Bliss or Bust? Oiler’s 2010/11 Pundication

Well it's that time of year again, its hockey time and excitement is high in Edmonton for the "new" Edmonton Oilers! A very exciting Young Stars tourney is complete, season tickets have been sent out, and training camp has started with many new faces and missing a few others.

I am posting this early as with most of us work gets in the way and I will be out of town for the start of the season and not return until game 3 at home. Mrs. Oil will be enjoying our seats at Rexall for opening night when we start the season tied for first overall. I will have to keep up to date on the Oilers by the internet and following the great blogs listed on my site.

There have been many changes since the end of last year; Souray is paying the price for his selfish play and arrogant whiny rant, looks good on him. Khabibulin is here, sober and apparently with a healthy back and the attitude to get back on track. Some of the problem players are gone and of course what I feel is the most exciting group of rookies, prospects in the NHL. Despite the huge disappointments of the past few years one has to hand it to the Oiler scouting staff as they have assembled an amazing group of kids, the future is bright what with our first ever #1 Taylor Hall, dynamic Jordan Eberle, extremely talented Magnus Paajarvi , Linus Omark and pleasant surprise in Tyler Pitlick. Some the second and third year guys still trying to break into the Oiler fulltime lineup are going some great pressure from these "kids" The same is true with the goalie position. Khabibulin will in all likelihood be the #1 goalie but as for backup it looks like it may well be Gerber but do not count out Jeff Deslauriers and Devan Dubnyk with a very impressive Olivier Roy who sent a message at the young stars tourney. Personally I feel Dubnyk is our goalie of the future. He reminds me of the good aspects of the much overrated Loungo of the much hated, over hyped and arrogant team in the NHL, the Canucks.

There have also been some very good pick-ups by Tambellini and company at the trade deadline and during the summer. Ryan Whitney fits into the oiler culture very well and I expect good things from him as well with Kurtis Foster and James Vandermeer who we got in the summer. Then we have the fan favs, Gagne, Cogs, Penner, Hemsky, Gilbert and a personal favorite and under rated Smid.

So what will the 2010/11 Oiler season be? It will be mostly bliss! I fully expect to have one of the most enjoyable, fun seasons in a long time here in Oil Country! The reasons are as follows;

1. The NEW attitude of the team. No more chasing dreams and the "one" magical free agent. I really like this "build the team from within" attitude and if you don't want to play here get lost re: Souray.
   
2. The promise of a new team attitude which I feel is just as important to be a winning club as is talent. If the guys on the ice do not play for each other and put the team first you will go nowhere.
   
3. I also feel with a new positive team first attitude we should much less injuries than the incredible amount we had the past few years. I honestly believe that a major cause of those injuries the crap attitude the team had the past few years and NOT the past training staff. When you are frustrated, not playing for the team being selfish your head is not in the game and you open yourself up to injuries.
   
4. No false and over the top expectations that was very prevalent here after the magical '06 Stanley Cup run by not only the fans and media but also by the Oiler organization itself. Most in Oiler country doesn't have any expectations of us even making the playoffs, which is great!
   
5. The opportunities to watch our young base of Oilers grow and develop and our veterans knowing that there is a group of very talented young very eager to bump our out of the lineup. Internal competition is a great motivator for all concerned! I remember back in the glory years, players from all over wanted to be part of the Oilers, many tried and few were successful of that goal. That is what we are getting back to.
   

So that's it's in my view, it will be a great, fun year to be an Oiler fan! I think we will surprise a lot of people by being better than most think regardless of where we finish but I wouldn't be a bit surprised if we do squeak into the playoffs, I doubt it but will not be surprised.

My advice to Oiler fans all other is to sit back and enjoy, don't get too high after a few wins and don't get too low when we are losing. How much you enjoy or get frustrated during this year is entirely up to you and your attitude. If you focus on a false dream that we are a contender you will be disappointed, in a few years maybe but not just yet. Enjoy the development of our new stars, support them when they are down and not only when up. Don't over analyze things, if it was that easy to put together a winning team we would all be doing it for a living. Sit back, relax enjoy the re-birth of the Oilers- the good, bad and ugly of this new Oiler era and enjoy the best game in the land – NHL Hockey; in the best hockey town in the world-Edmonton!

