Welcome to Friday’s Burning Questions, a weekly feature answering queries submitted by actual readers. The world is packed with stupid people. Walk out your front door, throw a stone in any direction and you’re bound to hit one. However, there are no stupid questions, so get them in by Twitter to @rygarner or e-mail at ryan.garner@hockeybuzz.com.
What happens with Petry with all these defensemen going down to injury around the league? Does he stay or does he go? Aaron B.
The Jeff Petry situation is both fascinating and frustrating. It’s fascinating because he’s slated to be an unrestricted free agent next summer, but nobody has any idea if he’s willing to stay in Edmonton or how the team would fare without him. It’s frustrating because several signs (healthy scratch, contractual lowballing, one-year deal) indicate that nobody in the organization wants him to stick around. Petry has his flaws, but treating him like DeVito compared to Justin “Schwarzenegger… Schultz is truly bizarre.
Petry can reliably fill top-four minutes and provide a defensive conscience. The Oilers should be looking to lock him into a favorable long-term deal, securing an asset they’ve spent years grooming into an NHL defenceman. However, being the Oilers, they’ll probably keep him around until they’re out of playoff contention. After that, it’ll be extended tryout time for Oscar Klefbom and David Musil, and Edmonton will probably deal Petry at a point when his market value has almost completely dried up.
Hey there, my question is more a request to pick 4 provinces and assemble their all-time best rosters. They can be any province of your choosing. Thanks should be interesting. Steve W.
This is an interesting task, and endlessly debatable. I’m just going with players who were born in the province. I’m sure Robyn Regehr is the pride of some one-stoplight town in Saskatchewan that smells like cowplop, but he wasn’t born in the province so he doesn’t factor into the team. Also, some guys from the 1930s will be left out. That’s life. I went with Alberta, for obvious reasons; Manitoba, out of curiosity; Ontario, because it’s prolific; and British Columbia, as Alberta’s main rival.
Alberta
Bucyk-Messier-Iginla Hall-Ullman-McDonald Whitney-Brent Sutter-Doan Smyth-Lysiak-Linden
Niedermayer-Babych Phaneuf-Gadsby Mike Green-Sydor
Fuhr Osgood
Manitoba
Sharp-Clarke-Bathgate Hextall-Toews-Mosienko Penner-Goring-Leach Semenko-Ridley-Stoughton
Keith-Patrick Pratt-Engblom Ledyard-Leschyshyn
Sawhcuk Belfour
Ontario
Bobby Hull-Gretzky-Brett Hull Frank Mahovlich-Esposito-Gartner Lindsay-Lindros-Larmer Andreychuk-Hawerchuk-Ciccarelli
Orr-Pronger Stevens-Robinson Potvin-Park
Dryden Durnan
British Columbia
Kariya-Sakic-Neely Benn-Yzerman-Recchi Lucic-Nugent-Hopkins-Anderson Geoff Courtnall-Ferraro-Russ Courtnall
Weber-Bodger Seabrook-Lidster Hamhuis-Hannan
Price Thompson
Blow it up or not? The Oilers clearly have to make bigger moves (players of significant value) in order to really change this team. I mean, how can one not say otherwise? Mac T himself has said doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is def. of insanity. Would you agree that changing bottom 3 D and Bottom 6 F is really enough to change things around at the end of the day? I don’t. Carson D.
Patience, my son. Nobody will do any blowing up of anything, especially now that the team is showing signs of improvement. I agree that the Oilers are lacking a true bone-crushing, spine-tingling, minute-munching defenceman who can occupy the top pairing, but Chris Prongers or Shea Webers don’t grow on trees. Those players are in limited supply and difficult to acquire, so the Oilers will stick with the rebuilding plan. Patience is wearing thin and there are no guarantees, but dynamite isn’t the answer.
Where do the problems lie? The first and fourth lines are solid. The second and third lines are developing familiarity and confidence. The defence is a work in progress, and the goaltending (while far from stellar) could be better than it’s been in years. I know those one-sided losses are tough, and another five-game losing streak won’t shock anybody. However, the Oilers are a better team than last season, and you have to like the direction they’re headed. Just hang in and keep the faith.
Happy Halloween! I have an assignment for you if you’re up for it. Using this list of famous monsters, assign the Oilers player you think matches best. Good luck! Wayne T.
Dave Semenko would probably fit about half of these, but here goes.
Dracula – Mark Messier Sasquatch – Luke Gazdic Frankenstein – Alexei Semenov Cyclops – Shawn Horcoff Werewolf – Cowboy Bill Flett Godzilla – Dave Semenko King Kong – Georges Laraque Ghoul – Kevin Lowe Leprechaun – Mark Arcobello Ghost – Jason Bonsignore Mummy – Zach Stortini Centaur – Todd Marchant Predator – Anson Carter Zombie – Ryan Smyth Loch Ness Monster – Craig Muni Ogre – Kelly Buchberger Mutant – Bryan Marchment Grim Reaper – Dave Manson Invisible Man – Jordan Eberle
ryan.garner@hockeybuzz.com