Sometimes a Man is a Used Car

Although he never inspired me, you have to feel for Colin Fraser. No return policy, please.

Smyth Sounds Off… Gets Traded

What a Day!

The Oilers honestly look like they were going to stand pat on this one. But the fact that the Ryan Smyth deal publicly fell through on the Flames when the trade was nixed by 94 who was reported to have requested passage back to Edmonton, well that sweetened the pot, didn’t it?

I said it back on the 23rd

“Chris Pronger and Michael Peca were both in, and they did play integral roles in that run, you can check out the rest of the videos on that NsOilFan pack to see more of what they and the other cogs in that machine contributed. It wouldn’t have been hard to pitch. “We have good young players, we add you guys and then a few more pieces at the deadline and we will surprise everybody”. Pronger knows NHL talent, Peca knows NHL talent… why? Because they are NHL talent (most scouts are former players) I don’t need to illustrate this to you.

Do you think that Pronger thought that his wife would like to live in the frozen tundra of Edmonton? Do you think that Michael Peca’s long commute had anything to do with you butt-holes who verbally rape this current roster? I’m sorry, but the lack of faith in this organization is starting to drive me nuts.

This team is going places, folks, and within two years? That’s a guarantee…“

This is but a cataylst, and exactly what I have been thinking the Oilers were gunning for. Smyth will come in cheap, and the Oilers can begin to take the other pieces they want to at any time here.

Nouveau Ninty-Foe

BEATING YOU WITH SKILL

KICKING YOUR ASS

Listen, Vancouver has admittedly been my second team for some years, ’94 was a year which I regret but don’t because Kirk McLean stands as one of my favorite goalies all-time. I feel like I’m admitting to cheating, but that’s ridiculous, and it would be foolhardy to critisice because it got me the title for the finals this year: Nouveau Ninety-Foe.

Mike Richter was a veteran goalie at the top of his game fighting for his first ever championship. He played incredible, and desperate, and should have been the biggest factor in that series: too bad the NHL was. The Canucks lost a tight series despite a red-hot offense and incredible will and determination.

Perhaps management felt a curse coming on, because entering the 40th year of their existence the Vancouver Canucks loaded a team up top to bottom with bonafide NHLers and gave it the depth to survive the harshest injury bug. Too bad that the increase in talent has been matched in goal by Tim Thomas, who I have to admit is my Nouveau McLean. His demeanour, intellegence both on and off the ice, as well as incredible presence (off and on) and on and on. He’s a quality goaltender and person, and at his age… Well I’m sorry, I wasn’t rooting for Raymond Bourque, but Thomas has my attention because I think this performance might be one of those ones for the history books.

Now we all get to poke Canuck fans with sticks.

This is going to be great, even better if it happens in six!

Two Years Max, Proof Enclosed

♦ Mike Sciarpelletti
Thanks, Internet!

These playoffs have been f-ing ridiculous. I have had a wide spectrum of emotions from laughter that made me soil my undergarments to moves so ridiculous that all Oiler fans must be salivating at the thought of Jordan Eberle’s first playoff game.

If you’ve read me for awhile, you know that I try to express my own opinions on hockey while supporting them with some solid backup evidence. When I use terms like Oilers hockey I feel like I can show you exactly what I mean. The internet is kind of wonderful that way.

Now some of the harsher critics of this club (ie. those that root for that mess of an orginization south of Edmonton) claim that the Oilers current developmental path is going to take them nowhere. Well, thanks to the stylings of one NsOilFan on YouTube, I can now defeat you, logically.

Any sensible person talking about the Oilers wanting to build a winner can at least look at the 2006 edition of the Edmonton Oilers and take some notes, but has anyone ever put it to you this simply? They took a bunch of special young players and a couple of unknowns and paired them with the most obvious power-play game-plan of all time: put someone with a really really hard shot on the blue and pair him up with one of the most annoying players to enter your crease of all time.

I’m glad to see Bobby Ryan score a nice goal like the aforelinked (I’m coining it) video, as it also illustrates to me what our secondary (and perhaps even third-ary) scoring will be doing to the opposition game in and game out in exactly two years. Go ahead and look at the FA list that year, and don’t tell me that no one wants to be a part of that.

