NHL on SopCast.

1. Download and install the required applications:

a. Download the sopcast client from this link: http://www.sopcast.references.tv/2down/SopCast.zip
b. Unzip and open the SopCast Folder.
c. Double click and install Setup-SopCast-3.0.0-2008-3-10.exe
d. Download the VLC media player from this link: http://mirrors.optralan.com/videolan/vlc/0.8.6e/win32/vlc-0.8.6e-win32.exe
e. Double click and install vlc-0.8.6e-win32.exe
f. Download the Combined Community Codec Pack from this link: http://www.cccp-project.net/download.php?type=cccp
g. Double click and install Combined-Community-Codec-Pack-2008-01-24.exe

2. Watch the games:

a. Head over to the myp2p.eu NHL forum: http://www.myp2pforum.eu/nhl/
b. Open the corresponding "game day thread" (eg, Yesterday's thread is located at http://www.myp2pforum.eu/nhl/17267-hockey-today-march-19-streaming.html and the day before is located at http://www.myp2pforum.eu/nhl/17224-hockey-today-march-18-streaming.html
c1. If you are using windowsxp, just click the corresponding link next to the game inside the thread and SopCast should open and start to buffer (eg in the case of today's Carolina game, you would want to click on the part that says "PeltVision": 7:00 pm (23:00 GMT, 00:00 CET) Carolina @ Atlanta PeltVision on SOP, 250k VLC Req!)
c2. If you are using windows vista, manually open the SopCast player. With Vista, you have to right click the corresponding link in the gameday thread and select copy. Next, go to the SopCast address bar and paste the link.
d. Start the SopCast stream and let it buffer.
e. Open VLC.
f. In the "file" sections of the VLC menu, go to Open Network Stream, select "HTTP" option, and type in 127.0.0.1:8902 (If port 8902 doesn't work, try 8912).
g. The game video should now be playing in VLC.
h. You MUST leave SopCast running; closing SopCast closes the stream.
i. Make sure you mute the SopCast player audio (not VLC), so that the two audio sources don't bleed into each other.

Postgame: Stars @ Oil.

LiveBlogging: Oil @ Canes.

Looks like I'll be following the game via the the Carolina feed, this should be ugly.

For any of you out there without access to a video feed, feel free to join me on sopcast channel 39461

First period.

- Oilers give up a quality SC just seconds into the first period. Luckily Whitney shoots it wide.

- A second ridiculous Canes chance as Grebs gets stripped at the Carolina blue line. He recovers but nobody picks up the trailer coming down the middle.

- Predictably 12-89-34 are back together. It has been a few games since 18-13-34 have done anything, so a change seemed like a logical choice. Plus as Dennis mentioned over at LT's, 12's been playing pretty well of late.

- Hemmer makes a real pretty play and sets Horc up in the slot. Ward comes up with a good point blank save.

- So far Carolina is moving the puck really well, we need to do a better job in our own zone.

- 1-0 Canes. Just after I typed the last line, Brind'Amour beats Garon with a hard one-timer. Unless we can get control of zone possession, we are going to get blown out here. The Canes have 7 shots in the first 7 minutes.

- Oilers PP. Commodore, who is one of the best Canes PKers, gets sent to the box. Let's see if our PP can carry some of the momentum from last night.

- Hemsky takes an unsportsmanlike penalty behind the play. Wow, that's a CHINCY call. It looked to me that he complained after taking a slash in the slot. I saw it and it looked like a penalty to me. Instead of a long 5-3, well be skating 4on4 for a minute and a half then killing a 30s penalty.

- Horcoff with a real nice defensive play behind his net. He comes in and stripes Larose before he can take it to the front of the net.

- Souray gets away with a hold that negated a clear break away. It looks like we got our even up call.

- It seems like we are gonna play pond hockey again tonight. I'm not so sure that's a good idea against a team like the Canes; they have scored a lot of goals this year.

- Great little play by 12 sending 16 and 51 on a 2 on 1. 16 elects to shoot and misses wide. Hopefully that wasn't his signature 'one good play a game'.

- The top line draws a penalty. A nice little cycle by 27-10-83 generates some sustained pressure.

- Commodore wins a battle in the corner against 3 of our guys. Nice play by the Caronlina defenseman. I've actually always thought pretty highly of the guy since I followed the Flames run the year before the lock out. I think he's one of the more underrated guys around the league.

END OF THE FIRST PERIOD.

Carolina comes out with a lot of fire and so far looks like the team that wants it more. Deja vu. During the intermission, Brind'Amour comments that before the game the team was talking about how the Oilers tend to collapse too hard and give up the high slot. Fuck.

Second period.

- Souray looks to me like he's trying to do too much again. This is the sort of play that got him in a lot of trouble during his first 8 games with the team.

- 1-1. Gagner gets the monkey off of his back as Ward lets in a fairly soft goal. Some nice puck movement as the kids find some open ice.

- Scratch the above, they gave the goal to 28. Good on him, I've always been a fan.

- Carolina colour guys embarrasses himself as he laments on how Guerin was involved in the Samsonov trade to the Oilers.

- 51 with a clear break away. Too bad he makes nothing of it and shoots wide.

- Hedican takes a careless high sticking penalty. Oilers PP. Big chance here to take this game over.

- The Carolina PK looks real sharp. We just can't seem to get setup in the zone. Shades of last years PP.

- We fail to generate anything on the PP. Honestly, that was pretty deflating, the team was really starting to come alive.

- 44 has all the time in the world to clear it out of his zone and instead puts it off of Walker. That was just a terrbile play.

- 51 with a real nice hit on Commodore, shortly after, Nilsson with a great backcheck as he knocks down the 'Oiler killer' pass to the trailer.

- 2-1 Canes. My feed cuts out and the Canes score just as I reconnect. Lame.

- Oilers get a solid chance as Stoll bangs one off of the post. 27-10-83 hit the ice for an offensive zone faceoff.

- Back to back offensive zone faceoff draw losses for Horc. Plays like these are huge, instead of our top line getting any sort of offensive pressure, they spend their shift running around in the neutral zone.

- 16 takes a bad slashing penalty. If we can kill this off in the third, it might be the momentum turner that we need right now

END OF THE SECOND PERIOD.

Our powerplay killed our momentum that period. I missed Caronlinas second goal, but I'm sure someone messed up.

Third period.

- Oilers come up with a big kill to start the period. I'm really interested to see how much energy the team shows here.

- Smid does a nice job carrying the puck up the ice. It's nice to see when Smid brings this element of his game, helps to ease the pain of his defensive deficiencies.

- 3-1 Canes. A horrendous turnover by Souray at his own blue line leads to a Staal jam in goal. That's the nail in the coffin right there.

- The collapse continues as Thoreson takes a holding penalty in the neutral zone. This team can be so painful to watch.

- The Canes get a bunch of quality chances on the PP but Garon comes up big with a bunch of saves.

- 89 takes an interference penalty in his own zone. I think the Canes are going to score on this PP, furthering the embarrassment.

- Staal with a great swan dive to draw the penalty shot.

- 4-1 Canes. Staal scores easily, the prediction comes true!

- 5-1 Canes. Turnover, saucer pass, goal. GOILERS!

- 6-1 Canes. Kids everywhere in that replay!

- 6-2 Canes. Kids everywhere in that replay!

- 7-2 Canes. That little fucker Staal celebrates his garbage 7-2 goal like he just clinched the cup.

END OF THE THIRD PERIOD.

Sad.

LiveBlogging: Oil @ Caps.

END OF THE FIRST PERIOD

Unfortunately, for the second time this week, school has interfered with my ability to catch the beginning of an Oiler game. However, much to my surprise, it looks like we had a real strong first period. For any of you out there without access to a video feed, feel free to join me on sopcast channel 38858

Second period.

- 2-2. I tune into the game a minute and a half into the period and I missed two Washington goals. Sigh.

- I am really interested to see how this Oiler team responds. It's important for these guys to show some composure here.

- Oilers PP. From what I've read it was pretty solid in the first period. A goal here would certainly send a message.

- 3-2 Oilers. Our powerplay looked AWESOME. The two bombs up high opened up the down low play. The team shows some great puck movement as Hemsky goes to Horcoff who goes cross crease to Penner. That's how our powerplay should look.

- While our powerplay does look really good, I think the Caps are playing us wrong. Both this season and last, it seemed to me that aggressive PKs had our way with us and we found a lot of success against a more passive style. Washington played us way too passive in that last PK.

- 77 saves us a goal as he stretches across the crease and shuffles the puck back into Roli's. We got our Bieksa.

- Haha, one of the Washington announcers had to be corrected when he commented that Cujo had signed in Phoenix. Sad.

- Horcoff takes a bad penalty off of the faceoff. He gets his stick caught up in Semin and skates with his head down to the box.

- Semin bails out Horcoff and takes a slashing penalty just after the Caps powerplay starts.

