Beers and Jeers #35 (Feb 19/09 vs. Dallas Stars)

Well JF Jacques has been called up and will also play tonight. Pouliot is watching from above tonight. He was the right choice as he hasn't played well as of late. (well... all year actually.) And to top it off, Zack Stortini will be on the 3rd line tonight.

New lines for the Oilers. Hope the changes work.

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1st Period

The Dallas Stars have been great lately. But it's the Oilers that start off quickly. Cole gets a nice chance, as well as Cogliano. At 2:07 the Oilers take a too many men penalty and just like that, Dallas goes to the PP. The Oilers were able to kill off that penalty and hopefully can gain some confidence for it. So 6:00 minutes in to this game, and the Oilers are looking good. The 1st line gets some good chances at the 10:00 minute mark. Staios has been laying the body a lot this period. Awwww... Dallas scores against the 2nd line at 10:41. 1-0 Stars. Well come on now Oil! Time to answer back. All right now... Dallas takes a penalty at 11:59. PP time Oilers! OMG. What a bad time to actually look bad. The Oilers are really having a tough time now, getting the puck out of their own zone. They better smarten up before this game gets out off hand. Well I spoke to soon. Dallas scores again. A softy through the 5 hole on Roli at 16:36. 2-0 Stars. The only cool thing about that goal, it was Ray Sawada's 1st ever NHL goal. And... In his 1st ever game and it's his birthday. How cool is that? But it sucks for us. Well not for long as the Oilers score. Yeah! Guess who? come on guess. Liam Reddox 17:00. That's right. Good for him. (Reddox from Jacques and Smid) 2-1 Stars. But as the period winds down, Ales Hemsky takes a slashing penalty. And a brouhaha breaks out. Peckham and Strudwick we in the middle of it and Peckham takes a 10:00 minute game misconduct. So that means the Oil will be a man short for 10 to start the 2nd period.

2nd Period

Well the period starts off great. Horcoff scores! Yeah! 2-2 Tie Game. (Horcoff from Souray and Staios at 0:47.) So just when I'm still celebrating, Moreau takes another bad timing penalty. In fact it's a 4 minute penalty (2 for tripping and 2 for roughing after the whistle). Nice Ethan. *shakes head* So now the Oilers have to kill this off. Well they don't. Dallas scores at 3:07 during the 1st part of the penalty. So that means that they still have a 2:00 minute PP. 3-2 Stars. The Stars have some good chances, but the Oilers kill off that penalty. Back to 5 on 5. Horcoff has played a ton already. Yet, he only has one shot/one goal and one takeaway. Dallas takes a penalty at 10:22. Oilers PP time. Gagner replaces Penner on the 1st line PP unit. Good passing but no real chances. Then just after the penalty expires, Nilsson gives it away to the Stars and they get a solid chance, but Roli makes a great save. Thanks Roli. However... a few minutes later Cole takes a penalty that really wasn't intentional but too aggressive. During the penalty kill the Stars crash the net and Moreau and Staios get involved. The next thing you know, Staios and Ott are having a "chat". (I really dislike Ott. I think he's a chicken shit. But, my opinion only.) We shall she what transpires from that. During the maylay, Dallas takes a penalty and the Oilers will get one minute and change on the PP. They do not convert on it. As the period ends, Hemsky gets nailed by Steve Ott and that leaves the period on a high note. I'm excited for the 3rd period.

3rd Period

Dallas gets the 1st good chance of the period. Roli and the post made a nice save, in the first 2:00 minutes. There has been 8:00 minutes played and the Oilers seem lifeless. MacT is trying to find a line that can do something. So far nothing has worked. Crap. Dallas scores at 8:17(against the 3rd line). 4-2 Stars. How does a team not be fired up when you are down by one when the 3rd starts? Terrible. Just terrible. Can anyone provide something? With 7:30 left there has been nothing. Although Stortini is out with Gagner and Nilsson and they did pretty good. A little while later Ott makes a hit on Gilbert. Roli gets upset and body checks Ott to the ground. Smid, Cole and Moreau all take exception and freak out. Penalties all around. That was the spark that was needed to wake up this Oiler squad. But just a little too late I think. It ends up being 4 on 4 for a while then the Oilers had a short PP. Then it was 4 on 4 again for a bit. Then it went to a Dallas PP. I was so confused. So much going on. But take a look at the scoresheet and you can see why. CLICK HERE. There was a lot of penalties. But the Oilers give the Stars some good pressure to finish off the period. It was nice to see them not shy away after rough stuff happens. I don't think we have much of a team toughness problem anymore. Well... game over. Dallas wins.

