Cam Barker Out for a Month; Oiler Fans Secretly Pump Fists

by Benjamin Massey on Nov 15, 2011 8:31 PM MST in News

Terrific news out of the Edmonton Oilers camp today as the team announced that another defenseman is hurt. Or, rather, one of the same defensemen: after missing a few games with a shoulder problem Cam Barker will be out for as much as a month with what Tom Renney called "some kind of sprain in his ankle".

Barker, who is allegedly "some kind of hockey player", has missed fistfuls of games at intervals over the last three seasons with some kinds of ankle sprain. Sensible men would say that this, combined with his being terrible at hockey, would suggest that an NHL team shouldn't hand Barker a multi-million dollar contract. But the Edmonton Oilers have never played by the rules, and so we have 2011's winner of the Ethan Moreau Memorial "I Shouldn't Be Glad He's Hurt... But I'm Glad He's Hurt" Certificate of Merit.

No official word yet on who'll replace Barker long-term, but whoever it is, he can't possibly be worse.

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There will be no secret fist pumping here! WOOHOO!! Happy Fucking Days!!!

The Edmonton Oilers - All we do is win!!

by OilLeak on Nov 15, 2011 9:43 PM MST reply actions 2 recs

Agreed – nothing secret about the fist-pumping.

Mail: jonathan (dot) willis (at) live (dot) ca

by Jonathan Willis on Nov 15, 2011 10:15 PM MST up reply actions 1 recs

As a Wild fan,

I thoroughly support public fist pumping. I actually did a happy dance when the Wild had the good sense to cut him.

You know you're a Wild fan if Spam Whoopie Gerald-buns comes up in conversation

by JDesthubert on Nov 16, 2011 4:34 PM MST up reply actions

If it keeps Petry around, I’m okay with it. Also, Cam Barker is the new Waterworld.

Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.

by Derek Zona on Nov 15, 2011 9:44 PM MST reply actions

My boat.

Manager at Vancouver Whitecaps and western Canadian soccer website Eighty Six Forever and infrequently-posting flunky at Edmonton Oilers blog The Copper & Blue.

by Benjamin Massey on Nov 15, 2011 9:45 PM MST up reply actions 1 recs

Constantly struggling to keep his head above water?

The Edmonton Oilers - All we do is win!!

by OilLeak on Nov 15, 2011 9:45 PM MST up reply actions

Costs way too much, takes forever to get there and even Dennis Hopper couldn’t save him.

Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.

by Derek Zona on Nov 15, 2011 9:55 PM MST up reply actions

I liked Waterworld.

glug glug

Oilers fan through thick, thin and anorexic. Writer for The Cult of Hockey.

by Bruce McCurdy on Nov 16, 2011 9:23 PM MST up reply actions

Sorry to say this but...

We told you not to get to excited about acquiring him… seems everyone agrees.

JS, Champion of the first ever Hockey Wilderness Playoff Bracket Challenge! WHOOOOOOOO!

Author, watchdog, enforcer and french-canadian connection for Hockey Wilderness.

twitter: BubbleWild48

by JSLandry on Nov 15, 2011 9:47 PM MST reply actions

*too excited

JS, Champion of the first ever Hockey Wilderness Playoff Bracket Challenge! WHOOOOOOOO!

Author, watchdog, enforcer and french-canadian connection for Hockey Wilderness.

twitter: BubbleWild48

by JSLandry on Nov 15, 2011 9:47 PM MST up reply actions

Oh we knew.

Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.

by Derek Zona on Nov 15, 2011 9:50 PM MST up reply actions

My conspiracy theory

He’s not hurt. Management finally realizes he’s incompetent. And IR is the perfect cover to not play him, yet not admit to the mistake of signing him in the first place.

