1st goals, whiny Anson Carter, playing spoiler, more injuries, Flames getting scared, team autograph session.

Haven't posted in a few days, so I am cramming it all into one!

Smid and Pouliot play some soccer in the hallway prior to the game in Columbus.

1st up, congrats to Smid for scoring his 1st NHL goal Thursday night in Columbus.
Great pass from Torres after he made a beautiful move on Ron Hainsey.
Great game by all the boys, especially Horcoff with his 1st 2 goal game of the season, in a 4-0 win over the Blue Jackets. A much needed win over a non-playoff team.
Again, another game another injury, Gilbert left after a stick in the face and did not play on Friday. He is added to the growing list of Oilers on the IR with a concussion. Ugh.



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Anson Carter of the BJ's was whining in the Columbus papers a few days before, the Friday Edm Sun did an article about him as well. Ken Hitchcock, the Blue Jackets coach, did not have nice things to say about him.

"When you see players at this time of year that say 'I don't have the focus' or 'The coach isn't playing me because he might deal me', that's a very weak excuse," said Hitchcock. "That's a player just allowing himself to get pushed out of the role that he's in. I get a kick out of that, I really do. If you stop and think about it, if you were a player in the last year of your contract, why wouldn't you try to make an impression in the city in which you live?"

Carter was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for a 5th round draft pick on Friday.
Obviously it was just to get rid of him, because a 5th round pick ain't much.

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Oilers win a in SHOOT-OUT! Yes, you heard correctly; Oilers won in a SHOOT-OUT!




What is with the Oilers and shoot-outs against Detroit?
Earlier this season the Oilers beat the Red Wings in Edmonton in a long sudden-death shoot-out. That was their only shoot-out win of the season, until last night.
Props to Hasek for being a douchebag and biting on Pouliot's fake, which resulted in Marty Reasoner's (easy) game tying goal into an empty net. Glad to see Reasoner score again after a long drought. Poor guy is working hard and needed that break.

Both Pisani and Tjarnqvist returned from the IR. Nedved took Pisani's place on the IR with a knee injury that has kept him out of the last few games. Not that Nedved is going to be missed; he really hasn't done much in his 2nd stint with the Oilers.

Downside to the game: Lupul now joins the injured club with, you guessed it; ANOTHER CONCUSSION. What is with all the concussions this season??!?! What is with this road trip and someone being injured after every game!?!?! Stoll is still on the IR with a concussion, no word yet if Lupul is out day-to-day or if he will be placed on the IR as well. Get well soon boys, we need you! :(

The Oilers played spoiler in this one, as the Red Wings were going for their 14 th straight win at home. Too bad for them the Oilers are gunning for a playoff spot and weren't doormats like they have been on the road. Plus, Roloson sucks in shoot-outs against everyone else but the Wings. Congrats to Smytty for scoring the only goal in the shoot-out as well. SUCK ON THAT HASEK, YOU OLD FART.

With the last two Oilers wins, they are now only 5 points out of the playoffs, instead of 9. Still not as great as being in a play-off position, but better than a few days ago. This has the Flames, now fallen to 8th, worried. Damn right you bitches better be worried. (See the next segment for more on this). 20 games to go; stranger things have happened. I, like many Oilers fans, would love for the Oilers to take the final playoff spot at the expense of the Flames.
BRING IT ON LAMES.
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Too close for comfort

Fragile Flames wary of an Oiler uprising in the West

George Johnson, Calgary Herald, Saturday, February 24, 2007

A quick check of the side-view mirror only confirms the unease. Squint, and damn if it isn't still there. Off in the distance. No more than a fuzzy speck in the gathering haze, nearly out of sight.

But not quite . . .

That rickety blue pickup truck, big-ass Smytty at the wheel, and Hemsky and Horcoff and Rollie the Goalie and tough-as-old-boot-leather Gator piled in back, the familiar large Oil drop painted on each door.

"Seven points," agreed Craig Conroy, "is close.
"Too close."

Five is even closer, and that's the margin by which the Calgary Flames lead the Oilers for the Western Conference's final playoff spot, following Edmonton's 4-3 shootout win at Detroit on Friday night.

One by one, the Flames filed into the Pengrowth Saddledome on Friday at 11 a.m., for either an off-ice workout or a short turn on skates across the street at the Corral. Conspicuous by his presence was general manager Darryl Sutter.

Call it loitering with intent.

When Sutter feels it necessary to make an appearance down at event level these days, and thus make a statement, the temperature in the area plummets 10 degrees. In the time it takes to draw breath.

