Hey.
I know I don't have many readers on this blog, but I still feel like I need to say this, even though it's pretty obvious.
For this hockey season, at least, I will not be blogging. I have tried to make time to do it, but I have a lot of stuff going on lately, so that never works out. And then when I do have the time, I just don't have the motivation to do it. My life just got really overwhelming this year, and I can't really fully explain why, but it's taken it all out of me some times.
But I will always be watching hockey, my Twitter account (@2sfhf) and my Tumblr account will be out in full force, but that's just because I can do those a lot quicker and with a lot less effort and time than it takes me to do a blog post.
I will try again to keep up with the blogging starting either on July 1st (Free Agency!!!!!) or the start of next year. Hell, I might even try to do a Trade Deadline Post, but we'll see. I might even attempt to do a playoffs series one, but I don't know if that will happen, I'll have to cross that bridge when I get to it.
I don't know. I really can't explain it, because I don't even understand it. I have such strong opinions about hockey, but no motivation or desire to put them on here like I used to. I'm not sure.
I will be back though. I may be down but I'm not out just yet.
I will be back.
Love,
Amanda.
Female hockey fans know what they are talking about and know the hockey players are hot! :)
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Sunday, January 01, 2012
A Look Into The Past Year
I realize that it has been a little bit over 3 months since I last posted on here, but life has just seemed to overwhelm me lately. I'm honestly not too sure what happened, well not exactly, I know lots of the things that happened, and they all worked together and after the long days that I would have, by the time I got some free-time, I didn't feel like doing anything, especially writing. So with the better mindset that I have now, I intend to write more often on here- that's actually part of my New Year's Resolution, is to write on here. It was good for me to have this little escape when it came to all things hockey and I actually miss it.
Any ways.......
2011 was an eventful year for hockey, both locally, nationally and internationally. There were some definitive high points and some definitive low points. Considering that it is New Year's Eve and I have absolutely nothing better to be doing, I thought I would take a look back at some key events during 2011 in the hockey world, on different levels. Considering that I haven't blogged in a long time, there are definitely some thing that I missed due to them just slipping my mind because I didn't write them down. If there is something that need to be added, let me know, and I'll change it.
Oilers
Taylor Hall gets his first NHL hat-trick in February against the (no-longer existent) Atlanta Thrashers.
February 27th marked the first time that Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin faced off against each other since the 2010 NHL Entry-draft.
Trade deadline day for the Edmonton Oilers meant shipping Dustin Penner off to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Colten Teubert (since this season has begun has played in both Edmonton and OKC) and a 19th overall draft pick in the 2011 NHL Entry-Draft.
March marked the Oilers' annual crash and burn, and the securing of 30th place in the league took place.
April was when the Edmonton Oilers' finished 30th in the NHL.
May 29th Ryan Jones signed a 2-year contract extension (and from his play so far this season, definitely a wise move).
June 24th and 25th were the 2011 NHL Entry-Draft in which the Oilers made some outstanding picks.....
Any ways.......
2011 was an eventful year for hockey, both locally, nationally and internationally. There were some definitive high points and some definitive low points. Considering that it is New Year's Eve and I have absolutely nothing better to be doing, I thought I would take a look back at some key events during 2011 in the hockey world, on different levels. Considering that I haven't blogged in a long time, there are definitely some thing that I missed due to them just slipping my mind because I didn't write them down. If there is something that need to be added, let me know, and I'll change it.
Oilers
Taylor Hall gets his first NHL hat-trick in February against the (no-longer existent) Atlanta Thrashers.
February 27th marked the first time that Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin faced off against each other since the 2010 NHL Entry-draft.
Trade deadline day for the Edmonton Oilers meant shipping Dustin Penner off to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Colten Teubert (since this season has begun has played in both Edmonton and OKC) and a 19th overall draft pick in the 2011 NHL Entry-Draft.
March marked the Oilers' annual crash and burn, and the securing of 30th place in the league took place.
April was when the Edmonton Oilers' finished 30th in the NHL.
May 29th Ryan Jones signed a 2-year contract extension (and from his play so far this season, definitely a wise move).
June 24th and 25th were the 2011 NHL Entry-Draft in which the Oilers made some outstanding picks.....
- 1st overall: RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS
- 19th overall: OSCAR KLEFBOM
- 31th overall: DAVID MUSIL
- 62th overall: SANU PERHONEN
- 74th overall: TRAVIS EWANYK
- 92th overall: DILLON SIMPSON
- 114th overall: TOBIAS RIEDEN
- 122th overall: MARTIN GERNAT
- 182th overall: RANS TUOHIMAN
June 26th was the day that many fans who do bleed copper and blue will remember for a while due to a player that truly does bleed copper and blue. Ryan Smyth wanted a trade out of Los Angeles, and he got it on this day. The Oilers gave up Colin Fraser (which lead to a whole different ordeal) and a 7th round selection in the 2012 Entry-Draft in exchange for Ryan Smyth.
July 1st, the day when Free Agency begins was a busy day for the Oilers. They signed Ben Eager, Cam Barker, Darcy Hordichuk, Eric Belanger and Corey Potter. They also traded Kurtis Foster to Anaheim in exchange for Andy Sutton (a great trade, thus far this season).
Theo Peckham re-signed with the Oilers on July 4th.
On July 12th, the Oilers lost two player; Steve MacIntyre signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Andrew Cogliano was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a 2nd round draft pick in 2013 (I'm still unbelievably bitter about this, and will likely never get over it).
September 30th, in a pre-season game that Taylor Fedun will never forget, a horrific injury was witnessed. Fedun went feet first into the end boards and shattered his femur. He is still rehabing that injury. Poor guy. That was awful
On October 2nd, Gilbert Brule got assigned to Oklahoma City before the regular season began. He is still playing there, and is doing reasonably well, definitely better than he would have in Edmonton.
November saw Ladislav Smid tally his first goal since the 2009-2010 season! And tallying two more since.
Canada
Unfortunately, 2011 saw Canada lose the 2011 World Junior Championshp Gold Medal game to Russia.
NHL
On January 22nd, one of my favourite fights of the season took place.... Tom Kostopoulos absolutely knocked our Kevin Bieksa in a super short fight. It was amazing.
On Januray 23rd, Evgeni Nabokov decided to start being a douche bag and announce that he was going to stay and play in the KHL. Not so bad right? Wrong. He announced this after the Islanders claimed him off waivers that the Red Wings had to place him on, once he agreed to go play there.
The last couple days of January saw Team Staal winning the All-Star competition.
February 1st was another one of my favourite fights of the season. Rick DiPietro accepted Brent Johnson's challenge to fight, and Johnson destroyed him and his face. It was beautiful.
February 8th, marked the departure of Joffrey Lupul from Anaheim to go to Toronto in excchange for Francois Beauchemin.
On February 10th, Mike Fischer was traded to the Nashville Predators.
On February 14th, Kris Versteeg didn't receive any Valentine's from the Toronto Maple Leafs but instead a ticket to Philadelphia, his new home.
Tomas Kaberle became a Bruin on February 18th.
On July 1st, Jaromir Jagr signed with......... the....... Philadelphia Flyers.
