Oilers recall Omark, O'Marra

This is Linus Omark. His first name rhymes with venus and other words. I have a great idea for a nickname, but don't want to share it because it's really good and you'll never guess. :-)

Linus Omark is a breath of fresh air for Oiler fans. Upset when sent out, he said "there's a lot of politics here." Cool. Hockey needs more individuals and fewer of the Crash Davis lines-by-rote.

Omark was quoted in the Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet and in that article dropped some beauties into the punch bowl. Not really, but it's more interesting than anything else you'll read from a hockey player today. One quote I like a lot:

• "Sure I check if they’ve won and if they would call I’d be really, really happy. But my focus for now has to remain here (and on Oklahoma). What I’m missing the most right now is interest in the team and playing in front of a big crowd."

The kid's a hockey player. Here's hoping he busts a gut on the back-check.
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Ryan O'Marra's recall was somewhat predictable. When you have exactly one right-handed center who can penalty-kill at the pro level then he's never out of the conversation. In the fall, I mentioned O'Marra had a good chance to make the team in this post at ON. He in fact did not make the team (Oilers were sweating in the worry room over Jeff Deslauriers getting plucked off waivers and then winning the Stanley).

A few days later, Jason Gregor posted the following in this game day thread for the Joey Moss:

• Lowetide's post regarding Ryan O'Marra starts a debate in the pressbox. Ryan Rishaug politely disagrees. We both agree that O'Marra's conditioning looks questionable.

I think that points out one major reason we need mainstream media. When I wrote he had a chance to make the team, I had no idea his conditioning was so poor. Two msm guys point out his conditioning, that's a big deal. O'Marra has a beauty chance here, but one has to question his dedication based on what Mr Gregor and Mr Rishaug said that night in the pressbox. Disappointing.