BoA - Game 3 Recap and Game 4 Preview

Most people have this idea of dinosaurs being big, lumbering brutes who met their demise as a result of their own size. For some reason, some hockey circles regard big goaltenders as lumbering brutes. Ken Dryden and Olaf Kölzig to the world: "What 'cha talking 'bout Willis?" The fact is, mobility has little to do with size (for the most part) and more to do with conditioning.

As for the dinosaurs, a giant meteorite did them in finally - not their body mass. Jeff DesLauriers (minus the Drouin, mind you) is one the Oilers' dinosaurs, at 6'4 and 192 lbs. Mathieu Garon and Devan Dubnyk are no smurfs either - rounding out the goaltenders at 6'2 and 6'5 respectively. Dwayne Roloson is 6'1. This once, the Oilers may have successfully drafted a bigger player, since the jury is still out on Paukovich, Mikhnov, and who knows what to think of Semenov and Henry.

I was expecting DesLauriers to start one of the games in the BoA because of the fact MacT has been dressing him as backup over Roloson for the last couple of games. I guessed right.

How did he fair?

Jeff Deslauriers

60 minutes,

3.00 GAA

.897 SAV %

Not bad for a first game, eh? And that Bertuzzi goal wouldn't have gone in had DesLauriers been a little more experienced anyway, in my opinion. Once he starts hugging the post more, he will be a pretty hard goalie to beat.

So as the Oilers blogosphere has already mentioned, we may have successfully drafted a goalie for the first time since Moog and Fuhr. Not to mention we have Pitton, Perugini, Fisher and Bjurling in the system as well. Both Pitton and Perugini seem like good battlers: they never give up on a play. Barring a giant flaming meterorite crashing into the earth, wtih Garon, Roloson, and DesLauriers in net, we could be set in the goaltending department for a while.

The game:

Nilsson looked good again and Brodziak was pretty reliable. Visnovsky looked AWESOME on the powerplay. Grebeshkov looked a bit human for the first time this season, but he was still a lot more solid than Staios. Gilbert once again made a lot of good, short passes to elude forecheckers.

Cole looks to be getting into the rhythm now, deflecting one goal and coming close to almost deflecting Visnovsky's goal in.

The game made my Buffalo Chicken Sandwich at Kelsey's taste all that much better.

The preview:

Will be interesting to see what happens with MacIntyre and Smid drawing into the lineup now that Souray (knee) and Gagner (game-time decision) may be sitting out the home half of the home and home series. Personally, I hope MacIntyre grabs Bertuzzi and pulls a Paul Mara on his ass. I also home Stortini runs Iginla or Regehr. Some things deserve retribution.

Prediction: 4-2 Oilers (w/EN goal)

Preseason Game 3, FLA @ EDM : 3-2 Loss (SO)

I missed the game, but a few thoughts:

(1) Liam Reddox has turned out to be exactly the kind of player Craig MacTavish likes. He can play offense, forechecks like a demon, and is all over the ice. He's not shy to get involved in on-ice contact despite not being an overly physical player. This one's a keeper.

(2) As I had predicted, Rob Schremp came out and proved why he's well known to be a shootout specialist. He's not well known the way Sam Gagner is (nor as much of a well rounded player) but I think Schremp is at the point where he has enough assets to make the team. As excited as I am to see Gilbert Brule join the team, I think it's the right time for Schremp to come in on the 4th line, and earn his stripes. If an injury crops up, he will be available for 1-2 line duty.

(3) Jeff DesLauriers is looking like a legitimate NHL goaltender. A few tweaks here and there and we have 3 NHL goalies on the squad. That is a terrible situation. It's great for the goalies (competition) but bad for the team (taking up an extra roster spot). With the way Dwayne Roloson played at the end of last year and so far in training camp, it's difficult but one would have to say that he is most probably the odd-man out.

(4) Theo Peckham is a monster. 'Nuff said.

(5) The era of the Oilers' shootout domination - is it already over? Or is it too soon to proclaim anything? Or is it just that Gagner isn't around? Personally, I think Nilsson and Pisani should get as many looks on the shootout as Hemsky and Horcoff do.

(6) Who is going to end up in Stockton? Perugini, Fisher, Pitton, or Dubnyk? A combination of these?

shouldn't Steve Staios be s-squared as well?

I have an Oilers joke, albeit incredibly lame...well it's more like a random thought than it is a joke...

If Mellon Arena is called the Igloo and is home to the Penguins, shouldn't Rexall Place be called Fort McMurray then?

Get it? Fort McMurray. oil sands. Oilers...haha

Random idea from a comment left by the user Marion. Not bad, maybe we should refer to Rexall as Fort McMurray. But then would we have to rename the Oilers the Oil Sands (or Tar Sands)... maybe we should call it The Refinery?