Oilers Update - Blog Black Out!

Dear Oilers Fans.

I will not be posting any updates and/or blogs until after the NHL All Star break.  While I understand that the Edmonton Oilers are going through a very long and arduous rebuild, I cannot bare to watch less than a hand full of players putting in 100% game in and game out. 

I do believe that the Edmonton Oilers are on the way up and have the potential to become an elite squad in the future.  However, injuries and lack of experience should NOT be used as an excuse and it is time for both management and players to make some rapid changes before this squad finishes dead last for the 3rd straight year.

I can handle the fact that the Edmonton Oilers will miss the play-offs for the 6th straight time, but now it is simply time to find the right personnel who really wants to be a part of a storied franchise in the City of Champions.

Sincerely,

Antony S Scandale.
www.oilersupdate.com 

Oilers Update - Jordan Eberle Returns

According to the Edmonton Oilers Jordan Eberle will suit up against the St Louis Blues tonight. Less than two weeks ago the Oilers leading scorer tweaked his knee when his legs got tangled with Dallas' Jaime Benn. Eberle was slated to miss 2-3 weeks but he now feels good enough compete against the Blues.  

"I'm excited,few days off missed a few games...feels good on the ice..."I am going to keep things simple and try to make the right play at the right time." said Eberle.

Tribute to Taylor Hall's Scar

Until #4 returns to the ice to rejoin his troops.  I will be wearing my beloved Oilers Cap with a Band-Aid across the Oilers logo.  

Show some love people.  Place that Band-Aid across your hat until #4 is healthy!

Here at Oilers Update we wish for Taylor Hall for speedy a recovery.

Go Oilers Go!

Oilers Update Taylor Hall's Scar Photo

Hall's Scar Photo Credit Edmonton Oilers

A photo of Taylor Hall has surfaced after he was cut on the forehead two nights ago in Columbus. The photo was released less than an hour ago by the Edmonton Journal and here is what Taylor Hall looks like with 30 stitches.

It is said that Taylor Hall may not play tonight in St. Louis but is hoping to step on the ice against the Calgary Flames this Saturday in Edmonton. 


He's a Hall Scar!

A tribute to Taylor Hall. My cap with a Band-Aid! Hall Scar!

Oilers Update - Hall Receives 30 Stitches - Should Helmets be Mandatory?

A freak accident just before game time between the Edmonton Oilers and Columbus Blue Jackets left Taylor Hall with 30 stitches.  In the video below you can see Taylor Hall tripping on a loose puck and then taking out teammate Ladislav Smid - moments later Corey Potter's right skate caught Taylor Hall's left eye. According to GM Steve Tambellini Hall was ready to play. "I was talking to him when the doctors were with him.  Typical Taylor he said 'I'm ready to go, I'll be playing tonight.'  But I think it's best that we sat him" said the Oilers GM. Sure, maybe Taylor Hall was fine after receiving medical attention and perhaps the dynamic forward probably could've played during the 4-2 loss last night.  However, the accident now has hockey pundits asking 'why isn't it mandatory for players to wear helmets during warm-up?' 

In my opinion, it's called machismo.  Let's face it, these players are showing off their faces, some are showing off their hockey locks or "flow" as Oilers' forward Ryan Jones calls it.  In other words, the pre-game warm-up is the opportunity to look your best just prior to game-time and to give the fans something to look at.  

However, for hockey player, the pre-game warm-up is also the last opportunity to relax, to feel loose and to feel comfortable before the puck drop. For some, it is part of their pre-game ritual to skate around a rink with full gear without a helmet.

Yet, in recent weeks the Oilers have lost top players due to injury - and with Edmonton sinking faster in the standings than the Titanic, they can not afford to lose more players.  I wonder if Tambellini and Co., will look to make it compulsory for every player (investment) to wear full gear during pre-game.

Despite the outcome, nobody wants to see to someone lose an eye, or get severely injured or killed because he or she opted to not wear protection. 

"Definitely terrible, you never want to see your teammates go off the ice like that." said Corey Potter.  I turned in the corner, had two guys sliding at me and just tried to get out of the way.  I don't think I've ever seen a cut that bad...it was pretty deep and long. It was pretty gross. 

Breaking News!

Hours after this blog was posted according to 630 Ched, Defenseman, Theo Peckham was quoted "Seeing something like that with Taylor makes you reconsider.  We're putting in place that everybody is going to be wearing helmets now in warm-up."


