Oilers Trade Logic

This is about as "BOLD" as it gets for MacT, and this was a while ago....

Craig MacTavish walked into his role with the Oilers with the ballsy statement that he was going to be making some "bold" moves to better the team. Someone needs to buy Craig a dictionary, highlight the definitions of bold and better and then go throw it at his head.

To recap, BOLD has gotten the Oilers:

• Andrew Ference
• David Perron (in getting rid of Paajarvi) 
• Boyd Gordon
• Luke Gazdic
• Jason LaBarbera
• Denis Grebeshkov
• Richard Bachman
• Ryan Hamilton
• Will Acton
• Jesse Joensuu
• Philip Larsen

Now don't get me wrong, there are some good acquisitions there, whether or not they were through trade or straight up signing, but "BOLD" is certainly not the word that should be used to describe those moves. At all.
Then tonight, November 8, happened. And I have a feeling I will be editing this post by the time I post it to include another move by the Oilers, but let's just talk about what has happened already.

Read on for:
Move 1: Smid Trade
Move 2: Bryzgalov Signing

Billy Talent, Hockey and Dallas Eakins

Here`s something you may not know about me (unless you actually know me in real life, in which case, STOP READING this and talk hockey with me in person), but one of my favorite bands is Billy Talent. I enjoy a whole lot of bands, but the guys in Billy Talent are my favorite, on a more personal level. I have had the honor of meeting them a couple times and they are perfect, amazing, sweet guys. But I digress, let`s get back to hockey. Friday night, Billy Talent was playing at the Halloween Howler in Edmonton. I was there, for obvious reasons. All four of the guys - Aaron, Ben, Ian and Jon - are HUGE hockey fans.
The band`s guys come out to set up the stage just prior to their set. I was watching the guy that was setting out the water bottles and beer bottles, and because I was on the Jon side of the stage, I saw his infamous Budweiser rocking a Toronto Maple Leafs holder-thing. String of curses came flying out of my mouth then.

Fast forward to about half way through the set, and cut me some slack here, there is no way I can direct quote this thanks to how long ago this was and the state I was in. Between songs, Ben asks the crowd "Are you all drunk enough for me to talk hockey, or should I wait?"
Then came the best part of Ben's whole hockey speech. To paraphrase what he said as accurately as I can remember... "The Toronto Maple Leafs are where they are because of Dallas Eakins. Give him time and it will work out." That was also the end of that, and back to songs they went.

That one quote was the perfect set up for what I wanted to talk about with Dallas Eakins.
So read on.

And I also just want to say, incase you don't read on, that I don't hate the Leafs by any means, or their fans. Some of my favorite people are Leafs fans, and I respect the people of Toronto and their team and their fans
Mixed reactions from the pit. Ben went right ahead. He started going on about how since they all are from Toronto and  they love the Toronto Maple Leafs. Yeah, yell that out to a crowd of drunk and rowdy Edmontonians. Goes real well. Lots of boos, lots of explicit phrases, lots of thumbs down and lots of middle fingers up. I'm guilty of it too, I was right up front flipping him off. What can I say. Ben starts talking about how they have always had a soft spot for Edmonton and whatnot. That quickly turned into Ben talking about how the Leafs are 1st in the East (which at the time they were), so yeah, yeah, plan the parade, whatever.

"HERE COME THE OILERS!" Oh yay....

Do you know that feeling where you adore something more than you can even explain? When you can't get your mind off of it. Everywhere you look, there are little things that remind you of it. Just the smallest thought about it can bring the biggest smile to your face. Then you get your hopes up and think maybe luck will be in your favor this time.... and then...
Your hopes go crashing down to the ground. You feel sad and broken. It doesn't feel like there is any hope of it changing anytime soon. You try to escape that feeling but everywhere you look, there are those little things that remind you of it. It's inescapable. It's in your mind. You love it. But you hate it. You keep going back for more and only end up sad. You know that feeling?

Yup, hockey season is back in Edmonton.

The Oilers are now just under two weeks into their season and sitting at a record of 1-3-1. Yes, it's only five games in, so it's implausible to make any valid conclusions from their record, but there have been other telling signs about how this season is going to play out. Starting all the way back to their first game against the Winnipeg Jets.

So, read on.

Is This The Most Off Color Comment of the Season?

Joe Thornton. And Joe Thornton's foul mouth.

I really don't even know where to begin on this one...

We all know where this one is going though, right? "If I scored four goals..."