Chris Pronger and Michael Peca were both in, and they did play integral roles in that run, you can check out the rest of the videos on that NsOilFan pack to see more of what they and the other cogs in that machine contributed. It wouldn’t have been hard to pitch. “We have good young players, we add you guys and then a few more pieces at the deadline and we will surprise everybody”. Pronger knows NHL talent, Peca knows NHL talent… why? Because they are NHL talent (most scouts are former players) I don’t need to illustrate this to you.

Do you think that Pronger thought that his wife would like to live in the frozen tundra of Edmonton? Do you think that Michael Peca’s long commute had anything to do with you butt-holes who verbally rape this current roster? I’m sorry, but the lack of faith in this organization is starting to drive me nuts.

This team is going places, folks, and within two years? That’s a guarantee…

Back in ’06 everybody had a role, and when players like Pisani started doing insane things, teams like the Red Wings started to look like fodder. High powered youth combined with a gritty veteran presence can do wonderful things, and I’m especially happy to see that we have loaded up on the young talent leading in to the next couple of years. Tambellini will have a lot of options, especially with the Souray card to play and the fact that Andrew Cogliano could become expendable with the drafting of one RNH.

In the current (and slightly insane) trade market I won’t even begin to speculate.

With the same confidence that I had when I predicted that the Oilers would beat the President’s Trophy winners (and when asked about the next one stated it would be hilarious if the Oilers shut them out) I can easily say that if the Oilers decided to acquire some pieces this year they would either just barely miss the playoffs or make them and perhaps even make some noise in the process. That second year though, will be the year that the Oiler fan finds the most sweet redemption.

Personally, I doubt that UFA signings will be happening this off-season. At best, it will be additional help on the farm. People talk a lot about grooming talent and I think they always miss one key point. You need to be on a team that is succeeding to truly absorb something from it. The Oilers might have really messed with OKC’s Calder chances with some last season roster fudging, players just don’t really keen on stepping up (the current roster’s “effect”).

Slam me all you will, but if you don’t see the Oilers lining up RPH, Eberle, and Hall, you don’t even belong amongst the fans anymore. Idelogically, this team is showing its cards in spades. Players in the NHL don’t need coaches, for the most part they know what they should be doing. They can play the game as well as anybody because they are in the top league in the world, correct? Getting a guy like Tom Renney is a stroke of brilliance, because while has is a proven youth groomer (WJC), he is an encourager and positive influence (and also one of the nicest bench bosses in the league).

If you don’t think that the Oilers are perhaps going the way of the 2006 model, I understand your view, but secondary scoring from NPH, Eberle, and Hall, backing up a line that could perhaps have a worthy centre for Hemsky along with Paajarvi. Anything is possible for the roster, and that is the truly exciting part.

But when this team is put together, and put together right, I guranttee you they will be the talk of the whole league. Highlight reels will be rife with the blue and orange, and the Oilers will have their heyday.

Just a couple more years, my weary friends, just a couple more years…

Where Did You Guys Go? or I Mention ’06 Again…
Much like the 2010-2011 Oilers most of the Oilverse staff is out with injury (both real and imagined for the sake of having a longer off-season). We take a great deal of pride in this team, and I have always demanded that this blog be as Oilers-centric as possible. If you want to read bad news about the team, you needn’t look far, and I feel redundant telling you what people who claim to be intelligent hockey analysts tell you.

With the draft coming up, you can expect a few more clips. No one can doubt that the Oilers have some huge holes to plug. If fantastical schemes like drafting obscure Swiss netminder Benjamin Conz and somehow succeeding prove to be too stupid for the Oilers to gamble on we may see the Oil leave said holes unplugged as well (the ’06 Oilers had no goalie until the playoffs, none).

So stay faithful, Oil Country, your time is coming soon…

I’m willing to stake my meaningless reputation on it.

Game #78 Preview

It’s been an odd year for hockey, and specifically for an Oiler fan I’d go so far as to say one of the more depressing in recent years. After meticulously crafting young and mailable hockey minds Tom Renney has lost the brunt of his offense force along with Ryan Whitney, his best defense-men (who one cannot lie was apparently the whole damn defense).

The Oilers are 0-7-3 in their last ten. Vancouver is 9-10 and just locked up the President’s Trophy.

If you are following me on Twitter, you probably think I’m crazy. But, it’s been a crazy year.

