Beers and Jeers #25 (Jan 30/09 vs. Minnesota Wild)

Well, was that the Edmonton Oilers? I couldn't believe my eyes. The puck just drops and Staios absolutely nails a Wild player. Then drops the gloves and backs up his actions. Nice veteran move. That instantly moved the momentum to the Oilers side. 4 minutes later Hemsky scores a lucky one. Yes! Great start. Take that Flames fans... Anyways. The guys that I have been hardest on lately we very good in the 1st period. Sure they wanted the "young" guys to take ownership for their actions. But with out the strong veteran leadership group taking charge and leading this team much like they did in this game, we would be a much better team for it. Am I wrong?

Big Mac vs. The Bogeyman #1

- This was a good fight for Big Mac. He looked really nervous at the start. But excited. The dukes went up and the waiting game began. Once the fight started it was a pretty good one. No real "big" punches that did any damage. But shots were felt. It ended a draw. Then as Big Mac was skating off you could see him grin. He felt good. He wasn't broken. And that fight did a lot for the rest of the game. Bogey was not a factor at all tonight. Mission accomplished.

Period 2 was also great. Lots of action. The play was pretty back and forth. Visnovsky scores a beauty. The Oilers PP was not great. 1for 5 for the game. This could have been a 7-1 game instead 3-1. I'm not really complaining... but I am.

The 3rd period started and wouldn't you know it. I go out for a smoke (What? you smoke Smokin' Ray? *pause* oooooooooh.... I get it, Smokin' Ray.) and the Wild score. What the hell? I know, I said the same thing. But the Oilers stared to play a tight game and really held off the Wild. Roloson was a monster (screw you Pierre MacGuire) in this game. He deserves a lot of credit tonight. He played great. Oilers hang on to win the game. All is good in the Oilers Nation once again.

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Tonight's Lines

Penner Horcoff Hemsky (This line was kind of a dud line. Hemsky was good. Penner was a blob of blue and copper. Horcoff... he wasn't bad tonight. Not great. But not bad either.)

Nilsson Potulny Cole (Nilsson is a ticking time bomb with the puck. It may explode. It may be a gift for the opposing team. Potulny was average as he only played 11:02. Horcoff and Cogliano took his spot on occasion. Cole was good tonight. Admit it Cole... you miss your little buddy Sam.)

Moreau Cogliano Pouliot (This line and the 4th line changed throughout the game. MacT was trying to get things going. But yet last game, the lines never changed. Go figure? Moreau - Good, Cogliano - good / he belongs on the 3rd line, Poulot - 4th line guy / average.)

Strudwick Brodziak MacIntyre (This wasn't really a line that did anything. Big Mac fought, but only played 2:13. He did mange 2 hits, and they were good ones. Strudwick was a puzzling choice. I was thinking more along the lines of Stortini in the mix tonight. But once again... what do I know? Brodziak was a faceoff machine. He was out for a lot of the "big" draws. He did ok at 6-4 for 60%.)

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FINAL SCORE

Minnesota Wild - 1

Edmonton Oilers- 3

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BEERS

Dwayne Roloson

- I will be the first to admit that I didn't think it was a good idea to put Roli in for this game. Ex team, they know his weak spots, losing record against Wild. But like I have said a million times. What do I know? He was brilliant tonight. He made huge saves when needed and was a fierce competitor till the end. I have always liked Roli, but tonight he raised my respect level for him. His mental toughness is second to none. He knows how to be a real professional. He has been since he has become an Oiler. Good days or bad days... the man is class. Have a beer Gramps. Show these kids how to drink. Cheers!

Steve Staios

- I want to say that if Steve Staios could play like that every game, he could be a real high level NHL defenseman. He did everything right tonight. I have had a huge mean streak for Staios lately, but I can say that tonight he made me stand up and cheer. He made me believe that this team is the team that I say they are. A team of champions. Hard hitting. Shot blocking. The knuckle breaking dedication that it is what it takes to get to the show. (That didn't make sense to me either.) To win the cup. Hopefully he maintains this and we continue towards that silver lining. Mr Staios sir. Enjoy a frosty. Cheers!

Ethan Moreau

- The captain came through tonight. He played the same way as Staios did. Well, except he scored. Chopper provided everything that he has lacked in the last while. The penaz. Or swagger. Whatever... he was damn good. In fact. Have a Mountain Crest Chopper. Cheers!

Honorable Mentions

- Andrew Cogliano (I think he belongs on the 3rd line. That just may be his niche. Horcoff Jr., but better. 2 assist night with great play making. Solid game for Cogs), Lubomir Visnovsky (How good is he? How many dmen take a shot and continue into the slot and bang in their own rebound? Lubo does. And he does it well. He played a real solid game.), Sheldon Souray (When doesn't he play good?)