October 9th was a historic day for the Winnipeg franchise as it's new season began after the Atlanta Thrashers franchise moved to Winnipeg after they lost their team in the mid 90's.
November 12th is a day that Ryan Miller will likely not forget, if he even remembers it. Milan Lucic ran into Ryan Miller when he was playing the puck way out of his crease. Lucic hit him so hard that Miller was concussed. And Miller whined like a little bitch about it.
November 21st marked the return of Sidney Crosby after his concussion that was sustained during the Winter Classic. As of right now, he is still out with concussion-like symptoms.
Players Gone Too Soon
On May 13th, NHL tough guy, Derek Boogaard died of an accidental overdose. It was tragic and heartbreaking, especially considering that he had just left rehab. Since then, there have been many developments in regards to who gave him the pills, the condition of his brain and other circumstances. None of that makes the story any less tragic.
August 15th was the day that Rick Rypien decided to end his battle with depression. After suffering for many, many years Rick took his own life at his home in Alberta.
On August 31st, Wade Belak died too soon as well. Belak's death was ruled as a suicide due to his battle with depression, however there may be more to that, and his family said that it was an "accidental death." Regardless of what exactly happened, Belak was another player gone too soon.
On September 7th, the charter that the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv KHL team was on crashed into a river bank, killing the entire team. The videos from after the crash are extremely sad and extremely horrifying to watch. There were many players that were taken much too soon on that fateful day.
On a much more local level and a more personal level for me as I know quite a few people that knew him.....
On November 13th, Kyle Fundytus, a 16 year old hockey player from Edmonton went down to block a shot, pretty routine. Except this time, Kyle was very unfortunate and the puck struck him in the neck. After being rushed to hospital and doctor's operating on him, nothing could save him. Kyle Fundytus died on November 13th, 2011. He will always be remembered by the people of Edmonton.
On November 13th, Kyle Fundytus, a 16 year old hockey player from Edmonton went down to block a shot, pretty routine. Except this time, Kyle was very unfortunate and the puck struck him in the neck. After being rushed to hospital and doctor's operating on him, nothing could save him. Kyle Fundytus died on November 13th, 2011. He will always be remembered by the people of Edmonton.
RIP to all the players mentioned above. You were all taken to soon and the deaths were the most tragic events to come out of 2011.
2011 was quite the year for hockey, there were many highs and many lows. Hopefully 2012 has many highs than it does lows, and a lot less lows and tragic stories than 2011 did. Here's to a new year and new beginnings!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
IT'S ALMOST HERE!
It was a horrific off-season for the hockey community and most people can’t wait for the season to start to move on from the tragedies that took place during the summer. Two current NHLers, Derek Boogaard and Rick Rypien, as well as a retired NHLer, Wade Belak, will all be missed after their untimely deaths that have taken place since May. On September 7th, the hockey world lost an entire team when the KHL’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl’s charter crashed into the banks of the Volga River. 43 people died in that crash, including former NHLers like Pavol Demitra and Ruslan Salei amongst others. It was a terrible summer for hockey and hopefully this coming season will be a lot less tragic.
The 2010-11 season was an interesting one for fans across the league. We saw Sidney Crosby become the latest victim of headshots, the league leading Vancouver Canucks choke in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, the 2nd overall draftee hoist the Cup up over his head, some crazy free-agent action, some shocking trades, the movement that created a 7th Canadian team and of course the highs and the lows of the teams that we love and the teams that we love to hate. We saw players between the ages of 26-30 shine compared to all the rest when it comes to points. We saw 79 Canadians and 64 Americans get drafted. We saw 24% of the games to the ever exciting and equally nerve wrecking overtime and 37.24% of games had at least one fight in them. (Thanks to the Hockey News for those stats.) It was a good season for hockey last year, there’s no disputing that.
Now, onto matters dealing with the Oilers. If the stats for points per game by age, stay relatively true this season, between the Oilers and the Barons, they should be scoring a minimum of 13 goals per game. Yeah, like that’s going to happen. The Oilers will always just be that one team that is a statistical anomaly, however in this case, those stats are a little crazy because obviously they don’t apply to everyone and every team.
Last year, the Oilers played 82 games, like every team in the league did that didn’t make the playoffs. They won 25 times, lost 45 times, had three overtime losses, 9 shootout losses and 12 overtime/shootout losses. As we all know, they finished 30th in the league. Again. The Oilers had the 3rd most penalties as a team with 1388 PIM and 20 bench penalties. They finished 29th on the penalty kill, and 27th on the powerplay. The Oilers finished with a 44.2% faceoff win percent, that’s the second worst in league HISTORY. They went 11 games without a win. And the longest winning streak? 4 games. Some more positive things about the way they finished did exist. Devan Dubnyk finished 22nd in save percentages with 0.916. The Oilers went on an eleven game losing streak. and the longest winning streak was four games. All those facts put together; that’s the reason that all of us Oiler fans can’t wait for the new season to begin. The past is the past and this season the team is starting to look good.
The Hockey News has forecasted that Edmonton will once again finish 15th in the west. And as much as I want to argue that one and say that it won’t happen, its tough to, because in the West anything can happen and other than the Oilers, there’s no one that looks like a shoe in for that spot. Theo Peckham was 3rd in penalty minutes so we should probably all expect an amazingly physical year from him again. Sam Gagner was 4th worst in the league with faceoffs but that’s okay because another (former) Oiler was worse than him, Andrew Cogliano was in second. That fact on it’s own is why it’s great to see Belanger rocking the blue and orange. Ryan Whitney was 7th in defense-men icetime around the league so it’s hard to imagine the potentila that he has this year if he would stay healthy and not get hurt. Tom GIlbert was 5th in the league for.........drum roll please.........GIVEAWAYS! He had 87 giveaways in the 81 games that he played. That’s just not acceptable and if that aspect of his game doesn’t change before this season, he is going to have some seriously disgruntled Oilers fans to deal with and he will have to face the wrath of the rest of the team too.
After training camp and what they have done in the pre-season, I could say that the Oilers are looking like a really good team this year. Except for the fact that every year they do really well during the pre-season and the beginning of the regular season, then it all goes for crap. One thing that is likely to stay reasonably consistent is the fact that it appears that there will be no sophomore slump for Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle or Magnus Paajarvi.
I was at the pre-season game that Ales Hemsky made his ‘big’ debut back and nothing much came out of his return. The Oilers scored 3 goals and all three were from the new Kid LIne that consisted of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle with Eberle the only one being held goal-less in that game. Hemsky made his return to play with Shawn Horcoff and Ryan Smyth, like the good ol’ days. And nothing happened with that line. The biggest hurdle that the Oilers will have to deal with this season is not the amount of young guys that they have and their inexperience, but more the veterans who are supposed to be carruing the team but aren’t even coming close to that yet. And then goaltending, well that’s a whole new story. If Devan Dubnyk does not start the season as the starting goaltender that will be a huge mistake on the coaching staff’s part and it will be a shame to watch Boozy, I mean, Khabibulin.
