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Yes, Sid the Whiny Kid is in town. With all the freakin’ hype surrounding this, you’d think he was the greatest hockey player ever. Sorry to tell you, he is not. Nor will he ever be. He’s not even the best player this year. That goes to Lecavalier.

So shall we take bets on how many times Sid gets shot tonight? Or shall I say how many times he falls to the ice as if he’s been shot? I’ll venture a guess: 4 times. Also, how many times will Sid get stabbed tonight? I should also clarify that as well; how many times will Sid fall to the ice as if he’s been stabbed? I’ll go with 3 times. Be careful with our little china doll…..he’s very precious and you don’t dare touch him without him collapsing to the ice in pain. Yes, it’s phantom pain folks.

Anyways, I couldn’t care less to see him tonight. I admit he is a very good player but his constant diving rubs me the wrong way. I despise players who act like that. Plus all the bloody hype surrounding this is nuts. I’m not overly excited to see him.

The Oilers are coming off their first three game winning streak of the year. Can they make it 4? I think they have an excellent chance. Both goalies seem to be finding their stride and are playing damn good! Also, Pisani returns and makes his home debut for the Oilers. He will get a huge ovation tonight. I’ll be there to scream loud for his return! It’s been really great seeing him back! Oilers missed his defensiveness.

Other news: TSN is reporting that Jarrett Stoll is on the trading block. Is that the case or another unsubstantiated rumor from TSN? We shall soon see. Even though he is struggling this year, I’d hate to see him go. Can they get anything good in return??

Prediction: 5-2 Oilers with goals from Pisani, Horcoff, Stoll and Hemsky (2). Oilers will finally make it to .500 tonight and on the road to a winning record.

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Patrick Thoresen, after toiling in the minors for two months, has finally been recalled to the Oilers!!! He’s put up some fine numbers down there and it’s going to be nice to see him back in the line-up. The bad news is that Hemsky is out with a knee contusion but so far it’s only day-to-day so we should see him back on Wednesday vs Pittsburgh when Sid the Whiny Kid comes to town (uh-oh, website has Hemmer out indefinitely).

Today the Oilers will be in Anaheim. Wait, didn’t we just play them and beat them into submission? Oh yes, the NHL likes to force teams into being rivals so the idea of back-to-back games makes that happen. Sure whatever Bettman. At least they have finally realized their error and the schedule is going back to normal. All teams will play each other at least once. I actually don’t like this idea. I want every team to play each other home and away. I have an even better, although slightly, radical idea. How about every team plays the same teams? Yes do away with divisional and conference games. The Oilers would play the same number of games against certain teams as would the Boston Bruins, and so on. That would make it fair. No more teams padding their wins from their weak division. I know this would never fly but damn I think it would be exciting. Keep the conferences the same but have each team play the exact same schedule of teams. Yes, I’m all about the fairness.

Okay that was an unattainable dream. Back to tonight’s game, Oilers vs the Duckies! Our sweet Hemsky is probably not playing but Thor draws back in! We drove Giguere from the net on Friday, let’s do it again! My prediction: Oilers win 5-2 with Cogliano, Thoresen, Stoll and 2 from Horcoff.

UPDATE: Pisani returns tonight!!!!!!

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So Sportsnet is reporting a story from the Edmonton Journal today concerning Tom Gilbert and how he could possibly command up to $3 million next year and the Oilers cannot possibly afford him. He’s hasn’t even played 40 games yet. Yes he’s been very solid and smart in his inexperience but let’s be serious. First of all, this kid is not going to get over $3 million. He won’t be getting $2 million. He’ll get closer to Matt Greene money I think or slightly more. The Oil can afford that. The real concern with defensemen is Joni Pitkanen. He’s the restricted free-agent I think the Oilers are a helleva lot more worried about. Good job by the Journal and Matheson to stay on top of the story.

And last night’s game verses the Avalanche….it was the WORST 40 minutes (periods 1&2) of hockey I have ever seen the Oilers play. This is not an exaggeration. I have never seen them play that dreadful before. NEVER!!! This team doesn’t have the talent of other teams but at least compete. Where is your pride? Anaheim comes to town tomorrow, they’d better pull their heads out of their asses before!!

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Today the National Hockey League was officially founded with the following teams: Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Sentators, Toronto Arenas and the Quebec Bulldogs. Frank Calder was elected as the league’s first President and would serve until his death in 1943.

