2 Rookies and 1 Coyote Win

The starting line-up for the  Edmonton Oilers vs the Phoenix Coyotes went something like this:

Jones-Cogliano-Eberle

Paajarvi-Fraser-Omark 

Giroux-O'Marra-Reddox 

MacIntyre-VandeVelde-Hartikainen 

No one, at the start of the season would've guessed that Ryan O'Marra, Alex Giroux, Teemu Hartikainen and Chris VandeVelde would be penned in for tonight's match-up versus the Coyotes; let alone witness a first line consisting of Ryan Jones, Andrew Cogliano and rookie Jordan Eberle.  

Upon closer inspection the line-up simply resembled that of a pre-season game, in which the regulars take a back seat and allow the "hopefuls" to make the final cut.  With 7 soldiers healing in the infirmary, the Oilers Brass had no other choice but to make the call to the reserves in OK City.  In total, 3 Barons were re-called and promptly whisked away via the private jet of Oilers' owner Daryl Katz.  Non stop by the way.

Of the three, Teemu Hartikainen and Chris VandeVelde made their first NHL debut in Oilers threads hoping to make a stand in the big leagues.  However, it was Hartikainen who came out on top after gathering his first NHL point, during the 3-1 loss to the Desert Dogs.  The Finnish rookie played the game accompanied with some jitters, coupled with the nauseating sensation of butterflies in the ol' gut. 

"I was so nervous before the game,” he said. “I almost threw up when they scored (their third goal). "This means a lot to us,” said the 20 year-old who manage to help Magnus Paajarvi pick up his 11th goal of the season. “These are really big games for us. There is a lot of excitement and energy, everybody wants to show what they can do. I got a few hits and an assist, so it’s a good start, but I can play better.”

With the same tone of enthusiasm VandeVelde echoed Hartikainen's sentiments. 


“Being up here is huge for me,” said Vande Velde. “It’s a great opportunity to show what I have to put forward. All of us. It’s not going to be a question of work ethic or energy.


If there is one thing that the Oilers coaching staff is looking for, its effort.  Regardless of the depleted line-up and where the club currently sits in the standings, there are players in the Oilers locker room who are ecstatic to be given the opportunity to play...unlike like the whiners and complainers of last year.  

"If you had a choice would you rather not have that than walking around with all kinds of doom and gloom,” said head coach Tom Renney. “It could be a country music song in here. We’re not that. We’re good. We’re working hard to put a product on the ice that we can be proud of. We understand our situation but we’re not walking around asking people to step back from the ledge.

“They played their guts out tonight. Take any element of our game tonight and they tried. I like the way we played. I liked that we cared enough.”

At the end of the match, the Oilers out shot the 'Yotes 36-17.  Stempniak, Whitney and Vrbata had the goals for the Coyotes.  The Dogs are now 9th overall in the league with a handsome record of 38-23-11 for 87 points.

Emergency Call Ups. Coyotes Tonight Part 2

continued from Part 1


“Adversity is part of every team’s season no matter what. What we have to do is learn how to deal with that as a group, first as a coaching staff and how we maneuver our lineup. As an organization, in terms of who we call up to help continue grow this thing and provide opportunity.” said Renney. 

In Oil Country, the fans have been able to see the likes of many rookies get their feet wet in the big show.  This year alone, the Oilers have dressed 7 rookies in total and Teemu Hartikainen will see his shadow for the first time ice at Rexall. The 20 year-old Fin has a respectable 42 points for the Barons after only playing 66 games this year.  In the mind of Renney it was a no brainer to give him a shot.

“He has the capacity to score, and it’s those tough goals, that blue paint contribution that you need in today’s game,” Renney said. “That’s certainly something we’re looking for him to add to our lineup. I’m not surprised he’s here. I would like it to be under different circumstances, but the bottom line is he’s here and will make good of that opportunity.”

And the rookie is very grateful for the opportunity. 

Hartikainen had this to say about his debut and what fans can expect to see from him tonight.

“"I can't wait for tomorrow. I get to get on the ice and start to play here. I'm so excited," he said.  A perfect game for me is a few good hits, driving to the net, maybe a goal.  Driving to the net all the time, that’s my game.”
During the pre-game practice tonight, the coaching staff could only muster 3 lines for drills.

