LET'S DOOOOOOOOO THIS!!!

Hokay. The Oilers finally got that monkey off their backs and won a game in OT against the Blues. It was a badly needed win and so too was the extra point in the standings. I would have rather seen the Blues not get ANY points...but...whatever. I'll take it.

Great news! The Oilers head off on a gut check type of road trip with three games in four nights against the Avs, Hawks and Wild. There's even an awesome back to backer in there for good measure. Oh, and an afternoon game in Minnesota to sweeten the pot. Wait...how in the hell is this at all good news for the Oilers?

...yeah...I've got nothing either.

I just don't know how it's all gonna turn out...but I think the one game we SHOULD win for sure would be against the Avs. The Oil should be well rested and they actually won the last time they played in Colorado...oh, and the Avs suck. After that, it's a crap shoot. Chicago has had our number all season and, I'm too lazy to look it up, I can't remember the last time we won in Minnie...in an afternoon game none the less....so ..."yay" on that front.

Well...I've got no choice but to go into this with a "They can do it!" attitude and cheer them on in full force...with full beers. I'll do my part. Oilers, you better do yours!

GOILERS!


With love,

yoB lewoT

Patty O'sullivan and The Little People

HAPPY ST. PATRICK O'SULLIVAN'S DAY!

GOILERS!

WINNERS FIND WAYS TO GET THE LOSER POINT

K, so I'm sitting here trying to think of something positive to pry out of this sich-yay-shun the Oilers find themselves in of late.  Let's take a look...

The Negatives:
The PP sucks.  The PK sucks.  Three straight OT losses.  Hemsky isn't scoring.   Teams that are far below us in the standings seem to find ways to beat us.  It's friggin' cold and snowy in March.  Life seems to suck right now in Oil Country.

The Positives:

OMG!!!1!! moment:  I was staring at the standings waiting for something to jump out at me...and I quickly noticed the Oilers' startling inability to win in regulation has lead to the startling inability to win in OT as well.  Eureeka!  That's it!  This is the positive I've been looking for!  The wonderful LOSER POINT!  Five points in our last 10 from just gettin' er to OT.  Sweet baby jesus, whoda thought losing could somehow be a positive?  The Oilers are still in a play off spot cuz of it.  Another positve?  The Wild, Ducks and Stars, whom the Oilers are in a dog fight with for a ticket to the dance, all have less points in their last 10 games.  The other teams in the mix being, Nashville, Columbus and St. Louis have gathered more points in the last 10...but they're not running away with it either:

TEAM   PTS PTS in L10

Vancouver 81 15

Columbus 78 12

Dallas 74 9

Edmonton 73 11

Nashville 73 15

St. Louis 72 14

Minnesota 72 7

Anaheim 70 9

Yes, due to pitty points, the Oilers have eeked out 11 points in their last 10 games.  It's enough to stay in the mix, for now.   Who saw this coming!?!   By most standards this sort of record isn't great...mediocrity often isn't great by its very definition, but it could be much worse.   We could be Minnesota.  We could be Anaheim.   We could even be Dallas.   It would suck to be Dallas, but they have those sweet "Ice Girls".  Only in Texas could they somehow find a way to make cheerleaders part of hockey.  I love it.  Moving on...

Anyways, yes the team has issues, no question.  Maybe they'll make it, maybe they won't...but HOPEFULLY they can get their shit together real fast and hand it to St. Louis tomorrow night down at the Pharmacy.  Enough of this mediocrity...get to the winnin' already...and DON'T GO TO OT!

I still think this smells like '06.  Just sayin...

Love,

Towel Boy

Seriously...

Marty Fucking Reasoner?

*places head in palm of hands...weeps uncontrollably*

Ilya Kovalchuk To Edmonton (E5)

No lie. Ilya is coming to Edmonton tomorrow night. He's coming with his Atlanta Thrashers in tow to play a hockey match against the Mighty Oilers. I should mention here that he's coming in with his team on a 3 game winning streak and he's also coming in with 12 points in his last 5 games. Great. Just great.

