Beers and Jeers #49 (Mar 24/09 vs. Detroit Red Wings)

Hemsky's statement sure caused some feathers to be ruffled. I just can't find a reason to say anything at this moment. Nevermind saying that you are being used as a checker. You don't kill penalties. You barely come into the defensive zone, so who are you kidding? A checker? Really? That's the best you can come up with? If you want more ice time then be good. Every shift. Every time you step out on that ice, score. Make something happen and MacT would have you out there all game. Instead, I have seen you give up in the 1st 5 minutes of the game and not give a crap for the rest of it. This is simply fixed. Play good = play lots.

Roli will be playing his 29th straight game for the Oilers this year. The man never ceases to amaze me. He truly is awesome.

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GAME VIDEO HIGHLITES

GAME SUMMARY

GAME STATS

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Tonight's Starting Lines

O'Sullivan Horcoff Hemsky (Very good line. Lots of quality chances. But were on the ice for 2 goals against. Hemsky and O'Sullivan are ok together. Horcoff seems to be lost lately.)

Nilsson Gagner Kotalik (Had a good game. They were on the ice for a goal for and against. Nilsson didn't register a shot though. Gagner was sharp for most of the game and Kotalik scored a nice one.)

Pouliot Cogliano Pisani (Played pretty good. They didn't get worked over often. Pouliot was a non factor. Cogliano is starting to work well with Pisani. Pisani had 3 shots.)

Moreau Brodziak Penner (Another great game by this line. They are really gelling lately. Plus Penner has been good on the PP and Moreau is playing smart hockey. No penalties.)

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Souray Staios (Not the greatest night for this pair but not all that bad either. Staios was -3. While Souray took a ton of shots.)

Grebeshkov Gilbert (A pretty average game for this pairing. Gilbert had 4 blocked shots and Grebs had a goal and 3 shots. He did have 3 giveaways and that's not good.)

Strudwick Smid (They were good. Strudwick played somewhat smart hockey. Smid seemed to really play above average tonight.)

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Roloson (The MVP was stellar once again (except for a few seconds). The team would be a lot worse without Roli.)

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FINAL SCORE

Detroit Red Wings -3

Edmonton Oilers - 2

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BEERS

Dwayne Roloson - Roli was fantastic for 55 minutes. Then he had a strange goal beat him to tie the game. But regardless, Roli was good just like any other game in the last while. His lateral movement was working well. He was pelted with 44 shots and tried his ass off to win this game on his own. But the team came up short. So for another fine effort... Have a frosty Roli. Cheers!

-

Ales Hemsky - After the statement I was expecting a standout game from Hemmer. He kind of delivered. He did manage one assist and had 2 shots. But he was also -2 at the end of the night. He did display some razzle dazzle that we have not seen in weeks, maybe months. He showed a confidence with the puck that we haven't seen in some time. He hustled, he didn't give up. He had a fairly strong game. That was Hemsky trying to be somebody. That wasn't MacT doing anything different. That was just Hemmer being good. Like I have said before, "Leadership is action... Not position" What we seen tonight was action. Not position. Heineken? Cheers!

Patrick O'Sullivan - I really liked his game today. He played like he is adjusting to this team and his teammates. I love how he shoots from all over the place. He had 2 shots tonight and they were from good area's to shoot from. It's just too bad that he ended up -2. I personally thought that he had a good game. Have a cold one with me Sully. Cheers!

Honorable Mention - Dustin Penner (The Fridge had a good game. He created that 1st goal by drawing two guys to him then he passed it off to Hemsky who passed to Grebs.), Ales Kotalik (Scored a nice goal to bring it back to 3-2.), Andrew Cogliano (He played solid. Bad on faceoffs but played solid.), Ladislav Smid (The Spaz had 4 blocked shots and 2 shots. His defensive game was good too.)

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JEERS

Denis Grebeshkov - I'm on the fence with him tonight. On one hand he scored the Oilers 1st goal. He played pretty good with an average of 1:01of ice time, but he ended up with 3 giveaways on the night. That's just too many for me to ignore. For that alone, here's a little one... Booo!

