City of Champions

Very recently, the sports fans in Pittsburgh have taken to calling themselves by a name that Edmontonians are very familiar with - the City of Champions. But Edmonton has been using that moniker for a long, long time now.

I don't know whether to feel cheated or feel disappointed. The last Edmonton Stanley Cup was back in 90 and Pittsburgh fans count NFL titles whereas Edmonton fans count Grey Cups.

Here's what Pittsburgh has achieved:

• 3 Stanley Cups
• 6 Lombardi Trophies
• Great NCAA tradition
  

Here's what Edmonton has achieved:

• 5 Stanley Cups
• 13 Grey Cups
• Great CIS tradition

So the questions are, who is the real "City of Champions," and can there be two "City of Champions" simultaneously?

Trade Deadline - TODAY!!!!!

Boy do I feel bad for anyone with an Erik Cole jersey: no matter what happens today, all signs indicate he won't be back next year in an Oilers uniform.

Some prevalent Cole rumours:

• Boston with interest :Lashoff and Sobotka (pending RFA) in the mix
• Carolina with interest: Ruutu (pending RFA) being offered
  

If there is a team willing to give up exactly the kind of player(s) the Oilers organization is looking for, don't expect them to sit on a potential Cole trade. Whether or not a Cole trade happens depends on a couple of things. If the Oilers plan to make a push for the playoffs, somebody will have to take over that 2nd line RW spot. If the Oilers don't replace Cole, it is a good indication that the Oilers have packed up for the 18 holes already. If the Oilers don't trade him at all, they are set on making a playoff run. I wouldn't blame them, we're so close we can smell it.

Does Penner have trade value?

• Why Penner wouldn't be traded: He has a couple years sitting on his contract. He has a history of not showing up 100%, though his Corsi numbers or other stats of that variety indicate he is not among the worst of the Oilers in on-ice performance (don't quote me, go check with Jonathan Willis and David Staples). That being said, he's not our best either - so why is he on the 1st line? MacT is somewhat justified in demoting him.
  
• Why Penner would be traded: Penner has won it all before as a complementary player to Getzlaf and Perry. He has shown he has that ability to play on a high skill line if given the right line mates. If there is a team with a hole on LW that needs a Penner type player, he could be a commodity. His salary and point production comparables are guys like Scott Hartnell and Ryan Malone (though Hartnell is outperforming him by leaps and bounds in 2008-09). The difference between Hartnell/Malone and Penner is that the Oilers got the unmotivated version. That being said, there is gotta be someone out there who thinks that Penner is a good enough comparable for those two guys - isn't there? Please take him - please?!
  

Who's on the block?

• Robert Nilsson
• Rob Schremp
• If Wayne Gretzky can be traded anyone can be traded ...
  
• Correction, anyone who doesn't have a NTC or NMC ...
  

Reasons why the Oilers would make big move(s):

The Oilers see gaping holes at all positions except RW and move to rectify this by acquiring LW help on the 1st line (long term or temporary fix, who cares), acquiring a bonafide checking C to take the pressure off of Kyle Brodziak and also to get a veteran backup to Roloson. This would be the Mike Peca/Bobby Holik/Marty Reasoner type. It wouldn't hurt to add a veteran energy forward, since we have 3 bruisers playing on the bottom 2 lines (Jacques, Stortini, MacIntyre). This would be the Todd Harvey/Kris Draper/Darcy Tucker type of player. Also, Strudwick is a good depth D-man but questions surround Staios and Smid. Staios - does he still got what it takes to go through a few playoff rounds? Smid - he's been playing like a real defensive D-man, but is he ready for the big show? Acquiring a Derek Morris type may eat away some of that doubt and allow Gilbert to pair back up with Souray.

Reasons why the Oilers wouldn't make a big move:

The Oilers are happy with the team chemistry (or have deluded visions of a chemistry that doesn't exist). They decide to sit on potential trades to improve the team because they don't want to give up on the kids (who underperformed this year). And for some reason, the Oilers are happy to start the playoffs with Strudwick, Stortini, and MacIntyre bringing in the rear, with Reddox on the 1st line.

