"Just as you Calgarians look down of the Oilers now, so every team will look down upon you when Yahweh redeems his people. Yes, every coach will circle games against Calgary on the schedule and say to himself, 'easy win.' And while this is happening Edmonton will be raised up, Yahweh's holy possession will be redeemed. The Edmonton Oilers will then possess the glorious inheritance that Yahweh has promised them."
"Yes it will be the Oilers who are like a raging fire and the 'Flames' will be more like kindling quickly devoured. There will be no Flame fans left; they will either be scattered and give up on hockey altogether or be converted to cheering for the team Yahweh chose for Alberta. Yahweh has spoken."
"Ex-Oilers will walk into Calgary and destroy the Flames. Players from all across the league will take points and leave without a fuss. Every exile will take his turn beating on the Flames, whether he is like the Hated One in Philadelphia or the Beloved One in Los Angeles. Every exile will take down the Flames in their own building. After many months of losing, the Flames will be abandoned, their fans turning to the Oilers who will become not only Edmonton's team, but also the only truly loved club in Alberta. But the Oilers will stay humble, recognizing that all of their victories belong to Yahweh who gives them strength."
Edmonton Oilers (16-20-4) @ Calgary Flames (22-12-5)
Pengrowth Saddledome, 7:00 PM MST
Television: 630 Ched + Imagination
More analysis after the jump...
Visiting Team Scouting Report: Since I last wrote about the Flames they've won two games in a row, allowing one goal in each contest. With Kiprusoff playing well and the Flames not needing to travel between games, it seems likely that Kiprusoff will get the start tonight. Unlike Kiprusoff, none of the Calgary defenders are headed to the Olympics. Dion Phaneuf decided that the appropriate way to respond would be by playing dirtier. A note to Oiler forwards: if Phaneuf is skating back for an icing he cares more about maiming you than he does about touching the puck. Either that or Phaneuf saw that his team hadn't yet taken a non-fighting major penalty so far this season and thought that had better be rectified. Last time I mentioned that the Flames could well miss the playoffs and as much as I believe that to be true they also still have a very good chance at taking the division... which should tell us something about the quality of the Northwest division.
Expected Lineups:
Edmonton Oilers (16-20-4):
Penner - Gagner - Nilsson
Jacques - Horcoff - Brule
Stone - Potulny - O'Sullivan
Moreau - Cogliano - Stortini
Visnovsky - Smid
Souray - Gilbert
Staios - Grebeshkov
Deslauriers
Calgary Flames (22-12-5):
Jokinen - Conroy - Iginla
Dawes - Langkow - Bourque
Glencross - Moss - Nystrom
Prust - Boyd - Sjostrom
Bouwmeester - Giordano
Phaneuf - Regehr
Johnson -Pardy
Kiprusoff
Behind The Numbers:
- In the month of December both the Oilers and Flames played fourteen games and on twelve occasions they played on the same night.
- Shawn Horcoff took his 1,000th career shot on goal (regular season only) last night against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
- Tonight will be Dustin Penner's 200th game as an Oiler (including playoffs). It will also be the 335th game of his career (301 in the regular season plus 24 playoff games).
- With a total of 111 points as an Oiler Sam Gagner now sits tied with Georges Laraque and Craig Muni on the Oilers all-time list but two points ahead of Andrei Kovalenko.
- This is the fourth time in the last five seasons that the Oilers and Flames have played in Calgary on New Year's Eve. Apparently, it's a BOA tradition. The Flames have won each of the last three New Year's Eve meetings. I hope that part isn't a central cog in the tradition.