- Oilers take another penalty. This is going to be a 4 on 3. That looks to me like an awfully weak call on Stoll.

- 3-3. Ovechkin carries up ice then makes a nice pass to Mike Green sneaking in from the point. Green makes no mistake and takes a beautiful top corner shot.

- Washington is looking really dangerous. I love how despite scoring on the Powerplay, the caps will get an extra minute of man advantage after half a minute of 4on4. Getting scored on in a 4on3 situation sucks.

- 37 with a STUPID give away at his own blue line. This kid just does not get it. It's a good thing it was Brashear who had the eventual scoring chance. Still, 37's screw up has led to over a minute of caps pressure in our zone.

- 83 goes around Erskine and draws a tripping penalty. So far we've had stellar success on the PP (2 goals, plus another just after expiration). A goal here would really help to turn the momentum.

- Powerplay was largely ineffective. Some nice puck movement but the only real chance hit Penner in front of the net.

- 4-3 Caps. This is sad. After 37 gets stripped behind his own net, Roli let's in a STUPID ASS GOAL. Look to see Garon starting the third.

END OF THE SECOND.

Generally speaking I consider myself a MacT supporter. I think that so far this year he's done a really good job with this team. With that said, what the HELL was he thinking starting Roloson. When was the last time this team played well in front of him? When was the last time he played a full 60 minutes without giving up a weak goal? I actually don't really think it's important how well Roloson plays, it seems to me that the team plays worse in front of him. Garon constantly comes up with HUGE saves that keep us in games. Roloson just can't come up with a big save, AND has been letting in real weak ones at key times (instead of going into the third tied, we are now down a goal thanks to a terrible goal with only 50s left in the period.

Third period.

- The pond hockey resumes and Stoll absolutely creams Ovechkin.

- MacT is done fucking around. 34 hits the ice with 19 and 16 against Ovechkin's line. 34 answers with a great chance down low.

- What the fuck is Roli doing out there. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

- The Caps' plugger line hems 27-10-83 in their own zone. Great stuff boys.

- Oh my God, HF must be going nuts right now 12-13-89 all hit the ice together. That's just insane. MacT has been quoted numerous times stating that he couldn't put all these guys together because doing so would be bat shit crazy. By his own reasoning, MacT is bat shit crazy.

- 4-4. The big line redeems itself and runs rampant in the Caps zone. Horcoff hits the post on golden chance, then makes no mistake on a 2nd chance about 10 second later. Smid made a GREAT play during the sequence when he took a hit to make a real nice pass down low to 83.

- This game has so much stupidity in it. Despite having already giving up a PPG and numerous chances, the Oilers take a too many men penalty.

- Moreau gets a partial breakaway and a quality chance shorthanded. The best part of it all is he followed up the chance and killed some time down low.

- Stoll makes a real good play as he intercepts a centering pass to Ovechkin. That was a real solid read by 16.

- 37 with a good defensive play after 12 turns it over at the Caps blue line. In Gilbertian fashion, he cleanly removed the puck from Fleischman's stick and calmly moved it out of his zone. Hydebeshkov is in full effect.

- Hydebeshkov makes another solid play as he forechecks and frees up a puck that Hemsky picks up and feeds to Horcoff for a quality chance in the low slot.

- Penner looks so good out there. He just willed the puck out of his zone. This guy is playing with a TON of confidence right now. I wish I was recording this game, Penner is just a different player right now. He pushes his way through the neutral zone and gives a cap defenseman a shove.

END OF THE THIRD.

Top line, top line, top line. After having an off game versus the Kings (only one goal), 27-10-83 are back with a bang. These guys had a great third period. At this point in time, this line is the only line generating offense at ES. I'm not really sure who deserves more credit, Penner, Hemmer or Horc. Although I do subscribe to the idea that 27 really opens up space for 10 and 83, I think all three guys are driving the results.

I remember back when Hemsky was coming back from injury, 27 had been playing really well and I think it was Ferraro that commented that 27-10-83 had yet to be combined while they were all hot. Penner was cold at the start of the season, Hemsky was cold for a few games before his injury, and Horcoff was cold while Hemmer was out. I think this is what it looks like when they are all playing well, and I like it.

Overtime.

- Washington looks like the more dangerous team so far in OT. We need to create some sustained pressure.

- Roli makes a huge save on a Fleischmann break away.

- 10-83 have a sub par shift. One thing about Hemsky though, did you all notice how when he gained the blue line he got it in deep? This is a skill guy here folks who knows what to do to keep the GA down.

- Stoll looks confident on a break away but the puck rolls on him and he doesn't get a shot off.

- 83 splits the D with the clock running down. Wow, what an extra frame that was.

END OF OVERTIME.

Holy heart attack extra period.

Shootout.

WSH Shooter #1: Gordon had Roli beat but lost an edge. We got a bit lucky there.
EDM Shooter #1: Gagner with his signature move but Kolzig doesn't bite.
WSH Shooter #2: Semin gets stopped by Roli.
EDM Shooter #2: Kolzig makes a nice stop as Hemmer goes to the backhand move.
WSH Shooter #3: It really looked to me like Roli knew he was going to shoot. Ovechkin tries to go five hole and Roli makes a big save.
EDM Shooter #3: Horcoff tries to go five-hole and Kolzig shuts the door.
WSH Shooter #4: Roli makes a great toe save on Kozlov.
EDM Shooter #4: Nilsson tries to go low blocker but doesn't telegraph his shot well.
WSH Shooter #5: Roli gives up nothing and Backstrom misses wide.
EDM Shooter #5: Pisani with a pretty poorly directed shot, easy save for Kolzig.
WSH Shooter #6: Laich with a lot of moves but misses wide.
EDM Shooter #6: Gilbert tries to go fivehole and Kolzig reads it all the way.
WSH Shooter #7: Green shoots it right into Roli's glove.
EDM Shooter #7: Stoll breaks his stick and gets nothing on the shot.
WSH Shooter #8: Fleishmann tries to go five hole and Roli closes the door.
EDM Shooter #8: Penner with the fake to his backhand and the forehand shot. He misses wide.
WSH Shooter #9: Roli with a big glove save on Brashear. WTF Brashear?
EDM Shooter #9: Marty just misses as he tries to draw Kolzig over but hits the pipe.
WSH Shooter #10: Pettinger loses the handle and misses the net.
EDM Shooter #10: Cogliano stumbles and wipes out in the corner. That was funny.
WSH Shooter #11: Erskine tries to go high with a backhand but Roli makes the save.
EDM Shooter #11: Chopper hits the post. LOL, I totally saw that coming, one post a game for 18.
WSH Shooter #12: Matt Bradley with a nice deak goal.
EDM Shooter #12: It's all on Souray here. Kolzig makes a save on the Souray slapper

END OF THE SHOOTOUT.

We let one slip away. I definitely question a lot of MacT's choices this game, but at least we got a point. Also, it's nice to see the top line going again, we'll need them if we want to be successful on this road trip.

LiveBlogging: Kings @ Oil.

The talk of the town is the resurgent powerplay. In the pregame podcast, both players and coach credit the improved play to "chemistry". I think I can buy that explanation; After all, two of the five players on our 'first unit' are new to the team this season.

Unfortunately I have class until 5:30 and a 45 minutes trip home, so I should be picking this game up shortly after the puck drops. For those of you that don't have access to the pay per view feed, you can join me and catch the game on sopcast channel 31511.

5 Minutes info the first period.

- 1-0 Kings. I turn the game on just in time to see Grebs with the blown coverage on O'Sullivan.

- 83 takes a bad penalty 50 feet from his own net. Kings go on the powerplay. This is a big kill, if we go down 2-0 this game is as good as over. The Kings have the 4th best powerplay in the league. That's not really surprising considering all the talent.

- Nice play by 44 as he knocks the puck down on the PK and clears it down the ice. 24 and 44 are starting to look gassed out there, we really need a whistle here.

- 25 with a solid play breaking up a Frolov break out pass. The Kings get numerous quality chances, but the Oilers successfully get the kill.

- PPV announcer (Kevin Quinn?) talks up 5's season. How far do you have to have your head up your ass to think he's had a good season.

- 12 shows he's not just a skill guy with a real nice dump and chase. Unfortunately it doesn't lead to much as LA moves the puck out of the zone and generates a bunch of chances. Garon comes up big with saves on Johnson in the high slot and a cross ice one-timer by Blake.

- 18 catches Handzus with his head down. As bad as we have looked so far this game, at least we have a physical presence.

- A nice long shift by 19-16-89. However, I knew it was over when I heard Quinn say that Staios had chipped it into the corner and Gagner was going to get it. Predictably Gagner lost the battle and LA cleared it down ice.

- 44 with an ill-advised clear up the middle of the ice. Vishnovsky gets a chance and Garon makes a solid save.

- Stortini does his best punching bag impression. Still, the kid deserves credit for going out there and sacrificing his body for the good of his team. Win or loss, I'm sure getting punched by a 250 lb. goon still hurts.

