When one callup simply won't do

*NB* When you see numbers, do not hit.

Also of importance: When you see numbers, do not hit into the boards.

Clarke MacArthur's hit from behind on Liam Reddox in the third period of Wednesday night's game was definitely a couple of notches above the standard two minute penalty. MacArthur (deservedly) received a five minute boarding major and a game misconduct. Reddox remained in the fetal position for several minutes and had to be helped off the ice.

I'm quite surprised that someone didn't go headhunting for MacArthur right after the incident. It was a reckless hit, probably not intentional, but it's impossible to turn a blind eye to this kind of hit. I know MacArthur's a stand up guy, and you could see he regretted it from the moment Reddox hit the boards.



But seriously, what the fuck?

WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF PLAYERS
Horcoff
Souray
Pisani
Reddox
Grebeshkov
Chorney
Stone
Pouliot
Jacques

are all laid up with various injuries. Plus, we lost Steve Macintyre to Florida via the waiver wicket. Anybody got some sticks?

We've got Atlanta coming up Sunday.

And for shits and giggles, here's Taco.

W

SOME GOOD

• Ryan Potulny had a goal and an assist earning the first star honours in Sunday's 5-3 victory at Colorado.
  
• 4 goals for the Edmonton power play. Slow down there, stallion. You don't want to use 'em all up in one game. PP goals were scored by Potulny, Penner, Gilbert and O'Sullivan.
  
• 29 total Oiler shots. Colorado managed 35, but Edmonton looked much, much better this game in comparison to almost anything they've done in the last week.

Nikolai Khabibulin looks strong in net. The defense held it (enough) together, and the Oil squeezed two points out of Colorado. This was Colorado's first loss at home this season.

There are back to back games starting tonight in the Northeast. Edmonton will visit Scotiabank Place in Ottawa tonight, followed by a match in Buffalo tomorrow.

Anthem

Yesterday I sang the National Anthem at the beginning of a bodybuilding competition.

Let me tell you about it.

When I was younger, I worked for Ransomville Speedway in Western New York. It was (and probably still is) the best summer job in the world. Tired of using the same cassette taped version of the Canadian and American national anthems, they turned to me to sing it.

I don't know why they chose me. Paid me an extra ten bucks each Friday too.

I did this on and off for the better part of four or five years, and a time or two back in 2007. While I certainly wasn't the worst at it, Paul Lorieau I ain't. I'd always be a nervous wreck working up to it, but it's fun belting it out in front of a crowd.

Fast forward to Wednesday. Fitness guru Dianne came in my place of business and was printing off a bunch of flyers for her bodybuilding event she was helping promote Saturday. One of the lines of business on the flyer was "National Anthem".

I asked her who was doing her anthem. She said Whitney Houston.

Wow. Whitney Houston's coming to Greensboro for a bodybuilding event to sing the anthem?


No, stupid. It's the CD version of her Super Bowl XXV pregame performance.

Oh.

Dianne asks if I know anyone who can sing the anthem. I did.

You? Anthem? Sure. I'm invited outside, and she tells me to hit it.

I get the gig.


SRSLY. New bikini division!


The Fabulous Carolina Theatre!

I had never been to a bodybuilding competition before, much less sang the anthem at the preface of a bodybuilding competition. I saw a few ladies at this event that could've given George Foreman a run for his money back in Quezon City. I wish I had a picture for you.

Show's scheduled to go off at 6. Naturally, nothing goes off right on time here. I'm quite nervous, as I haven't even done this for fun in two years. The competitors are lining up backstage with me. Oiled and shirtless (and pantless) men, extremely fit women scantily clad in workout gear. These people are just bursting with muscle.

and then me. Stewart says I look like a caddy. I think I look like a neck.

Okay? Ready? Go. You're on. Now. Get out there. Get to the centre of the stage. Under the flag. Wait! The mic cord won't go that far. Stand at the podium. No, give me the mic. I'm gonna be sick. Here we go. Breathe in annnnnnnnnnd -

And then it was over. I gave a large fist pound at the crowd once it was over, and a finger point. Way to look like a coked out wrestler. And then, I walked out the stage door and bustled across the street to my '92 Buick Regal. Knots in my stomach untying, it finally was over.

Thanks.

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS

Good news: Staios is back. Pisani is out there.

