The Edmonton Oilers have put Jeff Deslauriers on waivers today. Should he clear waivers by not being claimed by 11AM CDT tomorrow, he will be assigned to the Barons. If/When that happens, Brian Pitton will most likely be sent down to the Stockton Thunder(I say "most likely" only because I'm not in the know. You can pretty much expect it). Before this season, Deslauriers signed a 1 year contract worth 1.05 million, which is what he will continue to be paid in the AHL.
Deslauriers hasn't played any games for the Oilers this season. Last season, he played 48 games for the Oilers turning in a record of 16-28-7(3 SO losses) with a .901 Save % and a 3.26 GAA, and played 5 games for the Springfield Falcons turning in a 1-4-0 record with a .910 Save % and 2.73 GAA. In his 137 game AHL career, he has a 59-59-10 record and 4 shutouts(all in the 2006-07 season), and 2.84 GAA. He also played 10 games for the Oilers in the 2008-09 season with a 4-3-0 record, .901 Save % and 3.33 GAA.
This answers the question of the Oilers' backup goalie situation. It was debated whether Deslauriers or Devan Dubnyk would get the job, and Dubnyk has obviously won that. This brings up two new questions however. Colorado Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson on IR, and they could possibly put in a claim for Deslauriers. And if Deslauriers does clear waivers, who will be in net this Friday for the Barons? Interesting times lay ahead.
Barons Game Day Information Center
* Barons won in a shootout 5-4 in Grand Rapids last night.
* Barons have killed 40 of 44 penalties over 11 games.
* Alex Giroux is 7th in the league in scoring with 6 goals, 6 assists, and 12 pts.
* Tonight's Officials are Referee Ghislain Hebert and Linesmen Mike Hamilton & Scott Bokal
Away: Oklahoma City Barons (6-4-1); Last game: 5-4 SO Win vs. Grand Rapids Home: Peoria Rivermen (7-3-0); Last game: 3-0 Loss vs. Texas
Quick News and Notes -This is the first of eight meetings between the two teams this season. -This is the final game of the Barons 5-game road trip. The Barons are 3-1 on the road trip. -Moran, Reddox, Hartikainen, and Kytnar had the goals in yesterday's game. -Yesterday's goal was Kytnar's first professional goal. -Belle and Petry were both a -3 yesterday. -Reddox has joined Moran on the positive side of +/-, Reddox with a +1 and Moran with a +3. Petry and Vande Velde both dropped to a -9. -Giroux continues to lead the team in points with 12. Belle continues to be tied at 1st in point among defensemen with 10. -The Barons are 12 for 71 on the PP(16.9%), and 49 for 52 on the PK(94.2%). -The Rivermen are 9 for 41 on the PP(20.5%), and 50 for 59 on the PK(84.7%)
Players to watch OKC: Reddox and Omark continue their scoring ways. If Coach Nelson puts Hartikainen back on the line, it's worth it to pay attention. PEO: Graham Mink(21) leads the Rivermen in scoring with 12(4G,8A). Mink is who beat out Moran for AHL Player of the Week in the week that Moran scored the come from behind hat trick. Nicholas Drazenovic(10) and T.J. Hensick(4) are next with 9 points a piece.
The Rivermen are in a bit of a slide. after winning 7 straight, they've dropped their last two. The Rivermen haven't played since Tuesday, while the Barons played twice in that span, so they're going to have the fresher legs. Hopefully with Kytnar scoring last night, it will help open up the scoring among the bottom 6 forwards. The puck drop is at 7:05 CDT/6:05 MDT. The game will be broadcast on 96.1 KXY. As always, you can follow myself(@AHLBarons) and Scott(@OilFieldHockey) as we tweet during the game.
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 - (0) DNP (Healthy scratch)
#4 TAYLOR HALL - (7)Hall scores his second ever NHL goal and picks up an assist. Kind of like last night's game, another 2 points. He played with some great confidence and he earned his 17:02 of ice time. He had 2 shots, a hit and a takeaway. He did more than the stats suggest.
#5 LADISLAV SMID - (6) I liked Smid. He played a ton (22:27) and never really looked out of it. He was on the ice for the Dowell goal but that was all Strudwick. He had 2 hits and 2 blocked shots.