This season is bound to be an eventful one for the Edmonton Oilers and their ever so dedicated and loyal fans, and I don’t know about you but personally..... I CAN’T WAIT!
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
News In The Hockey World For September
With the pre-season a few days in, I'm a little bit behind where I wanted to be with writing, but I will get it done eventually. It will also help when my computer decides to start working properly.
Anyways, in now particular order....
Mike Modano announced his retirement after 21 seasons in the NHL. To me, and to most hockey fans in the west, that guy will truly forever be a Star, literally, not in the praising way. Out of his 21 seasons, four were with the Minnesota North Stars, who later were the Dallas Stars which was where the rest of his career was spent, with the exception of this past season when he chose to play in his home state of Michigan with the Red Wings.
RJ Umberger signed a 5 year, $23 million contract with the newly revamped Columbus Blue Jackets. The Jackets are going all in this year, and if things don't work out the way that they anticipate them going, they can have some comfort in knowing that they were one of the ballsiest teams out there this off season.
Drew Doughty remains unsigned by the Los Angeles Kings as of right now, and both sides are starting to pay the price; the longer Doughty holds out on going to camp and playing in the pre-season, the less the Kings want to offer him and The Kings are missing a key defence man. The rumour about his last offer was $6.8 million for presumably 7 years which would have been the fourth highest cap hit for NHL d-men, but that's not enough for him. He's 21, his got his whole career ahead of him and this little drama queen act, isn't winning him many favours. Even though Doughty has not been attending the Kings camp, he has been training hard in his home town of London, Ontario. I guess he deserves a little credit for that.....
Tuesday was an interesting night for pre-season games with multiple sets of brothers playing against each other and in one case, with each other. Both of the Toews brothers were playing one of the Oilers' split-squads in Saskatoon,. a game which Chicago lost; Brayden and Luke Schenn faced off against each other when the Flyers played Toronto; Phil Kessel was also playing his little brother in the Philly/Toronto game.
After Dustin Byfuglien's arrest earlier this summer for drunken boating, he was nailed with one count of boating while intoxicated as well as three related charges. Guess Buffy couldn't slay those charges could he?
The Jets played their first game at home in 15 years and they won! The support coming out of Winnipeg and from most places in Canada, even if they aren't cheering for them, it's nice to see a 7th Canadian team.
Kurtis Foster, the former Oiler that was traded for Andy Sutton during the off-season underwent surgery to remove a wire from his leg, something that was left from that horrific break he suffered in 2008.
Mark Streit and Chris Pronger were named captains of the New York Islanders and the Philadelphia Flyers, respectively. Honestly, I feel that it should have been Tavares in New York, after all he is the future of that organization and they have alot invested in him. And as for Pronger, he's perfect for Philly, quite a pair actually.
The funniest, and most random one, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane no longer have stalls in the locker room right beside each other. I don't see the relevance in this, but I read it a few different places today and found it rather amusing.
And for Oilers news......
In the Joey Moss Cup game, Ben Eager was absolutely drilled into the boards by Kiril Tulupov. Eager suffered a concussion as a result of that hit; today Renney said that "it's not real severe." Concussions are brain injuries, how can that not be severe? The more concussions are downplayed by the coaches, the harder it's going to be to get rid of head shots, the bigger the stereotype of hockey players being stupid will be, along with so much more, but most importantly, the players are literally going to feel the affects.
Colten Teubert who took a punch from Adam Polasek right in the face during the first game of the Young Stars Tournament also has a concussion.. Today he said that it was getting better but he was fine playing it safe.
Former Oilers.....
One of the newest Ducks, that used to bleed Copper and Blue, Andrew Cogliano had a goal and an assist in his first game in the Ducks uniform during Tuesday's pre-season match. Way to go Cogs!
Jeff Deslauriers, another former Oiler who is currently a Duck is enjoying the fickleness of the Anaheim announcers who call him a Duck when he's playing well, and then he makes a mistake and all the sudden he becomes "the former Oiler"
Jim Vandermeer played with San Jose tonight against the Anaheim Ducks, so far he's shown that he will be a good addition to that team, which is great for the Sharks and even better for Vandermeer.
JF Jacques, another Duck, had a fight in his first pre-season game in Anaheim last night. Good for him, he sure didn't change when he became a Duck.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Other Recent Hockey News
It's been a while since I've posted, so there have obviously been things going on in the hockey world that I've missed. Here's some of the highlights as of late....
The same day that Oilers fans saw Andrew Cogliano leave, another Oiler left. Steve M
acIntyre who was a UFA signed with Pittsburgh for $600,000 for one year. That’s an awesome deal for both sides. MacIntyre gets to go to a great team where he will actually see some ice time considering their need for a guy like him, and Pittsburgh gets a monster to protect Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal. It sucks to see MacIntyre leave the Oilers, but the Penguins will be good for him, and he’ll be good for them.
Steven Stamkos was one of the RFA’s that stay un-signed for a lot longer than anyone
had expected. The other shocker with him was that there weren’t many offer sheets placed for him. Everyone knew that he was untouchable but still, you would think that some teams may still try a little bit. Stamkos finally did come to an agreement with the Bolts and he signed for $7.5 million a year for five years. The Lightning now have some serious cap issues to deal with after that one. Their top three guys in Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier and now Stamkos are making a total of over $20 million, that’s like a third of the salary cap. And none of those guys are going anywhere. It’s known that there may be the potential that they want to get rid of Vinny but there is no way that anyone will take on that contract, especially considering that it’s for another 9 years.
The Winnipeg Jets finally revealed their new logos and they look pretty good.
They got lots of mixed reviews; people were saying that they were made with clip art, that they stole the militaries logo, etc. But people are too quick to judge, let’s see what the whole jersey looks like before ripping it apart. If you look at any team’s logo, it won’t look as good just by itself, it needs the rest of the jersey. All that aside, the logos have good colors and there is a pretty good chance that they will look pretty good once the whole jersey is done. I’m not a Winnipeg fan by any means, but I am looking forward to seeing the new jerseys.
And one final (hopefully) update in the death of Derek Boogaard. On Friday, his younger brother, Aaron was charged with unlawful
distribution of a controlled substance. This came as the result of giving his brother a pain killer the day after Derek got out of rehab. It was reported to the police that the pill was not taken for pain but to prepare for a big night out. The police told the media that Aaron would not be charged any further since it can’t really be proven that it was that pill that ultimately lead to the death. It’s a sad story and this is such a sad ending. That poor family went through a lot with one son’s death, and now their other son being charged in connection to it.
I know this may seem a little but hypocritical of me to say now, but I really do wish that the media will leave this story alone. If nothing more is going to come of this, let the family deal with it on their own and don’t add all this extra stuff for them to deal with. I hope things get better for them.