Now, drop the puck already!

Souray-Gate or Strike 2-Tambi!

Well well, we have another Oiler dirty laundry soap opera exposed for all to see again. This time it's SOURAY-GATE.

This entire episode has a very keystone cop appearance so let's take a closer at it and maybe we can figure out why, I doubt it but just maybe.

First from the Oiler point of view;

1. They have the right to sit, play whomever they want - of that there is no question
   
2. They have dug their heels in after Souray's rant last spring, remember- forced to play hurt, bad medical staff, no respect. Again Oiler management has that right.
   
3. Souray demanded a trade and Tambellini has vowed to grant that demand, unfortunately for all concerned that has yet to be completed.
   
4. At the end of the Oiler's worst finish in club history Tambellini vowed to change the present Oiler culture from top to bottom in order to get back to a team of choice.
   
5. Part of that change is NO more begging for free agents, over paying players and most important getting rid of players that don't want to be here.
   
6. First response from Tambi on Souray skating with the team, "we told him last week he was not welcome at camp", again they have that right.
   
7. Tambellini also said they (Oilers) didn't want Souray in camp and be a huge distraction, bad influence on the new kids.
   

Now from Souray's side;

1. He has to show up for training camp, just as we do for our jobs – part of his contract. But personally I feel it is also in his best interest in showing up for camp as he does need to look willing & able to play to help get the trade he requested.
   
2. By way of interviews with media it appeared he apologized for what he had said last spring and was eager to be part of a new, exciting Oiler team. I have no idea if
   

   a personal apology was given to Oiler brass by Souray or not.
   

3. Souray did throw the Oiler's under the bus with his comments, complaining about supposedly being forced to play while hurt, bad training staff etc etc and so deserves a lot of the scorn
   

   he has received from the fans and Oiler management. One some points I can sympathize with Souray and what he said, it must have been very frustrating the past couple years to play on that team. By many accounts there were issues in the dressing room and anything wrong that could happen to a hockey team happened to the Oilers let alone the personal frustrations, the injuries, the losing, the not playing up to how you know you can play and hey we have all said stupid things in the heat of the moment, god knows I have and I am still paying for some.
   

The Odd Facts;

1. How difficult is it going to be for Tambellini to trade Souray with him not playing? It is tough to trade a pricey asset that was out for the last part of the season with injuries
   

   without showing that it is of some value. What is Tambi going to do, go to a GM's meeting, lurk in the hallways and whisper to other GM's - " hey buddy have I got a deal
   

   for you – trust me it's really good" Unfortunately Mike Milbury isn't in the league to deal with anymore so this will be tough to do.
   

2. Souray and his agent said they were not told of Souray not being welcomed at camp until last Friday, not a week or so like first reported. Souray's agent wanted this in writing as
   

   it is the proper thing to do and apparently got an email on Monday, the day Souray showed up and skated with the team.
   

3. As for the accusation from Oiler management that Souray would be distraction and poor influence on team well that was disproven by the report from journal writer Jim Matheson. Read here;
   

   http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/Fellow+Oilers+weigh+Souray+training+camp+absence/3524443/story.html were from all accounts the team would welcome Souray back without
   

   question.
   

4. Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of this is that it appears that Tambellini has acted on most of Souray's complaints, the long time training staff has been fired and replaced and a new coach and attitude has been installed. Strange isn't it and in lite of this perhaps Tambi owes Souray a big thank you. This was pointed out to me by a great twiiter follow and oiler blogger @lowetide.
   

My final say on this; --- maybe;

1. At first appearance it looks like a pissing contest has gripped the Oilers and Tambellini is hell bend to prove he is the big dick on campus. Not only with this but also with the replacing of Pat Quinn
   

   at the end of last year .
   

2. Which brings me to my second point and the Strike 2-Tambi! reference. This is strangely similar to the absolutely horrible way Pat Quinn was treated by Tambellini. Again the same type of story. Tambi first said he had a nice talk with Quinn a week or so before the announcement of Quinn's demotion but yet at that same presser Quinn said he just found out moments before. How can that happen not once but twice?
   
