Canada – 8	FINAL	Switzerland – 0
WJHC 2011 Pre-competition Game 1
Canada were silver medal winners in 2010
Switzerland were 4th place in 2010
Date: Dec 20 @ 5:00 PM MST
TV: TSN2

Well here it is.. this is something I look forward to every year. My Christmas isn’t actually Christmas and opening presents, but the World Junior Hockey Championships. I absolutely love this tournament. As far as I’m concerned, there is no better hockey to be seen at any time during the year than this tournament. These kids lay it all on the line during this tourney. It’s fast, it’s physical, and it’s just all around entertaining, serious hockey. The kind of hockey that would upset the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Swiss have some returnees from last year, of course, with the biggest names being goaltender Benjamin Conz (who wooed many with some unorthodox, yet strong goaltending) and Nino Niederreiter, who wasn’t even on most peoples’ radars before the tournament but quickly became a household name afterwords by his incredible work ethic. Conz is undrafted and will look to make a case for that, but Niederreiter Continue reading 'WJHC 2011 GDT – Canada 8, Switzerland 0 – Pre-Comp 1 – 2010-12-20 @ 5:00PM MST – TSN2'»

-={ Puttin’ On The Foil Presents… }=- AT 16-11-3 Record 11-14-5 Location: Rexall Place Date: December 16, 2010 @ 7:30 PM MST TV: SNET1

PRE-GAME RANT

The Oilers’ roller coaster is taking us back down again. They have lost 3 of their last 4, albeit one of them in the shootout. The one game they did win (against Tampa Bay), they didn’t have much business winning, but thanks to some heroics by Khabi, they were able to stay in the game long enough for Omark to add to the list of #danellisproblems. By some miracle, the Oilers are 6-3-1 in their last 10, while the Blue Jackets are 2-5-1 in their last 10.

Hall seems to be flying high. As one critic here would likely point out, he’s made his share of mistakes, but Renney is doing a great job of loosening the reigns, and this has done wonders for his creativity. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but in that brutal 4-1 loss to the Leafs, Mr. Hall accounted for a third of the Oilers’ shots (8 shots)! He earned the third star and seems to be doing everything in his power to carry this team in the absence of Horcoff and Hemsky. He’s not alone, but there are definitely quite a few passengers as of late, as Tom Renney would say.

Anyways, there is a chance we’ll see Taylor Hall playing the PK now, according to a couple of sources. I’ve often wondered why they haven’t given him much opportunity yet. I assumed it was because in one of the games he did PK on, he circled back in the neutral zone and played keepaway for a bit to shed more time off the clock. I thought maybe perhaps the coach thought it was too risky, and he should have “dumped it in the corner”, like linemate Jordan Eberle jokingly suggested he should have done on his first NHL goal. Anyways, it will be nice if he does get some PK time, as the Oilers stupid-penalty parade is getting more popular these days, keeping Hall off the ice.

Well, I think this one is winnable. Renney seems to be decent at bringing the team back on track. So I’ll predict a 3-2 (SO) win for the home team.

CONFIRMED LINES

Continue reading 'GDT: Oilers 6, Blue Jackets 3 – Game 31 – 2010-12-16 @ 7:30 PM – SNET1'»

The final roster has been set for Team Canada for the 2011 World Junior Hockey Championships. Two Oilers draftees have made the cuts – goaltender Olivier Roy of Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the QMJHL and Curtis Hamilton, Left Winger with the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL. Here is the roster:

