I have tried in these years to hate Carolina, but it's hard to find bad things about a place where Nina Simone was born. I have tried to despise that Hurricane team, but Doug Weight was on that team so it isn't a universal hatred.
I've tried to hate Jimmy Rutherford, but the man played for so many bad teams it doesn't seem fair to be angry at him for climbing Mount Stanley on the Oilers' watch.
St. Fernando, Smytty, the Hemmer, the Russian Horcov, the Human Rake, Rollie the Goalie, Radek and Peca and Raffi and Rachel Hunter and on it went. The hired guns (Spacek, Samsonov), Winchester's goal and #10 blocking a shot in Detroit City with his face. You could write 2 Subterranean Homesick Blues with all the news that spring.
They won a pennant, the first in this town in more than 15 years. Bless you boys, wherever you are.
--
The Hurricanes lost in Calgary due to a missed extra point last night and they're pretty awful. Having said that, the Oilers aren't exactly lighting things up over the last month so fans shouldn't be too confident. In their last ten, Edmonton is 4-5-1 and the Hurricanes are 2-7-1 in their last 10 games.
Oilers are due a PP goal and it would be nice to see Paajarvi score a goal. A win is a must, but we've been saying that for awhile now.
My renewal into season tickets came with 2006. A mini-pak that year allowed me to get playoff tix if i put a deposit down on season tix.
ReplyDeleteI did and had the most wondrous spring of recent memory. Being @ Rexall was worth every dollar that spring. Unfortunately, outside of this year it's been pay and pay for less and less results.
I have a hate for Carolina because of Erik Cole and them taking Pitkanen for next to nothing to show for it. Plus the NHL gift of a delayed series start in the final and of course for stealing away Stanley.
As a small shining spot, was a huge Weight fan, but still hurts to see him hoist it and not the Oilers.
LT,
ReplyDeleteGood karma-I was just thinking about Jason Smith's otherworldly goal against the Sharks that spring, while sitting in a soul-crushingly boring meeting today at work. For one brief, shining moment Jason Smith looked like Bobby Orr.
I don't hate the Canes like I hate the Flames or the Leafs or the Habs, all of which have special reasons for being hated; I just hate the Canes because they're not the Oilers. I mean, if you're going to be tribal, you have to go all in. It's a lifestyle, you see.
Bohologo,
ReplyDeleteWell said about the lifestyle. And of course there is always a special level of hate for the Flames, Habs, Leafs and the Dys that never was.
Agreed on the "hard to hate" thought.
ReplyDeleteSomehow though, it comes natural to hate MAB. Game 1, SCF 2006 is a painful memory for me.
Nice post LT. I became an Oilers fan purely by chance that spring, being bored in school here in the UK one day and decided to wiki Wayne Gretzky, as I had always been a casual ice hockey fan and he was the one player I knew the name of. I then decided to check how his old team, the Oilers, were doing - competing for a playoff spot as it so happened. I watched a game, and was hooked, even before they were guaranteed a playoff spot. But man, once they made the playoffs, that was magical. Shame I couldn't (and still can't) watch the games every night because of the 3am start time over here, but nonetheless I watched when I could - except G7 against the Canes, as I had my final school exam the next day. That sucked. Sucked even more that they lost.
ReplyDeleteThe most awesome moments, among many, of that run for me were Hemmer's two goals against the Wings in G6 (ending an 8 year drought of series wins I believe) and Fernando's SH goal against the Canes in G5.
Watching the many "tribute" videos of that run on YouTube still makes me choke up inside, and feel a connection with a city that I've never been within 4000 miles of. Despite the hard times since, that wonderful spring was totally worth it, and hopefully we can all enjoy that again soon.
What I dislike the 'Canes intensely for is ruining the Scorpion's song "Rock You Like a Hurricane" for me, as it will forever be associated in my mind with losing the SCF.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who happily cranked this tune to 11 in the 80's, it irks me that hearing it now brings a side order of downer.
LT: Talking of not being able to watch the games, how well known in Canada is the drama over the NHL's TV deals in Europe? Simply put, NHL up until the end of last season was shown on ESPN America - the coverage wasn't great (i.e. not every game shown) but they did show quite a lot, plus most playoff games, and extra shows such as On The Fly.
ReplyDeleteThe ESPN deal ended over the summer however, with the rights being sold (with much trumpeting by the NHL) to a company called AMI/Medge Consulting... who don't even have a TV Channel!!! Since then, it has been distributed to a few broadcast companies around Europe (though still limited), including some countries with ESPN, but the two biggest "holes" of coverage are the UK and Norway/Sweden. I can't speak for the latter two, but in the UK (not a massive ice hockey country but there is without doubt a sizeable market for it here) a channel called Premier Sports picked up the rights to some of the games, but don't have any extra programming.
Some of you may have seen the NHL.com website trumpeting the news about new European TV deals being the best ever and growing the game - it's pretty much all lies. The coverage has become far worse since last season, which already wasn't the greatest. There is a "movement" of people petitioning the NHL to admit to their massive mistake, and people have spoken to Bettman on his radio show about it, but it doesn't appear to be helping and we Europeans are left largely in the dark. So much for growing the game abroad, NHL.
Have any of you guys heard about this? Not that I expect it to be high on a Canadian's list of worries, but I would hope that some of you would enjoy knowing that your Oilers have a fanbase reaching far and wide, and have some sympathy for us! :)
EasyOil: For a European fan, wouldn't the best way be to subscribe to the NHL Gamecenter Live and be able to watch every game streamed live, in addition to a full catalog of highlights? The quality is pretty decent and will only get better with time.