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Tonight's Starting Lines

Penner Horcoff Hemsky (These guys played a lot tonight. Penner wasn't an impact player at all. He did manage to be +1 but, only 1 shot and 1 hit. Horcoff was good at times and tired at times. Maybe he is playing to much? Hemsky wasn't razzle or dazzle tonight.)

Nilsson Gagner Cole (I thought this line was good at times and bad at times. Nilsson opened his own bakery tonight. He had 3 turnovers. Gagner was good later in the game, but was no where in the 1st half. Cole was hardly effective other than his 5 hits.)

Moreau Cogliano Stortini (I thought that this line was going to be better. But it helps if the Oilers weren't killing penalties all game. Moreau took to many penalties to be effective. Cogliano had 5 hit but wasn't really an offensive threat. Stortini played well. He did what was asked.)

Reddox Brodziak Jacques (This line was effective once. Reddox scores a goal right in the crease. Brodziak didn't really do anything all game. Jacques didn't play much but that's expected. He finally got his 1st NHL point.)

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FINAL SCORE

Edmonton Oilers - 2

Dallas Stars - 4

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BEERS

Ladislav Smid - The Spaz was good at laying the body tonight (7 hits). He made some big ones that made people notice him. He really seems to be stepping up with the the eother guys being out. His actual playing was good as well. No real mistakes and he seems comfortable playing more minutes. Have a cald beer Smid. Cheers!

Steve Staios - Steady Steve was great tonight (22:21 of ice time). He played a simple yet aggresive checking game. He made very little mistakes and was smart enough not to take any penalties. Staios is another defenceman that has surprised me since 37 and 71 have been out. Nice going Steve. Have a frosty beer. Cheers!

Dwayne Roloson - I know... he let in some soft ones. But sticking up for Gilbert was great. That alone deserves a beer. Cheers!

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JEERS

The 1st Line - You guys had plenty of chances but couldn't save the team from losing. Waiting for the 3rd line to provide a spark can't work every game. This line needs to be better. Boooooooo!

The 2nd Line - Why can't you guys score anymore? What has changed? You are good defensivly for the most part but you need to score. Plain and simple. And you don't. Booooooooo!

The Entire Team - Why do you guys (everyone) wait for someone else to do something? Step up and make a statement. A bold statement. We need every point that we can get. Yet we let 2 points slip away again. Boooooooooo!

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The next time we play is Saturady. Hockey Day in Canada. Yay! I love this day. Oilers vs. Flames. The war begins...

See you next time.

Beers and Jeers #34 (Feb 17/09 vs. San Jose Sharks)

Well how is everyone tonight? Good, good. It's game day again. This time versus those damn Sharks. Why do they have to be so good in the regular season? (we all know they suck come playoff time) This is going to be a very hard game for the Oilers. Let's hope we ride the Rolitrain for another stop. Whoot. Whoooooot.

Erik Cole has been rumoured to be on his way out soon and that sucks. He fits well with Gagner and it's to bad that this season had to be so messed up for the Oil and him. If only Cole had a better experience here. He will be missed. Robin Brownlee wrote a good article about the destination of Cole. CLICK HERE

So I have a few questions to ask. Is tonight's game going to be that boring defensive game like yesterday? Is Hemsky going to razzle and dazzle tonight? Is Smid the next Pronger? Is Gagner going to fight another guy over six feet tall and 200 lbs? Is Roli finally going to score with his bat swing? Is this the last game for Reddox now that Jacques is ready to come back? Do the referee's have their glasses cleaned? Will Rob Brown ever finish off the hair plugs installation? Do we get the 6th point on this roadie? and finally... Is the sound going to cut in and out during the PPV broadcast again because I can not stand that?

