Comments (3)

By Racki, March 28, 2013 12:18 pm

-={ Puttin’ On The Foil Presents… }=- at 12-13-7 Record 17-12-2 Location: Rexall Place Date: March 28, 2013 @ 7:30PM MST TV: SNETW

PRE-GAME RANT

So the Oilers are going back to a couple more tried and true lines tonight. The first one is the “kid line”. That line got 3 goals in the game vs. the Blues, so why not? The other line is Paajarvi-Gagner-Hemsky. Gagner’s been magic with anyone he’s played with, but he definitely plays quite well with Hemsky. Of course, Paajarvi has had best results playing with Gagner too.

Khabibulin will get the start tonight after shutting out the Blues in what sounded like a really good performance. I still haven’t been able to watch it on PVR yet, but probably will later… maybe when the playoffs are on

So non-Oiler talk now. Jarome Iginla got traded to the Boston Brui… no wait.. to the Pittsburgh Penguins, last night. Sounds like Iggy was very close to being a Bruin, however. It looks to me like the Flames didn’t get very good value in the Pens trade, although it was maybe a step up from what the Bruins were offering. They’ll get a very late 1st round pick, and 2 college prospects (forwards). The prospects don’t project too high, although one of them has soms pretty decent size, and the other is leading his team in scoring, so who knows there. All I can say though is thank God Iggy isn’t a Flame anymore.. I can cheer for him finally. I’ve always liked and respected him, much like many Flames fans had a respect for guys like Ryan Smyth. Pittsburgh was crazy good already without the add. Now they’re just “I fucking hate you guys” good. It will be interesting to see if Iginla re-signs there though. I’d imagine the incentive is there to do it.
Continue reading 'Oilers 6, Blue Jackets 4 – Game 33 – 2013-03-28 @ 7:30 PM MST – SNETW'»

Comments (3)

By Racki, March 26, 2013 10:32 am

-={ Puttin’ On The Foil Presents… }=- at 11-13-7 Record 17-12-2 Location: Scottrade Center Date: March 26, 2013 @ 6:00PM MST TV: SNET-EDM

PRE-GAME RANT

OK, one thing to immediately get out of the way here.. goal 3 vs. Nashville last night. I don’t like to single out one player on a goal, but I think I will here. For some reason, many fans in Oilerland are pointing fault at Corey Potter on this one. I think this is the whipping boy factor that we have here. Guys hate a player so much that they completely lose any sense of rational thought. It reminds me of a tweet I saw. Can’t remember it exactly, but it was something like “Defenseman and center get puck watching while winger chases after puck carrier in corner.. who is at fault? The Russian” (on a play in which Yakupov was chasing down Sedin, who made a nice pass to the front of the net where Gagner and Whitney were caught puck watching as it was tapped into the net). Steve-o’s response was probably the best on this one – “only argument I see is that Potter shouldn’t be on the ice.” OK, I’ll give you that one.. frequently. I think Potter is a good 7th/8th filler guy. But at any rate, to blame him for that goal is just… crazy.

The way the play broke down…:
For starters, the Oilers play a man-to-man defense. This is well known, but even if they played Zone defense, Fistric still doesn’t escape blame here (although Potter would also eat some blame). Anyways, Potter is on right D, Fistric is on left D. Chris Meuller is skating down the right wing (Fistric’s side) while Brandon Yip is in the middle of the ice. Potter clearly has Yip targeted (which is what he should do.. this IS his man). For some crazy reason, Fistric is also staring right at Yip as the Preds enter the Oilers zone. Potter commits to stay with his man, Yip. Fistric steps across and is now positioned to double team Yip. As Meuller goes wide on the boards. As the Predators cross the blue line, Potter is nearly in line with Yip and there is a bit of gap there. Fistric has equal gap between both players, and Meuller is to his front-left (noting that in order for Potter to be covering Meuller, which would be crazy, he would have to skate through or across Fistric). Yip starts skating to his right, towards the right boards where Meuller is, across both defensemen. Potter follows suit (as should be expected in man-to-man coverage). Right now at this point, Meuller is close to Fistric, but Fistric completely blocks him out mentally. Yip dishes it off to Meuller just as Fistric commits to honing in on Yip (what the hell?), going for the hit. Potter recognizes this fairly quickly, but it’s really too late. Fistric has boxed him out from Meuller (who should be covered by Fistric to begin with). Fistric misses the check (doesn’t really matter at this point anyways), Potter scrambles to catch Meuller, who goes in all alone on Dubnyk with Smyth chasing him down as quick as he can… and Meuller then scores.