ReplyDeleteEven with a European TV deal, you can't expect to get anything more than general coverage (i.e. a 'game of the week', maybe a double-header if you're lucky). It certainly wouldn't be enough to satisfy a fan of a specific team.
LT - do you plan on doing a post about the realignment plan? (Or maybe you did and I missed it?) I think a lot of us would be interested in your take on it.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the game - absolutely no reason for the Oilers to lose tonight. One of the leagues worst teams, on the second of a back-to-back, while the Oilers are coming off three full days rest.
Which means it'll be 4-2 Carolina with Skinner getting a hat-trick.
I watched games six and seven in a bar in Seoul full of Canadians. That was pretty fun.
ReplyDeleteIt was recorded from the morning and everyone there had ignored all media during the day so the score wouldn't leak out. And it didn't.
@TorontOil: I don't mean to be an ass, and I don't mean this next comment to come across that way, but: I laugh to myself every single time someone says that. It seems to be an assumption that (a) everybody can afford NHL GameCenter Live, and that (b) everybody can afford a high speed internet connection good enough to run NHL GameCenter Live.
ReplyDeleteNot that I'm living in poverty, far from it, but GameCenter is a luxury I cannot afford on top of all my other bills etc., especially in tough times such as these (although for you guys I know Canada is recession-free, relatively speaking!). I've spoken with many people over here who have been told "Oh, just get GCL", and all of us have the same reaction: "So who's gonna pay for that then?"
I agree that a Euro TV deal couldn't be expected to cover everything, and GCL is a great thing if you can afford it, but a decent Euro TV deal (like we had previously) is better than the crap we're saddled with now!
Easy Oil that is awesome to hear that the Oilers have fans in the UK. Now if we could re-work the words to the Sex PIstols "Anarchy in the UK" to somehow describe Oilers fans, that would totally be cool.
ReplyDeleteI live in BC< so I'm inundated with Canucks games (wretch), but this season I signed up for the NHL Centre Ice package, so now I can watch every Oilers game online. You should check it out. It's worth every penny of the $20/month I pay for it.
Whoops, disregard the last section of my last post EasyOil
ReplyDelete@ EasyOil - - - When I was living in BC like CrazyCoach I was forced to watch the Canucks games (hence why my hate for them) and I could not justify the money for Game Center so I made the decision to get a U.S. dish and pirate the signal.
ReplyDeleteThe initial 1 time outlay of money is a bit of a bugger but after that the joy you receive watching any hockey game you want plus ppv movies and events is well worth it.
Not sure if you can get this in the U.K. but it may be worth checking out.
I should state there is no monthly or event costs with the grey market U.S. dish and initial outlay was about $300 dollars or 150 pounds
ReplyDeleteI'm a mini pack holder and today the Oilers sent me an online survey. Among several questions, it asked which blogs I read and of course I put this one down. Hope it helps.
ReplyDeleteThey also asked if I wanted a mascot or not, and what music I wanted during the game. If we don't win tonight you will have to play some of your Edith Piaf tomorrow.
I can't help but feel that if Jussi Markkanen was the backup in Game 1 instead of Ty Conk, the Oilers would have won the Stanley Cup. Water under the bridge I guess. Hope we get another chance in the next few years.
ReplyDeleteI expect this game to not really ever be in doubt. It doesn't have to be a blowout, but it better be a well deserved win. If not, I 'm pointing the finger at Renney.
ReplyDeleteReasons:
1. Renney has been preaching to the media over the past week that they needed more practice time - well he got what he wished for.
2. Carolina is a bad NHL team - they have 2 forwards, 2 D-men, and 1 Goalie - that's it.
3. Carlina is not physical at all - Oilers have struggled with big, physical teams this year
4. B to B road game for Carolina - Historically something like a 30% winning percentage for the B to B team.
I like Renney. He's done a few goofy things this year, but he has to have this W.
@D,
ReplyDeleteMy sentiments exactly about Conks vs Jussi.
It is one of the few tactical errors we can point the finger at MacT there during the magical run.
My line of thinking is this. If you have to replace Roli and your selection is Jussi, then there is no point in being "nice" to Conks by alternating games between the back ups. Jussi should have been the guy on the bench in the final.
The one small caveat I have there is, maybe the abysmal failure by Conks in relief in game 1 was the deciding factor. However, I don't think it was because a poor game in game 2 by Jussi didn't get him yanked.
Just my thoughts.
What I dislike the 'Canes intensely for is ruining the Scorpion's song "Rock You Like a Hurricane" for me, as it will forever be associated in my mind with losing the SCF
ReplyDeleteThe memory of that loss will be forever burned in my memory. I was watching the game at a friends house with him and his dad. When the final buzzer rang, I stood up and walked to my truck without saying a word. The radio dj's in Grande Prairie are huge Flames homers and thought it would be funny to play "Rock You Like A Hurricane" followed by " You Can't Always Get What you Want" by the Rolling Stones. I will never enjoy either song ever again as result.
captcha- joiler - the Oilers blowing out the Hurricanes tonight
I have a horrible feeling the Oilers will find a way to lose tonight.
ReplyDeleteThey are notorious for getting opponents off the snide.