I shudder at the thought.

This day on Hockeybuzz ...

Eklund is suggesting the Oilers are trying to beat other teams to the punch by pulling a "Chris Pronger" and acquiring and signing Jay Bo long term. I think this is easily disproved:

Jay Bo would only sign long term after being acquired (if acquired) only if the Edmonton Oilers (and the City of Edmonton) can offer him the best possible deal on the market (pending whether he wants to play here at all). If the Oilers could be the team and Edmonton the city to offer that perfect deal - why try to beat other teams to the punch? That's just throwing away prospects and picks for someone who you can throw cash at on the UFA market.

Furhermore, Souray and Visnovsky have not been accounted for. If Jay Bo resigns his salary will be in their ball park or higher. That would effectively be a one way ticket out of town for either one of Gilbert or Grebeskhov or potentially even both, because of the NMC and NTC involved with Souray/Visnovsky. If the Toronto situation is any indication, these contract clauses are really blue balling a lot of potential trades.

Beyond that, would the Oilers really, really do this in the midst of a playoff push? The Panthers themselves are in the thick of their own playoff push. Jay Bo is central to the Panthers and is inconceivably important to their team right now, moreso than Cole (another pending UFA) is to the Oilers right now.

It's the same logic as with the Cole rumours: it's only going to happen if what the trading team gets back is more valuable and accounts for what they give up on the team. You know this. I know this. If not, why pull the trigger on the trade at all?

Eklund says he reports every thing he hears, however improbable the rumour. This cushions him from the blame of reporting something stupid. That's fine though, he wants to be an unbiased observer and listen in on discussion of his trade rumours. But if he's going to put out rumours, he has to have some input on the teams involved, as they do over at the rumour web site The Fourth Period, where editor Pagnotta chimes in on all his rumours.

Good on Pagnotta.

(OT) Bruins - 1 @ Oilers - 0 (Rexall Place / PPV); Brent Sutter speaks out about Brandon/Doug Weight incident

According the the Boston Bruins PPV announcer, they have SUPERMAN in net. Apparently its true, because the Oilers were shut out this game - with a little help from Sam Gagner and the Bruins PP. Roloson played markedly well.

In this photo, Tim Thomas watches the puck fly by him. For the longest time, the former Oilers goaltending prospect thought he would watch his career fly by him as well. As you are all probably familiar with by now, the Thomas story involves a lot of perserverance, determination, and patience. In the last few years Thomas has established himself as the #1 in Boston. This year, it's not so etched in stone as Fernandez has come in to Boston as the #1b, perhaps to push Thomas to play better, who knows.

The only thing worse than watching your career fly by is watching PPV that is not worth your time. For those of you who were not at Rexall Place, tonight's game was on PPV and I've got to say I wasn't too impressed with the team's uninspired coverage last year on the PPV. But as a result of my unwillingness to commit to feeding the profitable yet lacklustre Oilers PPV machine, I decided to stream the game online from a popular P2P streaming forum. To be fair, I haven't watched an Oilers PPV game yet this year so I will be curious to see how they have changed it for this 2008-09 season.

To be fair, the shots were pretty close by the end of the 3rd but the Bruins still outshot the Oilers by a considerable margin. Still, it was an entertaining game and the 1-0 score is misleading.

Turns out the Boston Bruins have poor PPV coverage as well. Not only are the announcers heavily biased in their coverage of the Bruins they also get excited (they sound like they peed their pants) over seemingly unimportant plays which confuses listeners/watchers when the play is actually worth getting riled up for (think 630 CHED but on crack and from Boston). Furthermore, the Boston announcers called our rink Rexall Center. Come on buddy, you're a professional - get it right. This is down the same school of the announcers who have poisoned the airwaves with mystery players such as "Sam Cogliano" and polluted the press with the likes of the infamous Ladislav "Smead."