3. The third point is that, just how in the hell can a bush league media screw up like this happen not only once but a second time just a couple of months later? Is Tambellini out of touch with his staff so much he has no control? Is his staff that incompetent that they can't get faxes, email etc out in a timely manner, keep delicate matters such as this done behind closed doors and with some degree of decorum? Apparently not!
   
4. As mentioned above, how are the Oilers going to properly shop Souray and get something half decent in return by sitting him? That is going so tough and a recipe for disaster trade wise. Would he not be an asset for whatever amount he played for the team? Could he not be a decent protecting force for our young, small group of rookies? Is pride and stubbornise worth paying a guy $5mil+ a year to sit at home? Guess it is a good thing Katz has such deep pockets and can afford to be so proud.
   

Conclusion;

1. Tambellini is one tough ass S.O.B and is determined to put his mark on this team. That is his right but there is a right way and a wrong way. He is definitely not following that age old advise of walk softly and carry a big stick judging by these two media blunders which they are. The firing of Quinn and sitting of Souray should have been all worked out in private long before the news is released.
   
2. Both of these blunders are very black marks on the resume of Tambellini and if this happens again it should be strike 3 for Tambi and he should be sent packing. You can't be a first class organization with garbage like this making its way into the media and discrediting the team. The ultimate responsibility belongs with Tambi for the Souray and Quinn media blunder even if his staff played a role, he is in charge.
   
3. The Oilers need to get better PR advice on how to do these type of actions as at this time it looks like have the same clowns that BP used for the gulf spill.
   

 

Now drop the puck already!

Oiler Oops Again

As you read my Oiler blog you will notice I will be writing about the emotion, nuances, the highs and lows of being a Oiler fan. The untangibles, the feeling in your gut when we win, lose and what it means to be an Oiler fan. If you came to this Oiler blog for stats, numbers and technical breakdown of the Oilers, well this is not where you want to be. There are many sites to visit that will give you all the stats you desire, see some of the sites I have listed. If you want a good read on what I believe the average die hard Oiler fan feels and my personal insight into the good, bad and ugly going on of the Oilers I hope this will be your first choice. In my blog history you can read where I have shared my opinion on Hall wearing Kevin Lowe’s # 4 and I hope to post my thoughts on the upcoming season in the next couple of days.
As a fan from the beginning I could write hundreds of pages on Oiler history but that is not what this blog is about, I hope this to be a personal chronicle of a new era in Oiler history and all the hope, promise and disappointment it will surely deliver.
I have been an Oiler fan since they were called the ALBERTA OILER HOCKEY CLUB in the WHA and have an embrodered patch to prove it. I still remember when at a WHA Oiler Playoff game when the fans were chanting “Gretsky, we want Gretsky” and me wondering what the hell are they calling for? I Have seen the very incredible times and the very bad times. On the incredible side I remember Peter Puck on a post game Hockey Night in Canada (the original HNIC hotstove) when the Oilers tied the Leafs and the Toronto media was just disgusted by it. Well Peter Puck said on TV that he guaranteed the cup would be in Edmonton within 5 years, well needless to say he got laughed off the set by the still very arrogant Toronto media – we all know he was right. On the bad side I have been threw the past few years after the ’06 run and the many lean years before but what stands out for me was when we were playing LA in a playoff game back in the “boys on the bus years”. Well we were leading 4-0 going into the 3rd period, someone in the bar yelled I bet $300 the Oilers lose, I took that bet and yes I lost $300 bucks.

Ok, to the present and I just have to chime in on this Souray debacle! It pisses me off to no end. Just when a guy thinks the Oilers have started a new chapter of positive press and energy this garbage comes up! It reeks of Mickey Mouse, bush league bullshit, what? - are the Oiler management that incompetent they could not have gotten this all settled with Souray before so as to not have such an embarrassing situation? After what really appeared to be the start of great things for the Oilers on the winds of change this spring and summer with some excellent signings, prospect of a new arena, fan excitement of the new prospects, a first ever #1 draft pick and some incredibly talented rookies coming to camp we go back to square one on the credibility scale. How in the hell did this happen! That is the questions that Steve Tambellini has to answer.

