Thursday, February 12, 2009

I Like The Cut Of Your Jib #3


Well with all the speculation and basically a bleak future for some of the guys around here, I have decided to write this before he has been traded. Yes folks... Erik Cole will most likely be traded sometime between now and the trade deadline on March 4th, 2009. Unless, of course he signs a new contract before the deadline. But we all know that that is unlikely. He will fetch more in the open market than the Oilers are willing to pay. Too bad. I like him.


Erik Cole was acquired in the Joni Pitkanen trade before the season started. Since he has been an Oiler, the Oswego, New York native has been pretty good in my eyes. While most people have been disappointed with his goal output this year, I for one have really enjoyed watching his gamesmanship and effort night after night. (Check out past Beers & Jeers) His relentless hits on our opponents day after day. Erik Cole has been a real eye opener for me. He has showed me that hard work and a little dedication to making yourself and others around him better can win the hearts of the people of Edmonton. (Ok. Maybe just me.) He has been class throughout his stay with the Oilers. From the news interviews that I have watched, to the newspaper clippings that I have read, he has for the most part enjoyed his time here. He liked the fact that he was able to build his Son a back yard rink. He seemed to be adjusting to the city. But all good things come to an end eventualy.


But for whatever the reason (money/warmer climate/homesick), there just doesn't seem to be interest on either party to extend this "marriage". I personally would rather have a $4 million dollar Cole than a $4 million dollar Penner. But I don't get to decide those kind of things.


Erik Cole has been the team leader in hits this year. That's awesome! (and something that this team will miss when he is gone.) He is sitting 9th on the team in points with 22. (not so good) 5th in goals with 12. Considering the leader is Hemsky with 17, that's not bad. Not great... but not bad. It's not like he hasn't tried, he is 3rd on the team for shots with 126.


Bottom line: Erik Cole in my eyes is 100% a Jib Cutter. I am going to miss him very much. I just hope that some day the original Pronger trade can come to a rest. (Brewer for Pronger, Pronger for Lupul, Lupul for Pitkanen, Pitkanen for Cole, Cole for ?)


So thank you Mr. Cole for the hard work, effort and class that you showed here and I truly do Like The Cut Of Your Jib!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Beers and Jeers #31 (Feb 11/09 vs. Montreal Canadiens)


Welcome back everyone. Life has been interesting. Lubomir Visnovsky has a dislocated shoulder and is out for the remainder of the season. Ouch! Both literally and figuratively. It's a huge loss and I'm not sure how the Oilers plan on replacing him. A trade? Minors? What's the plan?


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The Oilers are sitting in 10th with 56 points. Not great, but really... not bad considering that Dallas is in 5th with 59 points. Still time left for a good push. I am still not hitting the panic button. Yet.


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Jaromir Jagr may just be an Edmonton Oiler after all. Not this year, but very much a possibility for next year. David Staples broke the story yesterday and I was also sucked into the excitement. But even though it won't be able to happen this year, I have no doubt that we should take a chance on him next year. What's it going to hurt? Just not Sundin/Hossa money please.


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1st Period


The game is starting and I still can not believe how many Habs fans there are. Montreal gets out to a great start by getting the 1st shot away. This game seems like it's going to be a good one. But soon after (4:30) Gagner draws a penalty. MacT sends out the Kid line. Gagner ends up whacking in a rebound and scores. 1-0 Oilers. Gagner (5:41) from Nilsson and Cogliano. I love being the 1st team to score. It feels nice. It seems like all the lines are working tonight. At the 11:00 minute mark Hemsky looks like Hemsky and pulls off a sweet toe drag move but..... didn't score. Nice move though. Holy crap! The 4th line does score... Stortini scores his 3rd of the year. (watch out Gagner!) They provided good pressure to the Montreal defence and managed a goal. Stortini (13:31)from Gilbert. 2-0 Oilers. 10 seconds later the Oilers score again. Cogliano scores the 3rd goal of this game assisted by Moreau and Pouliot. Crazy!!! 3-0 Oilers. Montreal is stressing out now. But I guess we all know how that feels, right Oiler fans. It feels nice to be on this side of the fence for once. Oh no. Hemsky scores now. Geez... 4-0 Oilers. Hemsky (19:34) from Penner and Horcoff. All 4 lines have scored a goal in this period.(well sort of. Gagner's goal was on the PP with 12 and 13). 10 seconds later the Habs do get on the board. Dandenault is the goal scorer. End of period score : 4-1 Oilers.


