Shawn Horcoff Named Captain of Edmonton Oilers

As per the Oilers twitter account, the Edmonton Oilers have named Shawn Horcoff as the new captain.

Like I figured a month ago, Horcoff was the obvious choice.

Good for Shawn!

PS: I still would have liked Sam Gagner to have it, but I'm cool with Horcoff.

-Written by Smokin' Ray-

2010/11 NHL Predictions by Paq Twinn

Its been a while since the OJ faithful has heard from me. This will change. I will be contributing on a regular basis here at Oilers Jambalaya. So allow me to reintroduce myself, I am Paq Twinn. I am a life long Oilers fan and love the Oilers, win, lose or draw...wait, I keep forgetting that draws are not possible anymore. I believe that Tambellini had a successful summer and I am very excited to get this season going.

So without further ado, here are my predictions for the 10/11 NHL standings.

EASTERN CONFERENCE
1.Washington Capitals
2.Pittsburgh Penguins
3.Buffalo Sabres
4.New Jersey Devils
5.Philadelphia Flyers
6.Tampa Bay Lightning
7.Boston Bruins
8.Montreal Canadiens
9.Ottawa Senators
10.Florida Panthers
11.New York Rangers
12.Carolina Hurricanes
13.New York Islanders
14.Atlanta Thrashers
15.Toronto Maple Leafs

WESTERN CONFERENCE
1.San Jose Sharks
2.Vancouver Canucks
3.Chicago Blackhawks
4.Detroit Redwings
5.Anaheim Ducks
6.St.Louis Blues
7.Los Angeles Kings
8.Phoenix Coyotes
9.Calgary Flames
10.Nashville Predators
11.Edmonton Oilers
12.Colorado Avalanche
13.Dallas Stars
14.Minnesota Wild
15.Columbus Blue Jackets

The Final Four
Washington vs Pittsburgh
San Jose vs Chicago

Stanley Cup Finals
Pittsburgh vs Chicago.

Stanley Cup Champion
Pittsburgh Penguins

Well there it is. Feel free to laugh, point fingers and snicker when it all goes awry.

-Written by Paq Twinn-

Stockton Thunder Recap: Stockton 3 - Alaska 1 / #StkThunder

PRESEASON RECAP: Stockton 3 - Alaska 1

10/05/2010 9:57 PM - Tyson Sexsmith stops 31 shots in Thunder preseason opening win
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FINAL STATS: BOX SCORE

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Goaltender Tyson Sexsmith made 31 saves to win in his preseason debut, helping guide the Stockton Thunder to 3-1 victory over the Alaska Aces in the 2010-11 ECHL preseason opener at Sullivan Arena on Tuesday.

Sexsmith, who was assigned to the Thunder on Monday from the San Jose Sharks, kept Alaska off the board early and was helped out by two power play goals from Matt Jones and Sean Menton. Forward Chris Lawrence got the game-winning goal in the first period as Stockton led wire-to-wire.

"I thought it was a great effort and I liked the way we worked hard," said Thunder head coach Matt Thomas. "Obviously executing on power plays early in the game was crucial for us. I thought we worked it around pretty well. Defensively there's room to grow but were very solid in competing. I thought Tyson made it easy for us to play in front of him, which is always a nice thing to get from a goaltender."


Tyson Sexsmith was nearly flawless on
every shot he saw, recording 31 saves.
(photo by Sean Blair)

The Thunder came out rolling with the first two goals of the game. Jones, a recent free agent signee after starting his career on an NHL contract with the San Jose Sharks, put the Thunder ahead 1-0 on a power-play goal with 12:19 left in the opening period by knocking a shot from mid-air past goaltender Travis Yonkman, after Alaska failed on several clearing attempts.

Lawrence boosted the lead to 2-0 with nine minutes left when he hammered a slapshot from the right circle past Yonkman, all set up by Daryl Marcoux's feed.

Sexsmith a third round draftee of the San Jose Sharks in 2007, settled in by stopping all 11 shots he saw in the first period.

Alaska sliced the gap in half just 11 seconds into the second period when Garry Nunn converted off a late two-on-none break, slipping Scott Burt's feed into a near wide open net.

Rookie Sean Menton restored the two-goal cushion just 1:09 later when he collected his first goal of the preseason. Craig Valette set up the chance by barely missing wide of the net off the rush from the left wing, but Menton parked the rebound, which caromed hard off the boards, past a twisting Yonkman.

Sexsmith kept Alaska at bay with nine saves in the final period for the victory.

NOTES: The Thunder scratched Ryan Constant, Chris D'Alvise, Shane Ferguson and Steve Vanoosten ... the Thunder wore special preseason jerseys which will be auctioned off after Friday's home game against the Ontario Reign ... the Thunder officially converted at 2-for-5 on the power play and nearly had a third power-play goal just after an Aces penalty expired (Lawrence goal) ... Yonkman took the loss for Alaska in net with 22 stops.