The Oilers performance tonight:

The Oilers started the game getting heavily outshot in the 1st period due to some spirited D coverage by the Bruins. Once the Oilers got into the flow of it, Hemsky and Cole were starting to zip around in the 2nd period. Grebeshkov and Gilbert looked great again.

3rd period: Roloson keeps the team in it and Cole, Moreau, and Cogliano make a lot of great plays going into the Bruins zone. Hemsky beginning to play a bit more of backchecking, stripping Nokeleinen of the puck at one point. The announcer did not feign to describe the great goaltending on this night. Roloson robs Savard at one point. Sam Gagner was mostly unoticable but he did pull of some sweet moves in the last minute of play. More on Sam Gagner's play later. All examples point to one thing: team chemistry and consistency are starting to find its way into the Oilers play.

OT: Sam Gagner's play leads to some mayhem in the D-zone. Oilers fail to kill off the subsequent penalty. Sigh.

At least we got 1 point, eh?

The D in the Oilers defensive zone is still a bit worrisome in terms of challenging shooters, though. I don't know if anybody else notices this, but we just let people cycle around the outside forever and ever and ever... this is like a PK, except it lasts the whole game. Sure, we haveMacT and Huddy who know all about playing defensively. But there has to be some time in the D-zone when someone has to pull a Regehr or Smith and strip a guy of the puck with strong physical play? Otherwise the opposition is going to tee up one-timers from the slot all game, and that sure caused us to bite the bullet in the Vancouver game. I'm sure a small change to the D-zone coverage could prevent the Oilers from being outshot every game.

Boston Bruins Announcement Gems:

(1) OH MY GODDDD.... SUPERMAN!
(2) Coming straight to you from Rexall Center...
(3) Steve Staios was coming in the back door HARD...

-------------------------------------------------------

Brent Sutter speaks out:

Brent Sutter, a hockey pseudo-legend, spoke about the Doug Weight hit on his son here. Here is obviously peeved about it, and relates the following quote:

It was a hard hit, a legal hit ... but something has to be done about players being hit in the head while in a vulnerable position.

Sutter nails it on the dot. Also quoted:

If a player got hit in the head, whether it was clean or dirty, you knew what was going to happen. It was going to be a long night for the guy who did the hitting. And the next time, it would be a long night.

The game today is better in a lot of areas. But in some areas, it's not and it's troublesome. There is a lack of respect for opponents' players. It's the way the game is played today, and there are significant injuries. It is what it is.

Unfortunately, the league is better at wiping out one thing and not the other. One thing is a deterrent to the other thing (aka big hits draw revenge so thus prevent stupid plays) but if you remove the balance then there will be too much of one thing. In a weird kind of way, the senseless violence balances out the senseless violence: revenge brawls or fights send a message about decking vulnerable guys on the ice. Not that I would suggest the Canes go and target Doug Weight, but it is a pretty effective deterrent to on-ice headshots. And obviously more effective than anything the league has tried recently...

Game Preview: Oilers @ Canucks & Palin bad omens + carpet on ice = bad idea

What is that? A fishing hook? A hockey stick? The head of a smiling sperm whale? Proof of Global Warming? No, silly. That's the Vancouver Canucks' excuse for a hockey team logo. Now feel free to point and laugh.

Prediction: I made predictions for both teams yesterday but now I'm gonna commit to the Oilers for a comeback win.

4-2 Oilers

The key for the Oilers: playing a solid, simple game where they grind it out for the full 60 minutes; finding chemistry early and sticking with the formula; surviving the 1st period assault from the Canucks; be as solid on the PK as on the PP (we have 10+ million commited to special teams specialists); best players must be best players: expect Garon to play as he always does against the Canucks

The key for the Canucks: with weird things happening all week and coming off a unsuccessful 6 game road trip, they need to come out hard early and set the tone; roll 4 lines; timely saves from Luongo; secondary scoring from Wellwood (repeat performance)

The Oilers have looked as dreadful as the Canucks lately, but the Oilers are playing the 3rd game in 4 nights unless something as weird as Todd Marchant's goal happens tomorrow, expect the Canucks to have the early jump (very similar to the Calgary @ Edmonton last weekend)

Oilers player picks: Pisani, Hemsky, Cole update: I forgot that Pisani will be sitting this one out with an injury. Looks like I'm going to have to pick Penner and Moreau instead of Pisani and Cole
Cancucks player picks: Bernier, Wellwood, Raymond (always seems to perform well against us)

GOILERS!

