Monday, June 05, 2006

 

Is it too early to cry?


[UPDATE]: Mac-T just announced that Roloson is out for the rest of the series. This is horrific. Jussi has to be the man, now. Most of the following was written before this tragic news.

Well, that was a kick in the nuts. The Oilers dominated the first two periods, and came out of it with a loss, an injured Roloson, and a backup goaltender who is likely to be burned alive if he comes back to Edmonton. Didn't we waive Conklin? Gawd.

A few other quick hits before I start patching the holes in my drywall:

Overall, it was a pretty entertaining game.

Sadly, this loss ensures that I will not be in Edmonton for the big celebration.


Sigh.

Comments:

Craig MacTavish after the game: "Goalie's not good. Won't be back in the series." You Oiler fans better be hoping he's talking about Conklin.
 


You feel "good" after losing Roloson?

Explain.

(My faint hope is that it's a giant fake out by MacT for Wednesday)
 


Who's the post header referring to? MAB, for smoking the Carolina forward into Roloson?
 


Moreau just was interviewed - he's bloodsoaked - apparently they sacrificed Conklin to the hockey gods.

Or just for fun.

Is Dubnyk available?
 


Ahhhhhh, the both the header and the "feeling good" were written before the Roli news.

gak.
 


God, this is hilarious. Our goaltender is out for the finals, and all the Flames fans come scurrying out of their damp, tear soaked holes to point and laugh.
 


Hey man, I'm not laughing. Losing Roloson sucks.

However, I do note the typical attitude from Oilers fans: lose a key player, all hope is lost, and still bitching about Flames fans.
 


Well I'll remain positive. Even if Markanen and Conklin weren't good enough in the regular season. This opens the door for Markanen to be a hero, so let's give him a chance. I'm more concerned with the fact that the Oils blew a 3 goal lead. That is treacherous. They gotta tighten up the D NOW!
 


I don't care if we need to fly in a medicine man from the remote regions of Tibet somehow we need get Roloson into the net. Regardless of whether we have to lash him to the frame or not. Christ a pylon would have had almost as good an outing as Ty Conklin. We should have waived him rather than Morrison, who at least had flashes of brilliance rather than all suck, all the time.
 


"Worried" does not equal "All hope is lost".

Hey Huck, what are you doing watching hockey anyway? Shouldn't you be enjoying yourself at the Stampede and smelling the Spring flowers?
 


Roloson had a weak game before he went down, I remember thinking "we finally outshoot our opponent, how are we coughing up this lead?".
 


Yeah Chris, Ward was completely outshining Roloson tonight
 


Maybe Don Cherry needs to retire, but if you want, you can still change the channel during the intermission.

You can't do that during the play when Harry Neal and Bob Cole are struggling to keep up with the pace of the play.

I mean, what kind of analogy is "The smell of overtime is approaching, and it's beginning the stink."???? (not an exact Neal quote, but I know it's close)

How can CBC justify not having Jim Hughson calling the shots? It the Cup finals for Chrissake!


Seeing Conklin bungle the puck on the last goal... I could do nothing but laugh my head off at the tragedy.

And, Bergeron should be benched for the rest of the series.
 


Shabbadoo, first of all Don Cherry should retire regardless of if we can change the channel or not, he's terrible.

Jim Hughson isn't on because it is in Don Cole and Harry Neale's contracts that they do the finals.

The Conklin/Smith/Brindamour goal was a bad communication play by Smith and Conklin, one of them should have spoke up.
 


I'll say it right now if everyone else is afraid to:

All hope is offically lost.

Maybe we could beat the Ducks without Rolo...maybe.

But not Carolina.

It...is....over.

PS: Yes Roloson was having a bad game before he was hurt. There shouldn't have been a rebound on the 3-1 goal and the 3-2 goal was garbage. Everyone knew Weight was gonna pass that to Whitney.

At the other end Cam was giving out huge rebounds but he was stopping the next shot. I'd say we were gonna lose this one in OT anyway but I'd have bet a lot of money that Rolo would've bounced back in G2.

