Emergency Call Ups. Coyotes tomorrow. Part One.

After receiving a 5-1 despicable loss at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins last Sunday, it appears that the Oilers will literally limp to the links as the season winds down.

It was announced that Ales Hemsky's shoulder injury will require surgery, thus ending his season.  In Pittsbugh, after receiving a wicked blast from the stick of Magnus Paajarvi, Shawn Horcoff will also sit out for 7 to 10 games with a hairline fracture on his left foot.  During the same game, Gilbert Brule suffered an concussion and did not return to the line-up, and finally JF Jacques was seen leaving Rexall with a boot cast with a sore left ankle.  Jacques sustained his injury during the heart-breaker in Detroit and did not practice with the team this afternoon.

Tomorrow, the Oilers will face the Phoenix Coyotes with a depleted line-up and have no other choice but to call the farm for some hands.  Since February 23rd the Oil have lost 9 players to injuries and in total moreover the club has yielded 194 man games this season.

Feb. 23 - Present Taylor Chorney (Knee) 10 Feb. 27 - Present Theo Peckham (Concussion) 7 Mar. 3 - Present Ales Hemsky (Shoulder) 6 Mar. 5 - Present Taylor Hall (Ankle) 5 Mar. 5 - Mar. 11 Gilbert Brule (Illness) 3 Mar. 10 - Present Sam Gagner (Hand) 2

Ales Hemsky is no stranger to the knife.  #83 has never finished a full year during his 10 year tenure as an Oiler.  


Hemsky's lastest injury will require at least 4 to 6 months of rehabilitation.


“I tried to rehab it last year and this year and it really didn’t do too much. But I missed last season and I didn’t want to say too much. I wanted to play,” said Hemsky, 

“They have to go in and fix it if I want to play pain free and play a full season.”

“A lot of players have tears, sometimes you don’t even know, but when it starts to become painful and affecting your normal life, when you can’t lift your shoulder ... the only way to fix it is with surgery,” he continued.

“Finally, I will be able to play pain free. It sucks. It’s frustrating. It’s probably all those years I play hockey catching me now.”

Teemu Hartikainen was called upon from the Oklahoma Barons and will play his first games as an Oiler tomorrow night.  The Fin will replace Alex Giroux who was sent back to the AHL on Sunday after collecting two points after 5 games in the NHL.   Ryan O'marra and Brad Moran, and Ben Ondrus could also be in the roster in time for the Coyotes.

“Guys are handling it as best they can ... but it’s tough to take,” said Gagner, 


"Obviously we’ve had some tough luck here the last little while but I don’t want to dwell on it. That’s the way it is,” said head coach Tom Renney

end of part one.