Palin is a bad omen not just for the USA, but for the game of hockey

Manny Legace on his minor hip injury:

"She's been pretty good for our game," Legace said. "I'm starting to like her more and more. No grudge."

- Manny Legace on Palin carpet mishap

Yeah right Manny, you're not allowed to complain about how she almost broke your hip so you came up with this safe answer for the media. Legace would leave the game in the 1st and the Blues would go on to lose 4-0 in the game.

Here's an idea... hockey ceremonies should lay out skate friendly red mats instead of the red carpet. Screw the celebs, the Blues have a season to salvage. The Blues don't want to end up like the Flyers, losing their first 6 games after another Palin-related event in which she dropped the puck at their season opener.

Why did the Flyers win tonight? Simple. The curse passed on to the St. Louis Blues. Mike Richards and co. breathed a collective sigh of relief tonight.

If you want to do the Blues a favour, invite Palin to come drop the puck for your team. It will be dandy.

Dwayne Roloson

Dwayne Roloson: starts in goal tonight

We're all familiar with the story - Dwayne Roloson is acquired from our NW division rival, the Minnesota Wild in return for a 1st round pick (Trevor Lewis, LA) and a 3rd round pick (Michael Forney?, ATL) which were pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that helped Minnesota acquire Pavol Demitra that following draft.

Dwayne Roloson then went on to play 19 games for the Oilers, going 8-7 with a 2.42 GAA and a .905 SV%. Decent numbers. But people were shocked that Edmonton had give up so much to a NW division rival to acquire what they thought was a questionalbe #1. Boy were they wrong.

In the playoffs, the Oilers, with the stellar goaltending of Roloson, knocked off one giant at a time. First it was omnipotent Detroit Red Wings. Then it was the come-from-behind thrashing of the San Jose Sharks, another cup favorite. Lastly, it was the domination of the powerhouse Ducks.

We'll never know what would have happened if Marc-Andre Bergeron, Andrew Ladd, and Dwayne Roloson never got tangled up that day. We'll never know what would have happened if Jason Smith hooked down Rod Brind'amour or if Ty Conklin would have shot it up the ice instead of leaving it behind the net. We'll never know what would have happened if Jussi Markkanen had replaced Roloson that night.

What we do know though, is what did happen. The Oilers fell behind 3-1 and became one of the few teams to come back to force a game 7, with the help of some ballsy goaltending by a certain Jussi Markkanen. We didn't make history as the third team to come back from the 3-1 deficit, but we sure gave had a hoot trying. The Oilers Cinderella story of a cup run was over and we all felt drained. It was beautiful, but no cup.

A couple rough-and-tumble seasons later the team is looking up and the career of the soldier who saw us through the whole mess is looking down. The emergence of Garon as #1 and DesLauriers as a legitimate option in the future has raised questions about Roloson's role on the team.

As I had predicted, he is slated to start tonight in Chicago (PPV) or though there's a chance it's tomorrow night in Colorado (TSN) instead. Hopefully he gets to wear the Grant Fuhr replica mask soon. Why? Because, as always, there are rumblings about his future in Edmonton and about whether it his time here is limited.

I think Garon and DesLauriers have some valuable lessons to learn from Roli's bag of tricks from the spring of '06, for their own future Oilers' cup runs.

Memorable Dwayne Roloson Moments:

1. Spring 2006, 2nd round - Game 3 - 2 OT, Sharks @ Oilers view

Dwayne Roloson robs Jonathan Cheechoo on a one-timer, point blank. Maybe it was coming on Cheechoo's forehand side, and he suggested he let up on the shot. I think Dwayne Roloson's glove disagrees mightily.