- WOW. Chopper absolutely destroys Jack Johnson behind the Kings net. That was sick.

END OF THE FIRST PERIOD.

From what I saw we played pretty poorly at the start of the period. Despite the bad start, we ended the first with some solid physical play. I really think that's a good way to approach a team like LA. Chopper talks about the bad start and the improvement over the last 5 minutes of the period. I gotta agree with his analysis, the team looked a lot better in the last five.

Second period.

- We need 27-10-83 to play like they did Sunday versus Calgary. A nice start to the period as Penner and Hemsky both have SCs.

- Great play by 77. After a minute+ of sustained pressure in the Kings zone, he chases down O'Sullivan and stops a potential break away. I'm really surprised he was able to catch him there, I thought that he would be gassed after such a long shift.

- 2-0 Kings. Pitkanen and Nilsson combine to give away the fuck at the Oilers blue line. It's really unfortunate that the Kings managed to capitalize on their first chance of the period.

- 24 bails out Garon and clears a puck out of the crease. Top line has a pretty brutal defensive break down, giving O'Sullivan a clear run to the net.

- Oilers put a bunch of shots on the net. Problem is they are all coming well from the outside and there doesn't seem to be anyone ready to bang in a rebound.

- It really seems like Hemsky LA is doing a good job shutting us down off of the rush. Hemsky has had numerous chances gaining the LA zone with speed but hasn't been able to do anything with it.

- Oilers barely miss out on a goal. 37 looks good as he walks in from the point and puts a puck off of Blake's leg that nearly goes in.

- Oilers PP. MacT leaves the top unit out there for an offensive zone draw despite 1 minute having already gone by in the PP. They generate a couple chances capped by a Souray blocked shot. Second unit also looked good in limited minutes, highlighted by Gagner taking the puck to the net and almost jamming it in.

- Souray with a real nice stuff of Brown at the Oilers blue line. Again, I think this is the key to beating LA (that and of course scoring some damn goals).

END OF THE SECOND PERIOD.

So far this has been a bit of a weird game. From what I've seen the Oilers have been unable to establish any sort of offensive flow. Most of the plays off of the rush seem to lead to blocked shots or pucks heading into the corners. The cycle game has been relatively effective but has still yet to lead to a goal. I think to win tonight we are going to need at least one special teams goal and a goal from our top line.

Third period.

- Slow start to the third period. We can't seem to generate any offense on the rush. Since when can LA play defense? I don't know how many times I've heard about LA getting their sticks on Oiler shots. Hemsky alone has had at least half of his shots blocked.

- Penner gets a great chance and LaBarbera comes up with a big save. It's really too bad, that's probably the best chance we have had this game.

- 18 takes a typical dumb penalty. Maybe we can score shorthanded?

- 3-0 Kings. That's a no on the SHG. LA gets a lucky bounce and Vishnovsky pots it into an open net.

- Chopper gets robbed down low by LaBarbera and Brodziak can't put the rebound into the open net. That's a huge missed opportunity. I think it's safe to say that this game is over.

- 89 does his best 'Joff' impression and fails to clear the puck out of his zone despite a lot of time and space.

- 44 has gone to the dressing room, let's hope it's just an equipment issue.

- 3-1 Kings. Penner with a steal down low and no mistake on the finish. Unfortunately it's probably too little too late. I think the Brodziak miss right after the Vishnovsky goal is going to be the difference in this game.

- Garon with a fantastic save down low against Nagy and then gets back into position to stop the rebound. It's good he's still making big saves, shows his head is still in this game.

- Dive, Dive, Dive. That should be two and two. With 3 and a half minutes left, you can't give cheap penalties like that. Good on Dustin Brown though, he has a Ryan Kesler Hattrick: a goal, some whining, and a dive.

END OF THE THIRD PERIOD.

The team came out of the gate too slow and gave up goals at key moments. I was really impressed by LA's defensive game, they stayed out of the box and kept most of the shots to the outside. Still, a 4-1 home stand is certainly a success.

LiveBlogging: Flames @ Oil.

I'll be doing live commentary during tonights game.

In the pre-game scrum, MacT talked about putting a big stretch of wins together and getting back into some sort of post season picture. I know it's his job to stay positive, but I don't buy that he thinks this team can make the playoffs. For the first time in a long time, the team is healthy and has put together a stretch of games where they looked like the best team on the ice. However, they did it against two teams from the East that have been struggling and an overachieving Coyotes squad. Before I'm convinced the Oilers can go on a real run, they'll have to show me they can beat legitimate playoff teams (Canucks, Flames, Stars, Wings), and LOOK like they deserved to win.

As for tonights game, I think we can steal one if Garon plays exceptional. I'm curious to see if MacT tries to run 27-10-83 against Iginla or if he tries to keep them away so they can focus on scoring. Also, I wonder if the kids can have another big game against the largely veteran Flame bottom six. My guess is if we win it's going to be a low scoring affair, with points from the powerplay and the top line.

FIRST PERIOD.

- More sopcast problems. At this rate I might just have to sign up for Centre Ice Online at the halfway point of the season. The game is on channel 31511, but the buffer can't seem to get over 70%, so the image is pretty choppy. Hopefully it settles before the puck drops.

- Stream just shot up to 100% during the pre-game commercials. If you don't have the ability to watch the game, I'd suggesting downloading the sopcast player and clicking the link in the last post.

- Top line with a nice early rush. Looks like MacT is going to use Iginla to check Stoll. I suspected that would be his choice.

- Grebeshkov with a stupid give away then a lazy penalty. Where is Tarnstrom...

- The PK comes up big and the Flames get nothing out of their early powerplay.

- Stoll wtih a nice little move on a 1on1, the guy actually is starting to look like a valuable NHL player again. I wonder how much of his resurgence can be credited to an increase in confidence. Shooters in particular seem susceptible to confidence slumps. It would be great for the Oil if confidence was his problem, rather than lingering concussion issues.

- Hemsky with a nice move on Eriksson, turning him inside out and drawing a penalty. Oilers PP.

- 1-0 Oilers. I was JUST about to comment on how the Flames know how to effectively play against an Oiler powerplay (eg: pressure the hell out of the puck carrier) and then we score. Shows how much I know.

- 18 shows us why players like him are essential to winning games. He shows no fear as he takes the puck to the net. Lombardi, coming in on the backcheck, inadvertently takes out his own goaltender (shades of MAB anyone). Driving the puck to the net is a sign of a team that isn't afraid to get a bit dirty, something that this Oiler team has been lacking all year.

- Smid with a sick give away just inside his own blue line. Good thing he was out there against Boyd and Marcus Nilsson. As long as MacT can keep 5-35 away from anyone with any talent, they have a chance to get out of this game without hurting their team on the scoresheet.

- 89 shows us why he should never be on the ice at the same time as Iginla. A careless neutral zone pass leads to an Iginla charge and a Flame chance.

- MacT seems to be content getting 27-10-83 out there versus Tanguay's line. We'll see if Keanen tries to get away from that match up.

- Again Stoll looks like a reborn player. I honestly can't remember the last time he drove the net like that. He gets a great chance down low and forces Kipper to nake a big save.

- Oilers takes a bad penalty. Let's see if the PK can be as effective as it was in the first kill. Good start as Souray wins a battle down low and Horc carries the puck up ice.

- Robyn Regehr on the powerplay. I've seen him out there a few times this year, and he seems to have a decent shot. Now I know that the Flames don't have much offense on their blue line, but you'd think a forward would be better in that spot.

END OF THE FIRST PERIOD.

A fast paced physical first period. The Oilers convert on their only powerplay, and the PK gives up very little in two Flame opportunities.

SECOND PERIOD.

- 2-0 Oilers. WOW. I participate in a h2h yahoo pool. I am playing MattM this week, and as of 10 seconds ago we were tied in the goals category. Talk about taking the lead in style. Hemmer makes a ridiculous move and turns Robyn Regehr into a pylon. I remember an interview with Hemsky shortly after Regehr nearly killed him the last time these teams met in the BoA. He basically said that the hit was clean but commented that Regehr (and this is a loose quote) "didn't have to try and kill (him)". It's nice to see Hemmer get a little bit of revenge.

- Flames powerplay gets a number of quality chances as the Oilers start to run around a bit in their zone. MacT really needs to settle this team down.

- We are playing with 'fire' here. The Oilers take their 2nd too many men penalty of the game. Souray starts the PK right after a long ES shift. I question Huddy's choice there, time and time again I've seen Souray looking gassed on the ice. I think playing him as often as they are is counterproductive to the idea that players should be put in situations where they can be as effective as possible.

- 46-51-12 with a real solid shift down low. With Tanguay and Nolan on the ice, the aforementioned line generates a couple chances and keeps the puck in deep.

- Oilers get lucky as a bad change leads to a Tanguay-Nolan chance and Pitkanen comes up with a big skate save.