It is also said that the New York Rangers will make it mandatory for their players to wear helmets at all times.

Oilers Update - Hall Snaps Losing Streak

The Oilers needed to win this one, badly.   


After an abysmal 5-0 loss versus the Anaheim Ducks a few nights ago,  Oilers fans across the nation were calling for the head of Head Coach Tom Renney while others demanded a shake-up within the organization - and one passionate fan suggested for the Oilers to cancel Saturday's Skills Competition and force a public bag skate.  There was certainly heat under the asses of every Oilers player it was time for the club to find to snap a 5 game losing skid against the visiting LA Kings.


From the drop of the puck, the Oilers came out hard which seemed to surprize the road weary Kings.  There was a sense of urgency among the Oilers and it appeared from the get-go that the Oilers would finally earn another "W".  And who better to seal a victory but the Oilers most dynamic player Taylor Hall.

"Anaheim wasn't our best effort, the guys know that, and we really wanted to respond in a good way, for Tom and for our whole organization," said Taylor Hall who buried a beautiful pass from Shawn Horcoff with a minute and change left in OT.  "Because that's not the way we want to play. For us to play like we did against a really good team, that been playing well is good."

It comes as no surprize for the sophomore winger to play hero.  Taylor Hall, since coming back from injury now has 31 points in 36 games for his squad and he continues to provide that killer instinct which seems to be non existent for the rest of the Oilers.  


With his supporting cast of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle out with injuries for another 3 weeks, Hall has the club on his shoulders.


"No matter how long it took, overtime or whatever, we wanted to get that win. It's a good feeling. "


With the game tied in overtime, the Los Angeles Kings were given a 2 minute penalty and the Oilers wasted no time to hammer home the winner.  Ales Hemsky blasted a point shot on Jonathan Quick and the LA net-minder couldn't absorb the rebound.  Shawn Horcoff, grabbed the loose puck and blindly gave a back hand pass to find Taylor Hall on the doorstep.

The Edmonton Oilers will now face the Blue Jackets in Columbus tomorrow night.

Oilers Update - Pottter Burns Oil in Snoozer

TSN chose a brilliant day to nationally broadcast a snoozer last night in Edmonton.  The fans in the stands didn't actually wake up until Ales Hemsky tied the game late in the 3rd to force overtime.  However, Corey Potter's tripping penalty with less than a minute to go in the game, allowed for stalwart Zach Parise to pick up the second point for Devils in OT.

 "Yeah, obviously feeling pretty terrible at the moment, just trying to go out to the net there and make something happen, had a little collision there and I'm not feeling great right now."  said Potter after the game.  

Potter recently signed a two year extension with the big club after showing some very promising work on the depleted Blue-line this year.  However, his play last night is one left for the bush league.  On the replay, it appeared that Potter purposely administered a slew foot to the legs of Adam Larsson.  

"It cost us the game," said head coach Tom Renney. "You know, we certainly had a chance to win the game. Corey has been very good for us but it was on those very, untimely penalties and hopefully, everybody will learn from that..."Safe to say that I wasn't really thrilled with what happend."

The only consolation for the Oilers was the much needed point they received after playing two lack-luster periods.  After a scoreless first period, Kovalchuk opened the scoring in the second with a short-handed break-away goal.  The Russian speedster intercepted a pass intended for recent call up Magnus Paajarvi and wristed a clean shot past countryman Nikolai Khabibulin.

 

"I really liked our third period, I liked how we didn't quit," said Taylor Hall who had an assist on the Hemsky goal.  "We showed a lot of really good habits in coming back.  It was a good effort and a good feeling to know that we can play that way at home."

The Oilers will now face the Ananheim Ducks this Friday.

Not in attendance for the game was super fan of the Oilers and Devils Kevin Smith  It was said that the Hollywood director was to appear at the game in Edmonton but opted to stay at home with his sick pooch Scully.

Here is a picture of myself with Kevin Smith in Las Vegas.

Oilers Update - Eberle Out 2-3 Weeks - Brule to Yotes

The Edmonton Oilers announced that leading scorer Jordan Eberle will be out for 2-3 weeks with an knee injury.  MRI results revealed that the Oilers star has a right knee sprain after getting tangled with Jaime Benn last Saturday in Dallas.