Bad news: We can't win a fucking game right now to save our lives. Souray is still out. Horcoff is out for a week. Ryan Stone's knee is still wonky. JF Jacques has a back issue. Injuries might be an issue here.

I gots no bad things to says about our goaltendings.

Peckham and Chorney got called up for tonight's game in Colorado, who've been playing like they've time warped back to the '96 Avalanche.

Until next time.

It's like a hangover

From the Oilers web site, here's Sheldon Souray talking a bit about his concussion, Jarome Iginla, and hangovers.

Cap it

"We've said from day one that our offense would come from our team defense, and our team defense sucks right now. And as a result, we're not getting any offensive opportunities, not as many as we need to have."

-Pat Quinn

I love Pat Quinn. When it's roses, he draws it on the wall. When it's skunk, he draws that too. When it's "our team defense sucks right now", give him the paint stick.

SAUSAGE AND MASH

• Defenseman Brendan Witt posted his first career two-goal game as the Islanders defeat the Edmonton Oilers by a score of 3-1 at Nassau.
  
• Ethan Moreau had the lone Oiler tally after his centering attempt was deflected into the net off the leg of Islander Defenseman Radek Martinek.
  
• Islanders netminder Dwayne Roloson gets the W, stopping 22 of 23 shots. The Wall turned aside 34 of 37.
• The Oilers had no power plays last night. The Islanders converted zero of four attempts.
• Steve Staios is on his way back, according to this. Good.

AND
The Funk makes its way back to Edmonton try to shake their losing streak against New York's Chris Drury and company. Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers was victorious in net last year versus the Rangers in New York. Let's all hold hands and sway together.

Frappons...nos tetes contre les murs

Bruins fans, take note. Think of all the "Tuuk" hat marketing you could do. Just sayin'.

End of October - 7-6-1

Wasn't 6-2-1 lots of fun?

It's been a pretty bum few games if you're an Oilers fan.

Where do the goals go?

There are about three hundred sixteen things that you could sit and point at, but give an American a try at this.

1. We need Sheldon Souray back. Yesterday.

God. I hope he's feeling better soon. What's that?

Souray doesn’t look close to returning to the lineup at this point in time.

Oh.

I like Chorney, and Peckham's getting better every time I see him play. I just don't know if I like them for sixty more games just yet. Chorney looked great at Nashville, and Peckham's a great number six in a pinch, but the lack of the S.S Souray on the blue line is killing us.

Steve Staios would be awesome too, BTW.

2. There are way too many shots being allowed. The Oilers were famous for being in games last year they had no right being in (thanks again, Roli), and unfortunately, you're going to almost always lose more games then not if you're allowing 45 shots. I think we can all agree that Khabibulin is holding up his fair share of the bargain at this point in the season, and Deslauriers has only surrendered 3 goals on a total of 70 shots this year. This goes back to my last comment with defense, and that has to get better fast.

3. A mighty zero goals in 3 of the last 4 games. Bad luck or not, the mighty zero is going to land you a juicy zero in the win column. They came in bunches early on, unfortunately they're all dried up right of this moment. The Oilers were only able to manage 19 shots against the Bruins and young netminder Tuukka Rask yesterday.

4. The power play. Eh.



5. Shawn Horcoff

Horc baby - I know you're gonna triple your point output this month. Things are gonna change, I can feel it. Soyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.... un perdator.....

The Oilers get back on track tomorrow night in Long Island. The Islanders are coming off three straight victories that have put them tied for 8th as of this post. Their latest effort was a pretty convincing 5-0 victory last night against the surging Buffalo Sabres.

Expect to see Roli between the pipes for the Islanders.

She came from Greece, she had a thirst for knowledge

It was a fun few games there.

The Oilers dropped two over the weekend against two divisional opponents. The Oilers held it up well about half the game on Saturday in Calgary, but dropped the ball toward the end of the second. Jeff Deslauriers looked sharp Sunday, but Roberto Luongo was perfectly sharp in recording the shutout for Vancouver.

There's a game tonight at home versus the upstart Colorado Avalanche. This Yahoo article says that Colorado backup netminder Peter Budaj has picked himself up some swine flu.

In order to make you all feel better, here's Ondrej Pavelec giving up the goods from almost 200 feet.

A surprisingly forgiving colour guy. Where's Ray Ferraro when you need him?

Quick!

Someone go get the Covered In Oil guys up. It just might be time for a revival.