Jones - Cogliano - Eberle
Omark - Fraser - Paajarvi
Hartikainen - Reddox - MacIntyre

Clearly the Oilers are missing a forth line yet, there is no word yet as to who will be called up to fill in the gap.  While this may be a cause for concern, Renney is confident that his club will make due with what the have for last 12 games of the season.

"Everyone here is intelligent enough to know that wins are going to be a real tough thing for us to pursue, but that we will," Renney said. "We'll certainly be playing teams that are going after points that will force us to play as good as we possibly can with our roster, if we don't want to get embarrassed."

Coyotes, Oilers 6 pm Pacific http://www.atdhe.me/
 

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.

Oilers vs Penguins...No Crosby Show!

The 5 game road comes to an end for the Edmonton Oilers, who are still reeling about the game that slipped away from them in Detroit. This aftenoon the Oilers will head in to Pittsburgh to face an injury depleted Penguins; at the Consol Energy Centre.


The Penguins' top snipers, Sidney Crosby (concussion) and Evgeni Malkin (knee) are still out of the line-up and are not expected to return at any point.  Also missing in action for the Pens are Arron Asham, Nick Johnson and Eric Tangradi who are also out with concussions.  


Recently the Penguins have struggled without their top guns.  At the moment the team boasts a 39-22-8 record, yet the club has won 1 game in it's last 5.  Their latest loss was against the Montreal Canadiens who soundly beat the Pens 3 nothing.


The Oilers are still without, Hall, Hemsky, Gagner, Whitney though the rest of the club including Ryan Jones is picking up the slack by showing some tenacity and grit.  In fact, Ryan Jones has arguably been the Oilers' most reliable player in recent games.   Two nights ago in Detroit, the blue-collar journeyman scored his 15th of the season and had 24 minutes of ice time.  


"The more simple we keep it, the better team we're going to be. When we stretch out of our element, we seem to pull away from each other and teams can pick us apart a little more. " said Jones.

"When we stay within our systems and just play together, we're a hard team to beat."


There is no word as to who Tom Renney will dress though it is speculated that Dubnyk will get the start between the pipes after his masterful performance in Detroit.


"He's been good. He's played very, very well for us. He looked solid, he looked big and he tracked the puck well. He was an efficient goaltender. They loaded up pretty good on the power-play and he was big for us." said Renney.


Oilers vs Pens 12pm Pacific Time.  www.edmontonoilers.com radio or www.atdhe.me

Detroit...WHAT? Oilers lose heartbreaker.

He had less than 30 seconds to seal the deal and literally steal a win in the Motor City. Devan Dubnyk was simply that close into earning his second shut-out of the year.  He was absolutely lights out throughout the game and managed to stop 40 pucks until Nicklas Lidstrom shattered the egg. 


"Unfortunate bounce, It was tough to get a read." said Dubnyk commenting on the Lidstrom goal which tied the game to send it to overtime. I really didn’t think we were going to get scored on,” he continued. “I felt fine at the end, but it’s tough because I don’t play the puck to go off my guy. When he took that shot it, was going towards the other side of the net where everybody else was. If that’s their player’s stick, it’s a different story, but it was a tough break obviously and there’s not much you can do on those ones I guess.”


According Lidstrom, all he wanted to do was shoot the puck wide, instead the puck deflected off of Cogliano and trickled past Dubnyk.


"They had a guy come out in the shooting lanes and I couldn't get it on net so I tried to shoot it wide because I knew we had players over there," Lidstrom said. "I think the goalie reacted to the shot going wide. It got tipped and he couldn't get back in position."


In extra time, Pavel Datsyuk corralled the puck from Johan Frazen and sniped the game winner.  2-1 Detroit.


Tom Renney could only show praise for his young Oilers for bouncing back after the two horrible losses in Philly and Washington.  As soon as the puck was dropped the Oilers took the game to the Red Wings which took them by surprize.  The Oilers showed a great deal of attention to detail in facets of the game and deserved to win this one tonight. 


“I’m damn proud of our hockey club tonight,” said head coach Tom Renney. “We stuck to our game plan, we stuck with the strategy that we thought would help us win.

“We fought hard and we tried to win a hockey game. I was a little concerned about a couple of calls that weren’t made, but that’s the way it goes.”

