Monday, February 04, 2008
Battle of Alberta Game Day
In the 2-1/2 season existence of this site, never have I had less enthusiasm for pimping a Flames-Oilers game (7PM MT, RSN West).
*Thanks to the ongoing cold, snotty kids, or who knows, I seem to have contracted some disease that has sapped my ability to care about anything except survival.
**Today the Oilers lost their best player to shoulder surgery for the remainder of the season.
***The Flames are facing one of those must-win/no-win weeks. @EDM, then home to PHX, CHI, and EDM. Anything short of 6 points in those 4 games will have to be considered a major step backwards, because the remainder of the February sked is pretty uninviting (road trip through the entire Silicone Tits Division, followed by vDET, @MIN, vCOL, @ANA).
Reasons to Watch:
*Thanks to the ongoing cold, snotty kids, or who knows, I seem to have contracted some disease that has sapped my ability to care about anything except survival.
**Today the Oilers lost their best player to shoulder surgery for the remainder of the season.
***The Flames are facing one of those must-win/no-win weeks. @EDM, then home to PHX, CHI, and EDM. Anything short of 6 points in those 4 games will have to be considered a major step backwards, because the remainder of the February sked is pretty uninviting (road trip through the entire Silicone Tits Division, followed by vDET, @MIN, vCOL, @ANA).
Reasons to Watch:
- CuJo's first start as a Flame
- What centreman does MacT consider to be Pensky material?
- Iginla is due to bust out
- Matt Greene's signature "reverse the puck to no one" is always worth a chuckle
- Phaneuf always seems to play great against the Oil
- If the result is anything but a narrow Flames win, the post-game comments from the losing coach are bound to be entertaining
# posted by Matt @ 1:53 pm 
Comments:
I'm pretty much out of things to say about the Oilers. What a debacle. One of the very, very, very few bright spots about this team, gone. As far as I'm concerned, the interesting question is this: can the Oilers average 2 GPG from here on out? My money is on "no".
I'm trying very hard to find sympathy for the team's management and I'm not having a lot of success.
Well...I'm inclined to agree with the synopsis. Unless Garon can become the spitting image of Patrick Roy, this team has "Lottery Pick" written in Sharpie 70,371 times across their collective bodies.
If anyone other than Gagner or Cogliano gets the Pensky line, my television will suffer a painful death today from a beer bottle. I don't care how big a hardon MacT has for Marty Reasoner, he is NOT Toby Petersen!!!
Oilers' site says Gagner will play with Stoll & Glencross. It's at least even money that Reasoner starts off centring Pensky. May I suggest buying your beer in cans, just for tonight?
can the Oilers average 2 GPG from here on out? My money is on "no".
Does that still leave me with room to back "Oh FUCK no" against your mere "no"?
Word is Stortini will be centering the Pensky line.
Instant offense, baby!
Look on the bright side Oilers fans: at least you'll end up with a pretty high draft pick in the sum...
Oh. Oh right. Err...nevermind.
Word is Stortini will be centering the Pensky line.
I think that Costanza is more likely to be Pensky material. At least this will give MacT further opportunity to praise Storts' positioning.
oilers sans horcoff? how can the flames not win this one...oh right, they are in a middle of a losing streak. as a flames fan and for the sake of my blood pressure, i hope they can pull of a win. go flames!
My mood will probably change as soon as the Flames start putting the boots to us, but it's still somewhat of a good day because Simmons had to fuck the Fuck You Super Bowl.
And I loved how he mentioned Brady shaking Pat O'Brien's hand all in the same column where he talks about pleasuring himself to the possible scene of Brady soaking his ankle while sipping champagne.
So, for that at least, I'm grateful.
As for Horc, would someone for the love of God look into what's happen with the Oilers and their training regiment. Are they doing the right things off the ice and/or in the training room once a guy gets hurt?
It's two fucking years of this bullshit, hard to just keep chaulking it up to bad luck.
Dennis may have something here.
How many of these guys worked their asses off in Cali this year with Chad Moreau? Off the top of my head, Moreau, Horcoff, Torres, probably Stoll also. All have missed significant time this year, maybe because they over-trained in the offseason.
Back to the smokes, booze and golf summers then hey?
Matt- you don't make this any easier for an Oilers fan with the Friday baseball standings just below this post. Ugh!