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1st Period

The Oilers vs Sharks. Oh man. Are we ready for war? I am... I hope the Oil are? GAME ON!!! Just as the game starts the sounds starts to cut out again. *shakes head* And I pay for that. Anyways, the lines are the same as last night and we shall see how that works out. Well the first part of this period has been all Sharks. They are keeping the Oilers in their own zone. Geez... even their 3rd line is kicking our butt. (ROFL: the Ref fell and slid into Dan Boyle and they both go down.) Wow! The Sharks fire a puck from behind the net and Roli has to come up HUGE. Well Roli is ready to go tonight. That's a good sign because the players are a step behind so far in this game. With 9:00 minutes played, the 4th line and the 3nd line have had some good shifts but nothing really from the 1st line. At 10:08 they score!!! The San Jose Sharks that is. It was a good goal for them. High slot shot, glove high on Roli. 1-0 Sharks. It was a matter of time with the way they are playing. Come on Oilers... Yeah!!! Stortini now with a goal. Alright Storts! (at 12:18, Stortini from Brodziak and Gilbert) 1-1 tie game. Out of all the guys that should score the 1st goal, Storts would be my second to last pick. (he really is catching Gagner in goals) So I look at the shot count. All of he sudden the Oilers have some shots on the board. So now the Oil are back in this game. It took a while but they are here now. Gagner took a high stick to the nose and the refs glasses must have been foggy because he missed it. He was also 6 feet away. Soooo??? But the Oilers do get a diferent PP chance. And then the Oilers blast a puck in to the Shark zone and the puck takes a weird bounce and Erik Cole is in the right place at the right time and scores on the empty net. Yeah Cole! (at 19:08, Cole from Souray and Gilbert) 2-1 Oilers. The Sharks take another penalty and give the Oilers even more life. But the period is over and the Oilers are looking good. End of period score: 2-1 Oilers.

2nd Period

Let's start this one with a PP goal. Well that doesn't happen as the Sharks kill off the penalty. In fact they seem to gain a little momentum. Damn! The Sharks tie it up at 1:48. 2-2 Tie Game. Marleau with a nice shot, glove high on Roli. A few seconds later Pouliot takes a penalty. Sharks are on the hunt now. After a quick scramble in front of Roli, Souray takes exception on Michalek and gives him a hard left and sends him to the ground. Gotta love Souray. Next thing you know, San Jose takes 2 separate penalties and now it's 4 on 3 for the Oilers. Momentum keeps on swinging. Very exciting game tonight. Way different from yesterdays game. MacT calls a time out. Let's see what happens... Well the Oilers don't score with a 5 on 3, but San Jose does. What? yeah... Grier flies down and Marleau jumps out of the box and tic and toe it's in at 5:43. *shakes head* 3-2 Sharks. Well a may lay breaks out. Strudwick starts some shoving and tussling. Moreau is there tossing and tackling. And Theo Peckham was in there on the ground with Lemieux on top of him giving him the "I'm old and I deserve respect" shake. They work their way back up to their feet somehow and begin to talk. The next thing I know, Peckham throws a punch and he lands a few more on the old man. Then mocks the crap out of him and drives him mad. This could be a story a little later in the game for sure. THIS GAME IS GREAT! Roli makes a big save and another short skirmish happens. If I was a small guy in this game I would really be worried right about now. Staios takes a penalty for being too aggressive. And now Moreau takes a penalty. At least he took a guy with him. And now Horcoff takes a high sticking penalty. What's going on here? 5 on 3 for the Sharks. They kill off the Staios penalty, right on. And they also kill off the Horcoff penalty. Ok guys, let's try 5 on 5 for awhile. Now Moreau wants to fight again. It was not really much of a fight as they fell to the ground. He's gone for 5. The 4th line comes out now and Stortini fights big Semenov. Semenov lands a big uppercut and stuns Storts. Then Storts throws a few and they fall down. Holy cow! But the Sharks remember that this is more than the MMA on ice and score at 19:06. 4-2 Sharks. Well that is not how we want that period to end but at least we are going down swinging. So far the Oilers have 24 penalty minutes in the game. Oh. That was all in the 2nd. End of period score: 4-2 Sharks