Ryan Jones scored his 15th of the season when his shot somehow hand-cuffed goaltender Jimmy Horward for the games first goal.  By the end of the night, Jones collected a whopping 24 minutes of ice for the first time in his young NHL career. 

“For us it’s a matter of the more simple we keep it, the better team we’re going to be,” said Jones. “When we stretch out of our element, we seem to pull away from each other and teams can pick us apart a little more.

The Oilers will finish up their road swing in Pittsburgh to play the Penguins at noon on Sunday.

Motor City Visit

*My deepest sympathies to those who were affected by the massive quake in Japan.*


 "I'm proud of this team. I don't care if this is game 1 or game 81. These guys have done everything they can to bounce back after tough games," said Renney. "Tonight's another opportunity to do that. They've been nothing but responsive to our coaching. We've really given them an opportunity to play and make a difference and we'll continue to do that until somebody turns out the lights and closes the door behind us."

The heart still beats loudly and profoundly within chests of each Edmonton player.  For the Oilers, the 2010-11 campaign has been one of the most difficult seasons in recent memory.  The club sits dead last in the league as they now get set for the Detroit Red Wings tonight at the Joe.

Tom Renney, e tal still believes that his club has the potential and the personnel (despite missing a few key players) to make a run at the cup.  Make no mistake, this young club has shown some flashes of brilliance throughout the year; though it would help if the club were to remain healthy.

Recently, the Oilers lost 4 players to injury.  Hemsky-shoulder, Hall-ankle, Brule-illness Gagner-hand.  We would be remiss to not include Peckham-concussion and Whitney-ankle.  In total, the Oilers have now lost 175 man game due to injury this season.  What is most frustrating is that Hall, Gagner and Whitney (who were the Oilers top point getters) will not see anymore ice time until next fall.  While the season hurts like a twisting knife, the Oilers can only just soldier on, while building that character that money cannot buy.
 
"We can't dwell on that. The most unfortunate thing is Sam's hurt and he can't participate from this point on," Renney stated. "We've got 20 guys that can play and our objective is to go out there and give everything we can and beat Detroit tonight."


Renney has yet to introduce his line-up, though it is speculated that Gilbert Brule will once again draw in after being a healthy scratch versus the Capitals.  Brule could find himself between Reddox and Omark.


"I feel ready. It feels like it's been forever, the last three games just sitting in hotels and being quarantined," said Brule "It's never fun when you're sitting in the hotel room watching from your bed and feeling sick."

Detroit comes into the match-up after going 0-2-2  in their last four games.  Their latest loss was in Anaheim where the Ducks finished the game with a 2-1 OT victory.  The Red Wings has a firm strangle hold of second overall in the Western Conference behind the Vancouver Canucks.  



Oilers vs Wings 4:30 pacific time www.atdhe.me
 

Washington's Capital Punishment!

Who'd want to face the Washington Capitals on the heels of the Philadelphia Flyers?  A tired, frustrated and disheveled young Oilers club rolled into D.C. a got a taste of the Madness at Verizon; spearheaded by the Great 8 and his "run n' gun" cohorts.


Long story short, the Oilers were mauled 5-0; in a game which was very reminiscent from 24 hours ago.  Much like last night, the Oilers were out-classed, out-played and at times out-numbered by the speed of the tenacious Capitals.  The play-off bound club converted 2 goals on the power-play and never took the foot off of the gas.



While the first period saw no goals the Oilers went to the dressing room unscathed. 

And then the wheels fell off.


In the second period, Andrew Cogliano had a chance to put the Oilers on the board with short-handed goal, yet failed on his break-away attempt. One minute later, and on the same power-play, Washington capitalized on the opportunity, when newly acquired Jason Arnott found Ovechkin all alone on the side of the net.  The Great 8 potted the gimmie past Khabibulin to kickstart his three point night.  Arnott's helper became his 900th career point.

Minutes later, Khabibulin's mental lapse gave his club a delay-of-game penalty, after he was caught playing the puck in the trapezoid.  On the power-play, an errant shot inadvertently ricocheted off of Tom Gilbert's skate which found stick of Eric Fehr. 

2-0 Caps at that point.


In the third.  Ovechkin easily stripped the puck off of Curtis Foster and thus completed the high-light of the night.  With the puck on his blade, Ovechkin went in on a 2-on-O with Marcus Johansson.  The pair toyed with Khabibulin making four passes between them before Ovechkin found the top right shelf.  It is certain that the goal will be featured in high-light reels on TSN and Sportsnet.  Perhaps it's on You-tube right now with 5000 views.