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JEERS

I could complain about a few little things but what the hell? We won. YAY!

Ok. Just a little...

Dustin Penner

- This guy is a slug. I really think MacT should bench him again. And again in 15 games. And repeat, until he can produce in a consistent manner. The guy is lazy. The guy drives me mad. Hello? You play on a 1st line. With Hemsky. And you do what? Lolly gag? Moron. Shape up. Booooooooooo!

Liam Reddox

- This is only because it makes me feel good, and you suck. Booooooooooooooooo!

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Sunday is the next game. 12 noon vs Nashville. Tough game. Hope the same Oilers attend that game. Until next time...

REMEMBER: You are only as good as your last game... and we were freaking awesome!

Beers and Jeers #24 (Jan 27/09 vs. Buffalo Sabres)

Well that was one of the most crappiest starts that I have ever seen. 1st goal in 10 seconds?!? 2nd goal a minute later!?! 3-0 by the 10:00 minute mark. This is the 1st period still. And it's Buffalo in the lead. Way to go guys! The Oilers couldn't even score on the couple of Power Play chances that they had. This team fell flat and it's going to be hard to get back up. The best part of the 1st period was when Roli was pulled and Deslauriers came in and actually made a save. (Although I don't pin the crap start entirely on Roli) The crowd responded with a cheer. So what went wrong? Staios was terrible. Falling and giving the puck away like a peewee hockey player. By far the worst Oiler. In fact that period alone is getting him a nice brand new shiny Boo. Hemsky was the best Oiler, if you can even say that.

And how do we start the 2nd? Pissed off and mean? Maybe a fight? No. Buffalo scores. Again. And again. And again. Well you get the picture. Not a good night in paradise. 7-1 for the Sabres after the 2nd. Erik Cole tried to give the team some life by scoring a nice wrister. But to no avail. Deslauriers didn't fair any better. Not a good night to be an Oiler goalie.

The 3rd was just as stinky. At points you wonder to yourself why am I still watching this? Because I have to. The team needs us. (I feel a little responsible here. We were 5w - 1 L since I bought my new hat. But... I had to cut my mullet because it was just to shaggy. I think I screwed the team. I should never have cut my hair.)

So all in all that was a terrible game. There was a few bright spots. Erik Cole was not bad. He did look a little lost without Gagner. Hemsky wasn't bad either. But I don't think that anyone deserves a beer tonight. But I am sure I can round up some Jeers though.

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The Lines Tonight

Penner Horcoff Hemsky (Hemmer was a one man show. Horcoff won faceoffs but then that's it. Penner was Penner. Lazy)

Nilsson Cogliano Cole (Cole and Nilsson seemed good. Cogs seemed out of place with those two. Maybe Gagner is important to this team?)

Moreau Pouliot Reddox (The dynamic MacT shut down line. Awesome! But they didn't shut anyone down. So what good were they?)

Strudwick Brodziak Stortini (Stortini was the best on this line. Brodziak played an awkward game. He just didn't look comfortable. I barely noticed Strudwick)

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FINAL SCORE

SABRES - 10

OILERS - 2

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BEERS

There is none.

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JEERS

Steve Staios

- This guy was a real terrible hockey player tonight. Bad plays. Falling all over the place. Chasing guys around. The stats don't really show what I seen, but Steve Staios was bad tonight. Very bad. Boooooooooooooo!

Shawn Horcoff

- At $7 million next season, a game like this isn't going to cut it. As a leader of this team you can not afford to have nights where you are not noticable. Unfortunately for the fans and the team, this has happened a lot this year. I hope a change is in order here. You suck Horcoff. (Except for your faceoffs tonight. That was good) Boooooooooooooooooooooooo!

The rest of the Edmonton Oilers

- BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

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See you all Friday. If I pay for that game and it turns out to be like this one I... I... damn it. I will still get the next one. "sigh"

Oilers Jambalaya #3 (Random Thoughts)

Hello everybody. The All Star weekend is in full swing and lame as usual. Well, ok... only parts of it was lame. I just have a hard time seeing this weekend as a "showcase" weekend for the NHL. This (skills competition and game) is not really what the NHL is about. I get confused when I watch this stuff. Like why would you tell the public that the goalie that you brought in for the Breakaway Challenge was told "not to try"? That's just weird. I did however enjoy the final elimination shootout. And who wins that? The guy I said shouldn't be there instead of Hemsky. But what do I know right? The Hardest Shot was a good one. It's to bad Souray didn't connect like he can. But there is always next year.