I think I’ll just come out and say it. I honestly think the Oilers are going to win a wild one in Vancouver, because the fans have been embarrassed a little too much this year. The fact that fans of Toronto and Calgary had a shot at seeing post-game hockey this season made being a part of the hockey loving community at large mostly bothersome.

The other day I was speaking with a friend, he mentioned the aforementioned 76 point disparity between our respective teams. He then went to his basement to fetch some tools. Enjoying our apparent newfound obsession with all things obvious, I walked down and said “Yup, this is where the Oilers are”.

It’s fine, yuck it up. I’ll make a big prediction, Toronto’s motley crew almost making the playoffs means the year is crazy enough for it to happen. The Oilers are going to walk into Vancouver and defeat the Canucks. They did it against Detroit… though they lost even more good players since then and have seemingly just given up on playing smart hockey. However, I think another solid performance from Devan Dubnyk could leave room for anything to happen. Even something crazy, unexpected.

In case you non-Oilers fans weren’t aware, during our tired “wasted years” we have always had moments that will last us a lifetime.

So go ahead, yuck it up in the comments box, Oilers hockey is so bad that being a new Oilers blog on the block has led us to recieve none. Oilers hockey is not interesting, passion wanes a bit… you get tired. But we watch the games, we sit and watch and wait. This is not fun for us, but tommorow we will have a laugh.

Just wait and see…

Game #75 Preview

 

vs.

Mike Sciarpelletti ♦
Wow…
Hockey so uninspiring that it actually costs us a game’s worth of articles. With the lack of discussion on the Oilverse comments, this must be true of our readers as well. The Oilers season has ceased to be fun. The St. Louis Blues stomped the Oilers, who are ready to snatch up yet another first overall selection in this year’s draft.

Crest on the Front
Tonight is about pride. The Oilers have every excuse to continue playing poorly, but now is the time to take some pride in the jersey. I’m sorry, but as an Oilers fan losing to the Flames is absolutely unacceptable tonight. They are still our provincial rival, and helping dash their playoff hopes would be bittersweet justice for Oilers fans like this observer who demands so little of this team.

Will this be a challenge? Certainly, fortuitous as my opening lines might seem, the Oil are in it knee-deep against Calgary… why? Because these are the Oilers opening lines:

Eberle – VandeVelde - Hartikainen
Paajarvi - Cogliano - Omark
Jones – O’Marra - Reddox
Jacques – Fraser – MacIntyre

It must be tough to be Tom Renney nowadays, standing down the never ending barrage of Oilers related questions and responding with the dignity and grace a franchise of this stature deserves:

“We know we’ve got a formidable opponent tonight and we’re going to have to make sure we can play to our depth as well to have success,” Renney said to oilers.com. “So we put some combinations together that we think will help us do that and also afford guys the opportunity to play and experience the NHL so we can have a good look at them.”

This team of inexperienced NHLers will be going against some of the more seasoned talent of the Western Conference. One thing I think most people don’t understand about the NHL is this: it’s the best hockey league in the world. The pace they play as it is incredible, team-work is absolutely essential in this league. Hot streaks such as the one that the Flames experienced coming out of Christmas are not to suggest improvements on the part of the Flames but merely achieving the desired result. That’s it.

In the case of the Oilers, however, the opposite is true, and equally frustrating is the fact that the pieces we are trying to develop are not getting a fair shot. To make an NHL player he needs to be playing on an NHL team, and this most certainly is an AHL franchise in Oilers disguise.

But that is why tonight could be so sweet! The worst detractor of the Oilers fan is our natural born enemy, and consequentially Flames fans have had their fair share of “nyah nyah nyahs” from atop the NHL standing board’s black line of death.

One can surmise that the Oilers are in it to win it, but the skill disparity is very apparent. What is not certain is to what extent the Oilers are willing to take this drive to win. They will be beat up physically, will likely surrender the first goal (which is poison to this team’s confidence).

They will need to figure out a way to work with their lack of speed while actually maintaining poise in every aspect of the game.

You might ask “do you not mean poise in the defence zone?”, to which I would respond not at all. The Oilers cannot threaten a retreating defence with an attack because they do not have the foot speed. They cannot backcheck fast enough to stop a fast rush and cannot risk anything.

This reserved style usually works for a while, but they often end up giving up chances whenever they do get a chance (which is rarely) because they are not fast enough. Redundancy! It has definitely been the word of the year in terms of the problems facing the team. But injuries are injuries, and young team is young team.

