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wchiasson writes...

Who do I cheer for?

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
With the Oilers being out of playoff contention for sometime now, I've been debating who to root for in the playoffs. I thought I'd cheer for the Islanders with Smytty, my favourite player of all time,on the roster. Maybe the Sabres with them being a local team. Islanders? With my favourite player of all time now on the roster. Sorry, not you Bergy. They beat out th...
wchiasson writes...

Who do I cheer For?

Posted Wednesday | Comments 3
With the Oilers being out of playoff contention for sometime now, I've been debating who to root for in the playoffs. I thought I'd cheer for the Islanders with Smytty, my favourite player of all time,on the roster. Maybe the Sabres with them being a local team. Islanders? With my favourite player of all time now on the roster. Sorry, not you Bergy. They beat out the ...
go_leafs_go writes...

Biggest upset in NHL history

Posted Wednesday | Comments 1
There are 2 potential upsets in this years stanley cup playoffs. Two of which would be rather large to some, especially one New York Islanders. Besides this year, what series (in any round) do you think was the biggest upset in history? I would have to say the 1982 series between the Kings and the Oilers. The Kings finished with just 63 points, compared to 111 points e...
wchiasson writes...

Favourite Multiple OT Game

Posted Thursday | Comments 4
With another great multiple overtime game in the bag, what is your most memorable multiple OT game? I'll have to side with game 3 in the 2nd round last season with the Sharks leading the series 2-0 heading into the game. This game proved to be the turnaround for the Oil who rolled off 7 consecutive wins after this game. The bar we were watching at asked us to leav...
I can't believe no one has commented on this yet. After the huge game 7 disappointment, the Chris Pronger kick to the collective groins of Oilers fans, ticket price increase, injury ravaged, non-puck moving D man of a season, Joffre Lupul single handedly gets the Calgary Flames into the playoffs. I know I'm a little late in posting this, but last nights utter snoozfest aga...
Joey Moss writes...

Trash talking & Bad Jokes

Posted Monday | Comments 0
So, I’m a born and raised Edmontonian that moved to Calgary 10 years ago to work in the oil patch. Living in the heart of the enemy‘s city hasn’t been easy, but for the most part the Oiler & Eskimo’s have done as well or better than their Red Rivals…. That is up until this year. My defending grey cup champion Eskimos ended a consecutive playoff streak th...
duxown writes...

DUCKS VS. WILD GAME 5

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
I expect the best game of the series tonight straight-up: Both teams are really amped up for tonight: the Ducks want to finish this thing and the Wild want to continue it. The Ducks at the end of the day might have something to prove physically as they did seem to get out of control in Game 4. As I've said in the forums, this series is a lot like the WCF last year( with t...
I posted this as a little reply in Tim Panaccio's "On Heidi, Barbaro and the Sabres-Rangers" but my little reply kept growing until I felt that I should post it as a blog and see if I could spark some discussion. ----------------------------------------------- Canadian fan here with some thoughts. I can't say that I disagree with anything Tim wrote about attract...
Well, as an avid Oiler fan I've finally wiped the tears from my face after a horrible end to the season from hell. All I can do now is wait for the summer trades to start and see how we make out in the draft. It sorta feels like Christmas when I was a kid...It seems like it's NEVER going to be Christmas Day, almost like the clocks spin backwards. But I can be patient an...
ahbrown writes...

I'm torn.

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
You've seen the scenario in many cartoons. The character is trying to make a decision and he has a little angel on one shoulder and a little devil on the other, both offering advice on which way to go. That is me with the Western Conference Final. I am a massive Oiler fan and I just don't know what to do with the Anaheim Ducks. On one-hand, I hate the Ducks. Well not...
ahbrown writes...

Time to Fire Bettman

Posted Tuesday | Comments 1
I actually don't have a problem with NBC bailing on the hockey coverage on the weekend. It was a business decision plain and simple. Hockey gets a 1.3 rating and the Preakness gets 6.3. I would have made the decision to switch as well. Maybe not right away given post time was over an hour away but at some point. What I am upset about is how Bettman rolled over and just ...
It seems everyone in Edmonton is drooling over Wade Redden. Behind Bouwmeester, he is definitely the player Oiler fans want to see manning the blueline in the Big E next year. Speculation is that because of Redden's contract and the Sens needing to resign younger stars that a Redden to Edmonton deal makes sense. We have the young cap friendly prospects and picks to do t...
Well I am going to start off by introducing myself to the hockey world. I am JDawg and a huge hockey fan, and if there is something that I thrive on it is this time of year. Today I want to talk a little bit about the oilers, now just after reading eklunds blog i understand that there might be some big moves made this year for KL, now as much as I at times dont agree with ...
mattperry writes...

First Blog, New Hope

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
Loyal Readers, Welcome to my first blog on the Hockey Buzz site. It is that time of year. Sometimes I think it is as much fun as the season. Our beloved Oil have a lot of holes to fill, no untouchables, loads of draft picks and room under the Salary Cap. That is an equation for an exciting off season. The biggest hole in my opinion is defensemen. The new NHL you n...
I know most of us Sabre fans are upset with the possibilities of losing both Drury and Briere, but I think we will see something happen on the Briere front before Friday. As for the draft and Drury, this is what I'd like to see if it becomes clear the Drury is not coming back (this probably won't happen, but it's fun to speculate). 1) Trade Kalinin and a forward (Kot...
mattperry writes...

Slow going for the time being

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Well folks it looks like it will be slow typing for me for a while. While playing in my summer hockey league I broke my right ring finger in two places (a strange thing that could ONLY happen to me). That will be fewer blogs for at least three weeks. However, here is what is running through my head today. The Oilers offseason plans. Next to landing a mobile defence p...
(A Near Flawless Prognostication Through Slightly Orange-and-Blue Colored Glasses) So, here we are, less than a week to go before this year’s free agent frenzy. We’ll start to find out who’s going where on Sunday, if not sooner. For the New York Islanders and their fans, it’s hard to start throwing any new names out there at this point, what with very little res...
Here we go again: 11) Carolina----Brandon Sutter May have the best all-around game in the draft, but I still think this is a little high for him consideringCherepanov was still on the board. Needs to fill out a lot and still develop a little more grit. Yes he's a Sutter, but he isn't as Sutter-y as others. Has good character to fall back on if his skills don't make him a...
That is a question that all the oiler fans have and are starting to maybe even change their answer. Kevin Lowe is an amazing GM, and honestly the things he has done for the organization is pretty sweet, but not trading any of the first 3 picks of the draft for roster players might have been a great idea. Look at it, he might still make a deal, and sources all around edm...
tylerm20 writes...

Slow start but smart moves

Posted Monday | Comments 0
July 1st in the NHL always gives you the feeling of Christmas, the oilers did there best to fill holes that are open and to improve the tea. The move to trade Jason Smith and Joffery Lupul for Geoff Sanderson and Jani Pitkanen was a great start. Sanderson will add some great veteran experience that is needed since Smith is gone, he will also be a dependable 3rd or 4th line...
tylerm20 writes...

Day 2 Hard to Swallow

Posted Monday | Comments 0
Today (Day 2) of free agency was suppose to be a day for Oiler fans to look forward to possible UFA signings. After a long day of almost all the Tier 2 UFA signed the oilers are left the same as Day 1. The day started off very strange with the deal that was suppose to be done in Nylander turning out to be nothing more then a lost deal with Nylander signing in Washington. ...
Great article on Hockeybuzz by Daniel Tolensky that shows exactly why the cap is broken and how the new NHL favours the big markets teams even more now than before. Over the last three years of the Briere deal, his actual salary will be $12M while his cap number will be $19.5M. Over the last two it is $5M versus $13M. So move along to the 5th or 6th year of that deal...
tylerm20 writes...

Oilers Continue Chess Match

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
The Edmonton Oilers had a slow yet oddly some what busy day today. The Oilers signed Goaltender Mathieu Garon to a 2 year contract, and agreed to terms with Raffi Torres on a 3 Year $6.75 Contract. The signing of Garon spells the end of Markkanen as the Oilers backup, Garon brings some decent numbers with that will help the Oilers more then Markkanen was able to give Rolo...
Just over a year ago around this time the Edmonton Oilers came just within one win of the biggest trophy in professional hockey. Three weeks later they were saying goodbye to superstar Chris Pronger, and a few other key players Michael Peca, Jaroslav Spacek, and Sergei Samsonov. So who replaced these players, because obviously you need to replace such key players...
gamma82 writes...

Vanek Offer Sheet

Posted Friday | Comments 0
TSN is reporting that the Edmonton Oilers have signed Buffalo Sabre forward Thomas Vanek to a $50 million dollar 7-year offer sheet. Looks like another example of the big market teams going crazy and taking advantage of the small market teams. Oh wait a minute forget everything I just said.
It seems as though the Sabres franchise knew this was coming. Edmonton Oilers GM Kevin Lowe needs to bring in a marquee player, and Thomas Vanek was on his hit list. Buffalo GM Darcy Regier said no way, Vanek is staying in town, and we'll match any offer sheet you throw at him. Well, Lowe tried to call Regier's bluff, but Darcy wasn't bluffing. The 7-year, $50 million pi...
This past year, the Edmonton Oilers have given their fans a new [i]rollercoaster[/i] ~ one that gets your emotions going. Last summer, blue line veteran Chris Pronger requested to be traded. He is now public enemy #1 in Alberta's capital. I don't see it that way. His wife was not happy up here so I'm pretty sure that put Pronger inbetween a rock and a hard ...
Lowe is a crazy man sparing nothing to improve his team (in a way I kinda admire that). On the other hand, I get the 'strategy' aspect of what he did and it isn't good for the league. In getting the Sabres to sign Vanek at the average hit of over $7mil per year, the arbitrators will award some crazy contracts to the likes of Parise, Ryder, and Hunter (probably Roy too). Ex...
[b]Jason Smith : A Steal for the Flyers?[/b] July 7th 3:42 PM: Last week, the Philadelphia Flyers traded Joni Pitkanen, Who is a young defenseman who racked up 43 points last season, and Geoff Sanderson, Who is considerably one of the fastest players in the NHL, He racked up 29 points. The Flyers acquired Joffrey Lupul, Who most Edmonton fans believe was a very bad acq...
Poor Ales...poor Hemmer...poor Ales Hemsky... He's got the puck, he's got the moves, but he's got nobody to pass it too anymore. Is this the year Ales Hemsky finally "breaks out" into the player we all think he can be? Is this the year when the quiet kid from the Czech Republic finally decides enough is enough and puts the team on his shoulders? Either way it'll be inte...
[i]In response to Larry Brooks column in the NY post on July 8th; Really Lowe[/i] 9 million dollars for Henrik Lundqvist....wow. Don't get me wrong, Henrik is an amazing goaltender, but 9 million dollars. I can think of about 4 million reasons why he is not worth 9 million dollars. And especially to the Oilers, where reason 4,000,001 is a guy named Dwayne Roloson. S...
Ryan Smyth always wanted to play his entire career with the Oilers. And he thought it was something he was going to able to do. Now he had always taken the “hometown discount” to stay with the Oilers in the past, but wasn’t it time after 12 seasons that the Oilers finally showed him the kind of money that most other teams in the league would be willing to pay for h...
deathvalley writes...

Take A Chance...

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Is the lack of UFA signings by the Edmonton Oilers really due to Edmonton being a "Siberia" of the north or just good due dilligence by Kevin Lowe? Unrestricted Free Agency is a fun time of the year, seeing if our team will "land the big one" but UFA signings have proven time and again to look a lot more sexy in July than when playoff time comes around the next season. ...
[i]Kevin Lowe finally got the big name UFA he was looking for, and the third new face for next season's blueline. But it comes at a steep cost. Is Sheldon Souray worth a cap hit of $5.4 million per year? Hard to say right now. But for some reason, for the last few hours I’ve been seeing flashes of Jason Spezza and some pylon in a Habs sweater flashing through my mind...
Every GM would trade for Vinny Lecavalier...in a heartbeat...probably including Edmonton Oilers GM Kevin Lowe. But this blog isn't about Mr. Lecavalier and his sniping ways it's about Tampa Bay's other Vinny...as in Vaclav Prospal. The Oilers desperately need some true top-6 talent and the Tampa Bay Lightning could use a little wiggle room from under the crushing weight...
Yesterday morning Eklund reported that there was a rumor that the Canadiens are interested in Nikolai Zherdev. Eklund also reported a few weeks ago that the Oilers and the Islanders may also be looking at him as well. Dealing Zherdev could end up profitable if done correctly. First of all, Nikolai Zherdev is a forward who has butted heads with Ken Hitchcock. Just like a...
Calgary Flames - C Key Acquisitions: Owen Nolan, Adrian Aucoin, Cory Sarich Question Marks: Offensive Production, Mike Keenan One of the best defensive teams in the league got better and deeper on defense this off season. The additions of Cory Sarich and Adrian Aucoin make one of the best bluelines in the league better and solidifies the Flames as one of the ...
OilerFan4Life writes...

Oilers Upcoming Season

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
I'll start off by saying that this is my first blog and I hope to write more in the future. Now most people when they talk about the Oilers in this upcoming season based on what moves they've done and the players they've lost so far they would think that the Oilers would finish somewhere from 11th to 15th in the Western Conference and I can see why. At the trade deadlin...
After Jason Smith got traded there was one big question. Who will be the Oilers Captain? That is a question that probably won't be awnsered until training camp starts in September. With Jason Smith playing in Philadelphia now the Oilers don't have captain, now the obvious choice for captain WOULD HAVE been Ryan Smyth but he is no longer in Edmonton either so I thought I wo...
tjcode writes...

Redden willing to waive NTC.

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Before I start, let me just thank all of you out there for all your emails that you sent to me in the recent months. For those who know me, I don't really have to say much. You know my track record, and I think, from my stand point, that it's a pretty darn good one. For those who are just tuning in for the first time to read my posts, you'll be the judge, and hopefully...
As is so often the case, it did not have to come to this. Anaheim general manager Brian Burke did not have to be faced with the $21.5 million question of the day. Match Edmonton's five-year offer for Dustin Penner -- at an average cap hit of $4.3 million per year -- or walk away from the player who scored 29 goals as a rookie last season. With Ryan Getzlaf and Corey ...
First of all, let me preface this by saying I don't like the idea of offer sheets to Restricted Free Agents. I think it drives up the price of business in the NHL, I think it is going to force teams to take players to arbitration whom otherwise could have gotten deals made and I think it's going to cause prices to inflate in the NHL once again. The CBA, as it stands in t...
ddp writes...

Lowe: Dangerous Game

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
When Vanek was signed by Oilers, I immediately voiced my violent opinions to all Oiler fans i knew well. How on earth could they do this ? It drives the market up, forget that its within the 'rules' but it drives market up, PERIOD. These are the same Oiler fans that I have heard cry, and they cry a LOT, when all these years they have lost their players. Yes, this...
detn8r writes...

On Edmonton's offer to Penner

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
I don’t understand how people make the argument that Lowe was trying to make “his” team better. How can any GM make a team better by over paying a player that isn’t worth the money, offering a long term contract with a lot of money tied up in one player. Most will say Penner is worth probably around the same as Ouellet, which turns out to be $1.25-million. That’s...
First off, I know I will get ripped for this, and that's fine with me, but please remember this is just one Oilers fans opinion. Looking back over the years I have been heart broken time and time again when my favorite Oilers got traded away for prospects or left for nothing in return. Oiler fans have been wanting / needing an even ground to compete on. We are finally...
duckyjets writes...

Edmonton and Offer sheets.

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
All week I have been sitting here reading post's from some bloggers that belive that signing group 2 free agents is poaching in the new CBA. Most of the writters who are saying this are fans of teams that are in a strong position and either have had this done to them or feel it may be heading there way. With the salary Cap and mid market players stocks rising every night I...
Polarking writes...

Response To Strickland

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
Andy, I really enjoy your blogs and you seem to have some very good hockey connections to go along with your insight, but I think you have lowered yourself to the level of the critical masses on this one. First off, Edmonton is a nice city, not flashy, but nevertheless a good place to live (and anyone who complains about the cold needs to toughen up). Those who bash ...
jammer21 writes...

Edmonton High Stakes Poker

Posted Tuesday | Comments 1
Well, perhaps this Edmonton offer sheet thing has been beaten to death, especially since Strickland seemingly launched a Molotov cocktail onto Whyte with his latest blog. But maybe there is a method to Lowe's offer sheet madness. So for all of you who think Lowe is crazy or overpaying for "unproven" talent, think of his offer sheet like a poker game. I don't think Kevin...
DJOilman writes...

Postcards from Siberia

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
Hello all...DJOilman here, reporting to you from the Capital of Alberta...Siberia... er...Edmonton. Of course, this weather makes it feel like Siberia.....what's it been, 32 degrees for about a month now. For those writers South of the border, that's 32 Celsius.....I'm sure many of you watch the weather channel and see the North American map showing Detroit at 90 degrees...
oilfan_79 writes...

Am I a true Oilers fan?

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Through out the past season or two I have rolled with all the punches that have been thrown my way. If anyone has read any of my posts they can attest to me defending the city, the organization, and the players with every single stroke on the keyboard. This past season has been especially tough listening to what seems to be just about very single non-Oiler fan ripping on...
One afternoon, when I was 4 years old (1984), I was at the Ice Palace in West Edmonton Mall with my brother and parents. I don't remember what the event was or why I was there, but, the Edmonton Oilers were playing a charity shinny game with some guys wearing red jerseys to this day, I claim, that they were the flames. Not because I remember Lanny's moustache or even a fla...
Dear EIG, Thank you. But it’s time to say goodbye. As an Oilers fan and Edmonton resident, I am very thankful for what the Edmonton Investors Group (EIG) did to save the Oilers from a near certain relocation. I just don’t think I could bring myself to cheer for an NHL team called the Houston Oilers. That is kind of ironic since one of my favorite NFL teams is Ten...
duckyjets writes...

Penner an Oiler

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Well its finally done I have been waiting for a week to finally see if the 245 pound power forward from portage (30 minutes from where I am Winnipeg) would finally become an oiler. I didn't think Burke would match the offer from the oilers but lets just say I was sitting on edge for the last week. You never know what can happen and what other teams are thinking. I'm glad t...
The Edmonton Oilers have had a rough year. They lost Chis Pronger (arguably the games best defensemen), Michael Peca, Joffrey Lupul, long time captain Jason Smith, and of course one of the all time fan favorites, Ryan Smyth (who signed with divisional rival Colorado thus adding salt to the wound). Then they signed Michael Nylander, oh wait, nevermind, he signed with…Wa...
If Todd Bertuzzi signed in Anaheim thinking a low pressure, quiet, hockey outpost would be a comfortable situation to get his career back on track, he may be sadly mistaken. Thursday morning, the Ducks chose not to match Edmonton's five-year, $21.5 million offer sheet for Dustin Penner, the man many consider to be the next Bertuzzi. Even Ducks general manager Brian B...
So everyone seems to be getting over the fact that Kevin Lowe has broken the “unwritten rule” regarding RFA’s and now it’s more of an issue about the dollar amount of the contract. Now I know that as sports fans we are all, especially the professional sports writers, experts in economics. At least it sure seems that way lately? With the salary cap we have a ceiling...
duckyjets writes...

Edmontons Prospects

Posted Friday | Comments 0
I dont know about you Oiler fans out there but I just can't waite to see Cogliano and Shremp play. I wonder how long it's going to take for them to make the team and see some NHL action. Cogliano reminds me of a young Kariya. The speed that he saktes with the puck is amazing. Shremp seems to me to have hands of gold this kid should be a welcome addition to the oilers in te...
First off how is it that Kevin Lowe has single handedly destroyed the financial system of the NHL. He signed a young kid with a lot of potential to an inflated contract for sure, but he needed to to get the kid out of LA. Brian Burke can cry all he wants, but he lost this time. I would say his 4 million signing of an old injured maligned player who never was a star in this...
FLAMESTR writes...

Lowe has changed the Game

Posted Friday | Comments 0
What Mr. Lowe has done has ended the boys Club. Mr. Lowe has has served notice that all the RFA'S have more options than just to sit around and wait for their gm's to sign them which is not just a bad thing , It has made GM's more aware of the RFA'S which means General Managers have to do thier jobs. I am sorry but that is a nut shell. The main reason the Bur...
hockeyisgd writes...

Retro-Buzz: Grant Fuhr

Posted Friday | Comments 0
Retro-Buzz III: Grant Fuhr With all the negative press about Kevin Lowe and the Edmonton Oilers, why not shed a positive light on the team's history. Grant Fuhr was a spectacular goaltender who was the backbone of the Cup runs in the 1980s. Pre-NHL Grant Fuhr was born September 28, 1962 in Spruce Grove, Alberta, outside of Edmonton. In 1979, at the age of 17, Fuhr br...
Metman4040 writes...

All For nothing?

Posted Friday | Comments 0
The stir up the Kevin Lowe has caused has made fans all across the league wounder why and get angry. I my self as a Sabres fan wounder why but for a tottaly diffrent reason. Why if your going to go through all this trouble to take a player from a team not make it a markey player as in a Thomas Vanek or a Zach Parise? He lost out on Vanek cause the sabres matched but still ...
Nicholas writes...

New Uniforms

Posted Friday | Comments 16
Originally posted at http://myoilers.ca The news about new NHL team uniforms has been fairly slow so far this summer, there has only really been a handful of teams to unveil their new uniforms (Washington, Boston, Florida, Columbus, Los Angeles). I haven't heard much about the new Oilers uniforms other then some rampant speculation suggesting that they won't be changing...
ChaosCris writes...

Lowe Should Step Down

Posted Friday | Comments 0
The Dustin Penner offer sheet is proof Kevin Lowe should step down from his post as General Manager of the Edmonton Oilers. As a GM you are supposed to [img:right]http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070803/capt.nyol56108030003.dustin_penner_nyol561.jpg[/img] improve your team while securing the future of the franchise. While Penner will only be 25 by the start of the seas...
It's been about a week since this whole Dustin Penner thing came about, but it feels like I've read about 1000 articles on this subject all calling for Kevin Lowe to step down, or he's desperate etc. The fact of the matter is (and i'm not an oiler fan) that Kevin did what he needed to do to make his team better. Did he pay too much? Probably. Is it joe averages fan's mo...
TheStig writes...

Burke vs Lowe

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Lowe was desperate for some help upfront and he found it in the form of a RFA, Dustin Penner. Who just happened to play for Anaheim, where Chris Pronger ended up last year after his wife complained about Edmonton, and while Mr. Pronger couldn't be a man and honor his contract he opted out. Kevin Lowe got snubbed in the UFA market, and needed to improve his team so he went ...
The recent offer sheets tendered by Kevin Lowe has elicited much reaction. Some accuse Lowe of ruining the salary structure of the entire league and Brian Burke even went so far as to paint Lowe as desperate and stupid. Others defended Lowe's approach, saying he has to do whatever he believes is in his team's best interest and they applaud his bold moves at young restric...
J.Pitkanen writes...

It's The Team, Stupid.

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
The rejection of Daryl katz's offer to buy the Edmonton Oilers from the Edmonton Investors Group is being met with some absurd claims - namely, that spending to the cap is the way to win Lord Stanley. The facts from the new-CBA era do not support this myth: 2007 EC Champs – OTT - $43.630M EC Finalists – BUF - $39.991M WC Champs – ANA - $40.461M* WC Finalist...
mslepp writes...

I Miss the Grinders of 2004.

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
Top to bottom, the Calgary Flames look like one of the top teams in the league each of the last 2 seasons and including the one upcoming. However, these teams have failed to produce to the hefty standards of the entire city. Having sat in my seat in the 'dome to watch us lose back-to-back playoff series at home I can safely say I miss the grinders of 2004. I'm not s...
saneopinion writes...

looking north makes me smile

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
The best part about talking to oiler fans now is by far and away the polite smile and nod you get to give them when they talk about their "new oilers". I love how trading away the captain of a team that was floundering due to lack of heart for a young d who was extremely disappointing is hailed as a good move. I mean, why would they want Jason Smith's "heart and soul" af...
saneopinion writes...

Dome vs. Rexall

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Every year three of my good friends and I take a road trip north to Edmonton for the sole purpose of ruining oiler fan's evenings, and hopefully gloating about a win. So far we have had pretty good luck in terms of our win loss ratio but it does beg an interesting question. Which is a better venue? The Saddledome although old was renovated back before the olympics in orde...
[b] One Oiler question is, are they ready. In the 2005-2006 season oiler fans were on the edge of their seats in the stanley cup finals, The next year they placed a deadly 12 conference standing and a 25 overall league standing. Sure lowe landed [b]Souray[/b],[i]Pitkanen,Sanderson[/i],and [b]Penner[/b] but the question is are they ready to commit to the oil.[/b] ...
When I look at the Flames' first month in the schedule I at first think it's a touch one until I start looking at the months following it and realize they're all tough. The season starts out on Oct. 4 against the Flyers and their newest additions, I'd be very surprised if the Brier/Gagne line isn't extremely pumped for that game. This was the worst team Philly fans have ...
mslepp writes...

Peca, overhyped?

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
First off I have to say how much I enjoy hearing all of the updates that happen on this site. Even the Mike Peca ones. That's why I check in once or twice daily. However, with all due respect to everyone who's following the ongoing Peca saga, I'd like to shed a little light on the situation. Mike Peca will not contribute greatly to a team this year. He hasn't done a...
I don't know how those boxes got there.Sorry. With just a couple of weeks left until training camp starts I thought I would write what I think the standings in the Western Conference would be if the teams would be if they were to use the players they had right now. 1.Anaheim Ducks Additions: Shane Hnidy, Todd Bertuzzi, Mathieu Schneider, Dan Lacouture Losses: Dus...
duckyjets writes...

What will the Oilers do next?

Posted Saturday | Comments 3
I have heard many rumors on this site that the Oilers are not done making a splash, and are still looking to make a block-buster trade to bring in a #1 Center to play along Hemsky and Penner if that happens to be the #1 Line. The rumor is that the Oilers are willing to trade some defence to obtain a little offence. When I look at the Oilers defencemen I dont see any top nh...
CanesRallyCry writes...

'Canes D: Need Fixing?

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Early in the post season Jim Rutherford was very active in trying to acquire one Joni Pitkanen. Obviously he would have like to employ his puck moving abilities and youth to a fairly stay-at-home veteran D-Corps. As everyone knows, Rutherford did not land Pitkanen, the Oilers did. The man who was on the trading block, Niclas Wallin, remains a 'Cane. It wasn't that th...
I have been posting this question on other oilers blogs that I have seen recently. I just do not understand why Kevin Lowe and MacT dont play their young talened players more then they do. When I look around the NHL and see teams like Chicago, Buffalo, Anaheim, L.A and many others giving their young players a shot at the big show and the oilers ignoring theirs leaving them...
I'm just going to list the top players from each team and compare, at the end if any oiler fan can tell me on that they can be certain the Oilers are a better team let me know. top centers: Sykora 53 points..oops sorry guys couldn't pay him enough to play there either should I move on to Nylander?? EEERRRR my bad, let me start over. Top Centers: Horcoff- 16 g 35a 5...
OK I will bite on this a little bit. First to a couple of the other Oilers posters who replied on sanes blog: 1. Tanguay was a good acquisition, especially since the Flames gave up a D-man who played what 10 games last year. I think he played more with Iginla down the stretch and was effective. 2. Second Kipper won't be going somewhere to market himself, the spo...
saneopinion writes...

i love this game

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
I love hockey for it's crazy and totally unpredictable nature, anyone who's played sports select here in Canada (there's legalized betting here) and tried to bet 12 games in the N.H.L. on any given night knows what I mean. Try and guess four and if you do you'll impress me! Heading into any game are hundreds of intagibles, from injuries to sickness, to back to back games t...
[b]Up next, I looked at the Northwest Division (one of the toughest to pick) Minnesota Wild[/b] The Minnesota Wild had a good year last year, perhaps overachieving a little bit. Mainly they were able to take advantage of Edmonton when they were on their spiral down towards the basement of the Northwest Division. The Wild were 6 - 2 against Edmonton and 4 of the wins ...
It seems when I present an argument or a retort to the Flames vs. Oilers question I am met with one response over and over again, it goes like this. " yeah...well you ONLY have ONE Stanley Cup banner...". Yeah, I guess it is true the Flames have ONLY one banner to hang and I won't get into a pissing competition about president banners and conference banners because real...
It is time for the second edition in my series of blogs about the new NHL jerseys. For those who still have not seen the new jerseys: http://www.fartfignewton.com/rbk_edge/ And for those who missed Part 1 of this series: http://my.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?user_id=2407&post_id=2473 This time I am turning my critical eye towards the Northwest division. [b]C...
sixtyone writes...

And here we go...

Posted Tuesday | Comments 1
So tonight is the first pre season game for the Leafs against the Oilers. It should be a good game and a good test for a few players. Here is the line up that was posted by Alec Brownscombe on his blog [url]http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=9452[/url] FORWARDS: Darcy Tucker - Kyle Wellwood - Alexei Ponikarovsky Jeremy Williams - Matt Stajan - Simon Gamache ...
The Canucks own battle of Alberta continues tonight when the Edmonton Oilers come to town. Anson Carter will not play tonight, because of a concussion. Honestly would MacT have even let Carter suit up for this game. Maybe the bad blood between Carter and the Canucks only comes from the fans, but if there was any from the players, Carter would have a rough time tonight. ...
Deja-vu? Thursday September 20, 2007 Vancouver Canucks vs. Edmonton Oilers 7:00 pm (PST) – General Motors Place – Vancouver, B.C. [i][b]***This just in...Ryan Shannon will play his third consecutive pre-season game for the Canucks as Jannik Hansen broke his thumb in last night's 4-0 victory over the Calgary Flames***[/b][/i] Tonight the Vancouver Canucks...
Mitchellis#1 writes...

Canucks Over Oilers 5-4

Posted Friday | Comments 0
The rivalry between the Canucks and Oilers isn't a fierce one, but tonights game felt like a regular season one, except for some scrambly play. A big knock against the Canucks play tonight was stupid penalties. They took 6 in the first period alone. Henrik to Daniel. Thats a sentance Canucks fans are going to hear a lot of this coming campaign. We heard it a lot tonigh...
With many experts picking the Oilers to finish out of the playoffs and on the lower end of the conference standings there is no where to go but up. They will surprise some people with a playoff appearance and improved offence. Everybody knows that preseason success doesn’t always result regular season wins. With a 5-1 preseason start the Oilers might not change many o...
As promised I am following up my dark horse blog with my predictions blog. Very unique I know. No playoff predictions though, way too early for those. With that said, let’s start in the West. [b] [u]Western Conference[/u][/b] [u]Pacific Division[/u] 1. [b]San Jose Sharks[/b]: Probably the deepest team in the league. Tons of offensive skill led by Joe Thornton, Pat...
FLAMESTR writes...

CIVIL WAR OF ALBERTA

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
[b]THE GREATEST RIVALRY IN THE NHL: THE ALBERTA CIVIL WAR[/b] This Blog is one of a series of blog suggestions from my friends at HockeyBuzz site his name was drjsay. I would also love to thank Patrick Hoffman he did a real nice job on editiing my blog thanks again Pat. [b]EDMONTON OILERS MOST MEMEORABLE FORWARDS[/b] I remember the four years that Wayne Gretz...
grapes17 writes...

Just stop, Brian

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
[i] "Just stop enough of the limitless critical comments on my life, just drop the judgement and all the pseudo-involvement in my life." -- Disturbed, "Just Stop." [/i] It is unlikely the band knew Brian Burke when they wrote the song, which is ironically played at most Anaheim Ducks home games, but it could not be any more appropriate. Just ask Kevin Lowe. Or, ...
[b]CALGARY FLAMES MOST MEMEORABLE FORWARDS[/b] My favorite Flame player is Hakan Loob. He was the first Swedish born player to score fifty goals in the NHL. He had speed to burn and quick a release on his wrist shot. The second forward I would like to mention is Joe Nieuwendyk. He was the best rookie the Flames had, scoring fifty goals in his first year. Joe could...
Deke2194 writes...

The season thus far...

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
For anybody who was wondering (which quite possibly is nobody...haha) I never did write part 3 of Living up to the Big Bucks. There are some interesting stories developing already in this young NHL season; The Avalanche led by sophomore Paul Stastny, the Edmonton Oilers starting 2-0 against two tough teams, the Defending Champion Ducks starting 1-3, and the Capitals sta...
FLAMESTR writes...

CONCLUSION CIVIL WAR

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
[b]HISTORY[/b] Have you ever lost your girlfriend to your best friend? Have you ever had your legs waxed? Has you mom asked you “Why can’t you be more like your brother?” Has your boss or your wife told you to get up and go do something? Think back so you can have an idea on how these two cities feel about each other. I remember in my teens and early twenties...
Canucks12 writes...

Van v.s EDM Game preveiw.

Posted Friday | Comments 0
Edit: Canucks.com Made it official, Rick Rypien is up and is expected to play. Canucks are 1-2-0 Edmonton is 2-2-0. The Canucks have just re-assign Ryan Shannon who ha 2 goals but was the leagues worste +/- with -7, according to CDC forums Team1040 sports radio is reporting that we have called up Rick Rypien, Witch Canucks.com has confirmed. I have no clue who the Canucks...
Canucks12 writes...

Canucks Strike Oil.

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Canucks strike oil with a 5-2 bounce back win over Edmonton, Canucks goals by Henrik Sedin, Rick Rypien, Alex Burrows, Brendan Morrison, And Markus Naslund. Edmonton goals by Sheldon Souray, and Raffi Torres. Rypien and Burrows Both had 2 point night with a goal and assist, considering Burrows' goal was shorthanded and this was Rypien first game since Shannons send down an...
mslepp writes...

Battle of Alberta pt.1

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
I haven't had the opportunity to watch many Flames games this year while living in Vancouver, but of the games I have watched, this was Calgary's best game. I slam Dwayne Roloson every chance I get. I feel he's the most overrated goaltender in the league. But he's played well in both of the last 2 games. If he continues to play well, it should allow the Oil to gain...
[img]http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:XHhsrz2CNko4HM:http://outdoorlife.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/06/05/gator.jpg[/img] [b]Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know[/b] No...not the entirely forgettable 3rd album by "Dead or Alive" or the bumper sticker that is perennially placed on the back window of many pickup trucks, just below the gun rack. The phrase was ori...
Ryan Smyth returned to Edmonton for the first time since being traded last season at the deadline. He was traded to the New York Islanders for prospect Ryan O'Marra, Robert Nilsson and the Islander's first round draft pick for the 07 draft (Alex Plante). Before the game began a tribute to Ryan Smyth was shown over the video display board of his contributions to the Edm...
Jdawgx_6 writes...