"It's a lot better news than I expected...I think it kinda got extended and then with the extra push on the guy's (Benn) skate and then my knee buckled in a bit and I think I knew right away that something was wrong." said Jordan Eberle to the media.

Eberle tops the Oilers in scoring with 43 points in 41 games and becomes the 6th and latest casualty for the Oilers at the moment.  Less than 2 weeks ago Ryan Nugent-Hopkins went down with a shoulder injury while Tom Gilbert crahsed heavily into the boards thanks to Dan Carcillo.  


Gilbert Brule was claimed off re-entry waivers from the Phoenix Coyotes this afternoon.  The 25 year-old played spent three seasons with Oilers but has spent his entire year with the Oklahoma Barons.

Oilers Update - Paajarvi, O'Marra, Brule

During the bitter 4-1 defeat in Dallas two nights ago, the Edmonton Oilers lost another player due to injury.  Sophomore winger Jordan Eberle fell awkwardly when his skates got tangled with Dallas' Jamie Benn.  Watch Video.  There is no official word from the Oilers about Eberle's condition but the loss is a big one for Edmonton.  Eberle is leading the club with 43 points in 41 games while rookie, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is second behind Eberle with 38 points in 35 games.


"It's unreal how the injuries are going with our season," said Taylor Hall.  "Gibby, Nuge, Ebs, Whitney, those are really key guys on our team, on our power play, on our penalty kill, everything.  When those guys go down, you have to play a little bit more and at the end of the trip it gets taxing.  Just have those guys be out in the first place is tough as well."

With the recent rash of injuries the Edmonton Oilers have recalled forwards Magnus Paajarvi and Ryan O'Marra from Oklahoma in exchange for Josh Green and Teemu Hartikainen.



Between the two recalled players, Magnus Paajarvi will be looked at through a microscope.  The 6'2" 204 pound Swedish winger started the year with the Oilers, but was then sent down to the minors after posting just 3 points in 25 games.  But after playing 9 games for the farm-team Paajarvi racked up a goal and 8 assists.


Lastly, Gilbert Brule has been placed on re-entry waivers.  The 25 year-old has played 27 games tallying 18 points for the Barons.

Oilers Update - Blues Rally in 3rd

All the Edmonton Oilers had to do was close out the game with a perfect third period.  With the score at 3-1 heading into the final stanza, the Blues tied the game with 2 quick power play goals in under 2 minutes of play.  Finally, Matt D'Agostini sealed the come back to hand the Oilers their second straight loss.

"We really worked hard and we thought we were full marks for our effort, especially in the second period.  We took advantage of some power plays, which is what we needed there, but we just couldn't hold the fort in the third period." said Tom Renney.

The Oilers are now 1 and 5 on road and have slipped to 25th overall in the league with an abysmal 35 points. The bright side for Oilers is that they currently boast a 21.6% on the PP for second best overall, while their PK percentage sits at 83.6% for 11th in the league.  With such high "special teams" numbers...what is really wrong with the Oilers at the moment?  

Better yet, what happened last night?


Just 17 seconds into the 3rd, Correy Potter sat for 2 minutes er...3 seconds when his clearing attempt found the seats and the Blues capitalized on the opportunity to make it 3-2.  Less than a minute later Taylor Hall felt some shame in the sin-bin when David Backes tied the game en-route to a Blue win.

"That's a tough one." said Renney about Potter and Hall's penalties. That's just a tough break.  The last thing we wanted to do was go to the penalty box.  We also felt too as often is the case with these things, for some strange coincidence, these things balance off."
  
"We couldn't get a kill in the third. said Shawn Horcoff.  "After they scored to go up, I thought we did a good job of pressing, we just couldn't get that tying goal."  

The Oilers will now head to Dallas for a matinee game this Saturday against the Stars.

Oilers Update - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Out 3-4 Weeks

The Edmonton Oilers announced that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will be out for 3-4 weeks with a left shoulder injury.  The phenom who is leading all NHL rookies in scoring with 13 goals 22 assists was seen returning to Edmonton with a sling.  With the Nuge out of the line-up, Tom Renney made it clear that his club will need to dig deeper during his absence.

"I think everybody up front has to step up.  It's one of those situations where we have a balanced looking lineup up there at least.  And there's an opportunity to score, I think, on every-line.  We really need to try and create things with speed, tempo and going to the net."  