3rd Period

Ding... Ding... Round 3. Well it looks like a hockey game broke out here. Decent flow to the 3rd. Back and forth action. I see Lemieux back out. I wonder if him and Peckham are going to get reacquainted? Well they are still playing hockey but nothing really to report. Chances we had by all and 10:00 minutes have been played. Awww crap. Horcoff takes a penalty. Let's go Oilers! They do it. Right on. A minute later 89/12/83 have a nice shift together. As the whistle blows Gagner gets a shove from Semenov. Gagner pushes back. Semenov pushes him again. Gagner sticks him in the middle area. Good thing that linesman came in between them. That's one big dude to fight. How can you not love Gagner? Well here we are now with 5:00 minutes to go and we are still down by two. Hemsky draws a penalty and it's PP time. This is when I miss #71 and #37. Staios on the PP is just never right. But the Oilers can't get much going and the game ends. That was a good game for the Oilers even though they lost. At least there was some fight to their game. We have been missing that for a long time. Welcome back.

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Tonight's Starting Lines

Penner Horcoff Hemsky (They were not really that dominant. Penner was sort of lazy again. Horcoff was playing like a checker. Hemsky was strange tonight. He didn't suck... but he wasn't the same.)

Nilsson Gagner Cole (This line wasn't bad tonight. Nilsson was a little above average. Gagner took 8 shots with 4 hitting the net and played hard. Cole scored a lucky one and had 5 hits.)

Moreau Cogliano Pouliot (This was not much of a line. Moreau was good. Hitting and whacking anyone in site. Cogliano was riding the pine. Not sure why? only 7:58 of ice time. Pouliot is a head scratcher for me. Pisani can come back any day now...)

Stortini Brodziak Reddox (What a good line. They were causing greif all over the place. Stortini scores and fights. He just needed the assist. Brodziak was ok tonight. Reddox was not bad. I didn't yell at my TV because of him so that's good.)

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FINAL SCORE

Edmonton Oilers - 2

San Jose Sharks - 4

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BEERS

Tom Gilbert - Gilbert was very good tonight IMO. He didn't seem to have much faults in this game. Which is good because he has had some relapses lately. But tonight he picks up 2 more assists while logging 26:23 of ice time. He also managed 2 blocked shots and 2 takeaways. So for having a productive game... Have a frosty Gibby. Cheers!

Zack Stortini - Huggy Bear is on the loose. He tried his big thugery butt off tonight. He scored a goal that was instrumental to the Oilers in getting into the game. He had a fight with the big guy Semenov. He did what he could. And that's all that we can ask for. Miller time Storts? Cheers!

Ladislav Smid - Who would have guessed that Smid would be in a top 4 pairing and actually not look out of place? He was a very smart player tonight. He jumped up at the right times. He had 3 hits and the Spaz even managed to get in to the kerfuffles after the whistles. And he logged 18:48 in ice time. I think he deseves a beer. Cheers!

Honerable Mentions: Sheldon Souray (he was the workhorse again tonight. People worry about Roli and all the work. What about Souray? 29:10 of ice time.), Theo Peckham (He is starting to win my heart. I know that sounded gay, but he really is impressing me. He's tough and he doesn't seem to be scared of people.), Sam Gagner (even though he was -2, I thought that he was good. It's crazy to see how old he plays sometimes. Wait till he is older and how good he is going to be.)

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JEERS

38% team faceoff percentage - Booooooooooooo!

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Even though the Oilers lost, I thought that it was a good game for them. The answerd the bell for themselvees and for their team mates. It was good to see. But we still have 4 points out of 6 on this trip and that isn't so bad. I wonder if Roli is playing in Dallas on Thursday? Of course he will. We need the W.

So thanks for stopping by and reading the madness. We shall see you all next game. Until next time...

