Yuck...Monday morning. What a disgraceful day Monday is. I can't wait till Rebecca Black is all washed up, depressed, and has addiction issues. Then she can write a song called, "Monday", and it will be the new "Rehab".
A few randoms for today regarding the Oilers and a few other teams:
- Sounds like two injured Oilers, Cam Barker and Darcy Hordichuk, are ready to return to the line-up. Ales Hemsky isn't too far away either. Hmmm...we're already 13 games in, and half the roster isn't injured. This is Edmonton. What gives?
- You'd have to think Barker will go in, and Jeff Petry will come out. Petry has skill but he doesn't look confident enough for the NHL yet. If Petry stays in, it will be Peckham who comes out. Barker's injury had bad timing, as his play was really coming on. It will be good to have Barker and the suspended Andy Sutton back in the line-up in a few games.
- Ryan Whitney is likely not back till the end of the month. So if all the other D stays healthy, who becomes the Oilers group of six? Whitney, Gilbert and Smid are definitely there. I wouldn't pull Corey Power Potterplay out. Sutton and Barker would be 5/6? Wow, that's almost a decent group.
- When Whitney comes back and if all the starters are healthy, I'll almost feel bad for Colten Teubert being returned to the AHL. I've liked his play so far, and would put him higher on the depth chart than Peckham and Petry right now. When the Oilers get healthy on D, Petry and Teubert will go back down, and Peckham will be the #7 guy.
- Interesting thoughts on Team 1260 this morning from the Edmonton Sun's Terry Jones. When discussing what should happen with the lines when Ales Hemsky returns, he indicated the Oilers should keep Hall, Nuge and Eberle together (naturally), and play Hemsky with Smyth and Horcoff (again with the naturally). So what made Jones's opinion interesting? He expressed his belief that the 3rd line should be Paajarvi, Omark and Lander, and that he has no idea where Sam Gagner fits into the picture. You and me both, brother.
- Omark is playing out of his mind so far in Oklahoma City. Magnus Paajarvi has only one point in 13 games, and he looks like he's lost in a chemistry vortex. Would it really be the worst thing if the Oilers tried out Tre Kronor for a game or two?
- I shutter at the thought of Darcy Hordichuk being ready to play because it means a better player is going to be pulled out of the line-up to make room for him. Perhaps the only person I would take out for Hordi would be Ben Eager, who's had a rough start to the season. I definitely wouldn't be pulling out Lennart Petrell, who hits everything, blocks shots, and is quality on the PK. If the Oilers don't sign Petrell to a contract extension, I'll go absolutely crazy.
- I really don't understand Leafs fans. This team is outstanding right now. They lose to the Bruins the other night, and people in TO are panicking. So what if they got blown out 7-0? It will happen. Hey, every real Oiler fan remembers during the team's Golden Age the game when the Hartford Whalers beat the Oil 11-0. It's no big deal, and the Leafs will make the playoffs this season for the first time since 1947.
- The Blues kind-of suck, so they fire their coach. The Jackets extremely suck, and no one has been fired yet. Discuss.
- How important is goaltending to a team's success? Jackets have Steve Mason, who wouldn't get the back-up job on most teams. Columbus is the last place team. The Blues have received terrible goaltending from Jaroslav Halak; so bad in fact the Brian Elliott is now getting more starts. Yes, that Brian Elliott. The one who was in Ottawa. The one who couldn't stop a beach ball. St. Louis is 14th in the West.
- How's this for parity: The 14th place team in the West (St. Louis) is only three points back of a playoff spot. Right now, the Top 6 teams in the West include the Oilers, Hawks, Stars, Coyotes, Predators and Wild. By the end of the season, only the Hawks will remain. The "real" Top 6 will be the Hawks, Kings, Wings, Sharks, Canucks and Ducks. Oh well; the league is more interesting with the standings being upside-down.
- Nice to see the Rangers doing well. I predicted them before the season began to play in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Kings. Funny how the two conferences are going in completely different directions right now. In the NHL East, seven of the eight teams in playoff spots are ones that were easy to predict. The only real shock in the conference is how bad Boston is doing. By the end of the year, I suspect Boston will be back in the playoff picture, and perhaps Florida will fall out of it.
- I can't decide which is the biggest feel-good story so far this season: Toronto being great, the Oilers going from 30th to respectability, or the Philadelphia Flyers not missing a beat after moving their two best forwards during the off-season. Jaromir Jagr is playing like a 25 year-old, and Claude Giroux looks like a Hart Trophy finalist.
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