I refuse to just call it a year as a fan, so let’s go win tonight boys!

Oilverse Prediction
1-0 is the only way this Oilers team would win. We need a goalie!

Depleted Oilers leave Nashville singin’ the blues

 Bobby Roy♦

Edmonton drops seventh straight

Without seven of their regular starters playing against a desperate Nashville team in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race, the Oilers put up a fight, but it wasn’t enough Tuesday night during a 3-1 loss in the Music City.

Prior to Tuesday night’s game Nashville sat tied with Chicago in seventh spot, but with the victory over the Oilers they moved into sixth spot with 88 points.

For the Oilers, it was  another night where there were positives from the mostly young and unexperienced team, but for the most part the Oilers didn’t really give Nashville much of a test.

The Preds got off to a quick start with a beautiful tic-tac-toe play with Martin Erat capping the play with his 15 goal on the season at the 4:08 mark of the first period.  Joel Ward started the play by dishing it off to David Legwand, who garnered the first star of the night with a two-point effort.

The Preds added to their lead at the 7:40 mark of the first with a powerplay goal via Patric Hornquist’s 19 marker on the year. Sergei Kostitsyn and Ryan Suter added assists on the play.

Halfway through the period the Oilers could only muster one shot on Pekke Rinne, which didn’t give them much hope heading into the second period. By the end of the first the Preds had 15 shots to the Oilers five.

The Predators added to their two-goal lead with Legwand’s 14 goal of the year at the seven minute mark of the second period.

Down 3-0 the Oilers’ Jordan Eberle gave his team some hope with his 17 goal of the year at the 9:34 mark. Eberle’s goal was a powerplay marker for the Oilers with Andrew Cogliano and Jim Vandermeer assisting on it.

The Oilers were only able to throw seven shots on Rinne in the second, but Nashville didn’t do too much better with only five shots on Devan Dubnyk.

The third period didn’t see any scoring for either team, but with less than a minute later the Oilers’ Kurtis Foster was leveled by Legwand leaving Foster on the ice for several minutes before he was helped off the ice.

Foster had trouble getting off the ice and left for the remainder of the game. His status is uncertain.

With the loss the Oilers remain on the basement floor of the NHL with 56 points, seven better than the Ottawa Senators.

Dubnyk stopped 27 of the 30 shots thrown his way while Rinne stopped 19 of 20.

Next up for the Oilers are the also golf course bound St. Louis Blues on Thursday night in St. Louis at 6 p.m. Mountain time.

Game #73 Preview

                 vs.

Mike Sciarpelletti ♦

Predator and Prey
There haven’t been too many positives to draw on in the recent Oiler outings, including the most recent which saw them fall to what was supposed to be an inept Colorado Avalanche team.

Even with the injuries working against them, the Oil need to come out to win and have not been able to do so even against teams languishing with them in the Western Conference basement.

Nashville, meanwhile, had every excuse to give up after their season veered off of the tracks and out of playoff contention. Barry Trotz deserves high praise for once again getting the most he can out of his team. He is certainly a perennial Jack Adams candidate and is easily the most underrated coach in the National Hockey League.

The Preds have had a schedule that has seen them play against most of their competition for the final playoff spots, and they have been incredibly successful. They seem to have lost their primary scoring but with rookies like fourth-generation NHLer Blake Gefforion picking up the slack the Preds have found a way.

Meanwhile the Oilers have only won once since Taylor Hall went down and are seemingly stringing out the remainder of the season. If anything, these young prospects that are up from OKC should be taking notes on what it takes to win from the Preds.

There really isn’t much else to say, the Oilers seem doomed to fail in this one, but as always I must predict an Oil victory. I am obliged.

Oilverse Prediction
It would take stellar goaltending to make it happen, and the tune of 2-1 is the only way it could go in their favour.

Shutdown in the Shootout

Mike Sciarpelletti ♦

Physicality Found in First
Ryan Jones and Eric Johnson started the game off with a good fight that saw Jones connect with some vicious punches only 11 seconds into regulation. I was impressed that Jones was able to take Colorado’s best defensemen (in my opinion) out of the game for five minutes with the early bout.

With Theo Peckham back in the line-up the Oilers were able to play some strong defense, forcing Colorado to the outside early and playing patient defense. Jim Vandermeer then got a screwjob of a call as he was slashed by Daniel Winnik who broke his stick on the play. The refs assumed Vandermeer was at fault for the busted lumber and sent him off for a slash that was in actuality committed against him.