Oilers Spark Some Life

Posted Friday | Comments 0
Wow, just when you think that the Oilers are down and out, and they bleed a little, they come out strong. The game last night against the Minnestoa Wild was great. Very fast paced, and very competative, something the Oilers really haven't been. In watching the last period in the Avalanche game on tuesday, I saw a flicker of life in the Oilers, they played great and showed ...
Well...not quite the same verse (it would have to have been a shut out to do that) but it was close enough as Dan Ellis led the Preds to a 4-1 victory on the road tonight against the Edmonton Oilers. Once again Ellis made some huge saves at critical times...the toe save against Hemsky when the game was knotted at 1-1 was very big! Great play tonight from Arnott and Legw...
[img]http://boredplanet.com/img/superarbour.jpg[/img] Legends are hard to come by. Yes we hype the hell out of that flavor of the week/month/year. We heap accolades on them. Especially when a sport has been devoid of that and buzz for years. But they haven't accomplished even a dent to surface of what makes a legend. True legends are those we will talk about d...
FLAMESTR writes...

EDMONTON OILERS HAVE BITE

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
[b]EDMONTON OILERS HAVE BITE[/b] My thirty-team tour takes me to Edmonton. The first thing that comes to mind when I think about the Oilers is that they are one of the fastest teams in the league. Their forwards are also very offensively gifted and very young, with ton of potential for many years to come. I love this team, because they are still young and have this...
murdoch writes...

Luongo Gets a Shutout? Why?

Posted Thursday | Comments 2
Can some please explain to me why Roberto Luongo gets credit for a shutout in a 1-0 shootout loss? I am totally bitter this morning. This week I am going against the guy i traded Lecavalier to and his 5 points last night (joke is on me), but Luongo is getting shutout points for a 1-0 loss? Kinda chaps me up here. Can someone explain why this is? It is even confirme...
Having lived in Vancouver for just about a year now, I've had the esteemed privelage of attending 4 Canuck games. All of which I lovingly cheer for my Flamers' division rival, but more importantly, cheering for a good game. The Canucks are 0-4 in the games I have attended, including a loss last year late in the season to the Flames! They are currently marred in a 7.5 pe...
I have one question to kevin Lowe, Why did'n't you pick up Bryzgalov off waivers? After last nights debacle I think its written all over the wall that Rolosons's best days are long behind him. The letang goal was as soft as it gets and if Edmonton wants to win games they are going to have to play Garon alot. Roloson's inconsistant play was all to remonnisant of last years ...
Hockey Canada is currently waiting for final word from the remaining two NHL teams with Junior eligible players, on whether or not those players will be released to represent Canada at the WJHC. Those two teams are the Edmonton Oilers (Sam Gagner) and the St. Louis Blues (David Perron). Minnesota (James Sheppard), Boston (Milan Lucic), Pittsburgh (Jordan Staal) and Chica...
It’s time to look ahead to the Blues game tonight against the Edmonton Oilers. Be warned, Blues fans. If the Oilers give up an early lead, by the first intermission, the fans will likely call for the firing of a coach, a GM or a combination thereof. Wait, wrong Canadian team. Do we play the Leafs this year? The last time these two teams met on December 7th, the Oilers...
predjoe writes...

Solid Win

Posted Friday | Comments 0
[b]The Preds posted an impressive 5-2 win[/b] over the Edmonton Oliers who continue to find Nashville a tough place to play losing their fourth straight appearance here. Getting two goals from Alexander Radulov, a goal and an assist from captain Jason Arnott, a short handed goal from Jared Smithson and JP Dumont added a powerplay goal in a game that the Preds seemed t...
If anyone still was not over the love-affair with Nilsson, who went to EDM as part of the Ryan Smyth trade, one should read Nolan's latest quotes on the subject to prove what has been written about many times here and elsewhere: Nolan was not a Nilsson fan, and that made him expendable. Nolan told it plainly to Robert Tychkowski, of the Edmonton Sun: [i]"Nilsson ...
The Islanders came into 2008 by nipping a slide at that was from the end of November until mid-December. They came out of Colorado OT loss being railed on for not having their head in the game by the coach and captain. So, if this was still the Isles stepping up, you would have thought that the team would be raring to go at it versus Edmonton. Right? Instead, they got l...
It has been rumored for a while that Jaromir Jagr could be on the move from the Rangers. According to sources Pittsburgh was looking into #68 coming back to ride shotgun along Sid. This season JAGGS has looked dynamic at times and far more often, lost at others. One can sense that this is how fires started in Cap city with the foward coming to Broadway for Anson Carter. Ca...
I thought about this one for a while a said "Oh what the hell ". It's like Jack Burton in Big Trouble in Little China. Damn what a good movie! So if the Rangers are really going to give this cup run a shot their gonna need a quality 1-2 punch in net. Cujo has had alot of nice playoff performances in his career. Those of you lucky enough to have the NHL Network can see t...
Evidently, Cam Barker got his wake up call prior to last night's 3-2 shootout win over Nashville. He skated hard, hit people and looked like a totally different player than he did in his sleepwalk versus Minnesota the other night. The Hawks are still underproducing in key areas, most notably the power play, but played well enough to beat the Predators. The tradewinds ar...
The Oilers lately have reminded me that I should not lose faith. The Oil are continually proving me wrong. Last night against the Flames, the Oilers put up a very impressive victory. They played a flames team that is virtually unstoppable on the road. Hemsky was outsanding, Score-coff continues to dominate, and a revived Dustin Penner is finally worth his weight. He has re...
GAGNER#89 writes...

GARON IS A STAR!!!!!

Posted Monday | Comments 0
Acekicker123 writes...

Tarnstrom to the Hawks

Posted Monday | Comments 0
My "sources" tell me Tarnstrom is close to being dealt to the Hawks (A5) =D
bongo_guy writes...

What About This?

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
[b]Since I started blogging, I have been suggesting ideas to help the Avs solve their close-to-woes this season (and next). Well, the beat goes on with a "what about this?" idea. First, as much as I hate it, trade Liles to CAR for Commodore + pick. It would have to be a trade and sign for both teams but I put Commodore in the $2.5-3.0 range for next year (given recent m...
The Edmonton Oilers were 11-2 in the shootout with 18 goals on 40 tries. The Washington Capitals were 0-2 and had allowed 7 goals in 14 attempts. Nothing had to give, but it did, and the Caps skated away with the victory after Olie stopped all 12 Oilers shooters and Matt Bradley scored for the first time in three career shootout tries. The Caps' unlikely victory looked ...
In March 1994 I sat down to watch the Rangers take on Mark Messier's former team. The Oilers were in town, and I cranked up MSG just after dinner. Anticipating a great game, I got an extra suprise when the Rangers traded one of my favorite young players Doug Weight for Esa Tikkanen. It was a deal virtually done in the halls of MSG. Weight walked from the Rangers dressing r...
Greetings Hockey Fans, Horcoff is gone for the season. Kevin Lowe is left with 2 options, firesale or just try to keep burke from getting the #1 pick. If he moves people here is a list of who should go and in the most ideal situation what we may get for them. Fernando Pisani - 2nd Rd. pick/some russian having trouble signing Jarrret Stoll - Only for a first round...
Cold on the heels of their close 2-1 home loss to the Stars on Saturday, the Flames got crushed 5-0 in Edmonton tonight, souring CuJo's first start with the Flames. Let me tell you, I didn't watch much of the third period (because Prison Break was on, and also the Flames were down 3-0 after two) but I can tell you that this was the absolute worst I have seen the Flames pla...
boobyorr writes...

Oiler Questions

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Greeting Hockey Fans, So Oil Country I have some questions for you in regards to this team. I hope to get some response, as I am curious for other opinions on some issues I have heard being discussed. So here's a couple questions with a few talking points for your enjoyment or displeasure. 1. If he was available, would waive his NTC, and could be had for a reasonable...
The Calgary Flames rebounded from a relatively lackluster performance against Chicago on Thursday to defeat Edmonton 4-1 at the 'Dome tonight. Owen Nolan continued his strong play, leading the way with two goals. Dion Phaneuf also scored for the Flames, with Jarome Iginla adding an empty netter. The Flames are currently in seventh place, remaining two points back of Minnes...
With the NHL trade deadline fast approaching, and Canadian hockey fans everywhere stockpiling the beer and getting the work-escape plans ready, I thought that I would analyze each Canadian teams game plan for trade deadline day, highlighting each teams needs, possible trade bait, and what players they could be targeting. Today, I will begin with the Calgary Flames. Friday:...
With the NHL trade deadline fast approaching, and Canadian hockey fans everywhere stockpiling the beer and getting the work-escape plans ready, I thought that I would analyze each Canadian teams game plan for trade deadline day, highlighting each teams needs, possible trade bait, and what players they could be targeting. Yesterday, I will did the Calgary Flames (See Archiv...
The deadline is only 8 days away and the rumors are swirling like crazy. Especially regarding the Leafs. The Leafs are getting more air time than ever in Canada right now, which is hard to believe considering East Coast TV always leads with the Leafs regardless of their standing in the league. But this blog isn't complaining about the centre of the universe, I just want to...
predjoe writes...

Whoo...That Was Close

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
[b]With the game in hand[/b] and the ice tilted in their direction the Predators let the Edmonton Oilers nearly steal two points in Nashvhille last night. The Oilers scored goals in bunches and scoring three unanswered goals to take a 4-3 lead. The Preds answered back seconds later knotting the game at four a piece. JP Dumont finally rescued the Preds in the final minutes ...
5-2 Dallas Tomorrow I'll take a look at the Stars roster to see who the most likely trade chips are. Young players take time to develop in professional sports. 19 and 20 year olds rarely step right in take the world by storm. Steve Ott is a former 1st round pick, and this year he is beginning to show why. In the past two games Steve Ott has been throwing his body aro...
The night had all the makings of things finally pointing in the right direction for the Avalanche with 20 games left to play in the regular season. Joe Sakic was back in the lineup after missing 38 games, the last of the big 3 forwards returning from injury. This was the first of three consecutive games against the Canadian division foes, and a chance not only to start t...
Greetings Hockey Fans, TSN is reporting Ethan Moreau fractured his tibia at the end of the game versus the Avalanche on Sunday night and will miss the rest of the season. The season of injury woes goes from uncanny to brutal. Well, Brian Burke and Duck fans probably find it hilariously entertaining, but I had to quit worrying about that after Horcoff went down in an All...
cvick writes...

K Lowe and Robbie Schremp.

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
Ok, so every Oilers fan on the planet thinks that Schremp should get a shot in the big league. We've all seen his ridiculous shootout goals on youtube, and anyone who's never had a lobotomy can see that this guy has some major offensive talent. So why hasn't this kid made it to the big time and scored 25 goals by now? Well, the fact of the matter is, is that the only st...
boobyorr writes...

Oilers Goals

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Greetings Hockey Fans, Here are some Saturday afternoon thoughts for fans who are not thinking about playoffs right now. These are teams the Edmonton Oilers (65 pts) may be able to finish ahead of in the standings and therfore Duck fans should be cheering for: [b]Western Conference[/b] [b][i]Los Angeles [/i][/b](56 pts) - not much to say here, need a goalie, lo...
CBJ09 writes...

What Might Have Been

Posted Monday | Comments 0
The Blue Jackets, coming off an impressive come-from-behind win Friday night in Vancouver, had seemingly shrugged off the disappointment of Tuesday's trading deadline. Departing captain Adam Foote, the subject of a heated exchange of words via the media following his trade back to Colorado, was alleged to be the glue that held together the locker room. Though his presen...
CBJ09 writes...

Getting Back on Track

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
With just 14 games remaining in the regular season, the Blue Jackets are aware of the road that lies ahead. To get to the postseason, they'll have to avoid the potholes along the way. Accumulating 70 points in their first 68 games, the Blue Jackets will need at least 22 points from here to the house. A record of 11-3 or 10-2-2 isn't by any means impossible, but it wo...
jalapski writes...

Theo Peckham Recalled By Oil

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
The Edmonton Oilers have recalled defenceman Theo Peckham from the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis. - edmontonoilers.com Word is Matty Roy has injured his shoulder and Smid and isnt quite ready to go. Expect to see him in the Oilers lineup tommorow against the Jackets.Theo has put up 6 goals and 10 points in 42 games along with 11...
CBJ09 writes...

When the Lights Turn On

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
[b]In yet another Jekyll and Hyde performance [/b]this afternoon, the Blue Jackets offense did the damage in a 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Not a misprint. The NHL's worst offensive team exploded for five goals and broke a listless streak (0-31) on the power play with Jason Chimera's game winner with 3:44 left. Nikolai Zherdev fired a one-timer through the legs...
predjoe writes...

Who Do You Love?

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
[b]Obviously at this time of year you want your team to win[/b] but if you are like me I am scoreboard watching like crazy! Right now I am so thankful for my Spring TREO that allows me to continually check the status of games of interest. I wonder if the people at ESPN are seeing my increased use in their bottom line numbers? "Guys...ummmm...we had ten thousand hits on...
[b]I wanted to write this yesterday but I came down with a bad case of strep throat coupled with a decent fever...ugh...oh well, it gives me a day or two off work at least! TSN recently polled website visitors regarding who they thought should be named "Comeback Player of the Year". The choices were Alex Kovalev, Jose Theodore and someone else (forgive me for not rememb...
Ask anyone, whether it be bloggers, journalists, coaches or players, and the universal response to the question "How many points will it take to make the playoffs in the Western Conference?" would probably be 94 or 95 points. The Calgary Flames are embroiled in the tightest points race in hockey, the Northwest Division race, a remarkable logjam of a division that, if it co...
The Calgary Flames rebounded from an abysmal first period, a terribly soft goal, and a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 tonight at the Saddledome. With the win, Calgary takes the lead in the Northwest Division with 90 points, one more than Minnesota and four more than the Canucks and Colorado Avalanche. This was a huge win for the Flames, who go into a three...
predjoe writes...

I Wish I Could Trust Him

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
[i]Dan Ellis has unseated Chris Mason as the teams starter. [/i] [i][b]"I wish I could trust him."[/b][/i] [b]That's what kept echoing in my brain[/b] last night following the superb performance by Dan Ellis last night in goal. for the second game in a row Ellis has stood on his head and led this team to victory. First it was the 2-1 shootout victory over the Bla...
As a devout Oilers fan, let me first say that I came to terms with the Oilers not making the playoffs after they dropped 6 in a row back in December. My only hope for the rest of the season was that they would somehow find a way out of the bottom 5 to not give Anaheim a lottery pick for Penner. Imagine my surprise over the last 4 or 5 weeks as the Oilers have amazed ev...
predjoe writes...

Marked Man

Posted Friday | Comments 0
[i]Preds tough guy Tootoo could be marked man tonight...[/i] [b]At this point in the season[/b] every game for the Predators carries huge playoff implications. To say we need every point we can get is a huge understatement and tonight's tilt against division rival Columbus is as big as they get. The Preds are coming off a hard fought (literally and figuratively) 3...
I just did not have the energy to muster a blog post late last night, after the Calgary Flames' 2-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers at home. So I'll briefly summarize this huge game before detailing how it affects the Flames' division hopes. This game was, in my view, simply a heartbreaker for the Flames, who outshot, outchanced, and had more puck control for the entire game t...
The consistent-inconsistency continues, on par with the whole of this season, and all of the last. It's been since the first post-strike season that the Calgary Flames have played with any sort of consistent effort and production. This is a trend that, if not fixed before, or early in the playoffs, will result in another early exit from the post-season. And that's assum...
The Calgary Flames' divisional hopes officially died Thursday night with a 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild, who clinch the Northwest with the win. More importantly to Calgary, though, was their failure to get the one point needed to clinch a berth in the playoffs. The Flames remain in 7th place in the West with 92 points, just one above the Nashville Predators and four abov...
We're all getting riled up for playoffs and every now and then I still see people whining about the physical style that is hockey. This is hockey people. Hockey players get hurt, it's an outcome a physical game brings. This isn't a new growing problem, checking has been there since the beginning. NHL teams made a mistake when they figured they no longer need tough guys...
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind [img]http://boredplanet.com/img/eternalyashin.jpg[/img] (Our hopes, dreams and our future fortunes are only possible if we forget our past. ) Let me all welcome you to the crossroads. The crossroads of where there is two different paths. One path is some hype and hopes, but likely mediocrity. The other is a tougher road ...
Raycroft#1Fan writes...

Ya Rly.

Posted Monday | Comments 0
Just a follow up to the last blog, you actually CAN get banned for mentioning Eklund's disgusting foreskin. To be honest, i'm just reporting the truth, something Eklund fails to ever do. What is wrong with this world, people speak the truth and get banned, while a fat greasy bastard bullshits every single day and get peoples hopes up thinking their favourite hockey tea...
Welcome to my 1st blog at HockeyBuzz. I’m a life-long Oiler fan who surfs the net a lot reading the forums at hfboards.com, Sportsnet.ca, EdmontonOilers.com, and here at Hockeybuzz as well as other hockey news sites. I’ve never had the urge to create a user account before at any of these sites, but recently I started thinking that it would be fun to do some blogging to...
got the oil tat writes...

Lowe Fires Back

Posted Friday | Comments 0
Update: Saturday 07/05/08 --- you can find the interview here: http://www.justagame.ca/audio/Kevin%20Lowe%20Full%20Interview%20July%204.mp3 On local radio in Edmonton this afternoon, Kevin Lowe was interviewed and finally fired back at Brian Burke. The interviewer asked K-Lowe what his thoughts were, on Burke's latest whining over high salaries (Corey Perry) and how Bur...
benbca writes...

City of Edmonton

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Wasn't that long ago when Pronger announced he wanted out of Edmonton after just signing a 6 year deal there. Pronger along with numerous other Oilers (Spacek, Peca, Samsanov, etc) formed a mass exodus out of Edmonton, the City, not the Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club. A team just 4 weeks prior played in a 7th game of the Cup finals. Pronger had his problems personally, his...
With the recent reaction from the NHL to have the two feuding GM's cease and desist, I have come to ponder the real reason Kevin Lowe finally came out with a response to Brian Burke's one sided rants. I am not here to say that either one of these GM's is accurate or correct in their assessments of each other as in business every decision is a risk. We hear the banter of...
As the days towards the regular season draw closer and closer (three months away I know, I'm just comforting myself) the final rosters of many teams are set to go. When the off-season began, GM's around the league were busy re-shaping their rosters, and with that many teams will impose a bigger threat than last season. I will begin with the [b][i]Eastern Conference[/i][...
drake17 writes...

North West Outlook

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
This year the North West division might be the closest and one of the most interesting divisions in hockey. Why you ask? Well because all 5 teams have a legitimate chance of winning the Division but all face certain questions that could make or break there season. But who really knows anyone could be a top three seed come April. [u][b]Colorado Avalanche[/b][/u] ...
saneopinion writes...

The Truth About Offer Sheets

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
There is something called the right of first refusal in the C.B.A., if you read the paragraphs that deal with offer sheets you see this term a lot and it's important to remember. Recently with Brian Burke and his latest calling out of Kevin Lowe and blaming him for the sky rocketing price of player salaries this argument raised it's ugly head again. I've read bloggers o...
It is inevitable that the Rangers will have to move some players to make room for Mats Sundin. I still think they should remain in the hunt,as the Rangers will need another scoring threat to compete in the East.For one or two years the Blue shirts would add much needed size to slow down the attack of the Pens,Flyers and beefed up Tampa.I think a line of Mats,Naslund,and...
Ok so its' been a few weeks since my last post. The latest rumor has the Rangers moving Scott Gomez to make room for Mats Sudin and about 6 mill per year. If this holds water and the Canucks are looking into picking up the All-star center,they should be prepared to make a realistic offer. For years NY clubs have been exploited and held over the fires when trying to m...
What a great day for Hockey in Alberta as the joint bid between the cities of Calgary and Edmonton announced as the hosts of the 2012 WJHC, beating out a solid bid from the centre of the universe. First, the Calgary Flames unveil their 5 biggest acquisitions this off-season at a presser earlier in the week, an email from a friend setting up our fantasy hockey draft da...
Alright as with before I spin the roulette , it lands upon a team and I give my rather run down as it appears to my eye. Onto to the spin. ......... The Edmonton Oilers The Oilers are two season removed from their stanley cup final appearance . In that time they have gone through quite a bit. With the 07-08 season seeing the trade of their beloved captain and their ...
The Edmonton Oilers organization is hosting a prospect tournament in Camrose Alberta for the prospects of the Flames, Oilers and Vancouver Canucks. Last night, in the first meeting the Flames' prospects squeaked out a 1-0 victory over the Oilers Prospects, here is break down of a few of the standouts in my not so humble opinion. OILERS: Devan Dubnyk- Goalie: You can ...
On October 8, 2007, I wrote that the Phoenix Coyotes would win the Pacific Division. The blog is linked below. I really didn't believe it at the time - I wrote it more as a knock against the perennial favorite Sharks, Stars and Ducks. All three of those teams were mired in an early season of mediocrity and it was frustrating to watch these three lose to the Blackhawks, ...
etownhockey writes...

Make way for Rob Schremp

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
The Oilers feel they can build from within the system. However, I've been reading "respectable" bloggers in regards to the 3rd line centre void. They have been bantering up ideas to bring in a Smolinski or a Marchant. So in my effort to silence the critics, so to speak, I for one strongly feel those statements are poorly executed. "IF" that were to be the case, why did the...
bongo_guy writes...

Avs - Same Team?

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
[b] Well, training camp is over and so is preseason. Cuts and roster moves have been made and really the only question remaining is: Isn't this the same team as last year?? Good question. There has been a lot of hype (mostly negative) surrounding new, old head coach Tony Granto's decisions regarding his final roster moves. If you hadn't heard already TG sent TJ Hensick...
Yeah my title was a tribute to Talladega nights Jean Girard and his "formula UN" and my clever segue (or not so clever as obvious) is that tonight's game is going to be a speed race with a lot of collisions...just like the real Talladega. Everyone was aware coming into this game that the Oilers has youth, speed and skill on at their side, if you haven't seen Lubomir Visnov...
Favor to ask of you kind folks.... .... for any of you that watched the [b]Flyers/Oilers[/b] game yesterday SNET (I think thats the network you have), apparently there was a part of the pre-game show that had a Flyers' [b]Craig MacTavish[/b] jersey on it. Well, that jersey is mine. MacTavish has been my favorite hockey player since I was eight and...
Oilnutz writes...

Time for Roloson to Go...

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
So I finally found out how to blog on this great site and lucky for you it just happens to be on a night where I have a few things to say. Edmonton played the Blue jackets tonight and lost. Guess who was in net???? Matty Garon....nope because I'm pretty sure if he had then the 4 goals Edmonton scored would have been enough to win the game, guess again. Jeff Drouin-Deslauri...
cyeryk writes...

Are we there yet?

Posted Friday | Comments 0
I wonder if the Oiler coaches and management are hearing this question from the back of the plane? This question has a lot of meaning to me, mostly because I had to use it on my parents on the LONG drives from Regina to Calgary, well pretty much Regina to anywhere! This question has more than one meaning to the Edmonton Oilers. First off, the road trip. Well kids it'...
Coming from back-to-back wins in New Jersey and New York, where he blocked 77 of the 80 shots he received, Jean-François Drouin-Deslauriers is starting to turn heads. The young Oilers netminder is slowly making a name for himself and vying for more starts in the NHL's only ménage à trois with Mathieu Garon and Dwayne Roloson. In 4 games this season with the Oilers...
etownhockey writes...

Time to step up

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Turnovers and lack of physicality is what the Oilers identity has become this year. Seems to be game after game that a gawdy turnover just before the offensive blue line results in a scoring chance for the opposing team. It's worth noting that at this moment Hemsky ranks at number 15 in points but he is the only guy in the top 15 with a negative plus/minus. Hemsky is a ple...
frankster writes...

Stars squeek by the Oil

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
The old saying the squeeky wheels gets the grease( oilers in this case). The home team prevailed 4-3 against an Edmonton team who spotted Dallas two goals before twice tying the game. This has been the Stars problem all season can not hold a lead. Like crazed holiday shoppers they sprint to score but forget to defend. They have yet to produce a solid 60 minute game. San...
I was hoping the Oilers would have beat the Sens last night, at least they wouldn't have the motivation of being beaten at home by one of the worst teams in the league to go on as they visit Calgary. They have beaten Calgary twice and you'd assume the Flames are looking for payback for the two losses suffered at the hands of their provincial rivals. The Oilers are looking ...
saneopinion writes...

One has to wonder...

Posted Friday | Comments 0
After a disappointing loss to the Ottawa Senators, who are brutal on the road, and a very bitter loss to their arch rivals on new years after blowing three leads the Edmonton Oilers Fans are officially angry. As I alluded to in my last blog several friends of mine are Oiler fans and I did hear about it on new years with out even having a chance to gloat! I was receivin...
I have to admit I have been really guilty of walking around today and asking everyone if the saw the Flames/ Sharks game last night. So now that Flamestr and Vetter have both written on the subject I'll leave it alone and take a closer look at the North West. This is where I ask you to go read my previous blogs and I get to say I told you so...I love doing that. I wrot...
Recently I've seen a lot of questionable calls by officials on some hard hits in the NHL and NCAA. Cal Clutterbuck, for example, was given a 5 minute major and a game misconduct for his hit against Vancouver's Alex Burrows. Watching the game on Fox Sports I cannot help but ask if the NHL is trying to send a message that it wants to be the "No Hit League." Did Clutterbuc...
Having completed part one of my team by team speculation in the South East division, for part two I figured I would jump across the continent and hit the North West division. The North West is arguably the tightest division in terms of competition in the league. There are only 13 points as of tonight separating first through firth in the division, a lead any of the four...
The Edmonton Oilers (29-23-4) are going into tonights game against the San Jose Sharks (37-8-9) on a 3-game win streak which saw them post wins against Montreal, L.A., and Phoenix just last night. The Oilers are 4-1-1 in their last 6 games, the Sharks however have been on a slide as of late going 1-2-4 in their last 7 games with 3 shootout losses and 1 OT loss. Edmonto...
Oh wait...This isn't the playoffs yet. But it's going to be hard to tell the difference when the Edmonton Oilers (29-24-4) take on the Dallas Stars (28-21-7). Once again this will be the Oilers most important game of the season. Funny how this keeps happening. The Oilers have the 7th best road record in the league and are looking to extend that record after suffering a los...
Alright I thought that with Hockey Day in Canada coming up I would do a piece on it and dive into the origins of the game we all love. I also got an idea from my fiancee to put a list of strange facts about the game at the end of this article, so any thanks for that piece go to her. Now we can debate all day as to where our national passtime began, like whether it was i...
With two AHL players playing significant minutes, and Jim Vandermeer playing second-pairing defense, the Calgary Flames managed to win the fifth Battle of Alberta in Edmonton, 3-2 in the shootout. Matthew Lombardi roofed a great shot with a screen in front with 1:10 remaining to tie the game, and then Todd Bertuzzi scored the shootout winner with a neat move on the first ...
The Edmonton Oilers decided to go to with a veteran coach in Pat Quinn, who I think is a great coach. He loves a fluent, offensive game, which fits the Oilers to a tea. Quinn proved himself with the Team Canada. Not only did the Oilers pick a perfect head coach, they found the perfect coach in Tom Renney, who should have never been fired from the Rangers in the first place...
jzs_18 writes...

The Oil in the off season

Posted Monday | Comments 0
just going to share a few thoughts on issues the oilers are facing this off season. new coaches: i like the hiring of quinn and renney is an underrated hire as well. it will be interesting to see how they handle the current roster and what they decide to do with it. a couple questions as to what they will do with a guy like penner, do they give him another chance or get...
mslepp writes...

Calgary Flames: Movin' on Up

Posted Tuesday | Comments 1
Does the hiring of Brent Sutter really require another blog? Probably not. I mean, this is one of those "worst-kept secrets" that gets attached with any story being leaked these days. But the hiring of Brent Sutter is gonna get a blog. Why? Because this may go down as one of the most important moves Darryl Sutter has made during his tenure with the Calgary...
NuckNyne writes...

Canucks thoughts and questions

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
I am just curious to know how many Canucks fans want the Sedins back and what your thoughts are on them signing a 12 year deal? Also I still don't believe that Gaborik rumors, he is highly skilled. But Gillis likes grit and Gaborik has been prone to injury. I have a weird feeling that Sundin will be back next season. I'd really like to see Wellwood back with a 2 ye...
Let me start by saying that I am a Leafs fan and in no way shape or form do I have a liking for the Ottawa Senators. I wanted to ask the masses of people out there if Dany Heatley may have a point in all of this. Personally, I think Heatley is a bum and that he will get what he deserves (contract ripped up, lifelong injury etc...). I was quite disapointed for Ottawa...
gkmkiller writes...

Who Blinks First?

Posted Wednesday | Comments 1
It would seem that what we have with the Dany Heatley situation is a high stakes game of chicken between Ottawa, the Rangers and Dany Heatley. Yesterday the Oilers agreed to trade a package of Andrew Cogliano, Ladislav Smid and Dustin Penner to the Senators in exchange for Heatley. According to TSN's Bob Mackenzie, Heatley has not yet agreed to waive his No Movement Clause...
saneopinion writes...

The Edmonton Perception

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Heatley has asked for a trade, just not to Edmonton. Bouwmeester wanted to come to Alberta, just not to Edmonton. Those are the latest two players to put further black marks on the city of champions, a trend that started with Chris Pronger and his exodus from Edmonton. This is not a rant about how much Edmonton sucks, because it doesn't, but there is a truth out there ...
KPE18 writes...

What Should We Do Now?

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
I just got back from vacation to see the horrid Kotalik signing. Sather just shot the Rangers in the foot (more like heart) with this move. That should have been used to sign a center, not an underachiever. Now what should the dummy do? We need a center, but that doesn't get through his thick skull. I mean Kotalik has a lethal shot and will fit into the Torts system but...
For my inaugural blog I want to start things off with a radical headline such as: “Stanley Returning to Oil Country in 2010” Unfortunately a title that unbelievable would only appeal to fans living in a fantasy world and, since Edmonton doesn’t look much like middle earth last I checked, I’ve been struggling to think up a more realistic headline. “Why...
Danny Heatley will not be making a decision today. I have conformation that Heatley will not be making a decision tonight and probably not in the near future. Danny still wants to explore every option before making a decision on Edmonton.Reports are that Edmonton has set a deadline for Heatley to accept a trade to the team bringing up rumours that Heatley would make his de...
Maxbone writes...

Oil Pipes - Life Without Heater

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Perhaps life in Edmonton is cold in winter, but I am one Oil fan who would rather live without a Heater. There is no way to know just what exactly the Oilers and Dany Heatley are waiting for. Media reports suggest that Dany hasn't given a definitive yes or no to playing in Edmonton - That his reaction to the attempted trade was on hold until more teams made offers to Ot...
[b]Edmonton Oilers [/b] To much of my disapproval, the Oilers did not get Hossa , nor has Heatley consented to becoming an Oiler. Which really surprises me, because I really thought that one of those two players would have become an Oiler. The Oilers did pick a solid goalie, though, in Khabby. It was really refreshing to hear a player wanting to go there. The Oilers real...
Last year, the Islanders led the National Hockey League with more than 500 man games lost to injury. That is a pretty obscene number, taking into consideration the fact that these human beings are professional athletes, and they should be physically prepared for a grueling 82-game season. I will not begin to point fingers at the Islanders strength and conditioning staff, a...
It's becoming obvious that Oilers management are losing their patience with the Dany Heatley situation, as they have began signing their RFA's. While Edmonton made the qualifying offers they needed to, the bigger names are still yet to be signed. The only significant cap hit to sign is Denis Grebeshkov, and he has filed for arbitration. My guess is that the Oilers and G...
Maxbone writes...

Oilers Pipeline - July 18, 2009

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
A noted sports journalist in Edmonton commented recently that the team may be forced into beginning the upcoming season with their current roster. For Oil fans, the thought of watching the Oilers go through another season like last is as appealing to watch as a Celine Dion concert marathon in HD on Valentine's Day, when your mother-in-law is in town. But the question is, w...
Maxbone writes...

The Pipeline - What the Ek?

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
So I log into Hockeybuzz this morning and read a massive apology regarding Tanguay to Florida, and the (e5) rating given to the potential signing. By the third paragraph, I couldn't believe my eyes. One of the things that has always confused me about this web page is the amount of bashing contributing writers get. Thanks to the concept of democracy and freedom of speech...
Maxbone writes...

The Pipeline - July 20, 2009

Posted Monday | Comments 0
I took some time this morning to listen to an interview between Oilers Assistant GM Kevin Prendergast and Dan Tencer, from the voice of the Oilers, 630 CHED radio. Entertaining? Perhaps. Enlightening? No. Slightly below the interview link the Oilers have also posted a blog written by Bob Stauffer, Color Analyst from 630 CHED. His piece is more entertaining than the Tenc...
Maxbone writes...

The Pipeline - July 24, 2009

Posted Friday | Comments 1
I'll start off today's post by passing on my condolances to Eklund and family for the loss of their beloved dog Burt. My name on Hockeybuzz, "Maxbone," is in honor of my dog Max who died approximately five years ago. From the time my family got him, I called him Maxbone, as he reminded me of the Wishbone dog on tv that went around telling stories and recalling world histor...
Maxbone writes...

The Pipeline - July 27, 2009

Posted Monday | Comments 0
Ever since I named myself the unofficial Oilers blogger on Hockeybuzz, I have been considering potential topics to discuss. Obviously much of the conversation will revolve around trades and player moves that could potentially improve the team. Also worthy of discussion are the players and prospects, and what should be happening with them in the organization as the season c...
Maxbone writes...

The Pipeline - July 29, 2009

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
I love lists. I mean, who doesn’t like reading a list? Easy to write, easy to read; makes for conversation… It’s time for a little day dreaming. In the words of Borat, “why not?” The last few days of July have been hot and lazy here in Alberta; perfect weather to lie on the grass on your back, and stare up at the clouds. Perfect weather to play pretend Oilers ...
FLAMESTR writes...

Hockey Happenings

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
[b]Chicago Blackhawks[/b] In Chicago we now a better understanding on how Dale Tallon lost his job. He probably should forced Marion Hossa saga taking a physical before he signed the dotted line do you think? Let me ask you this question did Hossa know that he had a injury when he signed on that dotted line. Did he take the Hawks for a ride or better yet does he ha...
Maxbone writes...

The Pipeline - July 30, 2009

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Hi friends. I wasn't planning on writing a blog today, but I couldn't resist with all the names swirling about. The lines are buzzing in respect to potential trades and free agent movement. Plus, writing about hockey gives me a chance to talk about something other than the mouse problem I discovered in the farm house I just moved into. Yuck. I haven't seen so much crap in ...
Maxbone writes...

The Pipeline - July 31, 2009

Posted Friday | Comments 0
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps... The day has arrived for Nicky Zherdev's arbitration hearing, and the hockey world is abuzz with speculation. The arbitration process of setting player salaries is comparable to my method of predicting the Oilers future. Only instead of me dumping a bag of chicken bones on an Oilers logo, a judge dumps a bag of chicken bones on the players ba...
Maxbone writes...

The Pipeline - August 1, 2009

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
I feel like borrowing the "Blues Clues" title from Andy Strickland today. Because seriously, I'd like to have more of a clue of what the Oilers are up to right now. Things have went from strange to downright confusing in the last 24 hours. Was I the only one who found it really strange that the Oil had a press conference on Friday to announce that they no longer wanted ...
As mentioned a few days ago on The Pipeline, the Edmonton Oilers are interested in acquiring Zherdev from the New York Rangers. It was also suggested that the Oilers could be part of the three-team deal, where Dany Heatley is moved to a different team, and Cogliano, Smid, and Penner end up being dealt to the Ottawa Senators. I'll tell ya, friends, the chicken bones never l...
Maxbone writes...