Yes Steve Tambellini and the Oiler management has the right to sit whomever they want, I do not question that and I support it. I like many other Oiler fans am sick & tired of all the recent Oiler and city of Edmonton bashing by many media types jealous of our previous success and by spoiled princess players who don’t even have the class to honor signed contracts. It is a huge distraction for all concerned and fully support what the mighty Quinn said last year – “if you don’t want to be here then get the hell out” to paraphrase.

It is time to bring back the pride and honor of being an Oiler! One way is by no longer chasing the white whales like the Oiler’s have done in the recent past what with Heatly, Hossa and such.
That just added to the bad press the Oiler’s got, yes some deserved but most was by lazy reporters that can only make a name for themselves by running cheapshot stories. I understand why the white whales were chased, after the ’06 run the pressure was huge to get back there and admit or not we all wanted it so very bad. But times have changed and the attitude of the Oilers has changed thanks mainly to the new ownership of Daryl Katz. He was here in Edmonton from the beginning and remembers what it was like and what it meant to the players to be an Oiler, everyone in the NHL wanted to be an Oiler and many failed at trying to be one.

Anyway back the Souray soap opera. Yes he burnt bridges when he went on his self-serving rant last year and yes I agree with the feeling he should get the hell out if you don’t want to be an Oiler!
Now he is or was skating with the team, good on him but I am sure there is some self serving motivation for his doing besides the requirement of his contract to show up ready for training camp.

What I do not understand is how was allowed to be there in the first place. Steve Tambellini looks like a total fool when his says we told him last week not to show up but then Souray’s agent we were not told until a day or so ago and we asked for it to be in writing before we acted on it which  by the way is what any decent agent would do. Is Tambi stretching the truth? Or are the people under him incompetent and failed to take care of this? Who knows but again Tambi looks very bad just as he did when he “fired” Pat Quinn as coach. First Tambi says he had talked to
Pat about it the week before but when Pat was asked he said he just found out about his “re-assignment” just hours before the press conference. What the hell is up with that and it makes Steve Tambellini look very bad. As GM he should be capable of making sure crap like this doesn’t happen, how can he say it is time for new era for the Oilers when bone-head mistakes like this happen, not once, but twice within a few months.
Is this a reason why Tambi never got the GM job in Vancouver where he was asst. GM for longer than any other asst. GM I know of?
If Steve Tambellini is to stay on as GM and Katz is serious about changing the Oiler mystic back to where it was these types of incredible media blunders cannot continue.
Sure I would love to have Souray in the line-up as I think many Oiler fans would but that is not to be; mainly due to his own arrogance and spoiled brat actions but still is not an excuse for the Oiler management to look so incompetent and generate such bad media optics with the Souray soap opera. I won’t even get into at this how this may or may not effect Tambi’s efforts to
trade Souray, that is a entire new post.

Let’s all just hope that this will be the last time such a preventable media blunder will occur thanks to what appears to be severe error in judgment by Steve Tambellini. If it happens again perhaps
it will be time Tambi has the baseball rule applied to him, three strikes and he’s out!

Hall the new #4?

Recent reports say Kevin Lowe will give his long time not seen in copper & blue #4 to our #1 pick Taylor Hall to wear as he starts his Oiler-NHL career.

I dunno, in a way I like this and in another I don’t.


I understand the synergy of Lowe giving Hall “his” #4.
Lowe being the first ever Oiler pick, scoring the first goal etc there is a lot of Oiler history with that man.
Regardless of what people may think and say of Lowe now there is no denying that he has a very special place in Oiler history and his jersey should be up in the rafters, without any doubt.

And now we have Hall, our first ever #1 pick, a great talent to be sure but he is unproven in the NHL at this time. So does he deserve to take a local legends number and all that it means in the history of the oilers? I just don’t know but it does show the class and unselfishness of Lowe and his love of the team. He is demonstrating a team first attitude as president as he did when he played and I tip my Oilers hat to him.

No one was more excited when we picked Hall, definitely the right pick in my mind I just hope he lives up to the class and love of team and city that the man before him that wore that #4.

Now drop the puck already!