The same day that Oilers fans saw Andrew Cogliano leave, another Oiler left. Steve M
acIntyre who was a UFA signed with Pittsburgh for $600,000 for one year. That’s an awesome deal for both sides. MacIntyre gets to go to a great team where he will actually see some ice time considering their need for a guy like him, and Pittsburgh gets a monster to protect Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal. It sucks to see MacIntyre leave the Oilers, but the Penguins will be good for him, and he’ll be good for them.Steven Stamkos was one of the RFA’s that stay un-signed for a lot longer than anyone
had expected. The other shocker with him was that there weren’t many offer sheets placed for him. Everyone knew that he was untouchable but still, you would think that some teams may still try a little bit. Stamkos finally did come to an agreement with the Bolts and he signed for $7.5 million a year for five years. The Lightning now have some serious cap issues to deal with after that one. Their top three guys in Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier and now Stamkos are making a total of over $20 million, that’s like a third of the salary cap. And none of those guys are going anywhere. It’s known that there may be the potential that they want to get rid of Vinny but there is no way that anyone will take on that contract, especially considering that it’s for another 9 years.The Winnipeg Jets finally revealed their new logos and they look pretty good.
They got lots of mixed reviews; people were saying that they were made with clip art, that they stole the militaries logo, etc. But people are too quick to judge, let’s see what the whole jersey looks like before ripping it apart. If you look at any team’s logo, it won’t look as good just by itself, it needs the rest of the jersey. All that aside, the logos have good colors and there is a pretty good chance that they will look pretty good once the whole jersey is done. I’m not a Winnipeg fan by any means, but I am looking forward to seeing the new jerseys.And one final (hopefully) update in the death of Derek Boogaard. On Friday, his younger brother, Aaron was charged with unlawful
distribution of a controlled substance. This came as the result of giving his brother a pain killer the day after Derek got out of rehab. It was reported to the police that the pill was not taken for pain but to prepare for a big night out. The police told the media that Aaron would not be charged any further since it can’t really be proven that it was that pill that ultimately lead to the death. It’s a sad story and this is such a sad ending. That poor family went through a lot with one son’s death, and now their other son being charged in connection to it.I know this may seem a little but hypocritical of me to say now, but I really do wish that the media will leave this story alone. If nothing more is going to come of this, let the family deal with it on their own and don’t add all this extra stuff for them to deal with. I hope things get better for them.
Andrew Cogliano
Over a week ago, the day that some Oiler fans, especially myself, hav
e been dreading since a couple summers ago, finally came around. And it was awful. On July 12th, Andrew Cogliano, who had been a RFA for 12 days, was no longer an Oiler. The Oilers traded Cogs to the Ducks for a second round draft pick in 2013.
First of all, Cogliano will always be an Oiler at heart and he will forever bleed copper and blue. This year, that guy brought nothing but heart and soul t
o the team. That may have been his downfall, with this not being his best season statistics wise. Even if his stats did not look that promising, Cogs had found himself a role on the team. It took a while but he had finally faced the reality that he would not be a top center with all the ro
okies that came in, and he took that and made himself into a solid two way forward. The Oilers apparently didn’t see the usefulness in this or that he was still a valuable asset to the team, seeing as how the traded him for a SECOND round pick.
And that’s the next point. A second round pick? Anahei
m is really starting to look like a good team and they definitely have some potential in the next couple years. Let’s say just for this purpose, that they win the Stanley Cup two seasons from now 
when the draft pick comes up. That means that the Oilers traded Cogliano to the Ducks for a 60th pick? That sounds like a good idea, right? Even if Anaheim doesn’t win the cup that year, there is a good chance that their pick will be in the later half of the second rou
nd. Andrew Cogliano for a late second round draft pick? Even if you’re not a huge fan of him and even border on being a huge skeptic of his, that doesn’t make much sense, considering that the Oilers do need some guys that aren’t in their first two years on the team this season. 
Possibly the saddest part about this trade is the fact that two really good friends got split up. Sam Gagner and Andrew Cogliano. There was one
interview that Cogs had done this year, in which he said that Sam was his room-mate on the road, “and that it will probably be like that for the rest of [his] career.” Those two guys were close since they started on the Oilers and they lived with Tom Gilbert, and then they all moved into their own places and Sam and Andrew ended up living together again. Those two had the best bromance on the Oilers and it is most heartbreaki
ng to see that broken up. As much as I love Gagner as an Oiler, I hope that someday, and hopefully soon, him and Cogliano will be on the same team again.
This past season, there was a lot of talk about Cogliano becoming the new Todd Marchant with the way that he changed his game. Thi
s year, Todd Marchant announced his re
tirement, and he had played his last season as a Duck. And shortly after that, they pick up the new Todd Marchant. At least there will be a clearly defined role for Cogs there this season.
Now for the good things that came out of this. It was a great trade for Cogliano, even if the Oilers didn’t get much for him. Cogliano will no longer have to attempt to take face-offs against their centers which should be a huge relief. Anaheim is clearly a better team than Edmonton is right now and they definitely have more of an immediate future. But the best part is karma. I really hope that karma bites Edmonton in the ass this sea
son when Cogliano lights it up in Anaheim.
Exactly a week after the trade, the Ducks agreed to terms with Andrew Cogliano. He signed a three-year contract that averaged out to $2.39 million per season. That’s more than double what he signed with Edmonton for last year. Good for him. He’s finally getting paid what he thinks he should be getting paid, now he better live up to those expectations if he wants to keep that salary.
Monday, July 04, 2011
First Day of Free Agency
July 1st saw well about seventy or so signings and re-signings across the league and with the farm teams as well.
There were definitely some signings that stood out from the rest though and only on the first day of free-agency.
The day started off with the announcing of the deal that James Wisniewski and the Columbus Blue Jackets had agreed on, $33 million over 6 years, and extremely front loaded. That definitely started the day off interestingly.
Mathieu Garon is reunited with Dwayne Roloson once again, with a 2 year, $2.6 million contract in Tampa Bay.
Jose Theodore signed with the Panthers for two years and $3 million.
Jeff Halpern made his return to Washington with a $850 000, one year contract.
Scottie Upshall signed with the Florida Panther for four years and $14 million.
Raffi Torres and all his douchbagery went to the Phoenix Coyotes for two years and $3.5 million.
The Jaromir Jagr soap opera came to a shocking conclusion after Pittsburgh and Detroit withdrew themselves from the running. Jagr signed a one year $3.3 million contract with….the Philadelphia Flyers.
Florida continued to add with the four year signing of Ed Jovanovski with a total hit of $16.5 million.
Andrew Brunette took a one year $2 million dollar contract with Chicago.
Jan Hejda, who some thought might show up in Edmonton next season, will but in an Avalanche jersey with his four year deal worth $13 million.
Marcel Goc was another addition to the Panthers for 3 years and $5.1 million.
Maxime Talbot ultimately betrayed all the loyal Penguins fans when he signed a 5 year, $9 million dollar contract with their state rivals in Philadelphia.
Peter Budaj went to the Canadiens for the next two years and $2.3 million.
Michael Rupp singed with the Rangers for three years and $4.5 million.
Steve Sullivan broke news of his own signing through his twitter account. Before it was reported, he was tweeting about how happy he was to be going to the Steel City. And that contract was with $1.5 million for one year.
Marty Reasoner signed for two years with the New York Islanders for $2.7 million.
Washington picked up Joel Ward for four years and $12 million as well as Roman Hamrlik for two years and $7 million.
