Stockton Thunder Make Some Cuts

2011-12 Training camp roster stands at 24 skaters and two goaltenders


STOCKTON, Calif. – The Stockton Thunder, proud ECHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League, announced today that their training camp roster has been reduced by six players.

The following players were released from training camp:

> Brandon Burlingame (C)
> Balazs Deifik (F)
> Matt Pamidi (G)
> Javier Rabago (G)
> Drew Sanders (LW)
> Dan Sulitzer (D)

The Thunder training camp roster stands at 26 players (24 skaters and two goaltenders).

The Thunder opens the preseason schedule on Friday, hosting the Bakersfield Condors at 7:30 p.m. at Stockton Arena. General admission tickets are $10 (just $5 for Season Ticket Holders) and can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com, by phone at 1-800-745-3000, at all Ticketmaster outlets or at the Stockton Arena Ticket Office

-WRITTEN BY THE STOCKTON THUNDER-

The Season Starts Tonight! But Not For The Oilers...

With the brand new NHL season getting started tonight, us Oiler fans will have to sit and wait till Sunday. Boooooo!

But until the game starts, we let our minds wander and we drive ourselves crazy with anticipation. What lines will Renney run? Who starts in net? Will Smid be back from his injury? Will the Oilers acquire another Defencemen?

Let's take a look.

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LINE COMBOS FROM OILERS.com

Hall-Nugent-Hopkins-Hemsky
Smyth-Belanger-Eberle
Paajarvi-Horcoff-Omark
Petrell-Lander-Jones

Peckham-Gilbert
Sutton-Petry
Barker-Potter

Dubnyk
Khabibulin

Not sure I agree with this at all. I'd rather have Belanger and Lander switched. I just don't see Belanger as a #2 guy and Lander could really use some quality line mates like Smyth and Eberle.

I'd probably switch Eberle and Hemsky too.  Can't resist a Smyth/Hemsky combo can you?

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MY LINE COMBOS (Power Play)

Hall - RNH - Eberle
Gilbert - Petry

Smyth - Lander - Hemsky
Barker - Omark or Paajarvi

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RUMORS AND STUFF

- There is talk going around that the Toronto Maple Leafs are interested in Sam Gagner.  Not sure how much truth there is on this, but Sportsnet analyst Doug McLean said today on the radio that he was asked about Gagner by some Leaf management the other day and he thought it was strange.  So there is legs to this story.  No word if the Oilers would actually deal Gagner for a defenceman.

- As of right now the Oilers have not claimed a defenceman off of waivers, so expect more rumors to be flowing more and more as the days go by.

- Ladislav Smid has not been put on injured reserve and that's a good sign. Same goes for Taylor Chorney.  With both of those two returning in the future, the Oilers won't have to make a deal for a defenceman, even though they should.

- Taylor Fedun, Ryan Whitney, Ben Eager and Sam Gagner are all on the injured reserve list.

- After a good preseason, there's no doubt that I'd roll with Devan Dubnyk for the first game.  He deserves a shot to run with this team. He looks ready.

-WRITTEN BY SMOKIN' RAY-

OILERS 2012 DRAFT WATCH "Nail Yakupov"

Today we examine the #1 ranked player from  REVS 2012 Prospects List . Each player is unique in their own right and full of talent. The ranking does not reflect a mock draft of who a team may actually pick but rather who I would place as the best player available in that spot.

1.Nail Yakupov

Pos: RW

HT: 5'10

WT: 170 lbs

Born: Nizhnekamsk, Russia

Season  Team              Lge   GP    G    A     Pts    +/-

2010-11 Sarnia Sting   OHL  65     49   52   101    -2
2011-12 Sarnia Sting   OHL  4       3     6     9        4



Yakupov has big big league talent. His stick handling and skating are elite and very much a throwback to old school Soviet Union (his playing style I am referring to). Yakupov is the type of player who can take the puck end to end with little trouble. He has the ability to create havoc in the opposition's zone. Nail's hockey Intellect is far beyond average and it reflects in his decision making.


In a post written by  Kirk Luedeke, he wrote:
"Yakupov is a game breaker," the NHL scout said earlier this week. "He's got a lot of speed, agility and can make all his moves when going balls out. He's got a natural knack for scoring and is a threat to score every single time he's out there. The defense is only so-so, but when you're talking about a player as dangerous as he is, you can live with that."

An outstanding skater, he's got a very fast burst and not only the top speed you want in your skill forwards, but the shifty, elusive east-west movement that make him very tough for defenders to contain. Although only 5-10, he's so quick that the size isn't an issue. When you hear scouts and hockey people talk about small players needing certain skating chops to alleviate concerns about them at the NHL level, Yakupov is the prototype player they're referring to.