And you should probably warned, there will probably be some inappropriate language, innuendos and puns in this. So don't say you didn't know.

Fighting Part II

A couple of days ago, I wrote about fighting (if you missed it, here) and that article was brought on by an unfortunate incident. I definitely wasn't planning on writing a fighting opinion piece at that time, and I certainly wasn't expecting to be writing a second part to it right now.

This time, let's look at the logic and opinions on coaches getting involved in the fights - whether vocally or physically or both.

Thank you to Patrick Roy for his antics that lead to this piece.

So read on.

Fighting: Integral to the Game or Unnecessary Violence?

Now this is a post I wasn't really planning on doing right now but then with the events tonight in the Toronto-Montreal season opener, I thought the timing would be fitting.

As we all know, there are so many opinions on fighting in hockey depending on who you ask. It goes from the extreme of it being barbaric to the other end of it being a necessary and enjoyable part of hockey.

So with that kind of a range of opinions, what's the league going to end up doing about fighting with the ever increasing number of injuries?

Well, I think....

A Jumbled Mess of Random Hockey Musings

Since I hadn't been writing anything about hockey for quite a while, I've got a whole lot to say.
I've got quite the assortment of random thoughts on:
CBC Programs, Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames, Florida Panthers, League Wide, Player Comparisons and a few more miscellaneous comments.

So... read on.

ANDREW FERENCE: The 14th Captain of the Oilers!

This morning, I woke up to the very exciting news in the twitter world that.... ANDREW FERENCE WAS NAMED THE 14TH CAPTAIN OF THE EDMONTON OILERS.

Image blatantly taken from oilers.nhl.com who blatantly took it from Eakin's twtter 

I was ecstatic hearing the news of it, as I have have a tremendous amount of respect for Ference and all that he does for the communities wherever he is playing.

For more on my opinion as to why he was a great choice, and my reactions to people's reactions, read after the jump. You know you want to.

Things that the First Day of 2013 NHL Taught Us

Alright, because there are so many games on today, and I'm watching three of them at once, instead of doing an entire posts about a game or two, I'm just going to abbreviate summaries and my thoughts into a compilation of random points.

I must say though, it really felt real that hockey is back when I heard Pierre McGuire on TV once again. I missed that. And then I knew it was really back when Don Cherry started ranting on CBC. It's really back.

So what's happened in the first games of the 2013 NHL season?

• The LA Kings took their banner raising ceremony, and turned it into a huge Hollywood production, including a final victory lap with Good Ol' Stanley. Yes, all teams have a nice, celebratory banner raising  ceremony, but most don't do what they did. The funniest part of it all though, was the fact that the Kings got killed. For the longest time, Chicago was outplaying the Kings bad, the Kings did eventually pick it up and attempt to redeem themselves, but they still managed to lose 5-2. Really makes that victory lap worth it, eh Kings? 
• That being said, pictures of the Kings' Stanley Cup Champions rings were released today...and holy crap. Wow. Those are some nice looking rings. And done by Tiffany. I like that. 
• And also in that game, first goal of this season goes to... PATTY KANE! 
• Winnipeg can not catch a break. In their season - and home - opener, they lost a 4-1 battle. Winnipeg fans are still as insane as ever though, they did not let the lockout slow them down at all. Everything about them remained the same, including the shout-out to the Jets' owner during the anthem. 
• Opening the season with a classic battle was an obvious choice for the NHL, and the Pittsburgh - Philadelphia game certainly didn't disappoint. From that:
• Philly has not matured at all, and still will chant "Crosby Sucks" whenever they get the chance
• That rivalry will never die. 
• It is pretty much expected that for the rest of the season, the two captains will always be matched up against each other. 
• Bryzgalov is still himself, not much changed there. 
• Matt Cooke has adjusted his game quite a bit. 
• Claude Giroux cut off his flow. 
• Pierre McGuire is as awkward and weird as ever. 
• Luke Schenn hasn't changed at all since he left the Leafs. And that's not a compliment. 
• I have a lot of opinions on that game, but they are pretty clouded because of my hatred for the Flyers so I'm just going to leave it at this. 
• NBC Broadcasts suck and they would prefer to constantly be going between games instead of showing any intermission features. As well as cutting over to the Battle of Pennsylvania instead of showing the end of the LA-Chicago game. 
• Boston is not dead, nor will they ever be. That was a great game. 3-1 final for Boston, with the first goal going to the new dad, Milan LUCIC!I don't think anyone could replicate the smile that was on his face after his goal. 
• In the 4-3 Dallas win over Phoenix, Jaromir Jagr pulled out a whopping 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists). Who says that they old guys aren't as good? That is CRAZY! Good for Phoenix for keeping it close though. 
• Derek Brassard got the winning goal in a 3-2 shootout game for the Columbus Blue Jackets over Nashville Predators. Wow. 
• St Louis Blues beat the Detroit Red Wings 6-0. I don't even know what to say about that game other than HOLY CRAP. I didn't watch that game though. 
• The most shocking outcome of all the games for me though, was the 5-1 win for the Florida Panthers over the newly Staal-stocked Carolina Hurricanes. From the bits and pieces I saw of that game. Wow. Good for Florida though! A big congrats goes to Jonathan Huberdeau on his goal and for Alex Kovalev for scoring in his first game as a Panther. 
• The Tampa Bay Lightning proved why they shouldn't be discounted as a playoff contender yet, in their 6-3 win over the Washington Capitals. 
• New Jersey Devils beat New York Islanders 2-1. Not much to say there. 
• Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens. The epitome of a hockey rivalry. It only makes sense that they start the season playing each other. Toronto won this battle 2-1, with Nazem Kadri scoring the first goal of the game! It was great to hear that Kadri was getting way more of a chance this year, and then to score, he's had a good couple days. Congrats to him! 
• Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2. I didn't see any of this game, so I really have nothing to say. 
• In the upset of the season so far, the Anaheim Ducks beat the Vancouver Canucks 7-3. Cory Schneider began the game in net for Vancouver, but  after 5 goals Roberto Luongo took over. Whoa. Shocker. Anyways, after that, the Ducks proceeded to score two more goals to seal the win. That entire time had a crazy awesome game, as opposed to the Canucks who were weak on defense, goaltending and forwards. 
• Teemu Selanne was the perfect example of a hockey player who never seems to age, tonight. The 42 year old, played like he was 20 years younger than he is as he tallied two goals and two assists.