Erik Cole left his beloved Carolina to go to Montreal for 4 years and $18 million.
Alex Auld makes his return to the Senators with a one year, one million dollar deal.
Michael Ryder was picked up by the Dallas Stars for $7 million over two years.
Buffalo made a huge signing with Ville Leino and his $27 million over the next 6 years.
Vancouver picked up Marco Sturm for one year and $2.25 million.
J.S. Giguere is heading to Colorado for two years and $2.5 million.
Washington picked up Ryan Potulny.
Daniel Carcillo signed with the Blackhawks for one year and $775 000.
Winnipeg signed Tanner Glass for one year and $750 000.
Michal Handzus signed with a team in the same state as his former organization, with a 2 year, $5 million deal with the San Jose Sharks.
Sean Bergenheim left the Lightning after he had a pretty successful play-off run, to go to the Florida Panthers for 4 years and $11 million dollars.
As for re-signings, Sami Salo, Chris Higgins, Tyler Kennedy, Andy Green, Matt D’Agostini, Ruslan Fedotenko along with many others, re-signed with their teams on the first day of free-agency.
There were definitely some signings that stood out from the rest though and only on the first day of free-agency.
The day started off with the announcing of the deal that James Wisniewski and the Columbus Blue Jackets had agreed on, $33 million over 6 years, and extremely front loaded. That definitely started the day off interestingly.
Mathieu Garon is reunited with Dwayne Roloson once again, with a 2 year, $2.6 million contract in Tampa Bay.
Jose Theodore signed with the Panthers for two years and $3 million.
Jeff Halpern made his return to Washington with a $850 000, one year contract.
Scottie Upshall signed with the Florida Panther for four years and $14 million.
Raffi Torres and all his douchbagery went to the Phoenix Coyotes for two years and $3.5 million.
The Jaromir Jagr soap opera came to a shocking conclusion after Pittsburgh and Detroit withdrew themselves from the running. Jagr signed a one year $3.3 million contract with….the Philadelphia Flyers.
Florida continued to add with the four year signing of Ed Jovanovski with a total hit of $16.5 million.
Andrew Brunette took a one year $2 million dollar contract with Chicago.
Jan Hejda, who some thought might show up in Edmonton next season, will but in an Avalanche jersey with his four year deal worth $13 million.
Marcel Goc was another addition to the Panthers for 3 years and $5.1 million.
Maxime Talbot ultimately betrayed all the loyal Penguins fans when he signed a 5 year, $9 million dollar contract with their state rivals in Philadelphia.
Peter Budaj went to the Canadiens for the next two years and $2.3 million.
Michael Rupp singed with the Rangers for three years and $4.5 million.
Steve Sullivan broke news of his own signing through his twitter account. Before it was reported, he was tweeting about how happy he was to be going to the Steel City. And that contract was with $1.5 million for one year.
Marty Reasoner signed for two years with the New York Islanders for $2.7 million.
Washington picked up Joel Ward for four years and $12 million as well as Roman Hamrlik for two years and $7 million.
Erik Cole left his beloved Carolina to go to Montreal for 4 years and $18 million.
Alex Auld makes his return to the Senators with a one year, one million dollar deal.
Michael Ryder was picked up by the Dallas Stars for $7 million over two years.
Buffalo made a huge signing with Ville Leino and his $27 million over the next 6 years.
Vancouver picked up Marco Sturm for one year and $2.25 million.
J.S. Giguere is heading to Colorado for two years and $2.5 million.
Washington picked up Ryan Potulny.
Daniel Carcillo signed with the Blackhawks for one year and $775 000.
Winnipeg signed Tanner Glass for one year and $750 000.
Michal Handzus signed with a team in the same state as his former organization, with a 2 year, $5 million deal with the San Jose Sharks.
Sean Bergenheim left the Lightning after he had a pretty successful play-off run, to go to the Florida Panthers for 4 years and $11 million dollars.
As for re-signings, Sami Salo, Chris Higgins, Tyler Kennedy, Andy Green, Matt D’Agostini, Ruslan Fedotenko along with many others, re-signed with their teams on the first day of free-agency.
Oilers Off-Season Movements
For the Edmonton Oilers, it has been an eventful past four days or so.
With the start of free-agency on July 1st, the Oilers made some moves. And it hasn’t really stopped since, granted it definitely slowed down.
On July 1st, the Oilers added Ben Eager with a three year contract, Darcy Hordichuk on a one year contract, Cam Barker on a one year contract, Eric Belanger on a three year contract, and Corey Potter on a one year, two way contract. With these additions the Oilers added some grit to their team and helped to build on centre, which was an area that was struggling last year.
The following day, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, this year’s first over-all draft pick, signed a three year entry level contract. Even though that was signed, it makes you wonder after all the signings the day before if he will play one more year in Red Deer to develop a little bit more.
On July 3rd, the Oilers added an Alberta boy with the singing of Josh Green to a one year, two way contract. It’s nice to see them adding to the roster for the Barons next year.
July 4th saw three more signings. Theo Peckham signed a one year deal with the team after becoming an RFA on the 1st. Yann Danis and Ryan Keller both signed with the Oilers too.
On July 1st, there was one lone trade done by the Oilers. Kurtis Foster was sent off to Anaheim in exchange for Andy Sutton. Foster was a great Oiler and he had tons of potential and still does, but things just weren’t going his way last season and that didn’t work well for the Oilers apparently. They did upgrade a little bit by getting a slightly bigger, veteran defenseman. Best of luck to Foster in Anaheim though!
The Oilers also saw 5 of their guys leave. Brad Moran signed with the Swedish Elite League. Jim Vandermeer signed a one year contract with the San Jose Sharks. Sheldon Souray, after being bought out, was picked up on a one year contract by the Dallas Stars. Richard Petiot signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Alex Giroux signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Best of luck to all of those guys with their new teams! Well most of them…..
With the start of free-agency on July 1st, the Oilers made some moves. And it hasn’t really stopped since, granted it definitely slowed down.
On July 1st, the Oilers added Ben Eager with a three year contract, Darcy Hordichuk on a one year contract, Cam Barker on a one year contract, Eric Belanger on a three year contract, and Corey Potter on a one year, two way contract. With these additions the Oilers added some grit to their team and helped to build on centre, which was an area that was struggling last year.
The following day, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, this year’s first over-all draft pick, signed a three year entry level contract. Even though that was signed, it makes you wonder after all the signings the day before if he will play one more year in Red Deer to develop a little bit more.
On July 3rd, the Oilers added an Alberta boy with the singing of Josh Green to a one year, two way contract. It’s nice to see them adding to the roster for the Barons next year.
July 4th saw three more signings. Theo Peckham signed a one year deal with the team after becoming an RFA on the 1st. Yann Danis and Ryan Keller both signed with the Oilers too.
On July 1st, there was one lone trade done by the Oilers. Kurtis Foster was sent off to Anaheim in exchange for Andy Sutton. Foster was a great Oiler and he had tons of potential and still does, but things just weren’t going his way last season and that didn’t work well for the Oilers apparently. They did upgrade a little bit by getting a slightly bigger, veteran defenseman. Best of luck to Foster in Anaheim though!
