Saturday, March 7, 2009

Beers and Jeers #42 (Mar 7/09 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs)


The Oilers are starting this game in 9th. Two points out of 8th. This is definitely a must win.


This is going to be the 21st straight game for Roli. A new Oiler record surpassing Fuhr. That sure is something.


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1st Period


Both teams start out the period playing pretty safe hockey. Not my kind of style but I guess it works. Smid takes a skate to the head and goes down. He ended up going back to the dressing room, my guess... for stitches? At 11:21 the 4th line comes out on full out mode. Reddox makes a nice play. Stortini throws a hit. Next thing you know Storts has dropped the gloves. Good tilt. Storts wins that one. The Leafs almost score but Cogs was there to save the day. Lucky for Roli because he thought that he made the save. And just as the period starts to wind down, Gilbert takes a Interference penalty. The period ends tied 0-0.


2nd Period


Smid has a concussion and will not return it is reported. That's too bad. Smid has been very good this year. Well the Leafs waste no time on the PP. The Leafs score at 1:08. Damn. 1-0 Leafs. But the Oilers also waste no time replying back. Hemsky goes in on a breakaway and scores. Yeah! 1-1 Tie Game. (Hemsky from Horcoff at 1:29) Now the pace just seemed to be turned up a bit. The MacBlender seems to be on slow mix. Gagner out with Kotalik now. It's tied MacT. Don't panic. But here comes the Oilers 4th line with that pressure and they score. Yeah!!!! 2-1 Oilers. (Brodziak unassisted at 8:34) He tips it by the defender and goes in on a mini breakaway. Scores 5 hole. This 4th line is really moving tonight. Now the 3rd line comes out and scores. Alright Boys!!! 3-1 Oilers. (Pisani from Grebeshkov and Cogliano at 10:45) The Leafs look screwed now. They are really trying to answer back. What a good period if your an Oiler fan. I hear a lot of them in the stands tonight. That's good to see. errr.. Hear. It was reported that Cogs has 50 people at this game. Including his Grandpa who has never seen him play in the NHL live. And Cogs already has an assist. Awesome.


3rd Period


The 3rd is in all out, don't lose the game mode. The Oilers are playing very safe hockey. And why not? We are up 3-1. The game progresses with a few penalties and no scoring chances. This has been a pretty solid period by the Oilers because there is 5:00 minutes left in the game and there is not much to report. At 16:50, Souray and Kubina get together and both take double minors. I love the way Souray gets mean. He's freaking scary. Well the Leafs have pulled their goalie and Brodziak hits the empty net. Scores! 4-1 Oilers. (Brodziak from Hemsky and Horcoff at 19:32) All of the sudden Strudwick is throwing those fast rabbit punches on Ben Ondrus. Ondrus probably didn't know that he punches like that or he wouldn't have fought him. Struds wins that fight. OILERS WIN!!! Yeah.


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Tonight's Starting Lines


Kotalik Horcoff Hemsky (This line still hasn't clicked. I don't care that they were getting points. That's great. They just don't look like a unit yet. Hemsky did look pretty good though. He was looking great, then something wouldn't go his way and he would look like he was pouting. Horcoff was average. Kotalik was still trying to fit in out there.)


O'Sullivan Gagner Pouliot (This isn't working either. O'Sullivan isn't clicking with Gagner. But you never know what an extra day of practice and getting to know you team mates might do to help. Gagner was looking good. But couldn't really finish anything. Pouliot was Pouliot.)


Penner Cogliano Pisani (This line was effective at times. They seem to be understanding each other. Not sure if that is bad news for Chopper? Doubt it. It's more like what do you do with Dustin "Donair" Penner? Penner was the whipping boy tonight. He played the least with 8:16 and only saw 5 on 5 time. Cogs was trying hard to impress his "fans in the stands". He played good. This was the best Pisani has been since returning. He scores the back breaker goal in the second.)


Reddox Brodziak Stortini (This 4th line seems to be the better line on a regular basis. Reddox was good. He didn't do much, but he also didn't cause anything either. Brodziak was quite good tonight. Him and Storts really have good chemistry. Storts was fighting, crashing the net and even played more than Penner did. Great line again.)