A Ryan O’Reilly snap shot on the powerplay rang off the post, and Khabibulin looked very shaky early on but the blue and orange were able to kill the penalty by forcing the play to the outside and taking the body at every possible opportunity.

Offensive rushes for the Oilers were few and far between and the reluctance of the Oilers to get too deep into the zone was an acknowledgment of the disparity in speed between the two clubs. For the first time in quite a few games the Oilers were playing to their skill level instead of trying to beat their opponent at their own game.

Matt Duchene found himself out against the 4th unit and used Big Mac as a pylon on route to the first goal of the game, a softy that Khabibulin should have had. It was the first time this year that I can truly say that Tom Renney was out-coached as there is no way you should have your fourth unit out against the other team’s best offensive weapon.

A positive to draw from the 1-0 deficit was that the Oilers came out strong after the goal, attacking harder as opposed to relenting and feeling sorry for themselves.

After good shifts from Ryan Jones and Sam Gagner the Oilers got into a good rhythm and Linus Omark was able to draw a tripping penalty off of Brandon Yip to give the Oilers their first powerplay of the game. After seeing their powerplay slip to 30th in the league after an abysmal one for nine mark against Phoenix the Oilers were able to sustain pressure for the 57 seconds they had a powerplay. Eberle took a high-sticking penalty to even the score.

There is no doubt in my mind that Ryan Jones was the Oilers best player in the first, making a series of strong plays with Liam Reddox during the subsequent penalty kill that seemed to give the Oilers an extra boost. Jones’ hard body checks and responsible defense were a great example for the team who followed suit.

The speed of #28 was a huge factor in acquiring the second power play of the night for the Oil, as his speed against Wilson had the young Colorado defensemen slightly panicked just before his stick caught the Oilers forward in the face. The play was called roughing, but regardless Brian Wilson was in the sin bin.

Things then got a little hairy in front of Brian Elliot and the scrum resulted in Eberle jamming the Avs goalie into the net before Ryan Jones put the puck in the net. The goal was immediately waved off, then reviewed, after which it was again waved off. With their second powerplay of the night stopped the Oilers seemed content to let the clock run out on the first, which nearly resulted in a goal against as the Avs continued to attack.

Shots were 10-6 after the first in favor of the Avalanche.

Khabby Handicap
Despite the rantings of certain talking heads on certain television broadcasts Khabibulin continued to look shaky in the second. I disagree with the notion that he was “a bright spot” in the Oilers game, but he certainly was tested more often as the home team decided to attack with long cross ice passes that were picked off consistently and used against them forcefully.

Around the 14:00 mark things really opened up, and the end to end action resulted in good opportunities both ways that neither team could convert.

Linus Omark continued his strong play in the second, never panicking with the puck and making responsible decisions that almost resulted in his countrymen Magnus Paajarvi tying the game on a couple of plays. If Omark’s game grows and develops like this the Oilers will have no shortage of secondary scoring in the future.

Cody McLeod then high-sticked Teemu Hartikainen, resulting in a double minor that the Oilers needed to convert. Finally, after developing consistent sustained pressure on the power-play the Oilers were rewarded as Jordan Eberle waltzed into the slot and deposited a beautiful back-hander past Brian Elliot to tie the game.

With another two minutes of powerplay time available to them the Oilers continued their attack. The second unit of the Oilers saw little success and by the time the first unit returned to the ice the secondary minor was killed and even strength play resumed.

Rookie Chris VandeVelde centered a line featuring Hartikainen and Alex Giroux, which played well in the offensive zone but was not defensively responsible enough resulting in a goal against on a sloppy play by Khabibulin and his defense. With the score 2-1 the Avs went for the killing strike seconds later but were stopped on a desperate save by the veteran Russian netminder.

Shots in the second were 10-7 for the Avs, 21-13 overall.

Playing to Win
Both teams had defensive miscues to start the third. The Oilers had the most vulgar one, allowing Winnik a free shot at the Oilers net that Khabibulin was just barely able to stop.

Linus Omark continued to impress in this period as well, with a very interesting play behind the net in which he hit the side of the net with his stick to distract Brian Elliot, retrieved the puck, and then because of his distraction was able to walk out front of the net and attempt to pick the corner. He missed, but the creativity and confidence he is playing with is really starting to make me a believer.