The Oilers also saw 5 of their guys leave. Brad Moran signed with the Swedish Elite League. Jim Vandermeer signed a one year contract with the San Jose Sharks. Sheldon Souray, after being bought out, was picked up on a one year contract by the Dallas Stars. Richard Petiot signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Alex Giroux signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Best of luck to all of those guys with their new teams! Well most of them…..
Thursday, June 30, 2011
The Calm Before The Storm.....
Tomorrow is the start of NHL free-agency, and like usual, there's bound to be some interesting moves.
Yesterday:
It was announced that Paul Kariya would be retiring as well as Todd Marchant.
Dwayne Roloson, who was set to become a UFA on Friday, re-signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning for one year, and $3 million.
TJ Oshie avoided restricted free agency when he signed a one year, $2.35 mill
ion dollar, contract extension with the St Louis Blues.
Montreal traded the right to James Wisniewski to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for a conditional 7th round pick for next year’s draft.
Today:
After the Islanders gave up a 4th round pick for the rights to Christian Ehrhoff, he rejected their offer and signed with the Buffalo Sabres for 10 years, making $40 million total. The deal is extremely front end loaded though, with Ehrhoff raking in $10 million next season.
Jamie McGinn re-signed with the San Jose Sharks for one year making $680,000.
Jussi Jokinen signed for 3 years with the Hurricanes for $9 million total.
Yesterday:
It was announced that Paul Kariya would be retiring as well as Todd Marchant.
Dwayne Roloson, who was set to become a UFA on Friday, re-signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning for one year, and $3 million.
TJ Oshie avoided restricted free agency when he signed a one year, $2.35 mill
ion dollar, contract extension with the St Louis Blues.
Montreal traded the right to James Wisniewski to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for a conditional 7th round pick for next year’s draft.
Today:
After the Islanders gave up a 4th round pick for the rights to Christian Ehrhoff, he rejected their offer and signed with the Buffalo Sabres for 10 years, making $40 million total. The deal is extremely front end loaded though, with Ehrhoff raking in $10 million next season.
Jamie McGinn re-signed with the San Jose Sharks for one year making $680,000.
Jussi Jokinen signed for 3 years with the Hurricanes for $9 million total.
Oilers: Pre-Free Agency
The Oilers have finally gotten rid of the headache named Sheldon. Sheldon Souray. Well almost.Souray was placed on unconditional waivers for buyout purposes, and he should be bought out very soon. This news could not have come any sooner. He’s a good player and no one is denying that, but it was clear that he wanted out and that he was wanted out but no one would take him. And who could blame them for that. It’s good that he will finally be gone.
Ladislav Smid wanted to re-sign with the Oilers as he could see the potential that the team had for the future and how his future could look in the organization. He got what he wanted today, when he singed for 2 year, making $2.25 million each year. More Ryan Smyth Drama
The never ending drama with the deal that brought Ryan Smyth back to Edmonton, continued more today.
Last season Colin Fraser suffered a broken foot after blocking a shot. Before Edmonton traded him, he was assessed by the medical staff in Edmonton. They said that he should be fine to go for training camp and they shared any of the information that they had with the LA Kings
medical staff. When Fraser was assessed by the Kings Medical staff, they discovered that he was recovering slower than expected and would not be able to make training camp this year. On top of that, they also found a cyst on his foot that they d
determined needs surgery to remove. It has been reported that the medical staff in Edmonton were aware of this, but it wasn’t something that they were concerned about since it didn’t seem that bad to them.
With this new development, the Kings organization was put in a spot that they could petition the league to void the trade. Any intentions that Los Angles may have had of buying out Fraser, were gone, as you can not buy out an injured player. Of course, Los Angeles did not want to void the deal, since then they would have to take on the cap hit that they didn’t want when they got rid of Smyth the first time.
Neither team in this situation looks that great. Edmonton looks sleazy for dealing an injured player, and Los Angeles looks like they may have embellished some of it, or knowingly took it. But, the deal still remains and Smyth will be rocking the copper and blue next season, for now.
Last season Colin Fraser suffered a broken foot after blocking a shot. Before Edmonton traded him, he was assessed by the medical staff in Edmonton. They said that he should be fine to go for training camp and they shared any of the information that they had with the LA Kings
medical staff. When Fraser was assessed by the Kings Medical staff, they discovered that he was recovering slower than expected and would not be able to make training camp this year. On top of that, they also found a cyst on his foot that they d
determined needs surgery to remove. It has been reported that the medical staff in Edmonton were aware of this, but it wasn’t something that they were concerned about since it didn’t seem that bad to them.
With this new development, the Kings organization was put in a spot that they could petition the league to void the trade. Any intentions that Los Angles may have had of buying out Fraser, were gone, as you can not buy out an injured player. Of course, Los Angeles did not want to void the deal, since then they would have to take on the cap hit that they didn’t want when they got rid of Smyth the first time.
Neither team in this situation looks that great. Edmonton looks sleazy for dealing an injured player, and Los Angeles looks like they may have embellished some of it, or knowingly took it. But, the deal still remains and Smyth will be rocking the copper and blue next season, for now.
Oilers: 2011 UFA's
This year’s list of UFA’s does not contain many “super stars” or players that teams usually look for but with the people on that list, there are some quality players that would definitely be worth picking up even if they won’t be a leading goal scorer. There’s plenty of variety on that list with the likes of Tomas Kaberle, Michale Ryder, Brad Richards, Dwayne Roloson, Brent Sopel, Max Talbot, Zenon Konopka, Fernando Pisani and Simon Gagne.
Only three of the Oilers 10 unrestricted free agents were on the Oilers roster this year, the rest were from Oklahoma City with a few of them having played in a couple of season games this year.
The only forward out of the three is Steve MacIntyre. He may not be a guy that posts many
points at all, but he is a solid guy to put in the line-up and would be play a great body guard for any of the rookies, who really should stop trying to act tough since all it does is injure them. He played a career high in game this season, and also had a career high in penalty minutes. It was obvious what kind of season he was going to have when he started it with the KO of Ivanans of the Flames. With a cap hit of only $500 000, why not try and keep him with the Oilers. He is definitely a guy that should be wearing the copper and blue again next season.
The more coveted of the two defenseman, Jim Vandermeer. There was talk at the trad
e deadline of the possibility that he would be picked up another team. With a larger cap hit at $2.3 million, he is still a bargain compared to others. Having played in over a quarter of the games this season, Vandermeer did show that he was a solid defenseman and was a great acquisition for the Oilers. Whether they will still be the team for him next season, that’s tough to say. It would be good to see him stick around in Edmonton for another season or two to aid in getting the team to where they want the rebuild to take them.
Jason Strudwick didn’t play in that many games this season but he did what everyone exp
ected him to do; not to be a point scorer or anything like that, but to be a leader. Strudwick is a genuinely nice guy and a great player to have around the rest of the team especially with so many rookies this year, and the amount that may be coming in next season. With a cap hit of $750 000 he is definitely worth keeping around for another season, if he decides that he still wants to play. If by some chance, Strudwick decides to retire, he should definitely get offered a position somewhere in the organization.