Beers and Jeers #33 (Feb 16/09 vs Phoenix Coyotes)

Well not much has changed since the last game. Everyone is healthy and ready to play so that means the lines will not change. It looks like Roli is going to get the start tonight. I wonder if he is going to play in both games? Hardcore if he is. Before this game starts, the Oilers are sitting in 9th with 60 pts. Vancouver is in 5th with 62 pts. So this game is important that we pick up these 2 pts.

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1st Period

The Oilers start the game off well. Good jump to their step. The 1st 5:00 minutes flew by like nothing. No real chances for either side other than the first few quick shots by the Oil. But good flow. At 5:58, Souray takes a penalty and the Coyotes are on the PP. Good thing the Oilers kill that off with no real good chances by the Coyotes. This is one of those periods that the time is going quick and the action is plenty, but no real big chances yet which makes it kind of boring and there is 8:15 left. It gets hard to describe a period when the play is like this. I mean come on... I want to boo something. Or cheer. Shots are 11 for Phx, and 7 for Edm. Ok... speaking of action. The Oilers get some PP time. Let's hope for a quick goal here. Well, Bobby Nilsson gets a nice breakaway chance. But can't score. Nice try though, very exciting. If someone can throw a big hit, the momentum will swing in their favour. The 4th line comes out and lays out some hits but not quite the "big one". So far this period all the lines have been good. All steady and stable. Then near the end of the period Jokinen throws a puck to the net and it bounces off of Souray towards the net. Roli had to be sharp and stick out the big toe to make a fantastic save. Yay Roli! So that is the end of the 1st period and the score is 0-0. The shots are also tied at 13 a piece. Let's hope the Oilers get fired up during the intermission. End of period score: 0-0 Tie Game

2nd Period

Well the Oilers look like they want to have a better period. The #1 and #2 lines came out with some quick chances. Even Penner tried to "stick handle in a phone booth". Well that's what Kevin Quinn said anyways. There has been good flow to this game. No one has stood out as 1st star yet (other than Roli), and I think something is going to have to give. Over at OilersNation I predicted 6-1 Oilers. And so far that is not happening. At the halfway mark the shots are 2 for the Oilers and 1 for the Coyotes. I am not sure why everyone looks for the pass and not the shot? Well Nilsson gets another breakaway chance. No goal again. But right after that Peckham has words with Goertzen because he ran into Roli. Next thing you know, Peckham is putting up the dukes. Good fight. Kind of a draw. But Goertzen ends up getting a penalty for the Roli run and sits for another 5 for fighting Peckham. PP Oilers. Good momentum changer. The Kid line has a great shift together but Phx kills it off. A little while later Phx takes another penalty. Another chance for the Oilers. Penner picks up the puck in the right corner and he brings it out to the front of the net. He shoots... rebound. Hemsky scores! (Hemsky from Penner and Horcoff) 1-0 Oilers. But at 16:48, Nilsson gets another chance to score but decides to grab a stick in the corner and takes a penalty. Damn! That's not all... at 17:23, Moreau takes another bad timing penalty and puts the Oilers down to 5 on 3. But the Oilers kill both penalties off and that is nothing short of amazing. But Ethan Moreau takes another penalty at 19:48 and gives more chances for Phoenix to score. And they do with 2.6 seconds left in the period. 1-1 Tie. All that hard work for nothing. But as the whistle blows, Stortini gets into it (14th of the year) with Fedoruk. Nothing really happens but a few punches are thrown. Fedoruk falls and Storts wants to crank him but doesn't. End of period score: 1-1 Tie Game

