Good news: Oilers beat Colorado tonight.
Bad news: Knee-on-knee on Smitty by John Michael Liles of the Avs. DIRTY!!! It was intentional and he should be suspended. And who gives a fuck if he’s not typically a dirty player. That means nothing. It was a dirty play, and the league needs to take a look at the play all by itself.
Smitty had trouble getting off the ice, couldn’t put weight on his left knee so it looks very serious. He had two goals tonight, a powerplay goal and a shorthanded (the Oilers first this season). He’s having another excellent season, so this would be horrible if he’s out due to injury.
So it just makes you think: what else could possibly happen to the Oil? I have a bad feeling about Smitty. The Oil have no luck lately, so Smitty is probably out for the season. I really hope not. They need him so much. Roli and Smitty are the two best players on this team right now.
(okay Sportsnet just said Smitty has a charley horse in the left knee, so that’s good news. Whew, I was really nervous. Did the Oilers luck just change? They might actually have some good luck finally coming their way)
UPDATE: Liles will not be suspended, according to TSN. Is this because Smitty is not hurt badly? The resulting injury should not be taken into account with regards to a suspension. Punish the action not the result. NHL, another mistake on your part.
I think one of the reasons no one went after Liles was because of the stupid ‘auto-suspension’ for fights in the last 5 minutes of the game(or as I call it, the Daryl Sutter rule).
Well, that and the fact it was a 1 goal lead.
Oooh I had forgotten about that new rule. Idiots. No problem, they’ll keep their eyes out for him next time they play. This is the only time we miss our enforcer.
Ya, going by the reaction to Markov’s perfectly clean hit on Stoll and Thoresen’s challenge on Svitov the other day … safe to say that a few Oiler players will be looking for Liles next time they play the Avs.
I know they’re saying charley horse, but Smyth has a history of MCL problems. I think he wears knee braces (tensor type) when he plays, no? I’ve had MCL sprains in both knees, and ACL in the right. Reinjury is very easy, so he may not be completely out of the woods yet. Hopefully the knee is fine though.
Liles is a marked man. That was a great game though. I’m sure the Oilers’ luck is changing. I feel good about this. I even washed my jersey for the first time since June.
He’s listed day-to-day so that’s even better news.
And I loved Thoresen’s defense of Smid the other day. That was a cheapshot too, hitting from behind.
I hope the Oil are getting their luck back. They just need a few breaks to go their way.