@ Dennis. Here's your proof: http://oilers.nhl.com/team/moreau_chad.htm
The brother of Oilers forward Ethan Moreau, Chad has developed the off-season conditioning program that is followed by the Edmonton players. During the past several off-seasons a group of Oilers players have spent the summer in southern California training under Moreau’s supervision.
Two years in a row they've trained in Cali under Moreau, two years in a row we've been devastated with injuries. Very intersting.
What were the Oilers doing in the summer before the SC run? No more of this Mad Man Moreau training!
Off to the game tonight. At this point I just want some good fights.
Our best player is injured? Damn is Hemsky out too?
Anyways, please don't put Reasoner on the top line. He was dreadful against Dallas.
Anyways, please don't put Reasoner on the top line. He was dreadful against Dallas.
MacT's words (paraphrasing)
"Reasoner was exceptional in all facets of the game in Dallas"
+
"If Reasoner had a little more speed he would be Joe Sakic?"
I wonder if there's a correlation between bad teams and players getting injured more frequently.
More blocked shots, more defence, and more running around in your zone...
Have you guys checked out Vancouvers injury situation. The radio is reporting that Bieksa, Salo, Ohlund, Mitchell,Krajichek and Miller are all out for at least the next game. There starting six all gone! I mean WOW. There has to be some correlation with the training and preparation. I've never heard of so many groin pulls, shoulders and hip flexors as have over the last few years. Its a problem everywhere...
Sweet Jesus.
San Fernando has awakened. The Patron Saint of Lost Causes.
Of which this is one.
Oilers. Are. Going. All. The. Way.
Picking 30th overall, from the Anaheim Ducks ....
All. The. Way.
Blind Behind The Back Pass after coming out of the box after serving an elbowing penalty to Moreau - Sanderson's signature move.
Wow. I think the Flames figured they would just have to show up to win this one. They look like garbage.
Kudo to the Oliers for doing a lot with a little in the first.
My guess - the Flames saw that Horcoff was out and started drinking. They figured why the fuck not.
No other explanation.
If not on that play, Phaneuf deserved the Moreau shot for just being a dick in general...
he always looked pissed off when opposing players won't let him hide behind the refs.
Or maybe it was payback for Phaneuf trying to fight Gagner earlier in the season when Moreau was on the shelf?
But probably not. I'm sure its just cause he's a pr*ck.
All. The. Way.
Gagner.
Actually that was my nickname back in high school.
All The Way Gagner.
They loved me, they really did.
Thanks for the big rebound, Cujo!
Remember that he had a .893 SVP the last time he was in the NHL. Oh that's right, he also played really well in 5 GP at the Spengler Cup. Nevermind.
:D
Man, this is pretty dismal... the only thing to look forward to in the 3rd is when Phaneuf takes a run at Moreau, elbows him in the jaw, then drops the gloves and starts flailing. (*crossing fingers*)
This is the worst game since the Phoenix debacle back in early Januray. In fact, the Flames have played poorly against sub play-off teams this entire new year so far.
Man, this is pretty dismal... the only thing to look forward to in the 3rd is when Phaneuf takes a run at Moreau, elbows him in the jaw, then drops the gloves and starts flailing. (*crossing fingers*)
replace moreau with gagner or maybe even the 10 year old kid sitting in the front row with an oilers jersey on and you may get your wish. only if there is a ref to skate behind in the event that either kid gets up from the cheap shot.
My favourite part of the game so far was when Phaneuf went to mug Stortini, and then quickly realized exactly who he was trying to start something with, and then got the hell out of there as fast as he could :)
My favourite part of the game so far was when Phaneuf went to mug Stortini, and then quickly realized exactly who he was trying to start something with, and then got the hell out of there as fast as he could :)
I doubt anyone is frightened of Huggy Bear.
I doubt anyone is frightened of Huggy Bear.
I dunno, that's the second time I've seen Phaneuf go yellow with Storini on the ice.
Fucking Oilers. I think anything but a blowout Oilers' win would have let all of us cease paying attention for the rest of the year. So what do they do? Win in a blowout.
Assholes.
(Truth be told, I would have kept paying attention anyway. If the Oilers are ever going to contend in the foreseeable future, several of the players currently on the team are going to be big parts of it. But I did say "if".)
Seriously. There's no frickin' way you could have seen this coming. Pretty much like anybody else, I figured these guys were fucked. And then they go and turn in a really gritty, tough performance.
I gotta feel for MacT sometimes. How in the fuck can he possibly know which team is gonna show up? Can any of you guys explain this???