The Pipeline - August 4, 2009

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
It has been reported and posted on the New York Rangers website that the team has walked away from the arbitration awarded amount of $3.9mil for Nicky Zherdev. This makes him an unrestricted free agent, free to sign with any team. Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal is reporting that the Oilers are not interested in trying to sign Zherdev. He played under Coach Tom Renney...
Maxbone writes...

The Pipeline - August 5, 2009

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Let’s start today’s Pipeline by sending out congratulations to the New Jersey Devils for signing Brendan Shanahan. He may be 40, but he will contribute on and off the ice. Every team should have a guy like Shanny. Also, I want to say thank you to everyone for their reading and support of The Pipeline. It has been a blast writing about hockey and my beloved Oilers, a...
Maxbone writes...

The Pipeline - August 6, 2009

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
So there I was, laying in my bathtub at 1am, trying to think about what to write in today’s blog. Much of my best thinking is done in the tub; back in the day I studied for many a college exam while enjoying warm Satsuma bubbles as they squished in between my toes. My notebook, slightly soggy, carried the only words that came to mind: Quinn Renney. There are many Oile...
A little comparison shopping for hockey fans of the Northwest Division… Someone suggested to me the other day that the Oilers were going to win the Division this year. Ummm, I love the Oilers, but no, not with this line-up. They definitely will not win the Division, and likely won’t make the playoffs. It’s not that the Oilers are a bad team – This division is ac...
Maxbone writes...

The Pipeline - August 8, 2009

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
I think Saturday is going to be my news and notes day here on Hockeybuzz. It's time to jump around the NHL and offer some random opinions. - Like most newspapers in Canada today, the Edmonton Journal ran pictures of Sidney Crosby celebrating his birthday in Halifax with the Stanley Cup and 30,000 of his friends. Yuck. I have no real explanation for it, but I can't stand...
Does anyone remember the days of Trader Phil? The moniker the media gave to Phil Esposito when he was a GM, because he made so many deals? Well, today, I am Trader Richard. As the new GM of the Oilers, I am trying to answer the conundrum, “how do we improve the Oilers forward lines?” The following are some trade and UFA possibilities. Marc Savard, Boston – Why? H...
The other day I decided to start writing an encyclopedia specific to NHL terms. Here's what I have written so far. Feel free to comment and add some new terms. According to the NHL Encyclopedia: Energy Player – A player who has very little talent, and is in the line-up to fill out the roster. Usually energy players are asked to go out there and hit and/or fight, to...
cyeryk writes...

Economics 101

Posted Wednesday | Comments 2
The more posts and reliable news outlets I read there is a common theme. The NHL is anti Canada. Now, I know I may not be the most educated man on the planet or the most business savy, but there were some basic lessons in economics and business. There will be some people who may have a degree or more experience in the field I am about to talk about and I will take critici...
Maxbone writes...

The Pipeline - August 12, 2009

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
At 38, I am approximately half way to death. Yes, I know, it sounds negative when I put it that way. But it's okay, honest. The thought of being half-dead is fine, because I know I have 38 more years of Oilers hockey yet to come. Some of you readers are old timers like I am; some of you were babes when Gretzky and company were lighting it up in Edmonton. Have you ever c...
leafsprospect writes...

The Death of a Prospect?

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Not unlike Arthur Miller's famous 1949 script, "The Death of a Salesman", many an NHL prospect has failed to taste success and so falls by the wayside! The summer month of August certainly drains the life out of most talk hockey! Come September we will be gearing up for prospect tourneys, training camps, and pre-season! An earlier start to the regular season du...
Maxbone writes...

The Pipeline - August 20, 2009

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Hi friends, and welcome back to The Pipeline. Thanks for all the kind comments on my blogs, as your support is truly appreciated. Sooner or later, I will be made an official blogger here, which I'd welcome because the incentives are great. I have it on good authority that "official" bloggers receive annually a 2-pound bag of salt water taffy, a year's supply of Body Shop P...
There you are, my pretties. It’s time for me to talk about something that is more relevant than scoring goals, icing pucks, or oiling up Jarome Iginla for a Sports Illustrated cover photo. Hell-oooo! Now don’t be getting all needy. You wish you were oh so fabulous like I am, Maxbone Blackwell. Perhaps you can not tell from my writing that I am the epitome of trendy,...
It’s fall, and that means this year’s new television line-up is due to start any day. Any of you who are regular tv watchers know that Hollywood Execs and Producers ran out of good new show ideas a long time ago. But never fear, Maxbone is here. Get a load of these new NHL-inspired television series: Need a good laugh? Check out this year’s new top rated improv-ga...
Word is the Heatley camp has indicated a new willingness to go to Edmonton. Why, after all the previous rejection? Perhaps because Dany finally realizes he looks like a dope to hockey fans across the globe? Perhaps because he is not a lock for the Olympic team because of questions over his character? Perhaps it is because he finally realizes that no other team can make...
Maxbone writes...

The Pipeline - August 26, 2009

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
If you thought my blog yesterday was ridiculous, wait till you read this... A new name has been mentioned in respect to a center that Dany Heatley would be willing to play with in Edmonton. Mats Sundin. As it was last season, rumors are beginning to surface that Mats has an interest in playing NHL hockey again this season. The Vancouver Experiment last season; or sho...
Maxbone writes...

The Pipeline - August 27, 2009

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Very soon, Maxbone will be no more... Relax, my 3 and a half regular readers - I am not going anywhere. I am just going to start posting under my real name, as it looks like I am going to be a regular Oilers contributer here. I am still negotiating things with Eklund, and it appears contract talks have stalled. For one thing, I want a No Trade Clause, as I don't want to...
It's Friday, so let's have some fun. Here are 10 Random Predictions for the 2009/2010 season: 1. Dany Heatley will play this season in Ottawa. The Rangers, Sharks, Oilers, and Wild have been mentioned as teams trying to acquire Dany, but only the Oilers put together a feasible offer, and Heatley doesn’t want to play there. However, he’s already been paid $4 million ...
Maxbone writes...

The Pipeline - August 29, 2009

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
A short Oilers blog for the faithful on this Saturday... As reported in the Edmonton Journal today, the rumors involving Mike Comrie signing in Edmonton are false. With so many small forwards on the Oil, Comrie is not the solution the Oilers need. Well, that and the fact that the Oilers have no cap room to add anyone unless someone is moved first. It is likely that t...
Someone informed me this week that there is a rumor that Eklund and I are the same person. According to my psychologist, I have six different personalities, and none of them are named Eklund. So there. I have never met Mr. Eklund, but I assume considering his name that he resides in the Philadelphia area. Philly is a wonderful city: Home of so much important American hi...
It's the last day of August, and Northern Alberta is going through it's most significant heat wave of the summer. Perhaps Mother Nature knows hockey season and training camp are soon to get underway, and is giving the players a chance to get in some golf before all the work begins. Oil Country is buzzing with the Kessel rumors. In my opinion, Kessel would be a better ad...
Is no news good news? The top story on the Oilers webpage today is an article promoting the Bryan Adams concert on Friday at Telus Field. Yeah. Actually I had the idea once for the Gag Me with a Canadian Music Tour featuring Celine Dion, with Bryan Adams and Shania Twain as the warm-up acts. Talk about a hat trick no one would ever want to score. I feel like making ...
CANUCKS The Vancouver Canucks have signed Roberto Luongo to a 12-year $64 million contract, making him a lifetime Canuck. Unless he gets signed as a 64 year free agent - okay that is little sarcastic, but you get the point. Luongo is a lifetime Canuck, and is one of the best goalies in the League. The Canucks have been a very busy team this week, acquiring two vets on t...
These are the days that are difficult to be an NHL blogger. Just what am I suppose to be talking about? The Oilers signed Rob Schremp on Friday, and he was the last remaining RFA requiring a contract. Yippee. That’s all there is folks. There’s really nothing else to say right now. It’s hard not to be a little down on the team before the first puck drop of the s...
I realize Edmonton gets cold in winter, but I didn't think hell just froze over. Mike Comrie today signed a one-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers. How cool is that? I actually am pleased with the move. Yes, I hear you doubters saying, "another small centre?" Yep. And he's also another small centre that scored 30 goals one season in Edmonton. He improves the team. But w...
First off today, allow me to comment on the alleged potential deal between Ottawa/San Jose and Los Angeles involving Dany Heatley: Who comes up with this stuff? Alright, settle down…Of course I am being facetious. The truth is, there has to be at least a little something to this rumor. Maybe a team official was heard in the back of one of the NHL rinks during his smo...
Saturday, September 12, 2009...Dany Heatley gets traded finally, Zherdev rumors to Edmonton begin to fly again, and my game of golf planned for this afternoon gets cancelled due to an unfortunate allergic reaction to allergy medication, of all things. I might as well write a blog. The Dany Heatley deal looks terribly one-sided. In Heatley, San Jose gets one of the top 3...
Are the Oilers truly capped out? It's an interesting question to ask. There still are free agents available, such as Nikolai Zherdev and Petr Sykora, that could improve the Oilers team. Could they take a run at adding another UFA before the season begins? Before getting into this, it should be noted that the Oilers presently have 48 players under contract, two below the...
With training camp in full swing, it's time for a few Quick Hits. - The Oilers are progressing well at training camp, and there is optimism in Edmonton. Players being interviewed are now opening up a bit about being releaved the MacT era came to an end. - Dustin Penner came into camp in great shape, both physically and mentally. He more than anyone else needed a fre...
It was a good start for the Oilers last night, with a pre-season win over the Calgary Flames. Patrick O’Sullivan scored twice for Edmonton, and Shawn Horcoff added an empty-net goal to seal the deal. Oiler fans will be thrilled to see O’Sullivan contribute, as he didn’t look comfortable last season in Edmonton. Playing with Horcoff and Hemsky this year could bring ou...
You can't see me, but I am tapping my watch. It isn't September 17 yet; or at least, it isn't where I live, but after tonight's Oilers game I wanted to throw a new blog on to discuss how things are progressing. Two pre-season games in, and the players are giving Coaches Quinn and Renney plenty to think about. Two players tonight offered food for thought: Jordan Eberle ...
Tonight, the Bulin Wall rises in Edmonton. It should be a fun game. Mike Comrie also makes his hometown return. Will the fans boo and heckle? I don't think so. Comrie has looked decent so far in pre-season play, and the sense of optimism that surrounded the Oilers at the beginning of last season has suddenly returned. Many feel that the Oil have real potential to surprise ...
Edmonton vs Florida, Friday, September 18. Mike Comrie, the player that you'd never believe would be an Oiler again, gathers four assists, participates in a fight, and leaves the ice to a standing ovation, and the chants of, "Comrie, Comrie..." Weird. Don't get me wrong, I am happy Mike is back in Edmonton, and even happier that he looks to be playing the best hockey of...
Update: The Oilers placed three players on waivers Monday - Dean Arsene, Ryan Potulny and Chris Minard. The difficult cuts have begun in Edmonton. The Oilers on Sunday lost to the New York Islanders, but after five games in six nights, the loss is fairly understandable. Highlights for Edmonton included yet another goal from Patrick O' Sullivan, and continued offensive b...
Maxbone writes...

Oilers Camp Down to 32

Posted Monday | Comments 0
The Edmonton Oilers aren't wasting time shortening the Pre-Season bench. After waviers are cleared by certain players, the Oilers roster will be down to 32. Today the roster was trimmed by eight players: Sent to Springfield of the AHL - Defensemen Alex Plante, Jake Taylor and Bryan Young, and Winger Ryan O'Marra. Forwards Ryan Potulny and Chris Minard, along with Def...
The Oilers are about to play their biggest game of the season tonight against the Calgary Flames. Biggest game? It's still September, right? Welcome to the 2009/2010 training camp. In an interview yesterday, Oilers Coach Pat Quinn discussed how jobs are up for grabs still on this year's team, and some of the veterns - the people penciled into the roster at the start of ...
Last night, it was deju vu all over again. The Oilers as a team completely mailed in an effort. Welcome back, last season. I suppose it's a little hard to get motivated to play in the pre-season. The people who needed to show up, Dustin Penner and JF Jacques, both had great games. Jacques in particular was great, scoring once with the puck, and once with his hand by fla...
I know it's only pre-season and all, but after last night's game, I need to do some whining. Denis Grebeshkov flat-out stunk last night. He wasn't physical, he didn't move the puck well, his defensive zone coverage was suspect, and he appears to be allergic to shooting. I also seem to remember him coughing it up a few times, leading to Lightning chances to score. He did...
After winning their final pre-season game of the year, the Edmonton Oilers made their "final cuts" before the season begins. Although, the cutting was made a little easier thanks to four injuries on the roster. The Oilers ultimately decided now was not the time for Jordan Eberle, and they returned him to the Regina Pats of the WHL. Eberle, who looked great in Oilers pre...
Another season has begun with the Battle of Alberta. All and all a good game, unless of course you play on the Oiler's PK units. The Oilers did show more "crust" as Coach Quinn likes to call it. A couple of fights, one involving Sam Gagner(?!?), and there were good solid checks being thrown. The Pre-Game show was highlighted by a full out bag pipe entourage and acroba...
mslepp writes...

Ushering in the Quenney Era

Posted Monday | Comments 1
I'm sure some of you will be surprised that my first blog of the new NHL season is on the Edmonton Oilers. However, I feel it's completely warranted as this team is somewhat of an enigma to me. I'll explain: First of all, it's nice to see the Edmonton fans of this site get a regular blogger, something that was really lacking recently. And, regardless of Mr. Vetter's ...
Just found this great site that list all the free agents for the summer of 2010 with top ten Rankings you should check it out. Pretty cool site. [url]http://www.nhlfreeagents.com[/url]
Maxbone writes...

The Pipeline - October 7, 2009

Posted Wednesday | Comments 1
Hi friends. I apologize for my brief blogging hiatus. I've been rather sick in recent days. Not sure if it is Bird Flu, Swine Flu, Ukraine Soup Flu...anyway, I've been out of action, and today is the first time I've been able to lift my head enough to see the keyboard on my computer. So, I've been named the official Oilers Blogger on HockeyBuzz. The following is my acce...
Maxbone writes...

The Pipeline - October 8, 2009

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
The Battle of Alberta, round 2, goes tonight in Edmonton. Actually the Battle of Alberta, round 2, started this morning when I found six inches of snow on the ground. The 10 minute drive to work turned into 30 minutes of sliding on an ice cube. Welcome to Northern Alberta, where the men are men, and the Oilers are a bunch of Europeans. That’s not exactly true. I wa...
Pat Quinn was fined today for his comments after last night's Flames-Oilers game. Quinn called Jarome Iginla's trip on Sheldon Souray a "dirty play." Having watched the video on NHL.com and read the words myself, I can't say I blame the NHL for the decision to fine Quinn for his comments, but I also can't say that what Quinn said was wrong. Players today are taking more...
It's Saturday night, my wife is baking Thanksgiving goods and we have another all Canadian match-up between the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens coming up on CBC. How Canadian! The Oilers will begin to have a sense of what Montreal is going through after losing Sheldon Souray in the Calgary game. He suffered a mild concussion after an unfortunate incident ...
The Preds decided not to show up and the Oilers took it to them scoring 6 goals, en route to a 6 to 1 win. This game spoiled Colin Wilson's debut for the Preds, who finished with a minus 1 with 1 SOG. Again, we still haven't seen a goal scored in regulation/OT from any other line than the top line. Notables: Klein/Hammer (F) - This pair has struggled. They where...
glovesave43 writes...

Flames Jeckyl and Hyde

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Another win, and another siting of Jeckyl and Hyde. Giving up 2 late goals to make it close is not really my concern, I am sure the officials had bet the game over allowing 3 straight minors to the Flames. The concern is how come they let off the gas, this is a division rival and a team we fought to the last weekend for that title last season, step on the gas, choke the l...
It seems to me like most of the early successes and failures of other NHL franchises are drowning out any positive feed back of a surprising Oilers team. If you by chance live outside of Alberta you would have probably not known that 2 of Edmonton's tops scorers are those players deemed to small for an already small team! Even more surprising is the play of one Dustin P...
Oilersfan27 writes...

2-1 win for the oil!!!

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
Vancouver fly's into town having not won a game on the road, and in my opinion they should have come out with win in that game. Khabibulin was the difference again this time stopping 39 of 40! The Oilers were outclassed by the 'Nucks in every aspect of this game, pinning Edmonton in their own zone for a ridiculous amount of time! Now some positives. Dustin Penner is starti...
Oilersfan27 writes...

Dustin Penner and Co.

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
I have always been a Penner fan even in the first 2 years in edmonton. i have been a firm believer that Mac-T was a terrible coach, and his constant ripping and torture of Penner did nothing but destroy the confidence of DP! with that said he never really showed up to camp in shape. the first year was a stanley cup hangover, but last year......well.... that was last year, ...
Oilersfan27 writes...

Ridiculous rumors!!

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Ek has posted a rumor saying the oil are in talks with preds about a possible deal involving penner or cogliano! well i am gonna say that source who told him that is full of (you know what), Penner is the best oiler so far this year so he is not going anywhere! another reason to count out this rumor is the fact that Nashville has the same needs the oilers do. so this possi...
So as the it nears the end of the second period the oil are down 4-1, i start thinking that i am watching this oil team relapse in to Mac-T mode. Then i see the teachings of Quinn come into play, his motivation and coaching style take hold of the game and we witness 5 straight goals to win 6-4. The new top line. pens, gags, and hemmers clicked just 58 seconds into the...
snirk sniggler writes...

Off the top of my head

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
What a game last night The Blue jackets are a really good team and the Oilers Squeeked one out lead by none other then Penner, Gagne and Hemsky. Thats right the new #1 line. Go figure. So seriously, did we really need to go after Heatly or Jagr or Hossa. Nope the answer was there all along just nobody planted the seeds, gave it water and sun, and got it to grow. "Yes th...
pj50 writes...

Oilers dissapoint at home!

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
What the heck happened in Edmonton tonight? Chicago Blackhawks put together another display of hockey as it was meant to be played. The Oilers put together another display of how not to play the game of hockey. Let's look at the two teams. Chicago, crisp clean short and fast passing, excellent transition game, lots of desire and willingness to go into the dirty areas to g...
mr.t writes...

The Horcoff Debate

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
This blog will basically break down a bunch of numbers associated with Shawn Horcoff since the lock-out, and look at comparable players/contracts. [u][b]Horcoff since the lockout:[/b][/u] 09/10: 11P/23GP =0.48P/GP Playing injured, now w/o Hemsky 08/09: 53P/80GP =0.66P/GP Roughly 0.7 07/08: 50P/53GP =0.94P/GP Roughly 1 06/07: 51P/80GP =0.64P/GP Roughly 0.7 05/06: 73...
snirk sniggler writes...

Hate to Say it but...

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
I told you so. The Oilers were coming together as a team and what do you know. The beat the Wings and the Stars, both teams who the Oilers haven’t had much success against in the past years. The Oilers are still in the running for a lottery pick and still have some glaring weaknesses but as apposed to the past few seasons at least we can say that they are moving in...
Don't forget to check out oilnutz.com Well, Well, Well… Where are all the trade them now guys??? Have you all put away your panic buttons and maybe even relized that Hemsky alone isn’t going to make this team team great. All I can say is that it was another great week for the team. The GBP line was clicking (especially against the Blues). Horcoff is playing gr...
oilfan5 writes...

Future Oilers at this years WJC

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
It is that time of the season when we take our tv remotes and change the channel from Tim Allens dreadful Santa Claus movies and switch on over to TSN for the World Junior U20 Hockey Championship, and from the perspective of an Oiler fan, it couldn't come at a better time. Edmonton, after raising the hopes of Oil nation with a five game road winning streak, have knocked o...
WAACHCast writes...

Canucks 4 Oilers 1

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
If you had asked me at the start of this 8 game home stand if I would be happy with the Canucks winning 6 of 8 I would have said sure. And while the two they lost should have been ones they won handily, overall it was a pretty decent run. With the Olympic road trip from hell looming, the Canucks need to continue to get as many points as possible at home, and hope that they...
I don't blog very often for good reason, I rarely have much of value to say and when I do I would much rather have a beverage or two then sit down and write. Sadly, after yet another uninspired performance by the Oilers last night, alcohol only dulled the frustrations rather then extinguished them like usual. Yeah, I know...its not healthy to drink away the anger, tel...
Outside the box: Backlund on the top line from here on out, this is why they drafted him, let him do it, just with Jokinen on one wing and Iginla on the other. Phanuef on the wing, if he wants to go mainly offensive maybe it's time to stop holding him back, a guy named Buyfuglien did this prior so it's not unprecedented. Giordano has proven he is not a fluke, this i...
Newman writes...

Someone Has To Win, Right?

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Well if this is not the perfect time to face the lowly Oilers, I do not know what is. Coming off of 9, yes 9, consecutive losses, the Flames look to ‘bump the slump’ against the worst team in the NHL on Saturday night. The only solace Flames fans have these days is the fact that the Oilers have lost more in a row (12) and occupy the very bottom of the NHL standings (Ou...
okiestatefan1983 writes...

Hockey is Back!

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog talking about how Oklahoma City has had a good tradition of hockey in our city. Well guess what, yesterday the Edmonton Oilers and the American Hockey League along with a local ownership group by the name of Prodigal Hockey announced that we will be he AHL affiliate team of the Edmonton Oilers starting in October 2010. The te...
saneopinion writes...

Sutter on Deadline day: F-

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
I'll trade you... Staios- 2.7. millioncap hit sloted as #6 d . 36 yearls old -22 Toskala- 4 Million cap hit, is 7 and 12, 30 years old -36% win rate For Boyd- 650 thousand cap hit, on pace for 10 goals and 14 assists, 23 years old +5 Johnson- 525 thousand cap hit #7 defensman, 26 years old and is even. Mchelhinney- 500 thousand cap hit, is 3 and 4, 26 years...
The Flames couldn’t have been expected to make blockbusters necessarily, having already made the two biggest trades of the year a month earlier. However, it was fair to at least expect some additional tinkering by Darryl Sutter. He had a large surplus of forwards (albeit, mostly mediocre ones). The team itself was facing a very tight playoff race, with a sense of urgency...
The Trade Deadline has passed. The Oilers dropped some salary (which isn't that tough when you look at some of the contracts the Oilers handed out over the years), did they improve the club though? In the long run..maybe. In the short term..absolutely not. But here is the question that has to be asked for the rest of the season is this: Have the Oilers made themselves w...
Brisco writes...

The Dust Settles

Posted Friday | Comments 0
So here we are, two days after the glitz, glamour and ru-ha-ha of the always exciting NHL trade deadline. The dust has settled and traded players are dawning new colors and settling into new digs. Ryan Jones debuted against the Blackhawks Wednesday night, Ryan Whitney and Aaron Jones will wear their new numbers, 6 and 2 respectively, in their debuts tonight against Minne...
With the post season being as entertaining as ever, not much has been in the news regarding a busy offseason ahead for the Oilers of Edmonton. With Sheldon Souray most likely gone at the draft and the same can be said for Moreau and either Nillson or O’Sullivan. The attention has now turned to what would be a welcome return or even better what could be a steal. ...
Polar94 writes...

Ideas for a happier NHL

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Traditions are important. The names of the Conferences and Divisions should have been left alone. But that was done only to try and draw in and keep fans. The NHL will do anything to try and woo Americans into not just loving their home team but to want to watch hockey in general. For example: Fox and their 'glowing' puck experiment; or the over explanation of what all the...
[img]http://futureconsiderationsdotca.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/hall3.jpg[/img] Hockey is a team game, but you'd have to think Windsor Spitfires forward Taylor Hall was out to prove something of an individual nature during the 2010 Memorial Cup, which ended Sunday with the Spits claiming their second consecutive major-junior hockey title in a 9-1 drubbing of the host ...
It’s been a LONG time since I wrote a hockey blog of any sort. Actually, as far as I can recall, the last blog I wrote on hockey or the Oilers was the day after Ryan Smyth was traded to the Island. That’s a long time for me. But, the itch to hold an open forum to air out my thoughts on the game as been fed, and now needs to be scratched. (If that makes any sense)...
Annotated Mock NHL Draft 2010 V-3.0 1. EDMONTON OILERS TAYLOR HALL – F *Halfway between Stamkos and Taveres as an NHL prospect * Edmonton’s rabid fans are salivating at the ‘idea’ of getting Taylor Hall, and Steve Tamballini is not going to let them down. Yes, the Oilers really, really need a top line center, but Hall is just too good to pass up...
Ok Taylor Vs Tyler, Tambs Vs Pete. Well here we are It's Wed and well the draft is not here yet hurry up! now that that's outta the way it looks to me Edmonton Won't be trading the #1 pick unless there's a HUGE offer I know I Just Pointed out the obvious but lets have a look of whats gone on in the last 2 weeks. Edm & Bos are both saying we would be happy with either ...
Oilerfan88 writes...

Taylor vs Tyler

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
[img]http://fromthepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Hall-and-Seguin.jpg[/img] For the last few month since January when everyone pretty much knew that the Edmonton Oilers were going to finish out of the playoffs and most likely in 30th Place in the NHL. Everyone’s been wondering who the Oilers were going to take, Taylor or Tyler. Some have said the Oilers would ...
[img]http://www.itsallaboutlappy.com/2008_09pics/blackhawks10_5.jpg[/img] The Edmonton Oilers mad a solid depth move last night by acquiring Centre Colin Fraser from the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks for a 6th round pick, 151 Overall. Fraser, who played junior hockey with Brent Sutter’s Red Deer Rebels, was the Hawks’ fourth-line centre much of this past s...
[img]http://cdn.nhl.com/oilers/images/upload/2010/06/20100625_hall-325b.jpg[/img] New Edmonton Oiler Taylor Hall Not so long ago, Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle were both wearing Team Canada jerseys and making their mark at the 2010 world junior hockey championship. Now they’ll get a chance to help rebuild the Edmonton Oilers!!! Jordan Eberle said he was...
Well first off i woke today and read that : Patrick O'Sullivan, Ethan Moreau & Robert Nillson were all placed on waivers today and Mr.Lebrun from ESPN just confirmed they have been bought out.Now I don't have exact numbers but Patty was a Cap hit of $2.95Mil and Moreau & Bobby were both $2Mil so thats about $7 mil of dead wood gone don't get me wrong they're all better hoc...
etownhockey writes...

No trading Souray?

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Now that Souray cleared waivers, it's clear that a suitable trade isn't available. It's likely the Oilers will need to accept a poor contract and possibly an undesirable player to boot. Leading to another problem of it's own, a trade that could haunt the Oilers for years to come. However, in the best interest of the Oilers, they shouldn't make that trade...not yet anyways....
First off... props to Richard C for his great blogs! After watching the Oilers pump up their farm system I have come to realize that there are only going to be two of the rookie forwards making the Oilers this year... and there are three main reasons that I can see: 1) The Oilers need to fulfill a commitment to Oklahoma in regards to providing a quality product that...
Necharsian writes...

Possible Souray Trade

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
I believe the best oppurtunity for the Oilers to trade the disgruntled Sheldon Souray is to the Buffalo Sabres for Tim Connolly. That would be the core of the trade. The Sabres have over $8million in cap space, so taking Souray's $5.4million would not be disastrous. Souray also gives Buffalo something they desperately need; a top 4 defender, who can play significant pow...
DT-38 writes...

Oilers Rumors

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
I've recently heard speculations of the Columbus Blue Jackets trying to make a deal with the Oilers. In the deal.... The Oilers would acquire RJ Umberger and Mike Commodore The Blue Jackets would obtain Cogliano and Souray I believe that this deal would be beneficial for the Oilers only because they would be receiving Umberger. Umberger brings to the Oilers an arse...
Many people around hockeybuzz who talk about a rebuild don't look far enough into the future to project what a team will look like when a rebuild is complete and said team is actually a contender. A lot of people including our very oilers blogger Richard Cloutier often project the entire roster in 3 years time to be made up of all current oilers or prospects but if you loo...
FantasyPlayer writes...

Will Hall have an Impact?

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
After reading in a post today on TSN, it was identified that Taylor will not attend the summer evaluation camp for Hockey Canada. By skipping the camp by rule, he will be ineligible to play in Buffalo this Christmas. Which in turn basically states he will be playing top six minutes in Edmonton come this fall. Is this a good thing for both parties? Is Hall ready for a y...
The Sabres and Oilers had nearly identical records when they played each other for the lone meeting of the 2008-2009 season. Thomas Vanek was the only Sabres player to go to the all star game, with much thanks to his 28 goals. This game got out of hand early and it remained that way for the rest of the night. Just ten seconds into the game, Drew Stafford took a shot the...
Okay first off, The NHL and the NHLPA both missed the PR boat by not getting the Kovalchuk thing done on TV. They could have has live streaming of who gets to be the arbitrator between Judge Joe Brown and Judge Judy, then they could have had a fan vote and a reality TV program. A show that follows Kovalchuk's wife on a shopping spree when the credit card gets declined, Kov...
Recently, before the major earth shaking signing of a certain Craig Conroy distracted me, I was being called out a little for putting up the hockey news prediction of the Oilers finishing last. The Hockey News has in the past bashed Edmonton a little, they published a survey that said Edmonton and Buffalo were the two worst cities to play pro hockey in according to the Pla...
camsoilers writes...

oilers over the rainBRO

Posted Thursday | Comments 8
Ok !!!! To start off with yes is says rainBRO because I didn't want to give off the wrong impression. Secondly i am posting mostly because for some odd reason it won't let me make comments on other posts although you can clearly see i am logged in it still says you have to log in to make a comment.Ugggg Back to over the rainbro. I am a a life long oilers fan. My paren...
lately i have noticed a stupid an really unfounded string of Souray haters guys like richard cloutier who are really low balling the talented defense man. After a month or so i believe these "haters" will change their tune watching the guy with hardest shot in the game on the oil PP scoring goals and being a assist machine (if ANYONE on the oilers can tip). His first pass...
There was a time around 95-2000 where Paul Kariya was a major pick in our pool, maybe a top 5 at one point. A high quality goal scorer, terrific speed, incredibly classy and now it appears his career might be over due to a head injury. I feel kind of sad about it, I felt the same way when Pat Lafontaine went down with head issues, just so much fun to watch but the eggshell...
Did you ever wonder what it would be like if NHL players and personalities were cast in major movie roles? Well, I’m going to answer that question today by listing some of the greatest movie quotes of all-time and inserting which NHL personality would have been best-suited to be cast in that role, a few perhaps with some minor modifications. Sources say some famous quo...
dude84 writes...

Oilers gagner signs!

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Two years 4.55 million 2.225 cap it and per year pay out.
Courtesy of http://www.etownhockey.com/2010/08/oilers-defense-review-and-where-leafs.html The Oilers are coming off their worst season in franchise history. Some of the work Tambellini has accomplished this offseason has been a staggering over haul, but mostly on the front end. The forwards are looking promising for the future, but how about the defense? Name - age...
With the recent off season waives, trades and signings, the acquisition of Hall and pulling up two other good (supposedly phenomenal) rookies via Eberle and Paajarvi, it looks like the rebuilding of the Oiler’s may be close to complete. Are they going to be able to go from Dead Last in the league to 8th or higher in the West? Right now. I’m going to say no . ...
it appears as if Taylor Hall has picked his number. Sportsnet is reporting that he has chosen the number 4, previously worn by now president of hockey operations Kevin Lowe. an official announcement is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.
Just a small town girl Living in a lonely world She took the midnight train going anywhere Just a city boy Born and raised in South Detroit He took the midnight train going anywhere A singer in a smoky room A smell of wine and cheap perfume For a smile they can share the night It goes on and on and on and on Strangers, waiting, up and down the boulevard Thei...
Darryl Sutter's Cookie-cutter Comments: It's another year and already its become clear that Flames fans need to brace for more of the same from Darryl Sutter. After having quite possibly one of the worst seasons a GM can possibly put together without actually [i]trying[/i] to screw up, Sutter is back with the same-old shenanigans. Late last week an article in the ...
saneopinion writes...

The pentincton shame

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
It stings right? All that we hear about the Oilers and their youth and even sitting their best three prospects they trounce the Flames prospects. Sitting Hall, Eberle, and Svensson was a chicken move for a few reasons. One, it's a no lose situation if the oil lose then hey... The big three weren't playing. If they win then it's extra gloat time. Secondly they were shelt...
saneopinion writes...

Penticton pt2.

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
So I wrote an abbreviated blog from my i-phone, it's difficult to navigate the world of Hockeybuzz, spell correctly and get all of thoughts across so I wanted to elaborate on the last blog. This is a tournament. You come to win. I keep hearing, why would they play their best players against Calgary, what if they got injured? It's a legitimate question. I guess then ...
[b]Primary Staff:[/b] Steve Tambellini (GM), Tom Renney (Head Coach) [b]2009-10 Stats:[/b] 82GP 27W 47L 8OTL 62PTS [b]Place: [/b]5th Northwest, 15th West, 30th NHL [b]Top Scorer: [/b]Dustin Penner – 82GP 32G 31A 63P [b]Captains:[/b] Ales Hemsky (A), Shawn Horcoff (A) [b]OFF-SEASON MOVES OUT:[/b] Patrick O’Sullivan (Dealt to Phoenix) Ethan Moreau (Waivers ...
OurStupidBlog writes...

GAME 1 of 2010-11

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Game 1 of the 2010-11 season! Game 1 of this season's "Battle of Alberta," it's about time! Hell yeah! Finally, we get to see how these kids are going to perform on the big stage. I'm particularly interested in seeing how the Oiler coaching staff manages ice time between the top 3 lines that all have to potential to put up some decent numbers. I'm also interested in wa...
Toronto fans know this all to well as JF Jr. put them here until possibly this past season . He's not the only one to do this Sather in New york, Nashville (arguably due to Trotz getting the most out of his players), Florida, and Edmonton (all teams which have finished in the middle of the conference but not getting a top 5 pick, consistently. Flames may enter purgator...
saneopinion writes...

Don't hate the player...

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
In what was a pretty interesting game with huge leads and come backs, fights from guys who don't normally fight and teams trying to score on them selves one debatable point has been over looked. Taylor Hall was hip checked cleanly by Marc Giordano, this prompted Colin Fraser to speed over and take on Giordano. The thinking that Hall has to be protected and if you check him...
The NHL has all kinds of players. Some are skilled scorers. Some are in your face competitors. Some are there just to throw punches. Sean Avery is a rare breed. He posses a little bit of each of these qualities, which in today's NHL makes him a valuable member to his team...well...on most night's anyway. Yesterday Avery proved again why even though he can b...
thought I would do a blog on some news I received. Last time I reported breaking news: well, let's not go there. Most of this news is not new, but it kind of adds to the drama. I have news on three teams: Calgary, Edmonton, and Tampa Bay. Edmonton Oilers I tweeted the info earlier. This much I know: the Oilers' names have been leaked in the NJ trade. Cogs, Penner, an...
I can't help but see Darryl Sutter's face sloppily super-imposed on the body of Bill Murray as he turns over in his bed to slap his alarm clock at the beginning of another day in the film "Groundhog Day". [IMG]http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w151/mslepp/darrylgroundhog-1.jpg[/IMG] That's what it seems like in Calgary, year after year. Yes - I used to be a stau...
OilFanInYYC writes...

