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I am heading to Vancouver tomorrow morning for the last six days of the 2010 Olympics. So far, the Canadian team has been under-performing and gold medal contenders aren’t even hitting the podium. And there is the loss by the Canadian men’s hockey team last night to the evil empire of America which drops them into a game with Germany and then a quarter-final matchup with the Russians. Wow they have a very hard road just to get to the gold medal game. The team hasn’t played horrible, and in fact carried the play last night in every position except goal. Brodeur is out and now Luongo is in. Aside from the annoying Luooooo chant, I think this is the right choice. Brodeur was not getting the job done and now it’s up to the Canuck to show he can finally lead a team to a championship.

The women’s hockey team has made the final against the US (no surprise) so they have a very good chance for gold. Curlers are looking good at this point as well. So there are some chances for medals (tonight our ice dancers are going for gold) but this Olympics has seen more disappointments than expected. Maybe more than the last couple Olympics combined.

In any case, I’m off to Vancouver and am hoping to see Canadian gold medals live!! Let’s party Vancouver!!!

GO CANADA!!!

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With the NHL on an Olympic break, this Oilers blog will now switch over to Olympic coverage with a focus on hockey of course. I will be attending the Olympics during the last six days. I have tickets to the gold medal games for the men and women in hockey. Yes I am lucky and hoping for double gold.

Hockey starts today at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. The Americans beat the Swiss this afternoon 3-1 but the game most people are interested in is the Canada vs Norway game. Can the Canadian live up to the hype and pressure to bring home gold?

With a short tournament like this, it’s hard to make predictions. Every single person in Canada is hoping and praying (even us atheists) for Olympic gold. The pressure on Team Canada will be the greatest they will ever experience in their life so it will not be easy. I do believe the team has enough experience and are prepared to take this the distance.

In my mind, it is Russia vs Canada but there are other teams that could play a factor. They are the Swedes, Czechs and Finns. I do not believe the Americans are a medal contender nor a dark horse. Ryan Miller will have to channel Roy, Hasek and Plante to stand a chance at a medal. After Canada and Russia, the team with the next best chance is Sweden. I’m not going into deep analysis for each team but based on the play of the top players in the NHL, this is a competition between Canada, Russia and Sweden. I think Canada is the deeper team on defense and in goal. Russia is all offense with no checking forwards or solid stay at home defense. I believe Canada can win because of that. But like we all say, a short tournament can see a goalie ride a hot streak to victory.

I predict Canada gold, Russia wins silver and Sweden beats the Finns for bronze. I have a ticket to semi-final 1 and the gold medal game. I want Canada and Russia in that game; best two teams fighting for gold will be amazing.

Go Canada.

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With Carolina defeating Boston yesterday, the Oilers are now the worst team in the NHL. We’re number one, we’re number one! Yes, the best of the worst. So the dive for five is still on and looking very good. The Oilers are winless in 2010, having won only ONE game in their last 18 games, so the only thing left is to look to the future.

Several weeks ago, Big Sexy offered to waive his no-trade clause if necessary and just gave the Oilers a list of the teams he would consider. Rumblings also have the Oilers finally realizing how much they cocked things up and plan to blow it up! So a shopping list of players has been made and GM’s across the league have been notified. Six big names are Souray, Visnovsky, Horcoff, Nilsson, Moreau and Staios.

So, are you on board with a rebuild? I certainly am but only if done properly. Some media people are saying a rebuild takes seven years but that’s crap. If the new era of cap hockey, it can be done a bit quicker than that. The Oilers have some nice building blocks already in Hemsky and Gagner up front, Gilbert, Grebeshkov and Smid on the back end. Sure they all could play better but it’s a good basis to start from. There are some very nice prospects in the system with Eberle, Magnus, Lander, Peckham and Nash. And let’s face it, they’re going to get a very high draft pick this year. So that all bodes well for the team. So, dump all your horrible contracts, get lots of young players, prospects, draft picks and rebuild properly. The fans will be there for you if you do it properly. No more going gangbusters during free agency, lose out on the top guy and then settle, ie: overpay, for a second rate player. Players will want to sign with the team once you prove you have the pieces in place to be contenders. Don’t worry about free agents at this point.

