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By Racki, February 28, 2013 9:20 am

-={ Puttin’ On The Foil Presents… }=- at 7-7-4 Record 10-8-2 Location: American Airlines Center Date: February 28, 2013 @ 6:30PM MST TV: SNETW

PRE-GAME RANT

This will be a long ramble today… Continue reading 'Oilers 5, Dallas 1 – Game 19 – 2013-02-28 @ 6:30 PM MST – SNETW'»

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By Racki, February 12, 2013 7:58 am

-={ Puttin’ On The Foil Presents… }=- at 5-3-4 Record 6-5-1 Location: Rexall Place Date: February 12, 2013 @ 7:30PM MST TV: SNETW

PRE-GAME RANT

So the Oilers get another shot at the Stars tonight. They lost the first game vs. them last Wednesday in overtime, 3-2 when Jaromir Jagr caught Ryan Whitney flat footed (I’m sure there’s a pun in there somewhere).

Tonight I imagine we’ll go back to “regular” lines, but I think for the first night we’re going to see Ryan Smyth sit. He has slipped a bit lately and in his last couple of games has racked up several penalties… enough to put him 1 minute behind Ladislav Smid for the team lead. The Oilers liked Chris Vande Velde’s play in the game vs. Detroit, so I think he’ll slot in. That should mean too that Hordichuk will get sent down to the Barons, should he (likely) clear waivers.

The Oilers changed up the lines in hopes of spreading the offense while on the road, in order to catch teams’ third line pairing against one or more of our better offensive players. I’m not sure I would really say it worked very well. Detroit was a fairly close game that the Oilers probably could have won, but didn’t. However against Columbus, the worst team in the West, standings-wise at the time, the Oilers barely squeaked out a win. In fact, they were outplayed and shouldn’t have won that one. Luckily Dubnyk was up to the task and stole the win. In Detroit, the Oilers were a fair bit better, but Khabibulin also had to really stand on his head to in order to keep the Oilers in the game. I can understand struggling against a good team like Detroit, but there is no excuse for poor play vs. a bottom feeding team. Yes, the Oilers won, but they shouldn’t be very proud of that win.

The Oilers now go on a 5 game home skid, so hopefully this will give them a boost in both confidence, but on the standings. A win tonight could bump the Oilers as high as 6th place, depending on outcomes of other games. At the very least, they will move ahead of Dallas in the standings, at least for now. It’s a tight race and every point is going to be important from here on out.

Edit: Line up is fairly confirmed now… Smyth and Whitney will be scratches tonight. Whitney is clearly unhappy with being a scratch again, but not in a defiant way.. more in the way you’d expect a guy to be upset. He stated he thinks he might be on the outs though, but doesn’t want to be traded. I think there’s a good chance he’ll be on a new team before the 2012/13 trade deadline (3PM ET April 3rd, in this shortened season). Best quote of Krueger’s pre-game interview.. cold, but true: “As we get better as an organization, there will be players who don’t meet our expectations anymore.”

Continue reading 'Oilers 1, Stars 4 – Game 13 – 2013-02-12 @ 7:30 PM MST – SNETW'»

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By Racki, February 6, 2013 9:54 am

-={ Puttin’ On The Foil Presents… }=- vs 4-3-2 Record 4-5-1 Location: Rexall Place Date: February 6, 2013 @ 8:00PM MST TV: TSN

PRE-GAME RANT

So more injuries, heading into this one. Shawn Horcoff is out with a broken knuckle, and Mark Fistric is out with back problems after missing a big hit and slamming into the bench boards ass first. That means Mark Arcobello gets the callup and makes his NHL debut, after playing stellar hockey for the Oklahoma City Barons. In 43 games he has 14 goals and 25 assists. He did play some games between Hall and Eberle while the Nuge was in Russia for the WJHCs. I wouldn’t expect that to happen tonight though, as that would be high expectations for a guy who is playing his first NHL game, especially with his small size. He’s listed at 5’9″ and 165lbs.

I wouldn’t mind seeing a shake up of the lines tonight, with Gagner getting a stint with Hall and Eberle. He’s played superbly so far this year. He leads the Oilers in points with 3 goals and 7 assists. He’s really elevated his game to what we’d hope we’d see from him. His net play is quite strong, and he’s been very aggressive on the forecheck. His defensive game still leaves a lot to be desired, but you take the good with the bad.

More injury notes, for the better… Ben Eager should be back soon. He says he’s feeling better than he has in quite a while. It’s always been in the back of my mind that Eager has gone “soft” in recent years here since the Tulupov hit… and because of the outcome of that hit – a bad concussion. I wonder if he’s not at all been 100% since that hit and been protecting himself. I wouldn’t be surprised at all, as concussions can be a bitch and very long lasting. I hope he really is 100% though and Continue reading 'Oilers 2, Stars 3 (OT) – Game 10 – 2013-02-06 @ 8:00 PM MST – TSN'»

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By Racki, March 28, 2012 12:53 pm

-={ Puttin’ On The Foil Presents… }=- vs. 31-36-9 Record 41-30-5 Location: Rexall Place Date: March 28, 2012 @ 7:30PM MST TV: SNET OILERS

PRE-GAME RANT

Well, if you’ve been hiding out from the news, but for some reason only come here for game threads, you might not know that Taylor Hall has been shut down for the season and will undergo shoulder surgery. But you likely already know this.

The Oilers will face the Stars tonight for their 4th and final meeting. The Stars have cleaned up this series so far, winning 3-1 most recently, as well as 4-1 in the other two games. The Oilers have been on a tear as of late though, winning 13 out of a possible 20 points in their last 10 games (including 3 loser points). The stars have taken 12 points in that same span (all wins).

Linus Omark, Chris Vande Velde, Theo Peckham, and Cam Barker are your healthy scratches for tonight. Devan Dubnyk gets the start again.

Continue reading 'Oilers 1, Stars 3 – Game 77 – 2012-03-28 @ 7:30 PM MST – SNET OILERS'»

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By Racki, March 2, 2012 1:56 pm

-={ Puttin’ On The Foil Presents… }=- vs. 25-32-6 Record 33-26-5 Location: Rexall Place Date: March 2, 2012 @ 7:30PM MST TV: TSN

PRE-GAME RANT

The return of Studly Wonderbomb. Will Rexall faithful give him some applause? Ha! I kid. Of course they will boo him. It’s what we do here. Even the greats such as Mark Messier went through that. You can bet that the guy that forced the Oilers to trade him will get booed. I’m well over this whole Souray mess though, so I wish him the best in any game not vs. the Oilers. But there is no better example of an Oiler going from goat to hero to despicable mess all in a short time frame. He once was a regrettable trade.. then he became a guy we could easily see as captain here… then he became “get him the f— away from our childrenses!!!”. Oi. Edmonton, you are an interesting hockey town.

Anyways, lines have been significantly juggled. Lennart Petrell is playing with the Nuge and Eberle. Really, anyone can play with those two and come out with several goals. Anything less than a hat trick tonight is a disappointment, Lennart. No pressure. Gagner will also center Hall and Hemsky.. and well… ditto when it comes to scoring with those two. Smyth, Horcoff and Eager will make up a new grind-checking line. I believe Jones will make up the rest of the mediocrity line.

Khabi gets the start tonight.

Continue reading 'Oilers 1, Stars 3 – Game 64 – 2012-03-02 @ 7:30 PM MST – TSN'»