Imagine the scene above, played out 45 to 50 plus times next season: The post goal bench flyby. Imagine your jubilation. Imagine your pride. Imagine Ilya Kovalchuk as an Edmonton Oiler.

*sigh...stares longinly into image dreaming of what could be*


Yes. I want to see Ilya Kovalchuk in Oiler silks next season. It's possible. He is a UFA next summer. If things go south, the Oilers will probably be looking to restructure their salary commitments somewhat and would likely love to find room for a Kovalchukian type of guy. I'm sure the Thrashers would love to resign him too and will probably do everything in their power to do so. Let's just hope Katz does a good sell job on him this summer and seals the deal with rides in his private jet, Rexall One.


I would like to think that if the Oilers strike out with Hossa this summer, they'll likely be looking to add a top gun of some sort to please fans like me who like flashy goal scorers. Ilya is exactly that: flashy, shiny, Russiany and goal scorey...ohh...to dream of what could be.

Oh that's fucking lame!

What the fucking hell just happened?!?

I honestly thought the Oilers were gonna blow thru this game.

After two periods they Oil were massively out hustling, out shooting, out chancing, and generally out awesoming the Habs.

Then the 3rd period happened.

Then OT.

Then a penalty by the new kid.

Then...FUCK!

OILERS VS. HABS - ROUND 2

The Oilers can't let this business about Bob Gainey stepping behind the bench get into their heads when they visit the Bell Centre tonight.  MacT should pay no attention either...no for real...he's safe.  Right?

For the second time in three seasons, Bob's back.  He decided that the shit show Carbo has been running isn't good enough to guarantee a playoff birth this spring.  I guess he thinks he can do better.  I guess the pressure is on to make the dance in the 100th season of the Habs.  

I don't know, maybe he can make it happen.  Maybe Guy just quit.  Maybe the players quit on Guy.  All I know is that coach firings are anyone's guess as to how the team will respond.  My guess is they'll come out swinging.  But like I said...the Oilers can't let this business of Gainey taking over interfere with THEIR compete level.  They need to bring it.

This is the same team that the Oilers mopped the floor with about a month ago putting up a nice healthy 7-2 win.  The Oilers need to channel those memories into this evening's affair and continue the moppage of the Habs in the season series.  The Oilers need wins badly if they want to make the post season.  Both teams have something to prove in that regard, so it should be a feisty affair.

Sounds like B.D.P. (Big Dustin Penner) sits tonight and Row-bert Neelson will draw back into the lineup after sitting and watching from the rafters for four games.  MacT says he can't wait anymore for BDP to get his shit together and, with Bobby heading back in the lineup, there's no room with the newly added depth for everyone.  So BDP sits.  

There's a good back and fourth started by Jonathan Willis over at Oilersnation.com about the surprising merits of BDP on the top line.  It's a good read.  It pretty much boils down to "yeah, BDP isn't the fastest moving guy, he's not the skinniest, and he's not the biggest producer...but he's probably the best option on the top line given what else we've got."  Who saw that coming!?!

Current odds out there on the internets have the Oilers at a 55.2% chance of making the playoffs.  It could go up as high as 70% after tonight if the following longshot happens:

1. The Oilers win.
   
2. The Caps beat the Preds.
3. The B's beat the BJ's.
4. The Sharks beat the Wild.
5. The Blues beat the Stars.

So yeah...if those five events take place tonight.  Big gains in the Odds tonight.  Yeah, I know...good luck right?  Yah.  Nothing better than relying on other teams to improve your playoff hopes.

On a side note:  I wouldn't be too disappointed if somebody decided to cream Plekanic tonight...if you recall it was he who decided to be a dirty shithead and sloughfoot Grebs into the end boards in their meeting at RX1 last month. 

Eneh-wayse...

GOILERS!

Sincerely,

Robert R. TowelBoy