Steve Staios - Staios has good games and bad one's. Well he was not so good with a bad -3 rating. That just can't happen when you are on the #1 pairing. Maybe all the ice time is wearing him down? Maybe Smid should get a chance with Souray? So for the -3 tonight and a so so game... Booooooooo!

The Entire Team - For losing a game that was attainable... Boooooooooooooooo!

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Well that was the one that got away. We had it in our palms and poof! Gone in 60 seconds.

Next game is Thursday against the Coyotes. A must, must win. See you all then.

Beers and Jeers #48 (Mar 22/09 vs. Minnesota Wild)

Well here we are, playing the Wild and it's a Sunday afternoon. The Oilers have been on a roll and we should expect them to continue that trend today. Steve MacIntyre will replace Liam Reddox tonight on the 3rd line. Boogaard vs. Big Mac tonight? And while in being informative, Gaborik will return to the Wild line up after missing quite a bit of time (Dec 3???).

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1st Period

The Oilers come out flying to start the game. Nilsson gets a nice breakaway chance but gets denied. O'Sullivan rings one of the post a short while later. Wow! Oilers get a PP chance now. Right at the end of it Kotalik hauls down a Koivu (?) and no call. The crowd goes wild. Lucky for the Oilers there. Good pace to the game but the Oilers need to cut out the giveaways. It's going to bite them in the ass. Fritsche nails Smid and takes a penalty for his trouble. Boogaard and Big Mac are out there for that but it's just some talking. No punching. The Wild kill that penalty off and not much happens for the rest of the period. The Oilers have 15 shots and 9 scoring chances after the 1st. The Wild have 2 shots and 3 scoring chances. Oilers were 0 for 3 on the PP.

2nd Period

Minny starts the 2nd on fire. In the first minute and a half the Wild have taken 5 shots. They had 2 all last period. The Oilers better beware. Big John Scott hits Moreau and Moreau gets injured. No word on what it is. The Wild really are keeping the pressure on the Oil. Aww... Hemsky takes a holding penalty at 3:40. The Oilers manage to kill it off and look ok doing it. Souray slams Gaborik's stick and it breaks and that becomes a penalty. I hate that rule. In the old days when there was wood sticks, that was a valid penalty. Anything breaks those sticks now. So now it's a 5 on 3 for 1:25. Horcoff seems to get into a "conversation" with Koivu. I wonder what was said? The Oilers do a great job and kill off those penalties. Let's Go Oilers! This period definitely has been all Minnesota. The Oilers need to pick it up. At 13:40, Staios nails Gaborik and goes and sits for 2:00. Or does he? The Wild score at 14:26 to end the PP. Damn you Owen Nolan! Boooooooo! 1-0 Wild. Now it's the Oilers turn to get a PP. But the Oilers can't convert once again. Nilsson sure has had some crazy passes today. He needs to play with a little more control. I'm not really liking his game today. So much for Roli being bored after all. After 2 shots in the 1st, he was peppered with 23 in the 2nd. However the Oilers were buzzing at the end of the 2nd and that gives me some hope for the 3rd.

3rd Period

The first 3 minutes was all Oilers. 27, 51, 33, 44, 24 had a great shift and held the Wild in there own zone the whole time. Great work by Penner and Brodziak as they did the bulk of the work. Aww... Booooooo! The Wild score again at 4:19. 2-0 Wild. That was against the 2nd line. Big Mac is sure seeing more ice early in this 3rd period. Yeah! Hemsky hits Clutterbuck. But no fight yet in this game. It's a little strange for sure. The Wild take another penalty and give the Oilers some life. Well they take it back and manage to kill the penalty off. Owen Nolan sure is trying for the hat trick. Another old guy playing younger than he is. Awww... son of a... Gilbert tries to pass it cross ice in front of Roli but it hits Gagner in the foot and re-deflects into the net at 12:43. *hands in the air* 3-0 Wild. WTF?!? Just not the Oilers day. As the time winds down, the Wild just seem to be sucking the life out of this game. Awww... Game Over! Boooooooooooo!