Haven't won in 7 games? Play the Oilers. Haven't scored yet this season? Play the Oilers. Backup goalie needing a win? Play the Oilers. Former Oiler? Score the game winning goal against your former team.
I hope I am just being pessimistic but the Oilers hate winning.
@Gret99zky
ReplyDeleteI feel the exact same way. How could you not?!
Looking forwards to listening to the game tonight - Its quite enjoyable to have the game on while working on renovations. Hopefully, the Oilers can provide somewhat more enjoy ment tonight than they did on the weekend.
ReplyDeleteThe commentary isn't always insightful, but it sure beats a lot of the broadcast crews on TV.
You have a feeling the Oilers are going to lose tonight because they aren't very good.
ReplyDeleteThe team is being carried by out of their head offensive production by RNH, Eberle, and Smyth. This can't continue and there aren't many likely places for it to be replaced. Combine this with a mediocre defense that is dreadful offensively and you have the recipe for a bad team.
The play of those three guys has covered over some serious deficiencies so far this season. When we started the season I had hope for three good offensive lines. Now we have one and a half, which isn't nearly good enough.
Until we get three good scoring lines the Oilers have little chance to make the playoffs. And since Belanger and Jones are firmly ensconced on the third line the Oilers have little chance of improving.
That spring was something else.
ReplyDeleteBefore the final, I drove back to Toronto from an Edmonton family visit with an Oilers flag on my car window. I remember chatting (i.e. gloating) with a Cheechoo fan in Northern Michigan while filling the gas tank. It nearly got ugly.
Once back in the GTA, it was World Cup of Football fever. Flags from all the participant countries were everywhere. With the Leafs far, far from the picture, hockey was a distant memory for Torontonians enjoying the smog-days of summer.
I kept that flag on the car window for a month after that treacherous game 7 (insult to injury: Italia campione!).
I love that team.
The Whalers made news in the 80's by defeating the early dynasty Oilers 11-0 or something, and it's continued in 2006 with the Hurricanes, who were a team that refused to die after that game 6 beat down.
ReplyDeleteIn the WHA the Whalers were always the champions, never the Oilers.
Last year they went out of their way to beat the Oiler rookies into pulp, I recall.
It might even have been that 7 game road trip when the entire opposition team spent all night running at Peckham. Talk about back handed compliment for Theo, who I think will eventually grow into a feared defenceman around age 27.
The fan expects the Oilers to explode tonight, in a good way. Another 3 point night for RNH/Eberle/Smyth lol.
@crazycoach: no worries, the way you put it was a suggestion to check it out, not an assumption that i could just fork out the money for it :)
ReplyDelete@drop the puck: thanks for the suggestion, but im not sure illegal dishes are possible over here... Someone correct me if i'm wrong though!
For now i'll have to make do with illegal streaming, which, while poor quality, is at least free!
This team can really use Hall and Potter in the lineup. In the case of the latter one has to worry he won't be the same Potter we had early in the season. In any event, a W would be nice as they are going to start losing chances to stay in the playoff chase if they keep losing winnable games. I'm not too optimistic about the playoffs but I think this team is good enough to be a bubble team and having the kids go through a playoff chase, even if they fail, should be a good thing.
ReplyDeleteYea, that 7-1 lashing from Carolina last season was hard to take. Skinner and Staal owned the Oilers that game.
ReplyDeleteLet tonight be our kids' time to shine.
Easy Oil - you need a young 'un, hardly ever miss a 2 or 3am game with his sleeping patterns.
ReplyDeleteI rely on streams from veetle etc, I'm not even sure that Game Centre is even available here, it wasn't at the start of the season.
I really wish the Sabres had outlasted the Canes that spring.
ReplyDeleteFirst , I think we'd have beaten them handily considering the losses they'd had to their D corps. Second, the Buffalo fans deserved a Cup far more if we were still fated to lose. Good hockey city that really would have appreciated it.
Thinking back on how crushing that loss was also always makes me think about what it must have been like for Buffalo fans to lose 4 straight Super Bowls. It's really pretty unfathomable.
I can't believe there hasn't been a great documentary made about that yet.
Khabibulin needs one win to match last seasons record. Yea, they were that bad.
ReplyDeleteI'll always remember MacT from the post-game interview after the Detroit game (excerpted from Ex-Spartan plays gutsy for Oilers):
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't need a lot of explanation, that one. Pretty inspiring act of courage on his part. Just headfirst. His head was right in the shooting lane. He just kind of got his hand up, cushioned the blow.
Initially, I thought it got him in the throat. I was rushing out there, if he was ... I don't want to say--A Life Well Lived, you know.
A guy has spent a lot of years in the trenches who can compose a eulogy faster than the M*A*S*H unit can confirm a pulse.
I also recall a comment from Colby Cosh about the sum total of trench-warfare experience on the Oilers coaching and training staff at some perilous juncture in the third or forth round. On the morning of elimination, you're kissing the Madona's feet to have those old boys and their war stories at your beck and call. This is quickly forgotten the rest of the time when old boys behave like old boys.
I think we burned our trench-hero war-vet lifeline in G6. Carolina looked like the French at Agincourt. What a rout. G7 brings to mind what the battle field would have looked like had the French been able to call for a Mulligan half way through, and realize just how bad it would play in the anals of lore to lose G7 at home in front of friends and family. The British were nearly baked with fatigue at the outset. Anything short of a decisive swing with the humiliation cluestick, the British would have been left with no legs to stand on.
