If this is how the season is going to go, it's going to be tough to watch.

BOA Round 1 goes to the Falmes. Mostly because the boys thought that since they half-assed it in Phoenix and still got a win (thanks to Roli and Raffi that is) they could apply the same game formula in Calgary. Guess again boys. Given the chance, the Falmes will bury you when playing like that in Calgary. Most of the Oilers penalties were tripping and hooking. Falmes go 3-for-8 on the powerplay and that's the game right there. QUIT BEING LAZY AND LEARN TO SKATE PROPERLY! Fuck. Why must the boys be such a disappointment so early in the season? At least Sammy scored his 1st NHL goal. Congrats to our young hockey Jesus! He's currently tied for 2nd in points on the team with 1-4-5 thru 7 games played. Hemsky and Brodziak also have 5 pts., but they have played 8 games. Horcoff and Cogliano lead the team with 6 pts each. Torres leads the team in goals with 3, and Stoll continues his suckage with one assist thru 8 games played.

Besides Horcoff and Hemsky (who has yet to score a goal), the 'veteran' forwards are not holding up their end of the deal. You can talk all you want thru-out the pre-season about coming to camp in shape and ready to make amends for last season's tragedy, but until you all actually show up for a game at the same time, it's not going to happen.
Luck has nothing to do with it, you need to put yourself in the position of playing good solid hockey without taking the dumb lazy penalties. You all know how to play like that, so let's get on it! The luck comes into factor when you are playing well.

Next up for our(un)mighty Oil is the Colorado Avalanche and the return of that dirty trader Ryan $myth. Just what the boys need, a media circus in town, since the game will be broadcast on TSN. Distractions are never good at anytime during the season, since the Oilers seem to play right into the distraction and lose focus on the game itself. Plus, all the whiny-baby Smyth huggers will be at the game. Let's hope for my sake, and for the sake of any whiny-baby Smyth hugger than happens to sit near me, that I don't get too drunk and mouthy during the game. At least I have Wednesday off work to recover if I do.
GOILERS!

Oilers videos for your viewing pleasure!

2007/08 season pre-game video.







Oilers tribute to Jason Smith. I DARE you to not cry when watching this!





Matt Greene does a 'cribs style' tour of the Oilers new dressing room. LOL.





I already posted this, but it's so AWESOME that I had to post it twice! Souray's BOMB.

Catch up time!

Sorry to my two loyal readers, but I've been slacking in the blogging department lately, instead of writing I have been reading and commenting on other blogs and wasting a hell of a lot of time on facebook. And I mean a hell of a lot of time.
My apologies.

So far the season has not gone as we have hoped, what with Moreau's injury being worse than originally thought, the boys winning two then dropping four, the power play still stinks, the vets are being outscored by the rooks, and now Souray's injury. UGH. There shouldn't be this much stress this early in the season!

Shall we talk about the past then? Ok.

As I was at the Oilers-Flames pre-season game back on September 26th, I noticed a very interesting (or disturbing, depending on how you look at it) trend. Flames fans seem to only know 3 players on their own team. Of all the Flames jerseys that were crested that I saw worn at the game, only 3 players were evident: Iginla, Phaneuf, and Kiprusoff. Really, your team consists of more than just the 3 cornerstone players. This is why I love Oilers fans, we aren't afraid to buy jerseys for any and all of the players. Hell, some loser last season was still wearing his Josh Green #12 jersey.

The best part of the night was the 4 Flamers fans sitting a few rows behind us with the hard-on for Huselius. It was all "Huselius this, Huselius that, if Huselius was gay he would totally be my bf, blah blah blah." The real fun started when two Oilers fans sitting across the isle from them started a Huselius chant. "hoo-SAY-lee-oos!!!" "Sucks!" "hoo-SAY-lee-oos!!!" "Sucks!" "hoo-SAY-lee-oos!!!" "Sucks!" "hoo-SAY-lee-oos!!!" "Sucks!" And so on. Soon most of the gallery was in on the "Sucks!" part. Pure Gold.

------------------------------------

Home opener was pretty stellar, with the boys winning in a shoot-out over the San Jose Sharks. We all know how the game story went, so I'll write about the fun had after the game waiting at the 'creeper' fence for autographs. Cuz really that what this blog is supposed to be about, more than just the game.
Bought me a new Oilers hat to start the season, then bought a duplicate to get signed. We met up with one of the girls we made friends with last season at the 'creeper autograph fence' and chatted about the new season and Souray among other things. I should have wore a jacket as it was a chilly night out. Oh well, I survived.