The save prolonged the game, and in 3 OT Shawn Horcoff scores the goal that ends the game. Instead of going down 3-0, the Oilers are back in it at 1 games to San Jose's 2. Oilers go on to win 4 straight to take the series.

The Game 3 recap has conveniently disappeared from the Oilers website and I was forced to link it to Game 4 instead.

2. Spring 2006, 3rd round - Game 2, Oilers @ Ducks

Roloson conveniently shakes off his mask a few times in Game 2 of an Oilers 3-1 win. This peeves the hell out of Randy Carlyle as Roloson goes on keep his crease clear. Oilers go on to win the series 4-1.

3. Spring 2006, 1st round - game to be determined, Wings @ Oilers

Dan Cleary wraps it around the net and Roloson, standing erect and hugging the post - keeps it out somehow! He never gives up on the play and because he squeezes his pads, hugs the post and turns his skates, he keeps it out. That's right DesLauriers - that's how you keep the Bertuzzi's of the NHL from scoring from that area!

4. Spring 2006, 1st round - Game 1, Oilers @ Wings

Dwayne Roloson makes 54 saves in a 3-2 loss to the wings in 2 OT. Maltby deflects the puck past Roloson and it's probably a lucky goal. The Red Wings take home the win - the Oilers take home the message: we can beat the Wings. MacTavish adapts the "trap" in order to make Roloson the center of the defensive system and forces the offensive threats out to the brinks of the defensive zone. Works like a charm. Strangely enough, Roloson performs so well with the system that his SV% is better without Pronger on the ice!

And take home the message they did indeed. Edmonton won the next 2 games on route to eliminating the President's Trophy winners in 6 games.

5. Spring 2006, 4th round - Game 1, Oilers @ Hurricanes

Andrew Ladd steams into the Oilers zone with the puck. Marc-Andre Bergeron, unable to control him, attempts to derail him by pushing him into the post. Unfortunately, Ladd falls gratuitously onto Roloson's blocker arm and right leg, effectively knocking him out of the rest of the playoffs.

Have more Dwayne Roloson moments? Drawing penatlies on Red Wings? Batting pucks out of the air? Complaining to refs? Post 'em and leave 'em in the comments section!



We'll never know.

Don't Let It Hit You On The Way Out

This is one of Edmonton's prodigal sons. His name is Jay Bouwmeester, one of the most highly touted defenseman in his decade, let alone in his draft year.

I've decided to make a post of all the players who have ever avoided playing in Edmonton or wanted "out," either because the city had a bad reputation over things other people said about the city, the team, the hardcore fans, or the media here. Here is the list and feel free to comment if you feel I've forgotten some:

1. Chris Pronger

Pronger-gate was a fiasco that involved everything from illegitimate love affairs to conspiracy theories. More maddening was the fact that Chris Pronger wanted out days after a heated run at the Cup that had brought the city together in one giant circle of community identity.

What did we get out of it: Lupul, Smid, and some 1st rounders
What did we lose: 2 years to developing a new D-core
What that means today: Smid, Plante, Cole, etc., C.P. plays for the "Not-so-mighty" Ducks of Anaheim

2. Jay Bouwmeester

Edmonton's prodigal son has been quoted time and time again as having rejected any plans to play in Edmonton. This past summer some were circulating rumours that he has had a change of heart. I believe that to be more fiction than fact.

I watched him at practice at the U of A in September and he is a beauty of a player: crisp oulet passes, great skating, and always attentive. That being said, he's got great skills and all that, but if he can't handle the pressure of the media and fans in Edmonton (as some have suggested) then it is plausible to suggest he can't handle it in any major market like Montreal, Toronto, New York, Detroit, or Dallas, and will spend the rest of his toiling days in the bowels of the NHL - the Southeast Division (though the rejuvenated Caps would have something to say about that).

I believe that to be untrue. Anybody who wants to play in the NHL will undoubtedly be in the spotlight even if at a limited role. Perhaps it's his way of avoiding Lupul-syndrome or Daigle-disease or a bout of Legein-itis: he was highly touted coming in and perhaps he's still adjusting to a career in the big leagues.

