Tuesday, May 23, 2006

 

YeahhhhhOhhhhhNooooooo YeeeaahhhhWaitNooooOhhhhYeeeahhhBaby!

WOO HOO!

Now that was a crazy hockey game. Fantastic! I think, Earl, that you can safely stop worrying about the watchability of this series. It had it all - hitting, scoring, fighting . . . That was epic. Epic.

Talk about your range of emotions. Kudos to the Ducks for not hitting the surf after the Oil went up 4-0 -- some of those guys were definitely looking shell-shocked on the bench. When LeGG threw his arms in the air it sounded like an earthquake -- and that was just in my apartment building. I can only imagine what it must have been like in Rexall.

But after that, it was the Oilers turn to start skating around like idiots. Holy cow. I guess we should have expected that the Ducks would wake up at some point -- they were flying out there.

Stevie with a goal (have you seen a guy that excited!). Fernie with another clutch goal. Paul letting the crowd sing 'Oh Canada' -- including a close-up shot of Joey Moss just ripping it out. Wow. Has Peca earned his salary yet?

My gawd, I'm not sure what to say. I have to decompress. That was crazy.

Comments:

Yesss!

Anaheim looked great there in the last 10 minutes, but the Oilers neutral zone coverage also looked like swiss cheese.

Roloson? Peca? WTF, people.
 


In the end, Kevin Lowe is looking like a genius.

That was frightening though.

Jesus.
 


Looking like a genius? I think he is a genius.
 


The aliens apparently finished their season-long experiment with the abducted Peca and returned him to Edmonton just before the playoffs, swapping out the second-rate 'droid that they had replaced him with last September. And somehow they implanted a clone of his heart and brain into that kid from the north side.

unfrickenbeleeeevable
 


Even after tonight Roloson's GAA is 2.01 and his save % is .942

That's crazy.

I think Toby Peterson is a genius, myself.

Looks like a genius.

Oh, he's a genius alright.

I'm giddy.
 


Will never post again. Now the beer shortage will be a real concern.
 


Y'all do realize that that 3rd period was the Hockey Gods saying "Let's not get cocky now..."
 


What the hell was THAT?
 


Hold up there mike w... Neutral zone coverage in the last ten minutes? There was a neutral zone?

Zero support along the boards from the wingers in the latter half of the third. They rarely threatened to get the puck out.

Whew.
 


Pisani is the new John Druce!
 


I said something similar in the other post, but damn, is that what the 80s looked like? Because it sure seems that way, from the stories and highlight reels.
 


I'm glad my DVR worked tonight.. and I got the game on DVD now. Grrr... the last two games... no. Yup, it was a gooder.. from the opening anthem. Talk about Class from Oilers fans - even during the anthems!
 


That game was insane! But man oh man, they managed to pull it off despite looking like they were tired and sick for long stretches of that game. Looks like a short series would be a benifet for the oilers simply for them to win the Oilers verus the Fluee series that is going on in the background.
 


Yup that was some scary shit but in the end the "sick" boys on the bus won another huge game. Kudos to Rollie once again after his players were out of gas. We totally need the rest now.
 


By extension, the 35% or so of Oiler fans who actually defended the Roloson trade have to qualify as geniuses now too, right?
 


Since I'm included in that select group, I'll give a resounding thumbs up to that one too.

You guy(s) that predicted sweep are the ones in truly rarified air.
 


What about those of us who stodd behind Peca all year knowing he would be invaluable in the playoffs? Do we count as geniuses now too?

What an awesome game, I can't wait for game 4, and not just because it will be my first live playoff game this season.

I think Laraque and Fedoruk have a couple more fights in them, that last one didn't seem to do the trick. Who said there's no fighting in hockey anymore?
 


How the hell do I get any work done, now? Why hasn't everything just shut down in this city, like in the World Cup? I can't concentrate. I can't talk about anything else. I'm even dreaming about the Oilers every night. Am I the only one at a total loss as to what to do with themselves?
 


What about those of us who stodd behind Peca all year knowing he would be invaluable in the playoffs? Do we count as geniuses now too?

Definitely.

I also can't help but notice that Fenwick was on the wrong side of all of these equations . . .
 


Fenwick...I seem to remember someone going by that name. Fenwick...Fenwick...
 