"When you see the 2-on-0, you think maybe you've given up too many," Edmonton coach Tom Renney said. "We did not manage the game well because we didn't manage the puck well."

Khabibulin's nightmare continued when he lost a foot race with Jason Chimera.  After winning the loose puck, Chimera slid it over to Fehr for the open cage.

The bleeding finally stopped for the Oilers after the 5th goal, after Semin and Sturm exchanged passes on the 2 on 1 goal.


Game Over.


Tom Renney, felt for Khabibulin throughout the night, and also felt that his club could've given the 38-year old vet some support.

"It was one of those nights where he was alone back there a number of times," said Renney, "This is one of those games you don't like talking about in March," he said. "I can see maybe the first half of year, but this is March now. I don't care who we're playing and how they're touted, the thing is we have to play our game and tonight we deviated in a big way from that. And that's disappointing."

At the other end goaltender Braden Holtby celebrated his first NHL shut-out, by making stopping 22 shots. 

"It feels good," the 21-year-old goalie said. "It almost feels better to get the win after an emotional game in Tampa, just to come back and make sure the team played well."

Alex Ovechkin also celebrated a milestone in his career by earning his 601st NHL point.  

The Oilers will now head to the Motor City for a tilt against Detroit this Friday. 

Oilers vs Ovi

There is no rest for the young Oilers as they continue to their eastern road swing with a stop in Washington to face the Capitals.

24 hours ago, the Oilers did their best to keep their heads above water, after being out-played and out-classed against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Alexander Ovechkin and his crew are riding a hot 5 game win streak and are chomping at the bit to play the lowly Edmonton Oilers tonight at the Verizon Center.  The Cap's have a respectable 37-20-10 record and are tops in the Southeast Division with 84 points.  Oilers Head Coach, Tom Renney opted for rest and a team meeting versus the morning skate, though he emphasized for his club to be ready at the gate against yet another cup contender.

"They've got a reputation that you have to respect, naturally, but not to the point where we stand around and watch," said Renney.

"We're 67 games in which means we've probably had 60 video meetings and oodles of practices. We've done all kinds of things to prepare ourselves to play our game. Having said that, it's a brand new venue for a lot of guys, the first time they've seen the Flyers (and Capitals) who are certainly some of the best teams in the league, of course."

"We have our strengths as well, of course." he continued. "We have nothing to lose. The bottom line is we didn't just go out and go after them. And we had a power play fairly early and did nothing with that."

 

Gilbert Brule will be a healthy scratch for tonight.  In for Brule is Alex Giroux who will play his 3rd consecutive game and against his former club.

"I'd like to see Alex Giroux one more game so I'm going to hold Bru out," said Renney. "There's the dynamic of the CBA and how we can move people back and forth. In fairness to Bru, he's ready to go but in fairness to me I want to see Alex play again, against his old team."

There is no word yet as to who Renney will suit up but Nikolai Khabibulin will be getting the start after sitting out since Feb 22nd with an odd eye injury.

"It never happened to me before," Khabibulin said of his injury . "It was kind of weird but everything is back to 100% and I don't see any problems right now." 

Oilers,Caps 4pm Pacific time on TSN

 

Felled in Philly

"We need to turn the page from Sunday afternoon’s beating,” said defenceman Chris Pronger before the start of the game. “I would hope everybody is angry. It’s never fun getting beat the way we did. We have something to prove to ourselves, that’s for sure.”

It was supposed to be ugly at the Wells Fargo Arena.

The writers and hockey experts all predicted that tonight's match-up would be difficult for the Oilers versus the Philadelphia Flyers.  Moreover, it was fair to believe that the Oilers were going come out flat and get man handled by one of the NHL's toughest teams, and/or lose by a large sum. 

Predictions aside, it was imminent for the Flyers to win.  The team who had no choice but to notch another 2 points at home, after the "Debacle at MSG".

Though, there were no fists o' fury and no belligerent, quintessential Old Time "Broad Street Bully" Hockey.

It was just brilliant hockey.

The Flyers, smartly bequeathed the Oilers their 36th loss of the season by playing sound defensive hockey which subsequently frustrated the Oilers offense throughout the night.  What the Oilers faced was a Flyers club poised, and hungry for another chance at Lord Stanley. 