A seventh consecutive road loss in the books, Thursday in Phoenix, and the clearly not-amused architect finds his Flames unwitting, uneasy middlemen in the ongoing squabble that is life in the Northwest Division.

Certainly close enough to reel in the frontrunning Vancouver Canucks and snare that crucial, automatic third seeding in the Western Conference. But also not yet quite out of range of a possible Edmonton Oiler uprising, and catastrophe -- just envision the fallout, try to imagine the angst. There is still all to be won, everything to be lost.

"Right now, we're in eighth spot looking up at everyone else," sighed old hand Tony Amonte, who's been around the block a time or two.

While every now and again casting a nervous glance downward, at the pursuing Oilers. In the thrall of their own murderous road swing, having just offloaded a regular defenceman (Marc-
Andre Bergeron) for a down-the-road prospect who cannot help them make up ground during this stretch run, the Oil seemed ready to fall away, out of contention, only days ago.

But the Flames' maddening inability to close deals on the road has kept Craig MacTavish's men in with a chance, infused them with hope.

"I don't know if it's a mental thing," said coach Jim Playfair of his team's road woes. "But it isn't a good thing."

Potentially a fatal thing.

And don't think a shot at sneaking into the playoffs, again, this time at the expense of the oil-soaked, money-stuffed hoity-toitys from down south, wouldn't pump testosterone levels dangerously high up the road a piece.

They might just do it on spite alone.

"We've got to tighten our belts and look ahead," lectured Calgary captain Jarome Iginla. "You could dwell on the fact that we didn't take advantage of our good November and December. You could sit around and think where we'd be if only we were .500 on the road. You can talk about the leads we've let slip away in third periods lately.

"But it's all spilled milk.

"What's done is done. We have 21 games left. We have to focus on them. I'd be lying if I told you we didn't check out what the Oilers were doing; Vancouver and Minnesota, too. I know everybody's talking about how we've got to start winning on the road, and it's true. But we've just got to win games now. Period. No matter where they're being played.

"It's up to us to keep putting pressure on Vancouver . . . and Edmonton."

To do that means beating one of the West's elite tonight at the Saddledome. And that won't be an easy task, even for a team as proficient on home ice as the Flames -- the San Jose Sharks have won more road games than any other team in hockey.

Ah yes, road games . . .

In case you can't bear to look, six of the Flames' final eight games of the regular season happen to be away from the Saddledome, where they receive worse reviews than Norbit.

If that little detail doesn't emphasize the urgency of the moment, nothing will.

"And, even if you do finish eighth, you've still got to go on the road for the first round of playoffs," cautioned Amonte.

"So it's desperation time for us. Seems ever since I got here we've had to be desperate to play our best hockey. Now we'll see what we're made of.

"If we can put a streak together, we still have a great chance at winning our division."

True enough. Just don't be caught staring straight ahead. 'Cause Craig Conroy's right -- seven points is too close.

Never forget to keep tabs on that fuzzy speck back in the distance, and take a check of that side-view mirror every once in a while. Always remembering what's stencilled on the glass: Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.







Them Flames are shaking in their boots; good, I hope they crash and burn. Aha, burn ........







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It's official: Oilers team autograph session Sunday March 4th @ West Edmonton Mall 1 pm to 2:30pm.

The Oilers press release was put out yesterday; it is also announced on the WEM website. There had been varied rumors about this event for a few weeks now.

What this means is having to get at the Mall before the damn thing opens and map-out which players are going to be where that we actually want autographs from.
I have previously been to an auto-session at WEM; it was like a damn gong show. Back then it was for only an hour though, not an hour and a half.

Also listed in the press release for the upcoming session, players are being put in groups of 2 or 3. I say they should put more players in a group for the ease of the fans. The line-ups are going to be ridiculous to begin with.

Might I suggest to anyone heading to WEM that day to do some shopping: STAY HOME UNTIL AFTER 2:30. SAVE YOURSELF THE HEADACHE OF ALL THE OILERS FANS LINED UP AND IN YOUR WAY.

To all the other Oilers fans going: stay the fuck out of my way if you are heading to the line-up for Ethan Moreau's table. His is the only current Oilers jersey that I don't have signed yet, so he better be there, shoulder injury or not. Sure, there are other autographs I want, but the Moreau jersey is more important than all the 8x10 photos I have accumulated.

GOOD LUCK TO US ALL.

Moreau signing auto's at the Oilers recent hospital visits, Jan 29th.