Baptism by Hemsky

The answer to the age old question of "Who made God?" has been discovered. The answer is Ales Hemsky.

Robbie Schremp, HockeyJesus himself, when placed next to Hemsky, made it apparent to all whose "right hand" the Bible's been talking about all along. Ales Hemsky's.

And the Los Angeles Kings experienced a Baptism by Hemsky tonight. Great move for the shootout winner and better move for the Penner tying goal.

Just amazing.

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

During the Game...

... some breakouts were sloppy as hell but great puck movement was shown by Visnovsky, Gilbert, Grebeshkov, and Ethan Moreau.

... Erik Cole and Shawn Horcoff were dangerous all night.

... something dangerous happened everytime Schremp and Staios were on the ice. The difference? Schremp makes it happen in the offensive zone and Staios makes it happen in the defensive zone.

... Garon let out a lot of juicy rebounds.

... it was apparent that Brodziak was squeezing his stick a little too hard but he still managed to do all the simple things right, like get pucks deep. One notably bad giveaway in the defensive zone - but hey, mistakes happen.

... Souray played like a monster with a lasers. Except that his lasers are his slapshots and instead of coming out of his eyes like any decent laser-wielding monster, they come off the blade of his stick. Who woulda thunkit?

... Ales Hemsky showed why he is the most valuable Oiler player in at least about a decade. Yes, I must say even more than my favorite former/current Oiler, Tommy Salo.

... the Oilers couldn't kill off L.A. PPs. Work on it.

... Strudwick looked better as a forward than he did as a defenseman. He should stay there because Smid looked good.

... Marc-Antoine Pouliot looked like a good hockey player tonight. Was at all the right places to receive passes and backchecked like a demon. Might sense some movement in the "Prospect, Player, or Trade Bait" rankings if he keeps this up. Same goes for Schremp.

... Liam Reddox looked useful playing different roles. Love this hockey player.

... Dustin Penner was dominant.

... the Oilers disappeared for the second period.

... the Oilers showed that they cannot keep the lead if their lives depended on it.

... the Oilers showed what kind of depth the organization has with 4 regulars (5 if you count Jeff Drouin-DesLauriers) out with injuries large and small.

... Andrew Cogliano beat Jarret Stoll on the faceoff. There is hope after all.

... the Oilers won puck battles. Time to translate that hard work and success to the PK.

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

Gilbert Brule plays tomorrow against the NHL leading San Jose Sharks. Gulp. Brule has 8 goals and 4 assists so he's a shoot first kind of player. Could have a drastically different impact on this team than a Sam Gagner or a Jason Strudwick.

Also, can Schremp keep up his scoring pace of 1.5 pts/GP? So far, some people may say that Cogliano makes Schremp look a lot better than he is. I'd argue that Schremp has made Pouliot look a lot better than he is, though Mr. Chicken has put in some hard work in the last two games himself. I think having those 3 elements - speed, skill, and "rough and tumble" are giving this line success.

But is it sustainable?

Need proof of their imminent success? They're already Legends of Hockey, apparently.

( Gilbert Brule, Robbie Schremp )

Revenge: Oilers @ Kings and NHL on Avery

Interesting little wallpaper I found on Google with an ironic twist. It's Mr. sloppy-seconds himself during his Los Angeles Kings days.

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

Oilers @ Kings, 8:30 PM

We need to win this game because of the 2-1 loss back in November when the team was non-existent for 60 minutes. This keeps in line with our current trend of getting games back for wins we should've won. For example, the 5-2 shallacking of Dallas earlier this week in return for the 4-3 loss in Dallas.

Hopefully, we keep up the intensity and I'll be raring for HockeyJesus the Schremp to get some points.

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

Sean Avery Gets 6 Games - TSN

I'm amazed that the NHL, a league that thinks that shoulders to the heads of players that cause concussions are legal would think that sloppy seconds, something that could mean anything from sex with multiple partners to mountains of leftover pancakes, could be found offensive. The range of denotations and connotations are humongous. Sure, it's within context of his personal life. But why are we involved in his personal life anyway? Because he wants us to be - or because we choose to keep publishing his words or airing his interviews?

Whatever happened to sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me?

The truth: the NHL can't stand someone who is willing to feed their own b.s. back to them. This is why Bettman, Campbell, Daly and others are picking on this guy. Is Avery the neighbourhood bully? No. That's because Phaneuf would've kicked his ass. But now Avery gets the scorn of the media, the NHL fans, and still has to face the wrath of the Calgary Flames when he continues his career.

Not exactly fair to the guy.

Kings @ Oilers Preview

Before the L.A. game begins, a few questions:

How long before ...

... Mathieu Garon makes a first period save?

... Jarret Stoll scores a PP goal from the point?

... MacTavish juggles the lines?

... Matt Greene decks an Oiler?

... Grebeshkov gets caught on a pinch?

How many times will ...

... Ladislav Smid look lost playing LW?

... the Oilers win the faceoff?

... Erik Cole get sandwiched on a play?

... Pouliot cough up the puck?

... Matt Greene get beat on the outside?

Will the Oilers ...

... let Tim Sestito start the first shift?

... keep Liam Reddox in the lineup?

... spend too much time passing on the PP?

... get a crazy one man play from Ales Hemsky?

... score on a Sheldon Souray point shot?

... WIN?