Whatever the case, it would be great to get a quote directly from Jay-Bo about why he doesn't want to play here instead of hearing the same old Eklund-based speculations.

What did we get out of it: Speculation
What did we lose: Nothing
What that means today: The Oilers are 4-0 without Jay-Bo, imagine with him in the lineup!

I have class now, I'll post more tonight.

3. Jaroslav Spacek

With Pronger tee-ing it up for him, Spacek's one-timer was nasty - almost as nasty as Marc-Andre Bergeron's one-timer. He was a great passer, though a bit dangerous in his own end at times.

What did we get out of it: Nothing
What did we lose: Tony Salmelainen
What that means today: Tony plays for the Swiss-A league on Sevette Geneve, Jaro Spacek is one of the mainstays on the Sabres' blueline

4. Mike Peca

He wanted out of Edmonton - and who could blame him? His family (according to word of mouth) wanted to be in the Toronto area and he needed to oblige. This also was another nail in the coffin of the 05-06 team.

Mike Peca recently got suspended for "touching" a referee. Would he consider a return to Edmonton as our 3rd line center?

What did we get out of it: Nothing
What did we lose: Mike York
What that means today: Peca traded in his maple leaf for a bluejacket, Mike York is playing for the Syracruse Crunch of the AHL (CBJ)

5. Mike Comrie

Now here's a touchy subject. Another victim of conspiracy theories, combined with a contract dispute, meant Comrie was torn out of the pages of "hometown hero" and tossed to the wolves. How fair that is now is still a question in my mind. But if the rumours were true about what he did, then I'm all for it. Tommy Salo was my favorite, after all.

What did we get out of it: Jeff Woywitka and some draft picks
What did we lose: team chemistry, that season ended with a crazy 16-game run at the end of the year w/Petr Nedved that almost ended with us sneaking into the playoffs
What that means today: Jeff Woywitka, Rob Schremp, Ryan Potulny

6. Mike Comrie

Now here's a touchy subject. Another victim of conspiracy theories, combined with a contract dispute, meant Comrie was torn out of the pages of "hometown hero" and tossed to the wolves. How fair that is now is still a question in my mind. But if the rumours were true about what he did, then I'm all for it. Tommy Salo was my favorite, after all.

What did we get out of it: Jeff Woywitka and some draft picks
What did we lose: team chemistry, that season ended with a crazy 16-game run at the end of the year w/Petr Nedved that almost ended with us sneaking into the playoffs
What that means today: Jeff Woywitka, Rob Schremp, Ryan Potulny

7. Sergei Samsonov

He was a key addition for the playoff run that culminated in Hemsky's goal against Anaheim on the 2nd last game of the 05-06 season. Samsonov wasn't as equally effective in the playoffs but he was still a key offensive player. The question of intangibles always lingers around Samsonov and has followed him even after he left to play in Montreal, Chicago, etc.

What did we get out of it: Nothing
What did we lose: Marty Reasoner
What that means today: Reasoner signed in ATL, Samsonov was dealt to Carolina where he is restarting his career

Oilers drop pre-season tilt to Canucks by score of 4-3 (SO)

This is Cory Schneider.

He played tonight, and with the exception of looking confused after a few Sheldon Souray point shots, or out to lunch on Sam Gagner's moves on the breakway/shootout, was very calm and composed, and played his angles very well.

On some occasions, he was the only thing going for the Canucks. He probably is the best reason why the Canucks stuck around 'til OT where they won it in the shootout.

One day (if he isn't traded before then), he could be the reason the Canucks can afford to trade Bobby Lu the Saviour.

Quote me on this.

Post-game thoughts:

It looks as if the Oilers won't be relying as much on the shootout this year for wins. It could be that Garon was just warming up after a long summer... or it's an indication that the Oilers have moved beyond reliance on the shootout as a means to win games.