I don't know what hurts more: the fact that the Oilers, when/if they put their heart into it, can create a 5-0 blowout, or the fact that you know they can't keep this up.
Winning 5-0 is only going make their fall even more dramatic. Sigh.
Just thought I'd let it be known that no televisions were harmed watching tonight's game. That is all.
Surprised that the Oilers could beat the defending Cup champions in such a manner.
Also surprised that Dion turned away from Stortini.
Wait, nothing I just typed made any sense..
To close, can't think of a BOA where Dion had less of an impact. Not sure if Moreau put a little fright in him but I know he looked half-timid afterwards and almost tore off his blades trying to skate away from Stortini.
I happened to be at SkyRex tonight and I knew it was all over the Flames the minute I saw some dude wearing an Oliwa jersey.
That was some ugly, ugly shit.
To close, can't think of a BOA where Dion had less of an impact. Not sure if Moreau put a little fright in him but I know he looked half-timid afterwards and almost tore off his blades trying to skate away from Stortini.
I don't know why anyone would run away from Stortini, the guy is useless in a fight. He got worked by Sarich for fuck's sake.
Hey, I'm not saying that people Should walk away from 46 in a fight, for instance Dion could use the "my team needs me on the ice excuse and yours doesn't" and lots of people would agree with him.
But, TBS, Dion likes to skate away when trouble starts.
Stortini... yeah... there's absolutely no question that two too many Flames D-men got involved with him, not one too few. The single dumbest play of that game was Regehr dropping them for snuggles at the 2nd period puck drop. Earth to Flames players: Stortini is fucking inconsequential unless you treat him otherwise.
Phaneuf had no choice when he was jumped by Moreau (anyone else thinking "Danny Markov" at that moment?), but he showed more brains than his teammates in simply knocking Stortini over about a dozen times, rather than fighting* him.
*I think a new word needs to be coined for whatever it is that Stortini does
"I think a new word needs to be coined for whatever it is that Stortini does"
How about a catchphrase?
Have you Zacked you kids today?
Stortini:
TOI - 12:00, PIM - 12:00.
heck of a box score there, buddy!
Godard:
TOI - 1:32, PiM - 27:00
Is that a box score, or a boxing score?
Godard managed to post a -1 (the GWGA) in those 92 seconds, with 2 more Oiler powerplay goals a direct result of his 7-minute penalty for fighting with ... who, exactly?
And don't forget this one:
Stortini's Team 5, Godard's Team 0
i don't think stort's box score does him justice. he also managed to keep regehr and sarich off the ice for 5 minutes a piece.
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I'm pretty much out of things to say about the Oilers. What a debacle. One of the very, very, very few bright spots about this team, gone. As far as I'm concerned, the interesting question is this: can the Oilers average 2 GPG from here on out? My money is on "no".
I'm trying very hard to find sympathy for the team's management and I'm not having a lot of success.
# posted by 
: February 04, 2008 2:06 pm
: February 04, 2008 2:06 pm Well...I'm inclined to agree with the synopsis. Unless Garon can become the spitting image of Patrick Roy, this team has "Lottery Pick" written in Sharpie 70,371 times across their collective bodies.
If anyone other than Gagner or Cogliano gets the Pensky line, my television will suffer a painful death today from a beer bottle. I don't care how big a hardon MacT has for Marty Reasoner, he is NOT Toby Petersen!!!
Oilers' site says Gagner will play with Stoll & Glencross. It's at least even money that Reasoner starts off centring Pensky. May I suggest buying your beer in cans, just for tonight?
can the Oilers average 2 GPG from here on out? My money is on "no".
Does that still leave me with room to back "Oh FUCK no" against your mere "no"?
Word is Stortini will be centering the Pensky line.
Instant offense, baby!
# posted by : February 04, 2008 2:48 pm
: February 04, 2008 2:48 pm Look on the bright side Oilers fans: at least you'll end up with a pretty high draft pick in the sum...
Oh. Oh right. Err...nevermind.
Word is Stortini will be centering the Pensky line.
I think that Costanza is more likely to be Pensky material. At least this will give MacT further opportunity to praise Storts' positioning.
# posted by : February 04, 2008 2:52 pm
: February 04, 2008 2:52 pm oilers sans horcoff? how can the flames not win this one...oh right, they are in a middle of a losing streak. as a flames fan and for the sake of my blood pressure, i hope they can pull of a win. go flames!