- We are starting to look a little too passive for my liking. Shades of recent blown leads are coming to mind. The team needs to put a bit of pressure on the Flames.

- 77 with a real nice separation play on Tanguay at the Oilers half boards. He calmly pins him to the boards and plays the puck back to Pitkanen. The play reminded me of how Hejda would separate guys last year. I really miss the guy and I think Lowe's biggest off season mistake was not re-signing the guy.

- 27 literally throws Lombardi off of him behind the Flames net. Ferraro comments on the mismatch and it couldn't be any more obvious.

- A couple nice shifts from 27-10-83 and 19-16-89 lead to some nice Oiler pressure.

- Staios gets beat wide and takes a penalty. Flames PP. Garon makes a brutal give away but comes up with a big save.

END OF THE SECOND PERIOD.

Another solid Oiler period. The team got lucky with some bounces and Garon came up big on numerous occasions. Tanguay's line had a couple chances, but with the exception of the late drive by Huselius leading to the Staios penalty, the Flames top line has been ineffective. If we can keep them from getting going offensively in the third, I think we have a really good chance at coming away with a win.

THIRD PERIOD.

- The Flames start the period on the PP and Iginla gets a golden chance down low. Later, Gilbert makes a real heady play and intercepts a neutral zone pass. We need this to be our last PK of this game. With every powerplay, the Flames have looked more and more dangerous.

- Hemsky makes another great play but unfortunately Cogs can't finish. I said it about Penner during the Isles game, and I'll say it about Cogliano. If you are on the ice with Ales Hemsky, keep your head up, stick on the ice, and EXPECT to receive a pass.

- 2-1 Oilers. The Flames get a bit lucky as Langkow's backhand goes off of Staios and into the back of the net. If the Oilers play like they have in recent collapses, we will likely be in for a disappointing third period. The team really needs to keep the pressure on.

- Chopper hits the post after some nice work by Pisani along the boards. This shift by 18-13-34 is EXACTLY what we need right now. The Flames ice the puck to relieve the pressure.

- MacT goes to the top line against a tired Calgary five. Unfortunately, they fail to generate any scoring chances.

- A real nice rush by Iginla's line. Staios does a real nice job tying up Huselius and preventing an easy bang in on the rebound.

- A quality 2 on 1 with Pisani leading the rush. 34 shows some real patience and forces Kipper to make a huge save. 18-13-34 have had a real solid game together.

- More solid offensive zone pressure generated by 27-10-83 and 5-35. I've noticed that MacT loves to put 5-35 out there with the top line. I think it's a great choice, not so much because Horc et al help on the backcheck, but rather because they keep the puck up ice and thus out of our zone.

- For the third time this game, Gagner carries the puck into the Flames zone and promptly gives it away. If this kid is going to stick on a line with 16 and 19, he needs to understand that their strength lies on the cycle, and that he needs to get it in deep to generate offense.

- 25 shows us why he is considered one of the premium young offensive defensemen in the NHL. A small sneaky play leads to a nice Oiler chance and forces Kipper to cover the puck. Offensive zone faceoff coming up for the Oilers. Look for 27-10-83 to hit the ice for the draw after the lengthy TV timeout.

- An odd choice by MacT. He puts 19-16-89 out there versus the Iginla line after the TV time out. It seems to me that there is a time to check and there is a time to go PVP. Gotta get your best scorers out there for offensive draws with 5 minutes left.

- Penner fights off two Flames and holds the puck in deep giving his mates an opportunity to change.

- Crowd starts a Calgary sucks chant. I really hate those types of chants. They are awfully popular here in Vancouver at GM place.

- 19-16-89 get pinned in their zone for an extended amount of time. 16 makes a great diving play to clear it out. Keanen gets 12 out there and Gagner wisely FINALLY GETS OFF THE ICE. I am absolutely POSITIVE that he is getting an earful from MacT right now. Horcoff and Penner had already changed and had been out there for at least 15 seconds. Gagner looked as if he was going to join the rush, but probably heard MacT screaming at him to get off the ice. Shortly thereafter 83 hits the ice and DOUBLE DION comes up big with two saves on Penner down low.

END OF THE THIRD.

An epic hockey game that left me with chills in the final minute. I love how MacT had 27(and 18)-10-83-25-77 out there for the final minute. While 25 made a gaff under pressure in his own zone late, 77 made a great play on Tanguay and stopped him from taking it to the front of the net just before time expired.

LiveBlogging: Isles @ Oil.

I'll be posting notes during this evenings game. I hope that the sopcast stream is more reliable this time around. For those of you wanting to catch some of the action, tune into sopcast channel 31511 (or click here if you have sopcast installed)

- My feed cuts out just as the game is about to start. Excellent.

- I seem to have missed the first five minutes. My feed cuts in as Hemsky gets smothered by 5 Isles at their blue line.

- Gagner playing with Reasoner. I liked the energy I saw out of 89-51-46 last game, I'm not sure how I feel about the change. Although 28-51-46 is certainly appealing as a line that can cycle and build up some energy down low.

- Hemsky with a great chance down low. 27-10-83 looks good early on.

- Grebs turns over the puck in his own zone which leads to a bit of Islander pressure. This kid constantly is making something out of nothing.

- Gagner et. al get pinned in down low by Satan's line. Ugly shift from the Oilers.

- MacT throws 27-10-83 out there against the Comrie line. I think he will try to get that match up all night.

- Gilbert with his best Grebeshkov impression as he gives it away to Park for an A+ chance in the slot.

- Some Oilers pressure draws an Islander penalty down low. Let's see which Oiler powerplay shows up tonight, the bad one or the really bad one.

- Apparently the Islanders have the 6th best penalty kill in the league. This doesn't bode well. Horrible powerplay, currently Richard Park is playing keep way in our defensive zone.

- Gilbert gets a weak shot on goal with the powerplay winding down. We managed to gain the zone and setup in only one of our five tries.

- Gilbert again puts a shot on goal that Pisani manages to tip. Dipietro forced to make a good save. At least we got one solid chance out of the man advantage.

- Hemsky with another good chance down low. Surprise, surpise, Comrie and Bergeron on the ice. MacT must salivate when he sees those two out there.

END OF THE FIRST

Some solid chances from 27-10-83 at ES. Beyond that, not much offense outside of a nice rush by 18 in the middle of the frame. As for the Islanders, they didn't manage to generate a whole lot of offense. it looks to me like it's going to be a button-down type game.

SECOND PERIOD.

- 1-0 Oilers. A great little snipe by Hemmer. The top line is humming tonight.

- 2-0 Oilers. Top line, top line, top line. Horcoff getting back on track with Hemmer in the line up. The top line is looking great.

- 3-0 Oilers. Reasoner pots a quick one on a Stoll feed.

- Oilers are really coming alive here. You can see the weight drop from their shoulders.

END OF THE SECOND

Had some problems with my stream, wasn't able to follow the play too closely. However, it looks like things are solved for the third period.

THIRD PERIOD

- Islanders nearly put one away, Garon gets lucky as Sillinger rings one off the post.

- Oilers back to the powerplay. Souray gets trapped in deep leading to an Islanders chance.

- Long 5-3 coming up here for the Oil as Hunter draws a goaltender interference penalty. Stoll gets two great chances with DiPietro moving.

- Lots of quality chances that we didn't capitalize on. That powerplay looked really good. Souray hits the bar as the PP shows great puck movement.

- A quick fight between Stortini and Jackman. Give the decision to Jackman as the aptly named "huggy-bear" strikes again. I actually think that Stortini was pretty gassed at the beginning of the fight, he had already been out for a full shift.

- I think 12 is a better fit than 89 to play with 16 and 19. I think Gagner is just too weak on the puck to play with Stoll and Reasoner.

- Islanders PP. Pies takes a holding penalty as the Oil spend some time running around their own zone.

- Chop and Marty do a great job killing the first 45 seconds of the powerplay. 18 with some great work at the blue line.

- Smid hits the ice and the Islanders get a great scoring chance. Colour me surprised.

- Satan's line builds some nice pressure and gets a few chances. Souray almost gets turned around at his own blue line but recovers in time get back into position.

- Staios with a real nice play breaking up a Meyer centering pass. Oilers go up ice and Hemsky and Horcoff combine for another solid SC.

- Oilers go to the powerplay for the third time this evening as Guerin gets called for interference on Smid. Pretty weak call, it seemed that Smid was holding/interfering Guerin. I think the credit for the powerplay should go to the pressure generated by 27-10-83.

- The Kid powerplay hits the ice. Gagner is ROBBED x2 by DiPietro right on the doorstep.

- Penner has missed about 3 golden opportunities this game. I think he forgot what it was like to play with Hemmer, you really need to keep your stick on the ice ready for a pass at all times.

- 4-0 Oilers. Stoll unleashes a rocket on a Horcoff feed. Could he be regaining his confidence? I hope so, it will really improve his trade value ;).