What I recall about G7 is that every time the Oilers touched the puck, the puck looked like it needed a barf bag. As I recall it, someone either needed to kiss the feet of the 5 on 3 Angel of Mercy (why does she hates us?), or inject the puck with a one ounce slug of beta blockers. It was the kind of game where midway through the second period you start to go, "oh no, we've got possession again".
An extremely harsh reality check after the men-against-boys performance at home in G6.
Renney
ReplyDelete-sounds like Eager is in
-if they mentioned the starting goalie I missed it
Easyoil-I'm fairly certain that you could get an illegal dish in Europe(if you were so inclined),just not the same provider that dtp has.
The providers in the US(dishnet,direct tv) "point" there broadcast footprint within the lower 48 states(and some of the signal bleeds into canada).The footprint wouldn't cover Europe.
Dubnyk will start.
ReplyDelete@EasyOil
ReplyDeleteI live in Denmark now, and I subscribe to the NHL Vault. Its only 5 bucks USD per month. The catch is you have to watch the games the next day. Given the 3am start times, that works for me. I watch it when I get home from work the next day and I am super productive at work since I basically can't procrastinate on the internet for an entire day, lest I catch the score. But, quality, guaranteed stream for 5 bucks; I actually think its better than last year's ESPN. Only works for non-live streams.
2006 will be forever imprinted within my memory banks for a few reasons.
ReplyDelete- total amazement at how MacT was able to convert the team to a near perfect version defensively, seemingly overnight, and how every single one of them stepped up and played outside themselves
- Samsonov's goal coming out of the penalty box. Horcoff using his mouth to block a shot.
- Having the good fortune to have my connecting flight into Newark from Toronto delayed a few hours during the break prior to the Cup final, killing time in a bar on the international departures side, and being surrounded by NA sports agents, athletes, and officials thanks to some sports conference happening in TO at the time. I was just drunk enough to ask the familiar looking chap sitting beside me at the bar if he was the guy from King of Queens, only to have him slide me his card and it being Bill Daly. (cue the DUH card). What a great guy. We talked hockey and drank beer for the next 3 hours, got north of the pissed line, and were on the same flight into Newark. During that flight he offered me a primo comp seat in Carolina for game 2 which I could not attend thanks to business. I'll always regret that decision.
- Begging the staff of a New York bar that couldn't have cared less to switch just one of the tv's to OLN or whatever the hell it was so I could indulge myself for game 1. I got a lot of strange looks yelling my face off in a quiet NY bar for those first 3 goals.
- Being back in Sask to kick off the annual boys fishing/golfing trip and 3 of us set down in a near empty bar in Waskesiu at the start of an amazing game three...a 200" HD version miraculously, drinking and yelling our faces off, barely noticing that by the start of the third period the bar was packed and we were surrounded by early 20's types, locals, employees of the park and various businesses, and that 80% of them were friendly and female.
I believe I know what heaven looks and feels like now. :)
Yeah, 2006 was an amazing run for a whole lot of reasons and I want my 2006 life back.
I wonder if they win game 7, does history play out the same so that we have Hall, RNH etc....more than likely because Pronger, Spacek, Samsonov, Peca are all goners anyway, cup or not.
ReplyDeleteGame 7 - I had 3 siblings (2 from out of town)come to my house not to watch the game necessarily but to watch yours truly, watch the game. I was going to be their entertainment. Because of that, I wasn't able to be as "animated" as I would have been. The dynamic changed at my place. I believe the Oilers lost because of that, I ruined the run....I apologize to all...LOL. The giant Oiler flag I had in my large window was ripped down when that empty netter went in.
I don't want to talk about it.
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell, Jake.
ReplyDeleteWhat. The. Hell.
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ReplyDeleteThe run was great until we all fell off the magical flying carpet.
ReplyDeleteSo many things had to go right for the Oilers to get to game 7 that I don't know if I'd believe it without having seen it with my own eyes.
Ribs?
ReplyDelete@ Jake70:
ReplyDeleteAre you sure it was your fault?Because I have been blaming my wife for that Game 7 loss for quite a few years now.
It's all your fault, Jake (kidding).
ReplyDeleteWon't be able to watch the game tonight as I'm heading to CN Centre to watch Marincin as the Cougs take on the Winterhawks.
ReplyDeleteAny Oilers prospects playing for Portland? Ty Rattie got three last night, but so did Marincin.
It was honestly traumatic to see the Oil lose G7 and I had blocked a lot of it out until last year when CBC replayed it and I watched it again.
ReplyDeleteAs for tonight, no good can come from this game. The Oilers Have to win and even in victory they had better be really impressive.
And, yes, good call by SK because Renney's been talking about needing practice time and now he's had it so let's see how that works.
Hey LT want to come to the game tonight?
ReplyDeleteJames Scott: I can't go tonight but that's a very generous offer. (under the weather a little and will probably give whatever I have to everyone in vicinity).
ReplyDeleteNice break before this game, so I hope the guys banged up are back to normal and the guys coming off injuries are a little better.
ReplyDeleteLet's beat these guys.
They shown the '06 SCF's on the NHL Network a few times but I can't bring myself to watch.
ReplyDeleteMacT did a beautiful coaching job during the playoffs but I'll never get over his alternating the back-ups for the sake of it. Jussi was the guy and he should have been dressed
every game. Unforgivable mistake by the Head Coach.