Oklahoma City will see Jeff Deslauriers, Richard Petiot, Ben Ondrus, Gregory Stewart, Alex Giroux, Brad Moran and Martin Gerber hit unrestricted free agency. Alex Giroux is another player that is good for call-ups and he is a good one to keep in the farm team, and with a cap hit of half a million right now, that seems doable for next season. Martin Gerber is another one that the Oilers shouldn’t let go of. A little veteran goaltending down in OKC wouldn’t be a good thing and with the way goaltending looks with the Oilers right now, he would be a good one to sign for another year just to be safe, and his cap hit is half a million as well. Other than that, the other guys, most of them will probably leave and that’s fine.
Only three of the Oilers 10 unrestricted free agents were on the Oilers roster this year, the rest were from Oklahoma City with a few of them having played in a couple of season games this year.
The only forward out of the three is Steve MacIntyre. He may not be a guy that posts many
points at all, but he is a solid guy to put in the line-up and would be play a great body guard for any of the rookies, who really should stop trying to act tough since all it does is injure them. He played a career high in game this season, and also had a career high in penalty minutes. It was obvious what kind of season he was going to have when he started it with the KO of Ivanans of the Flames. With a cap hit of only $500 000, why not try and keep him with the Oilers. He is definitely a guy that should be wearing the copper and blue again next season.The more coveted of the two defenseman, Jim Vandermeer. There was talk at the trad
e deadline of the possibility that he would be picked up another team. With a larger cap hit at $2.3 million, he is still a bargain compared to others. Having played in over a quarter of the games this season, Vandermeer did show that he was a solid defenseman and was a great acquisition for the Oilers. Whether they will still be the team for him next season, that’s tough to say. It would be good to see him stick around in Edmonton for another season or two to aid in getting the team to where they want the rebuild to take them.Jason Strudwick didn’t play in that many games this season but he did what everyone exp
ected him to do; not to be a point scorer or anything like that, but to be a leader. Strudwick is a genuinely nice guy and a great player to have around the rest of the team especially with so many rookies this year, and the amount that may be coming in next season. With a cap hit of $750 000 he is definitely worth keeping around for another season, if he decides that he still wants to play. If by some chance, Strudwick decides to retire, he should definitely get offered a position somewhere in the organization.Oklahoma City will see Jeff Deslauriers, Richard Petiot, Ben Ondrus, Gregory Stewart, Alex Giroux, Brad Moran and Martin Gerber hit unrestricted free agency. Alex Giroux is another player that is good for call-ups and he is a good one to keep in the farm team, and with a cap hit of half a million right now, that seems doable for next season. Martin Gerber is another one that the Oilers shouldn’t let go of. A little veteran goaltending down in OKC wouldn’t be a good thing and with the way goaltending looks with the Oilers right now, he would be a good one to sign for another year just to be safe, and his cap hit is half a million as well. Other than that, the other guys, most of them will probably leave and that’s fine.
Oilers: 2011 RFA's
With the free agency commencing this Friday, and now that the draft is done, there is a buzz going around about who’s going where come July 1st.
The Oilers have a large chunk of their roster hitting free agency with 11 RFA’s and 10 UFA’s. Andrew Coglinao, Zack Stortini, J.F. Jacques, Ladislav Smid, Taylor Chorney, Theo Peckham, Ryan O’Marra and four other from the Barons are hitting RFA status come Friday. Friday can be a little more suspenseful for the Oilers’ UFA’s, so look out Steve MacIntyre, Jim Vanderrmeer, Jason Strudwick and the seven from the Barons.
The list of restricted free agents is topped by the likes of Shea Weber, Steven Stamkos, Drew Doughty, Zach Bogosian, Zach Parise, Luke Schenn, and the Stanley Cup winner Brad Marchand, if on the off chance that there is some RFA movement, it could get interesting. The more you look at the list, more names that wouldn’t be expected to be there show up.
Between the 11 RFA’s, there is a $8.2 million cap hit which is only about an eighth of the $64.3 million salary cap for next season. That’s not too bad and if you think about it, Shawn Horcoff’s cap hit is more than half of that. If there’s room for that one guy to get that much, why not divide it between more players?
Andrew Cogliano with a current cap hit of $1 million. He needs to stay. He had a good season, sure it was his third worst out of his four seasons looking at statistics but it you look at everything else, it’s evident that he had a fantastic season. The guy had some serious mouth issues, with
taking a cross check to the mouth, and then a couple more sticks, and some pucks…but he never missed a game. Actually, he’s never missed a game in his four seasons in the NHL. The guy shows absolutely nothing but heart, and how can you hate that? It was also obvious this year that Cogliano had finally found his niche on the team. For his first few years, he tried to be that superstar forward, but with the new batch of rookies that showed up this year, it was quite clear that that would not be happening. Cogliano made himself into a solid two way forward and has found a way to still be physical even though he is one of the smaller players on the team. And that is quite admirable. It would be a mistake if the Oilers pass this one up, he will shine on another team and they will regret not holding onto him. There is definitely some interest in him from teams in the East but the Oilers better not let this solid, useful player slip through their fingers. And how about they don’t go down the same path they did last year, arguing over money, the increased the cap this year, let a little bit of it slide if it means that you can keep someone that could become a valuable asset to the team.
Zack Stortini was the next name on the list, but we all know what became of this one already. Stortini had a cap hit of $700, 000. When Stortini was sent to Oklahoma City this year, it was pretty clear what his future would be with the Oilers organization. When it came time for the Oilers to qualify their RFA’s, Stortini was one of them that wasn’t. Everyone knew this was coming and it’s kind of sad. Stortini was not the best player, he was a good heavy weight though, and he was a big teddy bear. He looked like a sasquatch but he was nice. As great of a guy as he was, it wasn’t enough to put it past his play on the ice, and he lost his chance with the Oilers.
J.F. Jacques was the next one on that list, and once again, we all know how that one played out too. Once again, when it came time to qualify, Jacques wasn’t. He hasn’t had it easy with the Oilers as he was a frequent healthy scratch, when he was that, healthy. He battled through some injuries and as sad as it is to see him go, knowing that he was held back from reaching his potential, but it just wasn’t working out for him. And it may have worked out for the better for both sides of this.
Ladislav Smid finished this year, looking pretty good to the team. He had a career high in penalty minutes, played in his most games for a season, but he did struggle on the points a little bit. This season, he did not score a single goal, and he had his second worst season looking at points per game. Smid did step up the plate this year, and did well in the other aspects of the game. With his cap hit already being at $1.35 million, it begs the question, is he really worth paying more than that for what he is? And that is honestly tough to say. Knowing the Oilers luck, if they let him go, he will light it up some where else, but he just may be worth it this year.
Taylor Chorney did not play in too many games this season, having only appeared in 12 as opposed to last season’s 49, but he did well in his twelve games. He had four points, which included one goal and he did seem to find a spot for himself on the team as the injured players were starting to pile up. Chorney has a cap hit of $941, 667 for this year, and if they do re-sign him, to a two year contract, that in all likelihood would not increase by two much. In this case, it is worth it for the Oilers to hold onto this guy for a little bit longer. He is only 24 so there’s still time for him to find a better spot if this doesn’t work out, and he’s a solid player for the farm team. And when the injuries start to pile up on the Oilers like probably will, Chorney is a great player to have as an option to call up.
