preseason

Halleluiah, Ales Hemsky is still an Oiler

August 15, 2013 0 Comments

Halleluiah, Ales Hemsky is still an Oiler. I did not see this happening. Of course, I hope when training camp opens in a few weeks he is still here. Maybe I am a bit paranoid but I expect him to traded for a bag of pucks because the Oilers are stupid.

Do I dare expect him in the lineup on opening night?  I want this SO badly.

Dude can still play. Oilers need NHL players. It is a no-brainer that we MUST keep him. I know MacT wanted to trade him so I cannot fully get on board with the MacT-is-smart. Sure Hemsky remains an Oiler because MacTavish did not ditch him for some idiot third line checker. So yes, MacT is not a complete idiot but he did want to trade him in the first place.

Speaking of trades, I am sad to see little Shawn Horcoff leave us. While he was overpaid, he was a VERY useful player. The Oilers will miss his defensive play. He played those tough minutes, along with our Hemsky, for many years. His tenure with the Oilers should not be noted for getting one of the greatest contracts one could get for having a good year (points-wise).

The pre-season starts in a month and yes I am starting to look forward to hockey. Seriously, in the past week, I am jonesing for hockey BIG TIME!  Let’s go Oilers, hook me up.

Opening night is set for October 1st when the Jets come to town for the first time in…..how long?  According to hockey-reference.com, it appears the last time a team from Winnipeg played in Edmonton was March 29, 1996. Oilers won (OF COURSE) 3-2.  Fun fact, Nikolai Khabibulin played goal for those Jets. Oh and Satan scored two goals for the Oilers. Good thing they traded him not long after for basically a bag of pucks.

My last game in Winnipeg was way back in 1995 (October 11) when I cheered on Mark Messier’s Rangers. They did win 6-4.  The Moose had two assists and the players loaded the bus from an area blocked off from the fans so I could not snag an autograph. I did get a blurry picture….must find that somewhere.

Sadly, I may miss the home-opener because I have tickets to John Cleese’s show, “Last Time to See Me Before I Die.”  I cannot miss an opportunity to see Cleese before he dies.  His show kept selling out so damn fast, they added three more shows. I have a ticket to the first show. If I can switch my tickets, I will be in Rexall cheering on my Oilers over the Jets, just like the days of old in Manitoba.

I was born and raised in Manitoba and NEVER cheered for the Jets. I was the annoying kid in the stands cheering for the Oilers. And believe me, I was SUPER annoying.  I took a lot of pride in that.

So as I told me brother and several other Jets’ fan when I was in Manitoba for vacation this summer (and hope it is true), welcome to the Western Conference BITCH!  🙂

Last thing, check out my travel blog, The Travelling Historian. I’ll be posting about my travels and giving tips. Plus I will post as we lead up to the Sochi Olympics.  I’ve been to Europe five or six times and am planning another trip for this upcoming February 2014 to Moscow, the Sochi Olympics and Prague.  I have been to the last two Olympics in London and Vancouver so I am ready to cheer on my Canadians one more time.

In particular, I am hoping to see both hockey teams win again. I was lucky enough to have tickets to both events in Vancouver and hey, I have tickets to both events again in Sochi. Women’s and men’s hockey, let’s go!!!!!

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Return of Oilers Hockey

September 21, 2011 3 Comments

We are all excited that the 2011-12 season is almost under way.  Even Mark is excited.  Although I am not sure exactly how excited he is….as small as that towel is, it covers just enough (too bad)!

Training camp is under way and the first preseason game was last night in Edmonton and Saskatoon.  Split squads played the Hawks in Saskatoon and the Wild in Edmonton.  Toonville saw the Nuge, Smyth and Eberle while Edmonton was treated to the Swedish line and Hall.  I was at the Edmonton game so I cannot say how well the other split squad played but they nevertheless won the game 4-2.  By all accounts, Dubnyk played quite well.

At least one of our goalies had a good game last night because it was a dreadful 30 minutes of action for the one and only, Mr. Nikolai Khabibulin.  Three goals on seven shots in the first period.  We can give him a pass on the first goal that deflected off one of the defenders (Marincin I believe) but the other two were ugly.

Some quick thoughts from the game:

  • Musil and Marincin struggled along with most of the defense.  Try-out kid Tupulov had some shaky moments but you can see there is talent there but wow is it raw.   I would like to see the Oilers sign him to Oklahoma and see if they can work out the rawness.
  • Taylor Hall picked up where he left off last season.  He had several first rate chances and easily could have scored a hatty.  Bad penalty late in the game led to the winning goal by the Wild.  D’oh!!
  • The Swedish meatballs line played very good together.  Lander, Paajarvi and Omark obviously have chemistry and it’ll be interesting to see if they play on a line together.
  • Will Lander make the team?  With that game, yes.  However, it is more dependent on whether Nugent-Hopkins makes the team out of training camp and stays up.  Lander will at the very least be one of the first call-ups and should play half the year with the Oilers.
  • Hordichuk?  I thought he knew how to fight.
  • Belanger can win faceoffs, except the one that led to the winning goal (oopsie)!

It’s only one preseason game but you can see where the strengths and weaknesses of this team lie; weak defense and goaltending but getting stronger up front.  Hopefully Edmonton gets to see the Nuge at the next preseason game along with a few more of the regulars.

Go Oilers!

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