I highly recommend checking out the timeline of the NHL. The back and forth of teams coming in and out of the league is interesting. My favorite part: “Back on Jan. 9, 1918: The NHL announced a new rule permitting goaltenders to leave their feel while making a save. Previously a penalty was called if a netminder sat or lay on the ice to stop the puck.” I love this. Can you imagine if goalies couldn’t flop on the ice? No career for Hasek.

Anyways, I’ve been a bad blogger. So what’s new the Oilers? Good news is they are not in last place. That belongs to Washington. Bad news, we’re only 2 points out of the basement. More good news: we’re within 3 points of 7 teams. Bad news: we’re 7 points out of a playoff spot. Good news: it’s only the end of November. Bad news: we’re down another defenseman due to a concussion to Dicky. Good news: Pisani is a couple weeks away from returning. Bad news: Moreau and Souray are not.

So does the good outweigh the bad? I have no clue but it’s been an up and down season thus far. Oilers have 6 of 9 wins from shootouts including another one on Saturday against Chicago. It’s been a struggle for each and every win but the Oilers are dominating the shootout. Gagner, Hemsky and Horcoff have been spectacular. Also, Pitkanen has been fantastic since his return. In particular, he was jumping into the rush big time on Saturday verses Chicago. It was nice to see him so natural as a rushing defenseman. I hope we see more of this.

Another game tonight: Oilers vs Columbus. I’m going out on a limb and say the Oilers win this in regulation. I know, a dangerous call but I’m going with a nice comfortable win. 4-1 with goals by Cogs, Gags, Hemmer and Horcoff.

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Also, an interesting story on Penner coming to training camp out of shape. Almost two months later, he’s still out of shape. Come on boy, get on the bike!!!

Update: Mike at Covered in Oil explained this over there: Technically, players with long-term injuries still count against the cap.But the team is then allowed to go over the cap limit to the cost of their salary (so $50.3 million plus Pisani’s $2.5 million). Basically, the Oilers are allowed to go over the cap but they’re just too damn cheap to do so. Thanks EIG…we’re down numerous defensemen and a couple key gritty forwards, but let’s not spend any more money. Good call.

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So Dicky has sat out a couple games, what does that mean? His days as an Oiler might be numbered according to sportsnet. With Souray and Pitkanen eventually returning this month, someone is out. The Oilers website has Tarnstrom drawing into tonight’s game, paired with Smid, along with Pouliot. Roli gets the start but Garon will get one very soon, according to MacT. With Hasek and his creaky hip out, Osgood starts. Whoa, is this 1998 or what? Anyways, following a great shootout win on Sunday against the Ducks, who are just as sucky as we are this year, this could be the turning point for the Oilers. It’d be nice to see them get on a roll and win two games again.

I’m watching TSN right now and they’re saying that it’ll be the job of Gilbert and Grebeshkov to shut down Zetterberg’s line, the number one line in hockey. Can I just say…..WHAT? Gilbert, yes good idea but Grebeshkov? That boy is redefining the word chaos!!

Anyways, I’m looking for a victory tonight as Cogliano, Gagner and Hemsky are freakin’ flying. Did you see Cogs short-handed goal? How about the shootout goal by Gagner? Fantastic. This team is fun to watch. They may let you down defensively but bloody hell, they are exciting at times!!

Oilers win 4-1.

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Okay, I won’t dredge up the past and go into details about the whole fiasco that surrounded Smyth and Lowe last year. I will say this: no one person deserves the entire blame for what happened. I truly believe they were both negotiating in good faith, thought it would get done and all would be right with the world. Anyways, they both cocked it up. The end.

So the Mullett returns to Edmonton tonight. Am I boo’ing? I have not decided. I will wear my Smyth jersey for the first time since he was traded. I refused to wear it and even went out this summer and bought two vintage jersey’s before those new crappy ones came out. So I am a Fuhr and Messier girl now. But I will pull out the 94 one last time. I hope the Oilers will be classy and do up a pre-game appreciation for Smyth like they did for Smith. I will cheer for that. However, once the puck drops, he’s the opposition and I sure won’t be cheering for him. Boo’ing him? I’m not sure.

So how badly do the Oilers lose tonight? Man, this will be interesting. Joni Pitkanen is out for a couple weeks so Roy will probably draw in for tonight’s game. Maybe our Laddy Smid will get a call-up soon since the Oilers are down a few d-men. I sure hope so. He’s a big improvement over most of that defense.

Okay back to the game tonight. I think the Oilers come out hard and strong. This will be their best game since the two opening winning games. I’ll be optimistic and say the Oil pull this out 3-2. Hemmer breaks out finally and scores all three.