My mood will probably change as soon as the Flames start putting the boots to us, but it's still somewhat of a good day because Simmons had to fuck the Fuck You Super Bowl.
And I loved how he mentioned Brady shaking Pat O'Brien's hand all in the same column where he talks about pleasuring himself to the possible scene of Brady soaking his ankle while sipping champagne.
So, for that at least, I'm grateful.
As for Horc, would someone for the love of God look into what's happen with the Oilers and their training regiment. Are they doing the right things off the ice and/or in the training room once a guy gets hurt?
It's two fucking years of this bullshit, hard to just keep chaulking it up to bad luck.
Dennis may have something here.
How many of these guys worked their asses off in Cali this year with Chad Moreau? Off the top of my head, Moreau, Horcoff, Torres, probably Stoll also. All have missed significant time this year, maybe because they over-trained in the offseason.
Back to the smokes, booze and golf summers then hey?
Matt- you don't make this any easier for an Oilers fan with the Friday baseball standings just below this post. Ugh!
# posted by : February 04, 2008 3:40 pm
: February 04, 2008 3:40 pm @ Dennis. Here's your proof: http://oilers.nhl.com/team/moreau_chad.htm
The brother of Oilers forward Ethan Moreau, Chad has developed the off-season conditioning program that is followed by the Edmonton players. During the past several off-seasons a group of Oilers players have spent the summer in southern California training under Moreau’s supervision.
Two years in a row they've trained in Cali under Moreau, two years in a row we've been devastated with injuries. Very intersting.
What were the Oilers doing in the summer before the SC run? No more of this Mad Man Moreau training!
Off to the game tonight. At this point I just want some good fights.
# posted by : February 04, 2008 4:22 pm
: February 04, 2008 4:22 pm Our best player is injured? Damn is Hemsky out too?
Anyways, please don't put Reasoner on the top line. He was dreadful against Dallas.
Anyways, please don't put Reasoner on the top line. He was dreadful against Dallas.
MacT's words (paraphrasing)
"Reasoner was exceptional in all facets of the game in Dallas"
+
"If Reasoner had a little more speed he would be Joe Sakic?"
I wonder if there's a correlation between bad teams and players getting injured more frequently.
More blocked shots, more defence, and more running around in your zone...
Have you guys checked out Vancouvers injury situation. The radio is reporting that Bieksa, Salo, Ohlund, Mitchell,Krajichek and Miller are all out for at least the next game. There starting six all gone! I mean WOW. There has to be some correlation with the training and preparation. I've never heard of so many groin pulls, shoulders and hip flexors as have over the last few years. Its a problem everywhere...
# posted by : February 04, 2008 6:40 pm
: February 04, 2008 6:40 pm Sweet Jesus.
San Fernando has awakened. The Patron Saint of Lost Causes.
Of which this is one.
Oilers. Are. Going. All. The. Way.
Picking 30th overall, from the Anaheim Ducks ....
All. The. Way.
Blind Behind The Back Pass after coming out of the box after serving an elbowing penalty to Moreau - Sanderson's signature move.
Wow. I think the Flames figured they would just have to show up to win this one. They look like garbage.
Kudo to the Oliers for doing a lot with a little in the first.
My guess - the Flames saw that Horcoff was out and started drinking. They figured why the fuck not.
No other explanation.
If not on that play, Phaneuf deserved the Moreau shot for just being a dick in general...
he always looked pissed off when opposing players won't let him hide behind the refs.
Or maybe it was payback for Phaneuf trying to fight Gagner earlier in the season when Moreau was on the shelf?
But probably not. I'm sure its just cause he's a pr*ck.
# posted by : February 04, 2008 7:53 pm
: February 04, 2008 7:53 pm All. The. Way.
Gagner.
Actually that was my nickname back in high school.
All The Way Gagner.
They loved me, they really did.
Thanks for the big rebound, Cujo!
Remember that he had a .893 SVP the last time he was in the NHL. Oh that's right, he also played really well in 5 GP at the Spengler Cup. Nevermind.
:D
Man, this is pretty dismal... the only thing to look forward to in the 3rd is when Phaneuf takes a run at Moreau, elbows him in the jaw, then drops the gloves and starts flailing. (*crossing fingers*)
This is the worst game since the Phoenix debacle back in early Januray. In fact, the Flames have played poorly against sub play-off teams this entire new year so far.