Let’s go Oilers. I’m still with you!

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Who else misses Hemsky?

Oilers are sitting in 29th place, Hemsky and Khabibulin are out with injuries, pp and pk suck, backup goalie can’t stop a beach ball, Souray is open to waiving his no-trade clause if asked and I have half a season worth of Oilers games to attend. I’m so excited.

Nashville is in town tonight. Yawn.

Crosby comes to town on Thursday. Awesome, at least the crowd can cheer for something. And no I won’t be cheering for him. I’m still an Oilers fan and will never cheer against them. But they’re making it hard to be one these days. Let’s hope their mini-camp from the past weekend helps their play. I’m tired of watching mediocre hockey. Play with some emotion, some passion and for god’s sake, STOP THE PUCK JDD!!!

Go Oilers!

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Tonight, the Devil 2.0 makes a visit to Edmonton finally. It only took almost five months to get him here. After letting the Oilers get all hot and bothered for a month, Heater refused to put out. He’s a dirty tease, letting the Oilers think he was actually considering coming here. We all know the truth. He used the Oilers to gain leverage with Ottawa. He tried to drive up his own market value because he didn’t like his options. Yes, options options options. I believe he repeated that ad nauseum this summer. Heatley believed he was entitled to more options, like he was a king sitting on a throne.

Let’s not dwell on the past. Tonight the douche comes to Edmonton and yes, he’s playing well. He does have Thornton on his wing so he’d better play well. This is why Edmonton went after him so hard; he can score. But the other players involved in the non-trade are having decent years themselves. Penner has transformed his game and is finally the power forward I knew he could be; Smid has developed into a very nice physical defenseman; and Cogliano, if he ever gets better linemates (Moreau? No one can score with the penalty machine on your line), he will be fine too.

However, the Sharks are coming into Edmonton when the Oil are not at their best. They are 2-6-1 in their last eight games. They’ve gone through a never ending stream of injuries and battled the flu for a month. They just keep mounting. Two important players will not play tonight: Khabibulin and Hemsky. Hemsky is awaiting results from an MRI. Let’s all hope it is not serious. If he’s out the season, lottery pick. No doubts. This team needs him more than any other player.

I have a good feeling tonight. I think the Oilers will play a hard game and could sneak out a win if Deslauriers continues his decent play. It’s possible.

Update: unofficial from Oilersnation but Hemmer may need surgery and is out season. Let’s all say it together, FUCK!!

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Dustin Penner has finally arrived. After a 2 goal, 3 assist game last night vs Columbus, fans are all a flutter in Edmonton over the play of Penner so far this season. Putting together Hemsky, Penner and Gagner last night, they put together one of the greatest performances in over 20 years. Penner and Hemsky had 5 point nights with Gagner putting up 3 pts. The last time Edmonton had two players with 5 points in one game each was back in 1988 (Carson and Anderson).

Okay, we should step back and be cautiously optimistic. It was one game. Let’s say that again: it was one game.

It’s no fun being cautious.

The play of Penner has been a lovely surprise. I did feel and was quite vocal over the past two years that Penner had great potential and was being majorly mismanaged last year. Some of it was his fault, no doubt about that. The mismanagement from last year has contributed to his play this year. He was shamed into getting into better shape, a new coaching staff wiped the slate clean and he has silenced all his critics. We saw glimpses of this Penner in the past where he’d drive the net, skate hard to the puck and use his size. He never did it consistently but I felt if he ever did, this was the potential.

Cautious, be cautious.

A big weekend for the flu-ridden team with back-to-back games on the road against Calgary and Vancouver.

Oilers hockey appears to be back. Damn I’ve missed it.

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Thank you ESPN and the parents of Sheldon Souray, Andrew Cogliano and Ethan Moreau for creating lovely specimens.

You can check out some other bodies here (note Chara of the Bruins is pic 4) but please, I’m quite content with the Oilers picture.