- Brodziak shows us all why we dealt Marc-Andre Bergeron. Bergy plays him soft and stops moving his feet which gives 51 a clear run to the net. DiPietro comes up big and bails out his teammate.

- WOW. That was a ridiculous grab by DiPietro. Pitkanen with a golden opportunity down low on a Brodziak feed. I have Joni in my pool and it would have been nice to get that one.

END OF THE THIRD

Garon shuts the Islanders down and the Oil win a rare one in regulation. All in all a quality win; the top line comes up big, we scored a powerplay goal and Garon shut the door.

LiveBlogging: Oil @ Blues.

Thanks to some technical difficulties with sopcast and Ubuntu, I'm just now tuning in with 13 minutes left in the third.

- Looks like we are off to a terrible start, only one shot on Legace and we are down a goal.

- This sopcast feed is really unstable, I might have to try and find another one.

- Back online with 9 minutes left.

- This sopcast feed needs more peers, it's cutting in and out. If you are reading this at game time, it's on 22668. Download the client at http://www.sopcast.org/

- Nilsson takes a stupid penalty. Let's see how our PK looks tonight. I wonder how long it's gonna be before Robert draws out. It's been 8 games or so since he's had an impact offensively. If he isn't bringing offense, why else is he in the line up?

- A pretty solid kill. Nice play by Marty down low to break up the centering attempt. Those cross crease passes have been killing us of late.

- TV timeouts are so ridiculously long. Does anyone know when the league implemented these things? In the early 90's I attended a lot of games and I don't seem to remember these long breaks.

- A nice forecheck and cycle shift by 27-10-28. It's no secret that I'm a fan of 28's, nice to see him get a chance with the big boys.

- Chopper shows great patience on a nice rush, too bad Souray made nothing of it by blasting a shot 5 ft. wide of the net.

- Another Oilers powerplay. Johnson goes to the box for hooking. Looked like a pretty weak call. Hopefully we can get a shot this time around.

- Some pretty good puck movement, but it was all around the perimeter. Blues clear it down the ice.

END OF THE FIRST

From what I saw it looks like having Johnny back in the lineup isn't making much of a difference. The team looks pretty flat.

Second Period.

- 1-1. A solid forecheck leads to a Gilbert goal. Let's just try and forget that first period.

- Oh man, that was hilarious. As I said after last game, Smid is playing with more of an edge. The guy gives Backes a forearm shiv and then ends up dropping them. A pretty good fight too, I don't know much about Backes, but I'd give the decision to Ladi.

- Another fight, Stortini drops them with King. Storts is really hanging on for his life. Rob Brown: "both guys are really doing a good job keeping things in tight", hahahah.

- My feed seems to have completely cut out. Gonna try Matt's windows suggestion from the comments.

LiveBlogging: Oil @ Jackets.

With Matt out of town with the family, I'll be watching this one on sopcast. You can download the player here and find out what games are showing here. Tonights game is on channel 36000.

First period.

- I didn't expect to see Roli in net, you'd think MacT would have gone with Garon after the 5 goal Wild game.

- Pies is in the game despite the injured foot, that's good to see.

- Souray leads a rush and puts a weak shot on net. Honestly, I wish the guy would just stick to his strengths and avoid his weaknesses (carrying the puck up ice).

- Columbus announcers talking about how Hejda is logging a lot of minutes and leading the team in plus/minus. I'm lookin' at you Kevin Lowe.

- Penner gains position on Foote on a dump in but nobody comes in support. I'm not convinced Gagner is a great fit for this line, he's probably the weakest player on the team on the boards.

- 1-0 Jackets. A fairly innocent looking rush leads to a rebound goal. Can't really put that play on anyone, although the offensive cycle ended with Gagner being in poor position to receive a Penner pass.

- Judging by the early results, I'd say our chances to win this game are extremely poor. We have not managed to generate any offense (rush or cycle) and Columbus has looked dangerous on the rush.

- I'm really puzzled by the Roli start, I don't think the team feels as comfortable with him back there as they do with Garon. It's not that Roli is playing particularly poorly, rather, I think it's more that Garon has stolen some games, and the team knows they need their goalie to be exceptional to win games.

- Westcott takes a poor holding penalty on Nilsson, Hitch won't be happy.

- Souray sucks when he gets pressured on the PP. He needs time and space to either make a pass or take a shot. I think the guy at the opposing point really has to be comfortable handling the puck. Maybe Toronto would be willing to give up Kaberle for 'five assets'. I mean if five assets can get you Pronger why not Kaberle?

- Nash and Zherdev hem our top line in it's own zone for an excess of two minutes. It's not pretty.

- Souray takes a couple bombs at ES. The only problem was Leclaire saw them both and made what looked like two fairly easy saves.

- 18-28-46 is a very weird line. Still, they just put together the best offensive cycle I've seen so far in this game.

END OF THE FIRST

After we had watched Smid's game a few times last year, I remember a conversation between Matt and I about his upside. We didn't think he had the offense to be a guy like Kaberle, and agreed that Ohlund represented a fairly solid high point. I mentioned this comparison a month or so ago on HF, and some guy shot me down saying that Smid doesn't have the same physical edge. I beg to differ, the only positive thing I can see out of the young kids game this year is that he's playing a lot more physical. He just gave Rick Nash a couple shots to the back of the head during a puck battle behind the net. I think a lot of people forget that he's still just a 21 year old kid. I can remember that at 21 my body was still growing in terms of strength. Smid possesses a big frame and there is no reason he can't play with and Ohlund-like edge. I'm really interested to see how he plays with Gilbert. It seems to me that every guy that has played with 77 (Pitkanen, Tarnstrom, Grebeshkov) played their best hockey while paired with him. Perhaps I'm giving Gilbert too much credit, but I've certainly seen a pattern.

Second period.

- Grebeshkov with a stupid giveaway that leads to a Jackets rush and a Pisani penalty. He does at least one momentously stupid thing a game. I think the BoA glossary needs a new term.

- Columbus powerplay looks really good. Roloson bails out his team with a great save on a Chimera one-timer.

- 46 and 28 with another great cycle down low. I don't understand why ANYONE rags on 28's game. He always brings the effort and energy that you need out of your cheap 4th liners. Also, he's surprisingly strong on the cycle and brings a bit of offense.

- 1-1. Chopper bounces on a rebound in the slot. Great job by Staios to keep the puck in and by Souray to recognize that it was time to put the weak wrister on net.

- Chimera takes a hooking penalty on big Penner. Oilers powerplay.

- Columbus kills the first 40 seconds with up ice pressure. Souray with a bomb and Penner takes the puck to the front of the net.

- 2-1 Jackets. SHG. A harmless rush up ice turns into Souray committing at his own blue line leading to a Nilsson vs Nash mismatch on a rebound down low. Nilsson drops to block the shot and Nash goes top corner. Certainly a more experienced forward would have been all over Nash but Robert's effort was still there. He hustled back into the play and took away the bottom of the net with his attempted block.

2-2. Leclaire is handcuffed by a weak Staios shot. Merry Christmas Stevie.

- Jackets with some sustained pressure. Oilers get bailed out by a Delay of game call. Oilers PP.

- I think MacT has decided to leave Souray out for nearly the whole powerplay. I support his decision, it certainly isn't going to make the powerplay any worse.

- Horc gets stripped by Nash leading to a golden chance at the conclusion of the period. We really can't have our veterans making these kinds of mistakes.

END OF SECOND

A better period for the Oil. Some early pressure leads to some chances and a powerplay. Unfortunately, we gave up a shorthanded goal on one of those powerplays. Jackets recover and carry the last 8 minutes of the period. We need to come out fast and strong in the third. A regulation loss here would be heartbreaking.

Third period.

- Nash gets his stick up high on Horcoff. Oilers pick up a short 5-3. Hopefully we can see Souray at his best on this PP.

- I can NEVER understand why a team would dump and chase on a 5-3. The Oilers get lucky and manage to retrieve the puck.

- Stoll takes a slapshot that gets blocked and cleared down the ice. Bye bye 5 on 3.

- That was a pathetic powerplay.

- Columbus with more sustained offensive zone pressure. Horcoff with a RIDICULOUS give away to Nash in the high slot. Smid bails him out with a diving play to knock the puck away. Columbus broadcasters talking up Smid's performance.

- Gagner takes a lazy penalty and Columbus goes to the PP with a lot of momentum. We dodged some bullets in the first kill let's see if we can do it again.

- Columbus gets some sick pressure late in the powerplay. Lucky for us they couldn't seem to hit the net.

- Tarnstrom looks lazy out there. I wonder if it's a conditioning thing from sitting out, or if he's just not motivated to actually try out there. Perhaps both?

- I loved that down low angle of Stortini fighting off the Jackets defenseman on the cycle. You can pinpoint the exact moment the play broke down: right when he decided to chip it over to Gagner.

- Souray looking pilon-esque as he gets beat for a Jackets SC.

