A Kids First Game / The Contest Winner

Last night on twitter I gave away two tickets to the Oilers vs Canucks game on October 25th. I did a random draw (pieces of paper in my lucky Oiler hat) and the winner turned out to be a 13 year old boy (I won't say his name cause he's a minor) from Edmonton who has never been to an Oilers game before.

He's pretty excited about the opportunity to be going to a real NHL game. He can't stop thanking me. Hell, I'm excited for him too. I bet he didn't sleep much last night after winning. Haha!

It got me thinking about my first game. I can remember that day like it was yesterday. Well, sort of.

My dad, my uncle Ted, my brother in law Randy and myself all piled into uncle Ted's car and drove to the PNE in Vancouver. I remember being excited the whole ride there. I couldn't believe it really was coming true. I remember seeing all these cool buildings and we even passed the amusement park. All I could think about was the game I was about to watch.

I finally get to see my hero's. Gretzky, Messier, Coffey, Fuhr (although I'm sure Moog started), Kurri, Semenko, the list goes on. It was going to be awesome!

And indeed it was. Uncle Ted had seats at the glass opposite of the players benches and he had seats on the 4th row dead center just to the left of the glass seats. I sat with my dad and we watched the first half the game in row 4 and the last the half (switching seats with uncle Ted and Randy) we sat there to end the game with my face plastered to the glass.

I was mesmerized the entire game. I didn't bitch or complain, I just sat there in awe surrounded by a sea Canuck fans (probably was the beginning of my hate for that club). This was my team. The Oilers are my team. There was no doubting it after that game.

I was a fan before this game, I was hardcore fan for life after it.

I don't recall the year this happened (I think 1986 but I'm not sure) and I don't remember who scored the goals. However, I do remember the Oilers won 7-5 and I'm sure I was one of the only happy people on the way out the doors.

So this brings me back to the winner of last nights contest.

I hope he goes to Rexall and has as good of time as I did, when I was a kid. It changed my life that day when I went for the first time, I hope this does something similar for him too.

Have fun young man, this is your first game.

GOILERS!!!

-WRITTEN BY BRENT HUSKA-

Opening Night For The Stockton Thunder and 3 Oilers Prospects

LINEUPS: The Puzzle Completed
Friday, 10.14.11 / 1:27 PM

By Mike Benton

Welcome to Opening Night!

The night that Thunder fans have waited for is finally here and for many, it couldn’t be sweeter. The offseason was filled with anticipation. There was heavy changeover on the roster.

When the pieces were finally laid into place, the finished puzzle presented your way features a collection of promising rookies (see: Ryan Martindale, Colten Hayes, Gabriel Levesque, Olivier Roy, etc) and established veterans (Jason Morgan, Kevin Baker and Matt Foy).

You’ll see many of them tonight, who will face a Colorado team that carries in plenty of Central Hockey League crossovers – and plenty of motivation. Tonight is their first game in the ECHL after spending eight seasons in the Central Hockey League.

We’ve still yet to find out about who Colorado is putting out. Here’s who the Thunder have slated to go in uniform:

THUNDER LINE COMBINATIONS
Cameron – Morgan – Baker
Fulton – Martindale – Foy
Hunt – Levesque – Shelast
Abney

THUNDER DEFENSIVE PAIRS
Ringwald – Hayes
Pederson – Little
Deck – Brodie

GOALTENDER:
Roy

Get your questions in tonight for us to respond to during the second intermission. As a heads up, San Jose Sharks assistant GM Wayne Thomas is expected to join us in the booth for the first intermission. We’ll see you on the radio!

Oh, and be sure to wish Garet Hunt a happy birthday today.

-WRITTEN BY MIKE BENTON OF THE STOCKTON THUNDER-

Edmonton Oilers vs Minnesota Wild Video Highlights

The game started out good for the Oilers, but once the Hemsky injury happened, that was it for the mighty Oil.  While they did manage to keep themselves in this game and make it to overtime and ultimately the shoot out, it was a stinker to have to sit through.

Khabibulin played pretty good tonight.  He sucks puck handling, but in the actual goal crease where you stop pucks, he played well.  1st star for the Oilers. 

Magnus Paajarvi was also pretty good.  He plays with wisdom. In his own right, he's a special player.

Ryan Smyth scored the Oilers only goal in regulation. His first of the season, and his first back as an Oiler.

Oilers - 1
Wild - 2  SO

GAME SUMMARY SHEET

EVENT SUMMARY SHEET

Ales Hemsky Hurt. Again.

You would think this was a picture from tonight. It's not. But it sure is the same shoulder.

In the first period of the Edmonton Oilers 2nd game of the season, Ales Hemsky hurt his shoulder once again. He's left the game and its been reported that he won't return.

The Oilers forward has had injuries before to his shoulders, so this isn't surprising. So much for a stellar year for #83.

We will keep you updated on this story.

EDIT: It appears like he hurt (right shoulder) it while making a cross ice pass near the end of the 1st period.  Nobody knows for sure when it happened or how (that pass or a hit), but after that pass, he didn't return. 

Tom Renney said after the game was over that his shoulder is just sore.  He also said not to speculate until it's checked out tomorrow.

-WRITTEN BY BRENT HUSKA-

Don't BS Me. Do We Really Have A Game On Tonight?

What seems like an eternity, game day is finally here. Oilers vs Wild tonight in Minnesota.

There is a couple of stories today for the Oilers that makes this game interesting.

- The obvious. 2nd game of the season. The Oil haven't played since Sunday, and with the shootout win over the Pens, the fans want more. It just took to damn long to get to today.

- Sure does sound like Linus Omark won't play tonight. He's being benched for playing with little fire in the opener. Some say Renney is also pissed off with his shootout attempt.

- Lennart Petrell makes his NHL and Oilers debut tonight. In sure he's buzzing this morning and he's ready to go. He's good defensively and apparently a stud on the penalty kill. I'm interested to see him in action.

- Darcy Hordichuk and his :59 of playing time is in the lineup. WTF? If that's all he's going to play, I'd rather have Omark on the 4th line. Wasn't signing Hordichuk was because he can play 7 minutes a night? Play Hordichuk, or the press box. Pick one Renney.

Hall-Nugent Hopkins-Hemsky
Smyth-Belanger-Eberle
Paajarvi-Horcoff-Jones
Petrell-Lander-Hordichuk

Sutton-Gilbert
Smid-Peckham
Barker-Petry

Khabibulin

-WRITTEN BY SMOKIN' RAY-