Is it as hard for you to believe that the Edmonton Oilers are just three years removed from almost winning the Stanley Cup as it is for me?2008-09 brought more of the same for Oilers fans as the team faltered, due in large part to not having that one player needed to take over the pace of the game and score a big goal or make a huge save. The Oilers were built around the team concept, and had been for several years, but the team concept was simply not getting the job done past April in one of the league's best divisions.
Following their failure to beat the Hurricanes in Game 7 of the 2006 Stanley Cup and trade of Chris Pronger out of town thanks to his wife's distaste for the city, the word in Edmonton was that the team needed that one superstar player mentioned to carry them towards the Cup. Three full seasons later, there's still no star in Oil Country.
Regardless of the failing effort, the Oilers almost got their star. Then again, almost doesn't count for anything in the National Hockey League. On July 1st, rumors circulated and the wheels seemed to be in motion as Edmonton was poised to land Senators star Dany Heatley in a trade by giving up Andrew Cogliano, Ladislav Smid and Dustin Penner. Just as quickly as Edmonton had their arms open ready to welcome the two-time 50-goal scoring Heatley to Alberta, Heatley opted to use his no trade clause and block the move to Edmonton.
Despite their failed attempt at landing Heatley, the Oilers had no time to sit still and play the waiting game as with Dwayne Roloson's expired contract the Oilers were in need of a goaltender.
The Oilers then wasted no time in nabbing arguably the best free agent goalie as they quickly signed Chicago Blackhawks netminder Nikolai Khabibulin to a four year contract worth 15 million dollars. Khabibulin is coming off a great year in Chicago where he went 25-8-7 with a .919 save percentage. The biggest doubt with the Bulin Wall has certainly become his durability considering that Khabibulin missed two stretches of games during the 2008-09 campaign.
The Wall's biggest injury undoubtedly came in the NHL Playoffs, where he posted an 8-6 record and 2.93 goals against average before being replaced by Cristobal Huet due to a lower body injury in the Western Conference Finals. It's very possible that a healthy 'Bulin could have powered the 'Hawks past the Red Wings but thanks to an injury, that idea was slayed by Darren Helm's overtime goal in Game 5 which ended Chicago's bid for their first Stanley Cup in 47 years.
Next to Khabibulin's arrival and Roloson's departure, the Oilers have stood pat on the ice but added a "Pat" behind the bench with the addition of Pat Quinn as head coach. Quinn is taking over for former Bruin Craig MacTavish, who was relieved of his duties as Edmonton bench boss after the team finished with a 35-38-9 record and fourth in the Northwest Division. This is Quinn's fifth tenure as head coach in the NHL and in has made 15 playoff appearances in 19 seasons as a head coach.
Quinn is sure to provide an added element of aggressiveness to the Oilers attack, but just how good will/can the Oilers be in 2009-10?
Here's how their line-up should go when they take the ice at Rexall Place.
Patrick O'Sullivan - Shawn Horcoff - Ales Hemsky
Following their failure to beat the Hurricanes in Game 7 of the 2006 Stanley Cup and trade of Chris Pronger out of town thanks to his wife's distaste for the city, the word in Edmonton was that the team needed that one superstar player mentioned to carry them towards the Cup. Three full seasons later, there's still no star in Oil Country.
Regardless of the failing effort, the Oilers almost got their star. Then again, almost doesn't count for anything in the National Hockey League. On July 1st, rumors circulated and the wheels seemed to be in motion as Edmonton was poised to land Senators star Dany Heatley in a trade by giving up Andrew Cogliano, Ladislav Smid and Dustin Penner. Just as quickly as Edmonton had their arms open ready to welcome the two-time 50-goal scoring Heatley to Alberta, Heatley opted to use his no trade clause and block the move to Edmonton.
Despite their failed attempt at landing Heatley, the Oilers had no time to sit still and play the waiting game as with Dwayne Roloson's expired contract the Oilers were in need of a goaltender.
The Oilers then wasted no time in nabbing arguably the best free agent goalie as they quickly signed Chicago Blackhawks netminder Nikolai Khabibulin to a four year contract worth 15 million dollars. Khabibulin is coming off a great year in Chicago where he went 25-8-7 with a .919 save percentage. The biggest doubt with the Bulin Wall has certainly become his durability considering that Khabibulin missed two stretches of games during the 2008-09 campaign.
The Wall's biggest injury undoubtedly came in the NHL Playoffs, where he posted an 8-6 record and 2.93 goals against average before being replaced by Cristobal Huet due to a lower body injury in the Western Conference Finals. It's very possible that a healthy 'Bulin could have powered the 'Hawks past the Red Wings but thanks to an injury, that idea was slayed by Darren Helm's overtime goal in Game 5 which ended Chicago's bid for their first Stanley Cup in 47 years.
Next to Khabibulin's arrival and Roloson's departure, the Oilers have stood pat on the ice but added a "Pat" behind the bench with the addition of Pat Quinn as head coach. Quinn is taking over for former Bruin Craig MacTavish, who was relieved of his duties as Edmonton bench boss after the team finished with a 35-38-9 record and fourth in the Northwest Division. This is Quinn's fifth tenure as head coach in the NHL and in has made 15 playoff appearances in 19 seasons as a head coach.
Quinn is sure to provide an added element of aggressiveness to the Oilers attack, but just how good will/can the Oilers be in 2009-10?
Here's how their line-up should go when they take the ice at Rexall Place.
Patrick O'Sullivan - Shawn Horcoff - Ales Hemsky
Ethan Moreau - Sam Gagner - Dustin Penner
Andrew Cogliano - Mike Comrie - Fernando Pisani
Zack Stortini - Marc Pouliot - Robert Nilsson
Extra Skater: Jean Jacques
Sheldon Souray - Lubomir Visnovsky
Sheldon Souray - Lubomir Visnovsky
Tom Gilbert - Denis Grebeshkov
Steve Staios - Ladislav Smid
Extra Skater: Jason Strudwick
Nikolai Khabibulin
Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers
This team still needs their superstar. It's as simple as that, with the additions in Calgary, Vancouver and Minnesota the Oilers simply won't have enough to compete with the elite of the division, let alone the conference.
Players To Watch: Will Ales Hemsky continue his trend of becoming better than the year before? The alternate captain and chipped tooth-enthusiast is coming off a 66 point season and will be looked upon to carry even more of the Oilers offense this season.
Prediction: 4th in Northwest Division. 11th in Western Conference.
No comments:
Post a Comment