***Update*** I've embedded a slideshow of photos from last night. Many thanks to Avi for taking the shots.

The University of Alberta Golden Bears beat the Oilers rookies tonight by a score of 2-1. It was a mostly uneventful game, bogged down by mediocre play and quite a few penalties. No one was really impressive, but no one was really unimpressive. On the whole, the game was "bleh." Here's my night in beautiful bullets.

• Before the game started, I decided I was going to key in on the following numbers throughout the night: 10, 14, 15, 20, 22, 27. The numbers corresponded to the names Plante, Truhkno, Cogliano, O'Marra, Karamnov, and Peckham. I've now decided I'm going to use those numbers the next time I buy a lottery ticket. If they can help Kevin Lowe win the big prize next year, why can't they work for me?

• Along with a bunch of other kids born after the release of Michael Jackson's Thriller, Sam Gagner, Rob Schremp, Robert Nilsson, Tom Gilbert, Denis Grebeshkov, and Marc Pouliot did not play tonight. It's depressing thinking about how many young players got thrown into the fire last year, and are now "seasoned veterans."





• In a pre-game ceremony, Sam Gagner was honoured for being the MVP of the recent Summit Series between Russia and Canada. The "Master Samwise" nickname is fitting. Gagner is about the size of a Proudfoot. He was wearing shoes, so it is unknown whether his feet are covered in fur, but at least off the ice he comes across as a shy, dimunitive fellow. I like him already, as he seems completely different from any young hockey player I've ever known. That is to say, not a dink.

• It turns out that Alex Plante didn't play, but here's my quick take on the others I watched closely. Andrew Cogliano is Todd Marchant fast, and Andrew Grabia out of shape. He looked exhausted by the end of the 2nd period. Ryan O'Marra ran around hitting everything, took three penalties, and, if he continues to play like that, will either impress the coaches with his effort or find himself out of the NHL faster than you or I can say Louie Debrusk. Given that I didn't see him on the ice for almost the entire third period, I'm going to suggest Kelly Buchberger wasn't too impressed with his antics. Slava Truhkno looked pretty good running the show from the point on a couple of powerplays, but other than that his impact was minor. I can't even say that for Karamnov, a highly touted prospect who did absolutely nothing all night. As for Peckham, he made a couple dashes up-ice, looked okay in his own zone, and that was that.

• At 6:30, Clare Drake Arena was half-full, and I expected a big drop in attendance from last year. Wrong. By 7:00 it was packed. It was so warm in there that by the mid-point of the second period, it started to fog up on the ice. It never got Boston Garden bad, but the fog persisted throughout the remainder of the game.

• At one point during the game, I thought to myself, "hey, we actually have our own farm team this year." This made me smile.

• Pat LaForge and Cal Nichols were both in attendance. They sat six or seven rows behind me, along with every single other person who has ever worked for the Edmonton Oilers. Well, not really, but a whole section of the rink was crammed with people from the organization. Even Craig Simpson was there, wearing a short-sleeved mock turtleneck shirt that was tucked into his slacks. I really should have sat on the other side of the rink and just watched that group all night. It probably would have been more exciting. I know I would have giggled constantly.

• Before the game, Nichols stood in the Zamboni area chatting with Clare Drake. I love Clare Drake, so I liked that. Ryan Smyth was not in the Zamboni area for a single moment of tonight's game. I love Ryan Smyth, so I didn't like that.

• There was a young gentleman wearing a Ladislav Smid jersey at tonight's game. And it wasn't Ladislav Smid. Give that man a medal. Two young gentlemen brought a cardboard "Flames Suck" sign with them to the game, and held it up against the boards all night long. Give those boys a case of beer.

• I didn't hear a single song tonight that was released after the year 2000. My personal favorite was when they played Chicago after the Oilers took a holding penalty. The song was "Hard To Say I'm Sorry", which features the line, "hold me now..." Get it? Heeelarious.

• Here's how the Oilers lined up at regular strength:

Viacheslav Truhkno-Andrew Cogliano-David Rohlfs
Jacob Micflikier-Colin McDonald-Ryan O'Marra
William Quist-Jordan Foreman-Vitaly Karamnov
Milan Kytnar-Geoff Paukovich-Charlie Kronschnabel

Sebastien Bisaillon-Matt Pepe
Ryan McGinnis-Bretton Stamler
Nick Holden-Theo Peckham

If you've never heard of half these guys, don't feel bad. You aren't the only one. Unfortunately, neither coach was playing the matchup game tonight, so I can't give Vic or LT a breakdown on Quality of Opposition or any such thing. No Blender for Bucky, at least not tonight.

• There were five or six puck bunnies who sat behind us tonight, and boy were they entertaining. They called every player by their first name, knew about their injuries, and even talked about Facebooking certain players later on in the evening. The only thing missing was the "squee!" None of them could have been older than 19. A future generation of Overtime Broiler & Taproom patrons is thus guaranteed.

• The highlight of my night? Meeting Bob Stauffer. It was a quick meeting, but he seems like a nice enough fellow. And no, no punches were thrown. Since I now know he reads this site, HI BOB!!!

• Here's more on tonight's game from the Oilers' website and the Edmonton Journal.