0.667 Hockey....Really?

Posted Friday | Comments 24
Being an Oilers' Fan for all of my life I must admit that seeing the Flames woes has given me a little bit of satisfaction. I think this is mainly because of the fact that I live in Calgary now and this is the first year since I have moved here that I haven't had to put up with listening to cocky Flames fans going on about how their perennial mediocre team was so great an...
Who would have ever thought that at this point in the season an Oiler rookie Taylor Hall would be leading the team in goals with 14! I am also really impressed with Linus Omark this far, no he does not score lots but he does all the little things right weather it be speed or forechecking to cause a turnover very well done. Another player that has taken alot of heat in Oil ...
I am a die hard Oiler fan, and hate to knock my team, but after Zack Stortini decided to "dance" with Dallas Star grinder Krys Barch you would think it would be a quick wrestling match and the game would continue. Well not exactly Barch gave Stortini a few good shots and the tied each other up for a bit then Barch fed him his lunch. The tipping point for me was Zack Storti...
Be gentle, this is my first post on HockeyBuzz EVER! Its well known that although E-town's rebuild is well underway, but there are a few pressing issues that need to be dealt with and trade dealine is coming so I feel the need to flex my “archair GM” muscles. We need a couple of centre's with size that are over 50% in the circle and that seems to be a tough order t...
So thats 12. Did you see the stats on Sportsnet about Khabibulin on goals allowed? If you missed them I happened to have these stats on hand: GA Games 2 2 3 6 4 1 5 1 6 1 So that brings him to a total of 37 goals in 11 games add today's game and that's 40 in 12. Maybe Khabby is trying to retire on some sort of high note but with numbers like this is may be to...
b.park writes...

Enough is Enough

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
As the NHL trade deadline grows nearer and nearer, misconceptions about trades grow larger and larger. The evidence? A recent rumour stated: Hemsky for Ellis. Sorry Canadian die hards, Ryan Ellis is not the stud that Pierre Mcguire makes him out to be. In fact, he may be the most overrated prospect of all time. His small stature, ankle skating, and childish attitude...
jeremyn writes...

New on the block

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Hey everyone. I've been following Hockeybuzz for a little while now (used to be mostly on trade deadline days, or weeks leading up to it), but I now find myself visiting at least 3-5 times daily. Let me introduce myself. My name is Jeremy, and I'm a 29 year old male living in Edmonton, and as most people, I'm a homer. I love the Oilers. Always have, always will. I f...
b.park writes...

Penner for Simmonds (e19)

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
There has been alot of talk that the Kings have serious interest in Dustin Penner, so I say the two teams make it happen. It's simple, Dustin Penner to LA and Wayne Simmonds to EDM. You can agree or disagree, I don't really care, but this deal would make the Oilers a much better team. I can see it happening, because Lombardi has made some silly deals in the past,and ...
The past few weeks I have been watching the Oilers very closely. Even though they have been losing of late, they are not playing bad overall the team seems to be gaining more confidence as the season progresses. A few forwards that have impressed me of late, Linus Omark who more and more every game seems to look more comfortable especially with fellow country men Magnus Pa...
I have been a long time supporter of the "rebuild" in Edmonton, but I was under the blinded faith that we would see a team lose a bunch this season (I had them pegged as 12-14 in the West) but at least we would see a team give it everything they had each and every night. Watching the Oilers play the last 3 or 4 games it is starting to look eerily similar to last seaso...
This is a Joke... If I watch another game tonight like the the past two then I'll start cheering for ...gulp...Calgary. At least their management was able to identify a problem and rectify it. The biggest problem with this team is not the Powerplay, lack of a decent center or is leadership. Want to know why Stamkos developed so well and Traverse hasn't??? Look at the...
Yesterday Spector stated that several teams were at the Oilers game presumably scouting out Oilers players. Assuming that’s the case, the teams being mentioned were the Wild, Lightening, Kings, Bruins, and Coyotes... Here are some potential deals that could be on the table. [u][b]Los Angeles Kings[/b][/u] Wayne Simmonds $0.8M + 1st Round Pick (current offer) For ...
yarkowskyt writes...

Tambo-Do Nothing?

Posted Friday | Comments 0
Many believe that Hemsky and Penner are at their highest value on Monday morning. Arguments can definitely be made to support this. But think of the value these players give the Oilers based on return perceived... Big guy, largest in the forward corps of the Oilers who can score 30 goals per year... who is out there Tambellini could get back and from who? Penner is t...
shvmr writes...

Oiler Q&A

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
In my travels, I come across a lot of information, and most of it turns out to be wrong. So, in a personal quest to continue the trend of putting out wrong opinions, innuendo and vile gossip, I decided to write my first blog, and give you my opinion on certain issues. Of course, I will not know the answers about what will happen with the Oilers on Trade Deadline day, no on...
** wrote this a couple weeks ago, I realize recent rumours have hemsky as the most likely to go. Nevertheless here is my (first ever)blog about Dustin Penner 2007 I remember that summer of turmoil well, a year removed from game seven of the stanley cup finals. Chris Pronger, though I loathe him for obvious reasons, is the best defensemen I’ve seen in Oiler silks....
jzadow writes...

Where Will They Go?

Posted Monday | Comments 0
The biggest name at this year's deadline is Dallas Stars center, Brad Richards. According to TSN's Darren Dreger, Richards will only be willing to move his no-trade-clause if GM Joe Nieuwendyk can work out a deal with the New York Rangers. The Kings and Leafs were said to be highly interested in Richards, but obviously the asking price is too much -- it was rumoured that B...
jzadow writes...

Trade Winds Are Blowing

Posted Monday | Comments 0
With just under two hours to the 3 pm ET trade deadline, there hasn't been much action around the NHL. A couple of playoff contenders are still looking to add some strength to their roster and prepare for a long playoff push come April. The Edmonton Oilers are expected to be busy today, potentially moving two key forwards off their roster -- Ales Hemsky and Dustin Penner -...
So the trade deadline has come and gone, and with the Dustin Penner trade pulled off by Steve Tambelini, I think you can start to understand the map outlining the course that is potentially to be the Oilers rebuild. It has been known that the Oilers are set on building through the draft, last year made this very clear.... but the fact that Tambelini did not bring in a NHL ...
This years trade deadline definitely left me wanting more, as is the case for everyone I imagine. Spending hours waiting for something to happen and when it was all said and done, Dustin Penner was the only person being shipped out of Edmonton. Since then I have gone back and fourth on whether I thought it was a good trade or not. Initially I thought it was a great for us ...
mslepp writes...

The Enigmatic Matthew Stajan

Posted Thursday | Comments 1
Ok, so he's not really enigmatic. I just like the sound of the title. Makes it seem like I have something profound to say... I don't. Anyway, here is the story of the week the Flames traded for Matt "My Wife Is Hot and That's ALL I Have Going for Me" Stajan as seen through my life experiences. Be prepared. This is long. Oh, but it makes fun of the Leafs AND Oile...
So as an Oilers fan the one thing we have to look forward to is the upcoming draft, so I figure I would give my predictions. Let me know if you agree or what you would change. I am only going to do the top 10 based on the current bottom 10 teams. 1)EDM: Adam Larsson - huge need for an all around defensive force with huge upside 2)OTT: Gabriel Landeskog - power fo...
SSMcLeod writes...

Late to the party...

Posted Monday | Comments 0
I am quite aware that I am late to the party (or blogsphere I guess) when it comes to the regards of our much beloved (and maybe maligned) Oilers, but after a majority of a season expressing my views to friends and co-workers; someone finally stepped up and said share your views with people who care. You see I do not live in Edmonton, and as such I am a vast minority here...
eberleforever14 writes...

Another Oilers option

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
So, as we all know, the oilers officially got their 1st overall pick in the draft lottery the other night. However, it makes me wonder what we can do with it. Obviously we can draft whoever we want, and fix the holes in the team through young draft picks. Or, we can trade the pick to get an already proven player in the league to help us out, but with numerous options, its ...
Markymark9016 writes...

What Would You Do?

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
[img]http://cdn.nhl.com/oilers/images/upload/2008/08/tambellini_steve.jpg[/img] The Edmonton Oilers hold the first overall pick and General Manager Steve Tambellini has publicly stated that he would move the pick if he got the best deal for his team. Do you think he should move this pick or should he stay the course and keep the pick? I think if he gets a hell of ...
JoelPickering writes...

First Blog! Cam Barker.

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
This is my first blog. There, now that's out of the way down to business. Edmonton Oilers... The news on the possibility of the Oilers acquiring Cam Barker intrigues me. This former 3rd overall selection of the Chicago Blackhawks has had some injury troubles but is young and I believe he was not put into a big enough role in Minnie or Chicago. His 1yr 3mill. contra...
Oilerfan88 writes...

Oilers Big Day

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
[img:right]http://www.nhlhockeyportal.com/edmontonoilers/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/EdmontonOILERSlogo.gif[/img] [b]On Friday, I though there was going to be little or no signing by the Oilers turned out that the Oilers were one of the busyer teams. As I was listening to alot of the Brad Richard crap on TSN the Oilers were busy making there team better. He is what...
RickyEnos writes...

Top 5 UFA Steals of 2011

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
The 2011 unrestricted free agency period appears that it will be remembered as the year of inflated contracts and a poor man's rendition of Lebron James's 'The Decision' of last summer. However, despite Florida's aggressive spending, Brad Richard's antics, and Jagr's mullet, the summer of 2011 had, in my estimation, some incredible bargains and steals that could wind up pa...
I like what the Oilers have done since July 1. I like them bringing Smytty back more than I can express with meer characters in a text box. I loved watching the Oilers when Smytty was here. I love Smytty. He just seems like such a genuine guy who clearly loves this city and the proud history of this organization. I can buy into that. I hope some of that rubs off on the bab...
[b]Oilers NHL Depth Chart: Centre [/b] Looking at the Oilers roster heading into the 2011-2012 season there seems to be one spot open down the middle...though a certain 1st overall draft pick may have something to say about that. [b]Sam Gagner[/b] - This is a big season for Gagner and it will be a make it or break it year for him as an Oiler. While Gagner has see...
Matthew_Steven writes...

Hemsky to Winnipeg?

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Lately, I have been hearing that there is a good chance Hemsky could be dealt in the next few days. However, it is not to the teams you have been hearing about. I have been hearing that Winnipeg is high on Hemsky and believe his injuries the past couple of years have just been flukes. If this deal goes down, it could look something like this: Oilers- Hemsky Winnipeg-...
Matthew_Steven writes...

Hemsky to Winnipeg?

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Lately, I have been hearing that there is a good chance Hemsky could be dealt in the next few days. However, it is not to the teams you have been hearing about. I have been hearing that Winnipeg is high on Hemsky and believe his injuries the past couple of years have just been flukes. If this deal goes down, it could look something like this: Oilers- Hemsky Winnipeg-...
Matthew_Steven writes...

Hemsky to Winnipeg?

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Lately, I have been hearing that there is a good chance Hemsky could be dealt in the next few days. However, it is not to the teams you have been hearing about. I have been hearing that Winnipeg is high on Hemsky and believe his injuries the past couple of years have just been flukes. If this deal goes down, it could look something like this: Oilers- Hemsky Winnipeg-...
Matthew_Steven writes...

Hemsky to Winnipeg?

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Lately, I have been hearing that there is a good chance Hemsky could be dealt in the next few days. However, it is not to the teams you have been hearing about. I have been hearing that Winnipeg is high on Hemsky and believe his injuries the past couple of years have just been flukes. If this deal goes down, it could look something like this: Oilers- Hemsky Winnipeg-...
There have been a number of blogs written about Hemsky over the years and very few them have been negative. There’s a reason for that. Ales Hemsky is a good Hockey player. He’s obviously a great talent and his most well known fault is that he is injury prone. How many times have Oilers fans said “If Hemsky was healthy last year he would have scored so many more point...
blackgoldrush writes...

Edmonton's Got Talent

Posted Friday | Comments 0
Looking at the Edmonton Oilers roster and watching America's Got Talent gave me an idea. I have combined the two into one wicked blog posting. I will look at 3 acts on the Edmonton Oilers and view them from Howie, Sharon and Piers points of view imagining they know something about the game we love. Howie might have some knowledge based on his place of origin, but I don'...
As we inch closer to the regular season, Oilers fans such as myself are anticipating great things. The Canada Red-White game last night was another testament to Edmonton's recent draft success. Although, Dillon Simpson is a longshot to make the team, the oilers boasted a star forward, potential number one goaltender and a potential puck moving defenceman. The youth on d...
Hey everyone, new to this site and writing my first blog and what better way then to predict where my favourite team (Edmonton Oilers) will finish this year in the standings. To figure this process out I will do process of of elimination to determine where the other teams in the Western Conference will finish. In no particular order, the top six teams in the west our V...
This is my Edmonton Oilers stat predictions, line combinations and my awards for the 2011/2012 season. OILERS 11-12 STAT PREDICTIONS NAME GP G A PST PIM +/- T.HALL 80 31 37 68 37 6 A.HEMSKY 68 23 43 66 30 4 J.EBERLE 82 22 37 59 28 -1 S.GAGNER 82 20 34 54 42 -1 R.WHITNEY 82 6 43 49 66 14 S.HORCOFF 78 15 29 44 82 1 R.SMYTH 82 23 21 44 47 -4 M.PAAJA...
Over the Next 30 days I will be Previewing each of the National Hockey League Clubs heading into the 2011-12 season starting from the Anaheim Ducks. Day 11 of the series belongs to the official AarifDeenReport Edmonton Oilers Preview. Please resort to myhockeybuzz page for previews of teams falling before this team. [b]Follow me on Twitter @AarifDeenReport please.[/...
In the Western Conference this year there are no guarantees, but I am going to make some. There are only eight playoff spots for 15 teams in a RIDICULOUSLY competitive Western Conference. If the Edmonton Oilers played in the Eastern Conference I would say their chances at the playoffs are significantly better. Alas, this is not the case. Back to the West. With eight...
icedog97 writes...

Nobody Asked Me But...#2

Posted Monday | Comments 0
...The Tomas Vokoun signing in Washington appears now to be about as much like the Ilya Bryzgalov signing in Philadelphia as their two salaries are for 2011...which is to say "not much". Initially people compared the two with the idea being that both clubs were obtaining "top" netminders to make them legitimate cup contenders. Washington seemed to get the better deal becau...
Cecil09 writes...

State of the Oilers

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Watching the Edmonton Oilers play Saturday night brought a couple thoughts to mind, good and bad. Needless to say, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is here to stay. Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle are very, very good hockey players and by the end of the season 'great' may be a more fitting adjective. They have tons of young offensive pieces in place with Paajarvi, Gagner, Hemsky, Omark a...
Cecil09 writes...

State of the Oilers

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Watching the Edmonton Oilers play Saturday night brought a couple thoughts to mind, good and bad. Needless to say, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is here to stay. Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle are very, very good hockey players and by the end of the season 'great' may be a more fitting adjective. They have tons of young offensive pieces in place with Paajarvi, Gagner, Hemsky, Omark a...
Cecil09 writes...

State of the Oilers

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Watching the Edmonton Oilers play Saturday night brought a couple thoughts to mind, good and bad. Needless to say, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is here to stay. Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle are very, very good hockey players and by the end of the season 'great' may be a more fitting adjective. They have tons of young offensive pieces in place with Paajarvi, Gagner, Hemsky, Omark a...
Cecil09 writes...

State of the Oilers

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Watching the Edmonton Oilers play Saturday night brought a couple thoughts to mind, good and bad. Needless to say, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is here to stay. Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle are very, very good hockey players and by the end of the season 'great' may be a more fitting adjective. They have tons of young offensive pieces in place with Paajarvi, Gagner, Hemsky, Omark a...
The scene: The Oilers Taylor Hall at a Draft Lottery Party one year after he himself was drafted first over all. The management has thought it a good idea to send him out with the commoners to see what the reaction would be if the Oilers won the draft lottery. As it turns out they did not even win that, a fact almost forgotten. The New Jersey Devils won the lottery however...
Brayden1444 writes...

Next 10 games

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
I'd like to begin my blog by saying hello. This Is is my first blog and I'd like to warn all other bloggers that I may be stealing their readers cause I am about as good at writing as Ovechkin is scoring goals. My favorite team is the e 1st place oilers and the majority of my blogs will be about them. So let's get down to busieness. The oilers play yet another home gam...
Brayden1444 writes...

Next 10 games

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
I'd like to begin my blog by saying hello. This Is is my first blog and I'd like to warn all other bloggers that I may be stealing their readers cause I am about as good at writing as Ovechkin is scoring goals. My favorite team is the e 1st place oilers and the majority of my blogs will be about them. So let's get down to busieness. The oilers play yet another home gam...
Brayden1444 writes...

Next 10 games

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
I'd like to begin my blog by saying hello. This Is is my first blog and I'd like to warn all other bloggers that I may be stealing their readers cause I am about as good at writing as Ovechkin is scoring goals. My favorite team is the e 1st place oilers and the majority of my blogs will be about them. So let's get down to busieness. The oilers play yet another home gam...
Brayden1444 writes...

Next 10 games

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
I'd like to begin my blog by saying hello. This Is is my first blog and I'd like to warn all other bloggers that I may be stealing their readers cause I am about as good at writing as Ovechkin is scoring goals. My favorite team is the e 1st place oilers and the majority of my blogs will be about them. So let's get down to busieness. The oilers play yet another home gam...
Brayden1444 writes...

Next 10 games

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
I'd like to begin my blog by saying hello. This Is is my first blog and I'd like to warn all other bloggers that I may be stealing their readers cause I am about as good at writing as Ovechkin is scoring goals. My favorite team is the e 1st place oilers and the majority of my blogs will be about them. So let's get down to busieness. The oilers play yet another home gam...
Brayden1444 writes...

Hot streak or for real?

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
I'd like to begin my blog by saying hello. This Is is my first blog and I'd like to warn all other bloggers that I may be stealing their readers cause I am about as good at writing as Ovechkin is scoring goals. My favorite team is the e 1st place oilers and the majority of my blogs will be about them. So let's get down to busieness. The oilers play yet another home gam...
Brayden1444 writes...

For real or Hot streak?

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
I'd like to begin my blog by saying hello. This Is is my first blog and I'd like to warn all other bloggers that I may be stealing their readers cause I am about as good at writing as Ovechkin is scoring goals. My favorite team is the e 1st place oilers and the majority of my blogs will be about them. So let's get down to busieness. The oilers play yet another home gam...
jamesparker_7 writes...

Omark to Tampa Bay??

Posted Friday | Comments 0
Since nobody has posted any Tampa Bay Lightning content in a long time I figured I would take a crack at covering the team and the current rumors around them. Starting with Eklund's rumor yesterday tying the Lightning to the recently demoted Linus Omark. Omark has incredible offensive upside tallying 27 pts in 57 career NHL games (yet he is a minus 18), but many for...
With a number of teams struggling between the pipes I thought it would be fun to take a look at the goaltender market. I will look at each potentially available goaltender and the possibilities of them being moved this season. First up in a series of articles is... Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames We start off in Calgary where the Flames are struggling mightily and ...
The Washington Capitals should trade Mike Green this season, if he gets healthy enough to string together a few games. Yes, Mike Green is one of the best offensive defenseman ever, I am in complete support of his abilities, my problem is that he is injury prone and the Capitals can spend their money better elsewhere. I would have never made this argument last year but w...
icedog97 writes...

Nobody Asked Me, But...#3

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
- Fighting in hockey isn't going anywhere because too many people who are part of the legislative process of the game want fighting to stay. The question of whether or not it is an integral part of the game is a tough one to answer because as long as it's allowed, it's a part of the game. I would offer that if it was removed from the game, the biggest losers would be play...
Sabres42 writes...

1-3-1 Good for the Game?

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
With things all quiet in Hockey Heaven I figured today I'd talk about some other news around the league. First I will touch on the events in Tampa last night. Someone finally stood up to the defensive tactics that are destroying the game. NJ started it and were successful with tactic the Lightning use and so were the Bruins last season. What does the NHL do from here? ...
oilprincess writes...

Tis the season...

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
To at least save some face in the eyes of hockey fans everywhere! Hallellujah to that! Whilst we still have our challenges here in the northern most NHL city of Edmonton, things are definately looking up. The change from last years team to this years team is almost too good to be true. But I (and everyone else here) hopes that it all lasts. I'm not going to jump my guns an...
biggs36 writes...

Sam Gagner

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
The rumors have been coming and going about Sam Gagner. Is he a long term 2nd line centre. Maybe, He has had at least 40 points in each of his four NHL seasons. Is he a better choice then future star Tyler Pitlick who has been compared to Ryan Kesler many times. No, probably not. But what about oilers future centre man lineup like this. Nuge, Gags, Lander, Martindale. Nuge...
Okay to start it off. Did you see Gagners fight the other night? It was awesome. Good on ya Sammy. Ok now back to the blog. These or MY line combanations for the upcoming game. Enjoy and leave comments. 1 Hall Nuge ...
Nells writes...

Thing that make you Hmmmm

Posted Friday | Comments 0
As last nights game vs the wild came to an end I sat there at rexall place pondering some questions!!!!!! Let's go back to the Nashville game. In a 1-1 game were Khabby is playing another great game and the oil are hanging in there in a tight game versus the always frustrating preds,Sam gagner is up against the boards and sends a pass to the middle of the ice and is pic...
[img]http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/b9/fullj.5cfadff89c55c7892381ab0fe12523c4/5cfadff89c55c7892381ab0fe12523c4-getty-135478954.jpg[/img] Well here we are, after having 2 days off in a row the flames are back to the grind. Tonight we get to watch the flames play the Predators on the road. In their last 10 meetings the flames have managed 6 wins against the predators. The...
[img]http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/sports/photos/2009/04/13/blackhawks-flames-090205.jpg[/img] Im baccckkkkkk Well its been a bit of a trying week, first we saw the flames fall at the hands of the Nashville predators, then we saw the Tampa Bay Lightening and Florida Panthers both push Calgary out to only 1 point. What can we take away from this? Well the positive spin...
yave1964 writes...

Go west young men

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
The annual canadien west coast trip, followed by a revenge game with Nashville to finish the trip. How many points do we need to get for the trip to be a success? I think five is the magic number, any less is a bad trip, and more a gift. Road blues are still a problem this year, hopefully this trip takes care of it.........
[img]http://www.commongrounds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/santasleigh.jpg[/img] Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the Dome Not a Player was hanging, not even Jarome. Their equipment was hung in their lockers with care, In hopes that Jay Feaster would manage them fair. The players were home with their families in bed, While thoughts of a playo...
Is Tom Renney the right man for the job? I don't believe so. He may be a good coach and a great teacher but at some point the Oilers will need someone who gets the most out of his players. I don't believe Renney does. If you look at the Chicago Blackhawks, one of the pivotal moves that made that team champions was firing Denis Savard and bringing in Joel Quenville....
The Isles would go on to win 4-1 over the Edmonton Oilers on Ken Morrow night. The Checking Line - Isles Edition provides you with the post-game coverage. http://islanders.thecheckingline.com/blog/rob-mcgowan/new-york-islanders/isles-strike-oil-4-1-win-over-edmonton -Rob McGowan http://twitter.com/IslesRM http://twitter.com/TCLIsles www.facebook.com/TCLIsles
yave1964 writes...

Chris Conner sent down

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
The Wings have sent Conner down to get his injured wrist rehabbed, but also it frees up cap space, there is a chance that it is a precurser to a deal. Hemsky for Kindl??? h
I breathed a sigh of relief as the horn sounded at First Niagara Center tonight and Buffalo finished the game on top, for a change. However, this was far from perfect. Buffalo played a bipolar style of game. There were moments during the game when Edmonton was in control, despite having played in Chicago last night. Most importantly, Buffalo crawled away with 2 points. ...
SettleDownRyan writes...

Oilers year in review

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
It's hard being an Oilers fan where losing to win seems to be the new school of thought. Where the present doesn't matter it's the belief that better days are coming. This past year has been no different, it's the same management in control of the same losing record. Let's take a look at some of the changes which occured in this past calendar year. January 1st 2011 saw ...
Wow, so going to write a blog about the lowly Edmonton Oilers eh? Well If there were only 30 Oilers bloggers I would definitely be at the very bottom of the standings. Bear with me and maybe some of what I say will be interesting (probably not). So out of some stroke of luck I've managed to make it to two regular season games this year, a terrible loss to the Senators w...
[img]http://nationalpostsports.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/0119hall.jpg[/img] Taylor Hall was Injured in practice the other night and ended up taking a bunch of stitches. He is out for a few days at least but luckily didn't loose an eye. Scary injury that turned out as good at you can hope. Wishing him a quick recovery! As you may or may not know the Calgary flames...
Newman writes...

The lowly Edmonton Oilers

Posted Friday | Comments 0
I'm a diehard Flames fan. I hate the Oilers. So who better to dissect the team from northern Alberta than their enemy? Come over to The Checking Line -West for to read more! http://west.thecheckingline.com/blog/newman/edmonton-oilers/lowly-edmonton-oilers-flames-fan-perspective Newman Twitter.com/TCLNewman
[img]http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/396165_10150496555357293_500697292_8929549_435481295_n.jpg[/img] When asked to comment on his feelings towards the Oilers, Sullivan felt actions spoke louder then words! This one is dedicated to All Mighty Oil, who I promised I would post more pictures of my dog for. Why don't we talk about injuries? Oiler fans...
I understand why people don’t like the Hemsky contract; it’s a lot of money for an oft injured underperforming player. The thing that you have to remember is it's a short term deal for less than open market value. Additionally it puts the Oilers in a good cap situation going forward. Eberle, Hall and Paajarvi come out of ELC next summer where the Oil already have cap s...
Despite being all but out of the playoff race (barring a miracle), the Tampa Bay Lightning need a victory against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night. Unless this team wants to absolutely tank the rest of the season, which is unlikely based on the culture Yzerman and Boucher have created, a victory is imperative for confidence and getting back on the right track. Let�...
The second that it was announced that the Edmonton Oilers had won the right to select first overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft suggestions started pouring in that they should trade the pick off for some immediate help, likely defensively. However it is my belief that the Oilers would not be better off to trade the pick, instead should do the obvious thing and select Sarni...
ryleybala22 writes...

Oilers should this

Posted Friday | Comments 0
1. I think the oilers should draft yakupov and 32nd pick draft pick the best player available or try to trade that pick up to get someone better 2. Trade for Braden holtby. He is playing so awesome right now him and dubie can fight for starter buy out bulins contract and then trade for one of capitals top Dmen 3.sign Matt carle Or wideman sign jarret stoll get rid...
Why would Edmonton trade the 1st Overall pick? The second Edmonton won the Draft Lottery everyone started to compare them to the Quebec Nordiques who also got the 1st Overall pick three years in a row. Quebec would win the Stanley Cup five seasons later as the Colorado Avalanche, guess how many of those 1st Overall picks were on that Stanley Cup winning team. If your gue...
Why would Edmonton trade the 1st Overall pick? The second Edmonton won the Draft Lottery everyone started to compare them to the Quebec Nordiques who also got the 1st Overall pick three years in a row. Quebec would win the Stanley Cup five seasons later as the Colorado Avalanche, guess how many of those 1st Overall picks were on that Stanley Cup winning team. If your gue...
Why would Edmonton trade the 1st Overall pick? The second Edmonton won the Draft Lottery everyone started to compare them to the Quebec Nordiques who also got the 1st Overall pick three years in a row. Quebec would win the Stanley Cup five seasons later as the Colorado Avalanche, guess how many of those 1st Overall picks were on that Stanley Cup winning team. If your gue...
ISS released their new draft rankings yesterday. There are some surprises and the reason for the changes can be seen. Forsberg moved to the number 2 spot for his finish as top forward in the Under 18 tournament. However with that said Matt Dumba moved up but was ranked behind U-18 Dman Jacob Trouba. Dumba Lead the tournament in points and was selected as the number one...
I have been chomping at the bit now for about two and a half years and finally did something about it today. I was at one point in my life a paid hockey writer. Not paid very much mind you, but monthly deposits were being sent to my Paypal account. I had the glorious task of being a staff writer for Hockey's Future. My main beat was the Minnesota Wild. Think about that for...
centribo writes...

Leafs Thoughts, What Not.

Posted Monday | Comments 0
1. Despite what a lot of people seem to be thinking about what will happen if the Oilers get a second line centre at the draft and thus free up Sam Gagner for trade, the Leafs should steer clear of him. If the Leafs were to land him, he's projected as the number one centre, and adding to that, he's a Toronto boy, and we all know how Brian Burke loves local boys (sarcasm). ...
CanadaSlayer writes...

NHL Entry Draft 2012

Posted Tuesday | Comments 1
Keep in mind that this article reflects my opinions and does not use any Draft Day rumours on any other persons blogs or news articles. To start off the draft, the Edmonton Oilers faithful have been awarded with watching thier Team "Kick off" the Draft Day by selecting first overall for the third year in a row. A Pick widely considered to be used on Draft Day front Runn...
The Stanley Cup finals are upon us but I don't really care about it. Whether the Los Angeles Kings or the New Jersey Devils win, I could care less. I'm more interested in what's going to happen at the draft. Not too long ago a rumor surfaced that the Edmonton Oilers were entertaining the idea of trading the 1st overall pick to Columbus in a package deal including the 2n...
Hello all first off this will be the first bit of any sort of writing since high school so bare with me. Coaching situation Ever since the WHC there has been rumors of Brent Sutter becoming the next coach of the Oilers. I highly doubt that rumor will come true. Dont get me wrong Sutters a solid coach but I think he'll sign with another team thats closer to a contend...
Hello all first off this will be the first bit of any sort of writing since high school so bare with me. Coaching situation Ever since the WHC there has been rumors of Brent Sutter becoming the next coach of the Oilers. I highly doubt that rumor will come true. Dont get me wrong Sutters a solid coach but I think he'll sign with another team thats closer to a contend...
Hello all first off this will be the first bit of any sort of writing since high school so bare with me. Coaching situation Ever since the WHC there has been rumors of Brent Sutter becoming the next coach of the Oilers. I highly doubt that rumor will come true. Dont get me wrong Sutters a solid coach but I think he'll sign with another team thats closer to a contend...
pbrsimps writes...

My Top-10 Mock Draft

Posted Tuesday | Comments 1
Hey, this is my first blog and I would appreciate any feedback or [u]constructive[/u] criticism. I have always enjoyed the draft and the speculation and trades it brings. And the opportunity for all us fans to play NHL GMs for a day (or months before). I have only watched 3 of these guys live and only 2 of them several times for consistency so I am not pretending to be an ...
Jeff2354 writes...

The Oilers Need Defense?

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
With the draft coming up, the thought on most Oiler fans minds is do we take a defenseman (Ryan Murray) instead of Yakupov to fill our need on the blueline. But will it even help? The thing to consider is that this team is not a contender. We are in year 3 of the rebuild and just starting to climb out of the basement. Therefore, there's no need to do anything drastic. ...
Ok so the Oilers draft Yakupov on the 22nd. How does that impact the rest of the Oilers Top Six? In this past season the Oilers top six consisted of Hall, RNH, Eberle, Gagner, Hemsky and for at least the first part of the season Smyth. Just replace Smyth with Yakupov and bang, the Oilers now have an awesome top six, right? Nope I don't think so. It takes more than sk...
I wrote another blog where I talked about how I could see Brian Burke pulling off some big deals to make Toronto into a legitimate playoff team. Another way I could see Toronto’s offseason going, one that would take more patience, is to trade up in the NHL draft to acquire some star power. We know Burke likes those big deals and isn’t afraid to go after some players he...
pbrsimps writes...

3 Possible Yakupov Trades

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Right winger Nail Yakupov is the consensus number one pick at this year draft. With Edmonton already possessing some big time offense, a star RW (Eberle), and a fairly small top six, they could very well trade down to round out their roster. I have created 3 different deals where the Oilers trade the 1st overall pick. 1) Yakupov and Oliver Roy (G) dealt to Ottawa for M...
Hello, this is my first blog at Hockeybuzz (obviously) and I should introduce myself. I go by Gator26 (Gator was my highschool handle) and I adore the Habs. Ever since child birth, I've seemed to enjoy to watch them play (maybe not last season) but nonetheless, they still have my heart. Recently just got ink'd actually, the logo is now part of my body. Sounds odd when I sa...
Just watching some TSN, and there is speculation that the Habs will trade P.K Subban and the 3rd overall pick to the Oilers for the 1st overall pick. Straight up, I think this is a bad deal for the Habs. Trading a young, semi-proven, future star in Subban and the 3rd overall pick for essentially Nail Yakupov (completely unproven) . I would totally take this deal if Edmonto...
Nail Yakupov was simply the guy Edmonton HAD to take with the first overall pick. He was unanimously ranked number one in all the ratings and the Oilers did not pass up the future start. The Russian born winger dishes out passes that make him look like Claude Giroux and plays at a 1.5 point per game pace stocking up about even totals in goals and assists (always favori...
There isn't anyone out there in the hockey world right now who doesn't know who Justin Schultz is. As an Oilers Blogger, I am quiet aware of the hype and Alure of having someone of his Calibre play for the "home" team, although no-one really knows who's team he's going to play for. During the last week Justin has released a list of 5 teams that he would love to be ap...
Freestyle writes...

Oilers, Staying The Course!

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
As the chatter goes on regarding free agency and making big trades the Oilers stay the course and build primarily through the draft adding select pieces to bridge between what they are and what they will become. Naturally everyone wants to be a Cup contender every year but quite frankly that isn't realistic. Managing contracts and payrolls is critical these days if you w...
Who are the greatest Penguins blue-liners of all time? You'd probably say Paul Coffey, Larry Murphy, or Randy Carlyle. Maybe more recent players make your list like Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik or Rob Scuderi. But what about D!ck Tarnstrom? What if I told you that Tarnstrom accomplished something that none of the previously mentioned players ever did? In 2003-04, D!ck Tar...
With just under 100 days remaining until the season opener against the hated Vancouver Canucks, two teams that are at drastically different points in their roster development. The Canucks have a very solid team led by the Sedin twins, Kesler, and Burrows on offence, complemented by a very capable defense backstopped by Kevin Bieksa, Alex Edler, and the newly acquired ...
lovin writes...

Oilers 2012/2013

Posted Friday | Comments 0
This is my first blog and i am just going to discuss what i think of the Oilers roster as of now and some thoughts on what i would like to see happen over the next few months. When i analyze whats going on with a team, i like to break it down into line combinations, gives the best idea of whats going on with the team. This is what we have going for the Oilers so far: Ha...
In a recent Richard Cloutier blog surprisingly void of Eric Belanger insults, a trade scenario was presented in which the Oilers and the Habs would swap two stars straight-up. Subban for Yakupov in a pure 1-for-1 hockey deal. I just thought I woud weigh in to the conversation with my thoughts on a deal that could rock the hockey world. I have long been an advocate of th...
Crazytrades writes...