- Gilbert shows a lot of poise carrying the puck out of his zone. Matt and I were just talking on the phone and we discussed Gilbert's ability to take pressure off of his partner. I think his ability to win one on one battles and safely carry the puck out of dangerous areas really takes the panic out of his defensive game. There is a certain calm when he is on the ice

- Great cycle game by 18-13-34. Unfortunately, the momentum ends with Chopper taking a stupid penalty.

- Good start to the PK, Columbus gets setup with a 1:20 left. We manage to keep it to the outside and clear the zone. Columbus gets possession in the O-zone with 30 seconds left.

- 3-2 Jackets. Another Rolibound leads to an easy Nash goal. The real shame was that our PK looked far more effective than on the previous two kills. Just goes to show sometimes you do things right and your goaltender lets you down.

4-2 Jackets. Nash pots one into the empty net from just over the blue line. Nothing like a game versus the Oilers to cure a goal scoring slump.

- Some excitement in the last minute of the game, capped by what must be Souray's 10th missed shot of the game. The puck went all the way around the boards and out of the zone. I know he has a big shot, but it's painfully obvious that he needs time and space to make anything happen offensively. It's no surprise that he brings very little in terms of ES scoring, so why have the guy out there 6-5? Seems to me that most goals scored in 6-5 situations are bang bang plays down low. With 11 guys in the offensive zone, there really isn't much space to get stuff through.

END OF THE THIRD PERIOD

Smid had a pretty good game. Just under 20 minutes, most of it as ES, even on the game. I didn't see any real holes in his game and he made a couple solid plays. In the last 7 games, the Oilers have been utterly terrible in the third period. I'm not sure anything can be done to help this problem, it looks to me like it's a product of too many kids and not enough vets. It's painfully obvious that we can't have guys like Hemsky and Pitkanen out and still expect to compete.

Possible?

Stoll, Nilsson, Schremp, and Smid for Brad Richards.

Sanderson to PHX for a 4th.

Roli to PIT for a 2nd.

Sign Gilbert for 15.5 over 5.

Sign Pitkanen for 22.5 over 5.

Pray the salary cap goes up.

Postgame: Oilers @ Blues.

Just a couple notes from tonights game:

- I couldn't believe how white my knuckles were after that two minute 5-3. Great job by Horc to knock down those two passes and get the puck out of the zone. Garon also came up with a couple big saves.

- Robert Nilsson continues to produce offense without hurting the team defensively. This kid really deserves some credit at some point. That pass to Fernie on the game tying goal was a beauty, he patiently out waited Walker to free up the lane.

- I really think Souray is the kind of guy that needs his coach to put him in a position to succeed. I think MacT needs to keep him off the ice at EV and run him dry on the PP and PK. Further, I don't think Souray should ever lead a breakout on the powerplay with Pitkanen on the ice, it just doesn't make sense.

- Pisani is playing great. I remember a specific play in the second where Nilsson skated into heavy traffic at the St Louis blue line. He got stuck and looked like he was going to turn it over, but at the last second he frantically threw it in Fernando's direction, who promptly got it in deep then went off for a line change. Certainly reminiscent of Smid and Staios' dynamic. I don't think it's any coincidence that Gagner and Nilsson have picked up their game since Fernando's return.

- Garon had a solid outing. The first goal was stoppable, but the other 3 were 5 star chances. His success in the shootout is actually starting to look repeatable; could it be that his unorthodox style is more effective in the shootout? All I know is that I feel pretty confident when we end up in a shootout. When the score was 4-3 for the Blues the cameraman on the St. Louis feed cut to some cute kid holding up a "It's my Birthday" sign. I joked to Matt that the kid was going to receive a shootout loss for a present. I'm glad I was right.

- Smid and Staios both had ugly games, but at least in the case of the former, we can expect some improvement over time. Unfortunately for Staios, he is unlikely to get any better. Steve made two egregious mistakes on the Weight tip-in goal. First he rung the puck around the boards late in a shift when he had time for a controlled breakout. Then, he left Weight uncovered and unchecked for the tip in.

- We have a legit top line that other coaches are going to have to respect. Penner managed to carry the momentum he gained while playing with Horc and Nilsson into his second stint on the PHH line. Further, Horcoff is excelling in a offensively focused role at ES, while still coming up big on the PK.

- Grebeshkov is great as long as you limit his ice time. He does create some offense and as long as you aren't asking him to check Iginla, seems to be able to hold his own in the D-zone.

- Pitkanen with another solid effort. Matt and I are both ecstatic with his ability to jump into plays on a consistent basis, yet still get back into the play when the puck heads back the other way.

- Tommy Gun had a bit of an off night, by my memory he made one rather big mistake that led to a giveaway and a SC early in the second. However, he still made a great play offensively where he stepped through three blues defenders and out waited another to setup Gagner on a beauty chance. It's too bad that a trailer had just got to Gagner to break up the play, it looked like we were going to get a solid SC out of Tom's efforts.

- Stoll and Torres continue to do very little. I missed the Dallas game, but if this was the kind of effort they put up, then those two still have a long way to go.

LiveBlogging: Blues @ Oilers.

- Missed the first 5 minutes of the game, Matt told me we were playing well.

- Great looking first powerplay, it's too bad Penner didn't read off of Hemsky taking it to the front of the net just as the man advantage expired, that could have been a pretty goal.

- Johnson had Garon beat, but put if off the side of the net. That would have been a real momentum killer.

- Horc hits the post with a great looking release. He has been great this season.

- 2-1 turns into a 1-1 down low for Thor. Cogliano makes an ugly pass and Thor doesn't much on the shot.

- 1-0 Blues - This game is looking High even so far. Stepniak makes a nice play as Rourke finds himself in no man's land. Boyes then cleans up the garbage.

- Hemmer and Penner on a 2-1. If Hemmer makes the pass, I think Penner puts it in, Matt agrees. Hemmer's second drawn penalty so far, he's having a solid game.

- Grebs and Smid out to start the PP on the point. Matt thinks it's a shorty waiting to happen. Next thing you know Johnson and McClement create a quality SC. Matt thinks that was a penalty on Pitkanen, he's happy we are still on the PP.

- Great chance and Gagner breaks his stick. Hopefully we'll start to capitalize on some of these opportunities. It's looking like another "blues backup" kind of game (fuck you Sanford).

- Nice little play by Cogliano to get Brodziak a nice chance

- 1-1 Beauty play by Hemmer. Gets in there to get the faceoff win, draws in basically the whole Blues team and dishes to Horc, who takes a great shot for the gaol. Kinger think Horcoff's shot has drastically improved since last year.

- I love watching Pitkanen play. Pinches down low to support the puck with such confidence, and he's got the skating ability to get back when things go wrong.

First Intermission 1-1
-Good period. I think the team deserves better than a tie game, and the St. Louis broadcast team agrees with me.

On Stoll and Torres, here is Kinger and my chat log from earlier today
Kinger: weird eh
Matt: Crazy.
Kinger: did you hear about that yelling match
Kinger: from last game
Matt: I heard. Not sure what happened there. There's so much hearsay in the whole thing. But this benching leads one to believe the hearsay may have some merit.
Kinger: yea i agree
Kinger: the fact that they both ate it
Kinger: leads me to believe in the stortini rumour a bit
Kinger: seems to make sense
Matt: Yeah.
Kinger: i can see raffi calling him out too
Kinger: and stoll backing him up
Matt: The timing is about right too. Because before Pies came back, who would they expect to have on their wing?
Kinger: the whole public side of it from MacT is a deflection
Kinger: i think
Kinger: about struggling or whatever
Matt: But with him back, they got pissed off when they still had Stortini
Matt: Yeah
Kinger: there must be a catalyst
Matt: I tend to agree,.
Kinger: i gotta say if it's true
Kinger: good move
Kinger: stortini has played with more balls than both those guys
Kinger: combined
Kinger: it's ridiculous for them to be calling anyone out
Matt: Agreed. You can't have guys questioning the coaching and blaming their teammates like that.
Matt: I don't care if they were playing well or not you can't have that.
Kinger: it's one thing for hemmer to say that stoll and torres needs to be better
Kinger: publicly
Kinger: or horc calling them out
Kinger: it's another thing to have the guys that you are counting on playing shitty and calling others out
Kinger: i mean don't get me wrong
Kinger: it's bad either way
Kinger: but it's especially bad if this is the case
Matt: I suppose. But I would be pretty choked at Horc if he was yelling at MacT on the bench about his anchor LW du jour.
Matt: Yeah, agreed.

Second Period

-WTF just happened? Garon gets dragged to the corner and manages to take a holding the stick penalty!

-Grabbing the stick is alright, but you gotta let go before you end up in the corner.

- Staios, great play on the PK. Good play by Marty to get it out on the next sequence

- Rourke makes a bad decision and decides to skate right in front of his net with McClement right on him. We normally like Rourke's brand of simple hockey, but he just doesn't have the foot speed to lose McClement on that play.

