That's right, three games, three wins and Oilers' fans rejoice! Beating the Ottawa Senators on Monday, the Montreal Canadiends in overtime on Wednesday and the Toronto Maple Leafs Thursday, the Oilers have finally found a way to score some goals but it was against Eastern teams. So really, does it even count? Of course I'm kidding sort of, but it was pretty great to cheer for wins and see some goals. This three game winning streak is also the team's longest this entire season. This three game streak also had three goalies each with a win Gerber on Monday, Dubnyk Wednesday and Khabibulin on Friday. Despite the win on Monday against his former team, Martin Gerber was re-assigned to Oklahoma City because Gerber was up on an emergency callup and Khabibulin was deemed healthy enough to play. A fun fact about Monday night's win against the Senators is that the Oilers had not won since March 14, 2004. According to the Oilers' page, the last time the Oilers had won in Ottawa was March 14, 2002.
While the Oilers were in Montreal to play the Canadiens, Patrick LaForge, Kevin Lowe and Daryl Katz met with Quebec City mayor Regis Labeaume and other members of the Quebec City arena group. This story first broke as Katz looking to move the team to Quebec City. This of course caused some uproar in Oil Country. Taking a moment to look at the situation made it easy to see that this was indeed a chance for the Oilers brass to meet with the committee in Quebec to ensure that the Oilers would get just as much funding for the new arena complex as others might get. The two groups were likely also comparing strategies to meet with the public and to make the most of the proposed arena complexes. For those that still have a sliver of worry that this team is to be moved there are a couple o fthings you should keep in mind; Edmonton currently has an NHL arena, Quebec City does not. Also, Katz may be the owner, but he can't just up and move the team without NHL approval and currently Edmonton is a profitable venue for the NHL. Look at how unwilling they are to see the team leave Phoenix.Other Oilers news, Hemsky may or may not have come back into the lineup too soon with his nagging groing injury. Hemsky missed the game against the Leafs and is currently day to day. Otherwise I am pleased to announce that the Oilers are a currently a healthy team with no players on the injured reserve list.
The Edmonton Oil Kings beat the Calgary Hitmen last Saturday with a score of 3-1 but lost 5-4 to the Prince Albert Raiders. Attendance numbers have been low, very low. The Oil Kings need your support, show the league that Edmonton is not just an Oilers City, but a hockey City.
The announcement was made this week that the Calgary farm team, the Abbotsford Heat will play a game at the Calgary Saddledome against the Oklahoma City Barons. Yup, the battle of Alberta will now be taking on yet another look. Tickets for this game are now available through ticketmaster.
NHL news, Curtis Glencross of the Calgary Flames was fined but not suspended on his cross check to the face of Keith Ballard of the Vancouver Canucks. Personally I thought he would be suspended for a game, but I'm sure there are many many reasons why I am not in charge of handing down NHL punishments.
The late Pat Burns' collection of jerseys that were to be auctioned off for charity were stolen along with many personal items from a car Monday. A citizen turned in two suitcases that were found near the scene of the crime Thursday. In other missing news, Detroit Red Wings' Henrik Zetterberg lost his wallet in a parking lot but it was returned to him intact.
The Buffalo Sabres might be sold it was said on Tuesday. This news came along with the announcement that sportswriter Jim Kelley had lost his battle with cancer on Tuesday.
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