Anyways, my mind is completely blown here as to how people can fault Potter on this one. Potter’s man was Yip. Fistric’s man was Meuller. Fistric decided to change the gameplan, go for a big hit on Yip which was clearly a mistake. This left his man uncovered. An easy pass from Yip to a wide open Meuller sealed this one.

Now to end this big rant, I want to say I’m a huge Mark Fistric fan. Absolutely love him. He made one mistake.. a big one… but I still really like him and think he should be in the line up any chance we get. He is a guy I’d play ahead of Whitney, Peckham or Potter. But I call it like I see it. Oiler fan hate is strong and blinding, however.

Anyways, I’ve ranted myself out of rant relevant to tonight’s game… I’ll be away for part of this one as I’ve got a dinner thing going on tonight. I might PVR the first part. I don’t care how crappy the team is, I watch every game.. so to miss a period.. well it’s a big deal for me. No bandwagon for this guy!
Continue reading 'Oilers 3, Blues 0 – Game 32 – 2013-03-26 @ 6:00 PM MST – SNET-EDM'»

Comments (4)

By Racki, March 25, 2013 8:45 am

-={ Puttin’ On The Foil Presents… }=- at 11-12-7 Record 13-13-6 Location: Bridgestone Arena Date: March 25, 2013 @ 6:00PM MST TV: SNETW

PRE-GAME RANT

So as mentioned the last GDT, pretty much every game from here on out, or until the Oilers spiral back into the abyss, is important. I don’t have to state that anymore. All the good teams that were sluffing off (with exception to maybe San Jose) are starting to fight hard for playoff spots. This is definitely the down part of the roller coaster ride for Oilers fans… I’d say we’re not going to make it. But hey, that doesn’t mean this team can’t try. I think tonight the Oilers will come out with a good effort this time around.

It is unconfirmed, but it’s unlikely Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will suit up for this one. He seems to be battling a solid case of the flu (“Sam…… Sam…. (whimpers)… can you call my mom?“). It’s expected that Dubnyk will start in this one. I’d imagine the lines won’t change much. It would be nice if this team had a more offensive center to play with Yakupov.

I noticed that Jim Matheson is also questioning the lack of waiver claim on Halpern. The Oilers I believe are at 49, even after signing Travis Ewanyk last week. He is 19 and playing in junior, so he shouldn’t count until next season. And really, the Oilers need to drop some dead weight before then anyways. It’s possible Tambellini and co. are leaving a spot open for the trade deadline, but that would be pretty optimistic to think that, given our inability to really act on team need.

So there is strong talk about the latest D prospect out there, Danny Dekeyser. Dekeyser is Michigan born, which leads most people to believe the Red Wings, who are very interested, are the front runner. The Oilers are doing what they can to make a play for this guy though. Daryl Katz has already called and talked to him (I’d imagine the conversation going along the fashion of this phone call), and Justin Schultz has texted with him about it, apparently. Hopefully it wasn’t a series of warning texts. Anyways.. what do I know about this guy? I haven’t watched him at all, unfortunately, so I’m relying on the internet here. He’s big, at 6’3″ and 198 lbs and apparently very mobile. He’s been described as a two-way guy who is solid in his own zone, but can make a strong outlet pass as well. Most of what I’m reading makes this guy sound more of a defensive specialist than an offensive specialist. Sounds like his offensive game is fairly limited, so I don’t expect much there. However, he seems to also bring a good physical game, is a strong shot blocker and a PK specialist. He is also said to be a strong skater too, so if he can eat up minutes, that might make him a good even strength partner for Justin Schultz as they might complement each other.

Enjoy the game, folks..

UPDATE: sounds like Nuge is in, and Whitney and Petrell are scratches. Word is that the Nuge centers Smyth and Yakupov. Call me crazy, but I’m interested in what happens there. Sure, Smyth has been sluggish this year, but you never know.. might rejuvinate him. He’s looked a little like he’s ready to have an, albeit brief, break out.

Hartikainen shown talking to Ralph Krueger.. pretty sure that is the “hey kid, we’ll have to send you back to Oklahoma City for a bit” speech.
Continue reading 'Oilers 2, Predators 3 – Game 31 – 2013-03-25 @ 6:00 PM MST – SNETW'»

Comments (4)

By Racki, March 23, 2013 1:32 pm

-={ Puttin’ On The Foil Presents… }=- at 11-11-7 Record 12-10-6 Location: Rexall Place Date: March 23, 2013 @ 8:00PM MST TV: CBC

PRE-GAME RANT

Khabibulin gets the start tonight. Dubnyk could probably use the rest, even though it’s been a few days since the last game. Khabibulin has also been rock solid between the pipes so far. It seems that if you pace him very slowly, you can get a lot out of him. If you try and ride him like a starter, he’ll break. Old bones.