3rd Period

So here we are tied and ready for some action. Souray takes the 1st shot of the period right off the hop. Hey, that's a good way to start. Chopper tries a wrap around and almost scores. A few shifts later MacT sends out 18, 51, and 85. This line gives Phx some serious pressure. A couple of chances but they don't come out with a goal. Oh! Coyotes take a penalty. Oilers have a bit of momentum and a good chance here to get up by one with the man advantage. Yes! Souray with the bomb from the blue line. Oh yeah... 2-1 Oilers. (at 5:33, Souray from Hemsky from Gilbert) Well now we will have to see how the Oilers respond to the lead change. Phoenix battles hard with the Oil for the next while until Penner takes a penalty at 12:06. Phx should have been called just before that as Hemsky was high sticked, but it was missed by the refs. During the PP the Coyotes crash the net and Souray flips and starts swinging. Amazingly, he doesn't get a penalty. Roli makes some great saves and seems to be one of the best Oilers once again. The excitement level is rising in this game now that there is only 5:00 left. The 2nd line comes out firing on all 8 cylinders. Then Smid with his head down gets hammered by Goertzen in front of the Oilers net. Ouch! Now here is Phx with a little momentum. Roli has to come up with a huge save to save the score from being tied again. Then some smack talk happens and a kerfuffle happens. Souray wants to kill. Hemsky is swearing at people. Penner is grabbing people. But nothing happens. So now that the intensity level is flying high (quite the change from the 1st) Gilbert tries to chip the puck out and does just that. Out and over the glass. PP for Phx. Damn! During the PK, Souray fires three times at the empty net but misses. That's ok. As long as it's not in our net. With Gilbert coming out of the box, Horcoff picks up the loose puck and shoots it in the empty net at 19:36. 3-1 Oilers. Awesome! (Horcoff from Gilbert) That will be the game folks and now we are sitting in 6th place with 62 pts. Wooooooo! 4 out of 4 points so far on this roadie. Nice job Oilers! MacT for Mayor? Just sayin'...

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Tonight's Starting Lines

Penner Horcoff Hemsky (This line was good tonight. Penner didn't look lazy. Horcoff was earning his money. Hemsky was Hemsky but without the flashy moves)

Nilsson Gagner Cole (This line was also good tonight. Nilsson was fast and on his game. Gagner is becoming the next Hemsky... but better. Cole was pretty effective in all situations.)

Moreau Cogliano Pouliot (This line was kind of not noticeable. That's a good thing if you are a defenseman but this is the 3rd line and that's not good. Moreau took a couple of penalties that killed momentum. Cogliano only looked great when he was with the Kid Line on the PP. Poliuot is the week link here. Reddox would fit better.)

Stortini Brodziak Reddox (The 4th line was trying to be destructive tonight. But this line isn't really a game changing line. Unless of course it's with a big hit or a big fight, and that didn't really happen)

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FINAL SCORE

Edmonton Oilers - 3

Phoenix Coyotes - 1

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BEERS

Dwayne Roloson - He was solid tonight. He looks to be in top form which is great if your an Oiler fan. He sure has put the naysayers to rest since the Garon trade. Good for him. I couldn't imagine being told that you suck every other day and still show up for work. But he is a gamer and he wants to play. So for another stand up game... have a frosty one Roli. Cheers!

Sheldon Souray - This guy was a workhorse toonight. 26:35 of ice time is a lot for a guy that didn't have to play that much a week ago. But he is showing us why we paid him so much to come here. He did everything right tonight. He kicked the crap out of net crashers and jerks. He scored with his big bomb (6 shots). He combed his hair in between periods to look good for the ladies. He is awesome! Have a nice cold one Souray. You're probably thirsty. Cheers!

Ales Hemsky - He was pretty good today. Not the flashy Hemsky that we are use to. But the useful Hemsky that gets things done even when it looks like he's not trying. He had a goal and an assist tonight, and that's about it (according to the stat sheet). But he had good vision and controlled the puck very well. I think that Hemmer deserves a beer. Cheers!

Honerable Mention - Steve Staios (he did well considering he played 25:57. That's a ton of ice for guy that was lucky to break a sweat most games), Shawn Horcoff (he sure earned his $$$ today. He was stellar all game. 2 Points), Sam Gagner (the little dude was good.), Robert Nilsson (had some great chances but couldn't convert), Tom Gilbert (he had 2 assists but was shakey at times.)

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JEERS

I really don't have any. Well other than the usual shoddy reffing. But what good is that to complain about? They don't care.