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Tonight's Starting Lines

O'Sullivan Horcoff Hemsky

Nilsson Gagner Kotalik

MacIntyre Cogliano Pisani

Moreau Brodziak Penner

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Souray Staios

Grebeshkov Gilbert

Smid Strudwick

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Roloson

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FINAL SCORE

Edmonton Oilers - 0

Minnesota Wild - 3

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BEERS

No Oiler really deserves a beer tonight. But a few were close. Dwayne Roloson did a fine job but wasn't at Beer form. I can fully expect him to rebound next game. Tom Gilbert played a pretty good 1st half of the game but finished -2. Dustin Penner also played pretty good but couldn't get anything done on the scoresheet. Ales Hemsky fired a ton of shots. But he didn't score. Everyone else was average or below average.

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JEERS

The Entire Team - That was one heck of a blah game by you guys. That was sad. You had the game in your hands in the 1st and you let the Wild take over in the 2nd. Then you still had a chance in the 3rd and you failed to capitalize on that as well. That was a waste of time to watch. ~Thanks for the memories.~ Booooooooooooooooo!

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Well that sucked. It's like this remote controlled helicopter that I bought. It's cool for a while but then the novelty wears off because the battery dies and you then sit around waiting for it to get recharged. Because recharging it makes it cool again. The Oilers always seem to poop the bed every few games. So was I surprised? No. Disappointed? Yes. I just hope that we can win next game. What? Oh crap. It's against Detroit on Tuesday back at Rexall. See you all then. *fingers crossed*

What I Want in a Captain

For those of you that didn't like my comments about Ethan Moreau fighting with a visor should read this story about Sidney Crosby. This is great!

PUCK DADDY STORY

Here is the quote;

"Rumor has it that last night Savard challenged el Sid to a fight, but Savard wouldn't drop them as long as Sid had a visor on. Supposedly Sid went to the bench and unscrewed it from his helmet. Savard did nothing afterwards. Not sure if it's true (as this was told by a buddy of mine who works for the Pens) but it makes an interesting story if it is." -- Eric from Pa.
The incident referenced above between Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and Boston Bruins star center Marc Savard is now the stuff of hockey folklore. We've received about three dozen variations of this e-mail since the Penguins' 6-4 victory over the Bruins last Sunday.
The basic premise is the same: Savard challenged Crosby and talked smack about his visor; Crosby had it removed on the Penguins bench; and when he reengaged with Savard, the Bruins player didn't back up his words. Bangin Panger had, perhaps, the first and most complete telling of the tale, even if the Chuck Norris-level of toughness that would have been Crosby unscrewing his own visor for a fight was later reconsidered as inaccurate.
Now, Crosby isn't exactly known as a model of physical intimidation: His two altercations this season involved jumping a guy after a face-off and punching another player in a sensitive area from behind. That history begged the question: Did this situation with Savard really happen?
The mainstream media in Boston and Pittsburgh didn't pursue the story for days, leaving some lingering doubt. That was until Chris Kunitz, Crosby's linemate with the Penguins, went on Mark Madden's radio show on WXDX in Pittsburgh this week (.mp3) and was asked why Crosby removed his visor:
"I hear him and one of the other Boston players had some words after one of their goals, and then came back to the bench ... I didn't know whatever happened, if it was scratched or whatever. But I noticed the next shift he had it off and was letting the other player know he wasn't intimidated. I guess the guy made some kind of remark, and Sid went and took it off, and maybe challenged the guy a little. Obviously nothing had come about it, but obviously you see the heart and the grit that Sid has ..."
Yesterday on his blog, Madden added further clarity with a literal blow-by-blow of the Crosby/Savard Fight That Wasn't.
Madden said Crosby claimed he had a scratch on his visor, saying it with a broad smile. Here's how Madden claims things went down on Sunday:
Bruins center Marc Savard taunted Crosby after a Boston goal, and the taunting continued until both players neared their benches. Crosby challenged Savard to fight, and Savard responded: "Take off that [sissy] shield, and I'll be glad to."
So Crosby handed his helmet to equipment manager Dana Heinze and told him to remove the visor. Crosby took the ice for his next shift sans shield but Savard backed down, thereby looking like the [sissy] he accused Crosby of being.
Score one for Sid in the mind games department and cue a verbal beatdown for Savard, who took a brutal aural blistering from the Penguins bench throughout the rest of the afternoon (and no doubt lost a little respect in the eyes of his teammates when his bluff got called).
Madden writes that Crosby had the visor reattached during the first intermission.
Sure enough, Crosby was wearing the visor again when the Penguins scored an empty net goal to clinch the game."

