Gator - One of my many many many favourites
by Lisa McRitchie on Sep 3, 2010 5:30 AM PDT
in Opinion
0 comments
As one of the newest recruits to Copper & Blue, I missed the initial picking of the post dynasty favourites. Really though, for a person like me its not an issue to pick after those writers who came before me. You see, I'm one of those positive thinking, everything will work out people, well most of the time. I would have an easier time picking out players that I hated who once wore, or still wear the oil drop. Remember Cory Cross? Yup, I even have positive things to say about him. I felt bad for him and the way that everyone seemed to hate every aspect of his game.
Like I said, I picked after the rest of the writers here, so the likeliest picks were already snatched up. I waffled between a few - I really wanted to pick Marty Reasoner and Matt Greene for their comedy alone. In the end however, I decided who better to go for than the man who captained the Oilers through the most games, the man who lead our Edmonton Oilers to the Stanley Cup championships and one (ok two) goals of hoisting the cup.
0 comments | 1 recs |
Managing the Forwards
by Scott Reynolds on Sep 2, 2010 5:15 PM PDT
in Opinion
12 comments
With Steve Tambellini telling the world that the Edmonton Oilers aren't looking to add any forwards to the club I thought it might be a good idea to look at the forward group and talk some about how I might run the bench if I were in Tom Renney's shoes. With Tambellini declaring that the team already has a few extra forwards, it's clear that one of the goals this year is going to be player development. It's also something Tom Renney mentioned as an important goal for the club. The question then becomes, how can the team best develop their young (cross your fingers) stars.
A friend knew Niinimaa: upon learning he was traded to Isles, Niinimaa looked at 3rd orange jerseys & said "I'm wearing that?"
Magnus Paajarvi On Timra, His Contract, The Oilers And Mom
by Derek Zona on Sep 2, 2010 10:30 AM PDT
in News
10 comments
Maria Nordström of the Sundsvalls Tidning recently conducted an interview with Magnus Pääjärvi, which ends up as sort of a "good bye" interview in the end. In it, Pääjärvi reflects on his time in Timrå, Anton Lander, his other teammates and coaches, his family, and his impending trip to Edmonton. It's kind of odd to read a reflective and introspective interview from a 19-year-old.
Pääjärvi is one of four young players being counted on to become the face of the franchise and overhaul the fortunes of the franchise in short order. Though some fans would prefer the young Swede start his season in Oklahoma City with the Barons, he's likely the one young Oiler closest to being an effective NHL player. He's spent the last two years performing at a high level in one of the best professional leagues in the world, and he's shown that he's got offensive ability against grown men, something that the other young'uns have yet to do. After the jump, I look at some of the more interesting parts of what was a very extensive interview.
Janne Niinimaa, My Favourite Post-Dynasty Oiler
by Jonathan Willis on Sep 2, 2010 6:00 AM PDT
in History
24 comments
Like Ben Massey and Derek Zona before me, I struggled with the choice of my favourite post-dynasty Oiler.
The current edition of the Oilers is less likeable than some previous incarnations, but it isn’t without players I genuinely like following. Ales Hemsky feels like an obligatory choice, but I seriously considered him – for a thousand reasons, but especially for the special moments. The most fantastic was the Patrick Stefan whiff on an empty net, followed by Hemsky’s goal seconds later (aided by another candidate, Marc-Andre Bergeron, who would both giveth and taketh away), but for my money nothing equaled those two goals that put away Detroit - one a beautiful passing play with Sergei Samsonov, the other a Ryan Smyth-ian goalmouth jam. Shawn Horcoff’s hustle and work ethic appealed as well, and admittedly, I’ve always had a soft spot for the long-shots who end up contributing far more than they were originally projected to. Doug Weight jumped to mind too; a sublimely talented playmaker with just the right amount of grit and attitude, I nearly wrote this article about him. For all the offence, what I remember most about Weight was the sight of 6’4" Bryan Marchment turtling after Weight took umbrage to a dirty hit, and then Weight wailing on him anyway.
When I really got thinking about it, the list got really long, actually. The imperviousness to pain demonstrated by Mike Grier, Jason Smith, Ryan Smyth, Steve Staios, and Igor Ulanov made them easy to love. It was easy to remember the best in flawed but occasionally dynamic talents like Marc-Andre Bergeron, Dean McAmmond, and Marc Pouliot because I always pulled for them. Patrick Thoresen, Ty Conklin and Kyle Brodziak were unheralded but passed flashier prospects through hard work. Rem Murray never quit, no matter what kind of odds he faced, while Georges Laraque personified giving back to the community. Quality two-way players like Marty Reasoner, Radek Dvorak, Fernando Pisani, and Mike York deserved consideration. Then again, I couldn’t forget the goaltenders; from playoff hero Curtis Joseph to the (once) quietly efficient Tommy Salo to Dwayne Roloson, the list just seemed to get longer. Roloson stood out in particular, for both talent and personality – his stop on Cheechoo in 2006 exemplified the former, while the way he shook off his helmet, or batted pucks down the ice, or simply refused to quit as Craig MacTavish sent him out again and again in 2008-09 showed the latter.
