LITTLE DID HE KNOW….
Last night’s victory leaves Edmonton solidly in playoff contention (21.6% chance of making the post-season) and that won’t change between now and the deadline Wednesday aft. I believe the Oilers should...
View ArticleUP AROUND THE BEND
The Edmonton Oilers will be making some tough decisions this spring with their restricted free agents. There are some obvious decisions on both sides of the ledger and a few tough ones. Let’s have a...
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HERE COMES THE SUN
The Edmonton Oiler players have lived up to their end of the bargain, now it’s time for management to do their part–add smartly to a solid young team, and if possible acquire players who will stick...
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MOTEL MATCHES
With the Oilers giving it away like motel matches, terms like “must win” and “playoff chances” are put away for another year and we can move on to buyouts, blame and the draft. Again. at game 29, we...
View ArticleOPTIONS
Let me start by saying that I don’t think it’s wise to replace the coach again. A young man like Sam Gagner is on his 4th head coach as it is, adding a 5th so soon would once again push the re-set...
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THE HEART OF THE ORDER
After last week’s state of the union from MacT to season ticket holders, we can make sweeping statements about the coming season with some authority. I kid. There are some things we can probably...
View Article2013 ENTRY DRAFT POST 9: 31-60
Oiler fans have reason to look forward to day 2 (or this season, later that same day) of the entry draft. Second round+ selections over the years include Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson and Jari Kurri. I...
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OPTIONS RE-SET (FORWARDS)
After the events of yesterday (and tomorrow) it’s probably a good idea to re-set the summer and make sure the song remains the same for roster changes. In our conversations leading up to the draft, we...
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OPTIONS RE-SET (DEFENSE)
Oiler fans this morning are experiencing a lot of things: anticipation, hope, fear, anxiety, foreboding. Mostly though, they just want to be assured that this entire thing is headed in a good...
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DEFINING SUMMER
It was an interesting day in Oilers nation on Monday. The new GM introduced the new coach and the verbal sent people in all kinds of directions: the mainstream media appear to feel coach Eakins is...
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BOB GREEN NEW DIRECTOR OF AMATEUR FREE AGENT SCOUTING
The Edmonton Oilers announced Bob Green as the head of amateur scouting this morning in a confusing press release. The release says “he will work closely with the Oilers’ hockey operations department...
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WHAT HUMP?
I think in an organization, every manager needs four or five real key people that allow you to be successful. A head coach and an assistant manager, one or two people running your amateur draft,...
View ArticleDEADLINE TRADE VALUE
Earlier this season, Craig MacTavish dealt Ladislav Smid to Calgary for Laurent Brossoit and Roman Horak. That’s not a trade we can really call “true value” and so it’s very hard to justify. We can...
View ArticleAPRIL 15, 2013
One year ago, the Edmonton Oilers moved on from the Tambellini rain and welcomed Craig MacTavish as General Manager. In the following months, MacTavish traded for David Perron and Ben Scrivens, signed...
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ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DO THAT?
The city of Edmonton waits with anticipation today, as Craig MacTavish steps in front of the bright lights to discuss the latest disaster and defend his team. The gathered media will have groomed their...
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BLOOD ON THE TRACKS
The news hit just before air and I barely had time to post the item (below) you’ve been commenting on today. Although it certainly didn’t come as a major surprise, the timing was curious—there’s a game...
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SING ME BACK HOME
The Edmonton Oilers aren’t a very good hockey team and they’re doing things that hold them back and could be fixed today. Things like Luke Gazdic in the lineup over someone more able to read the...
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RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
In the last several days, media reports (most recent: Bruce Garrioch) have the Oilers shying away from a major deal involving one of their major pieces at the deadline. As we’ve discussed in the past,...
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