Hey, Colby, I always thought the trade was worth it, not least because of the what a first-round pick is likely to yield when the Oilers draft. The guys after Hemsky (the one true gem in a decade) are too young to judge. The guys before him are, going backwards, are Alexei Mikhnov, Jani Rita, Michael Henrich, Michel Riesen, Boyd Devereaux and Steve Kelly. Even in 1994, which netted Smytty, they picked Jason Bonsignore first.
 


Garnet,

I'll let it slide this time, but if you ever mention He Who Must Not Be Named on this site again I'm going to sick Grabia on you faster than you can say Jason Soules
 


The irony is that it was a guy named "The Puck Stops Here" who complained about the Oil giving up a 1st round pick for Rollie.

There are actually about 5 or 6 candidates for "He Who Must Not Be Named" on that list, but I think I know which one you mean, and I agree. But really, the Steve Kelley one hurts the most. The draft was in Edmonton, and the crowd was chanting, "Doan! Doan! Doan!" But no, our geniuses went with Kelley instead. Doan went next to the Jets, and another local boy by the name of Jerome Iginla went in the 11 slot. Thankfully, we took Le GG early in the 2nd Round (31st), which is ridiculously high now that you think about it.

There were actually alot of busts in the 1st round of the 1994 draft.
 


I also can't help but notice that Fenwick was on the wrong side of all of these equations...

That is not correct. I noted, early on and several times over, that Roloson was an upgrade in goal, and I've certainly never defended the value of a 1st-round draft pick (especially, as Garnet notes, in the hands of the Oilers). It was a good trade.

I still think Peca is, roughly speaking, a below-average player, and a bad way to spend millions of dollars, as some (other) team will discover a few months down the road. And unlike anyone else around here, I've been totally consistent about it. But he's having a nice stretch of games, no question (since roughly Game 3 vs. San Jose). This is what I had to say in October:

"...if the Oilers do well this season, and Peca plays decently (i.e. is not visibly detrimental to the team), then no one will care that he was paid $4M, nor should they (we).

But I just wanted to get out front of the copper & blue mob. If the Oilers do well, the idea of signing Peca to an extension at the expense of their other players will seem ludicrous. If they do poorly, then he'll be #1 on the shit list, and again, it'll be so long and good riddance."


Clearly so. I also got a good laugh from Tyler/Vic's note on the G3 postgame: "MacT says that he doesn't think he was all that helpful for Peca the first 40 or 50 games because he didn't know him very well and didn't really understand his game." If he had known then what he knows now, the coaches' meetings in September would have been mighty interesting: "We have to find a way to get Peca lots and lots of breakaways."
 


I don't believe you can classify Peca as a below-average player. Not after all the success he has had in the past. Besides, what is an average player? Besides 9/10ths of the entire Flames roster, I mean.

My view is that Peca plays only as good as he feels he needs to during the season, and he will show up when he wants too, and he has decided to show up in these playoffs. (Either that or his agent told him he better play his heart out if he wants any sort of money next year in his contract with whatever Eastern conference team signs him. prediction: Pittsburgh)

Anyway you slice it, Peca has elevated his game, and the game of those around him, his PK play is unbelievable, and whether or not he's playing for himself, his teammates, the fans, or his contract next year, I'll take it, because it's fun to watch.
 


Now that I think about it, isn't Sac's title on this post Oilers fans season in a nutshell? If someone asked me to describe the past 10 months as an Oilers fan, that would be it right there.
 


>My view is that Peca plays only as good as he feels he needs to during the season, and he will show up when he wants to

To me, this is the mark of an average player. As an Oilers fan, I love the guy in the last 8 games or so, but he's also on his last legs, or at the very least as shuffled well down the downward arc of his career. I'm impressed on what this guy has done on bad knees.

If we (knock on wood) win the damn thing, I'd prefer to make a statue of him in Churchill Square rather than sign him for anything more than $800,000 next season.
 


But I'll take him right now!

We love you, Mike!!!
 