Let's do this!

Hi Everyone!

Hey! :)

Hockey. Where to begin? Hockey, the stereotypical Canadian sport. Hockey, a sport that a variety of people enjoy in some form. I don't even know how to go on from here, so I will just leave it at that. Hockey is a great sport that we all love.
I have a ridiculous love for hockey, despite not playing the sport myself. I mean, I adore hockey to the extent that one of my friends calls me a "heroine addict but with hockey," which is partly where Confessions Of A Hockey Junkie originated from, however I have called myself a Hockey Junkie long before he called me a "heroine addict with hockey." But I digress.

Anyways, about two years ago, after reading countless websites about hockey and hockey players, I had the desire to create my own blog. Mostly, because I was tired of the fact that if it was either a completely technical hockey blog, or it was basically a puck bunny writing. I couldn't stand either. And at that point, that's when Two Sides Of The Female Hockey Fan was born. (Brutal long name, right?) That was an.... interesting.... experience for me. It taught me that I have the crappiest time management skills and that my dedication can wane pretty quickly. I started off posting pretty regularly but it was a little too puck bunny for my likings. So then when the next season started, I tried my best to write on every single game that the Oilers played and then I would try to write on any other big news around the league. Writing on every single game wore me out because like I said, time management skills sucked. But at least it stopped being so puckbunny-ish. Which I was quite proud of. I mean, there's no denying that I notice when a hockey player is good looking, but that's because I'm a girl and we all have eyes, but I am by no means a puck bunny. And I hate the term puck bunny, but it's nicer that some of the other terms for that. Anyways. I went for pretty much a year without writing as "2sfhf" and I missed it. And I couldn't wait to start a new blog. Get away from all that 2sfhf was and wasn't, and to be able to write more like myself.

Then with the lockout at the beginning of the season, I had absolutely no motivation or reason to starting over, so when it was announced that the season would return, that lit the fire under my ass.

And here I am, starting anew as Hockey Junkie.

So to any of you, who actually made it through that rant of mine, HEY! and to any of you who got here off Two Sides, WELCOME BACK, I'VE MISSED YOU ALL!

I will be writing a bit over the next week and a bit until hockey begins, but unfortunately I have exams after hockey returns so for the next three weeks my updating will be a little sporadic, just hang in there with me. I promise that after these first few weeks, I will have figured out a routine and will be sharing my opinion on anything and everything hockey related.


Love,
Amanda.