UPDATE: Very good game even though our boys lost. 2 bad bounces cost the Oilers two goals in the first. One horrible penalty call with 2 mins left cost the boys a comeback. How the refs called a hook on Hemsky is crazy…..when the other guy had grabbed this stick and was holding it! Idiots.

Pitkanen is now out for 4 weeks instead of two. He’s having surgery. When the hell did this happen? I can’t find any more info on this injury. They’ve gotta call up Smid now. Roy actually played decent tonight. Another stinkfest for Greene. No surprise.

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Well MacT, do you? Do you feel lucky tonight punk? Our favorite blender is coaching his 500th game for the Oilers. Yes the blender is out big time so far this year. How many different line combinations have we seen this year? Too freakin’ many to even count. Please MacT, put the blender down and walk slowly away from it. No sudden movements…..

So our boys finally ended their wee little four game losing streak on Thursday against Phoenix. Anyone else not impressed with their performance? They won 4-2 (empty netter) but it was NOT a pretty game. The blender was out in full force and the Oilers seemed to have forgotten who they were playing. It’s Phoenix for f**k’s sake! Embarrassing performance. Roloson saved your asses from a major humiliation. So where do we go from here? Well Schrempy got a big 3.12 of ice time and then was sent back down to the AHL, with Jacques being recalled again. I know many people on the message boards have a major hard-on for Schremp. I have really no allegiance either way. He might develop into an NHL’er and might not. But how can you even give a guy much of a chance with only 3.12 minutes??? You can’t obviously. Don’t call him up if you can’t give him serious playing time. Let him continue his endless development in the AHL.

So the Oil finish their road trip in Calgary tonight. Calgary hasn’t looked all that good this year so far, and are only 2 points ahead of Edmonton. Yes, Mike Keenan has done wonders for this team. I love it. Anyways, Kipper has been struggling and Calgary is beatable. The Oilers stand a chance but they sure need to play better than they did in Phoenix. It was an ugly win. Cogliano and Brodziak were looking good. Keep it up boys!

Prediction: Oilers win 4-2 but a good 4-2 this time!

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Uh-oh, someone has hurt themselves. That beautiful shoulder of Sheldon’s is separated. Oh no. No information on how serious the injury is and how long our excellent powerplay specialist will be out. Wait, he hasn’t improved our PP yet. I should not call him that. Our over-paid and ineffective powerplay quarterback is injured. Is that better? Yes I believe it is. Hopefully, I can call him our kickass PP QB someday but not yet.

So the Oilers will be without SS for the next game against Phoenix. Seriously, this is just what the Oil need. A crappy team to kick the crap out of. Now let’s hope the trend of the Oilers playing like crap themselves discontinues. This team needs to get back on the winning side and this is just the game for them. Also, Schremp is practicing with Hemmer and Cogs on the first line….could this be any more of a gift for Robbie? Time to man-up…..this is the best opportunity you will ever get. Don’t blow it!

Prediction: Oilers 6-1 over Phoenix with the Cogs-Hemmer-Schremp line scoring 5 of the 6 goals. The 6th goal goes to Gagne, his first as an Oiler!

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With the Oilers’ powerplay at an anemic 1 for 25, people are beginning to talk. Dan Barnes from the Edmonton Journal speaks blasphemously or does he??

And you thought it was all Craig Simpson’s fault.

The Oilers’ power play, and isn’t that a classic oxymoron, is fumbling along at a one-for-25 clip through six games. Its sparkling four per cent success rate ranks dead last in the 30-team National Hockey League.

And Simpson is no longer around to sport the goat horns.

So the question is: was Simpson really the problem or not? Now that MacT has ‘taken over’ reins of the powerplay this year, that question is very interesting. I’ve always insisted that MacT had his hands all over the powerplay in the past. How else do you explain Toby Peterson, whom enjoyed some man-love from MacT, on the powerplay?? This year, the powerplay has some new participants but strangely, the powerplay is exactly the same. The same plays, the same strategy…..get it to the point for the one-timer.

So maybe it’s time to let Simpson off the hook a bit? Not completely because he was still the powerplay coach but maybe it’s time to cut him some slack if MacT did in fact hover. One thing: it’s early in the season and no time to panic just yet but the powerplay needs to mix it up. You have some serious players on the PP, why not let them be more creative? Another month of PP stinkage?? Then people can panic.

Update on Ethan Moreau: it is a broken bone in the foot like we’ve all suspected. He’s out for at least another couple weeks.

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