Man, this is pretty dismal... the only thing to look forward to in the 3rd is when Phaneuf takes a run at Moreau, elbows him in the jaw, then drops the gloves and starts flailing. (*crossing fingers*)
replace moreau with gagner or maybe even the 10 year old kid sitting in the front row with an oilers jersey on and you may get your wish. only if there is a ref to skate behind in the event that either kid gets up from the cheap shot.
My favourite part of the game so far was when Phaneuf went to mug Stortini, and then quickly realized exactly who he was trying to start something with, and then got the hell out of there as fast as he could :)
# posted by : February 04, 2008 9:14 pm
: February 04, 2008 9:14 pm My favourite part of the game so far was when Phaneuf went to mug Stortini, and then quickly realized exactly who he was trying to start something with, and then got the hell out of there as fast as he could :)
I doubt anyone is frightened of Huggy Bear.
I doubt anyone is frightened of Huggy Bear.
I dunno, that's the second time I've seen Phaneuf go yellow with Storini on the ice.
# posted by : February 04, 2008 9:21 pm
: February 04, 2008 9:21 pm Fucking Oilers. I think anything but a blowout Oilers' win would have let all of us cease paying attention for the rest of the year. So what do they do? Win in a blowout.
Assholes.
(Truth be told, I would have kept paying attention anyway. If the Oilers are ever going to contend in the foreseeable future, several of the players currently on the team are going to be big parts of it. But I did say "if".)
Seriously. There's no frickin' way you could have seen this coming. Pretty much like anybody else, I figured these guys were fucked. And then they go and turn in a really gritty, tough performance.
I gotta feel for MacT sometimes. How in the fuck can he possibly know which team is gonna show up? Can any of you guys explain this???
# posted by : February 04, 2008 9:42 pm
: February 04, 2008 9:42 pm I don't know what hurts more: the fact that the Oilers, when/if they put their heart into it, can create a 5-0 blowout, or the fact that you know they can't keep this up.
Winning 5-0 is only going make their fall even more dramatic. Sigh.
Just thought I'd let it be known that no televisions were harmed watching tonight's game. That is all.
Surprised that the Oilers could beat the defending Cup champions in such a manner.
Also surprised that Dion turned away from Stortini.
Wait, nothing I just typed made any sense..
To close, can't think of a BOA where Dion had less of an impact. Not sure if Moreau put a little fright in him but I know he looked half-timid afterwards and almost tore off his blades trying to skate away from Stortini.
I happened to be at SkyRex tonight and I knew it was all over the Flames the minute I saw some dude wearing an Oliwa jersey.
That was some ugly, ugly shit.
To close, can't think of a BOA where Dion had less of an impact. Not sure if Moreau put a little fright in him but I know he looked half-timid afterwards and almost tore off his blades trying to skate away from Stortini.
I don't know why anyone would run away from Stortini, the guy is useless in a fight. He got worked by Sarich for fuck's sake.
Hey, I'm not saying that people Should walk away from 46 in a fight, for instance Dion could use the "my team needs me on the ice excuse and yours doesn't" and lots of people would agree with him.
But, TBS, Dion likes to skate away when trouble starts.
Stortini... yeah... there's absolutely no question that two too many Flames D-men got involved with him, not one too few. The single dumbest play of that game was Regehr dropping them for snuggles at the 2nd period puck drop. Earth to Flames players: Stortini is fucking inconsequential unless you treat him otherwise.
Phaneuf had no choice when he was jumped by Moreau (anyone else thinking "Danny Markov" at that moment?), but he showed more brains than his teammates in simply knocking Stortini over about a dozen times, rather than fighting* him.
*I think a new word needs to be coined for whatever it is that Stortini does
"I think a new word needs to be coined for whatever it is that Stortini does"
How about a catchphrase?
Have you Zacked you kids today?
Stortini:
TOI - 12:00, PIM - 12:00.
heck of a box score there, buddy!
Godard:
TOI - 1:32, PiM - 27:00
Is that a box score, or a boxing score?
Godard managed to post a -1 (the GWGA) in those 92 seconds, with 2 more Oiler powerplay goals a direct result of his 7-minute penalty for fighting with ... who, exactly?
And don't forget this one:
Stortini's Team 5, Godard's Team 0
i don't think stort's box score does him justice. he also managed to keep regehr and sarich off the ice for 5 minutes a piece.
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