Canada – 3	FINAL	Russia – 5
WJHC 2011 Gold Medal Final
Canada were silver medal winners in 2010
Russia finished 6th in 2010
Date: Jan 05 @ 5:30 PM MST
TV: TSN

PRE-GAME RANT

Here we go, the gold medal game between Canada and Russia… two huge rivals. These are the teams that have been the best for decades. The Russians have stumbled as of late, but they look to be back. They had a tough win over Sweden in a shootout to get here, highlighted by some great goaltending by Dmitri Shikin. The Canadians dominated the Americans in their semi-final, and won 4-1 to get here today.

The Canadians have already beaten the Russians in this year’s tournament. In the opening game for Canada, the Canadians won by a score of 6-3. I am hoping for a similar result, or a result at least in Canada’s favor.

The USA also will play Sweden, earlier this afternoon (1:30PM MST). Gotta root for the Swedes, as hard as it is to do after they chirped at Canada (calling the USA a harder team to play against than us, and saying that the refs call in our favor often).

Let’s Go Canada!
Continue reading 'WJHC 2011 GDT – Canada 3, Russia 5 – Gold Medal Final – 2011-01-05 @ 5:30PM MST – TSN'»

And we are back! The MMS makes its glorious return from eating too much over the holidays.

This will be pretty short however as I will have missed anything that has happened the past 2 or 3 weeks (I can’t even remember when I last did it…which is better than forgetting my password when I came into work).

Canada kicks ass. Oilers not so much. In fact, it was pointed out on twitter that the Oilers have lost every game since Renney’s playoff announcement. Next time he might want to mention hitting the bottom and see how fast we go in the opposite direction.

Canada hit a snag with Sweden (although, Sweden was full value for the win from what I saw, out playing the Canadians), but pulled it out with a dominating win against the Americans and now due to Russia’s upset of the Swedes we now face our true rivals.

One thing is noticeable at this time, is the difference in excitement level between the world juniors and the NHL. It really is kind of boring watching a NHL game now.

Everyone must watch that HBO 24/7. Some of the best TV I have seen in a long time. Makes the Oil Change seem like a bush league production.

OU won the Fiesta Bowl. Seahawks make the playoffs (yeah yeah, losing record…its still the playoffs). Good times all around.

Oh, and JDD played for Canada during the Spengler cup. Wonder what that means for him? (Also Canada finished second in that tourney).

Anyways, on to the standings:
Continue reading 'Monday Morning Standings'»

-={ Puttin’ On The Foil Presents… }=- AT 24-10-5 Record 12-18-7 Location: Rexall Place Date: January 4, 2011 @ 7:00 PM MST TV: TSN

PRE-GAME RANT

Well with all the magic around the WJHCs, it’s almost hard to go back to an Oilers game, but you know what.. I’m still enjoying watching the games, unlike the same time last year (which was pretty intolerable). Don’t forget tonight is also part 3 of Oil Change. It starts at 5:30PM MST on TSN (2:30 AM Istanbul time ).

Anyways, on to tonight’s game. We should see all 3 call ups in this one. Linus Omark and Liam Reddox were called up last night. Jeff Petry has already been here for about a week now. Jim Vandermeer is also expected to be back in the lineup. He practiced yesterday with Kurtis Foster as his D-partner, while Ladislav Smid played with Petry. I would not expect Jordan Eberle to be in for this one. It would be safe not to expect him back for a while, however there seems to be a lot of optimism that he’ll only miss a couple of games or so.

Prediction: 5-2 Red Wings

FAIRLY-EDUCATED-GUESS LINES

Continue reading 'GDT Oilers 3, Red Wings 5 – Game 38 – 2011-01-04 @ 7:00 PM – TSN'»

I’m glad to hear that Gingerballs will finally get a chance under Tom Renney. I hope Colin Fraser sits while Liam Reddox gets some games. Our bottom six could use the hard work ethic of a guy like Reddox. Jordan Eberle’s injury sounds minor, so far, so Omark might not be here long, but we’ll see.

Here is official word from the Oilers: Continue reading 'Oilers recall Liam Reddox and Linus Omark'»

Canada – 4	FINAL	USA – 1
WJHC 2011 Semifinal
Canada were silver medal winners in 2010
USA were gold medal winners in 2010
Date: Jan 03 @ 5:30 PM MST
TV: TSN

Today’s game is a semifinal between the United States and Canada. No matter how much I build this one up, I can’t build it up enough. Last year’s final between the USA and Canada hurt. It sucked to see Canada lose on their own soil to our neighbors to the south. There is a rivalry between us both.. I don’t have to explain it. Everyone knows about it. Last year, Canadian goaltending was very suspect. This year, it is much of the same. It’s a game I’m worried about, for sure. I’m not sure if the Canadians can do it. I wasn’t sure if the Canadians could beat the Swedes either, so I omitted the prediction there. They ended up losing. Well, since I’m a superstitious guy when it comes to hockey, I’m making a prediction in this one.. Continue reading 'WJHC 2011 GDT – Canada 4, USA 1 – Semi-final – 2011-01-03 @ 5:30PM MST – TSN'»