Reasoner had a split lip, when he came to sign he was bleeding. Someone asked him if he wanted something for it, I piped up and offered him a napkin, even though I didn't have one, lol. He politely declined. Good thing, because that would have been awkward.

I asked Raffi if he lost his contact in the scrum in the 1st period, because after the scrum he was down on the ice for awhile. When he was doing his time in the penalty box, looked like to me that he was washing off a contact lens. (I wear contacts, so I know about that.) He said "yep" with a little smile and then I said "I knew it! I sooooooo called it from row 46!"

Kyle Hot-Rod-ziak and Tom Gilbert come up together to sign; someone asked Kyle to turn and smile so she could take his pic, and Gilbert backed out of the way. I said, "Hey Gilbert, you didn't sign my hat yet; you have to sign it cuz we are facebook friends!" lololololol.

Garon was wearing a very sharp suit, I should have taken a picture of him it was that sharp. And he's a lefty like me, so he's alright in my books.

Finally after freezing my arse off, Sheldon Souray came out. I was in such a frenzy to get my jersey off that I got stuck in the rush. I managed to get it off in one piece and hand it to him before he got away, lol. Some of the guys rush thru signing and leave. Some guys don't even come and sign for that matter. He said "Thank you for the jersey!" when I handed it to him to get signed. I said, "No, THANK YOU!" I told that I had asked his brother to get it signed for me, but that he was being a jerk. Sheldon replied "that's nothing new." lol, burn! (I know Sheldon's half-brother as he works for the same restaurant chain as I do.) Souray was very nice about everything he signed and even made a video greeting for someone from his hometown when they politely asked. Made me love him even more. He also signed my hat and my Oilers 2007/08 guide. Good thing I stocked up on the Souray autos as he probably won't be signing for a few weeks due to his injury. But ya never know cuz Moreau was at the games at the end of last season when he was out injured and came to sign most nights.

I love these boys, but they aren't earning that unconditional love so far. They better kick some Coyotes ass tomorrow night, as they are the only team worse than us so far. UGH. Hoping for a 8-2 win with Hemsky and Stoll each scoring hat-tricks to break out of their zeros in the goal column, but I'll take a 4-3 nail bitter. Stoll, Hemsky, Cogliano, and Greene with the Oilers goals.

Sorta off-topic note: call me what you want for this (I really don't give a crap), but I'm addicted to a remix version of Britney Spears "Gimme More" song. Hopefully the boys "Gimme more" in the form of a win tomorrow. GOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh no Sheldon. :(

The Edmonton Oilers announced today that defenceman Sheldon Souray will be out for the next 3-4 weeks with a shoulder injury. Both Souray and Oilers head coach Craig MacTavish spoke with the media today in Phoenix. The Oilers blueliner suffered the injury in Edmonton’s 4-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. Souray fell on his shoulder during a fight with Canucks center Byron Ritchie midway through the third period.
FUCK FUCK FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!
What is with the Oilers and freak shoulder injuries suffered during a fight?! (Do I really have to bring up Ethan's shoulder injury from last season?)
UGHHHHHHHHH.
So far, Smid has not been recalled from Springfield, so maybe Roy is coming off the IR from his concussion and Smid won't be recalled? Either way, neither of them have a feared slapshot like Sheldon does.

"Oh, look at me, I'm a whiny bitch; attention on ME please!"

Brian Bruke is once again spouting off about Lowe and his offer sheet to Dustin Penner.
Man, he is acting so childish, on national TV no less. Maybe he's trying to get Lowe to retaliate with some equally childish comments.
STFU already Brian. You are just making yourself look like an asshole.
From the way I see it, he's not whining about losing Penner, he's whining about the money aspect of the contract and what it will do to the rest of the league. Please, like he honestly cares about the rest of the league. He's also still bitter because Lowe was 'gutless' in not calling him before Penner's agent faxed over the offer sheet. Well, it doesn't say anywhere in the rule book that you have to call the GM of said team of the player you are sending an offer sheet to. Oh, so did Kevin hurt your feelings in not being friendly, Brian? If so, you said your piece back in August when it all went down.
May the Oilers kick some ass this season and your 1st round pick that you are getting out of the deal (along with a 2nd and 3rd rounder) be a low pick.
Brian is trying to make himself, and the rest of the league, look like 'victims' because that evil evil evil Kevin Lowe is single-handed in driving up the salaries league wide. *insert rolling of eyes here*. Give me a break.
SHUT UP ALREADY. IT'S DONE AND OVER WITH.
If you wish to read the article and see the video on TSN, here it is.

