The Phoenix Coyotes have claimed forward Gilbert Brule off recall waivers. This means that the Oilers will have a $925K cap hit (well, to simplify) on the year rather than $1.85M. When a player is claimed on recall waivers such as this, the original team is “on the hook” for half of the cap hit, while the new team is on the hook for half (the same goes for salary). I think this is a good thing. Gilbert Brule’s oft injured/sick/whatever situation wasn’t doing the Oilers any favors. Great guy, and I wish him well in Phoenix. I hope he can become a better NHLer there. My prediction though is the Coyotes eventually cut him loose too, and the Oilers take him back for Oklahoma City. Just a guess.

Martin Marincin was also traded today to the Regina Pats (from Prince George Cougars). This is great news for Marincin, as the Cougars are an AWFUL team, while the Pats are quite good. As a reminder, the Pats are Jordan Eberle’s old team. They have a shot at the playoffs, whereas the Cougars are definitely mailing the season in.

-={ Puttin’ On The Foil Presents… }=- at 14-12-3 Record 15-12-3 Location: Jobing.com Arena Date: December 15, 2011 @ 7:30 MST TV: SNET EDM

PRE-GAME RANT

It has been so long since the last Oilers game (4 days off) that I got accustomed to no Oilers hockey, and almost forgot there was a game tonight.

Tonight the Oil face the Coyotes. The Coyotes sit just above the Oilers in the West standings at 9th place, with 2 more points. So I’d say this is an important game, not that they all aren’t.

We should see the return of both Taylor Hall and Corey Potter, which is fan-fuckingtastic news for a team that’s had a bit of a tough go in their last 10. The Oilers are in a small bind though… they have 24 bodies on their roster if Hall and Potter return. That means they need to send someone down. Who do they send down? Obvious choices are: Anton Lander, Lennart Petrell, Magnus Paajarvi, or Colten Teubert. Who goes? I say Paajarvi. Will he though? Wonder what Omark would suggest on this…

Devan Dubnyk will get the start tonight. Tom Renney says “he’s just tired”, in regards to Nikolai Khabibulin. Is it really a back-to-back start for Dubnyk if he had 4 nights of rest? I don’t think so. Anyways, this stuff about Khabi is definitely a concern. Perhaps they are just being overly cautious (which has been the theme with a few guys this year), but it doesn’t sound so good. But sure… rest him up. Hopefully Dubnyk can find his game again.

OILERS LINES

Continue reading 'Oilers 2, Coyotes 4 – Game 31 – 2011-12-15 @ 7:30 PM MST – SNET EDM'»

-={ Puttin’ On The Foil Presents… }=- at 8-2-2 Record 6-4-2 Location: Jobing.com Arena Date: Movember 5, 2011 @ 8:00 MST TV: CBC

PRE-GAME RANT

The Oilers will try for their 7th win in a row tonight vs. Phoenix. Really, this is quite an impressive feat considering it’s been years since they’ve had 6 in a row (back in March, 2002). This team has a lot of the media even buying in. I’d say they compare to the Colorado Avalanche 2 years ago – a team that everyone thought had no business being as good as they ended up being. Now, eventually the Oilers are going to come down to earth and lose a game, but it’s spectacular that they’re winning these games because every little bit counts when it comes to making the playoffs. Yes, they are months away, but you have to be looking that far forward if you hope to make it.

Prediction: 3-1 Oilers

OILERS LINES (PROJECTED)

Continue reading 'Oilers 2, Coyotes 4 – Game 13 – 2011-11-05 @ 8:00 PM MST – CBC'»

Tonight is an exciting night for “the Nuge”. It was originally reported that he was playing with Hemsky and Smyth tonight, but it turns out he’ll be playing with what is possibly going to be the line of the Oilers future one day. The bookends for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tonight will be none other than Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle. This should make for a very exciting, dynamic trio. It would seem that RNH is a very responsible forward. I think Taylor Hall has a tendency to try to back check hard as well too. It’s hard not to think that these guys will get killed against most teams’ top lines, but now is the time to give it a test.

Smyth and Hemsky will be centered tonight by Continue reading 'GDT: Oilers 3, Coyotes 2 – Pre-season Game 6 – 2011-09-27 @ 7:00 PM MST – Webcast'»

So, many have been talking about the Coyotes potentially moving to Winnipeg. TSNs “The Reporters” addressed that topic today on the show. Here is what they had to say: Continue reading 'Panelists of TSN’s “The Reporters” confident Phoenix is Winnipeg bound..'»