Hey everyone. I'd like to reiterate what Matt n was saying. "Let's not get cocky". Now, I believe Don Cherry is going to bring this up on Thursday. George Laraque's actions after he one punched Fedoruk in the 3rd were the TSN turning point. Raising his arms to get the fans going was questionable, but then laughing in the penalty box was completely foolish. It made my guts rot because I knew the Ducks would rally after that. Anaheim has been sleeping in this series to a degree, but not anymore. Laraque woke them up. Had Pisani not bagged the 5th goal, the Ducks would have tied it and probably won it, and all the focus would be on Laraque's showboating and mocking changing the face of this series.
Anyways, I know I'm a pooper here, but you will see a different Duck team on Thursday, possibly with Giguere in net. And if the Ducks win, the Laraque story will come into play. Hell, even MacT knows it. In his post game interview he said Laraque will NOT do that again. MacT said he felt like a deer staring into headlights after the game.
BUT, kudos to the Oilers for winning it regardless. Pisani is priceless. And i've always been a Peca fan. You Oiler fans ARE a classy bunch. And that was such a damn awesome game to watch on TV here in northern BC. I almost had tears in my eyes when the fans sang Oh Canada.
I just DO NOT feel that Laraque is classy. And any game lost by the Oilers from this point in this series should be blamed in large part on Laraque, who woke up the Ducks.
 


Wow. That's being rather negative. When MacT mentioned deer in the headlights I don't think he was referring to Laraque's actions.

As to players not being classy, sometimes you get caught up in the moment of having someone come at you twice in the same game to take away momentum and do something that you may or may not later regret. The fortunate/unfortunate thing for most of us is it's not being disected by people from around the country. I, personally, found it funny Laraque did it although I doubt he'd do it again. This is a duck team that from the moment they stepped on the ice tried to shake Roloson by running at him, pushing people into him etc. to have him lose focus on his game.

As for "awakening" the ducks, the ducks were soundly awake and going at the Oilers. I don't know what else they can do to win this series save for inviting the Oilers down to Whyte Avenue and shiving them.

As someone who grew up in Northern BC, I've been a lifelong Oilers fan.

Any game lost at this point is going to be Laraque's fault? Doubt it. It takes a team to collapse and the Oilers collapsed a bit in the third that allowed the Ducks to come back. I don't think you'll be seeing them make the same mistake twice.

The Oilers will *knock on wood* close out this series tomorrow and rest up for the winner of Sabres/Hurricanes.
 


Grace, in some ways you missed my point. I won't SOLELY blame Laraque for a loss. There are certain no-no's in hockey tho. And one of them is LAUGHING like Laraque did. Hey you're an Oilers fan....remember the Miracle on Manchester? Yeah, the Oilers were up 5-0 on the Kings in the playoffs, and the Oilers AND Glen Sather were LAUGHING on the bench. The Kings saw this, rallied, and beat the Oilers in OT for the MIRACLE comeback.
To correct myself, MacT felt like a deer looking into headlights because the Ducks came back, which was a by product of Laraque laughing and showboating. MacT said Laraque "would not do that again" after a reporter had asked him about it.
Do you think I'M being negative? Do you think the TSN and Sportsnet guys were being negative when they mentioned this?
I'm not shitting on your parade, but don't assume there will be a sweep either! I'm just pointing out things I noticed, and commenting.
I do agree the Ducks were being hard on Roloson, and it was a bit excessive.
Was the last 12 minutes of period 3 the Oilers losing their defensive touch, or was it the Ducks actually pressing so hard?
Another thing....would the Ducks start Giguere? The last game he played vs Edmonton Ryan Smyth got the best of him by knocking his stick out of his hands, resulting in Giguere taking a LOT of penalties, and getting benched!
Hmmmmm..........
Either way, can't wait till Thursday! If the Ducks win, I'm gonna dedicate my after game entry to YOU, Grace!
 


This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
 


The last game he played vs Edmonton Ryan Smyth got the best of him by knocking his stick out of his hands, resulting in Giguere taking a LOT of penalties, and getting benched!

Quick corrections: That was the 2nd meeting of the year, Giguere played 2 more times vs. the Oil after that.

Also, Giguere did not get benched that game. Carlyle let him finish it out, steam and all.
 


Thanx for the corrections.
But I stand by my point regardless. If the Ducks had won game 3, or win game 4, my theory won't be silly will it?
Is MacT a fool? He basically called Laraque's actions bad timing.
Oiler fans can defend Laraque all they want, but his antics do not really have a place in modern day playoff hockey. Especially considering how superstitious players can be.
Anyways, it's been fun arguing. Enjoy Game 4.
 

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