The Edmonton Oilers trimmed down the roster today by 6 six players. These three -- Teemu Hartikainen (LW), Johan Motin (D) and Jake Taylor (D) -- have been assigned to the OKC Barons. They will report ASAP.
The Oilers also placed Brad Moran (C) and Greg Stewart (LW) on waivers for purpose of assignment to Oklahoma City. I doubt anyone takes them so there is another 2 guys for the Barons.
The Oilers also released Jared Aulin (C) completely.
Our good friend Russ Jericho did some digging and the OKC Barons website made a whole bunch of pages in preparation of these guys coming to OKC. Aulin was found to have a page.
Edmonton Oilers
Later on today after all this happened, Ryan Rishaug said that Aulin was indeed invited to try out at the OKC Barons training camp, but no contract was offered. Rishaug went on to say he's considering his options.
There are now 37 players left at the Oilers main camp.
That's it for the news. Now it's time for my opinion.
Why the Oilers only cut 6 players today is crazy. The OKC Barons have started their training camp and with the bulk of their opening day roster still in Edmonton, this makes no sense to me.
I can say with confidence that Colin McDonald won't make the Oilers this year. The same can be said for Ben Ondrus or Chris Vande Velde. Are they really that close to making the team? I wouldn't think so. So why are they still there?
Maybe the Oilers want to ensure that the more "quality" guys get a real Oilers experience? Maybe the Oilers just want to push these guys to the limit? See where they stand?
Or maybe they are that close to a roster spot and I'm just to stupid to see it?
Oklahoma City Barons
Whatever the reason is, I don't like it.
Why not let the guys/kids go to OKC as soon as possible so that they can adjust and find a place to live before the long and tiring season begins? Why not let them go and get used to a new city? Why not let them get familiar with the coaching and management staff before it gets hectic?
Why not?
I can tell you this, this will all make less sense if they release more guys tomorrow. There is no game tonight, so why wait till tomorrow?
I guess we will see what happens in the morning.
ON A SIDE NOTE: If I was GM for a day, I probably would have put Deslauriers (my pick) or Dubnyk on waivers today for the purpose of assignment to OKC. Right now, not many teams are needing/wanting a goalie and if the Oilers do need a goalie to replace Khabibulin, Martin Gerber can come back up. This would have been a good chance to sneak one of them (JDD or DD) through waivers. Like Bob McKenzie said, there was a million guys on waivers today. Why not send a goalie?
STOCKTON, Calif. - The Stockton Thunder, proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks, announced the following five player have been extended and accepted training camp tryout agreement offers from the Thunder Free Agent Tryout Camp, which concluded on Sunday:
Brian Cooke (D) - Los Angeles, Calif.
Jason Lindner (G) - North Vancouver, B.C.
Sean Menton (RW) - Monrovia, Calif.
Drew Sanders (F) - Modesto, Calif.
Marcus Watson (C) - San Jose, Calif.
Cooke, a 6-foot-2, 198-pound defenseman, skated as a red shirt freshman for the hockey program at Wayne State University (NCAA) in 2006-07 before the team disbanded and previously was a first team All-star defenseman (South Division) for the Bridgewater Bandits Junior A team of the Eastern Junior Hockey League. A native of Los Angeles, he served as a Head Counselor for the Los Angeles Kings "Kings Camp 2010" during the summer and ended his Amateur hockey career with the LA Kings Midget AAA Major team.
Lindner, a 6-foot, 185-pound goaltender, suited up for Utah Valley University of the American Collegiate Hockey Association and spent two years each with the Weyburn Red Wings Junior A and Delta Ice Hawks Junior B teams. During the 06-07 season with Weyburn, he ranked third in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League with 2,753 minutes while recording a .903 save percentage and one shutout in 56 games. He served as a referee last season in the Pacific International Junior Hockey League.
Menton, a 5-foot-8, 180-pound forward, suited up in six games for the Merritt Centennials of the British Columbia Hockey League last season and recorded two penalty minutes. The 21-year old also skated for Salem of the Empire Junior Hockey League in 2007-08 and recorded nine points (4g-5a) and 47 penalty minutes in 37 games. He was also named Player of the Game in three contest of the Provincial Championships in Alberta with the North Peace Navigators and scored two goals and added an assist in three games.