2nd Period


Well that was the best period the Oilers have played in.. in... a long long time. Let's hope the 2nd goes as well. No mercy boys. No mercy. The start of the period has good flow until Stortini takes a high sticking penalty at 2:35. But shortly after that, the Habs fall into penalty trouble. Twice. The Oilers have a 5 on 3 Power play for 1:32. And they blow it. On a side note: Quinn and Brown say that Grebs won't be retuning today. (I wonder if Reddox can take his spot. Jk.) With Smid in the box a little while later, Brodziak gets a short handed breakaway (11:40). Scoooorrrreeeesss! Holy cow. 5-1 Oilers. Brodziak from Strudwick and Gilbert. This is awesome. But do you know what isn't awesome? Taking a puck in the face. Ouch! Souray takes some rubber to the nose. No worries. It builds character. Then at 17:19 Penner hits one of the crossbar and in. The Oilers score again. Penner from Hemsky and Horcoff. Is this the Chicago team that has been here? 6-1 Oilers. Right at the tail end of the period Souray takes a penalty and one minute will be carried over to the 3rd. End of period score : 6-1 Oilers


3rd Period


The 3rd period started of pretty good for the Oilers. Killed off the rest of the Souray penalty. The flow from all 4 lines has been exciting to watch. The Habs started to get into penalty trouble again. At 5:53 Reddox scores to make it to seven. 7-1 Oilers. Reddox from Gilbert and Brodziak. This is crazy. However, 4 minutes later the Habs finally pop their 2nd goal. 7-2 Oilers. The part I hate the most is when there is a break in the game and Quinn and Brown carry on with some dribble of banter. Most of the time they make no sense. Or they state the obvious. Well... Montreal takes their 7th penalty of the game. And the Oilers smell blood. What's going to happen? A freaking huge save by Roli that's what. WOW! That was highlight reel stuff. Roli! Roli! Roli! 3:34 left in the game and I still can't believe that the score is 7-2 Oilers. Awesome stuff. It's about time that it's us and not the other team running up the score.


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Tonight's Starting Lines


Penner Horcoff Hemsky (This was a good line tonight. Hemsky was looking back to normal. Penner was full of energy. Horcoff was better than we have seen in awhile. Very Effective line.)


Nilsson Gagner Cole (This was also a pretty good line. Well Cole wasn't that good. But Gagner and Nilsson looked really energized tonight. Good speed. Effective Line.)


Moreau Cogliano Pouliot (This line was pretty decent tonight. They worked hard and it payed off with a goal for Cogs. All three were good. Effective Line.)


Reddox Brodziak Stortini (This line was WAY better than I could have ever expected. Stortini seems to be on a real tear right now. Brodziak has also been good since the dog house bit with MacT. Even Reddox scored. Pretty Effective Line.)


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Final Score


Montreal Canadiens - 2

Edmonton Oilers - 7


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BEERS


KEGGER!!!


All the boys really deserve a beer. I don't really want to single anyone out. But Hemmer and Roli were great. Sam Gagner was slick tonight. Gilbert had 3 assists. Stortini was a man on a mission. MacT didn't make any changes during the game. Life is all good now. So Cheers everyone! It's kegger time.


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JEERS


No one was really stinky tonight, so no Boo's from me. Although I wonder what is up with Erik Cole? He wasn't great tonight and didn't really play much but he did block 3 shots. So is he hurt or just crappy right now? Or maybe he wants out?


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The next game will be on Saturday at 2:oo vs the LA Kings. They are hot right now, so that will be a good test for the Oil. Hopefully this win tonight can instill a little more confidence on this team as they prepare for the stretch run. Go Oilers!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

The Head Scratcher #1 (Head Coach Fired)


Here is the Head Scratcher of the day. The Oilers fired the head coach. CLICK HERE Ahhh... You were thinking MacT. Me too. But it's not.


Jeff Truitt was a decent coach. He did well with the Kelowna Rockets. Won a Championship. But after one season with the Springfield Falcons, the Oilers are going to move in a new direction. Something is telling me that that was the wrong guy to be fired. Sure the Falcons are stinking it up down there, but so is the parent club up here. And yet they fire the minor league coach? Yeah... A real Head Scratcher!

Monday, February 9, 2009

The Water Cooler #1 (Cole/Bouwmeester/Gagner/Penner)


This is a little segment that I like to call the "Water Cooler". This is a place where I can relay some of the stuff that I heard or read about the Oilers. And hopefully you can share with us if you find anything as well. I have no inside info. I just find it fun to speculate on what is going to happen with the Oilers. The other teams I could care less about. Oilers ONLY! For those of you who have never been to any of these rumor sites, do not believe them. Most speculation is just that. Speculation. Never trust a rumor.




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This 1st link is from Eklund. (He is wrong 99% of the time.) click here Vermette to the Oilers. But of course he never says who is coming back. What he means is that the Oilers have called Ottawa about Vermette. Nothing more. But very interesting as I think I would give it a shot with him. What do you guys think?