Now he won't and neither will the Oilers,
 


Conklin should be deported or alternatively just leave him in the US. I'd sooner see Dubnyk in net than Conky the Clown.
 


It doesn't help that poor Conklin has been riding the pine for months. It must be damned hard to come into the third period of a close game completely cold and out of "game shape".
 


Sacamano

I was actually planning a vacation to Edmonton. Just got to pack some gasoline and empty wine bottles for the big party on Whyte ...
 


Just got to pack some gasoline and empty wine bottles for the big party on Whyte ...

You sure it wouldn't be too intense for you -- afterall, you couldn't even handle the Red Mile, remember.
 


This is borderline delusional: but is their any chance of MacT overstating the severity of Rolosn's injury?

I hate the idea of Carolina winning the Cup based on key injuries to their opponents.

Also: having watched a full season of Oilers hockey, I will stand a street corner and scream about how I think Markkenen is a better goalie than Conklin.
 


Jussi is definitely better. I'm not sure whether that makes me feel good or not.

Carolina has certainly benefited from injuries -- Koivu, the entire Buffalo D, Roli. It is weird.
 


Listen Mike W...you tell me where this street corner is and I'll stand beside you.

I can't remember when it was, ie I know the OT win in Det was somewhere in the middle of it, but Jussi did actually have a pretty good streak going early in the season. It was just one streak but a streak nonetheless.

Ty is Ty.
 


Markkenen gives up rebounds, notably when the Oilers weren't playing well early in the season, whereas Conklin is often caught COMPLETELY out of position.

It's a players' coach's gaffe to alternate the backups in the playoffs.
 


MacTavish has been alternating his backups? Wow.

I was pretty surprised to see it was Conklin who he had on the bench — although now it all makes sense.
 


Crap netminding, outshooting an opponent and yet still losing AND questioning the coach?

Everything old is new again:;)
 


That goal was not Conklin's fault. It is the D-man's responsibility to let the goaltender know where he is. Blame it on Gator, who played an awful game. He must have turned the puck over six or seven times in our own end.

Jussi over Conklin for the remainder of the series. Gut check time is here.
 


All you wound licking cry baby’s can go back to your hole and wait for the Flames to fail yet again. There are no excuses in the Stanley Cup Finals… Steve Smith cried all the way to Calgary where all crybabies belong.

Roli being gone is a major setback, no one will argue that, but it’s only game one. The Oilers have some soul searching to do.

First, Bergeron should be taken behind the barn and beaten like a redheaded step child in a Flames jersey.

Second, the defense needs to rework their game plan and stuff some extra Sears catalogues in their equipment cause they’re going to have to block more shots than a Flames fan on Whyte ave.

Third, not to quote Bob Cole and Harry Neil (Dumb and Dumber), as I said this before they did during the broadcast… Heros are made in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Whoever the coaching staff chooses to put between the pipes better take a quick trip to the crossroads to make a deal with the man downstairs and rise to the occasion.

The rest of the dressing room... well, they can take a good long hard look at the Oilers history book, watch a copy of Boys on the Bus at Charlie Huddy's, and be reminded exactly what it means to wear the copper and blue.

Then we can get ‘er done!

True Oilers fans never make excuses, we don’t need ‘em.

GO OILERS GO!
 


>True Oilers fans never make excuses

Untrue, in a way.

True Oilers fans are worrywarts.

That and we're critical of the team even if they're run by our Glory ponies from the 1980s. The Roloson loss is a huge blow, and it's hard to look past it. But nothing is conceded, except for the fact we're going to be underdogs from now on.

Buffalo almost pulled it off without 4 starting defencemen, so I'm cautiously hopeful, like in every other series so far in the playoffs.
 


>mike w. missed an epic Oil fan moment tonight at Kilgours.

Aaaagh. Even worse was me sitting alone in Pauper's for the final four goals and ten minutes trying to figure out where the Oilers fans were (first clue they had moved on to a bar with a bigger TV: guys at the bar asking "who's the backup? Conklin? I hear he's good."