"It's one thing to respect your opponent, but it's another thing to respect them and stand still and watch them play. Ultimately, we got our legs under us when the horse was out of the barn," Tom Renney said. "The fact of the matter is we came out in the second and third period and outchanced that team 12-5, but they're up three goals so game, set, and match."

It was hell on ice for the young Oilers who yielded 2 goals out of 17 shots in the first period.  The Flyers came out relentless by peppering Dubnyk, while keeping the Oilers offense to the outside.  

By the 12th minute mark in the first it was all over for the Oilers when Daniel Breire's "breakaway a la roof-job" put the Flyers up 1 zip.   Breire caught Jim Vandermeer flat footed and zipped behind him to collect Matt Carle's two-line laser.

Ladislav Smid was sent to the bin after administering a check from behind shot on Darroll Powe and was promptly assessed a 5 minute major.  On the ensuing power-play (with seconds to go), Jeff Carter shoveled his garbage past Dubnyk to make it 2-0. 

In the middle stanza Jeff Carter tripled the lead with his second of the evening with a wrister from the point. One minute after Carter's 30th of the season, J.F. Jacques drew the Oilers within two after tipping home Smid's bomb for the point.

  

Late in the second and with some jump in their skates the Oilers pressed for a second goal in the last 3 minutes of the frame, but was denied by the solid goaltending of Sergei Bobrovsky.  

Finally Blair Betts closed the game with an empty netter to help break the Oilers 3 game win streak with a 4 to 1 victory.

"It was frustrating. It feels like we felt our way into that game," said the Oilers captain Shawn Horcoff. "They took it to us early, but we have to give us a little bit of credit. I thought we came back strong in the second, got ourselves back in the game. We came out and played a pretty good third, but you can't give a team like that the start that we did and expect to bounce back."

The Oilers will now fly out to Washington to face the red hot Capitals.  The game will be broadcasted live on TSN at 4 pacific time.

Game Notes

Oilers fans were treated to a familiar voice of Rod Phillips who had the call in Philadelphia.  Phillips is the former Oilers Radio Play-by-Play Commentator who announced his final installment of "Rod's Classics".    

Oilers in Philly

They will try for their 4th straight win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo; as the injury plagued Oilers, will make their first and only appearance in the City of Brotherly-love.

The Oilers are coming off a decisive win, when they man-handled the falling Colorado Avalanche, 5-1 in Denver three nights ago.  The Flyers on the other hand, will try purge the haunting memory of the 7 to nothing pounding at the hands of the Rangers last Sunday.  It was their worst lost since 2006, yet it is no secret (nor is it an excuse) that the club has been hit hard with the flu bug.

"We were off today. I've already said that." said Pronger after the Ranger loss. "We're at the stage now where it's a test of our character. We're facing some adversity, and we've got to show our mettle and understand it's going to take some hard work to get out of it."

Their recent defeat counts as their 4th straight, and there is no denying that the Oilers will have their hands full against the big beasts from the east; spearheaded by perma-pissed-off Chris Pronger, and an equally pissed-off Philly coach of Pete Laviolette.  Moreover, their glaring slump serves as a "fair warning" to the all Oilers' grasshoppers who will set foot onto hockey's most intense environment for the first time.

Rabid Fans + Ticked Off Flyers + Super Angry Coach = This game could get ugly.

“They will be fired up, said Tom Renney. “Pete will have his team ready to go after a little stretch that was unusual for them.  The loss against New York will be really fresh in their minds, they’ll want to correct that right away, through us, so we really have to be ready.”  

"It’s good for us. really, really good for us to face teams like this, premier teams in the league,” said Renney. “If we want to be a playoff team next year we have to make sure we come through places like Philadelphia and have success.”

The Oilers have yet to hit the early morning practice and it will known later as to who Tom Renney will dress.  However, Gilbert Brule was back practicing with the team after sitting out for the third straight time with an intestinal problem. 

“We have to make sure we give him an opportunity to do that. Most important of all, I want to see him healthy, for his own reasons. We want him healthy and in a position to move forward and tackle his hockey career like he should be able to.”

With Brule back, there is no word yet about the fate of Alex Giroux, who was re-called out of dire haste when Brule fell ill on Saturday.  

