You want random thoughts? You've got'em.

- I keep reading all these Ales Hemsky trade rumors on various web sites. Stop it, all of you! Seriously. The Oilers aren't talking to anyone right now. Not with respect to Hemsky or anyone else. The Oilers won't be making trades in the immediate future.

See, it's like this: Hemsky is damaged goods. The Oilers could have moved Hemsky earlier in the season, but teams aren't offering up anything good right now because Hemsky is still hurting and his play has been terrible. Instead of giving Hemsky away, management is taking a "patience" approach. The hope is, Hemsky can get healthy and start contributing before the trade deadline. At the deadline, one way or another regardless of return, Hemsky will be sent to the highest bidder. Try to keep in mind his value is rock-bottom right now, and it can only go up, not down. The Oilers will likely get the standard "pick and a prospect" package for Hemsky, which if you're the Oilers is about as useful as a ham and cheese sammich.

- Shea Weber is the latest good player with a concussion. Bad news, folks. Simon Gagne got his head toasted recently, too. What is the NHL going to do about this is what I'd like to know. The refs have gone trigger-happy calling anything, penalty or not, and it isn't helping. Brendan Shanahan's suspensions and cute little videos...not helping either. The players who "play with an edge" aren't willing to change their style, and teams aren't asking them to.

You know what the solution is? The rink is too small. Seriously. If you want to sort out the concussion issue, make the rinks 200' by 100' instead of 200' by 85'. The players have become too quick and too big for the North American rink. A bigger rink would increase offensive production, too. More room to work out there. You'd still have hitting in the game, but it would be much more difficult to line someone up from across the ice.

Of course, the league is never going to make the rinks bigger. How many ticket sales would that cost teams each season? Exactly. We'd rather see players with broken brains retiring at 25 instead.

- Someone sent me a Twitter message ripping me, saying if I'm going to be so negative about the Oilers, maybe I shouldn't blog about them. God, I hate Canadians sometimes.

Look, the Oilers stink. I know it, you know it, we all know it. The stats know it and show it. And here's why I'm such a grump: The Oilers sucking is not a new thing. In fact, it's become a very ordinary, yearly thing. It's one thing to tell fans, especially season ticket holders, to be patient and that the team will be better in a few years thanks to a rebuild...but people who buy hockey tickets don't pay to see losing year-after-year. Actually, the fans in Edmonton were thrilled when the Oilers were kicking ass at the beginning of the season. We collectively hoped we wouldn't need to be put through any more "we're rebuilding" speeches from the team. We've been rebuilding for years now. We're sick of it.

Yet...and Canadians are worst kind of fans when it comes to hockey...we sit there and defend the bonehead decisions of our team because we're homers and as a culture, we're far too loyal. Being a happy Oiler fan is like living in The Matrix. We love our team so much, that we've brainwashed ourselves into blindly supporting our team, regardless what coaches, management, and the owner choose to do. We convince ourselves that management is doing the right thing, because it's impossible to accept that maybe, just maybe, they're making a mess instead.

Know when things will change in Edmonton? When Steve Tambellini, Kevin Lowe and Tom Renney start fearing for their jobs. When fans stop buying tickets because we're sick of watching losing. Until then, this team is going to be run the way it has been run. Get use to hearing more speeches about how this is a young team, and that losing is okay because it's part of the learning process. Dull, unmotivated fans will continue to buy tickets because in Edmonton, hockey is the only game people care about, and pulling our support for the team would cause it to move.

- If you don't believe what I am saying about Canadian hockey fans in the previous few paragraphs, ask yourself why fans in Toronto and Calgary continue to buy game tickets. Those franchises have been as miserable as the Oilers over the last 15 years, and their fan bases are bigger and more willing to shell out cash than ever. Us Canadians, we're way too supportive. When I heard the Leafs gave Ron Wilson a contract extension, I almost coughed up a lung. Talk about a massive mistake. Coaches and management in Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal all should be living in fear right now.

- The solution if you're an Oilers fan is simple: Buy tickets to see the Oil Kings. It will cost you way less, and the Oil Kings are actually a decent team. Why pay to see losing and supporting a management that just doesn't care when a better, less expensive option is available?

To the Oiler fan who beaked me on Twitter because I am negative about the team, I say the following: Screw the Oilers in the ear until management gets concerned about the current on-ice product. I plan on blogging this message every single day until someone in the right office wakes from his slumber.

- Side Note on the above paragraph - The irony of me saying Oiler fans should buy Oil Kings tickets as a form of protest isn't lost on me. For those who don't know, the Oilers own the Oil Kings.

- You can beak me on Twitter too: @rcloutier

If you're lucky, I'll make fun of you appropriately.

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