After that, the game fell into a bit of a lull. There were some opportunities for goals, but most were kept to the outside. The Oilers seem to be having trouble deciding when a shooting lane is available, as they continue to have their shots blocked in grotesque numbers.

Paajarvi had a nice dangle with about 5:30 left but was stopped, his speed creating the play for him.

Omark protects the puck like someone twice his size. He did it again to perfection before pulling off a fantastic spin-o-rama pass that connected with Foster who potted his 6th of the year and tied the game at twos with four minutes left. Foster made a tremendous read on the play, with a huge pinch that might have been costly had the Oil not scored.

After tying the game the Oilers appeared content with the prospect of overtime, and got just that.

OKC in OT
Many MacTavish detractors often sneered about perceived overuse of Oilers foward Liam Reddox. Renney used him off the bat with Paajarvi in OT, perhaps now some of you can admit that there was more in MacT’s logic than just favoritism.

I liked that the Oklahoma call-ups were not stapled to the bench, as almost all of them were used in the extra frame. Linus Omark was able to draw a penalty late in the overtime frame as he was hooked by Jonas Holos. The Oilers wisely used their time-out with 1:27 remaining. Kelly Buchberger took the white-board out and the Oilers brought Foster, Eberle, Omark, and Cogliano on to the ice for the win.

However, a series of terrible miscues by that line resulted in them being pulled off in favor of three OKC call-ups. Hartikainen and O’Marra came within inches of ending it but some fantastic defense / goaltending got the visiting team out of the kitchen and into the shootout.

Eberle was the first shooter, trying a tight toe drag to forehand to top corner. Elliot made a brilliant glove save.

Matt Duchene was second, he faked out Khabibulin but nailed the post instead of the twine.

Omark shoveled the puck ahead of himself and provided some interesting foot work before racing in and attempting a five-hole shot that was stopped.

Kevin Porter drew the puck wide and tried to drop it through Khabibulin’s five hole but was stopped.

Alex Giroux then made a brilliant move with the puck on a string but strung it right into the post.

David Jones had a chance to win it, but missed the net entirely.

Magnus Paajarvi, on his second career shoot-out attempt, went backhand to forehand but Brian Elliot looked like a gymnast and gave him absolutely nothing to shoot at low.

David Stoa then made a fool of Khabibulin and shelved the puck top corner, ending the shoot-out and giving the Avs their first win in 10 tries.

Oilverse Player of the Game
Linus Omark played with the confidence of a five year NHL veteran and seemed to really inspire the Oilers to not be intimidated. Honorable mention to Ryan Jones who played a very strong game. The Oilers play Nashville on Tuesday, hopefully we will see more of the same.

Game #72 Preview

vs.

Mike Sciarpelletti ♦

Let it Snow! Let it Snow!
There is nothing that the OKC Barons… erm… Edmonton Oilers could use more than a visit from seemingly the only team playing worse than them right now. With 20 of their previous 21 chalked up in the L column the Colorado Avalanche have truly hit bottom and now threaten to take over the mantel of worst ranked in the league.

Anaylsts had the Avs pegged to turn the corner, and even I had them ear-marked as dark horse prior to the start of the season and found them meeting my expectations in the first half of the season. Now, with the bottum having completely fallen out, the Avalanche look to rectify their train wreck of a final quarter against one of the few teams they seem to keep pace with in the Oilers.

Not that they were good enough to keep pace with the Oilers in the past two match-ups, losing by identical 5-1 scores both times, but the Avs are now facing a line-up essentially comprised of the OKC Barons. While they play with heart, teams like this rarely can take advantage of a heavily motivated team that actually has more than two lines of NHL caliber talent.

The kids have been decent, but I’m getting the feeling that the Oil may be seriously underestimating the amount of hunger they will be facing… and it will be more than the Oilers gave against Phoenix.

On the other hand the Oilers could also uncork their offense again, which they did without the likes of Hemsky and Hall in Denver the last time these two clubs met. Nothing is predictable with the Oilers.

Oilverse Prediction
Hell, why not another 5-1 route? It would certainly be nice to hear more than just begrudging muttering from the Rexall faithful!

Puck drops at 8 PM live from Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta, and will be broadcast coast to coast on Hockey Night in Canada on CBC.