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FINAL SCORE


Edmonton Oilers - 4

Toronto Maple Leafs - 1


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BEERS


Steve Staios - He played a smart game and blocked 5 shots. He took no stupid penalties. He played tough yet was restrained. Staios plays games like these every once in a while. Tonight was one of those nights. Good game Steve. Have a frosty. Cheers!


Dwayne Roloson - Solid again. Roli made 39 saves to keep the Leafs down to one goal. He has been great for a while now. Thank god we didn't trade him for a bag of pucks like everyone wanted to eh? Roli! Roli! Roli! Have a nice cold one Roli. Cheers!


Kyle Brodziak - He played a nice safe game. His line was on fire and it had a lot to do with #51. He scored a nice on in the 2nd and later scores on the empty net. Good job Kyle. Have a Pilsner. Cheers!


Honorable Mention - Denis Grebeshkov (He was +4 at the end of the night and also had an assist. Solid game.), Tom Gilbert (He also redeemed himself tonight with a +3 and an assist.), Ales Hemsky (Had flashes of his old self. He managed a break away goal and an assist.), Shawn Horcoff (also had a good point night with 2 assists.)


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JEERS


Not much really to boo tonight. They played a good game and they won. What more can we ask for? The Oilers really just need the new guys to start meshing/producing as soon as possible.


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The next game is Tuesday against the Habs. We need the 2 points and that is going to be a tough game. Hope the good Oilers show up. See you all next time.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Beers and Jeers #41 (Mar 5/09 vs. Ottawa Senators)


Well hello once again folks. Lots has changed since the last Beers and Jeers. Erik Cole is gone now. He went home to Carolina. He will be missed in Oil Country. At least he still has his house there. And we welcome Ales Kotalik and Patrick O'Sullivan. I sure hope these guys work out. As fans, we need them to. I really liked Cole and what he brought to the table. I am shocked that he was the one to go. No Penner? Horcoff? Nilsson? Pouliot? Schremp? Roy? But whatever... I think that this is a good deal for the Oilers in the end. But hey, maybe Cole does resign in Edmonton this summer?


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Before this game starts the Oilers are sitting in 7th. Let get some more points boys...


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1st Period


Before the game is even going, Spezza scores in the first 12 seconds. 1-0 Ottawa. Good grief! Not the best way to start a game. The new guys sure look energized tonight. That's good because so does Hemsky. You know, Jarko Ruutu is a _____. (Go ahead and fill in your own word). I really hate that guy and all that he represents as a player. He taunts Stortini enough to make him drop the gloves. Then the chicken shit skates away. Unbelievable. Smid is really having a good period. Lots of spazzing and hitting. Nice. But the real jem of the period was when the Oiler fans started to boo Comrie when he would touch the puck. It was pretty loud. And the game is in Ottawa. *Stomach hurt type laugh* Kotalik had a pretty solid period as did O'Sullivan. But when Kotalik was getting interviewed by Mean Gene, he was dog tired. He is going to have to improve the cardio if he wants to stay on the #1 line.


2nd Period


The first part of the period, it's all Senators. They are out playing the Oilers at both ends of the rink. Horcoff takes a penalty. But before the Oilers can touch the puck the Senators score. Crap! 2-0 Ottawa. Not good boys. Not good. Shortly after at 4:41, Gagner takes a holding penalty. Ottawa attack again and what? They score. *shakes head* 3-0 Ottawa. Come on Oilers. With 11:39 left to play, the Senators are really working the Oilers over. It's almost embarrassing. But thankfully Comrie sits for 2:00. Gagner gets a nice pass from Grebs and goes in on a breakaway. Scores!!! 3-1 Ottawa. (Gagner from Grebeshkov from Gilbert at 10:45.) Ok Gagner. Nice shift in the momentum dept. Oilers are going now. But as the period winds down the Senators slowly take back the momentum.


3rd Period


This was one of those back and forth periods, yet it was boring. The first 10:00 minutes went by fairly quickly. Time is slipping for the Oilers. Awwww... Senators score again at 11:58. 4-1 Ottawa. Geez. But the Oilers do manage to get a man advantage. Gagner nails the post/crossbar and the puck appears to go in. But after the long review they call it a no goal. Damn. I personally thought that it went in. So they don't score. Too bad. But a little while later at 18:07, Gagner scores again for the Oil. This time it is in. Yeah! 4-2 Ottawa. (Gagner from Staios from Smid) That was all the Oilers could muster as they lose a game that should have been 2 points.