Team Canada Roster
Name	S	Ht.	Wt.	Born	Hometown	Club team	Pro Status
GOALTENDERS
Olivier Roy	L	5’11	186	07/12/91	Causapscal, QC	Acadie-Bathurst (QMJHL)	2009
Mark Visentin	L	6’1	198	08/07/92	Waterdown, ON	Niagara (OHL)	PHX 2010
DEFENSEMEN
Tyson Barrie	R	5’10	190	07/26/91	Victoria, BC	Kelowna (WHL)	COL 2009
Jared Cowen*	L	6’5	227	01/25/91	Allan, SK	Spokane (WHL)	OTT 2009
Simon Despres	L	6’4	222	07/27/91	Laval, QC	Saint John (QMJHL)	PIT 2009
Calvin de Haan*	L	6’1	189	05/09/91	Carp, ON	Oshawa (OHL)	NYI 2009
Ryan Ellis*	R	5’10	184	01/03/91	Freelton, ON	Windsor (OHL)	NSH 2009
Erik Gudbranson	R	6’4	211	01/07/92	Orleans, ON	Kingston (OHL)	FLA 2010
Dylan Olsen	L	6’2	223	01/03/91	Calgary, AB	Minnesota-Duluth (NCAA)	CHI 2009
FORWARDS
Carter Ashton	L	6’3	219	04/01/91	Saskatoon, SK	Regina (WHL)	TAM 2009
Casey Cizikas	L	5’11	191	02/27/91	Mississauga, ON	Mississauga (OHL)	NYI 2009
Brett Connolly	R	6’2	181	05/02/92	Campbell River, BC	Prince George (WHL)	TAM 2010
Sean Couturier	L	6’3	192	12/07/92	Bathurst, NB	Drummondville (QMJHL)	2011 Draft
Cody Eakin	L	6’0	187	05/25/91	Winnipeg, MB	Swift Current (WHL)	WSH 2009
Marcus Foligno	L	6’1	200	08/10/91	Sudbury, ON	Sudbury (OHL)	BUF 2009
Curtis Hamilton	L	6’3	202	12/04/91	Kelowna, BC	Saskatoon (WHL)	2010
Quinton Howden	L	6’3	192	01/21/92	Oak Bank, MB	Moose Jaw (WHL)	FLA 2010
Ryan Johansen	R	6’2	193	07/31/92	Port Moody, BC	Portland (WHL)	CBJ 2010
Zack Kassian	R	6’3	226	01/24/91	LaSalle, ON	Windsor (OHL)	BUF 2009
Louis Leblanc	R	5’11	181	01/26/91	Pointe-Claire, QC	Montreal (QMJHL)	MTL 2009
Brayden Schenn*	L	6’1	192	08/22/91	Saskatoon, SK	Brandon (WHL)	LOS 2009
Jaden Schwartz	L	5’10	184	06/25/92	Emerald Park, SK	Colorado (WCHA)	STL 2010

* – Returning Player

Head Coach: Dave Cameron (Mississauga St. Michael’s, OHL)
Assistant Coach: Andre Tourigny (Rouyn-Noranda, QMJHL)
Assistant Coach: Ryan Huska (Kelowna, WHL)
Assistant Coach: George Burnett (Belleville, OHL)

Notable cuts: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Ryan Murphy

Click here for GDT for Edmonton Oilers vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Added Cheerleader vid

In Oiler news, Horcoff got injured the same day as the last mms went out, so that’s not good. They managed to still be in a couple games, but the shots are starting to lean the wrong way pretty hard, and Gagner didn’t seem to click with Hall and Eberle so Cogliano got a shot at it last game. Didn’t work out so hot either. I think we will start to see the impact of missing our two best forwards right away.

Omark kinda made himself a big deal with a spin-o-rama for his shootout move, making the Lightning cry and the rest of the world go “Hey, who is this guy?”. In my opinion the shootout can die in a fire, but I’ll be honest when I say that I got kinda excited as it happened. Don’t think he’ll try that again, but you never know. I still want to see his chip shot.

Cheer-motherfucking-leaders. Tonight.

In other league news, Ovechkin got tuned by Dubinsky. I’ve liked Dubinsky for a few years now so that was fun to see.

That HBO 24/7 is actually tomorrow night, so be sure to set your PVR’s. NHL just went HBO, and that can only be good (note: HBO is pretty much one of my favorite channels, so yeah).

Canucks retired another jersey. With the Oilers, we got lucky and had a dynasty here so we obviously got spoiled with the jersey retirements, but I think the Oilers have the right idea about them. Only once they are in the HHOF (with the exception of the first Oiler captain). Obviously this works in Montreal and Toronto’s favor as you are inducted into the hall so long as you played on those teams, but for the rest of the league I think it would set a good standard to follow. I wouldn’t mind seeing a ring of honour set up, for those second tier players (Smyth, Smith) where the player gets honoured but no jersey retired.

Bobby Ryan scored a nice backhander. Using Koivu’s stick. Shooting on his forehand. I wonder how Kevin Lowe feels about Ryan now?

Sturm got traded. Maybe.

And a bunch of other crap that I’m sure I forgot about. But now to the standings!

Continue reading 'Monday Morning Standings'»

-={ Puttin’ On The Foil Presents… }=- AT 11-14-4 Record 11-13-5 Location: Rexall Place Date: December 14, 2010 @ 7:00 PM MST TV: SNETW

PRE-GAME RANT

Looks like the Oilers are dressing the thug line up again tonight. Expect both MacIntyre and Stortini to be in. Also, I’d expect Strudwick in for Vandermeer, although I’m not entirely certain he’ll replace his minutes (Vandy has been fantastic lately, playing with Whitney).

The two teams are fairly equal, as far as records are concerned. The Oilers have been the hotter team as of late though, although their last two games they got lucky with the final score being what it was.

Last time the two teams faced was in November, and the Oilers came out on top with a 5-0 win. And while in the photo above, Orr is seen hitting MacIntyre in the face, this was just the starting point which set Big Mac off into destructo-mode, as the Oil won that fight too.

Prediction: 6-1 Oilers (please be true, as Trogdor and I will be at the game tonight)

CONFIRMED LINES

Continue reading 'GDT: Oilers 1, Maple Leafs 4– Game 30 – 2010-12-14 @ 7:00 PM – SNETW'»