Sanders, a 5-foot-8, 175-pound forward, returns to Thunder training camp for the second time in his career after skating with the team and suiting up in one preseason game in 2007-08. The 27-year old last suited up for the Jersey Rockhoppers of the Eastern Professional Hockey League in 2008-09, ranking tied for second on the team with 41 assists and fourth in scoring with 58 points (17g-41a) in 50 games.
The Modesto native attended local Fred C. Beyer High School and appeared in 129 career games at Sacred Heart University (NCAA) while scoring 26 career points (5g-21a) with 82 penalty minutes. He skated for the local Stockton Colts youth hockey program for two seasons (1992-94).
Watson, a San Jose native, has suited up in 103 career junior games in the Western Hockey League with the Prince George Cougars, scoring 27 points (10g-17a) and adding 50 penalty minutes. The 6-foot-2, 198-pound pivot also added an assist and four penalty minutes in six games with Moncton of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 2006-07. His experience includes an invite to San Jose Sharks development camp in 2007 and participating in the Junior Sharks program.
Training camp opens at Stockton Arena at Sunday, Oct. 3 at 5:00 p.m. A full camp roster will be announced soon.
OPENING NIGHT AND TICKET INFORMATION
Opening Night is Friday, Oct. 15, when the Thunder opens the 2010-11 regular season at home against the Ontario Reign, starting at 7:30 p.m. at Stockton Arena. The Thunder and Alaska Aces meet in the preseason opener on Oct. 5 at Sullivan Arena, beginning at 8:15 p.m. The Thunder and Ontario Reign square off in the only preseason game at Stockton Arena on Friday, Oct. 8 at 7:30 p.m.
A two-time recipient of the ECHL "Award of Excellence," Thunder was voted "Best Local Sports Team" by readers of the San Joaquin Magazine, led the ECHL in attendance for four consecutive seasons and drew over 200,000 fans for the fifth consecutive season in 2009-10. Season Tickets and mini-plans for 2010-11 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/.
Welcome to another fine Edmonton Oilers Beers & Jeers Game Recap.
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FINAL SCORE
EDMONTON OILERS - 8
VANCOUVER CANUCKS - 2
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TONIGHT'S STARTING LINES
Taylor Hall (4) - Shawn Horcoff (10) - Jordan Eberle (14)
Dustin Penner (27) - Gilbert Brule (67) - Linus Omark (23)
Alexandre Giroux (12) - Jared Aulin (47) - Ben Ondrus (25)
Teemu Hartikainen (56) - Chris Vande Velde (54) - Zack Stortini (46)
Ryan Whitney (6) - Jeff Petry (58)
Jim Vandermeer (2) - Theo Peckham (49)
Jason Strudwick (43) - Johan Motin (39)
Nikolai Khabibulin (35)
Martin Gerber (29)
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VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
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BEERS & JEERS PLAYER GRADES
The Cult of Hockey Grading System: 10perfect game, 9 extraordinary, 8 great, 7 good, 6 above average, 5 average, 4 below average, 3 poor, 2 terrible, 1 deserves to be in minors.
#2 JAMES VANDERMEER - (7) What he lacks in offensive skill, he makes up for it in effort. Seeing him play, I'm not entirely sure why the Coyotes gave up on him like that. He was a team best +3 and had 2 assists. How much did he play? 21:22.
#4 TAYLOR HALL - (7) Hall was good but he wasn't on the Eberle level of good. Hall had 2 assists and was a +1. He has great hockey sense and he's starting to understand the NHL level. I know this is pre-season, but he's going to be OK this year. He's going to put points up. He had a great chance to score but just missed. I can't wait to see him score in the regular season.
#5 LADISLAV SMID - (0) DNP
#6 RYAN WHITNEY - (7) Again another solid performance. Whitney is, and will be the best Oilers defenceman this year. He just doesn't do anything wrong. As much as I miss Lubo, Whitney is a rock! Oh.. he also had a team high 3 blocked shots.
#10 SHAWN HORCOFF - (8)BEERS Horcoff had a good game. He had 2 goals and an assist for a 3 point night. His downfall? 29% on the faceoff dot. Horcoff would have received a 9 if he wasn't so crappy on faceoffs.
#12 ALEXANDRE GIROUX - (5) He played 11:24 and really didn't do anything special. He had 2 hits and 2 shots and if this was his last "look", I assume he goes to OKC relatively soon.