Tonight the Edmonton Oilers will face a strong St. Louis Blues club who are 5th in the Western Conference with 49 points.  Unfortunately the Oilers will also be without the services of Tom Gilbert.   #77 is still not 100% after he was thrown hard into the boards 2 nights ago in Chicago by Dan Carcillo. Carcillo received a 7 game suspension for his hit.

Who's hot.

Ales Hemsky, Taylor Hall and Sam Gagner have been a dangerous trio in recent games and will possibly be the top line for the start of tonight's match.  Gagner has been especially hot for his club, #89 has posted 16 points in 18 games. 

Possible Line Combinations for tonight.

Taylor Hall - Sam Gagner - Ales Hemsky

Ryan Smyth - Shawn Horcoff - Jordan Eberle. 

Ryan Jones - Eric Belanger - Ben Eager

Anton Lander - Josh Green - Teemu Hartikainen

Oilers Update - Oilers Stabbed 4-3

With Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Tom Gilbert, Ryan Whitney, etc., all out of the line-up for the Oilers, Tom Renney wasn't going to use "lack of man power," as an excuse for Tuesday's loss versus the Buffalo Sabres.

"We gave Buffalo everything they could handle.  It was a winnable game for us.  We were very passionate, and we really tried to play within our structure.  We didn't quit, and that's important as anything." said Tom Renney.  

"There's obviously reasons why we didn't, but I thought we played well. I would have liked to have seen more of going to the net in the second and third period and a little more traffic there."  

Perhaps it was because of the disallowed goal? 

With the Sabres up 2-1 in the middle of the second frame,  Corey Potter hammered a shot which cleanly beat Ryan Miller.  The goal was immediately waved off when it was thought that Ales Hemsky had interfered with the net-minder.  After video review, the evidence showed that Hemsky only but grazed the keeper.  Because of his "alleged" contact, Hemsky received a 2 minute interference call on the play.  

"I thought he had nowhere to go, he didn't try to hit Miller, the defender took his ice away." said Renney.  "He glanced off of Miller.  It's not Miller's first rodeo so he down he goes."  


Perhaps the call was to provide some more goaltender protection to a net-minder who had to endure the likes of Milan Lucic and Jordin Tootoo in recent memory. However, to negate a goal and then call weak penalty was just down right criminal. 

"He was going down and I don't know if I really touched him.  It's up to the refs to call." said Hemsky.

The veteran was clearly the best Oiler on the ice and ended probably could've had another 2 points during the match.  He did, however create a beautiful assist on games first goal.  Hemsky, drew three players before dishing off to Taylor Hall who then wristed a laser past Ryan Miller.

"I thought we played really well and it kind of got away from us in the second and third" said Sam Gagner who also had a goal and an assist on Hall's opener.  "We didn't have a good enough push-back when they pressed and ultimately cost us.  I thought our legs were good and I think it was just a matter of making smarter decisions.  Getting pucks in deep was a huge part of it and making sure we were backing each other up.  It's a tough one to lose, considering we played pretty well for the most part."  

Corey Potter put the Oilers within in one with 2 minutes left in the game, but it wasn't enough as the Oilers fell to the Sabres 4-3.


The Oilers will now face the Blues tomorrow in St. Louis.

Oilers Update - Oilers vs Sabres - Gilbert Walking - RNH Out Shoulder Injury

Tonight the Edmonton Oilers will square off against the Buffalo Sabres for the first and only time this season.  The Oilers will see a two new faces in the line-up after Tom Gilbert (leg) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (shoulder) suffered injuries during last night's tilt in Chicago. 

With the two players out for tonight's match-up the Oilers will welcome defenseman Colten Teubert and forward Josh Green from the farm in Oklahoma.

The Nuge fell into the boards and hurt his shoulder, while Gilbert was hit hard by Dan Carcillo and injured his leg.  For precautionary measures, #77 will sit out tonight's game despite the fact that he appears to be somewhat "OK" after the incident.


"It's just a little sore today.  Hoping tomorrow it's going to feel a lot better." said Gilbert.  "It was one of those plays, you just try to brace yourself.  It's just unfortunate the way I went into the boards.  I knew who it was coming after me, I guess you just have to be more aware of who's coming after you.  He's had hits like that before."

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will await for some results to determine how bad his shoulder is.  Acccording to Tom Renney, The Nuge "just caught and edge" and fell into the boards.