His quick hands, dazzling puck skills and the ability to dangle allow him to create space for himself, and he's got the creativity to score by himself or set teammates up for quality chances. He's one of those guys who makes everyone around him better.

Yakupov is being considered by some to be the next great Russian since Ovechkin and Malkin and if he can turn out even 75% as good as one of them, he will be an important part to any team winning a Stanley Cup in the future. He will be hard pressed to improve on his previous season of offensive output, especially since the opponents know what to expect from Nail this year. No team will be taken off guard, now knowing how talented of player Nail Yakupov is.

"Just dreaming Line combo's if draft pick selected "

Hall/Nugent-Hopkins/Eberle

Paarjarvi/Gagner/Yakupov

Hartikanen/Lander/Omark

Eager/Belanger/Jones

I know, some of you hate the lines, just let me dream :-)

For continued information on Oiler and Baron news and 2012/13 NHL draft watch, you can follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/revingev

Brule surprise and a talk with Mike Comrie

The Oilers surprised me by putting Gilbert Brule on waivers late Sunday. I do think it was the right move for the club , just didn’t expect it. That nobody claimed Brule was not a surprise even though CTV was reporting that San Jose may have claimed him. His salary is just to high. Brule will most likely be called back up at some point in the first half of the season and I do not see him clearing re-entry waivers. At half price Brule is well worth the risk. Teams like Vancouver could give him a shot.

I chatted with former Oiler Mike Comrie last week and really there is nothing to update on his status on returning to the NHL. “I have been taking a break from hockey and really try not to think about it to much right now” Comrie said. “we have been very busy with life in general and I am enjoying myself”

I asked Comrie if he thinks he will be back this season and he told me even if he felt he could play sometime this year it would be hard to get a contract especially after so much time away from the game. If and when he feels he is ready then he will pursue them options. When asked if he thinks about retirement from hockey Mike told me “absolutely not, I will play again”.

When asked about his time in Edmonton Comrie told me “ I love Edmonton, always have. Its to bad how things turned out for me there the second time around but oh well”. No hard feelings? “nope, why would there be? There’s things I didn’t like but any team you go to you can find things you don’t like”.

I hope Mike has a great year getting ready for his first baby and a speedy recovery. When healthy Mike is a very talented hockey player.

You can follow me on twitter @friesennhl

COMING:Oilers 2012 Draft watch?

Welcome to 'Oilersjambalaya' 2012 Oilers Draft Watch.

As I had mentioned in some tweets as well in a previous blog I had done, I was going to be releasing a Oilers 2012 Draft Watch here at 'Oilersjambalaya' for you, the fans of prospects. I am quite certain there are some of you right now reading this and 'rolling your eyes'. I suggest you STOP READING and just click out and browse somewhere else. Maybe read a older blog one of us have done here.

The purpose of this watch is just that, were carefully going to follow and watch how several different prospects do throughout the year. The plan? I will be sharing my personal Oilers Draft Watch for 2012 that I have compiled. You can search and find many good scouting agencies who also do this as well. All you have to do is google search '2012 draft prospects' and you will find a ton of information.

For me, I have followed and read through several other scouting reports from last year and into this early 2011 season. I follow several scouting reports on twitter, I check out scouting websites, the list goes on. As well, I try as often as I can to get out to catch WHL games and follow what I can via streaming video or watch a game on Sportsnet when possible for the OHL and QMJHL. I will also occasionally watch some games of USHL or NCAA when opportunity exists.

Later today I am going to be releasing 'REVS 2012 NHL PROSPECTS LIST '. For the next weeks, I will be writing up a profile on one player a week and their progress to this point in their hockey career. Hopefully this will give you a better picture looking into the top prospects that are available next year. Upon the completion of the U20 World JR Championships here in Alberta I will be sending out a new and updated list. At that point we can see who has fallen and who has picked up and helped their cause for a higher selection.

You may be asking, 'what is the purpose of doing this so called 'Oilers 2012 draft watch'? Well, the way I see it is, the Oilers will in all probability, finish best at 15th overall in the NHL, giving them at the very least the #15 pick. The worst they could do is finish 30th overall and possibly receive another #1 pick. (Which I really don't see happening) So since we can assume they will be in that range of picking 15th to 1st overall in the 2012 NHL Draft, I decided it was good to follow the possible top 15 prospects that the Oilers could potentially pick from, in 2012. Also with the way things are being rebuilt here in Edmonton, what if we were to make another trade potentially, that brought us another top 15 pick? You just never know. STAY TUNED!

I will be releasing my list late afternoon on October 3/11.

For continued information on Oiler and Baron news and 2012/13 NHL draft watch, you can follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/revingev