Oilers vs Flyers 4pm pacific time Mar 8 2011 www.atdhe.me  (perhaps)

No Top Guns? No Problem. Edmonton Bombs Colorado

It was scoring by committee last night at the Pepsi Centre in Colorado.  With Penner moved and Hemsky and Hall out with long-term injuries, the young Oilers trampled the struggling Avalanche by posting a 5-1 victory and earned their 3rd straight win.


"It was one of those games where, top to bottom, everybody played the game that we know that we can play, a hard game, taking away space from the other team, creating turnovers and letting our speed and our skill finish plays off.  We had some guys step up in big ways.” said Ryan Jones


Step up indeed.  


Sam Gagner, Andrew Cogliano and Linus Omark each had multiple points. While Liam Reddox, Alex Giroux, Magnus Paajarvi and Jordan Eberle also contributed to the onslaught in Denver. Most notably was  Gagner who had a goal and two assists and now leads the club in points with 42.  Despite losing their top point getters, this past week, the Oilers show no signs of quit as they wind down the season.  Moreover, there is a sense of win in the locker room, now that the Oilers have posted 7 wins in 10 games.   


"Everyone talks about getting that first pick again,” said Gagner. “But we’ve had enough of that. We got that last year when we got Hallsy. We want to show we’re capable ... and maybe on paper these games might not seem that important, but they are for us in here to establish an identity and continue to move forward as a group. he continued.  I know one thing, if we continue to move up in the standings, it’s going to a very good feeling in this room. That’s our mindset going forward,” 


And number one draft pick for 2011 goes to___________.


Gagner was the first to open the scoring on the power-play.  Cogliano fed Gagner in the slot who ripped a wrister past  Brian Elliott.  5 minutes later, the Oilers were granted an other power-play opportunity and again it was #89 who banked the puck off Elliott's pad to find Jones crashing to make it 2-0.


39 seconds into the middle stanza Shawn Horcoff converted on a one-timer from Paajarvi and Eberle.  Late in the second, Giroux earned his first goal as an Oiler when he deflected Omark's blind wrister to end Elliott's night after the 4th goal.


Before the ice was dry in the third, the Oilers struck again with a short-handed goal.  On a two-on-one Reddox found Cogliano streaking to the net and he made no mistake for the game's final tally .


Devan Dubnyk also looked solid last night.  The back-stopper only allowed for one puck to bleed through out of the 33 he faced.


The Oilers will continue their road trip with a stop in Philadelphia to face Pronger and his Flyers next Tues.

Oilers face Avalanche

The Hall-less Oilers, find themselves in Colorado tonight, to kick off a 5 game road swing which includes stops in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.  


With some key players out for the Oil, Tom Renney has concocted a never-seen-before line-up which includes two rookies to flank Shawn Horcoff on the top line. Magnus Paajarvi will step in and play on the left wing, while Jordan Eberle will play the right side tonight.


The line juggling doesn't stop there, as Oilers fans will get to see Ryan Jones, Sam Gagner and Linus Omark to round out the second line.


Gilbert Brule will sit out tonight's game which will pave the way for Alex Giroux to play with Andrew Cogliano and Liam Reddox.  Giroux will have a chance to show his offensive prowess with the big club.  The sniper is second in the league in points with 65 and makes his debut in an Oilers sweater.


Finally, Steve MacIntyre will dress and appear on the fourth line with Colin Fraser and J-F Jacques. 


The Oilers also welcome Alex Plante.  The defense-man makes his second appearance in the show who hasn't seen NHL ice time since last season.  The 21 year-old has a goal and 10 assists for the Barons this year.


With Gerber back in OKC, Devan Dubnyk gets the call between pipes for the second consecutive time.


Going into tonights game the Oilers have a record of 6-4-0 in their last 10 while the Avalanche have been slumping.  The team has won, one game in their last 14 and are drowning fast to bottom of league.  They are currently 26-30-8 and remain in 26th spot overall; the Oilers on the other hand have the opportunity to leap frog over the Senators with a win tonight.  


Avs Oilers CBC 6pm Pacific time.

Hall...Season Over

The worst case scenario has arrived for Taylor Hall and the Edmonton Oilers.  The Oilers released a statement to the media saying that Hall has suffered a" high ankle sprain", and will be out for the remainder of the season.  In essence, Hall will be sitting out for at least 8 weeks.  
 