Dustin Penner and Ales Hemsky did something that no two Oilers have been able to do in over twenty years. Last night's 6-4 comeback saw both players score five points apiece. Penner (2G, 3A) is now in the top five in league scoring, while Hemsky (1G, 4A) and the rest of the Oiler squad made up for a lax first half. Lubomir Visnovsky had a goal, and Robert Nilsson added the empty netter for a night cap.

Right after Edmonton scored that third goal, the Rexall crowd had that electric feeling of '06 again. It was... refreshing.

AND
Steve MacIntyre played last night for the first time this season. That's not even a stat, but way to get in the lineup. Brule had the flu, and Ryan Stone is recovering from that nasty spill he took the other night.

The Oilers are sitting at 6-2-1, winners of 4 of their last five. Anything can change in a day or two, but right now, things are rolling along just fine. The Oilers try to keep the ball rolling Saturday at Calgary. Two more points. Why not?

Ride the wave

My uncle Jimmy is famous in our family for telling a story where he was in Atlantic City playing blackjack shortly before his return flight to Buffalo. He had about $100 left to gamble, and seeing as how he was going to leave in a few more hands regardless, he put it all in instead of pissing around with $10 bets.

He hits blackjack. That pays 3-2. You don't need to be a math major to see that he's now got $250. He goes all in again. Boom, lightning in a bottle. Two straight blackjacks. Alright, fine. Let's do this again. Blackjack. Four straight times, he hits blackjack after going all in on that original $100 bet. He's got some coin working to his benefit, when after the fourth hand, he picks up his chips, and goes to cash out.

A guy at the table who saw his impressive four hand run exclaimed that he couldn't possibly leave now, he's hot. Uncle Jim told the guy that he was out of this tuna can, and he had to catch a plane soon.

Guy shoots back and says "You can't possibly leave after four straight blackjacks. You're hot. On fire! C'mon, buddy. You can't possibly leave now. Ride the wave!"

The Oilers are riding that wave. Only difference is that they're not afforded the opportunity to pick up their black chips and leave, then catch a red-eye back to Western New York. The latest hand? Edmonton's 2-1 victory over the Canucks last night. Khabibulin withstood a barrage of shots, and stopped 39 of 40 total attempts. Excellent goaltending (with a little luck at the end) were to steal the W for the Oil. Patrick O'Sullivan and Sam Gagner had the tallies, and 2 goals were all Edmonton needed. They're knotted up with Calgary in the standings, trailing surprising Colorado by two points.

They're getting the goaltending, they're scoring just enough. I'm not getting over my head.

Home game Thursday versus the Blue Jackets. Win some more.

Other Internet Regalia

Photo by AP

Hey, guys? I think we're having fun out there. Dustin Penner and Gilbert Brule both had two goals, while Mike Comrie had the other tally in a 5-2 victory over Minnesota in a Friday Night Rexall tilt. Nikolai Khabibulin posted 29 saves on 31 shots, while the team improved to 4-2-1 overall. With a couple of unlucky bounces erased, they just might be 5-1-1 or 6-1-0.

Still no Souray, no Staios, and Ales Hemsky was a game-day scratch because of the flu.

I'm not chasing numbers, that's for sure. Just... for one second (not long!) look at the numbers, realize that this team has impressed you in a way or two, and think about what Quinn has pulled from these guys that the previous administration had a very difficult time doing.

Yeah, it's only 7 games, and while the physicality of the team still needs to be addressed, look for a minute at what's going on. Penner's playing with heart. Comrie's putting pucks in the net. After a few iffy games, Khabibulin's putting it together. Deslauriers looked great after a barrage of shots in Nashville. The defense is picking up the slack of an injured Souray and Staios. Freaking Zach Stortini has a two goal output against the Preds. Gil Brule looks like he just might stick for a while. JF Jacques too.

I'm not getting ahead of myself, but I like what I see so far. YES, they got outplayed and outhustled for most of the night in Chicago, and didn't look their best in the second Calgary game. Look how they've responded.

See how they stack up Monday night against the Canucks on VERSUS.

FINALLY


Cristobal Huet is the recipient of an unlucky telegram. Gah.

EXTRA


Your boy Georges Laraque may have got himself into a little bit of trouble with the league after appearing in this (hilarious) Québec advert for an alcoholic energy drink.

Apparently, some people are really cranked up about this due the video's... uh, actresses. I thought people were more cranked up about the fact that Laraque was in a booze ad.