#6 RYAN WHITNEY - (6) He was pretty decent. Why? Like I said yesterday, maybe he needed less time on the ice? He played 6 minutes less (22:54) and looked better. Let's hope Renney continues this. Whitney had 1 assist, was +2,
#10 SHAWN HORCOFF - (8) BEERSHorcoff picks up another 2 assists and seems to be on fire playing with the kids. I mean really, how hard is it? Skate, get puck, pass to Eberle or Hall, notch assist. He was 10/7 fro 59% on faceoffs. That helped the Oilers be better. He needs to stay above 50%.
#13 ANDREW COGLIANO - (7) It seems like the line change has helped Cogs. He scores his first of the year from Brule and Foster. He didn't make any glaring mistakes and was great on faceoffs. 5/2 for 71%. He had 2 shots, 2 hits, 1 takeaway and 2 blocked shots. All this in 14:55 of ice time.
#14 JORDAN EBERLE - (8)BEERS Solid game again. How does he do it? He scores and picks up an assist in 19:46. He had 3 shots on goal and a team high, 3 takeaways. Did I mention his goal was another sweet one?
#16 COLIN FRASER - (6) Much better game for Fraser. Renney finally went for it with the 4th line and it paid off. They didn't get scored on. 2 hits and 2 shots in 9:11 of ice time.
#22 JF JACQUES - (0) DNP (Injured)
#26 KURTIS FOSTER - (6) He played his first game since the groin injury. He had 2 assists and was +3. He took 2 shots and played a rounded game. His injury looked ok but his playing time was limited. He only skated 14:19, so to rack up those kind of stats, he had a pretty good game.
#27 DUSTIN PENNER - (5) He had chemistry with Brule and Cogliano. While he did play OK in front of the net, he didn't really make much of an impact on this game. He was +1 in 13:36 of ice time.
#28 RYAN JONES - (6) He scored his 2nd of the year. He had a big shot block (2 in total) that stung him and he didn't get scored on. While his overall game was worth a 5, his goal IMO bumped him to a 6.
#33 STEVE MACINTYRE - (0) DNP (Healthy scratch)
#35 NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN -(4) JEERSHe was average or slightly below. He let in 4 goals and that stinks. He had 2 of the Oilers 6 giveaways and he made me grouchy. One minute he's a freaking all star, the next he's a bum off the street wearing goalie gear. No consistency. He can make a big save, but the little ones sneak in. Not all the goals were his fault though, but he didn't help out much. Lucky the team playing in front of him scored a bunch.
#38 JEFF DESLAURIERS - (0) DNP (Healthy scratch)
#40 DEVAN DUBNYK - (0) DNP (Healthy scratch)
#43 JASON STRUDWICK - (3)JEERS He was, in my books, expected to be not great anyways. But explain how he's the only Oiler -1? He played 20:17 and had a funny play where he was playing the puck and he stepped on the puck. While falling down, Dowell snags it and scored (not so funny part). Why do we have to have him in the lineup? Oh right... him or Vandermeer. Oy!
#46 ZACK STORTINI -(6) He was good. Not bad for a guy who hasn't played in a while. His line didn't get beat and he had 2 hits and was +1 in 7:32. Glad to see him play again.
#49 THEO PECKHAM - (5) He could have been better, but with a win, it's hard to bitch. He finished +2 and played 18:57. He had no shots and only had 1 hit. But I suppose when your winning, no need to push the envelope.
#67 GILBERT BRULE - (6) Brule had a team high 5 hits but also had a team high, 2 penalties. Both were not great plays by Brule. He had an assist on the Cogliano goal. If he wants more ice time, he needs to shoot more. Hitting is good, but shooting gets you out there.
#77 TOM GILBERT - (6)Not noticed much other than right off the hop. He blocked shots tonight like he always does and had 3.He finished +3 and was on the ice for 21:06. He could shoot more.
#83 ALES HEMSKY - (8)BEERS He was the worst on the team with 3 giveaways. That's the bad. The good? He had a goal and an assist while finishing +2. He had 3 blocked shots and 2 shots. He created lots of chances and really made the Hawks pay attention.
#89 SAM GAGNER - (7) He scores his first 2 goals of the year. 1 for real and 1 in an empty net. I liked the 1st line and I thought Gags was a big part of it. 2 takeaways and 2 shots in 16:13. His faceoffs still stunk at 38%. I don't know how he's going to fix that?
#91 MAGNUS PAAJARVI - (7) He knows how to pass that puck. He's not afraid to hold it either. His poise is evident when playing with Hemsky and Gagner. It's fun to watch him play. He had 2 assists and was +3 in 16:10 of ice time. He didn't register a shot and I hope that's not a common sight. Good overall game for Paajarvi.
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