That is freaking awesome. This brought up my respect level for Sid the Kid up to a whole new level. This is the kind of a captain that the Oilers need. Simply awesome...

And I apologize that this isn't 100% Oilers related. I just needed to share this.

Beers and Jeers #47 (Mar 20/09 vs. Chicago Black Hawks)

Well folks last night was a gooder. A 8-1 stomping of the Avs. It was sweet. Then this morning I received a message from the Oilers on Twitter, (yes the Jambalaya is now on Twitter) and it said that the Oilers didn't skate today. I'm hoping that that wasn't a bad decision.

It seems like MacT is going to roll with the same lines again today. And Roli was a last minute decision.

The good people of the OilersNation are whooping up tonight down at Hudson's on Bourbon Street. I'm sure that the party is good and I hope they raise some good money for Kids with Cancer. One of these days I'm going to have to make it to Edmonton to attend one of those Nation parties. I need to get some shirts.

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1st Period

Well the game gets underway and the Oilers seem to be clogging up the neutral zone. Is this the trap? MacT you crazy man you. Well the PP gets to work early. 89,27,83,44,37 are out there for the Oilers. Penner scores! Yeah! 1-0 Oilers. (Penner from Grebeshkov and Hemsky at 3:12) Nice start boys. A short while later at 7:41, the Hawks do score. Boooo! 1-1 Tie Game. Then the dreaded 3rd line of 13, 34, 85 are out for the Oilers. Cogliano scores are another Oiler goal. Yeah! 2-1 Oilers. (Cogliano from Reddox and Pisani at 10:07) Well here we are in maybe another goal fest for the Oilers? Let's hope so. Last night was fun. For the last 10 minutes of the 1st, the Hawks are killing the Oilers. Come on guys... The 2nd line gets stuck in their own end and Grebs takes a holding penalty shortly after. But the Oilers do kill it off. With 1:30 left in the period the Hawks score. Damn. 2-2 Tie Game.

2nd Period

Good flow to start the 2nd. This game is really picking up the speed. Nilsson gets rocked near center ice with his head down by Campbell. Ouch! The 4th line comes out and starts rockin' it up. Ethan Moreau scores! Yeah! 3-2 Oilers. (Moreau from Penner from Brodziak at 6:03.) This is how the "good" teams become "great". Secondary scoring. In this case, 3rd and 4th 'dary' scoring. Awesome! Oh no. Smid was chasing down Havlat and clipped Roli and he goes down. It takes Roli quite a while to get up and ready to go again. But he will continue. Somehow on that play, Gagner takes an interference on the goalie penalty. Not sure where or when??? But the Oil kill it off. But the Hawks score again to tie it up. Boooooo! 3-3 Tie Game. An Oiler and a Hawk take penalties back to back and that makes a 4 on 4 situation. Just as Nilsson is rounding the ice behind his own net he spots Gagner at the other blue line. Bam! He fires a hard long pass to Gags. He busts in and shakes off a Hawk player and scores. Yeah! 4-3 Oilers. (Gagner from Nilsson and Roloson at 18:19) Great period by both teams. This sure has been fun to watch.