"He has a sore shoulder.  Until we really get the medical information I hate to speculate. He's hurting, he's not going to play here for the next couple of games for sure.  It could go beyond that without a doubt. He wants to play." said Renney

Oilers vs Sabres tonight at 4:00 pm Pacific Time.


Find streaming here for tonight's game.  www.chanfeed.com

Oilers Update - Blackhawks Downed-RNH, Gilbert Injured

The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Chicago Blackhawks at the expense of losing two players in the bout.  Oilers rookie phenom left the game early which was later described as an upper body injury, while defenseman Tom Gilbert was sent crashing into the boards thanks to Hawks' forward Dan Carcillo.  Each player was hurt on the play however Carcillo received a game misconduct for boarding.

"I can hear the ref screaming from the other corner to be careful, to lay up on him" said Deven Dubnyk about Carcillo.  And he comes in contact and throws him off balance 5 feet from the board. I mean that's got be one of the most dangerous plays in hockey for sure and both guys get injured out of it."
 

Not even a week ago, Alex Plante was sent hard into the boards after he was nailed by Canucks' Dale Weise. Like Carcillo, Weise was also kicked out of the game for his dangerous play, yet the NHL felt that his game misconduct was justified and that the hit needed no further review.  With now two defenesemen out of the line-up for the Oilers it will be interesting to see if the NHL will review the Carcillo hit; and perhaps punish the agitator.  According to the Oilers head coach Tom Renney, feels Carcillo could be watching a few games from the press booth. 


Heck, even Chicago Blackhawks play-by-play announcer believes that Carcillo will have a "meeting with Brendan Shanahan."


"I think the hit speaks for itself and the penalty does as well. At least to this point it's been addressed and I hope it will be looked into even further." said Tom Renney.


Blackhawks bench boss Joel Quenneville kept his lip tight about the hit and offered only his perspective on the play.

"I'm not going to argue the call.  He beat him to the counter-hit.  It wasn't intent.  Both guys went for the same type of play and he beat him, he had better position on the guy.  It's unfortunate what happened."


Bounce Back!

The Oilers 4-3 win snapped a 3 game losing skid, but it was all thanks namely to two players who were on the Oilers Blacklist in recent games.


After the debacle on Long Island, Devan Dubnyk and Ben Eager were given the green light to lace-up against the Blackhawks; and as a result, the pair came out as hero's.

"It feels real good. It was pretty exciting to get the opportunity.  I was nice for Tom to give me a chance to get back in here.  We talked about how we needed this one.  We battled hard for the whole game.  It was fun, there were definitely some nerves for me at the start, which isn't a bad thing.  I settled in nice, I just didn't want to let anything bother me all night and I though I did that." said  Devan Dubnyk who set aside 30 pucks for. 


Between the two aforementioned players, Eager was team's goat versus the New York Islanders.  The forward was responsible for 3 penalties which destroyed any chance for an Oilers comeback.  However, the Winger re-deemed himself by scoring against his former club.  The Winger flew down the right lane and backhaned his his 3rd of the season.


"Obviously the last game was disappointing, I wasn't happy with how I played and costs the team with bad penalties.  I would have been nice to play the next days so I could bounce back.  Tonight I wanted to come with a good effort and I was fortunate to score a goal and it happened to be a big one." said Eager.


Ryan Smyth, Taylor Hall each enjoyed a goal and an assist while Jordan Eberle set up two apples each for the win.  


Eberle now leads the club with 41 points in 38 games.  Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is second with 35 points with Smyth trailing behind RNH by 2 points. Taylor Hall rounds out the top 4 with 26 pts.




The Oilers will now face the Buffalo Sabers tonight.

Oilers Update - "Oh I remember that!" 50 in 39

Hockey fans!!!!!!

Where were you when this feat took place 30 years ago?


On Dec 30th 1981, 20 year-old Wayne Gretzky did the unthinkable when he decided to score 5 goals to reach 50 goals in just 39 games in the NHL.  It is quite possibly the one NHL record which may never be broken.

In fact, Don Cherry (who had the pleasure to be the colour commentator for this game) predicted that even Wayne himself couldn't break his own record.  Nevertheless the Oilers went on to defeat the Cooper-All Wearing Philadelphia Flyers to a 7-5 victory in Edmonton. 

Enjoy the full highlights of all 12 goals scored during Gretzky's night.