- Nice play by Smid coming out of his own end. He's had a strong game tonight.

- Another penalty drawn by a good shift by Hemsky and Horcoff. Brewer for holding. You could see it coming.

- Great play by the kids on the second unit. Kinger is furious McKee on the Blues didn't take a cross checking penalty for drilling Nilsson after he he took the shot on his chance in front. On the replay it looked absolutely vicious.

- Nice little bit on the Blues broadcast about Weight and Brewer signing autographs for 3rd graders in Edmonton.

- Kinger tells me Penner was awful against Pittsburgh, but we both agree he's looked pretty good tonight. If that pick can get out of the top 10, I'll be perfectly okay with that signing.

- Goalpost for Tkachuk on a wacky play.

- Oilers are getting killed on the draws tonight. The centers are getting waived out a lot as well.

- Couple ugly bounces here leading to sustained Blues pressure. Garon gloves it through a screen and gets a draw. Tkachuk vs. Gagner down low is a bad match.

- Blues powerplay looks pretty good. I don't like Pitkanen on the PK, I'd rather have him fresh for EV and the PP. When Souray returns, i'd like to see Staios - Smid and Gilbert - Souray as the top four on the PK.

Second intermission

Followed up a good first with a shaky second. Our PK looked pretty ugly.

Third Period

- "Pisani stole it", music to Oiler fan ears. His hard play on the board leads to a Oiler powerplay. Thank Doug, we know where your heart is.

- Intentional offside, that's a rare one. Matt is not convinced that Penner knew it was offside.

- Fans boo a terrible PP. A good choice.

- Looks like a pretty chincy call on Gilbert. 2-1 Blues just after the start of the powerplay. Our PK has looked pretty bad so far, it was liable to hurt us eventually.

- 3-1. Dougie gets lucky as the puck goes off Gilbert's pad and through Garon's legs.

- 3-2. Nilsson with his patented one timer goal. Great pass by Gagner to see the seam.

- Doug Weight almost quiets the crowd. Nice save by Garon.

- Pies on the top lines, let's see how this works out.

- 4-2 Blues. Kariya makes Penner pay for a mistake at the blue line.

- Matt thinks if we score 4-4 then on the PP we can win this. Lol.

- 4-3. Marty puts in a nice pass from Horc. We're still in this.

The Good.

1. Sean Horcoff: He's off to a solid start (2-4-6 ESP in 8 GMs), and doing everything the team asks of him. The man is pure hustle on the ice. I've seen him make a few mistakes in his coverage, especially on the PK, but beyond that his game has been very solid.

2. Tom Gilbert: Honestly who thought that going into this years TC that Gilbert would establish himself as an everyday player? Taking into consideration our plenitude of "puck moving" defenseman going into this years TC, it certainly surprised me that Tom managed to play his way onto the opening day roster. He makes smart plays with the puck in his zone, and is consistently good in his outlet passing. An extremely pleasant surprise.

3. Matt Greene: I watched him play terribly in both Vancouver pre-season games (one live and one on Snet Pacific). Both performances left me very discouraged; I really felt that Matt had turned a corner in the last 20 games of the 06-07 campaign. Sure the team was horrible, but Greene was logging 20+ minutes and looking damn good doing it. In the 7 games I have seen so far this year, I think Greene has played very well (<3 PDO). He has yet to take a penalty that I wouldn't want him to take (9 mins, a 5 minute fighting major versus the Dys and 2 roughing + 2 instigator last night vs the Flames for telling David Hale not to stick out his knee at Ales Hemsky). He plays the body well and is doing a pretty good job at puck separation in his own zone. He's not perfect by any means, but I think he's played well.

4. Ales Hemsky: Up until Lowetide posted something about the Law of Averages, our young Czech star was playing like a madman. Since then, he's cooled down from "unreal" to "best player on the ice". I am shocked by all the criticism I read of him on here. His shooting is WAY up this year; he's been taking the puck to the net and I'll have to agree with Lowetide, the results can't be far off.

5. Kyle Brodziak: He makes simple smart plays with the puck, and certainly will help this team win down the road. It's important for teams to have young cheap talent that can contribute in the W/L column, and I think this kid certainly fits the category. He's playing so well, the opposition has yet to score at ES while he is on the ice. That's gotta count for something.

6. Marty Reasoner: No longer known by my buddy Matt and I as "The Ghost of Marty Reasoner", he has re-energized his NHL career. Much like Brodziak, Marty has been making smart and simple plays with the puck, and often manages to put himself in the right place at the right time in both ends of the ice. I have been very impressed with his play so far this year.

6. Sam Gagner: Wow, this kid is something. Just three months after his 18th birthday, the guy has earned himself a spot on the Oilers roster. I have been absolutely blown away with this kids moxy; he really has displayed (at a young age) an ability to read and react to the play at a very high level. There is a lot of talk about players straight out of junior needing time to adjust to the speed of the NHL game. Sam seems to have completely skipped this stage of development.

7. Andrew Cogliano: I "saw him good" in Vancouver during the pre-season and commented here that: "Cogliano makes a difference out there, his speed really opens up on the ice. I think he should make the team" . After watching him in 8 NHL games, I gotta say that my analysis was spot on. Around game 2 or 3 of the season, MacT commented that Cogliano displays a rare talent that he hadn't seen since Mike Peca's time with the Oil. Specifically, he was referring to their ability to create instant offense at any particular time. This talent is very hard to find, and I gotta agree with MacT here: Cogs has it.

Phoenix Game Day

The word over at Lowetide's is that the Hockey Jesus is getting the kind of linemates befitting our Lord and Saviour. Hopefully Robbie spends more time on his feet and less on his ass in this one.

Normally, I'd be concerned about a line featuring 3 players who have questionable defensive abilities on the road. Especially considering Hemsky needs to get his minutes at EV, no matter who his linemates are. However, it's against Phoenix. I'm pretty comfortable running our high-skill high-event guys against theirs, and they don't really have anything else. What match up against the Coyotes really scares you? Shane Doan is a nice player, but who else? Mike York was a hell of a player in Edmonton, but I'm pretty sure he spent the entire lockout eating delicious Belgian chocolate cakes. Wayne might end up running out guys like Hanzal and Mueller, and I'll take that match any day.

To me, this is really Schremp's shot right here. He doesn't have to score tonight, but if he doesn't at least show some flashes I'm going to transfer all hope and attention to a newer, shinier prospect. Somehow I don't think I'd be the only one.

Also: Sheldon Souray is hurt. I have no idea how to feel about this.

MacT Is Pissed.

Poor Ryan Rishaug.

“Nothing too big, he hit me there’s nothing I can do about it,” Hemsky said. “I don’t think I can fight with him”

With a division tilt against Minnesota rapidly approaching this evening, all the talk in Oil town centers around the Wilds 'star' enforcer Derek Boogaard. Frankly, I think this years Oilers are better suited to punish Lemaire for putting the Boogie man out there. Speed was a factor in the preseason and in the first two home games, as long as we can keep the puck moving up ice, a guy like Boogaard turns from an asset to a liability.

I'll be liveblogging this game at 6:00 PM MT.

- Oilers spend 2 minutes running around in their own zone and get bailed out by a Wild penalty.

- Pitkanen with a nice rush early on the PP. I like that quick shot by Hemsky.

- Looks like they were able to get Souray a little more involved on the PP. That powerplay looked a lot better than the one we saw in Detroit.

- Hemsky with back to back ugly neutral zone turnovers. Second one leads to a Gaborik SC.

- Stoll with a nice play in the defensive zone, strips the puck and moves it up ice.

- With the exception of that play by Stoll, the Wild are winning all the battles down low in our zone. It's just a matter of time before they get one out of all this pressure.

- Greene makes a nice play breaking up a Gaborik pass then skating it to center and getting it in deep.

- Hemsky with a great individual effort capped by a Pitkanen scoring opportunity.

- Pouliot in the right spot in the defensive zone breaks up a pass to Gaborik. Cycle is really killing us though.

- Big surprise, the Wild score after 45 seconds of offensive zone pressure. 1-0 Wild.

- Nilsson takes a high stick, no call.

- Pouliot with some really nice work down low. 22-16-78 looking pretty good out there.

- Tarnstrom - Souray pairing shows up on an offensive zone face off with Gaborik on the ice. It will be interesting to see if MacT keeps these two together.

END OF THE FIRST

Positives:
- Pouliot had a solid period, created some offense and was one of the few Oilers that looked decent in his own end.
- I thought Greene looked good again this period.
Negatives:
- Cycle is absolutely chewing us up. We are constantly one pass behind the play.

SECOND PERIOD

- Souray starts the period out there with Tarnstrom, looks like MacT may be tiring of the Goliath pairing.

- Some nice offensive zone pressure leads to an Oiler powerplay, nice shift for 8-19-51.

- 2-0 Wild. Oilers get caught watching as the Wild top line strikes again.

- The play has died a lot on Sanderson stick in the offensive zone so far this game.