3rd Period

To start the period, O'Sullivan takes a slashing penalty. But the Oilers manage kill it off. With the 2nd line out, the Hawks score to tie it up. Again. Booooo! 4-4 Tie Game. Shortly after that Reddox gets hammered with what looked to me like a cheap shot to the head. This is the reason why we need Stortini in the lineup. Of course it goes unnoticed and without a penalty. The pace of the game really picks up now. LET'S GO OILERS!!! Staios hooks Toews and he is awarded a penalty shot. But Roli comes up huge again and the game is still tied. With 7:00 minutes left, the action is fierce. End to end action. So much for the trap. MacT seems to be going with 2nd line, 1st line, 4th line, 2nd line, 1st line, 4th line. What is the 3rd line chopped liver? **Reddox is out** Right at the end of the period, Gilbert gets hammered into the Oilers net and Seabrook takes a penalty. The Oilers will have about 1:40 of PP time in the OT.

Overtime

Well the Oilers send out 83, 27, 44 and 21. They have great passing and a few shots but don't manage to score. The overtime is very exciting but neither team scores. MacT sends out 10 & 34, 89 & 19, 12 & 13. This game is off to a shootout.

Shootout

O'Sullivan - scores glove high.

Kotalik - scores low glove. With that goal the Oilers WIN!!!

Gagner - no shot

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GAME SUMMARY

EVENT SUMMARY

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Tonight's Starting Lines

O'Sullivan Horcoff Hemsky (The 1st line was good for most of the game. I expected them to be clicking by now but maybe we need to be a little more patient. O'Sullivan looked good. His speed and his willingness to shoot from anywhere is a huge bonus for Hemsky. Hemsky looked ok. He still isn't like the same Hemmer from the 1st half of the season. But he's coming around. Horcoff was average. He did way better on the faceoffs this game. But this line wasn't really a game changer and the Oilers need them to be.)

Nilsson Gagner Kotalik (I am starting to like this line. Except they kind of suck in their own end. A few times tonight they were struggling to keep their head above water. But when they get out they are really dangerous. Nilsson seems to be on a roll since the press box sitting. Gagner had a good game. But 0 for 8 on the faceoff dot sucks. He tries like mad, but couldn't do anything there. Kotalik played well. He isn't looking as slow to me as he did the 1st few games. He does make Gagner look fast though.)

Reddox Cogliano Pisani (MacT treats this line like it's the 4th line. They saw limited ice in the last half of the 3rd (mostly because Reddox was hurt). But Cogs and Pisani saw the ice in OT. Reddox played ok. He played just under 6:00 and picks up an assist. Cogliano scores a nice one and ends the game with 4 shots. He also stunk it up on the faceoff dot (25%). Pisani has flashes of the old Pisnai. Then he goes back to average Pisnai. Tonight we seen both.)

Moreau Brodziak Penner (I really like this line. They play tough, yet they can move the puck. Moreau has played two good games in a row. Good on him. 3 shots and a goal is a nice way to help the team win. You don't need to try too hard in order to play well. Brodziak also played well. He does what is asked of him and tries his best. He was out for a lot of faceoffs tonight. Penner had another strong game. Keep this guy on this line. He seems to be a better player on the 4th line. He has a two point night and a couple of hits. He was great.)

Souray Staios (I don't mind this pairing. Souray is one of my faves this year. He plays like he wants to win every game. He always seems to show up. Staios has had a few good games lately. Tonight was another one. I had him written off at the beginning of the year, but he sure is making me change my mind.)

Grebeshkov Gilbert (I thought that this pairing was good as well. Grebs was played pretty good. The mistakes he did do, didn't really cost the Oilers that much. Gilbert played well. He

played over 23 minutes and blocked 3 shots. He had one slight hiccup but whatever, he has been good lately.)

Strudwick Smid (I don't like this pair at all. Smid is good. I like his game. Nothing wrong with him. It's Strudwick that freaks me out. I wish we had an answer for that. Peckham? They are about equal. IMO. But MacT loves Struds.)