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Also from Eklund. Here we have Erik Cole going to Buffalo. click here Again no one going the other way. I really don't know what Buffalo has to offer that we need? On the 5th he reports that Cole may be going to Boston (click here) , Pittsburgh or Ottawa. (click here) Which could bring Vermette our way? Maybe Lucic from Boston? Sykora or Staal from Pittsburgh?




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This Eklund guy is a strange guy. He gets people to pay $20 to be a member to see his *Rumor Chart*. But if you look hard enough, someone has posted it for free. CLICK HERE He has quite a few different people linked to the Oilers. Some for good reason. (Bouwmeester). Some I have no idea. (Niclas Havelid from Atlanta) What?!? Check it out. Again... DO NOT TAKE SERIOUSLY!




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Jay Bouwmeester is going to be an Oiler. Everyone keeps saying it. Why trade for him and then lose assets? Let him go to wherever and he can come home in the summer at no cost to the Oilers. click here I am looking for more links for this.


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Here is Hockey Leaks. click here Read and scroll down. Lots of Oiler Stuff. Like Gagner and Penner for Bouwmeester. lol. Or Gionta to Edmonton. For who? We can't forget the Vinnie debacle.


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Anyways... I think that Cole's days are numbered. Too bad. I do like him. Unless he signs before the deadline he will be traded.


As far as anyone else... Schremp, Brule, Strudwick, Roy, Nilsson, Penner, Pouliot, Brodziak, Grebeshkov, Gilbert, Staios, Smid, Jacques, Potulny, Peckham, Chorney. I would suspect that they are all available to some degree. Hemsky, Gagner, Cogliano and such would have to be involved for something big. Everyone can be sold. Who will it be this year?
Here once again is Jason Gregor's list of people that ARE available. CLICK HERE

The Deadline is approaching... Who do you want?

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Beers and Jeers #30 (Feb 8/09 vs. Minnesota Wild)


As you can see, I have made some changes (header and font) to the site. I figured if i could change... why not the Oilers?
Ok Oilers. It's a new day. Time to get fired up and take on those trap style Wild team. I don't like their style. It's very boring to watch. But it works so who am I to judge? I have a much better feeling about this game than I did yesterday. I vented already today (click here) and I am feeling positive now. I am expecting another Big Mac vs. Bogeyman fight. It should be a gooder. That should help wake up a game in the afternoon.


I am wondering what MacT is up to for this game? Who plays with who? What is the plan of attack? Are we going to win? hmmmm.... questions.


It's 12:57 pm and I'm fired up. Let's Go Oilers!


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1st Period


And it's Roli that gets the start. Figures. I guess he will play every game for now on? I thought Deslauriers was pretty good yesterday. Not great, but good enough for a start today. Oh well, another MacT what?!? However, he does have the correct lines IMO. We will see how these work out.


Well we get a good pace right off the hop. Big Mac and Bogey managed to come together but nothing happened. Oilers were looking really good in the opening 5:00 minutes. Then the Wild take a penalty. This is a great time to get a goal. Let's go Oilers! Another penalty to the Wild. This is a gift guys. A quick 5 on 3 here. And MacT uses his timeout to try and plan something. Will it work? You bet it will. Smart move MacT. 1-0 Oilers. Souray with the bomb from Grebs and Hemmer. And there is still time on the 2nd penalty left. But Minny kills that off. Oh well... 1-0 lead anyways. A little while later Stortini lands a beauty of a hit on Clutterbuck. Good way to gain some momentum. But Boogaard tries some dirty tactics on Storts and he lands himself a slashing penalty. Haha! Seconds later Souray gets himself in penalty trouble so things went to 4 0n 4. Damn! The game has good flow for the rest of the period. Oilers look like a different team today. With 1:41 left Minny (Belanger) scores to make it 1-1. Damn Roli. That was soft. But the line that was out there wasn't exactly our #1 line (5, 43, 51, 85, 78). Ouch. End of period score. 1-1 tie game.


