen (pronounced Darren) has been killing it over there at FJ. He's a fantastic writer who's really coming into his own. We will have a few cross promotions with FJ once the season starts and the Oilers battle the Flames. Why not razz the Flames guy after a win right?

I have also been getting together a crew for over at NHL Jambalaya. We have a new guy starting soon and that site will once again be pushing NHL news and rumors. Stay tuned for that.

And... I did it again. Canucks Jambalaya. We will see where this takes us. HELP WANTED

If you know someone who may want to write about the NHL, Flames or Canucks, send them my way. We need more people.

If you haven't checked out the NEW Oil Terminal podcast that Eric and Scott have been doing, you should. They are doing a great job and over the next few weeks, they will have all the kinks worked out of it and it will be smooth sailing. Oh yeah, I am also working on some theme music for the podcast so stay tuned for that. It could be epic! Or not.

For those of you that come here to read our Beers & Jeers game recaps, we are going to once again change the format a little for this season. Less fluff and more meat. We will be asking the readers of OJ what they like and don't like in a recap and we want to make it better than ever. Stay tuned for that.

Well I am sure that I have missed a few of the things that I am currently working on, but it doesn't really matter. OILERS HOCKEY is about to start! WOOOOOOOOO!!!!

OilersJambalaya.com is going to raise the bar this year, we hope you enjoy it with us. Thanks for being a loyal reader here. We love you for it!

-Written by Smokin' Ray-