To be continued?

A few discussion points on tonight's Wild soiree:

Can't help but wonder if Derek Boogaard might have Sheldon Souray in his sights. Last time out Sheldon decked Craig Weller with a very solid left -- too solid, according to some who noticed Souray was wearing a hard plastic wrist guard. He wears it legitimately to protect his bionic wrist, but it should be off limits as a weapon. Watched the incident a few times and never did draw a conclusion whether it was used as such. Weller is still out with concussion. Look at the shocked expressions of the Oilers on the bench surveying the aftermath of that beatdown.

Haven't heard of any stupid Bertuzzi-like comments emanating from the Wild, but I wouldn't be too surprised if the Boogey Man came calling. I don't doubt Souray might answer Boogaard's call, and he might have as good a chance against the monster as anybody; he's as tough a player as has worn Oiler silks in quite some time. I don't like the potential trade-off, or consequences, but there are times when the tough ones need to account for themselves, or be taken into account. I attended and remember well the "Bryan Marchment Game" where the former Oilers' hardrock defenceman, now a Shark, accepted the challenge of "Big Zhawrzh" Laraque after he took out Doug Weight's knee in a previous game. Marchment lost the fight (a little too quickly, I thought), but he gained the respect of the Oilers and even of this observer for answering the bell. Didn't hurt his teammates morale any, either. Cheap shot artist he was, but Matt Cooke he wasn't.
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In a not-unrelated development, it sounds like Steve MacIntyre is in tonight, and Zack Stortini out. Neither has dropped the gloves since their return from injury, which is somewhat significant in that both injuries came during fights. Tough break for Zorg who was one of approximately 20 Oilers who struggled against Buffalo. In his first game back from a leg injury, he didn't exactly have the wheels going and showed a little rust by making a couple of rare bad decisions. And like the team as a whole, every mistake wound up in the net.
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Craig MacTavish's proposed experiment with Tom Gilbert up front on the PP is a little different. It's not often one sees three full-fledged defencemen on the PP; I know Jacques Martin used to fool around with Zdeno Chara in the low slot from time to time, but I believe Alfie played the point so they were just kind of switching positions. Other teams have tried a similar tactic but not for long. Last team I remember who used three D on a regular basis, and about the only one who used the swing man in a skill role was the Winnipeg Jets in the early 90s. They had traded Dale Hawerchuk for Phil Housley, and with a surfeit of offensive blueliners (Fredrik Olausson, Teppo Numminen, Randy Carlyle, Moe Mantha) to man the points, Housley was regularly deployed up front, where he scored 12 and 11 ppg his first two seasons. A precocious offensive talent, Housley had played some centre early in his career in Buffalo (which also shows up in his powerplay goals) before maturing into a full-time blueliner. But for the Jets he went up front on the PP.

It worked in that the Jets had an above-average powerplay those two seasons, but it didn't in that their back-heavy talent distribution resulted in an unbalanced team with a losing record.
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Peculiar comments from MacT in today's Edmonton Journal about Marc Pouliot:

"I don't like Pouliot at centre. Faceoffs are an issue, the added positional responsibility can be an issue. (Potulny) is an average skater, but he's got good hands and a real head for the game, from what I've seen."

It's hard not to read part of that as a thinly-veiled criticism of Pouliot's head for the game. But in response to the specific criticism, I would point out that Pouliot's faceoff percentage of 47.6 is less than great, it's fully 10 percentage points better than that of Andrew Cogliano (37.5). So Cogs must have a big edge in "positional responsibility". I do know Pouliot has a pretty good record as a low event player regardless of whether he's playing centre or wing, currently ranking fourth among Oiler forwards at 2.30 GA ON/60, while Cogliano is well down the charts at 2.73. As for Potulny, I guess we'll find out.

Two things I'm pretty sure about are that Coach MacTavish has a v-e-r-y good understanding of what a 3C's positional responsibility is; and that he's pretty ticked to not have a veteran to deploy in that important role.
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Big game tonight against a divisional rival that is exactly tied in the standings. GOILERS!