Roloson (Roli was good. I am really liking the cut of his jib. He has showed that he is a pro and he comes to play. He rarely takes a night off and tonight wasn't one of them. Good game Roli!)

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FINAL SCORE

Edmonton Oilers - 5

Chicago Black Hawks - 4

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BEERS

Dwayne Roloson - Roli was rock solid again for the Oilers. Sure he had a few not so great moments, but was otherwise fantastic. The guy faced 43 shots. That's 39 saves. At first I thought that JDD was finaly going to start. But once again MacT makes the right decision. *ducks for cover* For a heck of a game Roli, you deserve a frosty. Cheers!

Sheldon Souray - I really like what he brings to this team. IMO He should be the Captain. He plays his butt off every game and is chnaging his game to make himself more effective. And it's working. 28:56 of ice time and he blasted 5 shots at the net. I think he deserves a nice cold one. Cheers!

Dustin Penner - The big guy was good toight. Maybe the 4th line mentallity is giving him the advantage of less pressure to perform? What ever it is I like it. He has played his best games as an Oiler lately playing with Brodz and Chopper. A goal and an assist tonight to lead the team. Good on you Penner. The big guy wants a Big Bear in a Brown Paper Bag? Cheers!

The Entire Team - Two huge games in a row. KEGGER!!!

Honorable Mention - Patrick O'Sullivan (scores a nice SO goal and plays a pretty decent game.) Sam Gagner (He continues his points streak by scoring again this game.) Ales Kotalik (He scores another SO goal. Plus he seems to be fitting in with Gagner)

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JEERS

No one player really deseveres a boo. Am I wrong?

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Well that was a great 4 point two nights. All very quick and exciting. A good two days for Oiler Hockey. The next game is Sunady at 1:00 in the afternoon against the Wild. Big Mac or Stortini should draw in for that game. See you all then...

Beers and Jeers #46 (Mar 19/09 vs. Colorado Avalanche)

Well folks, I am very excited for this game. I am hoping for a 2 point night. Let's go Oilers!

As far as I have heard (lately) MacT is going with the same line's as last game. I really thought that Stortini would draw in for Reddox. It only makes sense. Right? Anyone? The Avs will play Laperriere so who do we have?

Why is it that MacT always rolls with the 4th line after an Oiler goal? The other team is pissed and want nothing more than to score on us and we send out the 4th line? Really? Oh well...

Let's Go Oilers!

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1st Period

The man that has been in my bad books scores the 1st goal of the game. Yeah! 1-0 Oilers. (Moreau from Brodziak and Penner at 4:02) Good start by Chopper. We needed that. But the Avs storm back and score one of their own against the Oilers 1st line. Damn! 1-1 Tie Game. Ryan Smyth takes a penalty and Horcoff pots one in the net. Yeah! 2-1 Oilers. (Horcoff from O'Sullivan and Gilbert at 9:38) Alright. A PP goal. I quite like that new 2nd PP unit of 10/19/12/21/77. Great period so far by the Oilers. The period ends with the Oilers out shooting the Avs 12-7. Yeah!!!

2nd Period

The 2nd started out looking good for the Oilers but they couldn't really muster much. Colorado was winning this period in the 1st half. But the Oilers started to maintain some momentum and started to really get going. All the lines look good tonight except for Strudwick/Smid. Struds may be tired. Maybe Peckham should have been given a chance. Out of nowhere Pisani pops one in the net. Yeah! 3-1 Oilers. (Pisani from Reddox and Gilbert at 14:35) Way to go boys. A minute later Gagner scores. YEAH!!! 4-1 Oilers. (Gagner from Nilsson and Kotalik at 15:39) *That was Ales Kotalik's 1st point as an Oiler* Holy crap. So this is what it feels like to be on the other side of the fence. Yeah! You can see the team relax after that goal. That period started out not looking good but ended up fantastic. 16-11 were the shots after the 2nd in favor of the Oilers.