Andrew Cogliano was the NHL fastest skater. Since when did they let the YoungStars participate in the Skills? I don't remember that from last year but I may be wrong here. Too bad Erik Cole couldn't have participated. But good job Cogs. You fastest skater you!

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CBC really blew it when they decided to not re new the HNIC song. Sure the guy that won the contest was from Edmonton but, the song sucks. The only "hook" of the song is the bag pipe intro. But it is soooo quiet you barely hear it. Why not Stompin' Tom? That really would have been better. And did you notice that the 5 finalists were songs that were keyboard type songs. Think of all the people that did all that hard work to write, record and release songs (Rap/Rock/Alternative/Electronica) that CBC new fully well that they were looking for a "copy" version of the old song. Thanks for wasting peoples time CBC. Why not just say that that is what you were looking for? Get a new song for next year please!

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Why is there not a cut off date for free agent signings? I mean really... Forsberg again? Neidermayer last year. Kind of Sundin this year. I think the NHL needs to change something here. This is getting ridiculus.

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All this complaining about fighting in the game is starting to bug me. This isn't the NBA. We don't hug our "Homeys" after a game. There is no "Keep it real yo!".

No, the NHL is not like other sports. We do not need to compare this great unique sport to a pile of oranges. We fight to protect ourselves. We fight to spark our team. We fight because sometimes that's out job. (well not Me.) The NHL is different and that is a good thing. I see more damage to guys on icings. That my friends is the real problem. Not fighting.

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My final question today...

Why are the Oilers locker room stalls not old guy/young guy/old guy/young guy? That may have some chemistry building mojo going on? I don't know. Just wondering.

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Next Oiler game - Jan 27/09. That's Tuesday.

Beers and Jeers #23 (Jan 20/09 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets)

That was a good game to watch. Great 1st period by the Oilers. A nice hard bomb by Visnovsky. My two picks for having a good game today was Visnovsky and Souray. Lubo played well. Damn he's fast. Souray was ok. Not his best game. Maybe his mind is on the All Star game?

The 2nd period was one of those "I wanna mess with your mind" periods. One minute I'm pissed off. The next I'm in an euphoric state... then BAM! Sad and wondering where it all went wrong. We looked so good. And now it's catch up time once again.

The 3rd started off with good energy. Chances were had by all. Back and forth. Back and forth. Then Boll runs Roli and the intensity rises. People around the league should know by now that there is some players (Iginla is one) who play better when they are mad. Roli is another one of them. And that made him mad. Thank you Mr. Boll. Then comes a Blue Jacket penalty. Hemsky makes one of those crazy passes back door. But Horcoff wasn't there. Grebeshkov was. He Scores!!! Tie game.

Well now what?

So I say, "Ummm... Hello? Mr. Hemsky? Can you do something?" "Sure kid.", he says. "Can you score the Nation a goal?", I ask. "Well since I'm not busy going to the All Star game... why not. How about a wrist shot?" Well wouldn't you know it. The guy is magic. The Oilers win. All of the sudden we are 6th in the standings. Yeah! Life is good again. Way to go team. Enjoy the break. But not too much. MacT won't have that.

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The Lines Tonight

Penner Horcoff Hemsky (they looked good. Penner was slow tonight. But Hemsky was magic.)

Nilsson Gagner Cole (Cole and Gags played good. Nilsson didn't look like he was back to normal yet.)

Moreau Cogliano Pouliot (These guys also played a solid game. Pouliot was the weak link on this line.

MacIntyre Brodziak Brule (I liked this line. I would probably make this a more usable line. I'd give Big Mac a little more ice. Not much. But a little.)

FINAL SCORE

Blue Jackets - 3

Oilers - 4

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BEERS

Ales Hemsky

- The man is back. And back with a bang. A 4 point night. He was unbelievable tonight. He was everything that we want him to be. An All Star. Yeah... I said it. An All Star. Have a frosty beer. In fact have as many as you want Hemmer. Cheers!

Lubomir Visnovsky

- 2 point night for Lubo. I thought that he was great tonight. Good back checking. Good shooting. Good all around game. I say you deserve a beer Mr. Visnovsky. Cheers!

Ladislav Smid

- If you were watching the play you probably didn't notice him much. But I like to watch the corner of the screen to see what is going on behind the play. There was Smid. Digging and grinding. My wife calls him the "SPAZ". One minute he's all good. The next he's frothing at the mouth ready to bite. Maybe because I am a little scared of him, have a beer Smid. Cheers!

Honorable Mentions

- Dwayne Roloson (When Roli gets fired up... so do I. I love this guy. Tambo made the right decision.), Tom Gilbert (2 assists tonight. Jumped up in some plays. Finished +1), Shawn Horcoff (he played pretty good tonight. Threw his body around and was skating hard.)