Game On ... for real, finally

On the ninth day of the NHL season, and the fourth day since pucks started dropping for keeps in rinks all over North America, tonight the Oilers become the 30th and last NHL team to play a real game. Happily for old-timers like me, they've broken out the traditional blue-and-orange uniforms for the occasion of opening their 30th anniversary (sic) season.

With the belated start the Oilers are already 8 points back in pursuit of the President's Trophy. That it's Glen Sather's Rangers that are leading the way is all the reassurance we need that the season is indeed very young. But it's about goddam time the season actually got underway for all of its participants.

No doubt these rest days would have come in a lot handier at other points in a season in which the schedule maker has done us zero favours. A nice enforced rest to start the season, followed by what seems like a two-month road trip, including most egregiously of all, an Oilers-at-Rangers game scheduled DURING Glenn Anderson's HHoF induction. The marketing whizzes at the NHL office have their heads lodged so firmly up their arses they'll need a crowbar to get them out. But that's a rant for another day (consider the foregoing a down payment :).

Tonight, alas, I get to watch just the first period before heading off to work. The PVR is in good working order, programmed and ready to go, but a time-delayed broadcast is another degree of separation on an occasion when every red-blooded Oilers' fan wants to be in the building, cheering on the start of another new season. Those of you lucky enough to have a ticket, enjoy yourselves! I've seen my share of home openers ... more on this tomorrow.

Surprises of training camp:

1. "SMacIntyre" coming out of nowhere to make the 23-man roster. I guess if you replaced SMac's name with "little-known enforcer" it's not that surprising. In the two years since Big Georges left town the Oilers' "team tough" mantra has failed. The team hasn't exactly been pushed around, but they have suffered more than their share of injuries, some of which (Moreau's and Souray's shoulder injuries) were sustained in the name of team toughness and some of which were caused by other teams "enforcers" (Jody Shelley, Derek Boogaard) who weren't otherwise occupied. I'm not saying it's right, but I can understand why the organization was looking for a hired fist.

2. Strudwick leapfrogging Smid in the depth chart and dressing for the opener. Props to Lowetide for calling this one pretty much the day Strudwick was signed. I too like Strudwick, and have since he played for in Vancouver -- at this point in his career he's the ideal seventh defenceman; tough, experienced, reliable. But I'm disappointed that Smid's play in camp didn't inspire confidence; I was, and am, hoping for a big leap forward in Ladi's play in 2008-09. This is not a promising start.

3. Pisani still playing centre. By placing three veterans on the third line and three youngsters on the fourth, MacT has clearly stratified the lines. This will likely play out in TOI, where it will be relatively easy to shorten the bench in close games. I like the four-line strategy myself, but I also like winning, so I'll have to trust Coach MacTavish to maximize his roster to that end.

Non-surprises of training camp:

1. The demotion of Rob Schremp. Robbie's game is suited a Top 6 position, and with Penner already waiting in line there's just no room. Too bad, really, but 2007-08 was his window, and a whole bunch of kids -- Nilsson, Cogliano, Gagner, Brodziak, arguably Penner -- sailed right past him.

2. The demotion of Gilbert Brule. The youngster showed quite a bit, but after two years of playing just 10 minutes a game in Columbus he needs more ice time than he would see in a 12/13 role here in Edmonton. Hopefully he'll see closer to 20 minutes in all situations in Springfield, and earn his recall in due course. This formula worked pretty well for Pouliot last season.

3. The inability of Marc Pouliot (pictured) to seize the 3C role. Props to the kid for making the team out of the gate, but I agree with most on the 'sphere that a straight switch of Pouliot for Moreau would balance those two lines while allowing everybody to play his natural position. Unfortunately it seems Poo still hasn't fully won MacT's trust.

All that said, the MacBlender could come out early and all that hand-wringing come to naught. However they line up, they'll be wearing the blue and orange (yippee!), so it's GOILERS!