I agree with Dennis and SK, this is a very important game tonight that the team needs to win and look impressive doing it. They've been very inconsistent of late and they need to reverse that trend now.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete2006
ReplyDeleteI spent the year traveling around Asia and had to wake up at 5am to listen to games on 630 Ched. I remember knocking on the windows of the internet cafes to wake up the employees (who often live in the businesses in Thailand). I'd grab some ice cold beers at the 24/7 7/11 and be yelling and cheering in front of the computer all by myself until 8 am when I'd go for breakfast half drunk.
My fiance, god bless her, allowed us to come back from the trip early to experience the finals at home. I made it to one home game and many of the festivities on Whyte Ave.
I'll never forget G7. Crushing.
I still don't get how Vancouver fans rioted after their loss.
I remember seeing tears in the place I was at after Edmonton's G7. I don't know if I had it in me to even jaywalk, after that game. I felt so gutted.
But we were lucky to experience it. Magical. And I believe it created a new generation of Oilers fans. Ones too young to remember the 80's. I think this blog and others gained much of their initial popularity due to that run.
P.S.- Please come back Covered In Oil! Man that blog was gold. With all due respect to Wayne, it was easily the funniest hockey blog out there. I think there should be a petition to get Chris and Mike out of retirement.
06' was about what most Stanley Cup playoffs are about.
ReplyDeleteAttrition.
Like cf14, I was cheering hard for the Sabres to win the EC because they were 12 deep into their Dmen to find 6 healthy ones, and half the ones on the ice were on one leg.
CAR pulling it off in G7 of the ECF was a big disappointment. The Oilers would have rode over BUF in no time.
It also reminds me of what we were talking about the other day, Messier in the 90 playoffs.
Chicago was up 2-1 and so Messier won game 3 himself and basically rendered their best player (Savard) useless with a cheap shot that concussed Savard badly.
Attrition.
Last year the body count was not too high, but BOS was beating on VAN every chance they had.
VAN tried to take the high road and rely on their PP, but its the SCF and the whistles only went when a scoring chance was affected and if you couldn't give back what the other team was dishing, well, that's your problem.
That's why the Stanley Cup Playoffs are so compelling. Its not who has the best team, its who has the best team left standing after 23+ games played at intensity and physicality not seen in the regular season.
Its about who has the will to outlast and punish the other team for just being on the same ice.
Its also about Bergeron crashing his own goalie because he has a $0.10 head when it comes to defense.
Attrition.
Ben: That's how it was for me too. I was absolutely devastated, worst thing since blue Monday. I remember turning the sound down, couldn't even hear it.
ReplyDeleteIn the third period my wife sat beside me and just talked about stuff, you know. Not hockey, just kids and life and what we were gonna do. Man. I don't know if I'll ever get over that damn game.
And really it was game one that we should focus on. That was a knife to the heart, just a fricking vicious piece of work.
Hey LT,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the great memories from 2006. It was an incredible spring, save for game 7.
I'll add in my two cents worth of '06 story: I was in Nanjing, China for game 7. Listening to it online in an internet cafe surrounded by young Chinese university students, many of them playing video games or chatting online. I can still remember the pain and sadness in Rod's voice as he described the final minutes, the game slipping away, the magic flickering out...As I sat in the cafe after the game, numb, some tears welling in the eyes, I just couldn't believe we had lost.
I stepped out into the hot sun of a Nanjing summer. It was a very odd feeling- this huge, buzzing city going about its business, a regular morning, while a world away a fan base had just been crushed. I was lucky to be in an environment where no one cared about hockey. It was easier to forget about the loss that way, and I had a great time that summer- speaking as much Chinese as possible, meeting new friends, going to different cities and historical sites, etc.
The relentless, fascinating energy of China allowed me to get over the loss in an easier way. It was as if the cup run had all been some kind of odd dream from a world a lifetime away. But upon my return to Canada, and the resumption of the '07 season, it all came back again.
But it is a good lesson- there is nothing like travel, or studying abroad, to show you how limited your existence is, how small your concerns truly are, and how many different ways there are of being alive in this world.
Despite how much we worry about the oilers, they are only a small part of this huge universe. Although, for many of us, they can seem to be far too large for their own good.
Hopefully the oilers show up tonight.
Anyone have a link? Trying to tune in from Mexico.
ReplyDeleteWhitney playing on transplanted legs from a goat or something.
ReplyDelete06 had every possible break for CAR go their way.
ReplyDeleteKoivu injured vs Habs, they won 4-2
Buf was missing 4 out of their top 6 defensemen if I remember correctly. Canes won in 7.
EDM had their best player injured in G1 of the finals. And the backup got lit up in game 2 before the team could stop its head from spinning.
CAR were handed the cup. They got ALL the breaks.
My experience with 2006 was similar to most: continual, building elation followed by crushing disappointment. It only got worse though as two of my asshat friends took every opportunity for the next couple months to rub it in that my team had failed at the last moment.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, karma's a bitch and they got repaid in full. One of them is a Sens fan and the other supports the Flyers.
yup here we go.
ReplyDeleteready to let Car off the snide:(
oilers hate to win.
Oh Smyth. Yikes.
ReplyDeleteIntersting call. It's a "kicking motion" but not an intentional kicking.
ReplyDeleteMens rea matters not with kicking the puck, apparently.
ReplyDeleteI may be new to soccer, but is not the correct call here "GOALGOALGOALGOALGOAL!!!"