Was there any doubt? I don't think so.

One Ethan Moreau, (pronounced EE-than moh-ROH), our Chopper, will the be the Oilers new fearless leader into the 2007/08 season and beyond.
He was officially named the 12th captain in Oilers history today. Thank you MacT for not going the rotating captaincy route like Minnesota did last season.
Also named were 4 alternate captains, Hemsky and Horcoff for home games, and Staios and Stoll for away games.
Ethan is thrilled to have this great honour bestowed upon him. He deserves it 100%.

In other Oilers news, the 23 man roster to start the 2007/08 season was accounced today. Surprising ( and a little pissed off) that Ladislav Smid has been sent down to the AHL instead of Tom Gilbert and Denis Grebeshkov, both whom have less NHL experience combined than Laddy does. Which isn't saying much, since Laddy was only played one full NHL season last season with the Oilers.
I'm sure Laddy won't be down there long, but given that both Gilbert and Smid are on two-way deals while Grebeshkov is on a one-way deal, its easier to send Smid or Gilbert to the AHL than it is to send Grebeshkov, who would have to clear waivers 1st. Kind of bullshit in my mind, but Smid wasn't that noticeable in the pre-season I guess. Smid will be a helluva NHL defenseman someday soon; he just needs some seasoning. I'm sure Dick Tarnstrom will develop Cory Cross disease soon enough because he is wearing Cory's old number 23, and Laddy will be back to replace him.

GOILERS!

So super excited for the home opener on Thursday!

Oilers-Falmes pre-season BOA part deux

Both teams won in a shoot-out last night. Good for the Falmes, now they won't finish the pre-season without a win.
The Oilers line-up for tonight's game is available, but the Falmes line-up isn't. Not like any of their fans know who plays for their team besides Iginla and Kipper.

FORWARDS

27 Dustin Penner - 13 Andrew Cogliano – 83 Ales Hemsky
28 Patrick Thoresen – 10 Shawn Horcoff – 51 Kyle Brodziak
22 Jean-Francois Jacques – 48 Ben Simon – 46 Zack Stortini
42 Jonas Almtorp – 62 Tim Sestito – 43 Fredrik Johansson

DEFENCE

44 Sheldon Souray – 2 Matt Greene
25 Joni Pitkanen – 24 Steve Staios
26 Denis Grebeshkov – 23 Dick Tarnstrom

GOALTENDERS

1 Devan Dubnyk
35 Dwayne Roloson


Cogliano gets a turn in between Hemsky and Penner, or the Pensky line as they have been dubbed.
The defense is pretty much what we can expect for the regular season, with Smid in instead of Grebeshkov.
Based on not having a Falmes line-up available, I can't make an accurate score prediction, but since I am a bit baised towards my Oilers, I'm going to go with a 4-3 Oilers win.



Look at all the Oilers fans down in Phoenix. Awesome to see.

Egads!

Moreau is out with a severe bone bruise after taking a shot off the ankle in Calgary on Saturday.
At least it's not broken, but I don't know how long it takes to recover from that kind of injury. Sounds painful. Godspeed Ethan! With Pisani already down and out and possibly gone for the entire season, we don't need anymore injuries to the grind line.

Greene is apparently going to be paired with Souray. I wonder who gets to play the point on the powerplay then, because both those guys tend to take too many unnecessary penalties.
My money is on Pitkanen. And if Souray is going to be paired with Greene, are they the number 1 pairing or the number 2 pairing? And then what are the other 2 pairings? Statios and Pitkanen, Smid and Transtrom? Where do Gilbert and Gerbeshkov fit into this? This defense is actually making me nervous.

Most of the young forward prospects are making names for themselves. Cogliano is starting to emerge, showing some hands to go along with that speed of his; scoring three goals in the last two games, including the overtime winner against the Falmes on Saturday night. Thank God, I was hoping he had some finish. He's not listed as being in the Oilers line-up for tonight's game in Phoenix, so I'm going to assume that he is playing tomorrow night against the Falmes; a game which I will be attending. wooooooo!