Tea Leaves

"The Oilers will avoid making the mistake all bad teams make, panicking, and refuse to rush into any bad decisions. They won't fire their coach and bring in a grizzled retiree who pontificates non-stop about "heart" and "soul." They won't waste months chasing the sniper who has absolutely no desire to live and play in a northern Canadian city. They won't bid against themselves and overpay for an ancient goalie coming off of a career year. And they won't sign a pint-sized centre whose greatest hockey achievement is that he was once asked by a general manager to pay back a large chunk of his contract.

No, the Oilers will avoid all of these things, instead focus on reasonably priced depth, acquiring someone who can actually win a faceoff, and making their current stadium a provincial heritage site, and remain a shining star in the NHL firmament.

4th in the Northwest, 12th in the West."

My prediction on the Oilers season, via In The Box. If you were looking for optimism or smoke up your a@%, you've come to the wrong place. Try the Journal instead.

The Flames and Canucks roll tonight. I hope both teams spontaneously combust. The Oil hit the ground running on Saturday, on Hockey Night in Canada, in the first BoA tilt of the season. It's go-time, folks.

GOILERS.