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Well that game started out good, but boring. Then the second period was the same, but a little better. It wasn't untill the 3rd, when the intensity and the action went up a few notches. The next game is tomorow at 8 pm. PPV game. And it's against the San Jose Sharks. This is going to be a tough game. Hopefully we ride the Rolitrain to another win. See you all next time...

The Water Cooler #2 (Cole/Smyth/Whitney/Guerin/Hemsky/Jay Bo)

**Remember, these are rumors. Nothing more. Do not believe any of this. This is for entertainment purposes only. I would seriously be shocked if any of this becomes true.**

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*REAL* Just to start off it's being reported by TSN that the Penguins have fired their coach. Michel Therrien has been replaced by interim coach Dan Bylsma the farm team coach. The Penguins have a 27-25-5 record this season and are sitting five points out of the playoffs.

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Here from Hockeybuzz we have Erik Cole going to Pittsburgh for (D) Ryan Whitney. I actually think that this is a fair deal if done as one for one. We will see where this goes.

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This what I found at Spector's Hockey. And I quote "Jay Bouwmeester and would likely get a roster player, prospect and first round pick. The Flyers, Blackhawks, Oilers, Rangers and Devils are rumored to be interested..." Duh!!! Thanks for the tip Spector.

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Here is a Hockey Leaks Feb 13/09 rumor statement. And I quote, "The Oilers are apparently willing to include Hemsky in a deal to bring in Bouwmeester." You have got to be kidding guy that wrote this. You seriously believe this? Hemsky? Really? *shakes head* If they balked at giving up Cogs or Gags then why Hemmer?

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Now there is no mention of the Oilers in this link, but I think the Oilers should look at bringing #94 home. He worked well with Hemsky and Horcoff. Just a thought. I would do it. But it is up to Ryan Smyth as he has a NTC. Last I heard, he wasn't keen on coming back. But what do I know?

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Also from 4th period, It appears that the Oilers have shown interest for the Ottawa Senators d man, Filip Kuba. I'm not sure if he is what we need. I'm hoping for a North American player.

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A few days ago I heard about Bill Guerin maybe coming back to Edmonton from Hockeybuzz. And I quote, "*With Doug Weight out for six weeks, one source has informed me that the Oilers may be reaching into their past for veteran leadership to the OTHER Islanders American star, Billy Guerin." Cool. I liked him. But doesn't he play RW? And don't we need a LW? Doesn't make sense. So don't count on it.

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Well that's all I have found for now. TSN has a site that is ready for the Trade Deadline. It's not bad. March 4th is coming quick. Who do you want?

Dear Mr. Belvedere... #2

Dear Mr. Belvedere,

Sometimes I sit outside and pick flowers. (They love me... they love me not... They love me...) Yay! They love me today. (better enjoy it while it lasts) I am sooooooo happy. Yesterday was Valentines Day and I was lucky that I was on the golf course with my loved ones. Like Liam. He is such a nice boy. Very polite and such a hard worker. I really think that people are really starting to like him. (I told you so!) He mows my lawn. He washes my car. He opens my beers for me. He even has dated my ugly daughter. He's great. He even polished my knob on my handle of my club. He is really showing this squad how to be a weiner. (I mean winner but I have no white out) I just wish he could actually play hockey. Oh well.... at least he is winning the hearts of at least a dozen fans.

Sometimes I have to wonder why the general public hates me so much? What did I do that was so wrong? Come on! Pisani at center was a good idea. And it wasn't my fault that Cole can't play the left side. Isn't that where he started playing in minor hockey? I mean really... he's left handed! And if I didn't play Smid on the 4th line then no one would believe me that he couldn't play as a forward. So none of this is really my fault. It's their fault. I played for many years with no helmet and that didn't hirt me at al.

So here goes another road trip and I hope the boys can just be like Liam. Oh yeah. I have been doing those exercises that Dr. Kuckobryd recommended. I look into a mirror and I tell myself. "You are a winner! You are great! You are smart!" You go guy!

Thanks for listening,

C. MacTavish

*not an actual letter. Just some made up, lame humour by Smokin' Ray Burnt*