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Tonight's Starting Lines


Kotalik Horcoff Hemsky (This line looked ok. This might just work out. Kotalik is a big dude. He seems very solid and strong. He just needs better cardio. Horcoff was average tonight. Nothing great, nothing bad. Hemsky was finally trying to do something. Maybe this is his spark that he has needed.)


O'Sullivan Gagner Pouliot (This was a pretty good line. Gagner was on fire. He was saying Cole who? Jk. Pouliot was much like Horcoff. Nothing great, nothing bad. Which kind of makes him pretty good. O'Sullivan seems good. He's very fast and good with the puck. But he's just not comfortable yet. He is going to work with Gagner though. They just need a big fast body to play with. Not Penner please.)


Penner Cogliano Pisani (This line was average. They don't really seem to work all that well together. Penner had lots of hits which was good. But that's it. Where does Penner go when Moreau comes back? Cogliano was kind of Horcoff-ish as well. 50/50. Pisani still isn't Pisani yet. But he will.)


Jacques Brodziak Stortini (The 4th line was a hard hitting unit. *He he*. Unit. Jacques was not very good in my opinion. He was slow and not very aware. Brodziak seemed lifeless at times but was good on the face off dot. Stortini was duped into not fighting with Ruutu. But he played solid.)


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FINAL SCORE


Edmonton Oilers - 2

Ottawa Senators - 4


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BEERS


Sam Gagner - This was the guy I was worried the most about when we traded Cole. I guess he will survive huh? Sammy was great tonight. He seemed to be in the right places. Not to many guys deserve a beer tonight. But Sam earned every bottle with his effort. Two goals, almost three. Five shots for the little dude. Team high. Nice. So have a case a beer and help yourself Sam. Cheers!


Ladislav Smid - I don't care if anyone agrees with me. Smid was a force. He was hitting and smack talking. He was a freaking Spaz. I love that. He even managed an assist tonight. Have a big beer Smid. Cheers!


Andrew Cogliano - The man was a beast on faceoffs. Get this. 7 wins, 2 losses for 78%. Wow! For a guy that is around 37% for the season, this is huge. This is colossally massive. This is worth a beer. High five Andrew! But try scoring next time. Cheers!


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JEERS


The Entire Team - What the hell? That is the effort that we (fans) get after a interesting trade day? Totaly not good enough. *shakes head* No one in particular was really worthy off a full out boo. The team just sucked as a whole and Roli could save the day. I don't need to say anything else. We need the wins. Bad dog! *shakes finger* Boooooooo!


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That was a bad loss. The pieces have changed and yet the will to win has not. The Oilers really need to pick up some points on this roadie. It's like free points. Don't pass it up. The next game should be a gimme. Should be.


Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Hold the Press!!! **BREAKING NEWS** Cole traded


The Edmonton Oilers have dealt Erik Cole to the Carolina Hurricanes for (F) Patrick O'Sullivan (originally from the LA Kings) *Justin Williams was traded to LA Kings for O'Sullivan*
So Williams for O'Sullivan. Then O'Sullivan for Cole. Make sense?
More on the details later.

Good luck Erik. We will miss you here in Oil Country.
EDIT: I was late getting home to make the changes but here they go. The Oilers also was given a 2nd round pick from Carolina. The Oilers traded that to Buffalo for Ales Kotalik. Good deals today for the Oilers. I am however, still a little pissed that the Oilers trade another guy away that actually wants to be here. Go Figure?

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Beers and Jeers #40 (Mar 3/09 vs. Nashville Predators)


The day before the big day and not much is going on. Miroslav Satan, Brendan Morrison and Gary Roberts are on the waiver wire at the moment. Pretty big names, but I can't see the Oilers taking one of those guys. Is there not a way to claim them as insurance and then try to land a bigger name tomorrow? If you do land the bigger name then can you not the put that person back on waivers and it's no big deal?


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No Nilsson tonight? Why? Is his last game as an Oiler played already? Over Jacques? Over Pouliot? Strange...