Theo Peckham finally had his place on the Oilers roster this year, and it worked out
well for him. In the 71 games that he did play, he posted 13 points, 3 of which were goals. For a guy that’s mostly a grinder, that’s pretty good. Then his penalty minute tally says it all…..198 minutes spent in the box. Peckham definitely did seem to fit with the team this year. He blended well with the new group of players that came in and he didn’t seem to change his style of game by much. He had his best season with the Oilers, by far, last season. Why would they let this one get away? He’s a good defenseman, he did finish with a -5, which isn’t that bad compared to what some people finished at. With a current cap hit of $550 000, why not suck it up, and if he has to be paid a million next year? Fine. This one will be worth it.
In the Barons organization there are 5 restricted free agents; Ryan O’Marra, Matt Marquardt, Kevin Montgomery, Bryan Pitton and Jordan Bendfel. Ryan O’Marra did get a couple chance this season to play with the Oilers and he did pretty well, and with a cap hit of $700 000, he should stick around for another season or two. He is another guy that may not be a roster player but is a good call-up when he is needed. Other than that, there isn’t much affect on where those guys end up since each of their salaries is less $1 million, they won’t have a huge impact on cap space and maybe it is time to rebuild Oklahoma City Barons as the Oilers go through their rebuild.
The Oilers have a large chunk of their roster hitting free agency with 11 RFA’s and 10 UFA’s. Andrew Coglinao, Zack Stortini, J.F. Jacques, Ladislav Smid, Taylor Chorney, Theo Peckham, Ryan O’Marra and four other from the Barons are hitting RFA status come Friday. Friday can be a little more suspenseful for the Oilers’ UFA’s, so look out Steve MacIntyre, Jim Vanderrmeer, Jason Strudwick and the seven from the Barons.
The list of restricted free agents is topped by the likes of Shea Weber, Steven Stamkos, Drew Doughty, Zach Bogosian, Zach Parise, Luke Schenn, and the Stanley Cup winner Brad Marchand, if on the off chance that there is some RFA movement, it could get interesting. The more you look at the list, more names that wouldn’t be expected to be there show up.
Between the 11 RFA’s, there is a $8.2 million cap hit which is only about an eighth of the $64.3 million salary cap for next season. That’s not too bad and if you think about it, Shawn Horcoff’s cap hit is more than half of that. If there’s room for that one guy to get that much, why not divide it between more players?
Andrew Cogliano with a current cap hit of $1 million. He needs to stay. He had a good season, sure it was his third worst out of his four seasons looking at statistics but it you look at everything else, it’s evident that he had a fantastic season. The guy had some serious mouth issues, with
taking a cross check to the mouth, and then a couple more sticks, and some pucks…but he never missed a game. Actually, he’s never missed a game in his four seasons in the NHL. The guy shows absolutely nothing but heart, and how can you hate that? It was also obvious this year that Cogliano had finally found his niche on the team. For his first few years, he tried to be that superstar forward, but with the new batch of rookies that showed up this year, it was quite clear that that would not be happening. Cogliano made himself into a solid two way forward and has found a way to still be physical even though he is one of the smaller players on the team. And that is quite admirable. It would be a mistake if the Oilers pass this one up, he will shine on another team and they will regret not holding onto him. There is definitely some interest in him from teams in the East but the Oilers better not let this solid, useful player slip through their fingers. And how about they don’t go down the same path they did last year, arguing over money, the increased the cap this year, let a little bit of it slide if it means that you can keep someone that could become a valuable asset to the team.Zack Stortini was the next name on the list, but we all know what became of this one already. Stortini had a cap hit of $700, 000. When Stortini was sent to Oklahoma City this year, it was pretty clear what his future would be with the Oilers organization. When it came time for the Oilers to qualify their RFA’s, Stortini was one of them that wasn’t. Everyone knew this was coming and it’s kind of sad. Stortini was not the best player, he was a good heavy weight though, and he was a big teddy bear. He looked like a sasquatch but he was nice. As great of a guy as he was, it wasn’t enough to put it past his play on the ice, and he lost his chance with the Oilers.
J.F. Jacques was the next one on that list, and once again, we all know how that one played out too. Once again, when it came time to qualify, Jacques wasn’t. He hasn’t had it easy with the Oilers as he was a frequent healthy scratch, when he was that, healthy. He battled through some injuries and as sad as it is to see him go, knowing that he was held back from reaching his potential, but it just wasn’t working out for him. And it may have worked out for the better for both sides of this.
Ladislav Smid finished this year, looking pretty good to the team. He had a career high in penalty minutes, played in his most games for a season, but he did struggle on the points a little bit. This season, he did not score a single goal, and he had his second worst season looking at points per game. Smid did step up the plate this year, and did well in the other aspects of the game. With his cap hit already being at $1.35 million, it begs the question, is he really worth paying more than that for what he is? And that is honestly tough to say. Knowing the Oilers luck, if they let him go, he will light it up some where else, but he just may be worth it this year.
Taylor Chorney did not play in too many games this season, having only appeared in 12 as opposed to last season’s 49, but he did well in his twelve games. He had four points, which included one goal and he did seem to find a spot for himself on the team as the injured players were starting to pile up. Chorney has a cap hit of $941, 667 for this year, and if they do re-sign him, to a two year contract, that in all likelihood would not increase by two much. In this case, it is worth it for the Oilers to hold onto this guy for a little bit longer. He is only 24 so there’s still time for him to find a better spot if this doesn’t work out, and he’s a solid player for the farm team. And when the injuries start to pile up on the Oilers like probably will, Chorney is a great player to have as an option to call up.
Theo Peckham finally had his place on the Oilers roster this year, and it worked out
well for him. In the 71 games that he did play, he posted 13 points, 3 of which were goals. For a guy that’s mostly a grinder, that’s pretty good. Then his penalty minute tally says it all…..198 minutes spent in the box. Peckham definitely did seem to fit with the team this year. He blended well with the new group of players that came in and he didn’t seem to change his style of game by much. He had his best season with the Oilers, by far, last season. Why would they let this one get away? He’s a good defenseman, he did finish with a -5, which isn’t that bad compared to what some people finished at. With a current cap hit of $550 000, why not suck it up, and if he has to be paid a million next year? Fine. This one will be worth it.In the Barons organization there are 5 restricted free agents; Ryan O’Marra, Matt Marquardt, Kevin Montgomery, Bryan Pitton and Jordan Bendfel. Ryan O’Marra did get a couple chance this season to play with the Oilers and he did pretty well, and with a cap hit of $700 000, he should stick around for another season or two. He is another guy that may not be a roster player but is a good call-up when he is needed. Other than that, there isn’t much affect on where those guys end up since each of their salaries is less $1 million, they won’t have a huge impact on cap space and maybe it is time to rebuild Oklahoma City Barons as the Oilers go through their rebuild.