#13 ANDREW COGLIANO - (0) DNP
#14 JORDAN EBERLE - (9)BEERS What can I say about this kid? How about "HOLY FREAKING AWESOME!". He scored 2 minutes into the game and never looked back. He fed off of Horcoff and played a near perfect game. He only played 14:21 but scored 2 goals and had an assist for 3 points. 2 shots, 2 goals. Not bad for a rookie. I sure hope Eberle and the rest of these kids can do this in regular season.
#16 COLIN FRASER - (0) DNP
#20 BRAD MORAN - (0) DNP
#22 JF JACQUES - (0) Injured
#23 LINUS OMARK - (9)BEERS WOW! Finally the real Omark stands up. No more playing with the pluggers (no offense to the pluggers), Omark has his own coming out party. His slick and sick youtube moves came to life tonight. He made a 4 player deke into a goal. Crazy, crazy stuff. If the Oilers do keep Omark, he needs top 6 minutes or he's just not effective. Look at last game and today. Big difference.
#25 BEN ONDRUS -(6) He's going to be a good player for the Barons. He played well tonight and I would suspect that this was the end of the road.
#26 KURTIS FOSTER - (0) DNP
#27 DUSTIN PENNER - (7) Faster than last year, by a long shot. Penner had good chemistry with Omark and Brule and he scored twice to show he's still got it. While it wasn't his usual power forward game, he was very effective.
#28 RYAN JONES - (0) Injured
#29 MARTIN GERBER - (0) DNP He was dressed but never went in.
#33 STEVE MACINTYRE - (0)DNP
#35 NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN - (6) He played OK. He didn't face a lot of shots or tough one for that matter. This was a good game for him to play in. He got a win and some game action. He will need some more games before I get comfortable with him in net. For what it's worth, he didn't look distressed or in pain, so at least the injury might be OK now.
#36 GREGORY STEWART(0) - DNP
#37 RICHARD PETIOT - (0) DNP
#38 JEFF DESLAURIERS - (0) DNP
#39 JOHAN MOTIN - (5) Motin will be a good guy in OKC. I like his style but he's not quite NHL ready yet. While he didn't look out of place, he wasn't commanding the ice. He did earn an assist on the Omark goal in the 3rd. His bad part of his game tonight? 3 giveaways. Tied for a team high.
#40 DEVAN DUBNYK - (0) DNP
#41 TAYLOR CHORNEY - (0) DNP
#42 RYAN O'MARRA - (0) DNP
#43 JASON STRUDWICK - (6) Strudwick was Strudwick. Same old, same old. But a little above average.
#45 SHAWN BELLE - (0) DNP
#46 ZACK STORTINI -(6) AWESOME! His fight that is. He went toe to toe with Darcy Hordichuk and it was one hell of a fight. Storts was bleeding like a stuck pig after that fight and definitely looked the worst. He had PP time and some PK time. Stortini is expected to take a more improved role with the club. I think he's going towards that.
#47 JARED AULIN - (5) He was OK. Nothing great. I watched him close because I wanted to see him and how he plays. He seems like a decent two way player. No real complaints. His main niche is his faceoffs. He went 9 wins 6 losses for a 60% percentage. I would think the Barons sign him. Worth it on the faceoffs alone.
#48 ALEX PLANTE - (0) DNP
#49 THEO PECKHAM - (7) Solid game. He didn't take any stupid penalties and played well. Peckham is making it hard for the Oilers to decide. How do you not keep him? He played 21:31 and had a team high 5 hits. The Oilers need more guys like Peckham.
#54 CHRIS VANDE VELDE - (6) While I did like him -- before and after his goal -- he didn't stand out from the other Canucks players. He and Hartikainen played well together and if I was a betting man, I'd play them together with the Barons.
#56 TEEMU HARTKAINEN - (6) Same as Vande Velde. Decent job tonight, just won't make the team this year. He will have a good season in OKC and will grow to be a great player down the road for the Oilers.
#57 COLIN MACDONALD - (0) DNP
#58 JEFF PETRY - (6) A young Tom Gilbert. Petry played well and didn't really screw up too bad, but he didn't make an impact in the game. His assist on the Vande Velde goal was the result of some good passing. Petry will shut down guys all year on OKC.
#67 GILBERT BRULE - (7) While I was a fan of Brule tonight, I wasn't a big fan of the 3 giveaways, I was a fan of the 3 hits and the 67% face off percentage. I was also a fan of the two assists. Brule pays a wild style so sometimes giveaways occur. You can tell he loves playing with Penner.
#68 TYLER PITLICK - (0) Sent back to Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL).
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