END OF THE SECOND

Positives:
- Not much
Negatives:
- The Wild look like a far better team.

THIRD PERIOD

- Way too many offsides, by my casual eye it looks like 8+ so far this game for the Oil.

- I'm tired of hearing Cuthbert and Healy chirping off about how great Backstrom has played. I can count the quality Oiler scoring chances on one hand. Mike Morrison would be sporting a shut out at this point.

- The kids are really looking like kids in this game. Watching Walz toss Cogliano off the puck behind the net makes me sad ;(

- Where are the hits? JFJ and Torres have done absolutely nothing so far this game.

- What's with the obsession with "blind passes" (Torres, Nilsson and Sanderson). The Wild seems to feed off that sort of junk.

- Some excitement at the conclusion of the game but the Oil show no finish. Another veteran team makes our young club look silly. It's not really worth getting into the goats of this game, pretty much everyone played like junk. Solid games from Hemsky, Horcoff, Roloson, Brodziak, Pouliot, and Reasoner.

LiveBlogging: Oilers @ Wings.

Thanks to Shaw Digital Cable finally offering a Center Ice package, I will be liveblogging a number of games from MattM's place this season. Tonights game should be a real test for the kids; no longer will MacT be able to shelter them from the Thornton's and Briere's of the league. As a side comment, I have been really impressed with Matt Greene so far this season. He looked utterly terrible in the preseason, but from what I saw in the season opener and heard about from the Philly game, he seems to have turned a corner. We'll see how he and the kids do tonight.

- TSN puts sportsnet west to shame in terms of production value, this broadcast is low budget all the way.

- Stoll messes up a clearing attempt and Pitkanen takes a hooking penalty, not a good start.

- Grebeshkov gets stripped behind his own net on the PK, not a pretty play at all. I'm surprised he drew in for Tarnstrom, possible injury?

- Pretty weak call on Staios, didn't look like tripping to me.

- Stoll makes a really soft play and fails to clear the zone, Roloson misplays a wrap around and it's 1-0 Wings. Taking two early penalties on the road in Detroit is a surefire method to get down a goal.

- Lazy stick by Maltby leads to the first Oiler powerplay. What the hell? Didn't Cleary touch that puck before Penner hit him. How is that interference? Either way, the oiler powerplay is negated. Also, it's good to see DP getting physically involved in the game, Hemsky needs someone on his line to put a scare into guys that take runs at him.

- 2-0 Wings. Grebeshkov looks like absolute suck as Chelios walks by him and gets 2 shots before potting the 3rd. So far this kid has NOT impressed.

- 2-1 Wings. The top line with some nice passing and Horc with the finish. Holmstrom takes a quick penalty and the Oilers go back on the powerplay.

- Powerplay ends with no real pressure, Kids have been invisible so far this game.

END OF THE FIRST:
Positives:
- Only down by 1 goal after being thoroughly outplayed.
- Brodziak made a couple really heady plays.
- Hemsky is flying
Negatives:
- The 'skilled' kids were invisibile
- Grebeshkov looked pretty bad.
- Ice looks really bad out there. The puck is bouncing all over the place.

SECOND PERIOD

- Ridiculous give away leads to a Staios penalty. 3-1 Detroit, this is getting ugly.

- Cogliano with a nice rush and shot playing between 14 amd 12. Looks like Stoll is either a victim of the blender or MacT has decided to give him a seat on the bench. Certainly has not been Stoll's best game thus far.

- Raffi gets his stick up and the Oil are down a man yet again. Greene wins a nice puck battle on the boards early on the PK. Horc makes a real nice play taking Holmstrom out in front of the net and negating a solid scoring chance created by Lidstrom.

- Hemsky loses the puck off of an Oiler offensive zone face off win, but has the sense to make a real nice play on the back check and pickup a man. This kid has come a long way.

- Puck is bouncing everywhere, Oilers get another post off of a tipped Chelios knuckle ball.

- Datsyuk makes the Greene - Souray pairing look absolutely silly. That's a matchup I'm sure that MacT wants to stay away from.

- 3-2 Oil WOW WHAT A PASS! Pitkanen threads the puck through 3 wings right onto Cogliano's stick and he makes no mistake and pots it into the open net. A nice reward to 5 minutes of Oiler pressure late in the period.

END OF THE SECOND
Positives:
- Matt Greene is having a solid game.
- The Oiler defense has looked reliable at 5v5.
- The skilled kids came alive late in the period, capped by Cogliano's goal.
Negatives:
- Our PK has to do a better job clearing the puck and killing time. Detroit has had too many opportunities to setup and make plays in our zone.

THIRD PERIOD

- Holmstrom mauls Roli and takes a penalty. Ridiculous Wing pressure just before the call. Second unit powerplay needs some tweaking, perhaps Torres needs to plant his ass on the bench.

- 8-19-51 have looked sloppy on the cycle tonight. I'm seeing a lot of blind passes that aren't connecting.

- Even Nick Lidstrom can't get away with that kind of bear hug. We need to get Souray involved on the powerplay.

- Ugly, Ugly, Ugly. You can tell Souray wants to unleash the bomb, but the team isn't getting him the puck. What a terrible powerplay, second unit looks REALLY bad.

- Pouliot makes an awfully pretty play stepping through a few wings to setup Gagner for a nice scoring chance.

- The refs are really letting the 'boys play' here, couple hilarious non-calls for both the Oilers and the Wings.

- Cogliano really opens up the ice, with speed like that, it's hard for the Wings to keep him from gaining the zone.

- 4-2 Wings. Draper puts it into the net from just across the red line. A fairly predictable outcome.

Final note: The Oilers played pretty well all things considered; we're going to score a lot of goals this year, if we can find a way to limit the opposition from putting the puck into our net, we might be able to squeak into the post season.

Raffi Torreslol

Mexican!

Oilers @ Canucks: Preseason Recap.

I went to the game last night with a friend of mine and I liked what I saw. Here are a few things I noticed:

- Brodziak will make this team and dress on opening night. He looks like an NHL'er out there. His speed has improved since last season, and he puts himself in the right places.

- Cogliano makes a difference out there, his speed really opens up on the ice. I think he should make the team.

- I really liked what I saw out of Souray. His shot is huge and he stuck up for Gagner when Kesler took a run at him on an offside. There was one moment on a 1on1 between Souray and some AHL'er where I noticed his problem skating backwards. He kind of lost an edge and stumbled a bit. Beyond that, it was all gravy. I think he can be very successful playing 3-4 minutes at ES with a guy like Smid.

- Tom Gilbert is better than Matt Greene. Poor Tom Gilbert.

- The top line didn't do much at ES until the third, but that's because for the first period and a half MacT was running them Power vs Power versus the twins. Needless to say, the twins were chewing them up.

- I think Gagner should make the team and play soft minutes with Hemsky and Penner. Putting either Stoll or Horc with those two either forces you to take your two best centers out of the checking game, or puts Hemsky and Penner out there in a sitatution where they are not likely to succeed (tough minutes)

- Roy had a bad night. I think he should be sent down ASAP (I think he'll make it through waivers, and if he doesn't, no big loss)

- The Greene - Smid pairing sucks as much this year as it did last year.

Kevin Lowe, Pirate

Damn. Twice now I've picked up the phone at work and had Kinger tell me Lowe has done something ridiculous. He's optimistic. As for me, not so much.

First off, I love that Lowe is willing to go for the RFAs. I may question his target and price, but his strategy and methods are, if nothing else, immensely entertaining.

Penner might be a solid player. He saw a lot of the soft minutes last year, but at least he got a taste of what riding shotgun with Todd Marchant is like. Getzlaf made that whole line look good, but I think I'd take Penner ahead of Perry for the Oilers. My main concern with him as a player was that in the playoffs he had about two games where he really impressed me. That being said, I do like the guy as a player.

It might be a little generous, but lets say he's an even bet to cover his contract number over the term. Then the issue comes down to compensation. Would you give up a 1st, 2nd , and 3rd for the guy? I think that the Oilers have the prospect depth that I'd toss the 2nd and the 3rd without a second thought. A mid to late round first and I think the prospect pool can absorb that. However, if that turns out to be a top 5 pick, this becomes terrible asset management.

What this really comes down to is how good that first is. Are the Oilers with Dustin Penner a playoff team? I have my doubts. Are they a lottery team? Lowetide seems to think so. I don't. Lets say I'm cautiously optimistic about this move as a whole, but I think this move has a much better chance of absolutely blowing up in Lowe's face than it does of turning out brilliantly.

I loved the Pitkanen trade, and I loved the Vanek offer sheet. I'm definitely behind the overall RFA raiding strategy. If Burke doesn't match, the Oilers will certainly be a better team next year. What this is really coming down to for me is this: If I told you two weeks ago that the Oilers were going to add 10 million dollars in salary for the next 5 years and send out a 1st,2nd and 3rd, wouldn't you have expected a better team than this?