ReplyDeleteThat was pretty intentional. If you watched his face instead of the puck, you see him look down at the puck and swing his leg.
ReplyDeleteHow is Wreck'um a +8? Clearly I haven't been able to watch enough Oiler hockey this year and was trusting the Oilogosphere's judgement on him.
ReplyDeleteQuite right danny.
ReplyDeleteDidn't see that at first.
ReplyDeleteGreat interview with Jones there. Wonder what kind of player he'll be once he hits puberty.
ReplyDeletePlease tell me that's Paajarvi's goal. Please.
Refs must be worried about this.
ReplyDeleteBelanger's skate is a goal scoring machine.
ReplyDeleteI like that little opportunistic cram by MPS
ReplyDeletePretty confidant Belanger doesn't touch puck. He just knocks Ward's stick which allows the puck to carom into the net.
ReplyDeletePaajarvi's goal by my perspective.
P
ReplyDeleteR
V
!
That should open the flood gates.
Nice move from behind the net regardless of how it went it.
MPS gets credit for Belanger's skate's goal.
ReplyDeleteDid they say Staal won't be in CAR for long earlier? Or we're they talking about someone else?
ReplyDeleteTlusty grew up so poor his family had to sell a vowel. True story.
ReplyDeleteTlusty doesn't show very good instincts on the interwebs either.
ReplyDeleteDanny,
ReplyDeleteI think that was Kaberle they were talking about. Good luck trading him.
MPS gets credit for Belanger's skate's goal.
ReplyDeleteBelanger kicked Ward's stick, never touched the puck.
Watching the CAR feed, not sure what TSN is showing.
Jones stole 94s flow, and apparently his dekes too
ReplyDeleteLinesmen really earning their salaries tonight.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a game between two last place teams.
ReplyDeleteHemsky's the rat.
ReplyDeleteThat stanchion will find a zamboni parked behind his car tonight.
ReplyDeleteit's bounces like....leads to excessive drinking.
ReplyDeleteThere's approximately 5 billion years left until our sun dies.
ReplyDeleteImagine how many 1st overall draft picks we can get by then.
And Danny for the win.
ReplyDeleteWell, Petry can't carry his pairing. Smytty doesn't make 5 errors like that all year. Peckham with a cracking hit on Tlusty and then someone got a nice hit on the filthy Russian.
The Hemmer line seems to have some jump, I think RNH might want to make like Seguin and sleep in.
FSN with a promo for the Winter Classic with various hockey fans in different situations singing "..the best game you can name, is the Winter Classic game..."
ReplyDeleteGood for Stomping Tom.
Those royalties will buy some good whiskey.
Or a lot of below average whiskey.
Maybe the Oilers will try to take it to the opposition instead of waiting to see what they are gonna do.
ReplyDeletePractice makes....err...makes...er?
Why hasn't an Edmonton MSM asked about why Whitney is out there one one leg?
ReplyDeleteIts pretty obvious he's not ready.
If he passed Renney's timed skating test then his baseline was done drunk with dull skates on snowy ice.
Woodguy, which would you prefer: one-legged Whitney or Plante/Teubert? That's probably a hard call.
ReplyDeleteSaying Staal vs 93 was the matchup CAR wants was
ReplyDeleteA) Cuthbert forgetting the Oilers have last change
B) TSN acknowledging the fact that Renney may or may not realize the Oilers have last change
I'm getting pretty tired of watch Sutton take selfish boarding/roughing etc. penalties.
ReplyDeleteWoodguy, which would you prefer: one-legged Whitney or Plante/Teubert? That's probably a hard call.
ReplyDeleteTeubert because Renney doesn't expect him to be more than Tuebert.
Whitney is given ice time based on his history and he's not play like Whitney right now.
Rose, Sutter, Nodl (awesome name, no need to buy a vowel) are the best line on the ice, by far.
ReplyDeleteWG: your case was just made by 6 on that PP. Good call.
ReplyDeleteApparently somebody kicked the ref's puppy on the way into the rink.
ReplyDeleteDid 5 come back from that hit?
ReplyDeleteYes, he's been out there a couple shifts and unlike Staal, he didn't take an unsportsmanlike penalty for chirping about the knee-on-knee attempt.
ReplyDeleteI think maybe coach Renney is a little rusty tonight. God what a terrible effort.
ReplyDeleteOilers D getting beat all over the place.
ReplyDeletethis game is barf.
ReplyDeleteFUCK ME does this team look bad!
ReplyDeleteYou know, I was actually looking forward (in the back of my mind) to an oilers playoff race this year.
ReplyDeletesigh.
You can't blame Renney if the trainer forgets to put epinephrine in the water bottles. Of course the team will all look like they are still in their afternoon nap.
ReplyDeleteHemmer got the memo...shooting from all over...good to see.
ReplyDeletePoor Oilers, it's obvious they are tired.
ReplyDeletelolz?
ReplyDeleteUgh this is the worst game I've seen. Terrible effort and terrible coaching. Even with the Eager goal.
ReplyDeletePRV with the bad angle shot? Relatively speaking... Yes.
ReplyDeleteI never thought i would think this...but I can't wait for Barker to come back.
ReplyDeleteOh, and send Petry with Hemsky.
ReplyDeleteEvery year for the past ten or more, the Oilers play a bad stretch for two weeks around Christmas. Looks like they are getting an early start this year.
ReplyDeleteOilers will come out playing hard in the third.