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1st Period


Good early start by Oilers but Nashville scores at 6:22. 1-0 Nashville. Still good flow. The 4th line and the 2nd line are sure looking good tonight. Good pressure by the Oilers. Gagner scores! Yeah! 1-1 Tie Game. (Gagner from Smid at 9:55) "See ya Storts", says Gagner. With 7:30 left, Stortini has a great chance as Pekka Rinne sprawls out and loses his blocker. And the play continues. I have never seen that before. I just figured that the whistle would blow. Oilers score out of nowhere. Yeah! 2-1 Oilers. (Pouliot from Gagner and Cole at 14:25) The 2nd line is really buzzing now. Chances all over the place. Just when the game is looking more Oiler than Predator, the Preds score. 2-2 Tie Game. Grebeshkov didn't take the right guy and they scored. The 1st line sure isn't really doing anything. Maybe the change wasn't the right change?


2nd Period


Well it didn't take long for the first penalty of the game. At 3:58, Souray takes a hooking penalty and Nashville scores on the PP at 4:13. 3-2 Nashville. Right after the goal, the Preds take a penalty and now it's the Oilers turn at the PP. But the Preds actually kill theirs off. So much for a momentum change. Oh. It gets worse. Penner takes a penalty at 8:24. Then Staios takes a holding call at 13:22. Oilers kill off both and look rather crappy so far this period. Strudwick and Weber drop the gloves at 18:16 and have a pretty good tilt. With Nashville on the PK, the Oilers have some good pressure. Ler's hope the 3rd is better for the Oilers.


3rd Period


The Oilers start quick with a goal by Cogliano. Yeah! 3-3 Tie Game. (Cogliano from Pisani at 1:43) Now the Oilers have the momentum. As the 4th line comes out and causes some more havoc. Oilers score again. Yeah! 4-3 Oilers. (Jacques from Smid and Stortini at 5:15) That was JF Jacques 1st ever point and goal. He was robbed of an assist a couple of games ago, but he has that elusive point now. Good for him. The Preds have this back and forth passing play that they have been doing all night. It finally worked as they put one past Roli at 7:56. Very nice passing. 4-4 Tie Game. Now the game is in full out mode. Damn! Nashville scores again. 5-4 Nashville. But soon after it's PP time for the Oilers. But they can't really convert. Too bad. They needed a boost. Erik Cole scores! Yeah! 5-5 Tie Game. (Cole from Gagner from Strudwick at 13:52) What an exciting game.


Overtime


The Preds have the most pressure in the overtime period. Strudwick takes a high stick penalty at 1:25 and Nashville scores on the PP. Boooooo! Right before the Preds score, Roli takes a puck in the shoulder/collarbone area and gets hurt. But the play went on and the Preds score at 2:31. Game over. 6-5 Nashville. Crap...


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Tonights Starting Lines


Reddox Horcoff Hemsky (I didn't even know that this line played tonight. They were absolutely invisible. Horcoff played 20:13 and finished -1. Hemsky was not playing well either. He had 2 giveaways and no shots. Reddox was not noticed much. He played 10:36 and really did nothing)


Pouliot Gagner Cole (A real solid line tonight. They had some defensive miscues and some bad giveaways but were all out on the offensive side. Gagner was fantastic today. Well except he was terrible on the faceoffs. (0%) Not good man. Cole looked like he belonged here as an Edmonton Oiler. It makes you wonder if this is it? I hope not. Pouliot did a great job at fitting in with Gags and Cole. He managed a goal playing with them and was good on the draw at 57% *Team High* when he had to.)


Penner Cogliano Pisani (They played well together. Penner was caught a few times being a little slow but managed 4 shots *Team High*. Cogliano was good all around, he had 3 shots and 1 goal. Pisani seemed to be getting back into form with an assist and 3 shots.)


Jacques Brodziak Stortini (This line was a good consistant line tonight. They gave Nashville all kinds of trouble. Jacques scores his first NHL goal. Brodziak played well even though he ended -1. Stortini was also good as he picks up an assist and had 2 shots and 3 hits*Team High*.)


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FINAL SCORE


Edmonton Oilers - 5

Nashville Predators - 6


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BEERS


Sam Gagner - The little dude had one of his best games of the season. He seemed really focused and had a knack for finding the guys around him. He had 2 assists and 1 goal. It sure was fun to watch. I wonder who is going to be with him on Thursday after the deadline? For a great effort, enjoy a nice ice cold beer Gags. Cheers!