Stockton and Alaska will square off in a rematch on Wednesday night at Sullivan Arena, beginning at 8:15 p.m. Opening Night is Friday, Oct. 15, when the Thunder opens the 2010-11 regular season at home against the Ontario Reign, starting at 7:30 p.m. at Stockton Arena.

A two-time recipient of the ECHL "Award of Excellence," Thunder was voted "Best Local Sports Team" by readers of the San Joaquin Magazine, led the ECHL in attendance for four consecutive seasons and drew over 200,000 fans for the fifth consecutive season in 2009-10. Season Tickets, mini-plans and individual tickets for 2010-11 are on sale now. For more information about tickets, merchandise, or other inquiries contact the Stockton Thunder offices at (209) 373-1500 or visit http://www.stocktonthunder.com/.

-Written by the Stockton Thunder-

*posted by OilersJambalaya.com with the permission of the Stockton Thunder hockey club*

How Do You Spell Bogus?

*sigh*

The Oilers training camp has come and is almost gone, and the way that it all went down, I call bogus!

There was so many problems with camp, it wasn't even funny.

Let's state the obvious.

1 - Taylor Hall did sweet jack all to earn a spot. He didn't out play anyone and almost at times, looked like he still belongs in juniors. He looked lost. Go back over my game grades and he really only had one good game (against AHL quality players). In his last pre-season game he vanished into thin air and was never heard from all game. Does Taylor Hall really need to stay with the Oilers? They have 9 games to find out.

2 - Why is Deslauriers (or Dubnyk) still here? The Oilers don't need 3 goalies. 3 goalies!?! Really? Why? Khabibulin is healthy (I think) and the market for goalies right now is very low, so why in the hell do we have 3 goalies?

3 - Liam Reddox was cut. Was it right that he was in competition with Ryan Jones for that 4th line spot? No. I don't think so. If Renney knew full well that Reddox wouldn't be picked, why have him compete for that spot? Why not give Reddox a chance to take a 3rd line spot (which I think he can handle)? What if he can win a faceoff better than Cogliano? We all know Reddox can penalty kill, doesn't that make him desirable?

*update: Reddox clears waivers and no other NHL team took a chance on him*

Let it be known, I'm not a Reddox fan either way. I don't and am not one of those people who bitched about small players being on the team a few years ago, and now bitch because those same small people are getting cut now. (pet peeve) Geesh!

4 - I guess the same can be said for Linus Omark. Why give him a tryout spot on the 4th line if you know full well he's not going to be a 4th line guy? Stupid! He's a top 6 guy. This move by Renney and his staff makes me scratch my head. I don't know what the Oilers were thinking they were going to do with Omark. No clear plan here.

5 - Richard Petiot was robbed of an NHL job. That's right, I'm saying it. Jason Strudwick has no business on the team. Petiot out played Peckham and Strudwick and he's sent packing. I just don't get it.

6 - Can someone remind me why Strudwick was re-signed this summer? What's he here for?

7 - Theo Peckham was kept over Petiot and Alex Plante because he can hit and fight. But was he the better hockey player out of that crew? *shakes head no* Peckham's good, but not better than those two.

Even Shawn Belle was a comparable to Peckham. A few times Belle played really good. He crashed and banged and tried to annoy the opposition. I want to see more of Belle in the future. He's a good pick up by the Oilers.

Plante was good/decent every game I watched him play. Before camp I thought he had no business fighting for a spot. I was wrong. Alex Plante can play the NHL game. I thought he was physical enough. I thought he did enough to keep him for at least a few more games to start the season.

8 - I never did understand why Colin McDonald and Ben Ondrus were kept for so long. Did they ever have even the slightest chance to make the team? I'm thinking no.

9 - How is that a month before camp started, I successfully predicted the Oilers team (and the OKC Barons)? The close competition at camp should have changes a few spots. But nothing changed. Can you spell bogus?

-Written by Smokin' Ray-

The Oilers Jambalaya Predictions (Smokin' Ray Picks)

Here are my BOLD picks for this season. I'm hoping I'm close this year. *fingers crossed*

WESTERN CONFERENCE

1. San Jose Sharks

2. Chicago Blackhawks

3. Vancouver Canucks

4. Detroit Red Wings

5. Anaheim Ducks
6. LA Kings
7. Dallas Stars
8. Colorado Avalanche

9. Phoenix Coyotes*
10. Edmonton Oilers
11. Calgary Flames
12. St. Louis Blues
13. Nashville Predators
14. Columbus Blue Jackets*
15. Minnesota Wild

EASTERN CONFERENCE

1. Washington Capitals
2. Boston Bruins
3. Philadelphia Flyers
4. Pittsburgh Penguins
5. Buffalo Sabres*
6. New Jersey Devils
7. Montreal Canadiens
8. Atlanta Thrashers
9. New York Rangers
10. Florida Panthers
11. Carolina Hurricanes*
12. Toronto Maple Leafs
13. Tampa Bay Lightning
14. Ottawa Senators
15. New York Islanders

STANLEY CUP FINALS

Washington vs San Jose Sharks

*Switched after original post. Posted in error.

-Written by Smokin' Ray-