ReplyDeleteCanes playing that man to man defence that stymies the youthful idiots err...Oilers tonight.
The problem isn't Petry. It is the one legged player they are playing with him.
ReplyDeleteWhitney should be on the 3rd pairing right now. Peckham was doing better with Petry one the second pairing when he was there.
We are defending like a pee wee team.
ReplyDeleteKris,
ReplyDeleteLooks like you were right.
I still think Belanger just kicked the stick.
5v5: EDM 2, CAR 1
5v4 EDM -1/2, CAR 2/2
Oilers had some of the best special teams in the NHL for the first 2 months.
Something's gone into to toilet.
Too much tape on RNH?
The diamond not being the hardest substance?
Children, promote medical enhanced sex for your parents, and they will buy you cool headphones. - Cialis.
ReplyDeletethat beauty start to the season is becoming a distant memory.
ReplyDeletereality is comin to town.
unmeni: the way we play year after year.
Whatever Oilers problems, they're not RNH or Hall.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Albowing, on the very first fire Renney NOW! post I've seen on Lowetide.
Looks like Hall was pretty important to the success of the power play.
ReplyDeleteKate Bierness is pretty hot.
ReplyDeleteDid I mention the Oilers early season success was based almost entirely on unsustainable save percentages?
ReplyDeleteI thought I did.
Thanks Hunter ;) Somebody has to lead the way
ReplyDeleteNot as hot as Natasha Staniszewski though.
ReplyDeleteDSF you say a lot of shit, like Shirokov being awesome, Edler winning the Norris, etc etc
ReplyDeletePeople likely just tuned whatever Victory you're trying to claim out long before you purged it.
Skinner is one hell of a hockey player.
ReplyDeleteAndy MF Sutton playing first pair with 77.
ReplyDeleteAttrition.
And lack of planning.
DSF is one hell of a lot of hot wind.
ReplyDeletepreftie - yeah, I said it
well, the lipstick just came off the pig.
ReplyDelete**** me, i saw this coming. i should have not watched.
Hall was recommended to miss the season for shoulder surgery, he chose not get it done..............
ReplyDeleteEraczr... Source?
ReplyDeletelol DSF claiming credit for something the entire blogosphere (including this blog) was saying.
ReplyDelete@ Danny.
ReplyDeleteEdler is on pace for a 61 point season...despite Vancouver's lethargic start.
He just turned 25.
Tom Gilbert is 28...Smid is two months older than Edler.
I guess if you don't think a 25 year old defenseman who is likely to score nearly 70 points and is just entering his prime is worthy of derision, fill yer boots.
Bottom line is Dubnyk is batting .783 tonight and Khabibulin's numbers are in freefall.
Your mileage may vary.
Smarmy, problem being, we aren't a part of the Canucks blogosphere.
ReplyDeleteI'm taking a break from watching the game. It is becoming too annoying for me.
ReplyDeleteWhitney is the most aggravating. He clearly can't skate worth a damn and just looks horrible out there. Messed up the powerplays, couldn't skate to an easy puck that led to a short handed goal...I think I saw him lose a race to an icing as well. ARgghH!
What's with Smyth? Was he running stairs with Gilbert before the game?
Hemsky's shooting...Yay?
on the plus side, if Sutton gets suspended again, he can't take any more penalties from the pressbox.
ReplyDeleteFresh Oil playing a losing team on the back side of a double header - at HOME - and this is the effort they give their fans? This team should be bag skated into the ice tomorrow morning.
ReplyDeleteMiss Hall's energy level big time.
I cannot divulge that, hoever those are the facts. Hence the 7 /10 to 2 /4 week confusion....When he comes back , he will be very Hemsky like ,shall we say.........
ReplyDeleteWhen does Potter come back? I think they are missing him the most.
ReplyDeleteAfter 50 minutes, it's a clear verdict: the worst game of the year. Both in terms of defensive coverage but also, perhaps more importantly, in terms of sheer effort. The team has shown no compete level. No energy. No emotion.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to the gritty, tight-checking intensity of october?
This has been by far the most dispiriting game of the season to watch. Before tonight, I still had faith we could make the second season. But against one of the worst teams in the league, on the second night of a back to back, in your own building...if you can't even compete in this game, you don't deserve to be called a playoff team.
Eraczvzczvr..
ReplyDeleteYeah ok. Thanks for sharing bro.
I would like for the Oilers to somehow win this game tonight and get bagskated tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteInteresting officiating tonight, to say the least.
ReplyDeleteThis game is all-too-familiar of 07-11. Peckham is gross. His +/- is proof of the deceptiveness of that metric. We need Hall and CFP back in a hurry in order to be a viable .500 club. .500 doesn't achieve the playoffs, but it does give fans paying ridiculous ticket prices a hope that they will witness some competition on an average night.
ReplyDeleteFunny how the "miss the season" surgery, was qualified by 7-10 weeks justification.
ReplyDeleteThis does not compute, but thank ou for your expert medical opinion nonetheless.
ratende
Oh my Sutton. Nice to see it be one of the bad guys star players getting rocked.
ReplyDeleteNo problem with Sutton's hit on Skinner.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good hockey play.
Seriously Hemsky? Seriously??
ReplyDeleteI cannot divulge that, hoever those are the facts. Hence the 7 /10 to 2 /4 week confusion....When he comes back , he will be very Hemsky like ,shall we say.........
ReplyDeleteActually a few people who post here are very knowledgeable about this type of injury.
