The Copper & Blue, an Edmonton Oilers community

"All teams pre-scout and they know that they can jump our side man because he's just going to stand still or try to make the pretty little play without moving. And he's no threat to shoot, so he's nothing, he's a passer. And none of our side guys are big guys. If he's going to stand still and he's not big enough to win a fight for the puck and never shoots, you … pretty much nullify that play. We have to get moving and we have to be a threat to shoot."

"They're hard to swallow but we have to come back and keep working on it. We're going to get there, but boy, the pain that's going along with it is not a likeable thing."

"The other night we outchanced Chicago at the end of the game. What's the score? Did it look bad? Did we give three open net goals? Did we screw up right on the doorstep where we do? Did we beat ourselves again? Yes"
-- Pat Quinn, severely underimpressed with Saturday night's game

I thought that he's been very, very good. This is what happens with coaches, you admire talent and skill, and you see the potential for upside, you don't know how it's going to go and get there and when that skill is going to become the full player. Then a guy comes in who hadn't made your team and he's doing all of the little things a lot better than maybe some of the skill guys. And that's kind of what's happened here. He's been more respectable about his offense, he's chipped in a little bit there. He's not a big skill guy, he's not one of the ones you'd find on the list over here, but he doesn't miss his assignments, he's responsible defensively, he's chipped in a little bit on the offense, and suddenly you start saying when you're putting your lines together you say "Oh, maybe, maybe that's a guy that's gotta play".

"The puck bounced off my stomach. I'm lucky I've dropped a couple of percent of body fat, otherwise it might have got just lodged there."

"Jags and I text back and forth. I talked to him about six weeks ago. He's on our radar. He has NHL years ahead of him. No question."

"We've got three or four guys that are in by default sometimes, and if we get a healthy guy that's ready to play and can make a difference, then someone's gotta go."

"It has to do with the way he works. He's an honest player. And some of our guys in some of these games that are close checking disappear rather than appear. As a coach, you end up saying "Well I'm going to play the guy that's at least going to make it uncomfortable for the other guys if possible."