Edmonton/Buffalo Rumor

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Today Eklund made my day by saying the Oilers and Sabres were working on a major deal. As an Oilers fan this summer has been a big let down. Other than the signing justin Schultz the only other thing I could look forward to was 2 more months and then the season will hopefully start. So onto the rumor Eklund stated that the Oilers would want a significant D-man and right aw...
Makeitknown15 writes...

Darcy's waiting game

Posted Friday | Comments 0
Rumors have been floating around for a while on Different players Buffalo is chasing. Names like Stasney, Ryan, and most recently Gagner have all shown up in rumors. It turns out, Buffalo could be setting up something a little better than most would have thought. Recently the Flyers lost another D due to injury. The Oilers and Ducks are in desperate need of a good ...
Just going to start by saying that this is my first blog so hopefully I dont make a mess of this. :) Well as im sure we are all aware, Eklund reported a possible rumor between the Sabres and the Oilers. Ill attempt to break it down here. Sabres: The Rumor suggests that the Sabres would be sending a "significant defenceman." Lets start by saying it wont be Myers or Eh...
Just going to start by saying that this is my first blog so hopefully I dont make a mess of this. :) Well as im sure we are all aware, Eklund reported a possible rumor between the Sabres and the Oilers. Ill attempt to break it down here. Sabres: The Rumor suggests that the Sabres would be sending a "significant defenceman." Lets start by saying it wont be Myers or Eh...
Ok, here we go!! There's been lots of speculation of a major deal between the Oilers and the Sabres. Most bloggers are insisting the main parts involve Gagner from Edmonton and Sekera from Buffalo. Now this is an interesting deal but I would not consider this "major" as stated by Eklund on this site. I think any major deal involving these two clubs will obviously involv...
There has been a lot of talk about what Steve has done and even more about what he could have done this summer. We have all heard that talk that the choice to draft Yakupov was made by Katz. There was also talk the Sutter as coach was nixed by Katz as well. These two things were the best things the Oilers did this summer. The reasons: Yakupov has become a fan sensat...
There has been a lot of talk about what Steve has done and even more about what he could have done this summer. We have all heard that talk that the choice to draft Yakupov was made by Katz. There was also talk the Sutter as coach was nixed by Katz as well. These two things were the best things the Oilers did this summer. The reasons: Yakupov has become a fan sensat...
Hello all and welcome to my second blog ever. Like i said in my first blog Im not the greatest writer so if it sucks please bear with me. Im open to suggestion and comments of all kinds. Now to my blog, the Edmonton Oilers have done a bit of work this off season but they could have done alot more. Lets take a look at what the Oilers have done so far. First off they s...
Hello all and welcome to my second blog ever. Like i said in my first blog Im not the greatest writer so if it sucks please bear with me. Im open to suggestion and comments of all kinds. Now to my blog, the Edmonton Oilers have done a bit of work this off season but they could have done alot more. Lets take a look at what the Oilers have done so far. First off they s...
Hello all and welcome to my second blog ever. Like i said in my first blog Im not the greatest writer so if it sucks please bear with me. Im open to suggestion and comments of all kinds. Now to my blog, the Edmonton Oilers have done a bit of work this off season but they could have done alot more. Lets take a look at what the Oilers have done so far. First off they s...
shanegoudie writes...

Random Oilers Thoughts

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
[b]Random Oilers Thoughts - The "[i]I forgot my password[/i]" edition. [/b] Yes folks, I am back after taking a few months off. Why did I come back? I never wanted to leave actually. I forgot my password/user name. Lame. I'm sure a quick email to the site admin would of helped but for whatever reason never fired one off. Oh well, no doubt everyone has had their fill of ...
Hi All, I’m getting sick of all this CBA talk and decided to write a blog going down the prospects route. The Oilers have an abundance of young talent and I found myself thinking, just who could be traded for some more immediate assets, and who just doesn’t have a price tag on them. Here are the Oilers top 5 untouchable prospects. 1) [b] Justin Schultz [/b]– He...
This installment of the Top 10 draft picks will focus on the Edmonton Oilers. They have plucked some serious talent from juniors since they joined the NHL in 1979. Wayne Gretzky was not drafted by the Oilers, or by anyone, so he will not be on the list. How will guys like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall, and Nail Yakupov stack up against the high-flying Oilers from the 19...
coltron writes...

Pilot

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
Welcome to my very first blog. I know that I am mostly writing to myself at this point in time but perhaps eventually 2 maybe even 3 people might stumble across one of my collections of ramblings. I should start with a little bit about myself: I'm certainly not a writer by no stretch of the imagination. I have no professional background, I did the minimum English req...
What a wonderful day, I'm playing a show tonight with my band [www.deathbyrobot.ca], I took the day off work, I'm sitting here with a hot cup of Timmy's and hockey talk is in full swing. What more could I ask for? Not a whole lot me thinks. Anywho I figured today would be a good day to attempt a blog that actually discussed the Edmonton Oilers and my thoughts on the t...
Phil94 writes...

Oilers Goalie solution

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
After watching the Oilers/Sharks game last night and reading blogger and fan reaction here is my take on the situation. Devan Dubnyk did not have a very good game .I don’t dislike him, but I find he does not have the makings of a number one goaltender. Last night, it seemed like he had no fight, no desire to go out and make a big save. I find he lacks that competitive ed...
Recently Edmonton’s Arena deal moved forward finally after long and bitter negotiations between the Katz group and The City. The final deal ends up being that the city will get roughly 4 Million a year from the club, which is about double what the currently pay. The total amount of the project is going to be in the vicinity of 600 million dollars, a hefty sum no doubt, a...
The Phoenix Coyotes took on the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames on back to back nights this weekend. I will be pretty brief in my explanations of the games because I did not see enough of them to give what I believe to be a high-quality analysis. Also, I am not a huge fan of writing a lot after losses because sometimes there is not much positive to say. First off, t...
I know what you guys are saying, that I am a troll, or for me to get off this website, but think about this for a second. Think about what we can get for it. We'll lose a prospect for next year but we can also gain two devolped veteran's, Example, Joe Thornton, we could even throw Whitney in there just to drop a 4 million contract.
The Edmonton Oilers are constantly being compared to the Chicago Blackhawks based on the rebuild route they have chosen. Rebuilding is FINE, but don't be convinced that this is the same type of rebuild as the Chicago Blackhawks. I'm going to go over the breakdown of the Chicago rebuild in comparison to the Edmonton rebuild. CHICAGO MISSED THE POST SEASON FROM 02/03 - 07/08...
GuestAccount writes...

Draft Predictions

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
The Edmonton Oilers will be the recipients of the first overall draft pick until they assemble an entire roster of first overall draft picks. The league has virtually ensured this as now all fourteen teams that miss the playoffs have a chance to win the first overall pick. Plus we all know that the Oilers aren't making the playoffs anytime soon. They also managed to pry...
Hello, minimal number of readers! Long time no blog! Well. as you all know, the trade deadline is coming up in a matter of weeks and with the volume of opinionated posts I've been pasting all across the forums (the Oilers' forum in particular) this past while, I thought I may as well write a blog about it! And to all your dismay, here it is! The aforementioned trade...
Oilers4Life14 writes...

Trade deadline.

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
So trade deadline is coming up in 8 days, so I decided to make a blog. Edmonton Oilers need to win 13 of their next 17 games, 13-4 run. It's not going to happen, sorry. But we are still in the running for a first overall pick. But in all honestly, we need to trade that to get more vetreans for next year, where we can make a playoff run. So here is my answer to what w...
If the draft was to start right now, we'd be pick 5th. Nashville and Carolina are two points back of Edmonton with 39. And our next 4 games aren't easy. We play: Anahiem, which we've only managed to score 2 goals in 2 games this years. Chicago, who has the best record in the league, but the last 2 games at home we've won by more then 8, Minnesota, away, who we've beat once...
How to improve the Oilers Defense through Trades and through the draft Well since the goal of this blog is as the header states, I will rule out Free Agency as an explorable option. With what appears to be a pretty high draft pick in 2013, some might say we can simply pick a defenseman and insert him into the line up, but that to me is folly, especially if the team is ent...
Well, it's no surprise, Oilers, as of late, have only had 3+ goals in the last 10 games (8-2 W over Calgary, 5-3 L to Minnesota, 4-1 W over Colorado). 7 of those games we've scored 1 or less. I do not know what it is, what the problem is with scoring, perhaps it was all used against Calgary? Ralph Kruger needs to remake the lines, something line this: Line 1: Hall-Nu...
Well, it's no surprise, Oilers, as of late, have only had 3+ goals in the last 10 games (8-2 W over Calgary, 5-3 L to Minnesota, 4-1 W over Colorado). 7 of those games we've scored 1 or less. I do not know what it is, what the problem is with scoring, perhaps it was all used against Calgary? Ralph Kruger needs to remake the lines, something line this: Line 1: Hall-Nu...
Well, it's no surprise, Oilers, as of late, have only had 3+ goals in the last 10 games (8-2 W over Calgary, 5-3 L to Minnesota, 4-1 W over Colorado). 7 of those games we've scored 1 or less. I do not know what it is, what the problem is with scoring, perhaps it was all used against Calgary? Ralph Kruger needs to remake the lines, something line this: Line 1: Hall-Nu...
Well, it's no surprise, Oilers, as of late, have only had 3+ goals in the last 10 games (8-2 W over Calgary, 5-3 L to Minnesota, 4-1 W over Colorado). 7 of those games we've scored 1 or less. I do not know what it is, what the problem is with scoring, perhaps it was all used against Calgary? Ralph Kruger needs to remake the lines, something line this: Line 1: Hall-Nu...
Oilers4Life14 writes...

Oilers win 6-1.

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Follow me @Oilers4Life14 on Twitter After like 13 years playing at Xcel Energy Center, Oilers finally won their first game there, 6-1. Yak had a big night so did Eberle and Hall. Potter, even a trade bait player had 2 goals. Now this last game versus Vancouver, as well as Minnesota vs Edmonton was just for pride, also bumping us in the standings. Which is bad for th...
Oilers4Life14 writes...

Oilers end the season.

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Wow. All I can say is wow. If we played like that all season, we easily would've made the playoffs. But no reason to stress, we have four Canadian teams in the playoffs, hopefully Montreal wins. But anyway, this season may of sucked because we didn't make the playoffs, but other stats were good. Out of our four Northwest Division rivals, we won 3 series out of four. Van...
Hello folks, and welcome to my first blog on HockeyBuzz! Just to start, my name is Adam Gallant, and I live for the Edmonton Oilers. As many other Oilers fans feel, I see this season as a letdown; not a major letdown, but one nonetheless. Many thought this would be the year that the Oil creep into the playoffs; we did not expect a Northwest division title, a 7th or 8th see...
I want to start by saying there are numerous reasons the Oiler's arena has been looking like it wouldn't work. Most people believe it is money and who would pay the money. Others believe it is municiple politics. Both of these play a part and I will touch on that but the final hurdle has been the Calgary Flames. Let us start with Katz and his role in this. When buyi...
With the Oilers drafting 7th this season, there are plenty of different outcomes that could happen. It is very plausible that new General Manager Craig McTavish will trade the pick, or move down in order to bring in veteran talent. For the sake of this blog let's say they don't move. Jones, Drouin, Barkov, Mackinnon will all be gone in the top 4 but it gets fuzzier after t...
oilersrule66 writes...

Oilers at the 2013 draft

Posted Tuesday | Comments 5
A lot of people are sick of the Oilers losing every year and think they should make a move to improve immediately. These are the people that are tired of year after year last place and waiting for the rebuild to be complete. To be honest, I don't blame them. But the future is bright in Edmonton and it's actually good that they're not trying to speed up the rebuild and m...
The Oilers are rich in depth of prospect defenseman. But only 2 of them are ready to start next year (With potential). Edmonton needs size on the center, because Gagner cannot win a faceoff, nor can Nuge. They both did make an improvement in defense this year. So what do we draft? Dubynk can show that he can stand on his head when the Oilers need him, our top six is great,...
oilersrule66 writes...

Oilers trade bait

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
In my last blog (http://my.hockeybuzz.com/...&user_id=183597I) I partially talked about the possibility of Nino Neiderreiter being traded to the Oilers this summer to bring more size to the top 6 (6' 2'') and to get a more legitimate top six left winger. Granted, Paajarvi is bigger than Nino (6'3'' vs. 6'2'') but this past year Paajarvi has become a good power forward and ...
Jayo1808 writes...

Oilers Playoffs aka: The Draft

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
So, Oilers blogger Richard Cloutier (@rdcloutier on twitter) wrote a blog today suggesting that MacT will be trying to trade up a couple spots so that he can pick Sasha Barkov. Considering the recent news that Valery Nichushkin has decided to come to North America, I can definately see the possibility of Barkov being available around the 4 or 5 spot. I wr...
“I need a new start” said New York Rangers’ center, Brad Richards. Richards is 6 feet tall, 198 pounds. A perfect center man for the Oilers. Sam Gagner, the current 2nd line center is 5’11, 199 pounds could be the idle Left Wing that the Oilers need, or he could be moved for a natural left wing. Oilers pick 7th this year, they can move that pick for an NHL-ready Le...
This is my first attempt at writing a blog so all constructive criticism and opinions are welcome. Ill write with some depth on the top ten picks, and then just make the rest quick with little explanation and based on current standings because the playoffs are not finished yet.rnrnThis year in hockey has been full of ups and downs for Oilers fans, our season was over quick...
This is my first attempt at writing a blog so all constructive criticism and opinions are welcome. Ill write with some depth on the top ten picks, and then just make the rest quick with little explanation and based on current standings because the playoffs are not finished yet.rnrnThis year in hockey has been full of ups and downs for Oilers fans, our season was over quick...
Hey everybody! While watching the Halifax Mooseheads all season and especially during the memorial cup I couldn't help but notice how well MacKinnon and Drouin play together. They are ranked 2 and 3 on the NHL's central scouting report and after they leave Halifax, they will proberly never play together again. But while I was watching the memorial cup final on Sunday ...
Oilers4Life14 writes...

Oil Drop Episode 3.

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Before I start with Oil Drop Episode 3, I’d like to say best of luck to Richard Cloutier on getting his dream job. As much as everyone hates your blog, you as a person, you’re alright. So best of luck! (Just don’t become a GM, we don’t want another rebuild.) The draft is 32 days away, we pick 7th, as many people know. According to my sources (Richard C...
So I am randomly doing this because I am bored and I have time, but I am going to start a new series call “Trade Proposals with Oilers4Life” (Something like that.) So here we go: VAN: Tanev EDM: Paarjavi Paarjavi isn’t the greatest ever, and can be easy replaced. All we need to do is get Richards if he’s bought out, move Gagner to the Left Wing, sign ...
oilersrule66 writes...

Oilers sign Belov

Posted Wednesday | Comments 1
The Oilers made a move this week. Yes, I said they made a move. This is what it's gonna be like now, no more Mr. Nothing Tambelini. MacT is actually gonna make moves to try to improve the team. MacTavish is going to try to make the team better but he's not going to make any moves that are gonna screw us in the future. In summary, he's not gonna masively over-pay for a...
Edited June 7th While watching the Halifax Mooseheads all season and especially during the memorial cup I couldn't help but notice how well MacKinnon and Drouin play together. They are ranked 2 and 3 on the NHL's central scouting report and after they leave Halifax, they will proberly never play together again. But while I was watching the memorial cup final on Sunday I...
There was a thread on the Oiler's Blogger board about 12 Bold things the Oilers will do, and I decided to add my predictions, based on what seems the most logical. Unfortunately, that board often degenerates into a personal playground for several regulars, so the truly useful posts about actual hockey and the Edmonton Oilers get brushed to the wayside. So, I decided in...
There was a thread on the Oiler's Blogger board about 12 Bold things the Oilers will do, and I decided to add my predictions, based on what seems the most logical. Unfortunately, that board often degenerates into a personal playground for several regulars, so the truly useful posts about actual hockey and the Edmonton Oilers get brushed to the wayside. So, I decided instea...
There was a thread on the Oiler's Blogger board about 12 Bold things the Oilers will do, and I decided to add my predictions, based on what seems the most logical. Unfortunately, that board often degenerates into a personal playground for several regulars, so the truly useful posts about actual hockey and the Edmonton Oilers get brushed to the wayside. So, I decided instea...
There was a thread on the Oiler's Blogger board about 12 Bold things the Oilers will do, and I decided to add my predictions, based on what seems the most logical. Unfortunately, that board often degenerates into a personal playground for several regulars, so the truly useful posts about actual hockey and the Edmonton Oilers get brushed to the wayside. So, I decided instea...
There was a thread on the Oiler's Blogger board about 12 Bold things the Oilers will do, and I decided to add my predictions, based on what seems the most logical. Unfortunately, that board often degenerates into a personal playground for several regulars, so the truly useful posts about actual hockey and the Edmonton Oilers get brushed to the wayside. So, I decided instea...
There was a thread on the Oiler's Blogger board about 12 Bold things the Oilers will do, and I decided to add my predictions, based on what seems the most logical. Unfortunately, that board often degenerates into a personal playground for several regulars, so the truly useful posts about actual hockey and the Edmonton Oilers get brushed to the wayside. So, I decided instea...
shvmr writes...

Oilers 12 Bold predictions

Posted Friday | Comments 0
There was a thread on the Oiler's Blogger board about 12 Bold things the Oilers will do, and I decided to add my predictions, based on what seems the most logical. Unfortunately, that board often degenerates into a personal playground for several regulars, so the truly useful posts about actual hockey and the Edmonton Oilers get brushed to the wayside. So, I decided instea...
-[b]For[/b] the last year I've been reading comment after comment regarding what the oilers need to do to improve and take the next step. "We need to get tougher" "Top 6 forward, #1 Dman and 2 bottom 6 gritty vets with size" "Were not going to be able to this and that because we wont move our younger core players". -[b]For [/b]me, going into next...
-[b]For[/b] the last year I've been reading comment after comment regarding what the oilers need to do to improve and take the next step. "We need to get tougher" "Top 6 forward, #1 Dman and 2 bottom 6 gritty vets with size" "Were not going to be able to this and that because we wont move our younger core players". -[b]For [/b]me, going into next...
There has been WAY too much going on in Edmonton. Basically, EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING. Here's part one of the week that was in Oil Country. It was announced yesterday that GM Craig MacTavish has fired Head Coach Ralph Krueger. A bit of a surprise, considering that MacT gave Krueger a vote of confidence when hired in late April. At the press conference, MacT adm...
There has been WAY too much going on in Edmonton. Basically, EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING. Here's part one of the week that was in Oil Country. It was announced yesterday that GM Craig MacTavish has fired Head Coach Ralph Krueger. A bit of a surprise, considering that MacT gave Krueger a vote of confidence when hired in late April. At the press conference, MacT adm...
There has been WAY too much going on in Edmonton. Basically, EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING. Here's part one of the week that was in Oil Country.rnrn It was announced yesterday that GM Craig MacTavish has fired Head Coach Ralph Krueger. A bit of a surprise, considering that MacT gave Krueger a vote of confidence when hired in late April. At the press conference, MacT adm...
Before I get started here, I'm going to apologize for my last blog. for some reason, it didn't register any paragraph separation when it posted. I will try to make sure the format of this one is proper before I post it. Again, my apologies. On with the show. Oilers GM Craig MacTavish has wastes no time making his mark on this franchise. He has already re...
oilersrule66 writes...

Hartikainen flees to Russia

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Damn. This is a big blow for Edmonton's bottom 6. Temmu Hartikainen has signed a contract with Ufa in the KHL and is leaving the Oilers organization. This sucks for the Oilers because Hartikainen was a big young physical presence that was ready to start playing on the 3rd line next year and was going to be a big part of their future for years to come. And I just lear...
oilersrule66 writes...

Oilers coaching change

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Well the Oilers fired Kruger on Saturday and I must say, I'm a bit surprised. I wasn't a very big Kruger fan and I didn't really like him but the players seemed to like him and by the sounds of it I thought MacTavish liked him too. But I actually don't think it was actually that they wanted to fire Kruger but they wanted to hire the Toronto Marlies coach Dallas Eakins....
Some random hits on the Oil. [b]On Kristians Pelss[/b] A very unfortunate story out of Latvia yesterday and today. In case you haven't heard, Oilers prospect and former Edmonton Oil Kings forward Kristians Pelss was reported as missing. Some media outlets in Latvia reported he had drowned after falling/jumping off a bridge into a river near Riga, while the offici...
So, with the season almost over, everyone will hope to fill needs through the draft, trades and free agency. My love of this season and all it brings gets me thinking what can a team do, so how does your cap fit? Today Edmonton! As per Cap Geek the Oil have 10f 6d and 1 g signed for a cap hit of just over $54,100,000. So around 10 mil to lock up 3-4 f 1 d and a new back ...
So, with the season almost over, everyone will hope to fill needs through the draft, trades and free agency. My love of this season and all it brings gets me thinking what can a team do, so how does your cap fit? Today Edmonton! As per Cap Geek the Oil have 10f 6d and 1 g signed for a cap hit of just over $54,100,000. So around 10 mil to lock up 3-4 f 1 d and a new back ...
Jayo1808 writes...

Holy Trade Rumors, Batman!!!!

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
As we draw closer to the draft, more and more news and speculation leaks out about possible transactions that may occur this offseason. With the General Managers meetings going down in Boston this week, the gossip has hit a fever pitch. Here are some of the more juicy tidbits. - Joe Sakic told the Denver Post that the Avalanche will NOT be selecting top rated prosp...
CanadaSlayer writes...

NHL Entry Draft 2013

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
Everytime around this time of the year, I spend each of my days (and most of their hours) going through what the Edmonton Oilers are going to do on draft day and who they should select. The Edmonton Oilers, unlike the last 3 years are unfortunatley not in a position to pick the best possible player available in the draft and will rely on the selections on 6 teams (one b...
TylerSterk writes...

Trades For Thought

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Just some late night trade possibilities. Canucks trade Roberto Luongo, Jannik Hansen, 1st round pick and 3rd round pick TO the Islanders for Nino Niederreiter, Josh Bailey, Rick Dipietro, 1st rounder and 2nd rounder. Maybe a deal that doesn't or cant take off but I could see it being a good deal? It would suck to see Hansen go but to bring back Niederreiter and Bailey wou...
Welcome back! In the 3rd installement of my series "Oilers Draft Possibilities" I'm going to discuss the possibility of the Oilers drafting Sean Monahan, the 2 way beast. Monahan could be the solution to our center crisis and could add the much needed size to our top 6. Sean Monahan is projected to go 6th overall to Calgary by most analysts because Calgary has a ga...
ERROR: SORRY Your posting privileges have been revoked until June 29, 2013 @ 8:02 AM. The post that you have been banned for has been posted below. If you feel that this ban may have been handed out in error, please contact support at [email protected]. OFFENDING POST: From one stupid blog to another. You're just on auto-pilot today aren't you Clouts? Bottom ...
Welcome to the final installement of my series "Oilers Draft Possibilities". In this blog I'm going to discuss the possibility of Lindholm being drafted by the Oilers. He is a centerman that would be perfect on Edmonton's 2nd line with Yakupov. Even though he's small he's compared to Forsberg by a lot of scouts and it's hard to get a player of that calibur. Lindholm ...
[b]Ilya Bryzgalov, 33 - Philadelphia[/b] Contract: $51.0m/9yrs Buyout: $23.0m/14yrs This contract is the definition of what the power of having a union can do for you. For most people who are fired or let go they are lucky to get severance and even if they do, that severance is almost nothing to kick back on and retire early with. Meet Ilya Bryzgalov. The epitome o...
oilersrule66 writes...

Oilers Draft Preview

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
The NHL draft is coming up in a couple hours and there is a lot of controversy over who the Oilers should pick and if they should make any trades at the draft. I'm going to put in my two cents and talk about some rumors that are swirling about the Oilers. Edmonton has the 7th overall pick this year and need to add some center prospects and if they can, get a 2nd line c...
Well. That was dissappointing. Not only was it one of the most boring and least eventful drafts in NHL history, but MacTavish went complete Tambellini on us! All throughout the draft he picked useless players and longshot players that more than likely will NEVER make the AHL much less the NHL! And then the trades! Arghhhh. The 1st trade I almost threw a medicine b...
“And the Edmonton Oilers, with the 7th pick, picks Darnell Nurse!” But that is not the talk of the NHL today. It was the trade between the New Jersey Devils and the Vancouver Canucks. As people know, the New Jersey Devils traded their 2013 first overall pick to the Canucks for Cory Schneider. Who won this trade? I’d say the Canucks. Dumps cap salary, still has a...
Craig MacTavish was a semi-decent coach who became disliked and disrespected by the Edmonton Oilers fan base. When he came back as the new General Manager he promised swift action to create an Oilers team that would start to compete. Unfortunatley putting yourself in the rumors to recieve players in Trades means nothing if you don't even follow through on a single one. Onc...
The Oilers traded down twice to collect 10 players in the draft. Some are questionable picks and others have some great upsides. Here is a list of all of them along with a professional scouting report. 18 year old Canadian D – 6’5 192 Lbs Darnell Nurse GP 68 G 12 A 29 P 41 -15 Darnell Nurse is a big, mobile, gifted blueliner who has a lot of Chris Pronger in...
Hey all, I am back with another blog. I hope you enjoy it and feel free to follow me on Twitter @NewfieMikey The Oilers had an interesting day at the Draft, MacT was in on a lot of players but did something we Oiler fans are quite used to...Got close to but didn't land a number of immediate roster players. Apparantly he was trying to get Cal Clutterbuck (who wen...
oilersrule66 writes...

Oilers Draft Joke

Posted Monday | Comments 0
After a disappointing draft day for the Oilers the one upside is listening to the post draft jokes that everyone's making about MacTavish. I just wanted to share my favorite with you...... On the day of the 2013 NHL draft, Edmonton Oilers owner Darrell Katz gives GM Craig MacTavish 1 brand new gold looney. MacTavish then trades the new looney for 2 shiney quarters. ...
It's the thought on most Oilers fans minds right now. Going into draft day Oilers fans expected big things from MacT after the pre-draft day promises he made. But 2 days and a bunch of wasted picks later Oilers fans are full of dissappointement over MacT's empty promises. Going into the draft there where multiple holes on Edmonton's roster and every single one of th...
Yup. As they say in literature, " If there's a will, there's a way." There is always a way for a team in the NHL to win a cup. Even Calgary if Feaster wanted to. The GM just has to know what he's doing and make smart moves. I'm not saying the Oilers should do this because I'm completly opposed to half the moves I'll suggest in this blog, but I'm trying to state th...
MacT I love ya. Not in a gay way but you know what I mean. You where able to trade Shawn Horcoff for something other than a bag of gym socks. Miracle. Philip Larsson and a 7th rounder. I didn't think we could even get a seventh for him! Miracle worker, I repeat a miracle worker. Again, I have nothing against Horcoff the player, except that he has no hands. He's...
Well with the free agent market opening tomorrow I'm thinking a lot about who the Oilers should sign and if they should make any trades. With MacTavish trading Horcoff today he lifted the spirits of fans but he still has a lot of work to do. The Oilers have 16 players under contract as of right now with 40, 791, 666$ tied up with them. They have 21, 860, 233$ of cap sp...
MacTavish continues to impress after the dissappointing draft. Signing Ference, Boyd, LaBarbara and The Finnish guy is a good start to filling some of the roster holes on the Oilers squad. But there's still lots more to be done to fill the rest of the holes on Edmonton's roster and MacTavish still has his work cut out for him. After day 1 of Free Agency the Oilers roste...
This weekend Jaromir Jagr narrowed his list of teams down to 3. Edmonton, New Jersey and Les Canadiens. Since The Oilers are in the sweepstakes I wanted to put in my 2 cents on why the Oilers should sign him and where he'ld fit into the line up next year. Back in 07 or 08 or whenever he went to the KHL, Jagr told the Oilers organization that if he ever came back to pl...
mbayrak writes...

Dumb Oilers fans

Posted Monday | Comments 0
Hello everyone and welcome! I've been an Oilers fan since about 1982. Many years ago, I had the pleasure of hanging out one evening each with Gretzky and Messier. As a kid, I used to go to those games and remember watching Gretz and Company score. Then after Messier left, I stepped away. The playoff wins against Dallas were fun. The 2006 Cup run was amazing and li...
Well, the trade was already good. The Oilers got their 2nd line LWer and they only had to give up a 2nd and Paajarvi. I liked Paajarvi but Perron is a great player with a no quit attitude. Exactly what Edmonton wants. Now this trade is already good but I thought of a way this trade could become awesome. Wanna hear? Good..... Paajarvi's a RFA right? The whole po...
Some moves that would help the Oilers [b]Ales Hemsky[/b] 5 million cap hit (final year of contract) for [b]Matt Martin[/b] 1 million cap hit (signed until 15/16) and a conditional second or third round pick if the Oilers make the playoffs (still up in the air if the Oilers can make it even with the new additions) This works great for both teams. The Islan...
Everything I read about the Oilers is the same. They NEED a top pairing d-man. They NEED to deal Hemsky for a third line winger. They NEED to get rid of Smid or N. Schultz. rnrnrnThey might have too many defensemen. That's usually a really big problem for teams around the trade deadline, right? They need a Top pairing d-man. Someone will trade them a stud right? No. The gu...
brp02 writes...

Round 2 Of Realistic Oiler Moves

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Hey I have some more moves that could help the Oilers be a playoff team this coming year. I'm still hoping for a [b]Ales Hemsky[/b] for [b]Matt Matin[/b] trade, seems like a great fit for both teams. Skilled second line winger and set up man for a third line ball of hate, both teams fill a need. [b]Ryan Malone[/b] 33 6-4 225 LW/RW 4.5 million cap hit signed until 14/...
Who is Jesse Joensuu? I have become fascinated with the Islanders former second round pick and one of the newest members of the Edmonton Oilers. 'The Hockey News' website always offers great talent analysis on players, what is communicated to us Oilers fans should excite us, at least it excited me Assets: Has great size and some scoring ability. Is aggressive on the...
I am a bit saddened of the fact that many fans and the media are saying that they are still waiting for Craig Mactavish's self-anticipated "bold" move. Hasn't he done a few already?rn"Bold" is defined in the English dictionary as the ability to take risks, to be courageous....rnrnIt is not defined as "making moves that the fans or other people like", it is not even defined...
Do you remember him? Played for the Oilers a few years ago, wasn't half bad. Got a good pick for him when they traded him to Nashville. He fleed to the KHL and made Nashville look stupid. Well, now he's back in blue and orange. Like it or not. This signing confuses me. Grebeshkov is a good player and is a good addition to Edmonton's roster but the Oilers already h...
The Oilers are a team of the future. So they have to plan for the future. You look at their top 6 and you see 6 guys. under 26. So the top 6 is set for the next 15 years but their bottom 6 is full of older support players. Whats their plan going forward? The only bottom 6 players that will still be there in a couple years is Lander and maybe Joensuu. Lander will be...
The Oilers are a team of the future, blah blah blah. If you want the intro read my last blog. On defense the Oilers prospect depth is stacked. There's so many that eventually we'll just have to start trading the ones we can't use for draft picks. Like really it's rediculous how many good D prospects the Oil have. Must of drafted a ton because the defense sucked ever...
West: 1. Chicago 2. Los Angeles 3. St.Louis 4. Dallas 5. Anaheim 6. Vancouver 7. San Jose 8. Edmonton 9. Minnesota 10. Phoenix 11. Winnipeg 12. Nashville 13 Colorado 14. Calgary Teams: Last Season: Pacific: Los Angeles Anaheim 2.Anaheim Vancouver 13Calgary San Jose -- Wild Card 1Chicago Edmonton – Wild Card ...
Please feel free to correct me on any grammar or vocabulary mistakes. Today I got a message to research two players, Akim Aliu and Wojket Wolski. I'll start with Akim Aliu. Akim Aliu is 6'3, 225 pounds, plays right wing and 24 years of age. He was born in Okene Nigeria. But moved to Ukraine early in his life. He then moved to Canada when his parents where nervous of ...
Mason Raymond should not be overlooked when talking about the slim free agent pool left and the forward position. Look for Raymond to be signed almost immediately following the signings of Grabo, Brunner, Morrow. Raymond is rumoured to be considered a backup plan/2nd option for a depth forward behing the previously mentioned forwards. ...
oilersrule66 writes...

Oilers sign Darnell Nurse

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Well the Oilers made a bizarre move today by signing Darnell Nurse today to a 3 year entry level deal. Nurse is a few years away from the NHL so why would you sign him now? A team doesn't have to sign one of their draftees until 2 years after they're drafted. Or pretty much when they're done Junior. The only reason a team would sign a player before the 2 years are up...
Adams writes...

Nashville Trade Proposal

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
to EDM: Weber(7.8m), Gaustad(3.2m), Taylor Beck(.9m) ___________________________ to NSH: Smid(3.5m), Petry(1.7m), Hemsky(5m), Marincin(.9), Rajala(.8)_______________ _____________________________________________________________________ The salaries work out well for both. The positional depth works out well for both teams even better. Check it out on cap geek's cap calcula...
oilersrule66 writes...

Oilers sign Nurse, Why?

Posted Monday | Comments 0
Well the Oilers made a bizarre move today by signing Darnell Nurse today to a 3 year entry level deal. Nurse is a few years away from the NHL so why would you sign him now? A team doesn't have to sign one of their draftees until 2 years after they're drafted. Or pretty much when they're done Junior. The only reason a team would sign a player before the 2 years are up i...
Who cares if we just traded him? Paajarvi will be in an Oilers uniform on opening night in October. Here's how... First off I should tell you why I think Edmonton needs Paajarvi back in the first place. You look at Edmonton's front line and you see there's pretty much only 1 hole left, 3rd line LWer. Isn't that where Paajarvi was? You bet ya. Paajarvi will re-fill the ...
Most fans believe that the Oilers still have a few more moves that they're going to make before the season starts given that they have holes on the 3rd line and have too many defensemen. And with Hemsky still here even after MacTavish said he was going to trade him. But what if MacTavish is all done for the summer and is happy with the lines he has now? If MacTavish i...
I can't believe that MacTavish would be done for the summer on defense given that the Oilers have a surplus of NHL calibur defensemen with 10. With Schultz x2, Smid, Petry, Ference, Grebeshkov, Belov, Larsson, Klefbom and Potter they have too many 3/4/5/6 and no clear no. 1. And with them signing Nurse to a contract does that mean MacTavish expects him to play next year t...
The past couple days I wrote 2 blogs talking about what the lines would be in Edmonton if MacTavish was done making moves for the summer. Now here's what I think MacTavish should do to make the bottom 6 better and more experienced. The lines going into next season look pretty much like this right now..... Hall - Nuge - Eberle Perron - Gagner - Yakupov Joensuu ...
The Oilers defense isn't actually that bad at the moment. The past 3 or 4 years Edmonton's defense was the laughing stock of the league. But this summer MacTavish signed players like Ference, Belov and Grebeshkov and now Edmonton's backend is pretty good. But these new additions open up new problems. Edmonton has 10 NHL defensemen and only 1 true 1st pairing defenseman...
Going into the season it was pretty much a general consensus that Ales Hemsky wouldn't be in an Oilers uniform on opening night. But after MacTavish's numorous attempts to trade him and there being no viable return of any sort a lot of people expect him to be in an Oilers uniform on opening night. So if there really is no way to trade him, where will he fit into the line...
FLYERSROCK! writes...

