Well, it had to happen sooner or later. The Oilers' play has gone
straight down the toilet. They've lost three out of their last four
games. And two of the teams that the Oil lost to (Chicago and
Tampa Bay) are so bad, they could go out and sign Don Knotts and
give him a regular spot in the lineup.
But both Chicago and Tampa were without Mr. Furley and were still
able to trample over the Oilers like they were Teletubbies. The
Oilers are atrocious at home, with a 6-7 record at home. If they
want to be serious about competing in this league, they're going to
have to start playing serious at home.
Both teams are horrible...Tampa was on a nine-game losing streak.and
the Oilers had to break it. Speaking of breaking the records, the
Oilers beat Phoenix's goals against of under two in 18 straight
games, and their 14-game unbeaten streak. Of course, the Oilers were
terrible in the game, but managed to net four goals against the
Coyotes and Nikki Khabibulin.
Those Coyotes managed to outshoot the Oilers by 40-20 shots, or
something like that. It was ridiculous, and the Oilers didn't
deserve to win. Mikhail Shtalenkov played magnificently in goal
and stole the game for the Oil. If it wasn't for him, the Coyotes
might still be on a winning streak.
The Oilers are heading off on a seven-game road trip. They better
do some winning, or it's not going to be a happy place when they
come home.
Under the "You had to see it to believe it" section:
The Russian Oilers skated with some Russian bears this week. In
support of a Russian Circus, which Boris Mironov's wife used to be
a part of, the Russian Oilers (Mironov, Andrei Kovalenko and
Mikhail Shtalenkov) took to the ice for a photo-op with these
skating freaks. The bears, dressed in helmets, skates and a stick
actually skate around. It's the weirdest damn thing I have ever
seen in my young life.
Glen Sather made note of the situation and said that the Oilers have
nothing to do with the promotion. So if one of them were to be eaten
by these bears, the Oil would take no responsibility for their
mauling. Note to Sather: if those skating bears show some hockey
mustard, sign them.
Other Stuff
Dean McAmmond scored his first goal of the season the other night,
against Phoenix, and netted another one against Tampa. He was
really glad to get that monkey off his back.
Hot Stuff
Mikhail Shtalenkov has really pleased Sather lately with his solid
play. He has taken the driver's seat away from Bob Essensa, who
was injured, and then returned against Dallas. Bobby let in five
goals in about five minutes.
Looks like their going to make Bob the backup for now.
Trade Rumours
This one has been tossed out by local media, but the Dallas Stars
really need a scoring left winger. Jere Lehtinen is playing on
Mike Modano's left side, but is actually a right winger. So they
think the Stars might want our struggling Ryan Smyth. Don't look
for it happening too soon, since the Stars and the Oilers haven't
been best of pals the last couple years.looking at their two
playoff series.
And it looks like Glen Sather may be in the Felix Potvin sweepstakes
after all. Rumours abound that the Oilers are offering Janne Niinimma
in return for Potvin, and that the Leafs would pick up a chunk of
Potvin's salary.
The Leafs are reported to want either Boris Mironov or Roman Hamrlik
and another body. Struggling Ryan Smyth's name has been mentioned,
too. The Potvin saga continues...stay tuned.