The powerplay looked deadly tonight even though they scored only one goal. The penalty kill also looked deadly - in the sense that it had trouble keeping the Canucks from driving the net. For the first time this training camp, Peckham looked a step behind, perhaps the sign that he is still a bit away from being ready for the NHL. Chorney, however, looked very smart, despite the questionable call at the end of overtime.

It always seems to me that Visnovsky is in the right place at the right time to one-time the puck. When the season rolls around I will be expecting to see all kinds of goals resulting from his shot or a rebound resulting from his wicked shot.

Last but not least, who is Dan Gendur and why is he scoring goals on us? We need to put the Hans Benson radar on this guy. Seek and destroy.

A few points I would like to make:

(1) Shooting tendencies: Since the shootout was instated, it always seems that Hemsky often shoots over the net wide on the right side.
(2) The wizard without a wand: Robbie Schremp looked very nervous on the shootout. If he gets another chance before (a) getting assigned to Springfield, (b) getting traded, or (c) making the team, look for him to be more controlled in what many rightfully attribute to be Robbie's domain.
(3) Comfortability in the lineup: Gagner looks even better than he did last year at the end of the season. Whether it is making Cory Schneider look foolish or little dangle plays that prevent plays from going offside, Gagner has shown that he can play on any of the top 3 lines with any combination of forwards and feel comfortable. Cole, on the other hand, has looked good but not in any way in-sync with the other Oilers forwards. Hopefully, that happens sooner than later.
(4) Watch out for that tree!: Is it just me, or did the Canucks get a lot bigger over the off season? We're gonna have to dress guys like Strudwick in those games.
(5) Like winning the lottery: The Canucks gambled on a castaway and signed a guy with major AHL success in Wellwood and Krog respectively, and it looks good now. Whether it translates to regular season success is yet to be seen.
(6) Heat seaking missiles: At least that's what the point shots on the Oilers PP looked and sounded like - things going really fast and exploding off of stuff. Somebody gonna get a hurt real bad. Thank you Russell Peters and Kevin Lowe.

New Oilers' nicknames:

Jason Strudwick - STUDwick
Rob Schremp - Lowetide calls him Sugartits, I think Wizard or Bubba Gump would be more befitting
Marc-Antoine Pouliot - Friendly Fire (he needs to stop running into his own team mates)
Lubomir Visnovsky - Mr. Lube

Oilers Training Camp Update #2

The first pre-season game is underway.

More Oilers' jokes:
http://forums.edmontonoilers.com/index.php?showtopic=43173

Oilers Training Camp Update

After watching much of the Oilers' training camp, including rookie games and Joey Moss Cup, I thought it would be appropriate to think about some fun ways to refer to our players. Thus, I have some Oilers' jokes and nicknames.

Newest Oiler jokes:

1. What did the coach say when he wanted the rookie to be a better team player?
Answer: Make like the Cogs in the machine!

2. What did the coach say to the player heading to the press box?
Answer: Don't make me Paukovich!!!

3. Who in the Oilers' organization has the least funny name?
Answer: Phillipe Cornet

I have come up with some nicknames for some of the Oilers and Oilers' hopefuls:

David Rohlfs - Rohlfcopter (or ROFLcopter, for those of you familiar with Internet Lingo)
Erik Cole - The Slaw (as in Cole Slaw)
Geoff Paukovich - The Headhunter, or Highlander
Marc-Andre Bernier - A.L.I.A.B (At Least I Aint Bergeron!)
Toby LaFrance - The Revolution, or Viva Toby, or Wine and Cheese, or Cup of T, or French Fry
Phillipe Cornet - The Comedian (see Oilers' joke #3)
Glenn Fisher - The Apostle (refer to the gospel)
Ales Hemsky - Hemmertime
Shawn Horcoff - Tuberculosis (I don't want to explain this one... but jesting and jokes aside, I believe Horcoff is the future captain after Ethan Moreau)
Sheldon Souray - S-squared
Lubomir Visnovsky - V-Nov

...

I'm out of ideas.

Just a thought: If Gilbert Brule were female, and he married Tom Gilbert, wouldn't his name be Gilbert Gilbert?