2nd Period


The Oilers come out flying. Even the 4th line gets a shift. But the Oilers take a penalty at 3:43. Souray again. Oilers respond well. Good kill. So here we are at 12:37 remaining in the period. Where is Hemsky? Why is he invisible? Is he coming back? At 8:59 left Boogaard puts the puck in the net after the whistle. Stortini takes exception and the anticipation of a Bogey vs. Big Mac/Storts builds. The period ends up being a being more of a Wild period then an Oiler one. Right in the last few seconds Gagner breaks to the net and crashes into the goalie. That results in a penalty. Good on Gagner for going hard and taking a hard shot for his troubles. I don't get all the hoopla over Gagner not producing offensively when he is such a good player without the puck. He plays way older than he is. (He is only 19). Anyways the Oilers have to come out with some of that JAM that MacT speaks about. 1-1 tie game still. Take no prisoners now!
3rd Period
Well, still no fight in this game. (When I expect it, I get impatient) But the Oilers have to kill off Gagner's penalty. And they do. Then the 2nd line (12/89/26) come out and provide great pressure. Cole draws a penalty and the Oilers go on the PP. Not much later the Wild come flying down into the Oiler zone an Miettinen nails a one timer past Roli to score short handed. Damn it I say. So much for a good start to the period. But Minny kills off that penalty and continue the momentum that they earned. 2-1 Wild. The 2 guys trying to do something are Gagner and Cogliano. I am looking for some veteran presence but I can't see any. Just these young guys trying to get something going. I can respect that. So we are now at the 1/2 way mark and here is the Jayman Homes Hit Counter. 7 hits. 7. Well that is just sad. (Oilers-7, Wild-29) The only good part is Jayman is saving themselves some $$$ today. How many Stanley Cups were won with only 7 hits delivered? WAIT: HOLD THE PRESSES! Holy crap! Gagner scores a beauty from Smid and Nilsson. Just in time. 6:00 left and it's all tied up at 2-2. Let's go Oilers! With 32 seconds left in the 3rd, Bouchard takes a penalty. This is it Oilers. Gut check time. Well the Oilers get some good chances (Gagner) but can't end this game yet.
Overtime
Overtime starts and the pace is fast. Souray gets a few shots off but they are swallowed up quick. The Wild kill off the penalty and overtime continues. This was a pretty exciting OT but I am puzzled as to why Moreau and Pouliot are out out there together. There was a couple of Oiler giveaway's and Roli came up HUGE. Real game breakers. This is off to the Shoot Out.
Shoot Out
Gagner - Makes his usual move and it's stopped. Nice try little dude.
Nilsson - Goes wide like last game and also doesn't score.
Hemsky - His usual slow skating, fast stickhandling move with a shot at the end. Stopped.
Gilbert - Tries a forehand shot. Misses.
Wild score. Game over.
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Tonight's Starting Lines
Moreau Cogliano Hemsky (This line really didn't do much. They lacked the punch that I had thought that they were going to have. Moreau was average. Cogs was a little above average. Hemmer was invisible again. 4th game in a row.)
Nilsson Gagner Cole (The best Oiler line. The 3 played well together. Nilsson was not bad. Cole was struggling a bit. Gagner was a man playing possessed.)
Penner Brodziak Stortini (The Big Guy line was good today. I liked this line (2nd best). Penner was trying. Brodziak looked comfortable. Stortini was making the best of the extra ice time.)
MacIntyre Pouliot Reddox (Not a line that did much. I think I only seen them out as a unit 4 times. Big Mac didn't fight. Pouliot was ok. Reddox was a non-factor.)
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Final Score
Edmonton Oilers - 2
Minnesota Wild - 3
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BEERS
Sam Gagner
- He was real solid today. During the 1st half I thought he was really good defensively. But in the 3rd he scores his 5th of the year. He deserved that goal. Way to go Sam. Have a frosty cold one on me. Cheers!
Dwayne Roloson
- As always a rock. I wasn't sure what he was going to be like after getting shelled by Detroit. But like every other time he bounces back with a real solid effort. He was our leader today. Beer Roli? Cheers!
Sheldon Souray
- Had 7 shots on net today. He scored on one. He had a good game except for the 2 penalties. I wish he was on a roll again. But for today you deserve a beer. Cheers!
Honorable Mention
- Zack Stortini (he played well. Not much stats but a couple of hits.), Dustin Penner (the guy takes faceoffs now? And he's good at it so far. 7-2 for 78%. He played pretty good as well), Kyle Brodziak (seemed more comfortable playing with 27 and 46.)
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JEERS
Tom Gilbert
- He sure isn't worth the money that KLowe was sure quick to give away. What does that say for Grebeshkov who is going to get a raise since he has been better than Gilbert? For a not good effort tonight. Boooooooooooo!
Ales Hemsky
- Same with Hemmer. Where was he? Where is the magical man we call Hemmer? 4 games in a row with a no show. If he wasn't so damn good I would put him on the 4th line next game. But that won't jhappen. Bad game today Hemsky. Boooooooooooo!
Ethan Moreau
- Our captain was also not good today. He had a great chance to get some points playing with #83. But having only 1 shot and 1 hit means you were not playing your style (crash and bang). If you can't do that then you get booed. Booooooooooo!
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Well that game was exciting yet frustrating. No big fight with the Bogeyman. Maybe next time. A point is a point but we needed a win. Next up... Wedsnday vs. Montreal Canadiens.
See you next time...

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