Moreau = hot OFF the ice

I still love Souray.

Little Cogliano….wow.

Oh yes, there was an Oilers game last night. Another shitty ending with the Lames tying up the game with 1.5 seconds to go. Moreau is wearing the goat horns (horrible pass) but The Wall could have had the tying goal. It was deflected but he was square to the shooter, but didn’t flop nor squeezed the five hole. Come on Russian, you had a decent game up to that point.

There are good signs even with the loss. This is not the same team that was pushed around last year. They fight, they hit, they forecheck and play hard. I’m so happy to see the forecheck back. It feels like 2006. It’s only been 3 games but I’m happy with the play of most of the team so far.

Defense….you need some work. I mean the entire team defense. They are giving up way too many chances in their zone. Close that up, and chances to tie up a game won’t be there.

Now, let’s look at that photo again.

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2009-2010 season finally starts for our Oilers tonight against the Calgary Flames. After a few off-season moves which include a new goalie (Nikolai Khabibulin – left), a new coaching staff, and the return of Mike Comrie, the Oilers are looking to rebound after underachieving last year.

The big issue is a 36 year old goalie coming off a very good year for Chicago but can he dublicate that performance? If the Bulin Wall can, this team should make the playoffs. Of course, you need the forwards to score some goals. Quinn has already put his stamp on this team with JF Jacques starting on the top line, Ryan Stone on the second line with Comrie and O’Sullivan and Gagner starting on the fourth line with Moreau and Stortini. Quinn has brought the crust, but is there any jam?

Many predictions out there are calling for the Oilers to miss the playoffs here, here and here. They’re not getting any respect. Most are predicting them to finish 11th in the West (a couple bloggers at Oilersnation pick them 8th). That is wrong. I still think this is a playoff team: defense is strong, forwards are pretty good and as long as the goalie continues his strong play from last year, this should be a playoff team.

Let’s take a look back at one of my favorite moments from last year, when Souray moved Moreau out of his way in a fight. Souray is important, the defense is not very physical so his body is needed.

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After not being able to find a team willing to sign him, little Comrie ends up signing in Edmonton. What?? After the big bust up in 2003, did anyone ever think this would happen? No.

I won’t get into a lot of heavy details about why little Comrie demanded a trade but he couldn’t handle the pressure of playing in his hometown, couldn’t handle any criticism from his coach/GM and yes, he was dicking around with Tommy Salo’s wife and yes, Jason Smith kicked his ass. Other media refute this strongly, but it’s true. My insider is legit and this is a true story. If not, Jason Smith should not go around telling the story!

Back to the signing, rumor is that it’s for 1-1.3 mill and it’s a one year deal. The amount is fine, the term is great but the player being signed is not. Although, one could look at his stats and make a case in favor of this signing. Is he better than Pouliot, Nilsson, Brule, and so on? Stats say yes. But the problem is he’s a tiny little fella and this team has many of those already. So much for Tambellini’s indict of getting bigger and stronger in the off-season.

Pat Quinn, you’d better coach your ass off this year……

So little 89 is an Oiler once again….oh wait, he is not 89 anymore. Our little Sammy Gagner wears number 89. I wonder which one Comrie will take? 666?

Not quite the end to the off-season we all expected, non?

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Well today Dany Heatley (aka The Douchebag or The Devil) will finally speak out. The funniest part of the whole thing is that he will not tell us anything we want to know.

His agent said, “However, out of respect to the Ottawa Senators and all involved, Dany is not getting into specifics…that will remain confidential.”

So his part in all this gets to remain confidential, but not the names of those involved? Poor Penner, Smid and Cogliano didn’t get confidentiality, did they? No, their names happened to get released. Why? It was leverage. Trade leverage to get him to New York.

So what’s the point of this presser? Oh yes, he’s working on his image. He has to appear contrite, sorry and spit out all the hockey cliches.

He’s still a douchebag. He used Edmonton to drum up more trade talk. I despise hockey players like this. Man up!!

Anyways, just a few weeks until Oilers training camp. I am excited, especially since Heatley will not be an Oiler.

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