Oilers Offseason to date

Posted Friday | Comments 0
While I may be a Flyers fan, the Oilers will always be my 2nd favorite team, and they have been since the day I was born. I've decided to mix it up and write a blog for a different team. Today I will sum up the Oilers offseason to date. That includes everything from the Draft, Free Agent signings, re-signings, trades, and management changes. [b][u]Management Changes [...
Ryan Smyth is a part of Oilers history. He was one of the best Oilers in the early to mid 2000's and lead them to the stanley cup final in 06. He will always be remembered by Oilers fans. But that was half a decade ago and now he just has to give up and retire from his playing career. He's old, slow and can't keep up with todays game. The problem with Smyth isn't h...
Creating a blog like this will bring obvious controversy, agreements and disagreements. I know that. However, the Oilers are without a captain for the 13/14 season, so why not blog about it? The Oilers could always go the 3 assistant captains route, however, i feel that with all the young players the Oilers have, they will put a C on one of their younger players sweaters. ...
Dangles13 writes...

Oilers Captain?

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
As many of you know, MacT recently unload Oiler captain Shawn Horcoff to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Phillip Larssen and a 7th round pick. Which I personally think was a great deal because the Oilers were not forced to keep any of Horcoff's salary and we added a young depth defenseman. I digress, the main issue of this blog is to discuss the problem created by moving...
C-Flo writes...

Hall of Mirrors

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
[i]"If you can accept losing, you can't win." -- Vince Lombardi[/i] The vacancy in the captain's chair in Edmonton is a prestigious one, despite recent franchise inadequacy. The city has experienced both the most legendary dynasty and the bleakest futility in league history, each in seven year periods. Great expectations of a prodigal team from a deserving fan base must...
First off I would like to say fairwell to Richard Cloutier. You were one of the best writers on Hockeybuzz and you will be missed by everybody. Even Iggysbuff. And contrary to popular belief you actually DID know stuff about hockey and weren't just some troll living in his parents basement. Your welcome. Now for some Oilers talk. Going into training camp the Oil st...
Time for my 3rd blog on the Oilers in the past 3 days! In this feature I will be guessing how many points I think the Oilers players will get during the upcoming 2013/2014 NHL season. I believe some players are due for a breakout season, or atleast a bounceback season. Of course, roster spots could still change. I will be doing the top 9 Forwards, top 5 Defense, and the...
elronch writes...

Are the Oilers better?

Posted Monday | Comments 0
A few changes here, and a cross your fingers and hope a lot of the young players improve. I definitely think they are a better team than last year, but playoffs? That I am not buying just yet. Big question mark for me at 3rd line center, they must think Lander is ready, I like the kid but he did not show he was near being ready last year, if one of Hopkins, Gagner or Boyd...
I decided to write a little something to keep my fellow oiler posters entertained while they find a new oiler blogger. If you do like it, I may write another. If you don't like it, then I'm never showing my face here again. Let’s start with the big move of the summer. LW Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson(MPS) and a 2nd round pick in 2014 to St. Louis for LW David Perron. I m...
Due to this being a great idea and most popular demand by Oiler fans, today's blog will focus on how the Oilers can improve their bottom 6 FW. When you look at the Oilers bottom 6 you currently have these 7 players... 3rd line: Smyth-Gordon-Hemsky 4th line: Jones-Lander-Joensuu/Brown To me that isn't a terrible bottom 6, but you definitely have a very weird and ...
DJOilman writes...

How things have changed....

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
I was at one time a frequent Hockeybuzz poster. Now, I'm more a frequent reader - I lurk...I linger. I am intrigued with the opportunity to perhaps make a comeback of sorts, with the sudden departure of Cloutier, as a writer and relayer of useless information (that's what Clouts did right?). When the Oilers last made the playoffs and went to the 7th game of the Stanley...
DJOilman writes...

How things have changed....

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
I was at one time a frequent Hockeybuzz poster. Now, I'm more a frequent reader - I lurk...I linger. I am intrigued with the opportunity to perhaps make a comeback of sorts, with the sudden departure of Cloutier, as a writer and relayer of useless information (that's what Clouts did right?). When the Oilers last made the playoffs and went to the 7th game of the Stanl...
This is part 2, forwards can be found in my previous blog. As with the forward blog, first paragraph is best case and second is worst case. Defense Smid – Petry – Return to their form from 2011-2012 and improve some as they are a formidable shutdown pair. Petry gets some time on the power play and improves his point totals slightly, while Smid is in the top 3...
luke32 writes...

Oilers Top 5 Prospects

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
Hi all, Amidst the lack of stuff going on with Edmonton Oilers I've decided I write a blog focusing on the prospects. The oilers have done great recently in acquiring top end talent through the draft. It's only a matter of time before the talent from the backend begins to shine and the oilers become a solid cup contender, here is my list of the top 5 oilers prospects....
C-Flo writes...

The Price Is Wrong

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
1st round draft picks are a commodity that should never be taken lightly. They are the primary source of the game's elite superstars. In one selection, a franchise can select a legendary cornerstone, or miss a golden opportunity that will be ridiculed for decades. In 2004, the Edmonton Oilers passed up Alexander Radulov, Travis Zajac, Wojtek Wolski, Andrej Meszaros, Mik...
LBAlien writes...

Expectations

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Expectations. We are closing in on the end of August here in Alberta and with that hockey has become a topic of conversation because the cool wind is a reminder that training camps is just around the corner. Now being an Oiler fan has not been easy the last couple years, this time every year it has been the same thing. Hockey fans have all been saying the same thing about ...
Who are the Dirtiest Oilers players of all time? A collection of cheap shot artists, pricks, and whiners as determined by the rules....which are quite simple, as they are mine! The player had to be a dirty Oiler, proudly wearing the blue and orange on his elbow, and the player, at some point in his Oilers career, had to make me personally cringe at the thought that I was c...
The Edmonton Oilers enter the coming season with high, but measured, expectations. The sky is the limit for this young squad, but putting it all together is easier said than done. Both Hall and Eberle are proving to be star talents in the league with Yakupov not far behind them. Questions surround RNH's health and size, however nobody will second guess the pure skill and v...
Ok Ok we all know that the market is a little dry and maybe looking like the Sahara Desert right now, but there are still plenty of NHLers out there without jobs. We have seen the top end talent go but there are still some warriors out there, some depth out there, heck even some projects out there. C'mon, hockey is these peoples careers and would definitely not take a club...
If you follow the oilers, it should come as no surprise that EDM will more than likely be without their 1C, Nugent-Hopkins, to start the season and are pretty thin at C already. The 4C job will be up for grabs between Lander and Will Acton. Acton having never played an NHL game. Here’s a few possibilities on how I see the F depth chart to start the season: Option ...
[i]The tough of the track With the wind And the rain that's beating down on Your back Your heart's beating loud And goes on getting louder And goes on even more 'til the Sound is ringing in your head[/i] Who remembers Body Break? With Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod? They were 90 second PSAs that aired in Canada and encouraged active, healthy living. The one where ...
LBAlien writes...

The Dubey Effect

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Devan Dubynk, the Big Easy as some would like to call him or Dubey as I like to call him. The big goalie that has never seemed to get the complete trust from fans to take the team to the next level. He always seems to let in that one goal that can deflate the whole team. But he is capable of making that big save but at times it always seemed too late. Every year he has bee...
The Oilers 2013/2014 is going to be a wild ride one way or another. After 7 years of dwelling in the basement the fans are hoping this is the year they will be rewarded for their patience with a playoff appearance. After reading over my previous two blogs, I believe there are a few things that need to happen for the Oilers to be in the second season for the first time si...
I've decided to go back in time and select an Oilers dream team from the year 2000 and up. There are a couple requirements I took into consideration. 1) No rental players - so no deadline day acquisitions that left the year after 2) None of our young guns on the team today (lets bring up the past to make it a little tougher) So no Hall, Nuge, Ebs, Yaks, Shultz Feel ...
Have you heard the knews?! Dun Dun Dun...Another one bites the dust. One more for the list of players the Oilers have mismanaged. What's this list you may ask? Well follow me down the rabbit hole into a world of disappointment, heartbreak, remorse, disgust, and woe (Thanks Thesaurus.com!). The List (Feel free to make your own or add to the one provided.) Sheldon Sour...
C-Flo writes...

Breaking Bad

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
As soon as Toni Rajala told Craig MacTavish that Gus dies at the end of Season 4, the writing was on the wall. I mean, it's the sort of thing you just don't do. You're a talent with tremendous upside, but you're also 163 pounds. 163! You're already on the bubble, at best. And then you go and blab about Walt poisoning that kid when he swore to Jesse that he didn't. The p...
C-Flo writes...

Parallels

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
As the Edmonton Oilers celebrate the 30th anniversary of their first Stanley Cup, it's remarkable watching history repeat itself. Once again we have an exciting young team that everyone agrees is destined for greatness. But more than that, it's amazing how similar these players are to their predecessors. It's essentially a casting call for a re-imagining of the original...
Sold! To __________ for ___________. Now we have to fill in the blanks with the best team/ player possible! Sounds like fun, right? The problem is, no team really wants Hemsky. So what do the Oilers do? First, they have to find a team that, 1) Has enough cap space to bring in a 5.5 million dollar contract, and 2) Needs a top 6 forward. Then they have to...
Linus Omark had one of the most dazzling debuts in NHL history, winning the game in front of a delirious Rexall crowd with the most perfectly executed shootout goal you'll see this side of Pavel Datsyuk. Instant superstar? I thought so. I was ready to buy his jersey. But then, suddenly, his opportunity was ripped away from him like a Lucy-held football. He was sent down...
I always find it preposterous when people compare athletes from today to athletes from yesteryear. Today's competitors have so many advantages nutritionally, pharmaceutically, and in their training methods that it's a real apples and oranges situation. I have no doubt that the Oilers franchise is no different from the other teams in the league, in that they are cutting edg...
C-Flo writes...

The New Beatles (The Fab Four)

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Continuing on a theme first written about in my earlier blog Parallels, it's fascinating to see how these young Oilers bear striking similarities to other people in history. Let's examine in this quick post. If you'd like to read Parallels, comparing the 13-14 Oilers to the 83-84 Oilers, it's here: http://my.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?user_id=211317&post_id=15448 [b]T...
C-Flo writes...

Words With Friends

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Today's challenge: To come up with one stupendous word to describe whatever I feel like describing, and to use it in a sentence. [b]Devan Dubnyk:[/b] His potential for being bad is abyssopelagic. [b]Ales Hemsky:[/b] Unless he's scoring a highlight reel goal, he looks like a somnambulist. [b]Ryan Nugent-Hopkins:[/b] His perspicaciousness more than makes up for ...
I'm starting that twitter thing, you should follow me: [b]@oilersaddict6[/b] _____________________________________________________________________ MacTavish, MacTavish, MacTavish. Why do you keep confusing everybody? You go out and kill the contract of the highly skilled and promising Toni Rajala, and then the next day you go out and re-sign the skilled, but attitud...
Follow me on twitter: @oilersaddict6 With the 2013-14 season approaching there is a lot of pressure on the Oilers to climb out of the league basement and challenge for a playoff spot. After 7 years of hard-core sucking a lot of fans think the Oilers are ready for a return to the post-season. And they aren't far off. The Oilers have a young core of highly skilled play...
Linus Omark never should have been sent down to the minors. He never should have gotten injured while down there. He never should have been exiled for mysterious reasons. He never should have been hung out to dry like laundry flapping in the wind. He never should have scored all those points in Switzerland when he could have been scoring them for the Oilers. MacTavi...
Follow me on twitter: [b]@oilersaddict6[/b] Every Oilers fan was ecstatic when MacTavish announced the Shawn Horcoff trade. It was an absolute steal for the Oilers as they were able to get rid of Horcoff without having to bring back a bad contract, and were able to acquire a young up and coming defenseman in Philip Larsen. But the question I'm asking is, does Philip L...
Humans hold grudges. Most of us have a strong desire to hold people accountable for not treating us well. And if you want to not treat another GM well in the NHL, I recommend tendering an offer sheet for one of their RFAs. Ever since the Oilers swooped in and scooped up Dustin Penner, offering him 10 times his old salary, there has been bad blood between Burke and the ...
Follow me on twitter: @oilersaddict6 Finally! Hockey season is finally upon us after 2 months of agonizing waiting. NHLers are reporting to camp, CHL and Jr. A across the country is starting up and all the kids in minor hockey are stepping on the ice for the first time since April. Good times, good times. Amougnst all these events there is a tournement in Penticton,...
Hall Fan writes...

Oilers Prospect Tournament

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
The Oilers lost another decisive game to Winnipeg tonight 7-2 in the Rookie tournament lending an answer to the question "Who Does the Oiler's Really have for Prospects?" Their defense are suppose to be some of the best non NHL players in any franchise and yet main stream media is picking them apart after the two losses in this meaningless tournament. The truth is that...
We will be relentless with the rock. We will dominate time of possession with the rock. If we lose the rock, we will be like honey badgers trying to get it back. We will have the highest level of compete. We will run the most offensive plays you've ever seen. And you will tire out long before we do. The rock could be a puck or a football. The team could be the Edmonton...
Follow me on twitter: [b]@oilersaddict6[/b] Well, according to MacTavish's press conference this week, Ales Hemsky is officially off the market. At least, that's what MacTavish is saying publicly. What this press conference is actually telling fans is, "We couldn't find a team stupid enough to give us anything of value for Hemsky so he's starting the season in Edmonto...
Anyone who follows the edmonton oilers knows thar their bottom six needs help. I feel that simon gagne is the perfect low risk, high reward 3rd line option. Let me mske my case. I know what you will all say, ""we dont need an older, injury prone forward!" Sure he comes with injury issues, but as of right now is there a better 3rd line option within the orgsnization? ...
You remember going to your first dance as a kid? I remember my first dance, because my parents forced me to go. The one thing that got me to go is how my father explained to me about how going to a dance was an opportunity to ask a girl to dance with me that normally I wouldn’t talk to. Now I was in grade 6 when I attended my first dance, and the thing about being in gra...
Hey Everybody! Follow me on twitter! @oilersrule66 Here's some of the thoughts I have of the Oilers Training camp so far. * Darnell Nurse is impressing after a disappointing training camp. He is looking NHL ready and could work his way onto the Oilers roster for the first 9 games of the season but is still likely gonna be sent down as the Oilers have a logjam of d...
I am not talking about color of skin or race but there are some key building blocks. You have to have a guy from Sweden on there. It is a must. Chicago has more than one. We moved our only guy, Omark to the minors. Good goalies don't come from Regina, if they are born there, fine but they need to play minor league hockey in Quebec. We all know that. Chicago agai...
NHL is back! So much excitement in the air at the start of the season... It's always fun reading about the team predictions set by the “pros” and of course the projected points to make your witty picks for your hockey pool(s). With a slow schedule to start the season off, there have been some surprises and some disappointments. Most teams merely want to stay health...
With the season having just started I figured now would be a good time to go through every team in the league and look at how they are doing and how they are headed. So without further ado. [u]Anaheim[/u] The good: This team has insane depth at Goalie with 2 nhl starters and 2 of the top rookie goaltenders in their system. The ducks have a lot of flexibility with wher...
ThomasGodfrey writes...

The Yakupov Situation

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
The rumors are flying all over about Nail Yakupov and his future with the Edmonton Oilers. While Yakupov has had a poor start with no points so far, he is arguably one of Edmonton's most talented players. The 1st overall pick in the 2012 draft has been scratched twice by new rookie head coach Dallas Eakins. Yakupov was not very happy about being scratched two games in a ...
janders77 writes...

City of Champions?

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
In recent years this so called "City of Champions" has been riddled with, I am sorry to say "losers". The city has seen it's storied NHL franchise celebrating the 1st overall pick like they have won Lord Stanley's Cup... Every time I drive into Edmonton I want to hop out of my truck and change the sign from "City of Champions" to "City of RETIRED Champions"...sure Oiler...
I was just sitting here at work on a dreary Saturday morning doing everything but working, lamenting my beloved Oilers and wondering if things will ever get better. As there is nothing in the near future suggesting that it will, I decided to do some research into just how bad things have been for the Edmonton Oilers in the historical context of how all teams have faired s...
janders77 writes...

Does size matter?

Posted Monday | Comments 0
Not sure where this rant will end up but I just want to share my feeling on what I think could be one of the Oilers issues and it goes back to the old adage that 'Size does Matter'. I was looking at the Oilers first round draft picks since around 2001 and something was apparent to me...the Oilers draft smaller forwards then most teams. I came to this conclusion without ...
Devan Dubnyk was the Oilers first pick in the 2004 draft being selected 14th overall from the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL in a year that he won gold at the World Under 18 Championships with a 3-3 record with 1 shutout and a 2.51 GAA and .917 SV%. Dubby has had a tough start to his season this year after coming off what you could call his best stats year in the 2012-13 s...
Cougs writes...

edmonton oilers memes

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
for all the best edmonton oilers memes created by my buddy and i like my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Oilerstroll https://www.facebook.com/Oilerstroll https://www.facebook.com/Oilerstroll https://www.facebook.com/Oilerstroll https://www.facebook.com/Oilerstroll https://www.facebook.com/Oilerstroll https://www.facebook.com/Oilerstroll https://www.facebook...
Coming into the 2013-2014 season, I was rather impressed with the moves that newly appointed GM, Craig MacTavish, had made for the Oilers. Granted, he didn't bring in any huge names, but he also didn't sit idly by (see: Steve Tambellini). It seemed like a fresh this was finally going to be the year that the Oilers came out of the basement to play with the big boys. He also...
Another disappointing season with halfway to go. MacT nows the time for bold moves. Give oiler fans more hope and move some pieces and bring new ones in. Starting with Sam Gagner. He has struggled and his value will quickly fall of they wait too long. What do I suggest? Petry and 2016 first rounder for Keith yandle. Oilers need d help and coyotes need offense. Next move ...
Hall Fan writes...

Why Lowe Has to GO!!!

Posted Friday | Comments 1
The answer comes historically and from the present. Historically as GM he got the Oilers into the playoffs twice from 2001 -2009. He claims we are on our 5th year of our rebuild and that fans should be patient and yet the Oilers have done nothing since mortgaging their team 7 years ago. He has brought in numerous coaches and GMs and still the Oilers finish last, sec...
Oilersfan9314 writes...

Trade Hemsky

Posted Monday | Comments 1
Since Hemsky is going to be traded and we all know it, I think they should get rid of him and gagner before the deadline. I know the Colorado avalanche and ryan o'rielly want to be done with each other and he is a defensive centre who can also score, I say trade Hemsky to Colorado for him but that's not near enough so add either Fedun or Larsen and I think it would be fin...
We all know the number Eakins has done on Yakupov this year. Nail coming off a big end to last season and then starting this season on line 3 with 4 minutes of ice time. Then being called out by the coach for his lack of point production with his limited ice time and sub par line contribution after only playing 48 games in the NHL. Then he sits Yak 4 times this season. ...
If you're an Oilers fan and haven't been living in a cave for the last week, chances are you've heard of a facebook page that's been gaining traction in the Edmonton media recently. Titled "Kevin Lowe has to go", the page has been steadily gaining likes and is currently poised to reach 8000 of them. The pages creator, known as "John", was quoted by the Edmonton Sun rega...
ggarritty11 writes...

Team Alberta Oil-Flames

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Lets call a spade a spade and let it be known that neither Edmonton or Calgary have a competitive enough hockey club to put a dent in the NHL standings. They are even total opposites as to the blueprint of the team. Lets get these owners in a room and combine forces to make a legitimate team that comes from Alberta that we can both be proud of. Dont get your panties in ...
I'm really starting to get sick of Sam Gagner, I don't understand why they pay him 4+ million to be ineffective. I'm going to go ahead and list the players the should get rid of before next season. Unfortunately I think that the Oilers will have to deal one of Eberle or Yakupov to fix the teams other needs, if I had a choice I would move yakupov bcuz Eberle is best friends...
This year out all others years has the biggest question mark in terms of trades and values of players. With the Olympic break starting at the end of this week there are many teams considering this almost as good a time to move their players than the actual deadline. The reason is that if they move players going to the games in the Sochi then the team won't have to be ...
This has been an interesting year for Edmonton Oiler fans. What was supposed to be the season where it all turned worked out has become exactly the opposite. The Oilers currently sit 2nd to last in the NHL only ahead of the pitiful Buffalo Sabres. The poor result has caused rookie General Manager Craig MacTavish to make some peculiar deals. With Smid and Dubnyk now gone it...
When looking at the standings coming out of the Olympic break, there are only a handful of teams that are considered to be sellers at the trade deadline. With so many 3 point games many more teams are in position to make the playoffs, 5 teams in the east 3 points out or less and 4 teams within 4 points in the west . The only teams that are sellers at the moment are the Sab...
It's obvious to most that Edmonton's biggest need is on the Blue line. With all the tinkering to the bottom 6 forwards, drafting of the high end skill forwards and masterful fixing of the goaltending, Mac T's biggest focus will be on the defense.rn It is highly unlikely that the Oilers will be able to fix the blueline in free agency, or that the prospects like Nurse,Klef...
ystoil writes...

If I Was MacTavish

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Craig MacTavish has made some interesting moves this past year. Some good (Perron, Scrivens, Fasth, Hendricks) and some meh but safe (Fraser). MacTavish knows we have to shore up the defense and change the top 6. But will he do anything about it? Hemsky stated, as all Oiler fans have, we cannot keep playing merry-go-round in the bottom 6 and bottom pairing. If we do, he...
“And lastly I’ll say that there’s one other guy in hockey today that is still working in the game that has won more Stanley Cups than me. So I think I know a little bit about winning, if there’s ever a concern.” Almost one year ago Lowe threw up that line onto reporters microphones, thereby providing ammunition for them and everyone else to take aim at in the ...
I know not everyone is an Oilers fan but few are fans of teams picking high this year. Now saying that Buffalo or Edmonton (who combined have a great chance on getting the first pick in the lottery) win. Does Edmonton trade down? Ekblad is an amazing dman. He is huge and will be great one day. Many scouts put him as a number two guy that plays an amazing shut down role....
Hall Fan writes...

Oilers Off Season

Posted Monday | Comments 1
There is a lot of disagreement as to what the Oilers should do during the off season. There are some people that would like to see one of the young stars traded for so other star. Realistically, these trades are not that common. Sometimes you will see a young prospect that is under performing (Paajarvi is an example) be traded for a player who had concussion problem...
freelancer writes...

The Brand New Third Line

Posted Thursday | Comments 2
Well another season has come and gone. Another lottery finish, another season of failed expectations. Now comes every Oiler fans favourite part of the year. Summer. Hope is in the air and all of us armchair GM's can tinker, trade, and sign whomever we choose to improve this team. The Oilers top 6 currently looks like this going into next year: Hall-Nugent Hopkins-Eberl...
So the Oilers have another top 10 pick in the entry draft so here are players that the Oilers should look at drafting that arent named Ekblad. [u]First Round[/u] [b]Sam Bennett C (6' 180) 57GP 36G 55A 118PIM OHL Ranked 1st N.A.S[/b] Everyone is calling him a clone of Doug Gilmore (even Doug Gilmore thinks so), Killer was a top line forward for most of his ...
Oilers4Life14 writes...

Oilers Offseason.

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
The Oilers as a team in the 2013-2014 season were terrible. Power Play was down; Penalty Kill was down after a spike in the 2012-2013 season. Oilers also were in the bottom 10 for goals this year. So how can MacT fix this, how can the Oilers become a cup contender? So let’s look at the roster at this insistent. Hall-Nugent-Hopkins-Eberle Perron-Ga...
The oilers have missed the post season for eight years straight and macT is going to be very busy this summer if he doesn't want the same fate at the end of next season. So I am going to predict some of the trades and signings he is going to make this offseason and ask what I would like to see him do. First of- draft Leon draisaitl he could slide right in to the 2c role...
freelancer writes...

"We Screwed Up"

Posted Friday | Comments 0
After eight years of this. After eight years of false promises, excuses, and mistakes. I think this is the one thing fans need to hear the most. The Edmonton Oilers have been a shining example of mediocrity for almost an entire decade. Yes, we have had the likes of Tambellini, Mactavish, and Lowe stand in front of media and say things like "obviously we aren't where we wan...
Hey all, I know it's been awhile since I last blogged here but I wanted to talk about some of the rumours linking the Oilers to trading for the 1st overall. A US newspaper posted comments about Edmonton and Florida either swapping picks or the Oilers downright trading for the 1st overall and keeping the 3rd as well. This has really brought out the armchair gms throwing th...
Is the 2014 offseason the biggest offseason for the Edmonton Oilers in recent memory? Sure, every oiler fan since 2007 has said this in April or May. But the challenges that face the rookie GM and coach are steep, and patience in Oil Country is running thinner then my hair. The challenges are plenty, but I would like to touch on a couple today. 1. Probably one of the ...
Hello there folk been a while since I wrote a blog and on a rainy Sunday seems like a great idea to me.rnrnI've read countless articles suggesting the Edmonton Oilers trade for the 1st overall pick to get Ekblad. Personally unless the trade is extremely one sided in favor of the Oilers (which it will never be) trading for 1st overall is a waste of resources as well as a st...
So much talk about how to fix the Oilers but I keep hearing he same ideas. When you have been this bad for this long it is time to think out side the box so here are some suggestions on how to fix this real quick.rnrn1) Hire Mike Milbury as an Assistant GM and let him run development. Since development has not been a strong point for this team for so long, why do it. His k...
Let me start off this blog by telling anyone who reads this that I have had [b]difficulties separating my blogs into paragraphs[/b]rnrnThe Stanley Cup finals is in its final stretch of games and I find myself wondering about the upcoming summer. As a Oiler fan I've thought about countless scenarios that I thought would change the fortunes of this lowly franchise. However, ...
[u]SORRY ABOUT THE FORMAT OF THIS BLOG PARAGRAPHS WERE BEING A REAL PAIN[/u] [b]I[/b] have read multiple blogs, with outrageous ideas about what Edmonton should do during this off season and all I have to say to that is this isn't a Video game, this is a business and you can’t go get whatever you want whenever you want. With that being said let’s look at what the Oile...
[u]SORRY ABOUT THE FORMAT OF THIS BLOG PARAGRAPHS WERE BEING A REAL PAIN[/u] [b]I[/b] have read multiple blogs, with outrageous ideas about what Edmonton should do during this off season and all I have to say to that is this isn't a Video game, this is a business and you can’t go get whatever you want whenever you want. With that being said let’s look at what the Oile...
[b]Yak is a bust and they should have taken Murray[/b] Yakupov was the unanimous top prospect (ranked 1st by Central scouting, ISS, The Hockey News, everyone’s favourite Craig Button, etc.). When picking 1st, you simply don’t draft for need, you draft the best player available. In his first season in Edmonton, he showed why he was ranked 1st by most by leadin...
Hey all, I was bored tonight and I decided to throw together a blog on some ideas I think may help the Oilers next season as well as my draft prediction. I am only going to try and predict the first 10 picks and it's going to be a crapshoot at best. 1. Florida takes Aaron Ekblad 2. Buffalo takes Sam Reinhart 3. Edmonton takes Leon Draisaitl 4. Calgary takes Sam Bennett...
[b]The draft will be Ekblad or bust[/b] It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Edmonton’s defence looks AHL quality. When a guy like Justin Schultz leads your defence in ice time, you’re not going to win many hockey games. While this is a glaring problem that needs to be addressed, drafting an 18-year-old Dman isn’t the answer. Year after year it ...
Oilers have had a very busy week, numerous trades, and our Stanley Cup, the Draft. On June 25th, the Oilers traded their 5th round pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Nikita Nikitin. Oilers then signed Nikitin on June 26th to a 2 year, 4.5 million dollar contract. Nikitin put up 2-13-15 in 66 games played in the 2013-2014 season. His career high is 7-25-32...
The news that Sam Gagner was sent out of town for Ted Purcell. This trade is at its base a hockey trade. The oilers add a big winger who can provide secondary scoring but he's know more as a skill player than for his grit. I think he'd look just fine slotting in on the second line and taking some of the pressure off the kids. This leaves me with some questions.The oilers a...
The Free Agency was today, and boy, was it fast and furious will all the signings. Let’s see what the Oilers did this July 1st. Oilers signed Mark Fayne and Benoit Pouliot very early in the morning, one of the first signings in the morning and would also add Keith Aulie. Benoit Pouliot: Oilers signed Benoit Pouliot early Tuesday morning at 5 years, 4 million pe...
brettmanzato writes...

just a thought

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
More a discussion then really a blog, just wondering why the oil havent approached saku koivu (unless they have) about a short term contract to fill the void at center, are they that confident in arcobello? Or lander? I feel stupid even suggesting that last one
Back when I was a kid, Marvel Comic's used to publish a title called “What if?!!” The basic premise of the title was that in each issue they would identify a key moment in the Marvel Universe or one of it's characters and alter history, exploring the “Butterfly Effect” of this change in history. Today I would like to explore the potential Butterfly effect of th...
I'm looking forward to seeing the additions that MacT brought in action this fall. More specifically I want to see how the additions to the wing, Pouliot and Purcell perform. Both are secondary scorers who may not be an offensive juggernaut every night, but can chip in when needed. Over the last couple seasons, the Oilers have almost had to completely rely on Hall, Nuge...
[b]Follow me on Twitter @DailyNHLGRIND A Glance Back[/b] I don’t think anybody could have predicted the outcome of the brutally nicknamed metro-terrible division last season. Columbus impressed while the Capitals faltered. The Penguins took a dip in the playoffs while the Rangers surprised many after a rough start. Other teams sort of slotted right into their right...
By Erik Caron Follow me on Twitter @ErikCaron20 The Bruins are coming in to camp with “too many NHL defensemen” this season which is honestly something I never thought I’d hear ever. The Bruins are out of cap space and officially handcuffed for the time being since they still have to resign two important pieces in Torey Krug and Reilly Smith. They could wait...
Two of the four major sports in North America have challenges. Hockey is not one of those sports. After Baseball added challenges before the 2014 season it made me wonder; why doesn't hockey? After watching the game on Saturday between the Vancouver Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers, it made you wonder, how is such an obvious call missed? For those whom are not aware, Alexan...
Oilers4Life14 writes...

Dallas Eakins

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
The past 7 years, the Edmonton Oilers have seen 5 coaches. After some questionable line combinations by Eakins, it has some fans wondering… Will he be fired? Well there are a few key aspects to look at. For example, Eakins’ record as the Head Coach of the Edmonton Oilers is 29-46-10. That is not good enough to make the playoffs. Eakins also has not always handled delic...
The Oilers are terrible. Mac T tried to add to the line up in an effort to improve the club, but they are still garbage. This is fact. Now that I got that out of the way, I want to also that Mac T did indeed make some nice additions, but the team needs something much bigger, much [b]bolder[/b]. I'm going to suggest that 2 players can turn this team around. Not just player...
Modern day Oilers fans will remember in the not too distant past they were in the Stanley Cup Finals facing off against a Carolina squad with a young upstart goalie by the name of Cam Ward. Names like Mike Morrison, Jussi Markkanen and Ty Conklin were all to familiar to Oilers fans, much to their chagrin. Little did the fans realize that when the trigger was pulled on a ...
[i][b]Twitter:TheDailyLeafHB[/b]:[/i] Recently, there has been some rumors of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Edmonton Oilers engaging in trade negotiations involving a Jake Gardiner for David Perron swap. This trade definitely makes sense for the Leafs, Perron (26 years old) is a young left winger who can play all different aspects of the game. Last year, with the Oilers ...
And that's the God damn truth!!!
Last weekend they were booed wildly in their home rink after their 7-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. Tonight, Viktor Fasth was scored on from the neutral zone. It’s not a secret the Edmonton Oilers are bad. Earlier this week the team cut ties with goaltending coach Fredric Chabot and with the way things are going, that won’t be the last organizational or roster ...
Hello everyone, this is my first blog, so I am going start with an introduction. My name is Brendan, one of the owners of @WTPHockeyFacts on Twitter. I am a young, but very knowledgeable hockey fan (take a look at our Twitter account for proof, many of those facts are found by myself, through research and my extensive hockey knowledge). I have been a hardcore Edmonton Oile...
AustinTyler writes...

Oil Fans No More....

Posted Friday | Comments 0
Personally, I have seen enough. I am positive that I am not the only one in Oilers Land that feels this way. For myself, I have followed this team since I was 5 years old...29 years. I remember the days of Gretzky, Kurri, Messier, and yes even Kevin Lowe. I remember the "lesser" teams, if you'd like to call them that, of Jason Arnott, Doug Weight, and Curtis Joseph. I have...
Thanks For Reading.
bloodandhonor writes...

NHL Hockey in Alberta

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
I suppose for a first time blogger, a little history might help any readers to see where my biases and allegiances come from. I was born in Alberta in the early 80's the heyday of the battle of alberta. I have 2 older brothers and as one might expect, I wanted them to like me, so I cheered for the teams they cheered for, namely the Gretzky led Oilers. When I was old en...
Do not plan the parade. One cannot blame Eakins on all of Edmonton's losses for the past two seasons. It's as much the players fault as it is Eakins' fault. With all the skill Edmonton has up front, one would not expect the Oilers to be shutout 4 times in 31 games; or to lose 14 of their 15 games, including an 11 games losing streak. As bad as Eakins record showed (...
What, on earth, do you do with this hockey club? I hear a lot of "no-donts" online about them. Let's face it, the last time they had success, that success' name was Chris Pronger, and his wife nagged him to Anaheim. Since then, they've been nothing but a train-stop in a dead city. I'm not going to give some pretentious thorough evaluation of the team. ...
Koz_86 writes...

End of McDays

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
It's here. It's finally here. After many long, cold, and miserable painstaking years, the end of days is finally here for the Edmonton Oilers. The firing of Eakins serves as a long overdue acceptance that this "rebuild" has failed. It is time to...rebuild...again Rather than admit this fate was inevitable, the organization pressed on, trying to save our world one sma...
Contrary to popular opinion; the Oilers front office is not full of incompetent fools. Arrogant, untrustworthy, two faced liars maybe, but not incompetent, and not fools. It pains me to say it, but when it comes to the Edmonton Oilers, the only fools are the fans and the media. The people who converse back and forth over a studio console or a bar room table all have ...
Well here we are again ladies and gentlemen. Your bellies full of turkey, pajama pants on (or no pants, I don't judge) and watching the World Juniors to get a chance to actually see some wins and decide what players would look good in copper and blue next season. The Oilers are a train wreck. I think if anyone told you that this team was going to be worse than last year...
[b]Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DailyNHLGrind[/b] Colorado started the year off right in front of a rowdy Pepsi Center crowd. The boys in burgundy fought through a very quiet game offensively and came away with their fifth shootout victory of the season after defeating Edmonton 2-1. It was the first meeting against the Oilers this season and it comes while ...
There is no Hippocratic oath in the NHL, there is no solemn swear to always try to win especially if the prize for losing is such a benefit. Conner Mcdavid, a “Generational Talent”, who can be the Crosby/Tavares/Stamkos type player for your organization. Failing first overall you get Jack Eichel who is projected to be a first line center. Pretty sweet deal for bein...
In the last week, MacTavish has made a couple of moves, yet the Edmonton Oilers record this season is 9-22-9. Nineteen of those losses have been lost by only one goal. Since Todd Nelson has taken over the bench, the Oilers have gone 2-3-4 in nine games. Not great, but acceptable. Since the 4-1 lose to Calgary, Edmonton’s record is 2-0-2. A .750 point percentage. Compared...
As the Blues travel east through Canada, they look to add to their 7-3-1 record against Canadien teams, including a 3-1-0 road record in Canada. They also hope to add to the Oilers two game home losing streak While the Oilers have improved in the last 10 games, it's like saying your kid improved in school by going from a 45% on their first test to a 55% on their second...
stljam writes...