People had moved on to Kilgour's and I forgot my cell phone. Bad night all around. I want to karate chop a Leafs fan in half.
 


The whole team better take the grenade. Why are we even talking about Roloson? We should be worried about giving up the 3-0 lead.

And how about MacT' poor decision making in taking a time out in the first period with the Oilers up 1-0. Anyone else think it might have been more useful after Carolina's first or second goal? I do.

OR

The fact that the powerplay was utterly predictable and lame?

I'm not actually worried about Jussi playing the rest of the way. He's as good as Ward is. I'm worried about the rest of our play.
 


By the way, is anyone watching the "Hooters Swimsuit Pageant" on Sportsnet? Sure makes the loss easier to take, let me tell you.
 


I'm worried about Jussi.

Um, why? The shot total you gave before that statement doesn't shed any light on your thinking.
 


Seriously, this "pageant" is awesome.
 


>Seriously, this "pageant" is awesome.

I can't find it.

There's WWE chick wrestling on TSN though, although I'm not THAT drunk.
 


Predictions for Game 2 fellas?
 


Why are the Toronto-based guys the only ones left? Sigh...
 


Game 2? A magnificent, improbable split.

Believing anything else would be too depressing.

And I'm as worried about Jussi as the next guy, but he's no worse than Ward.

The bigger worry is how the Oiler D play in front of him: like emotional cripples.
 


Was stuck at the newsroom tonight. Something about a World Cup package or something.
 


I can't find it.

It was on Sportsnet, on "The Best Damn Sports Show Period." It is over now, at least in Edmonton. Look for a repeat. It will BLOW your mind.

The silence from Edmonton on here is the same silence permeating the city. But never fear! I am here, and I will talk Oilers all night long. Cosh must be really sick, or completely destitute. I'm just mad I didn't drink tonight. I could use the deep slumber after this nightmare.
 


Listen up Ty:)

I'm not saying the Canes are the '77 Habs...but we're not the '98 Wings either so we aren't gonna get by with Osgood netminding;) That's just me thinking back to how many bad goals he let in that year, ie maybe he wound up being good I dunno.

I'm just saying that looking at tonight with us outshooting the opp and yet losing the game because we lost the netminding battle...it just opened up some old wounds.

One thing I did see tonight is that the Canes D are gonna turn the puck over like crazy when guys like 34 and 14 get on them. And we're gonna probably pop at least 3 goals a game. And we're gonna outshot them like you predicted and it's gonna really fall out of whack at Rexall.

But how bad do you think Jussi will be? He's a guy that hasn't been good for the vast majority of the season AND he's ice cold. I know you don't wanna give up and neither do I but you gotta be realistic here
 


Lemme know when the next shindig is though... we'll see what can be done about making it.
 


Kevin Lowe's post-game with Gord Miller made me feel much better. Much better. His confidence inspired me.
 


mudcrutch: Not sure if it was due to an injury but Moog stepped in for Fuhr in the '84 finals after game 1 or 2 to finish off the Islanders in 5 games. The question is... do we have a potential Moog on the bench? MacT also made reference to Casey who stepped in for Fuhr in St. Louis (1996), but the Blues only won that series, not the cup!

It would appear that BoA wants Jussi, I'd agree. In his post game remarks Jussi looked like he wanted it too. Here's some food for thought:

In 83/84 Moog played 38 games with a 3.77 GAA and a .882 Sv%. In 05/06 Jussi played 37 games with a 3.13 GAA and a .880 Sv%.

I know, I know, different NHL, different game... but humour me and humour the comparison.

Bring home what's ours boys!
 


Apparently Raleigh's finest arrested a DJ from Joe FM for throwing Alberta Beef on the ice tonight. If only Carolinians had shown the same wise judgement when it came to voting for Jessie Helms.
 


Speaking of Grant Fuhr, I bet we could put him in a wheel chair, roll it out onto the ice park him in front of the net and he's still be a vast improvement over Ty Conklin.
 


"Second, the defense needs to rework their game plan and stuff some extra Sears catalogues in their equipment cause they’re going to have to block more shots than a Flames fan on Whyte ave."