Hall finishes his rookie campaign with 22 goals and 20 assists.


The Oilers have embarked on a 5 game road trip, which starts tomorrow in Colorado. 

Oilers Win...Lose Hall

There is worry growing rampant within the Oilers dressing room.  Ales Hemsky received his MRI results earlier today and it was announced by team doctors that Hemsky will be out 2 to 3 weeks with a shoulder injury.  To add acid to the bleeding wound, Taylor Hall will likely get a birds-eye-view of ice from the press-box beside Hemsky.


Hall completed his night with a scrap whist performing his first ever, "Gordie Howe Hat-Trick" vs Derek Dorsett.  During the brew-ha-ha, Hall fell awkwardly on to his right ankle, then limped to the dressing room, and never returned.


Moments before, the mitts were tossed, Hall nearly converted on a potential highlight-reel goal when he slipped his way past Fedor "Pylon" Tyutin twice.  Moments later, Dorsett tattooed Hall into the boards which Hall took exception to.

Dorsett chimed in to give his perspective about the tilt gone wrong.

"I just finished my check on him, I was going to skate away and he just grabbed me and started punching me,” Dorsett said. “I dropped my gloves and away she went.

“I was kind of surprised that he threw his gloves off and punched me. It’s not the typical type of guys that I usually fight. But I’m also not going to let him drop his gloves and punch me. If he does that, I’m going to drop my gloves.”

While the severity of his ankle remains to be a mystery, the club and the fans can will hold their breath and hope it's nothing serious. 


Worst case scenario for Hall would be to miss out his chance at the Calder; which is (or was) well within his grasp.  At the present moment, Hall now has 42 points on the season and was gunning for 30 goals. 


Hall's injury overshadowed an Oilers win. With jump their step the young Oilers went right to work against the Jackets who are desperate for play-off points. 


Sam Gagner opened the scoring with a power play goal in the first.  While working the half boards, Paajarvi thread a rink wide pass to Gagner who made no mistake to beat Chris Mason.


4 minutes later, Taylor Hall raced down the side boards and snapped his 22nd point of the year.  


2 nothing Oilers heading into the second.


14 seconds in the middle frame, #14 's short-side, back-hand, roof-daddy, ended Mason's night and tripled the lead; with the help from #4 and #10.  


The Jackets stepped on the gas, and managed to draw within one, with goals by Upshall and Calvert.  


Late in the third with Mathieu Garon pulled, Andrew Cogliano netted the empty cage to move the Oilers past the Jackets 4-2.

With tonight's win the Oilers are still sitting ugly in last over-all with 52 points and one back from the equally terrible Ottawa Senators. 

The club will now head to Colorado this Saturday vs the Avalanche. 

CBC. 7pm start.

Jackets vs Oil

After, winning by the skin-of-their-teeth vs the Predators 48 hours ago, Renney opted for an optional skate the morning after. All four rookies took to the ice as well as defenceman  Richard Petiot who was called up to replace injured tough guy, Theo Peckham.  


"He came in here and played real well for us, under trying circumstances of course, and against a team that needs both points, not just one,"said Renney. "That speaks volumes, I believe, for the work guys are doing in Oklahoma City and naturally on behalf of Richard himself."


Fast forward to today.


The Oilers will play host to the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight for the forth and final meeting of the year.  In early February, the Oilers lost 4-3 in Ohio and will look to for two game winning streak before hitting the road on Friday.

It is still early to report as to who Renney will dress for tonight's game, but it is fair to say that Renney is waiting upon some good news to arrive before the start of morning skate.  Around the dressing room, the Oilers are sitting on pins and needles, for of Ales Hemsky's MRI results.  The forward left Tuesday's game favoring his right shoulder after being lambasted by Preds' Jonathon Blum.  Tom Renney spoke about his star veteran with confidence that the injury doesn't appear to be serious.


"It’s more precautionary than anything else,” said head coach Tom Renney . “It’s one of those things where you want to give the athlete peace of mind and also to educate and inform ourselves.”


More on the injury front is Khabibulin who is close to returning to the line-up.  The back-stopper had to sit out a couple games due to an eye injury.


In their last 10 games the Blue Jackets are 6-2-2 and are currently riding a 2 game losing skid.  Their latest lost was to Vancouver which saw the club earn a point in the shoot-out. The Jackets are now 5 points out of the play-off spot behind the Kings.  