Blues trends continue

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
The Blues continued recent trends in their 2 -1 victory over the host Edmonton Oilers, winning their second road game in a row on Canadian soil and handing the Oilers their third straight home loss. it also kept Elliott undefeated against Canadian teams this year. In the victory, the Blues failed to score more than two goals yet again even though they were facing an Oi...
Oh the Advance stats. How far they have come. From a bunch of non-jocks writing blogs to the NHL publishing them on nhl.com. Some call it a major advancement. Other say who really cares. I fall into the who cares side of it. While they might have some use, I think too much value is being put in these number. A good example of this is the Battle of Alberta. I live right...
It was a rocky road, but the Penguins would pull off a victory. After the Penguins scored three in the first period and another one a minute into the second, Edmonton, helped by the replacement of goaltender Ben Scrivens with Richard Bachman, roared back in the third period with four straight to knot the game up. The Pens would score twice in 66 seconds to take a 6-4 lead,...
Dearest Oiler fans, I think this relationship needs some honesty. I know you're not the best at listening to it but I have to try anyway. I miss our battles, I miss when beating the Oilers meant something. I miss have a close head to head win loss count. I miss you being talented. I miss you having courageous fans. How much does it burn (pun intended 100%) that Johnn...
thesnirk writes...

The Great MacT

Posted Sunday | Comments 2
First this great comment from a winning coach. My Favorite quote of the year. "All those beautiful stats, they're not worth nothing once the score is up there and the game is over. That's the most important stat and tonight they got one goal more than us," Bob Hartley (as per TSN) after out shooting Columbus 40-26 and loosing in overtime. Ok with that...
In case you missed the Oilers year end press conference, allow me to save you 25 minutes of your life by summing it up: Prepare for more of the same. While the press conference was visually better than last years, not much was said which most oiler fans didn't already anticipate, and essentially consisted of Craig Mactavish blowing smoke up everyones ass. Some o...
freelancer writes...

Wishlist for 2015-2016

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
It's the middle of April! That, as every Oilers fan knows is the beginning of seeing every idiot with access to a computer begin to post their own plans on what they would do to improve the team. So without further adieu I present this idiots plan on what I would do to improve the team. As it stands right now, this is the opening roster for next season (ignoring UFA's) ...
archromat writes...

The NHL meltdown

Posted Sunday | Comments 18
People around the NHL world are, as predicted, crying foul over giving the next generational player to a team already with a glut of forward talent that isn't developing (certainly not beyond expectations, mostly below them). I think I saw this in the Simpsons once, when Homer got lodged in the water slide, so they tried to solve the problem by sending more kids in to try...
So bitter. Yes, it sucks that Edmonton won the draft lottery, outside of Edmonton they are reviled as a worthless loser of an organization and yet get the main prize of this generation. Or do they? They get to draft Conner McDavid but that doesn’t guarantee a that McDavid plays a game for the Oilers. On TV the analysts looked downtrodden, the other G.M.’s rolled ...
Well it's been quite the week in Oil Country. Exactly one week ago, morale was about as low as it's ever been at the end of a season. The Oilers finished 28th overall, and while in previous years fans had been dissapointed, the draft was still a chance to look optimistically at the future. This year, even though this draft has been called one of the deepest drafts of the l...
freelancer writes...

The 2018-2019 Edmonton Oilers

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Wow, the last 3 seasons have really flown by. It's hard to believe that four seasons ago this team was almost dead last. Words like "rebuild" and "developmental" were commonly seen on the Oiler threads. In the last three seasons we've seen this team narrowly miss out on a second round appearance, watch an exciting Western Conference final with the Winnipeg Jets, and of cou...
As much as most fans have enjoyed the last few weeks and the changes being made to this organization, it is obvious this team has a long way to go before playoffs can be even considered. However there are also a few pieces of trade bait this organization can dangle to fulfil some of these needs, one key one being the second first round pick; 16th overall. With a draft that...
freelancer writes...

29 Teams. 29 Defensemen Pt 2.

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Back by popular demand, it's the conclusion of my 29 defensemen blog. Once again, this is a blog to talk about defensemen I feel could be acquired [b]for the right price[/b]. The second first round pick was a piece I chose to simply start the conversation. In no way was I suggesting that Kris Russell is worth the 16th pick; or that the pick alone could get Brent Seabrook. ...
freelancer writes...

Fixing the Third Line

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Watching the Western Conference Final (and if you aren't then shame on you) makes it abundantly clear how far the Oilers are from being a Cup contender. We all know the work that needs to go in to improving the defence and the goal-tending. That is a given. Unfortunately it is the current makeup of forwards that is cause for concern as well. Anaheim is getting production f...
The Edmonton Oilers have the chance to add 4 players in the first two rounds of the draft this year. Among them is one of the highest acclaimed players of our generation. If he lives up to that hype or not, he will be expected when the Oilers are shopping to fill holes in their roster. I think the Oilers might be in one of the most unique positions in NHL history. In...
Well, here I am hanging out at home and I am feeling bored so I thought "Hey, why not write a quick blog so I can read responses that say either 1. How stupid I am, 2. Good read or maybe some random 3rd option" So let me start off this with a quick statement, Eichel is not a better prospect than McDavid. Thanks and now on to the blog. I decided to write a quick blurb...
First of all, i want to introduce myself, that you have a feeling who is going to write :D My name is Tom, 30 years and a native of Bavaria, Germany so please be not so hard on me if there are gramatical mistakes. There were irritating rumors that the Oil own 5 of the first 63 picks, but our own 3rd round pick was traded and we have the 79th and 86th pick instead from ...
I have no basis on these trades other than what I think should happen. I also believe it would make a very fun draft day. I will explain the bigger trades, some just don't really need explaining. Trade 1 Edmonton receives 3rd overall pick (Hanifin) 29th/30th pick (Chicago) 63rd overall pick (Arizona) Arizona receives Leon Draisaitl 16th overall pick (Pitts...
This entire blog will be split into three: Forward, Defense and Goaltending. This blog will be about Edmonton's forwards. In this blog I will be keeping track of Edmonton's cap salary remaining. Without signing anyone this yet, Edmonton is at 18 million remaining. Last season Edmonton had one of worst centre depth. This season it looks like they may have on of the b...
gipper0073 writes...

The Rebirth of the Sabres

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
For a die-hard Buffalo Sabres fan living in the hockey mad metropolis of Edmonton, Alberta…it couldn’t have gotten much worse than April 18th, 2015. I figured suffering through back-to-back seasons of utter ineptitude resulting in two straight 30th place finishes…and knowing full well I would witness the Sabres also lose out on the 1st overall pick in the NHL entr...
[i]Bare with me on this blog. It was written quickly as it has been a long time since HB's actual Oilers Blogger has said anything. A week before the Oilers make 5 picks early in the draft and the best rumors are found on TSN and their website sucks. Like it or not, someone had to say something at all about the club as this is truly a momentous time for the Oilers club t...
westcoastoil writes...

I have a dream...

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
I have a dream.... that the Oilers can get impact young d-men to help with their cause now...rnrnSeem like a bit of a stretch? Maybe, but there might be a few trade scenarios that could work well for both sides, therefor making it a viable deal, even in this cap-crazy world we call the NHL.rnrnFirst off, let me just say that I love all the Oilers young forwards. I believe ...
Hall Fan writes...

Oilers Re-Made or UnMade?

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Oilers latest GM came with a lot of hype. Oilers Brass have changed everything from the President to the scouting staff. However the GM is the first one to show his stuff and he really was not amazing during the draft. Seems like the scouting staff did their job in terms of the 2 late picks he made but he mortgaged they Oilers future for magic beans. The Oilers trade...
Draft McDavid - Check Bring in Talbot without giving up too much - Check Fix the Defense - Check? Let's get right to it. It wasn't bad enough that Boston traded Hamilton to a team not named Edmonton, but it was Calgary, and they accepted less from them than what we supposedly offered. It was good to see that Chiarelli was right in the mix, obviously identifying what m...
The Oil once again went into free agency with a lot of talk. Their goal, the same as it has been for many years; grab a top tier defense man and a starting goalie. I know that we aren't aware of the options that the Oilers actually had. Maybe some players just refused higher money to play elsewhere. I think in a few years this will change but for now lets assume the Oi...
After the draft and a hectic beginning to free agency, teams are starting to settle in and we can get a better idea of what teams will look like going into training camp. The West once again looks ready to be the more impressive conference, with tough competition in both the Pacific and Central divisions. Today I want to focus on the Pacific Division. This year in particul...
Hard to believe we are already into August. For myself, thinking about how over a month of summer has gone by is an unhappy thought. Luckily, all I need to do to cheer myself up is think about we are that much closer to training camp and then, opening night. One thing I always look forward to in seeing in August is nhl.com’s 30 in 30 preview. It’s a great way to re...
freelancer writes...

Winning in the Pacific

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
If the Oilers want any hope of making the playoffs this season they need to beat more teams. Shocking, I know. Looking back last season though it’s pretty easy to see where they had the most trouble. Edmonton played each team in the East twice, and of those series they were unable to get points from just two teams, Detroit and Pittsburgh. Let’s compare that to thei...
There has been an argument, who's voice has grown louder as we approach the beginning of the season, and that is if Chiarelli has done better than MacTavish. McDavid hype is still alive and well but drafting the 18 year old wunderkid was a task that a 6 year old could have accomplished. To properly compare these two men, let's jump back to the end of the 2012-2013 seas...
freelancer writes...

Good Things Come In Twos

Posted Monday | Comments 0
And we're back! Enough talk of hypotheticals, possible point productions, and potential line combinations. We finally have some real hockey to see and discuss, happy times are here again! As we've discussed many times over the last few months, everything feels different about this team and training camp has been no different. The pace has appeared quicker, the coach, more ...
This off-season brought major changes to the Edmonton Oilers. Todd Nelson left, Lowe fired and MacTavish was demoted to Assistant General Manager. While the team is confusing Chiarelli did make improvements to the team by signing Andrej Sekera and hiring Todd McLellan, but yet the defense still has massive holes that need attention and I will be exposing these holes. Fo...
Ebs_14x writes...

Who's This John Scott Guy?

Posted Friday | Comments 0
[b]Before this blog begins there is something I want to point out. Firstly, I'm trying to figure out HOW I want to write blogs, seriously or jokingly and here I'm trying something new. Enjoy the blog and thank you for reading.[/b] Standing at 6'8 280lb John Scott is one of the heftiest players in the NHL, and while he may seem useless due to stats I'm here to con...
The Oilers have started the pre-season 6-0. Great! During the last game Jordan Eberle and his shoulder took a weird fall and he left the game... less great. However let's take a minute to look at this optimistically. Jump back to pre season of last year. If we were dealing with this injury then, most of us would already be looking ahead to the off season. A couple years ag...
Ebs_14x writes...

Eberle Out, who Steps up?

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Out of all the players on the roster it HAD to be Jordan Eberle that went down with a shoulder injury. The Hockey Gods DO hate Edmonton, it couldn’t of been Luke Gazdic or Nikita Nikitin or any of the "meh" players in Edmonton, it's the best right wing or hell, maybe the best player on the team. It's already starting to feel like it'll be ten years without the playoffs, ...
Hall Fan writes...

Oilers Year 1 of the rebuild

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
Anyone can say that the Oilers have been rebuilding since 2007 but have they? Sure they have added some big name talent in proven players such as Eberle, Hall, RNH and Nail. Plus hopefuls such as Reinhart, Nurse, Draisatl and even Schultz for some prospecting sites. Still this is the first real year of anything resembling an attempt to improve the franchise all around. ...
So... is it draft day yet? As of today the Oilers once again find themselves in the familiar spot of last in the Western Conference. With a record of 6-12-0 it's becoming increasingly difficult to find arguments that this team is improving. With that being said, let's compare the first 12 loses of this season, with the first 12 from last season. So far this season, of t...
We're 6-12. Nope this isn't 2014..or 2013..and this isn't a joke that will end in some sort of comedic cymbal bash. This is reality. The Edmonton Oilers have stumbled out of the gate, and despite "visually" (insert throw up here) looking better they still can't seem to obtain results that matter. With this morbidly depressing thought in mind, I wanted to start a featur...
My twitter feed exploded this afternoon, as super NHL reporter Darren Dreger dropped this bomb on oil country: ‏@DarrenDreger Hamonic loves the Isles. This is personal. Wpg, Edmtn, Cgy and Van all preferred. Might expand to other west cities. Tough on Isles.... What does this mean? IS THE SKY FALLING?? DID HE MENTION EDM?!? As mere mortals we can only speculat...
During the past 48 hours, as crazy trade rumours surrounding Travis Hamonic have arisen, a name that has been used as a potentially interesting target for the Islanders is Darnell Nurse. Would I make that deal? Never, and this is why: Darnell Nurse this summer was a little overshadowed (tough for a guy who could dunk on Shaq) by the lottery win, and the eventual draftin...
During the past 48 hours, as crazy trade rumors surrounding Travis Hamonic have arisen, a name that has been used as a potentially interesting target for the Islanders is Darnell Nurse. Would I make that deal? Never, and this is why: Darnell Nurse this summer was a little overshadowed (tough for a guy who could dunk on Shaq) by the lottery win, and the eventual drafting...
The date is June 25th, 2010, an 11 year old just finished elementary school and he's excited to watch his first ever draft and he doesn't even have to stay up past his bedtime as Edmonton picks first. There has been a lot of buzz from sports media about the draft, especially "Taylor vs Tyler" and out of those two, he knows who he wants the Edmonton Oilers to pick. The play...
Ebs_14x writes...

Edmonton's luck

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
How unlucky are the Oilers, pretty unlucky. I'm a 17-year-old journalist who started cheering for Edmonton when I was nine; I've never cheered for the Edmonton Oilers in the playoffs. Every year, myself and many other dedicated fans have one dream, to watch the Oilers break their playoff drought. Coming into the 2015-16 season, the belief was Edmonton should at least be f...
freelancer writes...

Finding the next Purcell

Posted Friday | Comments 1
Back in the summer of 2014, the Oilers traded Sam Gagner for Teddy Purcell. It was a move that had fans confused to say the least. While Gagner had his flaws, he, at that time anyway, was a capable scorer and one of two players the Oilers had capable of playing the position in the top 6. Trading him for a guy who not only didn't play centre, but didn't really fix any holes...
Hockey is back tonight, and the big headline is the return of Connor McDavid. Tonight, the Jackets battle him and his squad first in their swing against Western Canada. Both teams have had forgettable first halves, and what better way to start the second half right against one of the worst teams in the league. The Oilers have made a lot of changes since the summer....
Last night, hockey retuned to Columbus where they battled Edmonton, and suffered a 5-1 defeat in the return of Connor McDavid. Edmonton got all their goals in the final 40 minutes, getting tallies from Eric Gryba, his first as an Oiler; McDavid (my player to watch); Benoit Pouliot; Leon Draisatil; and Jordan Eberle. Other players with points were Zach Kassian; ex-Blue ...
freelancer writes...

Locked and Unloaded

Posted Monday | Comments 5
Originally I started writing this blog about how the Oilers were once again involved in a trade deadline where they only unloaded players but Chiarelli ruined that by actually adding things to improve the team. I digress... By now you all should know what deals went down so here is the Oiler's current roster. Hall-Draisaitl-Kassian Pouliot-McDavid-Eberle Maroon-...
The home stretch continues for Columbus tonight, where they take on the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers have some new faces on the team since the Jackets last met them, and have seen some other Oilers go. The Oilers traded goalie Andres Nilsson; winger Teddy Purcell; and Defensemen Justin Schultz and Martin Gerant. They have acquired wingers Patrick Maroon and Adam Cracknell; ...
What an entertaining night in Columbus, where two of the youngest teams in the league battled back and forth for two points. Last night, in the final matchup of the season between Columbus and Edmonton, the Blue Jackets defeated the Oilers by a final score of 6-3. Edmonton scored their three goals in the final two frames of the game. Less than five minutes into the sec...
With ten games remaining, this year can once again be summarized for Oiler fans as a disappointment. While injuries have played a huge factor in the teams current position it cannot be denied that consistency and defensive woes have also played a huge roll. Now that we are a couple weeks past the trade deadline I thought now would be as good a time as any to look back on e...
If one was to look at McLellan's list of areas his team needs to improve...well it would be a very long list. However, it's probably fairly safe to say that near the top of that list would be the PP. One of the things that excited many people when it was announced that McLellan would be the Oilers next coach was what he could do for the PP. While in San Jose McLellan's ...
Hall Fan writes...

Draft talk time

Posted Monday | Comments 0
As Oilers reach the final few games of the season, it is again time to look at the draft. The Oilers look to have another high pick but unless they win the lottery, they will be a footnote in this draft. This is the first draft in a while where there might be some trades in the top 10. I am not going to mock draft this as the lottery can change and the standings are...
From Day 1, Chiarelli has had one consistent message regarding his vision of what he expects from his Oilers. Bigger. More physical. Tougher to play against. It doesn't take a genius (after all I'm the one writing this) to gather that Chiarelli wants to emulate how he built the Boston Bruins. As I sit here, recovering from an Easter dinner hangover I thought it'd be a fun ...
As you could tell by the title of the article, this article is about Russian hockey players and what in the world is going on with them. Hockey is a business and for the apparent stereotype for Russians is to be number one. The question is whether or not these Russians are looking at that at this point in there careers. This article will look at four Russians in particular...
freelancer writes...

A Tale of Two Draisaitl's

Posted Friday | Comments 0
In a season, once again filled with mediocrity there have been a few feel good stories for fans to rally behind. I would argue the biggest surprise was the emergence of Brandon Davidson as a legitimate defenseman but closely following that would have to be Leon Draisaitl. When the Oilers drafted Leon in the summer of 2014, fans thought they were finally getting the skil...
Hall Fan writes...

Oilers Going Forward

Posted Sunday | Comments 1
The Oilers finished second last this season but how far off are they? There has never been a team like the Oilers in the history of the NHL. A team with incredibly talented forwards made up of some amazingly talented but very young players. Most have spent their NHL careers trying to use to new coaches and expectations each year. Combine this with many other factors an...
freelancer writes...

A Kase For Kassian

Posted Monday | Comments 0
Playoffs have begun! While I would love to be able to sit here and talk about the Oilers playing in the playoffs, controversial offside calls, and all that fun, instead I get over-analyze the 2015-2016 Oilers roster and try and figure out who will and won't be back. Way more fun, right? Over the next couple weeks I'm going to go through the Oilers roster, and look at th...
Last summer we saw Chiarelli trade Boyd Gordon for Korpikoski; a move which angered some people. Gordon was a great defensive centre, and a right shot to top it off. The Wagon Line of Hendricks, Gordon, Klinkhammer provided Edmonton with a great shutdown trio. Trading the pivot of that line for a 3rd/4th line winger with a bloated contract was... strange. Or it least it...
freelancer writes...

Happy Draft Lottery Eve

Posted Friday | Comments 0
Tomorrow is Draft Lottery Day! That wonderful day when the fans of 14 teams gather in bars and in front of their televisions and watch as Bill Daley announces that the Oilers have won the draft lottery. After that, we will go through the next three months of having to hear about articles from Toronto media sources about how the Leafs were entitled to the 1st overall pic...
Hall Fan writes...

The Canadian Draft

Posted Saturday | Comments 0
For hopefully the only time in history, the seven Canadian teams are all in the draft lottery. This also happens to be a year in which the NHL tries to make the draft position fair to all teams finishing poorly. This year still gives the last place team (Toronto) a 20% chance of getting first choice but it also allows the top 3 picks to potentially go to any of the botto...
Hall Fan writes...

Lottery Winners

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
I must say the NHL seems to be going the right way with the lottery. It is not must see TV yet but that was a lot more interesting with the top 3 all up for grabs. It is not like them to successfully market anything. I think the big Congratulations go to the Jets. They will get themselves a big Finnish player that will fit well on their team next season. As for the ...
The hockey world breathed a collective sigh of relief Saturday night when it was revealed that Edmonton would not be taking the 1st overall pick once again. I had mentioned in my previous blog that it was good for the game of hockey to spread out talent and I meant it. Despite my own personal feelings regarding Toronto, the fact remains that they are in desperate need o...
freelancer writes...

Hamonic We Hardly Knew Ye

Posted Friday | Comments 0
Hamonic. To many it was a done deal. When people discussed what the Oilers were going to do with their defense this summer; Hamonic was already penciled in. Let me start by saying until I hear it from Hamonic's mouth that he doesn't want to be traded, I'm assuming this is all a ploy by Snow to try and increase the asking price. Moving on. It's only been a month si...
Hall Fan writes...

Value of the Top Picks

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Travis Yost posted an article on TSN's webpage trying to answer a question many of us have... What is the value of a top pick these days? For those that missed it is here: [url]http://www.tsn.ca/examining-the-true-value-of-toronto-s-first-overall-pick-1.491169[/url] The article is by Travis Yost and he is not as bad as many when it comes to these things. I thi...
freelancer writes...

Two Unknown Prospects

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Going to try something a little bit different today. I'm going to talk about two different prospects that are members of different organizations. Both are 22; one is a defender, the other a forward. I'm going to go over their scouting reports, production, and any other relevant information. I want you, the reader to decide if this is a player you would want in the Oilers o...
With the Stanley Cup Finals about to get underway, we now have a handful of games remaining for the 2015-2016 hockey season. And with that comes one of the most exciting times for fanbases of teams who are looking to upgrade for next year, the offseason. First comes the draft which is roughly a little more than 3 weeks away. Followed by July 1st, aka free agency. For ...
Matt Henderson wrote a great blog on how the Oilers should offer sheet Seth Jones. While there were many different opinions on the logistics of such a deal, the fact remains that there are going to be some teams with cap issues... which for the NHL really isn't anything new. In the salary cap world, every summer there are teams who have to make tough choices; and teams tha...
As I've posted at the end of many of my blogs, some friends and I do a weekly podcast on all things hockey and Oilers. One point we discussed at length was the expansion draft and how the Oilers will be affected. A few days ago it came out that players with NMC's who are set to be UFA will have to be protected. This means that as of right now, the Oilers will have to pr...
freelancer writes...

The No Rhyme or Reason Blog

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
We are just over a week until the NHL draft when hopefully things will happen so bloggers have new material to work with again. Until that point here are a few thoughts from around the NHL. Gordie Howe... man 2016 has not been a kind year. When Muhammad Ali passed I thought it couldn't get any worse. I was very wrong. While I am far too young to share any personal stori...
freelancer writes...

The No Rhyme or Reason Blog

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
We are just over a week until the NHL draft when hopefully things will happen so bloggers have new material to work with again. Until that point here are a few thoughts from around the NHL. Gordie Howe... man 2016 has not been a kind year. When Muhammad Ali passed I thought it couldn't get any worse. I was very wrong. While I am far too young to share any personal stori...
Hamonic, Vatanen, Faulk, Barrie. All defensemen who's names have been associated with the Oilers in the trade mill. All of whom are apparently now off the market. The most reason of which was this morning when the Ducks announced they had re-signed Sami Vatanen to a 4 year deal with 19.5 million dollars. While I do think that's an overpay he is a top powerplay option and p...
seantrevy writes...

Gryba vs Fayne

Posted Tuesday | Comments 1
With the draft and free agency soon approaching, Peter Chiarelli has made it clear that the team is looking to improve its back end. More specifically the team is looking for a right shot defenceman. Should Eric Gryba or Mark Fayne be the top 6 guy on the right side next season? Eric Gryba (28) was acquired from the Ottawa Senators at last years entry level draft in exc...
'Twas the night before Draftmas and through the NHL, Was a group of GM's that were stuck in cap hell; The scouts prepared all their draft pick selections, A steal in round 6? Cue the erections; The fans were crowded around phones and computers, Hoping to hear their team has acquired a new shooter; And Oiler fans everywhere were getting the sense, That this might b...
oilnik writes...

Looking for D

Posted Monday | Comments 0
I just want some D. Is that really so much to ask for? Apparently so. The Oilers have been in need of a top defenceman since Pronger left town. We have seen different attempts at acquiring this defenceman that we so sorely need. There was Whitney, Souray, Visnovsky, Petry, and Gilbert. What did all these players have in common? None of them were top pairing defencemen, mo...
The draft has come and gone. As usual there was plenty of speculation beforehand. Twitter exploded in the days leading up to the draft that the Oilers were pursuing Subban. Shattenkirk's agent stated he expected his client to be gone by the weekend. Once again there was plenty of hype, and once again the Oilers left the draft without a top defenseman. Having said that, ...
While most speculated that the Edmonton Oilers would be in on defenseman Jason Demers and left wing Milan Lucic, today we received confirmation that the two were in town meeting with the organization. Meeting and signing are two very different things and there are other teams also courting these guys (Lucic was just in Vancouver). The Oilers do have a bit of an advantage i...
oilnik writes...

EDM - RFA's & UFA's

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
It`s been an interesting year for RFA`s. There are a few curious names that did not receive a qualifying offer. On the Edmonton side it`s not too surprising who is being released. Gazdic, Cracknell, Lundstrum, and Kessy were not part of the future. I am sad to see Jumanji (Gazdic, because he looks exactly like Robin Williams in Jumanji) go. I heard he was a very positi...
freelancer writes...

That Whole Cap Thing

Posted Wednesday | Comments 4
Two highly sought after free agents want to sign in Edmonton? Music! Dealing with the cap issues that will follow? Bad music... like country or something. If the Oilers bring in both Lucic and Demers here is what the team looks like without any other changes. In brackets I've included each players cap hit. Hall (6) - RNH (6) - Eberle (6) Lucic (6) - McDavid (3.775) - Y...
archromat writes...

Why Larsson? W-w-why?!

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
I'll tell you, and I won't be very popular with this one but I might actually have an idea of what GMs are thinking while a lot of people are stuck in the "stats la-la land" that focuses mostly on a genuinely useless stat (shots on goal). It's funny that you want a society to get smarter in an abstract sense, but they sink into abstracts (shots on goal) while veering aw...
Reliving the glory of the dynasty oilers with Gretzky is all we oilers fans can do in present time until the oilers are competitive once again. There is a glimmer of a light at the end of the tunnel now with Connor McDavid in oil town and comparisons being made to Gretzky. While those may be lofty comparisons to the great one, it does give us hope. rnrnGretzky was the grea...
So i was talking to someone with direct knowledge of the situation that there was almost a 3 way trade done on day 1 of the draft just before it began. They had mentioned that there was a trade in the works that would have sent the 3rd overall pick (clb) to calgary for the 6th overall pick + but that the blue jackets did not want to move to the 6th spot. Enter the oi...
oilnik writes...

Taylor Hall

Posted Monday | Comments 0
Taylor Hall I’ve had made my peace now with the trade. On our podcast http://soundcloud.com/downtownhockey/episode-12 I finally, after almost a week got it off my chest. I think it’s time now to reflect. For me Taylor Hall was the first truly talented player I witnessed develop. I am too young to remember the years of Gretzky, Messier, etc. I remember Doug Weigh...
freelancer writes...

The Trade: The Other Side

Posted Monday | Comments 1
I don't like the Adam Larsson trade. Almost everything I've read or heard talks about how this is a trade the Oilers lost badly and that everyone in New Jersey is laughing at us. While I don't want to sit here and talk about how everything is going to be fine in Oil Country I thought I would try and provide a different spin than many hear have read. Who is Adam Larsson?...
oilnik writes...

Oilers Power Play

Posted Monday | Comments 0
What if we don’t get a Right Handed Power Play specialist? There is a very real possibility right now that the Oilers will not be adding any other major pieces. The Oilers are currently sitting at 46 of 50 contracts. Generally you want to leave yourself some flexibility for future moves. So what happens when this is the roster we go into the season with? I’m pure...
For many Oiler fans this was the year we had been looking forward to. There are many things that provided optimism. The second year of a management team is enough to give hope. Players often siting the different coaching styles as a hurdle. The Oilers young prospects showed signs of improving and this year, if healthy, there is no reason to not expect vast improvement ...
Over the weekend, the Edmonton Oilers have traded former a number one overall pick in exchange for a minor league prospect and a conditional draft pick, continue the question of what is going on in Edmonton. Sticking with what recently happened, Russian winger Nail Yaukpov has been dealt to the St. Louis in exchange for center Zach Poricho and a conditional 2017 3rd ro...
The Oilers are off to an impressive start. It is not really a surprise that McDavid and Eberle are leading the team in points. I think a lot of players are playing the way we expected. Strong start for Draisatl, Lucic and a bunch of players that really aren't surprising as the Oilers do have quality guys on their roster. The Defense have been... underwhelming as a wh...
The Oilers are off to an impressive start. It is not really a surprise that McDavid and Eberle are leading the team in points. I think a lot of players are playing the way we expected. Strong start for Draisatl, Lucic and a bunch of players that really aren't surprising as the Oilers do have quality guys on their roster. The Defense have been... underwhelming as a wh...
freelancer writes...

Enjoy It

Posted Thursday | Comments 3
Let's take a look at a few stats to start your day feeling warm and fuzzy. Last year it wasn't until January 2nd that Cam Talbot had 6 wins. Edmonton's 4th win against the Western Conference last year came on March 16th. The first 7 games last year Edmonton's Defense had 6 points this year they have 13. And the most important stat of all the Oilers have gone from l...
I will admit when I am wrong. Larsson shows some decent heads up play. He is not a top pairing guy and maybe not even a second pairing but I like his odds of being a solid 3-4 guy in the next couple years. Lets forget what the Oilers traded to get this guy. Point is that Larsson wasn't the answer to the Oilers problem on the blue line. Larsson and Russel might hav...
The Columbus Blue Jackets commence their three game road trip of Western Canada. Tonight, they battle the star studded Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers continued their search for change in the offseason, and personally, in a very bad way. They traded Taylor Hall to the New Jersey Devils in a horrendous one for one deal for Adam Larsson. They also dealt the consistently scra...
The Jackets continue their winning streak efforts at seven consecutive games, defeating the Edmonton Oilers by the final score of 3-1. The Oilers opened the scoring with a first period goal, and driven by the fourth line. Former Blue Jackets center Mark Letestu cycled the puck with former first rounder Zach Kassian, who got the puck to the driving Tyler Pitlick for the...
If someone were to tell you that after 32 games the Oilers would be 15-12-5 and sit 3rd in the Pacific you would probably have been quite happy with that. Unfortunately the devil is in the details and over the past few weeks the Oilers have left valuable points off the table. There is a very good chance that if the Oilers are out of the playoff race in March, this stretch ...
Once again we find ourselves approaching trade deadline and once again the Oilers find themselves in the exciting position of wondering if they can acquire second or third round picks for.... wait.... buyers you say? Ahem, moving on. Here are some options on the right wing the Oilers should consider as rental players. Patrick Eaves - Eaves is having one of his most p...
As we discuss trade deadline targets in Edmonton, for the first time in what seems like 500 years, lets take a look at the silky mullet himself, Jaromir Jagr. Now the only reason I bring the name up, is because this type of transaction has Chiarelli's name written all over it. Deja vu much? Remeber that Chia dealt for the Czech ageless wonder in 2013, while he was GM of th...
Rumor from a TSN correspondent covering the Oilers vs. Canadian game for radio consumption said that he heard the Oilers are looking to acquire a top 9 forward in a big way before the deadline. Oilers have been hovering the middle of the top 8 in the Western Conference this season and there is a chance they could go either way. I really wouldn't put money on them mak...
freelancer writes...

Secondary Woes?

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Great to see the Oil get a convincing 5-2 win last night against the Arizona Coyotes; it helped calm the sea of fans screaming about the lack of secondary scoring as of late. The Oilers are 10th in the league in scoring even with players like Lucic, Nuge, Eberle, and Pouliot drastically underperforming. What's going on here? Let's break it down by looking at the Oilers...
Okay maybe not shopped but this list comes from SN's top 20 and it is as good as any to look at. ([/url]http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/top-20-nhl-trade-deadline-candidates-dealt/[/url]) Oilers are in a great spot right now. They really did little so far to improve the team outside the draft. In fact they went out of their way to trade their previous best player f...
Hall Fan writes...

How Much is Too Much?

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
There is a lot of talk going on about how much the Oilers should pay if the player is possibly only a rental. Especially after the Flames just set the bar with Michael Stone. Flames gave up a third rounder and if Stone resigns they give up a 5th as well, both 2 years from now (according to TSN). Lets ignore the 5th rounder as that is a normal asking price for anyone's r...
When the Oilers signed Klefbom to a 7 year deal (worth 4.167 million a year) many thought it was a huge risk. His injury history alone was enough to cause alarm but while many penciled him in as the Oilers top left shot player on the backend before the season had started we had yet to see how he could handle being a top pairing defenseman. So far he's knocking it out of...
Late on Tuesday, the Oilers made a trade that sent Brandon Davidson to the Canadiens in exchange for David Desharnais. From a managerial outlook I understand the trade. Brandon Davidson was almost certainly going to be lost to Vegas in the expansion draft and the team knew it. Desharnais is a couple seasons removed from his last productive season but Chiarelli and the Oile...
Lets end this on a good note and save the good. So the trade deadline for the Oilers overall. We did little. We added a center which is good. Some might say a winger is what we need as we do have Letestu, Nuge, Hendricks (technically), Lander, Samuelson (some were hoping he was the number 4 guy as Letestu has been playing really good and could be argued as a third line...
Will.Pesek writes...

Long Road Ahead for Isles

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
The Islanders enter play on Tuesday sitting 1 point ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the last playoff spot in the East. After going 3-2-1 in the first six games of the road trip, the Isles remain in Western Canada to take on the Oilers. Goaltender Thomas Greiss has started all six games so far, despite getting pulled versus Columbus and Calgary and he has been superb. ...
freelancer writes...