Despite a long list and some great memories, in the end I didn’t choose any of them, instead picking a heart and soul defenceman with an even mixture of talent, heart, and chaos: Finland’s Janne Henrik Niinimaa.
Poorcoff
by Scott Reynolds on Sep 1, 2010 3:30 PM PDT
in Opinion
94 comments
If the Edmonton Oilers had a chance to lose Shawn Horcoff for absolutely nothing, should they do it? That was the biggest question that the writers here at The Copper and Blue faced as we discussed which players to protect for SB Nation's mock expansion draft. SB Nation has added franchises in Winnipeg and Quebec, and they'll be managed by the esteemed James Mirtle, and Gabriel Desjardins (who'd be better choices as real GM's than Doug MacLean). At first, there was some resistance to the idea of losing Horcoff for nothing - our first vote was 3-2 in favour of protecting him - but as the deadline drew closer, the team of writers agreed that leaving Horcoff available was the way to go.
After the jump we'll take a look at the rules for the mock draft, the whole list of protected and unprotected players, and our reasoning for leaving Horcoff available.
Oilers Hire Matti Virmanen, European Scout
by Derek Zona on Sep 1, 2010 10:30 AM PDT
in Analysis
7 comments
Pelle Eklund has been the hot topic of conversation when talking about new Edmonton hires, but Edmonton made another move that has to this point avoided all fanfare. Bruce recently noticed that regular commenter E. Huisman had an entry over at his site, detailing the Oilers' hiring of Matti Virmanen, former Jokerit General Manager, as their Finnish scout. He read the news in the July issue of Kiekkolehti. The Oilers now have two scouts working the Northern European leagues after the hire of Eklund, as well as Frank Musil working out of the Czech Republic.
What caught my eye in his entry, however, was this line:
In Finland his reputation is somewhat questionable and it is safe to say that the majority of Jokerit fans were pleased when he quit last spring...
I decided to delve into more detail on the Virmanen hiring with E. Huisman, as well as Broad Street Hockey's Teemu H., their European reporter. After the jump, I get their opinions on Virmanen.
Todd Marchant, My Favourite Post-Dynasty Oiler
by Benjamin Massey on Sep 1, 2010 5:30 AM PDT
in Opinion
20 comments
When I picked my favourite post-dynasty Oiler I had to take a rather awkward view of the word "favourite". If I were to pick the Oiler who caused me most often to rise to my feet in celebration of his power with skate and stick and ice, Ales Hemsky would have skated away with the honours as confidently as he skates away with the puck. If it were the Oiler with whom I felt the most intense emotional attachment, none of you would be surprised if I selected Fernando Pisani. And if I wanted a post-dynasty Oiler who was just out-and-out the best player in franchise history at his position, then Curtis Joseph could have been the only option.
Instead, I'm picking my favourite post-dynasty Oiler because he's the main reason my favourite post-dynasty Oiler is even a discussion. I'm taking somebody who was a terrific role player, a hard worker, an elite defensive forward who never quite got his due in the days when the Oilers were wandering the wilderness. He had some nice offensive seasons for a defensive forward and one terrific campaign that got him a big contract, ballooned expectations to new heights, and did more to hurt his later career than a mere below-average season ever could have. I'm talking about a guy who arrived at the end of our lowest point and departed not long before our greatest modern-day triumphs.
I'm talking about a man who scored our Goal That Everyone Remembers, probably the most iconic single sequence in our post-dynastic history (and I'm sorry, Fernando, when I say that). I'm talking about the player who might be responsible for my throwing myself into the Oilers instead of just sucking at the crack pipe that is soccer all my life.
There could only have ever been one choice for my favourite post-dynasty Oiler, and it's Todd Marchant.
20 comments | 1 recs |
Secondary Sidebar
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
Featured Stories
Northwest Standings
Oilers Schedule
Next 5 Games
@
Vancouver
|
Wed 09/22 | 7:00 PM PDT |
|
Tampa Bay
|
Thu 09/23 | 6:00 PM PDT |
|
Vancouver
|
Sun 09/26 | 5:00 PM PDT |
|
Phoenix
|
Wed 09/29 | 6:00 PM PDT |
|
Calgary
|
Fri 10/01 | 6:00 PM PDT |
Last 5 Games
|
@
Anaheim
|
Sun 04/11 | L 2 - 7 |
|
@
Los Angeles
|
Sat 04/10 | SO - W 4 - 3 |
|
Colorado
|
Wed 04/07 | OT - W 5 - 4 |
|
Minnesota
|
Mon 04/05 | W 4 - 1 |
|
@
Phoenix
|
Sat 04/03 | SO - L 2 - 3 |
SBNation.com Recent Stories
In Association With
Latest Puck Daddy - NHL from Yahoo! Sports
- Kittens: The key ingredient to any intimidating KHL goalie mask
- Puck Daddy chats with Paul Bissonnette about his triumphant return to Twitter, plans for a bum tattoo
- In which former NHL coach Ken Hitchcock foils a shoplifter
- Montreal's Price talks new 2-year contract, expectations post-Halak
- Donald Fehr aware of Kovalchuk drama, mum on everything else
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
