"There's too much parody in the western conference !..."
Many hockey writers are picking the Oiler's to miss the playoffs this season, all because of a lack of intelligence. Any good Oiler fan knows we've seen some changes (and changes had to be made), but come on... we were the first runner up in game 7 of the Stanley Cup ! Booooo to the writers of "The Hockey News" who picked the Oilers 12th in the west. Boooooo to "Sports Interactive", a leader in the field of sports management games, they pick us 13th. Good greif we lose 1 veteren defenceman to "whiney wife syndrome", and 1 over rated Russian prima donna (Samsonov)... and all the sudden we suck ?
Let me share with you why I believe the Oilers will make the playoffs... and excell in them. The Oilers just became a whole lot younger, and a whole lot faster. Plus they have a whole lot more heart. Grit and determination count for everything when youre making a run for the playoffs!
- Peca's gone- so what, we've replaced him with Robbie Schremp. Rob is younger more tenacious and wants to make this team. Peca didnt produce til after the trade dead line, don't think you'll see that problem here.
- Samsonov's gone- so is his wage. The Oilers picked up Petr Sykora and a proven winner (Stanley Cup) with the Devils. Sykora looks like the shizzle playing along side Ales Hemsky.
- Pronger's gone-a loss indeed. I'm not so sure we have to piss and moan about this. The Oilers just slaughtered the Ducks in this deal (for many years to come). Joffrey Lupul is younger and is a high light goal scorer. He'll play well on any line but looks great with youngster Jarret Stoll. He scored 4 goals in 1 game against the Ave's in the playoffs last year(record). Ladislav Smid ("the other" player in the trade) is a huge prospect defenceman that should crack the line up this year. Should be an elite "D" in only a couple years. There are only more draft picks to come, we win this one, cause Chris only has a couple years left at his high rate of play.
- 7 other players are gone- there's always turn around every season and that will never change. The guys who are on that list were role players and might be missed, however the farm has a large crop and we will not starve.
- Conklin - Clb
- Dvorak - St.L
- Harvey - ?
- Laraque - Phx
- Murray - ?
- Spacek - Buf
- Tarnstrom - ?
Check out our new line combinations
- Smyth/ Horcoff/ Pisani- Fernando was leading playoff goal scorer
- Torres/ Sykora/ Hemsky- Chemistry is beautiful, Ales will thrive !
- Moreau/ Stoll/ Lupul- youth and grit...Lupul's "The Bomb"(thats good)
- Reasoner/ Scremp/ Mikhnov- possible "Calder Trophy" on this line
The Goaltending team of Roloson and Markkanen is solid. Rollies knee is 100 %, and the exp. Jussie recieved in round 4 was great for his confidence. What a tag team champion !
Our defenceman our not the once feared pack of the playoffs but they're not weak either
- Smith/Staios - solid for any team
- Tjarnqvist/Greene - Matt became a pillar in cup run
- Bergeron/Smid - forgive Marc for Rollie accident he's still a hitting stallion
- Hejda - #7 D has yet to be N.H.L. proven but has the skillz
I said the farm looked good, and i'm not joking. There's alot of high draft picks in there with lots of talent. Names on the call-up sheet you might hear are...
- (G) Jeff Deslauriers
- (G) Devon Dubnyk
- (LW) J.F. Jacques
- (C) M.A. Pouliot
- (RW) Brad Winchester
- (D) Danny Syvret
- (D) Matt Roy
- (C) Patrick Thoresen
Our management and coaching are 1A. Lowe and Mac T. are brilliant and genious, and proven champions . They wont let us finish 12th or 13th. Billy Moores, Charlie Huddy, Pete Peters, and Craig Simpson aren't slouches either, coaching is not an issue. All this... and there's still room in our salary cap (9 million) for a surprise come March.
The greatest reason we will make the playoffs is the fans. You and me... and Oiler pride. Not to mention the tagteam of Paul Laurios and Joey Moss singing our national anthem. We are not a team to be underestimated, so chew on that for a while right through April and May 2007 !
My 8 teams to make the playoffs in no particular order are
- Edmonton
- Calgary
- Nashville
- San Jose
- Detroit
- Dallas
- Anaheim
- (dark horse) Columbus or Vancouver
3 comments:
Hmmm...no particular order hey????
Why is Edmonton first then???!!! ;)
LOL! "Whiney Wife Syndrome". You are right about the writing thing. I think that Edmonton will make the playoffs and get to the second round. There is a lot of heart and speed on this club. That is deadly combination in the new NHL!
Like I said to my husband..."I like you much more in the off season" LOL!
Oh well...to each his own! Enjoy!
Andrea
Post a Comment