That made me laugh out loud, despite my mood.
 


Man alive this site is a like a memorial for the Oilers and it's only game one.

Suck it up princesses, there needs to be four wins to get the Stanley Cup.

First of all, I think it was too early to predict Roli out for the entire series. Maybe MacT is blowing smoke, this is the finals after all, not round 1, to throw the Canes off the game. One can hope. Remember that line from Shawshank Redemption?

As for the game itself, the 5th goal was a nail in the coffin of tonight's game only, not the series.

This Oilers team got lax in the game and sat back on a lead, much like they did against Anaheim (?)but hung on to win that one. You will not see them make the same mistake again.

This team has come too far, has been the underdog the whole playoff run. The fact that everyone was predicting them to win this thing now was the most troubling. Now we're back to being the underdog. We'll win. Mirtle just has to change his prediction to Canes in 6 to guarantee us victory.

You'll see more Oilers going down blocking shots back when I could have been a better goaltender for them. You'll see more defensive plays, the D tightening up, and they'll do a better job protecting a lead. MAB has to make amends so he's going to step up his game.

All is not lost. In fact, I think things just got better. All of the non-believers have jumped off the band wagon that was far too overcrowded and NOW maybe I can finally get tickets to a game without having to sell one of my sister's kids.

Go Oilers Go!!!
 


Mirtle, my prediction for game 2 is 5-2 Edmonton. Goals by Moreau, Smyth, Hemsky, Dvorak, Pisani.

I'd like the game winning goal to go in off of brind'amour's nose.
 


Apparently Raleigh's finest arrested a DJ from Joe FM for throwing Alberta Beef on the ice tonight. If only Carolinians had shown the same wise judgement when it came to voting for Jessie Helms.

The Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and immediate environs) voted against Helms every time he ran for election/re-election. It was all the terbacky farmers out in the sticks and the self-righteous assbaguettes in the Theocratic Republic of Charlotte-Mecklenburg that kept him in office all those years.

Believe me, not all of us down here liked the guy.
 


grace - right on!

it wasn't over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbour? right? RIGHT?????

Now who's with me?
 


Any Flames fans here to talk shit to Oilers fans about Roloson's injury can fuck right off. The vast majority of the Oil flavoured commenters here were here all year while the Oilers tried and failed to catch the Flames. Shit was talked to us then-I won't hear it when my team's in the Cup Finals and you guys celebrated your first round loss. I don't know a damned thing about Rob Huck, other than the fact that his hockey posts are laughably light on correct hockey facts but I'm amazed to learn that people other than 15 year olds decide to post at a blog for the first time in months following a devastating setback for the Oil.

Hey mudcrutch, why would anyone stick aroud while receiving such pleasant commentary from Oil fans such as yourself?
 


I hate the idea of Carolina winning the Cup based on key injuries to their opponents.

Well, that's pretty much how they beat the Habs and the Sabres.
 


Greatest. Cup Final Game. Ever.

Except maybe for Game 5 in '04.

I remember cheering for game winning goals before, but I can't remember ever cheering and laughing at the same time.

I expect the Oil might win game 2 on pluck and heart, but you might as well call the engravers now, this series is over.
 


What Grace said. The Oiler's don't need to play a season with this goaltending - they just need to win four of six games. They can do that, even with the iffy goaltending provided by Conkannen. And if either of those two decide to provide, say, a streak of average goaltending - like they have in the past - then we're okay. The Oil need to gut this out, out-hit, out-hustle and out-block this Carolina team. It's only four-six more games. They can do it.
 


"The Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and immediate environs) voted against Helms every time he ran for election/re-election. It was all the terbacky farmers out in the sticks and the self-righteous assbaguettes in the Theocratic Republic of Charlotte-Mecklenburg that kept him in office all those years.

Believe me, not all of us down here liked the guy."

Riiiiight. That's why you cheer for a team who's uniforms look like the Nazi flag. Whatever.
 