You are very wrong.
You are trolling.
You can go away now.
need to bust a slump?
ReplyDeleteplay the Oilers.
guaranteed.
Sutton knocks out the only exciting player on the ice tonight. keep that head up kid.
ReplyDelete'cidongsm' - medical term for the bug apparently sucking the hockey IQ out of every Oiler player the last 10 games.
Well I'm glad we could help out Kirk Muller.
ReplyDeleteAwful.
I'm not sure where they go from here-we've been bleeding out for the last 10-15 games.
Alright I'm onboard the Fail for Nail or whatever for Dumba...
ReplyDeleteWell, that was fun.
ReplyDeleteSad to say, but I recognize that Oiler team. I was hoping they wouldn't show up this year.
When is Hall back?
A few more efforts like that, and we'll start calling this season the "Brainfart for Reinhart" or some such.
Renney will say the team was terrible and then, business as usual.
ReplyDeleteAt least the Nuge is going to win the Calder.
Let me clarify, first they said 7 to 10 days ,then 2 to 4 weeks was the diagnosis. Sorry for the confusion.
ReplyDeleteI am not really concerned one way or the other if you believe me or not. You will see what i mean when he comes back...........
Smarmy... Whateva fo Dumba
ReplyDeleteSo are the Oilers the worst team in the league. I think they might be.
ReplyDeleteFrom my perspective the underperforming elements seem more sustainable than the overperforming ones.
The plan should be to get as many good players as possible. Instead it seems to be to wait for young players to become better. The problem is that the young players are generally speaking outplaying expectations. I don't see where improvement is going to come from.
This team doesn't have anywhere near enough skill.
His shoulder was recommended to have surgical repair,by people who know a lot more about shoulder injuries than you or I .He chose not to.........it is that simple. Time will tell.......
ReplyDeleteDSF:
ReplyDeleteEdler has 4 points in his last 10 games.
SEVENTY POINTS FOR SURE BRO
Matheson...
ReplyDelete“I can shoot and pass and don’t have any pain ... there’s some discomfort but, for the most part, I’m very happy with how it’s coming along,” said Hall, who skated with the Oilers on Wednesday morning as they prepared for the Carolina Hurricanes.
“I’m supposed to get assessed by the (team) doctors during the game (Wednesday) to see how it is.”
If Hall gets the green light, he could take contact on Thursday, but the Flames game is still a longshot. That would be the low-end of the two-to-four-week prognosis when Colorado Avalanche defenceman Ryan Wilson belted him in Denver on Nov. 26.
With the Oilers having many players suffering major shoulder injuries in recent seasons — Ales Hemsky (two surgeries), Shawn Horcoff and Sheldon Souray — they’re taking their time with Hall. That’s fine with him.
“I’m not rushing back. It only takes one bad play for it to turn bad again,” said Hall, who had scored 18 points in 22 games before he was hurt.
“He’s not coming back sooner than expected. There’s a certain timeline,” said coach Tom Renney.
Slumba for Dumba? Oilers seemingly heading for another winter hibernation....
ReplyDeleteThis team will turn on Hall's return - hopefully fully healed and not for rushed back two-and-out (which I fear).
Positve side = RNHs continued PPG / Calder pace. What a beauty!
LT,
ReplyDeleteWith the benefit of hindsight who would you take first in the 2010 NHL draft?
A . Taylor Hall
B. Tyler Seguin
c. Jeff Skinner
Did anyone listen to Tom Renney's post game comments? What a crock of shit! This guy says the same things post-game after post-game. Sounds like he doesn't give a shit and he obviously doesn't have a clue what this team needs. And again, the mainstream media lobs him softballs in the presser. Just fucking lame!
ReplyDeleteovesivi: what you get when you cross Ovechkin with Dubnyk
Yay Calder
ReplyDeleteYay Draft
Boo Season
Man what a hideous game last night.
ReplyDeleteThe worst part was after 3 days off these guys had zero energy. They looked like the Oilers late last season playing out the string.
Also, our defense is AHL level right now. If Whitney can't play to a NHL level, he shouldn't rush back to play and finish recovering from his injury.
Seems obvious that we need 2-3 more NHL caliber defensemen. Keep Smid and Sutton, deal Gilbert if you can bring back a quality player, deal Peckham, put Whitney back on IR and send the rest down to OKC.
Sadly, Tambellini probably won't even get one.
Malcom: Taylor Hall. Seriously.
ReplyDeleteI started tuning out Renney as soon as he started calling everyone "a good man."
ReplyDeleteHe's full of shit and says a lot that means little.
Never thought the Oilers would fall this far this fast. They had a lot of capital built up with that 9-2-3 start and they survived the road games and came back to Rexall with a homestand platter of meatballs and absolutely shit the bed.
I did not see this coming.
The hair on the turd will come if they get their clocks cleaned on HNIC on Sat night and then everyone has four days to stew about it until they lose 3-1 the following Thursday at Phx.
I guess the positives are that the 3rd and 4th line looked good and if the Oil are getting beat because the top six is shit then we know that's something that won't keep happening. The Cgy approach to 93 on the PP seems to be one emulated by car and will probably be the norm now so that means a change for the PP and off the bat means the D will have a great lane to shoot given a high PKer will be drifting towards 93 at all times.
94's tired and that's forcing him into soft plays.
What really worries me is the PK's back to giving up a goal a game. I can't hold with that fuckery.