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That Was the Best Oilers Game Ever |
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I'm tired of being negative about the Oilers.
They are great. Really, really great. Super great. Wonderful. Best hockey team ever.
Did you watch the Dallas/Edmonton games this afternoon? I did too. It was extra-special good. Neato. Fab.
Here's the Good, the Gooder, and the Goodest (instead of my usual Good, Bad and Ugly)
The Good
- The Oilers took the lead when Taylor Hall scored his fourth goal in four games. It was a bit of a flukey goal, but Hall did what good goal scorers do: He shot the puck, even though he was at a bad angle, and sometimes when you do that you get lucky and score.
- Ladislav Smid is developing into a very solid defenseman. He had five hits during the game, and frustrated the Stars on several occassions.
- While Nikolai Khabibulin let in three goals, this game could have finished with a much more one-sided score if he didn't make some key saves during the game.
The Gooder
- Ales Hemsky fell into the boards in the first period, and didn't shatter into a 100 pieces like he usually does.
- Hemsky also very kindly didn't hold up his "Trade Me! Trade Me! Trade Me!" sign like he did all of last game against the Blues.
- Shawn Horcoff didn't let in an Oilers goal every time he whiffed on a puck while attempting to take a shot.
- Eric Belanger got plenty of ice time, which is great, because he's a great guy and we really like him.
The Goodest
- Thank God Jordan Eberle didn't injury Jamie Benn when their skates became tangled. Eberle's right knee is all screwed up, and he could miss a bunch of games, derailing what was an all-star season for the forward, but Benn is okay. He even texted Eberle after the game to make sure Jordan knew he was okay.
- Edmonton fans were almost treated to another classic Oilers moment when Steve Ott almost decapitated Anton Lander with an elbow. A number of Oilers forwards who were on the ice during the incident and saw the play apologized to Ott afterwards, as Lander clearly was in his way. We might not win games, but our team is the most polite one in the whole NHL.
- The 37 fans who actually paid for tickets in Dallas were treated to a really entertaining game. It's always nice when the Oilers visit a different rink and the fans leave happy.
- Colten Teubert and Theo Peckham impressed us with their demonstrated ability to skate both forwards and backwards, sometimes within a 30 second time span.
- Forwards Darcy Hordichuk and Ben Eager, who are the "physical force" of the Oilers, didn't interrupt the game by pushing the Stars around or showing any sort of hostility. I mean, who wants to see violence on a Saturday afternoon?
After the game, Oilers Head Coach Tom Renney was quoted as saying, "our guys played hard. We almost had the win. We did lots of good things out there. We'll get them next time." Oilers GM Steve Tambellini added, "this is exactly the team I envisioned at the start of the season when I said we'd challenge for a playoff spot. I think as the season continues, we will definitely find ourselves in the playoff mix!"
The Oilers fly back to the Land on Denial later this afternoon. Fans who wish to catch of glipse of the team can welcome them at approximately 8pm local time, when their bus is scheduled to arrive at the University of Alberta Hospital. Provided, of course, the bus doesn't hit the ditch on the drive from the airport.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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