From playing 21 minutes, despite game-costing errors, to IR!?! Come on.

by OilPen on Nov 15, 2011 9:49 PM MST via mobile reply actions 1 recs

As a kid, I cheered when Mike Bossy went down with an injury one year. ‘The Oilers have a chance’ I thought to myself. My father, an Oilers fan like me, looked at me with great disappointment. “Shame on you. He’s hurt” he said in a Pakistani accent. Today I try to pass on that same sportsmanship to my kids….but fuck that! Barkers out! Now only if Peckham….naaaa that would be poor sportsmanship, or would it? Maybe my father can teach Peckham about altruism.

by SoCalOil on Nov 16, 2011 12:10 AM MST via mobile reply actions

I like Peckham, but he better remember how to play hockey again or the Oilers will flush him faster than you can say “Robbie Schremp”!

The Edmonton Oilers - All we do is win!!

by OilLeak on Nov 16, 2011 12:53 AM MST up reply actions

direct comparison Plante vs. Barker. Not to forget Plante has only 8 GP and Barker 283 GP (NHL only)

by Screaming69 on Nov 16, 2011 12:13 AM MST reply actions

Well, this is good news. However, to dampen the enthusiasm, apparently Hordichuk is close to a return. What one hand giveth, the other taketh away…

by Yeti# on Nov 16, 2011 4:06 AM MST reply actions

Hordichuk – Travis Roy without the paralysis

by SoCalOil on Nov 16, 2011 7:23 AM MST via mobile up reply actions

At least Darcy Hordichuk doesn’t play twenty minutes a night.

Manager at Vancouver Whitecaps and western Canadian soccer website Eighty Six Forever and infrequently-posting flunky at Edmonton Oilers blog The Copper & Blue.

by Benjamin Massey on Nov 16, 2011 7:37 AM MST up reply actions

True, but his position on the roster means that there is one less place for a player that could actually contribute. I can’t think of a good reason that a suitably determined Omark wouldn’t be reinserted into a team in need of a shake up. However, that is less likely to happen with Darcy taking up space.

by Yeti# on Nov 16, 2011 7:50 AM MST up reply actions

No official word yet on who’ll replace Barker long-term, but whoever it is, he can’t possibly be worse.

What about Taylor Chorney?

by DarrenV on Nov 16, 2011 8:47 AM MST reply actions

"but whoever it is, he can’t possibly be worse"

With Motin gone there should be room to resign Strudwick…

by Joe Girth on Nov 16, 2011 8:52 AM MST up reply actions

I’m still horny for Chorney. He’s Marc Pouliot’s successor as the Oiler everyone else thinks is a bust but I swear can actually play hockey.

Manager at Vancouver Whitecaps and western Canadian soccer website Eighty Six Forever and infrequently-posting flunky at Edmonton Oilers blog The Copper & Blue.

by Benjamin Massey on Nov 16, 2011 9:27 AM MST via mobile up reply actions

horny for Chorney

I spit coffee all over my computer screen after reading that.

Everyone knows rock attained perfection in 1974. It's a scientific fact.
Writer for The Copper & Blue and a frequenter of the time waster that is Twitter.

by ryanbatty on Nov 16, 2011 10:16 AM MST up reply actions

Bravo Ben. And good work on the caption too.

Everyone knows rock attained perfection in 1974. It's a scientific fact.
Writer for The Copper & Blue and a frequenter of the time waster that is Twitter.

by ryanbatty on Nov 16, 2011 8:54 AM MST reply actions

Semicolons in titles now? What is coppernblue coming to…

http://hockeyzen.com - An Oilers blog

by mindmasher on Nov 16, 2011 10:48 AM MST reply actions

I have a weakness for the semicolon. I am pretty much singlehandedly trying to bring it back into regular English usage.

Manager at Vancouver Whitecaps and western Canadian soccer website Eighty Six Forever and infrequently-posting flunky at Edmonton Oilers blog The Copper & Blue.

by Benjamin Massey on Nov 16, 2011 11:28 AM MST up reply actions

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