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JEERS

I don't have any. I've got nothing. I am actually happy.

Ok then. Well I guess I should go now. Hmmm. This is weird.

Beers and Jeers #22 (Jan 18/09 vs Phoenix Coyotes)

What a fun evening that was. Started with the Glenn Anderson Ceremony and ended with a Moreau Hat trick. The ceremony was good for the most part. Whoever wrote the Kevin Lowe speech really sucked. Lame jokes and re-used lines from past speeches. But all in all it was a good show. So #9 is gone now. Never again can it be used. Who's next? #4? #30? #27?

The game was a barn burner. Action right from the beginning. I must say the effort level was there from the get go. The team really had a shot in the arm when Hemsky came back to the line up. I think Penner and Horcoff showed their true colors when Hemmer went down for those games. Penner is overpaid and Horcoff is NOT an all star and overpaid. I would love to see a Penner/Cogliano/Hemsky 1st line. Shawn Horcoff can take the 3rd line position. I bet Cogs would be a 70 point guy too.

Kyle Brodziak had a good night in the faceoff circle. (12-2) 86%. But that's pretty much it for him. But, game after game I notice Erik Cole takes 3 or 4 faceoff's a game and usually only loses one. Why not try him out at taking the draws? He doesn't need to play center, just take faceoff's. Worth a try don't you think?

I couldn't believe that Steve MacIntyre wasn't playing. I really wanted to see him fight Carcillo tonight. For one, it would have been an easier test than say Boogaard. And two, I wanted to see him (Carcillo) get his ass kicked. I wonder if Big Mac was able to meet his hero Marty McSorley today? I hope so. This is the best season ever huh Big Mac? Lucky S.O.B.

Well let's hope that all this Oiler nostalgia and alumni guys being around for the last couple days really rubbed off on the team that we have now (young and old). I said at the beginning of the season that the Oilers are going to the SCF this year. I feel it. I believe it. And I still do. As of late, (since the closed door meeting) that the team seems to have changed. They have a hand shake clap thing that they have going on. Some guys are rocking mustaches. (Penner/Gagner). The lines are mixed now more old with new players. So I see that the team is starting to have fun again. And the ball will roll. Believe...

The lines tonight:

Penner Horcoff Hemsky (Horc/Pens suck without Hemsky. Tonight they looked great. Surprise!?!)

Reddox Gagner Cole (Are you serious? Reddox? I suppose that if you score like Schremp or Potulny or Brule you then go to the 4th line or pressbox. I just don't get it MacT? Anyone but Reddox please)

Pouliot Cogliano Moreau (the best line that played as a group. They all complimented each other nicely tonight. Nice to see Moreau play a good full game)

Strudwick Brodziak Brule (This doesn't even look right on paper. This is the line Reddox should have been on)

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BEERS

Ales Hemsky

- I can not believe the impact that this guy has on his linemates, his team and his fans. He was amazing tonight. You could hear the crowd buzzing after he would do something. Very exciting to have him back. 2 goal night. +3. Solid all around. Welcome back Hemmer. Have a cold one. Cheers!

Ethan Moreau

- Quite possibly his best ever game as an Oiler. I cheered for him tonight. To think that that was his 1st hat trick. Good for him. Maybe this is the confidence that he was looking for? Let's hope we get the same guy for the rest of the year. Have a triple sized beer Chopper. Cheers!

Ladislav Smid

- The guy was an animal tonight. He drops the gloves again. He really is not bad at fighting. In fact, he looked like he knew what he was doing. Plus he ends up with an assist. Maybe he was trying for a Gordie Howe hat trick? At any rate he was fantastic. He was dumping the puck in and was the 1st one on the puck in the corners. At times I thought that he was a forward. One of our best d men tonight. Here's a frosty beer and an ice pack for the knuckles and the ass bone. Cheers!

Honorable Mentions

- Tom Gilbert (quietly picked up a couple of assists.), Andrew Cogliano (had a nice 3 assist game. He looked really good tonight), Steve Staios (had a 2 assist game. Played hard), Erik Cole (he really tried hard tonight.), Dustin Penner's mustache (that is one nice porn stash. Looks good.)

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JEERS

Rob "Plugs" Brown

- He is slowly turning into my #3 behind McGuire and Crawford in the dipturd catagory. Do everyone a favor sometimes and shut up. He spits out random stuff so that hopefully he looks like he knows what he is saying. eg: 10:00 left in the 3rd. "I'm sure Roli will have to make another big save for the Oilers before this game is over." No kidding smart guy. Need I say more? Oh yeah... Your bald. Deal with it. Booooooooooooooo!