3rd Period

All we have to do is hold them off and it's an easy 2 points. Well the Kotalik/Gagner show is in full swing in the 3rd as well. Kotalik scores. Yeah!!! 5-1 Oilers. (Kotalik from Gagner and Nilsson at 9:22) The flood gates are open now. With one of the Avs players in the box, the Oilers have another PP. Gagner scores now. Yeah!!! 6-1 Oilers. (Gagner from Kotalik and Souray at 12:31) This game is all Oilers now. I feel bad for the Avalanche fans because we have been there. Lots. With just under 5 minutes to go, Souray fires a bomb and scores. Yeah! 7-1 Oilers. (Souray from Staios and Penner at 16:43) He didn't even look like he was trying. But it went in anyways. Holy crap. Gagner scores a hat trick. Alright! Yeah! 8-1 Oilers. (Gagner from Nilsson and Kotalik at 17:20) Well that was fun to see all the goals. All the lines looked good. It was nice to be happy. :)

GAME SUMMARY

EVENT SUMMARY

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Tonight's Starting Lines

O'Sullivan Horcoff Hemsky (This wasn't the Oilers best line. It wasn't the worst either. O'Sullivan wasn't quite as sharp as last game but still looked good with Hemsky. Horcoff was ok. 3 shots and 2 giveaways. Shots good. Giveaways bad. Hemsky wasn't all that flashy either. But he needs to be the #1 guy.)

Nilsson Gagner Kotalik (This line was on fire. They were our #1 line tonight. Kotalik and Gagner have really seemed to hit it off. Nilsson was ok. He really didn't have many mistakes and played a simple game. It worked for him as he earned 3 assists. Gagner scores a hat trick and gets an assist. It really seems to me that he is going to take Horcoff's spot sooner than later as the #1 center. Kotalik had a goal and 3 assists. Nice way to get your 1st points as an Oiler. He seemed to match the style that Gagner plays. I hope it works out for the both of them.)

Reddox Cogliano Pisani (They played an ok game. It appeared to me that MacT was using them more as a 4th line rather than a 3rd line. Reddox was ok. He gets one assist and registers nothing on the stat sheet. Is that even possible after playing 13:18? Cogliano was ok. He did what he could with only playing 10:49. He seemed to be the MacT whipping boy tonight. Not sure it was deserved. Pisani scores and takes 2 shots. Glad to see him score.)

Moreau Brodziak Penner (I actually like this line. I wish it was the 3rd line. Penner played very good. He seemed like he wanted to do something out there. He showed some will out there. That was nice to see. Brodziak played another Brodz type game. He was good at what he does. Moreau has been in my bad books for a whle. But he played a real good game tonight. He scores a huge goal to start the game off. He plays a whole game without doing something dumb. He played like we all expect him to play every game. Good.)

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FINAL SCORE

Edmonton Oilers - 8

Colorado Avalanche -1

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BEERS

Sam Gagner - The little dude had a 4 point night. He played like a 1st line center. He played like he wants to be in the playoffs. In my books that is worth a beer. Enjoy a frosty Gags. Cheers!

Ales Kotalik - Tonight he played like he belonged here. He showed some oomph. His vision for Gags was sick. Cole who??? JK Great game tonight Kotalik. Enjoy your 1st OJ Beer. Cheers!

Robert Nilsson - He rode the train we call Gagner and was able to play smart hockey. His passing was on the money and his plays were good. A Bud for Bobby? Cheers!

Honorable Mention - Dustin Penner (I liked his game. He played like a big guy. What? He is?), Ethan Moreau (Chopper was able to play a smart game as well. He scores a huge goal in the 1st.), Sheldon Souray (Our un-officail captain was solid. A goal and an assist and 3 takeaways.) Denis Grebeshkov (The man was good again. 24:41 of ice time to lead the Oilers.)

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JEERS

There are none. We won 8-1.

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That was a fun game to watch. I was surprised to see an outcome like that. Like I said, it is nice to be on the other side of the fence. 8-1 Yeah!!!

See you all tomorow when the Oilers take on the Chicago Blackhawks on Oilers PPV.

Let's Go Oilers!