Oilers Jackets 6pm Pacific Time.   www.atdhe.me

Preds sink in Oil

It was a bit of a snoozer.  Nay it was definitely a snoozer.  The Oilers managed to pull a victory out of their behinds after playing, boring, defensive hockey against the visiting Predators. 

"There wasn’t too much flow or chemistry out there, everyone was out of sync,” said Shawn Horcoff, .“You can’t really make excuses, all the lines are familiar with each other. For some reason we just didn’t have the intensity to start that we needed to.”

Actually, both teams looked somewhat disinterested.  It was as though each team still had the "trade dead-line jitters."  Nevertheless, the ugly game needed the shoot-out to decide the eventual winner; but once again, the Oilers can kiss the feet of their goaltender, who set aside 37 shots.  

Martin Gerber received full marks for his play and went home with first star honors.  The 36 year-old veteran was in fine form from the start of the game; and it is hard to believe that he has just played (including tonight) 3 NHL games this season.

“The first five minutes, you just want to work your way in, because with every shot you gain confidence and that’s important, to get that feel for the game,” said Gerber "Experience helps a lot."

And some Swede-ness.

Linus Omark, has made a name for himself for scoring some of the most creative, shoot-out tucks the hockey world has ever seen.  Tonight, the rookie made no mistake on Pekka Rinne which had all the ear-marks of the move that made Omark a You-Tube sensation.  Instead of the famed crossbar bank shot, he elected to gingerly, slide  the puck underneath the right skate of Rinne.

Rinne wasn't so impressed with the move.

“He comes with a lot of speed and makes you back off, but I don’t think he did anything special,” said Rinne. “He made a nice move, but I thought he fanned on the shot. He was trying to go upstairs and fanned on it and I was leaning a little bit.”

Gerber has seen that very move, both on the ice and on his video screen, though he can sort of relate to Rinne's frustration.

"He made that move on me yesterday at practice. It seems like a bad goal but it’s so hard to play,” said Gerber.

41 seconds after  Blake Geoffrion's first NHL goal, Jim Vandermeer rifled the tying goal to send the game into Overtime.

The Oilers will now host the Columbus Blue Jackets this Thursday.

Preds in Oil Country

I’m sad to leave,” said the 28-year-old winger, after being traded to the LA Kings. Like everybody here, I felt like we were building something together. I didn’t expect to get traded. It’s kind of a daze.” Dustin Penner


The City of Edmonton is still buzzing about the recent departure of Dustin Penner who was sent back to California 24 hours ago.


There is no question that the D-Train will be missed both on and off of the ice, and despite some difficult years in Oil Cuntry, he will be missed most by his ex-teammates. 

“It’s tough to see friends like that go. I had conversations with him and I know he really grew to enjoy his time here, enjoy the organization. He liked playing here, liked the guys. I know he was prepared, if it came to it, to stay and be a part of the future.” said Shawn Horcoff. "It’s been challenging for him at times, but I’m really impressed with his professionalism. He’s a real strong person. He believes in himself, in his ability. He’s positive to be around. I can’t say enough about him."

In return the Oilers receive, Colton Teubert  a first round pick for 2011 and a 3 round conditional pick in 2012.   Teubert, has yet to have a cup of coffee in the show.  The 20 year-old, has been playing in the Minors since being drafted in 2008.  Suffice to say, this trade appears to be a win-win situation for both clubs:the Kings were looking for a scoring left winger to play with Anze Kopitar and of course the Oilers have been dying to stockpile bodies on defensive corps.

With Penner out, according to @dantencer  Magnus Paajarvi will assume Penner's void for tonight's contest vs the Preds. This will be Paajarvi's first crack on the first line as he will play with Horcoff and Hemsky.

Tencer also believes that the rest of the line up will go as follows.

Hall-Cogliano-Eberle,

Jones-Gagner-Omark 

Jacques-Brule-Reddox.

In goal for the Oilers it is believed that Dubnyk will take a rest to give Martin Gerber a chance play in goal.

The Predators are 32-23-8 this season and yet are 4-5-1 in the last 10 games.  The last time the two clubs met, the Oilers blanked the Preds 4-0 two weeks ago.

Preds vs Oilers 6:30 Pacific time.