Remember that five-game winning streak we had in December, where we scored 26 goals? That's how we need to play to win. With the amount of chances the Carolina D gave up, we could probably still outscore them. We'd simply have to pump in at least five to compensate for the Conkkanen Effect.
 


Doesn't mudcrutch actually sound like he was crying when he posted tht comment?
 


Stop it! Stop this thread at once!

Littlefury has managed to Godwin the threat.

How, in God's name, does a hockey thread reduce to insinuating the other team's fans are Nazi supporters?

Much too silly.
 


Oops... threat should be thread.
 


I don't know how anyone can say the Oilers sat back with a 3-0 lead. The 3-1 goal came off a rush because Smith joined a rush that was already 2-on-1 with 94-10. And the 3-2 goal happened because Horc pinched down the sideboards and the Canes went back 3-on-2.

The Oilers didn't sit back at all. What happened was Rolo let in a couple of shit goals, the PK sagged a little and then Ty showed up again.

But sitting back?

That had nothing to do with it.
 


it wasn't over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbour? right? RIGHT?????

Wrong. The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour.

Goilers!!!
 


I guess Biff hasn't seen Animal House. Thanks anyway for the history lesson, Biff.
 


"Stop it! Stop this thread at once!

Littlefury has managed to Godwin the threat.

How, in God's name, does a hockey thread reduce to insinuating the other team's fans are Nazi supporters?"

It's a joke, dude. Well, mostly: the Carolinas' record on civil rights is nothing to write home about. But that's got nothing to do with hockey, so I'll leave this one to the Flames triumphalists and their schadenfreude. Fore!
 


Dennis is right - wasn't sitting back that did them in - looked suspiciously like G4 vs the Ducks - the Oilers decided to play some old Oilers' hockey and try and run and gun. If Commodore doesn't break up that 2 on 1 or Smytty buries one of those chances at the end of the second then maybe, maybe its over.

But so it goes. Suddenly all kinds of odd man rushes and pfffft ...
 


"This Oilers team got lax in the game and sat back on a lead, much like they did against Anaheim (?)but hung on to win that one. You will not see them make the same mistake again."

Yeah yeah, heard that one before. No excuses for blowing a 3 goal lead.

"The fact that the powerplay was utterly predictable and lame?

I'm not actually worried about Jussi playing the rest of the way. He's as good as Ward is. I'm worried about the rest of our play."

I completely agree. The Oils need some adjustments esp. on the PP. They need to play more like Buffalo actually, and tighten up on defence. Because the Canes are going to get a lot more chances than they did in game 1.
 


To be fair, we had a hockey team in Edmonton who used to wear Swastikas on their jerseys, so...
 


I don't know why Rob Huck is here giving us a hard time. I'd have thought he'd be cheering for the Oilers. After all, a playoff run is too exhausting for anyone but drunkass teenagers.

Or is Rob just a good guy who wants Oiler fans to be well-rested with lots of spending money??

You got your wish Rob with your team, now fuck off and let us try to get ours.

Ian
 


How's he giving us a hard time? Matt is the one giving us a hard time, or trying to. I've got enough in me to celebrate, if our Oilers can win without Rolie, but maybe not down on Whyte ave, heh heh.

Zack M
 


The period of games in December where the Oilers were winning AND/OR when Jussi was in the nets (despite having to pull goalies) were one because:

- we were getting scoring from all lines (like we have been in these playoffs)

If we play really strong defensively, and play a strong responsible forecheck i.e:
- no Jason Smith pinching to result in Carolina goal #1
- no Moreau x-checking in the offensive zone to result in Carolina goal #2
- no Staios weakly turning towards the boards and trying to keep the puck in on the PP to lead to Carolina goal #4

Remember, we had a fair (not great record) prior to Rollie. All we need to be is 4-2 over the next six.

Go Oilers Go!
 


That Swastika's women team freaked the hell out of me. God that must have been an intimdating team to go up against eh? Some scary biotches for sure.

GOILERS!!!
 


Longest thread in BoA history? I think so. Here's hoping for another game with something to get excited about on Wednesday.
 

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