Right Wing Hunting

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Connor McDavid is kind of a big deal in case you are late to the party. He's unbelievably fast, has amazing vision, and while there is still plenty of debate on who the best player is in the NHL right now; he is by far the best playmaker. One thing McDavid is not, is a shooter. Right now Malkin and Crosby are tied for second in the league in scoring with 31 and 36 goals...
I need to say I'm confused lately about all the talk out there that the Sharks would be so much better off against the Oilers than the Ducks, Kings or any of the other hopefuls they might meet in round one. I don't know if people haven't been watching the Oilers in recent months, or if they didn't notice the last game the Sharks played against them, or if they're thin...
Eastern Conference: Washington Vs Toronto This is a series that many will think is a wash in the park for Washington, but if there is any team with the speed, skill and tenacity to beat Washington other than Pittsburgh it's the Maple Leafs. That being said, it's too early for the leafs. Washington wins in 6 games as the Leafs make it a series but never really stood a ...
Plenty of Blame... So lets get started. I am going to take a step back and start with the obvious and the one that you won't hear on TV right now. Chiarelli. Many people will say it is easy to be an arm chair GM and to shout out opinions. Personally I say and I say it to any Oiler fan out there, go right ahead. Shout out what you think, write it, talk about it; sh...
Since the Oilers seem to eating away the time which we would normally talk about what they will do in the offseason to improve the team for next year by doing amazing in the playoffs. Lets take a quick look at what might, could and will happen. The Oilers are having an extremely successful year. I think many of us remember commenting that we would have been happy if t...
I apologize for the unoriginal title and format of the blog but there really is two levels of bad to the Oiler's situation. The Good The Oilers did better than we all expected them to do. The proved that they could win without a solid blue line (especially in game six). It saw great season's from a bunch of players and confidence that very well might make the caree...
Hall Fan writes...

Oilers Reality

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
The Oilers did great this year and had they played a consistent 60 minutes of hockey, they could have went far but what was the problem? Now obviously the coach comes under the spot light when a team breaks down like this but the Oilers finally made the playoffs so looks like he is going to get another year despite being ridiculously bad. Truth is the Oilers did much...
Every year Scott Cullen of TSN breaks down each NHL team. The successes and failures of the season, contributions of individual players, and then lastly creates a mock roster for what the team could look like going into the next season. In the spirit of being lighthearted I've decided to take a look at what he has suggested... and promptly rip it to shreds. Here are ...
freelancer writes...

Would You Draft Me?

Posted Friday | Comments 0
The weeks leading up to the draft are an exciting time for the hardcore hockey fan. While the average fan probably knows who Nolan and Hischier are, it takes a particular type of person to know the details about Noel Hoefenmayer (probably a late 2nd-3rd round pick). Scouting reports and a player's stats card paint a picture for what kind of NHL player a prospect [i]migh...
Just because I like to live a life filled with fantasy, (must be the years of losing that required me to develop a vivid imagination) I thought it would be fun to see what a roster would look like made up of all Oilers past and present, that are still active in the NHL. *[CURRENT TEAM IN SQUARE BRACKETS] - BLANK IF CURRENT OILER GOALTENDERS 1a - Cam Talbot (2017 st...
I don't like the Eberle for Strome deal as of today. Full Stop. The rest of the summer can change my mind but as of right now I view this as a massive step back for the team and in my opinion is an example of Oilers management mishandling their assets. We are going to ignore the fact for a moment the Strome's best year was 1 point less than Eberle's worst year. We a...
At the bottom of this blog I will have the answers for "Would You Draft Me" original blog can be found here [url]http://my.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?user_id=103583&post_id=17880[/url] We are one day closer to the draft and one day closer to the horrifying realization that Chiarelli has no intention of "improving" the roster anymore than he has. To recap he has replac...
freelancer writes...

The Optimism Blog

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Over the past couple weeks a divide has been formed between fans on the comment section at Hockeybuzz. On one side you have fans that are celebrating the successes of last season and believe that the team is trending upwards, and on the other side you have those who believe the team has overestimated certain things which is going to result in a drop off. I find myself in t...
freelancer writes...

Room For Improvement

Posted Monday | Comments 0
For the elite few who have been reading my blogs (and for that I honestly do wish to say thank you) you know that I have been rather critical of the Oilers over the past several weeks. My reason is simple. For a team that has Connor McDavid on the last year of his ELC, they have made startling few changes to improve from last years success and instead banking on internal g...
THX1138 writes...

The 31 - July 18 Edition

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
31 NHL teams equals 31 comments on the NHL. Let’s get started. 1. What exactly was George McPhee thinking when he drafted the expansion roster he did for the Vegas Golden Knights? If the idea was to put together a roster of younger talent that will develop into something over time, why wouldn’t he draft players like Matt Dumba from the Minnesota Wild? It seems like ...
THX1138 writes...

Chiarelli has work to do

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Oilers fans, are you comfortable with this roster as the team heads into the 2017/2018 regular season? Please make the assumption Leon Draisaitl will be re-signed and on the roster for opening night. What will that opening night roster look like? There’s plenty of debate about it. If Oilers management go with the players they have now, I suggest the opening night rost...
freelancer writes...

The Klefbom Birthday Blog

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Yesterday was Klefbom, aka "Dem Abs" birthday and as such I felt this was a good time to look back at the breakout season that Oscar had. The short answer? It was really good. The simple numbers are 82GP 12-26-38. Klefbom was not only the highest scoring defenseman on the team, he was the highest scoring defenseman the Oilers have had since Sheldon Souray scored 53 points ...
This blog is Part 1 of a two-parter. In yesterday’s blog, I discussed my belief that Oilers management are not done tinkering this off-season with the roster, and there are still moves that can be made before the season to improve the team. Thank you Hockeybuzz for posting that blog as a “regular” blog. I’ll keep writing these so we can see if my blogs can all ...
THX1138 writes...

Happy Oilers; Happy Fans

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
I’ve spent a fair amount of time over the last year considering why the Oilers team that is now, with players like Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Oscar Klefbom and Darnell Nurse turned out better than the team featuring Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Nail Yakupov and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The benefit of being terrible from 2007 to 2016 was plenty of top shelf draft pick...
I received some information Tuesday evening from someone close to the Leon Draisaitl contract negotiations situation. According to what I was told, the Edmonton Oilers and the Draisaitl camp are at a contract negotiation impasse. The source did not specify what exactly is the nature of the impasse, and so I have asked for clarification. While waiting to hear back, I will s...
dominator3 writes...

Oilers Opening Day Lineups

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Lineup #1: Maroon McDavid Draisaitl Lucic RNH Caggiula Jokinen Strome Puljujarvi Slepyshev Letestu Kassian - This forward group brings back some continuity from last year so that the Oilers can jump out to a fast start and ring up some wins early in the year. The top line was so dominant at the end of the year so it makes sense to continue that chemistry. The RNH ce...
freelancer writes...

243 Goals

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
243. That's the magic number to discuss. That is the number of goals the Oilers scored last season. The number put them at #8 in the league and #3 in the West. The simple question here is; can they do it again? For starters here are the players... and goals... that are no longer with the team. [b]Jordan Eberle - 20 Goals [/b] The biggest loss on this list. Despite ...
THX1138 writes...

Save Nuge

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
When considering the long-term future for the Edmonton Oilers, it makes more sense to consider cap hits and contracts for the 2018/2019 season than for 2017/2018. Why? Because a good third of the roster this season have contracts that will end next summer. It is during the Summer of 2018 when Oilers management will need to make some hard decisions about who stays and who g...
Leon Draisaitl owes the Nashville Predator a few dollars as a thank you. The other day, the Predators signed forward Ryan Johansen to an eight-season, $64 million contract. Average cap hit? $8 million. Johansen is a fairly comparable player to Draisaitl. The problem Oilers management have is that Draisaitl is better, and Draisaitl’s people know he’s better. ...
THX1138 writes...

Oilers Freestyle Blog

Posted Thursday | Comments 1
I have no idea what I want to write, so I am just going to share my Oilers thoughts off the top of my head, as they come to me. 1. Jack Eichel is about the get an eight-year extension from the Buffalo Sabres. Whatever money he gets should be roughly what Leon Draisaitl can ask for and get. Eichel and Draisaitl may or may not be comparable with respect to how they play, ...
Yes, it's me again. Thank you for those who read. Thank you to the one person commenting on a MH blog who noticed my wife is a total smoke show. She is. She was born in Toronto and grew up in Australia. She's a Maple Leafs fan, and I'm actually starting to like that team, too. There's something about Matthews/Nylander/Marner that make the Leafs worth watching suddenly. Whe...
We are into the throes of summer and looking around the league it appears as if most teams have made their moves. Aside from some training camp invites for players like Iginla and presumably Jagr it's time to look around the league and see how teams are going to perform this season. I have made my opinions on the Oilers moves this summer known. Short answer; they didn't...
THX1138 writes...

The 31, August 7 edition

Posted Monday | Comments 0
31 teams; 31 reasons to post a random comment. Let's go. Anaheim Ducks – The Ducks are a conundrum for me. They have a good roster. They’ve won the Pacific Division something like five seasons in a row. There was very little change to their roster this summer. It seems like they can make the final four group in the playoffs on any given season, but ultimately, this ...
I search Twitter every morning to see what the world is saying about the Edmonton Oilers. Oh, and also check to see if they've signed Leon Draisaitl to a contract extension yet. It's still a world of no, Oilers fans. So frustrating. You know what's really frustrating about the Draisaitl situation? Neither side is saying anything. Where are Leakers when you need them, Jeff ...
Adam Larsson came into training camp last season in an unenviable position. He was not only the sole return from the Taylor Hall trade but he was also expected to be the top pair right shot defender the Oilers have coveted for over a decade. The results? He and Klefbom found great chemistry and the two of them look to be Edmonton's top pair. Let's start with the positiv...
freelancer writes...

Yammering About Yamamoto

Posted Sunday | Comments 2
A couple days ago Kailer Yamamoto signed his entry level deal with the Edmonton Oilers. Yamamoto finds himself in the company of the Oilers skilled forward prospects Jesse Puljujarvi, Tyler Benson... and that's pretty much it. The Oilers forward prospect cupboards are pretty barren making it all the more essential for these players to turn into successful NHLers. Let's ...
THX1138 writes...

Keep Draisaitl; Lose HOPE

Posted Monday | Comments 0
The phrase “too much; too soon” is starting to come to mind. Connor McDavid IS worth $12.5 million per season. At 20, he’s already the best player in the NHL. He’s a freak of nature. Running has Usain Bolt. Golf has Tiger Woods. Basketball has LeBron James. Baseball has that guy that throws stuff. Curling and football also have guys that throw stuff. My point is...
The Oilers announced today that they have signed Leon Draisaitl to an 8 year 8.5 million dollar deal. The good news is the Oilers have inked Draisaitl now as opposed to training camp or later. With this signing the Oilers roster looks to be locked. The Oilers will have their second leading scorer from last season for the next eight years with Connor McDavid. When the...
THX1138 writes...

If Nuge stays, who goes?

Posted Friday | Comments 0
Oilers GM and President of Hockey Operations Peter Chiarelli has signed Leon Draisaitl and has hinted he’s done all he’s willing to do for this upcoming season. You can forget about the Oilers bringing in UFAs like Jaromir Jagr, Jarome Iginla or Thomas Vanek. Earlier in the summer Chiarelli hinted at some possible trades… Well, I guess you can forget about those, too...
Eklund is running a rumor that the Oilers and Canadiens are talking trade moving Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to Montreal. I thought I might spell out what that would look like, because I think some Oilers fans are going to get the wrong impression. The only reason the Oilers would move Nugent-Hopkins is for long-term contract reasons. Edmonton does not have a salary cap issue t...
In a previous blog I wrote that I expected Edmonton to finish 2nd in the division, behind the Ducks with the Flames a close 3rd. The Battle Of Alberta has gone on for decades but both teams have had very little to celebrate over the past ten years. Chanting "my team is slightly not as bad as yours" doesn't have quite the same ring to it. Both teams have star players that a...
THX1138 writes...

East-Coast Oilers Blog

Posted Monday | Comments 0
I read a really good blog the other day about Edmonton Oilers first round draft pick Kailer Yamamoto. In the blog, Toronto Maple Leafs Head Coach Mike Babcock said, “Yamamoto is a really great skater, if not elite. He will definitely be an impact Top 6 forward in the years to come.” American-born Yamamoto, who recently signed a contract with the Oilers, indicated he...
The Oilers lack of depth on the right side has been a point of contention over these past few months. If we plan for RNH and Draisaitl to both be playing in their natural position things look even worse. Strome, Puljujarvi, Slepyshev, Kassian... these are the Oilers top RW options. Kassian is most suited for the bottom 6, Strome could end up playing centre, and Puljujarvi ...
There has been copious amounts of digital ink wasted discussing the Andrej Sekera injury and what issues it will cause the Oilers at the start of the year. One player in particular has an opportunity to prove he is a top 4 defenseman. Next up in this series of reasonable expectations is Darnell Nurse. When Nurse was drafted 7th overall in 2013 many pundits believed the ...
Thank God the NHL pre-season is here soon. There have been so many Oilers blogs this summer about absolute nothing, as there’s been nothing to write about. It's never been in the plan to trade Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, or anyone else significant. There never was going to be a Jaromir Jagr or Jarome Iginla signing. There were three main tasks Oilers GM and President of Hockey ...
I hope everyone is enjoying their Friday. Another weekend is about to begin and with that we are ever closer to the beginning of the 2017-2018 Oilers home opener. As we are fast approaching October 4th I thought it would be fun to bring something new to the mix. Therefore this shall be the first Friday Five. Here's the deal. Either write your questions in the comment se...
THX1138 writes...

Young Stars? Jason Garrison?

Posted Friday | Comments 0
Thank god it’s Friday? No, thank god it’s hockey. But that being said, the Young Stars tournament that starts tonight involving the Oilers and some other much less significant teams is a truly meaningless exercise. It might be entertaining. It might give us bored fans something to watch. But truthfully, this is just a thing to get young players ready for the real tr...
While the off-season felt much shorter this season (funny how playoffs will do that) it still lasted too long. We are still a few weeks from the home opener but it's starting to feel like hockey has returned. For the Edmonton Oilers, last year has set a new bar; this is a playoff team. Less time will be spent in training camp on giving prospects and younger players opportu...
Tonight the Oilers played the Flames in Edmonton and at the same time we had the Oilers playing the Flames in Calgary. I debated on which game I wanted to zero in on and in the end I chose the Edmonton home game to see Strome with McDavid as well as to watch Jesse Puljujarvi. Here are the good and bad things from the game. Everything I am about to say should be preceded by...
freelancer writes...

NHL Says No To Slashers

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
The biggest story to come out of the preseason so far has nothing to do with any specific player, injury, or prospect but instead has come from the league itself. In the games played thus there has been a comical increase in the amount of penalties called; specifically slashing and faceoff violations. Let's use the Oilers home game against the Flames on Monday night as...
The Jets had 6 of their top 8 scorers playing last night. The Oilers had 2. The Jets were playing their top goalie while the Oilers played their backup. On paper it should have been a bloodbath and the first period certainly reflected that. However some PP opportunities and stellar goaltending saw the Oil finish on top. [b]Final Score 4-1 Edmonton[/b] [b]GOOD THINGS[...
freelancer writes...

Post Game #1 Flames @ Oilers

Posted Thursday | Comments 1
After a shorter off-season than usual, the Edmonton Oilers picked up right where they left off and played a nearly perfect game against their southern rivals. FINAL SCORE 3-0 EDMONTON Before getting into some notes I wanted to take a moment and say what a classy move it was for the organization for having Constable Mike Chernyk at centre ice before the game began. Th...
freelancer writes...

Worse Than Expected

Posted Thursday | Comments 1
Over the past few weeks I have started and stopped writing this blog several times. I wanted to write about how all the woes the Edmonton Oilers are currently facing should not only have been expected, but were avoidable. Admittedly, the reason I held off was because I did not want to jump the gun and was hoping this team would prove me wrong. That doesn't seem to be th...
freelancer writes...

Where Do We Go From Here

Posted Thursday | Comments 1
After the abyssal beginning to the season, the Oilers have begun to scratch their way out of the hole. The team is 5-4-1 in their last 10 games as well as grabbed 5 of a possible 8 points on their recent Eastern road trip. With Tuesday's 8-2 smack-down of expansion team underdogs, The Golden Knights, some people may believe this team is ready to turn the corner. Quick F...
"The Oilers won against Calgary and are now going to turn the season around, everything is saved, yay." [i]- Some Oiler Fans Right Now Probably[/i] By now everyone who follows this team should have a fairly firm grasp on what issues plague this team. Here in my opinion is what the team's depth chart shou...
freelancer writes...

Baby Nuge Is Growing Up

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Before the 2017-2018 season started, a big part of the conversation of what would make the Oilers successful was about having a second line centre who could drive his own line. Most expected that to be Draisaitl however right now Ryan Nugent Hopkins is overshadowing him; having arguably his best season since entering the NHL. Nuge's 19 points finds him in the same compa...
Discussing a potential Karlsson trade is easy low hanging fruit as far as writing topics go however it is also a nice change from the current state of affairs in Oil City. Let me first state that I think Ottawa would be absolutely bonkers to trade Karlsson. Trading Karlsson should go in the same category as Crosby and McDavid; almost no return will equal the generationa...
freelancer writes...

The Last 48.

Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
The Oilers have significantly improved in the past few weeks. Since a 6-2 victory over the Red Wings on November 22nd the Oilers have gone 8-5 scoring 50 goals in 13 games. That is in the top tier of scoring and until I'm proven wrong is the most goals scored by any NHL team in the time period. Don't believe me? Tampa has scored 46 goals in that time Winnipeg has s...
freelancer writes...

No Easy Fix

Posted Tuesday | Comments 1
Fans were enjoying riding the high that was the 4 game winning streak. After that run the team had gone 7-3 in December. A run like that was essential to giving the team a fighting chance of playoff contention. Unfortunately right after that we saw the consequences of the Bettman era point system. After two uninspiring games against the Jets (while the score was close ...
freelancer writes...

Hindsight

Posted Monday | Comments 1
It was only a couple short weeks ago I wrote a blog detailing how Edmonton could still make a playoff push. Unfortunetly the team decided to take a personal vendetta against me and decided to discredit me by scoring only 3 goals in their last 5 games. Stick a fork in it people, the Oilers season is officially done. There is going to be lots of talk about how things w...
freelancer writes...

Worst Wingers In The League

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Travis Yost wrote a very revealing article a couple days ago. The link to it can be found here: [url]https://www.tsn.ca/oilers-hampered-by-weakness-on-the-wing-1.963104[/url] Here is the short and skinny; the Oilers wingers are really really bad. I know most people don't think an article needed to be written to know that but Yost delves much further. Looking at G/60 (g...
I appologize in advance. I am writing on a different site now and this blog isn't as well structured as it could be. Hopefully it is still worth reading. Oilers Brass is scheduled to meet during the 5 day all start break. They are going to discuss whether there is any hope for them this season. TSN is quoting Chiarelli is not being optimistic about them deciding to ...
Stop me if you've heard this before; a player has a down year. The team gets anxious, thinking they need to move this player while they still have some value and in return acquire false dreams and bags of pucks in return. Said player then proceeds to go back to their normal ways and fans begin to wonder why we can't have nice things. This has been a pattern for years in...
Over the next few weeks I'm going to run a bit of a series looking at some players that may be of interest to Edmonton. The first player on this list is Brendan Gallagher of the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens are one of the few teams that are in a worse position than the Oilers. Oiler fans were infuriated with the Taylor Hall trade but at least we still have Connor M...
Quick fact about myself. I'm a big fan of the NHL video games. I can spend hours in Franchise Mode signing UFA's, making trades and creating the team I think would be a winner. During a season such as the Oilers are having this year; it's therapeutic. I'm not sure about other people but when I'm building my team there is usually a couple players I always target to get o...
Been busy the last couple of weeks but I will start blogging with a bit more regularity for those who care. Here is a small piece to keep you occupied. Last night the Oilers paid homage to the 1984-1985 Edmonton Oilers... in case anyone had forgottten in the last 20 minutes that they were a really good hockey team. It's the mantra this team follows religiously; Reward t...
Hall Fan writes...

Head Must Roll!

Posted Friday | Comments 0
I was listening to Oilers Now on 630 Ched on Tuesday. Normally a great show but this one was brutul. They were talking about how some fans want to see heads roll after a season like this. Bob Nicholson was on the NHL Network saying how this season is part of their building process. To be honest, I question anyone that keeps Chiarelli at this point but Bob is untouchabl...
Hall Fan writes...

How to Fix the Oilers

Posted Friday | Comments 0
Seems to be a popular title around the web. It seems rather obvious but many people go near the correct answer. It is three steps much easier said than done. I will go hardest to easiest. 1. Dump the players Chiarelli has signed as UFA's 2. Grab key UFA's 3. Dump Chiarelli (McLellan should go to if they want a cup but he can get them to the playoffs) The first o...
The Oilers in March decided to finally put on a decent showing for it's fans, going 7-3-2 so far this month. Why the sudden change? Has it been the PK and PP finally clicking? No not really. Has it been Connor McDavid's one man show to try and earn his second straight Art Ross? Certainly hasn't hurt. Some people are suggesting it is because of the new line combinations ...
To say Cam Talbot has had an underwhelming season would be an understatement. After setting an Oilers franchise record for wins last Talbot now finds himself with an abysmal .906 Sv%. That number puts him in 44th for goaltenders who have played at least 20 games. Talbot has one more year on his contract before he becomes a free agent. Some fans have gone so far to say t...
Well that was a thing... The 2017-2018 season came ending on Saturday night with everyone discussing the Sedin twins last game. It was a metaphorical end to the season; everyone was discussing everything except the Oilers. So... how the hell did we get here? The Oilers entered the 2017-2018 as one of the Cup Favourites... not simply for Playoff Contention but to win ...
This will be a recurring and changing list as the summer progresses. The Oilers have some key areas they need to address. Some of these changes will be addressed internally while others will have to be acquired via trade or free agency. Without taking into mind cap hits or chemistry. Here is how I personally believe how the Oilers current depth chart stands and where I ...
Coaching expert Donald S. Cherry diagnosed the Edmonton Oilers in October, three games into their doomed 2017-18 season. This Coach’s Corner segment was broadcast on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017 and Cherry is in top form right from the start — “Do they have pool tables out in Red Deer?” — but the relevant bit arrives at 2:07, when Ron MacLean introduces “a little ...
Oooooooh boy it's going to be a long summer. A few days ago Chiarelli had his media avail. I thought Todd McLellan did an admirable job. He took responsibility for his actions, spent time defending some decisions while apologizing for others, and overall gave an idea of what he expects of the team moving forward. Everything that Chiarelli didn't do. [b]Bye Bye Tod...
After a long hiatus, thousands of miles of pilgrimage and months of flogging at the altar of shame that is university, my sorry-ass has returned to begin actively writing about the Oilers! I'll be writing a long series of posts detailing my ideal (and less-than-ideal-but-still-solid) offseason targets I believe the Oilers would do well to pursue. In the process of doing so...
freelancer writes...

Year End Grades - #98

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
Now is the time for me to put my glasses a bit further down my nose, take out my best red pen and grade each individual Oiler on their season. I debated on the order of how I wanted to do these; alphabetically, point production, desire to make me throw things at my tv... I decided on descending jersey numbers so looks like Jesse Puljujarvi is up first. [b]GRADE - C [/b...
freelancer writes...

Year End Grades - #97

Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
If you were told at the beginning of this season that Connor McDavid would not only surpass his previous career high of 100 points, but that he would also do so by scoring 11 more goals, you would probably be thinking "playoffs are going to be fun this year." Yeah about that.... [b]GRADE A+ [/b] There is no other grade to give Connor McDavid another than this. He h...
As with last week, I'll be breaking down trade and UFA targets from Atlantic division teams but this time the aim will be to feature some more "out-of-the-box" thinking. Without further verbal-meandering, let's get to it! [b]Boston:[/b] C/RW, Austin Czarnik [i]Small but talented playmaker with excellent playmaking ability. Plays with effort and has consistently ...
freelancer writes...

RFA Negotiations

Posted Wednesday | Comments 8
Before the Oilers draft 9th overall on June 22nd, before they make any UFA signings on July 1st the team needs to take care of signing the RFA players. This is all the RFA players the Oilers have that currently have NHL contracts for the purpose of this blog I will not be discussing AHL level deals. Whether the Oilers choose to resign Kyle Platzer or Ben Betker will hav...
The most proven way for building a quality NHL roster while managing cap space effectively is through the draft. Drafted players are controlled for the longest period of time. A team's ability to draft NHL players through multiple rounds of the draft directly correlates to long term success. For this endeavor I took a look at every roster in the Pacific Division from t...
Next up, I'll be tackling proven players from teams in Metropolitan division in an effort to pilfer talent from a host of the deeper teams in the league. [b]Carolina:[/b] RD, Trevor Van Riemsdyk [i]A brilliant example of an under-the-radar “3rd pairing Dman” who was nothing but effective this past season. Excelled in consistent minutes against 2nd pairing-le...
The narrative around the Oilers off-season plans is focused on the acquisition of high end wingers and defensemen. Unfortunately the issues with the on ice talent extends much farther than the more prolific positions. Acquiring and having cheap talent to plug and play is a practice that every NHL team incorporates. It becomes even more essential when a large amount of c...
Plenty of rumblings lately around the interwebs in regards to Chiarelli trading the Oilers 10th overall pick. Considering things didn't go so well the last time Chiarelli traded a first round pick (Griffin Reinhart had 12 points in 60 games in the AHL this year for those wondering) fans are reasonably concerned. Here are a few facts about the Oilers organization. 1. ...
Yesterday the Oilers did a thing in signing Stuart Skinner to an entry level contract. Skinner was quite impressive after being traded to the Swift Current Broncos and was crucial to their victory. Skinner outperformed Carter Hart who is arguably the best goalie prospect in the WHL, posting 6 shutouts and a .932 Sv% over his playoff run. Before anyone jumps to discussin...
As of now the Oilers are set to pick 10th overall in the 2018 Draft. The most debated subject right now in Oil Country is what should be done with the pick. Many trade suggestions have been given, the most recent coming from Ryan Rishaug being Klefbom and the 10th for Ristolainen... which would be a gross overpayment. For many, the best option seems to be to hold on to ...
While the Buffalo Sabres came up big with the 1st overall pick and Rasmus Dahlin, the Hurricanes arguably had the best fortune with the Draft Lottery, moving from #11 to #2. With the #2 pick the Canes will likely be selecting Svechnikov. So the obvious question here is.... how do the Oilers benefit from this? Let's look at some of the players from the Hurricanes the ...
Well the news we have been expecting for the past couple weeks was finally made official today as the Oilers announce Glen Gulutzan, Trent Yawney, and Manny Viveiros as assistant coaches with Todd McLellan. A couple quick notes from the press conference. - McLellan has said that the special teams will be worked on collectively. However he expects Gulutzan and Viveiro...
Hello everyone, I'm Sean Maloughney (Ma-lock-nee for those who are interested to know) and I'll be doing my best to keep you, the masses entertained for at least the time being (I'm still a freelancer after all). As Matt Henderson put in his own farewell quite eloquently, being a blogger is critical in this day and age of media. Those who are employed by the teams you c...
Today via his Instagram account, AHL goaltender Nick Ellis announced his retirement from professional hockey and his plans to start teaching and coaching with the Boys' Varsity Hockey and Lacrosse club of Cantebury School. The young goaltender is 24 and came off a rougher season, sporting a .898 Sv% in 22 games played with the Bakersfield Condors. One does wonder whethe...
Ryan Nugent Hopkins is a player amidst an evolution. When he entered the league fans were impressed by his brilliant passing and moves on the powerplay. Over the years Nuge started looking less flashy but showed incredible poise for a young player on defense; on those earlier Oiler teams in particular someone had to play defense. Now Todd McLellan has let Nuge back off the...
freelancer writes...

This and That

Posted Sunday | Comments 3
Plenty going on in the NHL right now but nothing that I can't comment on in a few sentences or less. So in no particular order let's get to it. Keegan Lowe signed a 2 year two way contract with the Oilers worth 675,000. At first glance it's easy to see the name Lowe and start seething however Lowe had a good showing with the Condors last season and certainly deserves an...
Not that anyone gives a damn but, on account of the wholesale failure of my laptop, I'm now gonna fast track the remainder of my [i]Guides to Player Acquisition[/i] in an effort to stay on schedule. As such, I'll cover the remainder of my ideal targets in this blog! [b]Carolina:[/b] LW, Warren [b]GODDAM[/b] Foegele [i]If you've followed my posts in the Oilers th...
My intent in writing this list is to test the effectiveness of a predictive, statistical model that I value and- in doing so- confirm or deny the stances I've taken on these players. In conjunction with some limited viewings of these players (mostly through OHL Live and WHL Live), I want to put to the test the assumption that one needs to spend egregious amounts of time ph...
Hall Fan writes...

Oilers Pre-Draft

Posted Friday | Comments 0
What we know for sure. Chiarelli is shopping the first round pick and he has also said that improving the blue line is his main goal. Actually he claimed they needed "tweaking" but that was the only thing he mentioned other than the players need to play better. He is not wrong. Oilers need Talbot, Klefbom, Larsson, Lucic and Sekeras to simply be better. I would say ...
As was stated in the first of this series of draft blogs, I'll be operating under this template (though it seems as though it might have shifted a tad the last few days): [quote][i]Depending on who you ask, there's about a 10 player "top-tier" that generally goes as follows: Dahlin #1 Svechnikov #2 Zadina, Tkachuk and Dobson #3-5 Hughes, Wahlstrom, Bouchard, Boqvist...
To conclude my draft series, the following is list of a number of players I'd be pushing for the Oilers to pick. Last year's version of this list included names like Henri Jokiharju (CHI), Kole Lind (VAN), Kirill Maksimov (EDM) and Benjamin Jones (VGK). [b][u]2nd round targets:[/u][/b] Aside from my aforementioned targets in Hillis and Olofsson, a few other names I...
With the news that players like Anthony Duclair and Tobias Rieder are heading toward UFA status, I've figured now would be as good a time as any to layout my idea of a reasonable offseason plan for the Oilers to (not) follow. The primary focuses for the Oilers should be as follows: [b]1.) Secure significant RFAs (Nurse, Strome and Benning) 2.) Pursue cheap skill 3....
THE DEBATE - Hockey Podcast - Episode 40 - Nylander Sign or Trade and the Inconsistent Oilers Are you sick and tired of thinking and speculating what will happen with William Nylander. Brad Burud and Blake Friars are too. For the last time they break down possible trade scenarios for Nylander, and discuss the possibility that he still may sign with the Toronto Maple L...
jking7 writes...

The Pacific Division Gives Thanks

Posted Wednesday | Comments 5
Many hockey insiders believe American Thanksgiving to be the time of year where NHL General Managers sit down, take a hard look at their rosters, and evaluate where they are and where their season could be headed. Most teams have played roughly 20 games by this point, so by this time many GMs have developed a solid understanding of what is working for their club, and what ...
As I listened to the broadcast last night, then watched the game when I arrived home. I feel that aside from the obvious exhaustion due to the game frequency, as well as players playing above there slotting, the ref's have too much influence on the game. While I delve deeper into these thoughts. I am going to go into the game killing, momentum changing Patrick Maroon...
When the Oilers hired Peter Chiarelli, it reeked of desperation to the point where ownership thought that giving autonomy to someone who won a cup would guarantee a cup. They never did a background check nor looked as to why he may have been fired just said look there is a cup, he is perfect. His resume is that of talent degradation and he did just that again for Edmonton....
First Move by Gretzky. Keith that is and a good one IMO. Moving Cam Talbot to Philly in exchange for young tendy Anthony Stolarz was a good move. Good for both goalies. We all know that the deal was to make cap space for Sekera’s return. The Oil benefits from a younger tendy that can put compete on Koskinen. You don’t think Stolarz is going to want to prove hi...
Peter Chiarelli left the Oilers in terrible shape when he was fired as GM however the team is not far off of a playoff spot this year. I don't like the Oilers odds of making the playoffs but they are still competing with really only 3 good players and some filler. Still we know this and I will get to the point. The future might not be as dark as it looks for the Oilers ...
Is Holland a great GM or is Holland a terrible GM? Both statements are lies and both are truths. Why is that, like any other GMs and even his Oiler predecessor, he has had trouble during the cap era. The question is how much is his fault and how much has he learned. One of the greatest things of his Red Wings dynasty days and passed was the ability to assess talent and ...
Been a while, [expletive removed for reasons]! In honour of the latest bout of disappointment the Oilers chose to throw at us, I figured now would be a great time to review my targets from last offseason and quantify whether I'm more or less disappointing than my favourite team! First, we ought to set the bar: by how many criteria did the Oilers disappoint? [b]1.)[...
Hall Fan writes...

Draft - Oilers Edition

Posted Thursday | Comments 0
The draft can not get here soon enough. Mostly as it should be the start of Holland fixing the Oilers. I can say this with certainty because they can't get anymore broken. Also the draft's arrival will stop sites like TSN.ca claiming that Kakko is "closing the gap" on Hughes. There is no actual gap. NJ is picking one player and that is going to be Hughes. Are they lo...
On the buzzcast today (8/21) Ek broke news that Derek Brassard may be going to Edmonton. Later, a different rumor came out that puts Brassard on Long Island. I’m hoping for the latter, and here’s why. I still don’t understand a couple of moves made by Steve Yzerman. Forget about Moritz Seider, that kid may end up being really good. For me, Valterri Filppula doesn�...
I'm gonna come right outta the gate and say what qualifies as sacrilege within the Oilers community: Darnell Nurse is the Oilers' best Dman and attempts to trade him under the pretense that his minutes could be replaced by Klefbom aren't just wrong, they're blind to statistically observable reality. I guess I should actually get to the evidence before asserting things so s...
In an extremely tight playoff race, the Canucks have managed to find themselves atop the Pacific division with a very unsettling three point lead. The young Canadian team finds themselves with 65 points, followed closely by the Oilers, Knights, Flames, and Coyotes who are all within 5 points of the Canucks. With five teams battling to win the Pacific division, none of t...
After tonight, there is no reason why the Sharks could not make a push into the playoffs. Sure, the division has many competitive teams, but none are taking control of their destiny. The Canucks lost to an outdated Minnesota roster, and to make things worse, Pettersson missed the game due to a lower body injury. Jay Beagle and Jake Virtanen were injured as well, but cam...
Slappywaggle writes...

I had a dream

Posted Tuesday | Comments 520
It was marvelous. The Oilers led by McDavid and Draisaitl didn't need to consistently put up 5+ goals to win games. Instead, led by not as many superhuman efforts, the team was capable of winning games 2-1 or 3-2, as they weren't concerned about the tandem of Smith and Koskinen fishing the puck out of the net after every third shot. This confidence also rolls into the play...
If somebody told you in 2009 that the Edmonton Oilers would have four first-overall draft picks in 6 years, you'd probably laugh at them. Well, we now live that horrendous reality, and only half of those players selected first-overall still play with the Oilers. In order of years since 2010, Edmonton has selected in the first round; Taylor Hall - Selected first-overall...
sdperry writes...

Playoff hockey starts now!

Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Teams are working towards the second half push. Those teams who have depended on stick checks and fancy moves will likely win a few, but will be disappointed with some hard losses. I hope to have some insight soon as to who will flourish and who will falter.
Last nights battle of Alberta definitely lived up to the battle part as Calgary defenceman, Rasmus Andersson headbutted diminutive Oiler forward Kailer Yamamoto. Andersson was given a double minor on the play for elbowing and roughing, Yamamoto was not given any penalties. Today The NHL gave Rasmussen Andersson a 5000$ fine for the dirty play. So as a fine was given, the h...

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