Eric Belanger is back. The little Nugget still has the flu, so the Oilers have placed him on IR, retroactive to his last game (Sunday I believe). So whenever he’s healthy, he’ll be able to come back off IR. Works for now.

The defense will remain unchanged from last game. I must admit, I like our blueline the most when Mark Fistric is in it, even if he isn’t doing everything right 100% of the time. Also, message to Steve Tambellin: sign Ladislav Smid any day now, please. Don’t let him walk, and don’t trade him!

The lines.. not our best we’ve fielded. Belanger’s line is where offense goes to turn into a dump in the corner and a line change. So I don’t expect anything of excitement out of that line. It might be disaster if Yakupov plays by his own routine and Jones and Belanger aren’t on the same page.

As of writing this, the Oilers currently sit in 13th in the West. A win would vault them to 11th at best, but has them one point out of a playoff spot (barring outcomes of other games). Things still look pretty good. I hope Tambellini sees this. This is normally where he craps his pants, and goes and hides somewhere until draft day (in which time the wheels completely fall off the bus and we’re left with a #1 pick).
Continue reading 'Oilers 0, Blues 3 – Game 30 – 2013-03-23 @ 8:00 PM MST – CBC'»

Comments (9)

By Racki, March 20, 2013 11:15 am

-={ Puttin’ On The Foil Presents… }=- at 11-11-6 Record 12-10-6 Location: Rexall Place Date: March 20, 2013 @ 7:30PM MST TV: TSN

PRE-GAME RANT

Every game from this point onward is huge. The Edmonton Oilers are trending upwards now, and that is perfect timing for them (well, I guess perfect timing is the start of the season, as long as you continue the trend..). The Oilers are 3-0-1 in their last 4, after getting smoked by the Predators. They had their revenge with a narrow 3-2 win in a rematch the last game. The Sharks, on the other hand, appear to be trending downward. They’ve only won one of their last 7 (with two OTL in that frame). This is an opportunity the Oilers have to seize. They’ve historically been the team that other teams look forward too when they are slumping. The Oilers have always been slump busters. That has to change. The sharks have 1 regulation win and 1 shootout win versus the Oilers this season so far. A win tonight will put the Oilers on equal ground as far as points, but no matter what the outcome, the Oilers have already lost out on a potential tie breaker of record between the two clubs. Every point from here on out is going to count, as the Oilers are going to be in a dog fight all the way. Most of the teams are on the upswing, with very few teams faltering like the Sharks.

There’s been some trade/contract talk lately. Much of it revolves around whether or not we should trade Ryan Whitney. I’m still saying yes to that, if the return is good. Ryan Whitney is hot right now, and his value will never be higher. I believe that it isn’t our blue that is the straw that stirs the drink on our powerplay, even though it does help. Can we make due with Potter there? Doubtful.. but why not Jeff Petry?? This is a guy with a decent offensive skillset, but for whatever reason he’s being heavily relied on defensively (albeit he does well in that regard). Perhaps you could reduce his PK time and increase his PP time to make up for the loss of Whitney. Right now, Petry is our most used PKer. That is great and speaks highly of Krueger’s trust in him, but I think you should be able to dial back those minutes in favor of Marc Fistric or Nick Schultz, and then feed Petry more PP ice time. Just my 2 cents. On the flip side though, there is a very good argument that we need to keep Whitney around for a playoff push. I will just remind people how difficult it was to watch Ryan Whitney here the last couple of years. He could revert to that. Just saying… if we can get something good for him, do it. If not, well, no loss for us.

Awesome article up on the Edmonton Sun here. Basically it talks about the Oilers finding their new formula for success and how they think they can stick to it and win games. Talk is cheap, but I think they can do it. Drinking game tip: Take 1 shot for every time the word “identity” is used in the article (that’s 14 shots).

Go OIL!!!!

UPDATE: Nuge is out. That presumably should mean that Hartikainen is in now. As far as who slots in at center, it’s anyone’s guess. It could be Petrell, who has played some C. It could be Hall, who we would love to make a C long term. It could be Mike Brown because according to Bob Stauffer he’s played some C (Mike Brown would beg to differ, however).. just kidding on that one. It should be either Hall or Petrell. I would guess Hall moves over, Horcoff drops to play with Jones/Eberle and Hartikainen gets the glorious opportunity to play with Hall and Hemsky.

Continue reading 'Oilers 3, Sharks 4 (SO) – Game 29 – 2013-03-20 @ 7:30 PM MST – TSN'»