Ladislav Smid - People just don't give Smid enough credit for being such a hard working, do anything kind of guy. He has been asked to step up and in my opinion he has done that. Tonight he picked up 2 assists and was +3*Team High* I think that the Spaz deserves a frosty. He did good. Cheers!


Erik Cole - Well if this was his last game as an Oiler than he ended on a high note. He had a goal and an assist with a +2. He sure does play well with Gagner. If only he was here for 3 more years. Gagner would love to play with him for the beginning of his young career. So maybe for the last time... Have a beer with us Erik. Thanks. Cheers! *tear*


Honorable Mention - Zack Stortini (Storts was powerful tonight. He played a real hard nosed game and managed to cause a lot of room on the ice for Jacques and Brodziak), JF Jacques (He scores his first goal. Ever. Yay!) Dwayne Roloson (He really desrves a beer tonight. He was awesome. But he did look tired. And he was hurt in the last few seconds. Good effort Roli.)


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JEERS


Ales Hemsky - What the hell man? Where have you gone? Is it the concusion reapearing becuase you were great when you came back? I miss the old Ales Hemsky. But he proved my point tonight that he is only a wingman, not a team carrier. I hope he gets some help. But for tonight. Boooooooooooo!


Shawn Horcoff - Man o' man. What to do with this guy? He gets the minutes like no other. He gets the praise from the coach that no one else gets. (other than Hemmer) Yet he seems to depend on Hemmer and Hemmer does the same to him. But it's not working anymore. Shawn needs to go to a place and find his inner hard checking, ass kicking Shawn Horcoff that he used to be. And do it soon because if we want to make the playoffs, we need a #1 line. And right now we don't have that. Boooooooooo!


The Entire Team - Take a lesson from the Preds tonight. Steve Sullivan had 2 goals. He also took 6 shots. David Legwand had 2 goals. But he took a whopping 8 shots. Every player on the Preds that scored had at least 3 shots. Tom Drake (coached me in Rossland) said to us one year, "If you don't shoot, you won't score. Shoot from anywhere and anytime. Always take the shot." Cogliano, Cole, Pisani and Penner were the only Oilers with 3 or more shots. Goals win games. Boooooooooo!


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Well that was a very up and down game. I was happy. Then mad. Then happy again. But I ended up mad. At least it was entertaining. But as the roadie continues, the Oilers need more than one point a game.


Everyone knows that tomorow is the big trade day. I'm sure there will be lots of news on OilersNation. That's where I will be. See you all Thursday. We are going to visit the Ottawa Senators. Maybe a new look Oilers team? Maybe not. I'm guessing not.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Hold On... Hear Me Out! #1


Hello everyone. This is another fine segment by Smokin' Ray Burnt. I like to call it "Hold On... Hear Me Out!" This is a place for me to talk about something that maybe a little off the normal path that most Oiler fans walk. Sometimes I may be right. Sometimes not so right. Sometimes you may just shut your computer off and swear off the Internet. Either way... it's entertaining. Right?


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After the Oiler game on Saturday, I sat around with my buddy Whitey and we were talking hockey. (shocking?) We started to talk about Ales Hemsky. (or Alex Hempsky if Marc Crawford is saying it) We came to a consensus that Hemmer may never be that elusive #1 guy on the team. Well not a Stanley Cup contending team anyways. It was decided that Hemmer just may be the best "wing man" in the league. If he had a pure shooter to play with on a regular basis he would pile up the points. "No kidding", your probably thinking. I personally think Hemsky is the cats ass (JIB CUTTER). He just may never be in the Ovechkin or Crosby echelon that most fans are hoping for.


Now say for example, the Oilers acquire Kovalchuk. Ilya would be the #1 guy here. But Hemsky would be the best wing man ever. The two would easily account for 2 goals per game. You see it on every team. There is never just one guy. Well... none of the successful teams I should say. For every Gretzky there is a Kurri. Kurri was one heck of a wing man. Would he have the same career with out that #1 guy? Probably not.


I came to the realization watching the Tampa Bay game, that the Oilers 1st line isn't equally matched at all. To any team. Except New York Islanders I suppose. And we wonder why we are always fighting for 8th.


So what am I rambling about? Ales Hemsky will be a really great player in the NHL. He just needs a #1 guy to play with. He's the Kurri. Not the Gretzky.

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