As you all know by now, Tom Renney's Father passed away this past week. I don't know Tom personally, but I would just like to take this opportunity to say that my heart goes out to him & his family during this difficult time.
Stortini Gets Waived and Clears...
I want to pre-face my thoughts on this subject by stating that i don't think our fourth line has performed well and I think that we need an upgrade here for all the players on it.
However...I do think that Stortini was the wrong choice to be waived. It's obvious to me, if not some of the people I have discussed this with, that Jaques would've been a better choice to be waived.
Stortini has done all that he's ever been asked to do by his coaches to earn an NHL job and he's continued to play the role that they asked him to, once he made the team. Not a lot of guys on the Oilers can say that. While a lot of readers and writer have the opinion that Zach is not a good enforcer, as they have deemed him to be called "Huggy-Bear", but zach has stood up to every heavy weight in this league with out backing down from a fight. I would love to see anyone who says he hugs his opponents, stand up to a guy like the Boogey man. I would also like to see how they might approach that fight if they did. My guess is they might try to tie up Boogard in hopes that he didn't crush them while apologizing at the same time for whatever infraction caused him to fight them in the first place!
Zach's fighting style aside...He does get under the skin of the opposing team's players. Who else on this team, can you honestly say is an agitator? Smid? Fraser? Reddox? Jones? Jaques? Seriously...who can you say is better in this role, on this team than Zach?
As I mentioned at the beginning of this section...we need an upgrade of all the players on the 4th line, so I don't believe that Zach would have stuck in the NHL much longer. The fact that he was not picked up off the waiver wire for next to nothing tells me that he is not a valued commodity. Do you think that Jaques would've been claimed? what about Colin Fraser? On many night, these two guys have gone un-noticed or been completely ineffective. In Jaques case, he is also made of glass with all the injuries he's suffered and we don't know that he will be able to finish the season let alone the month.
You can not say any of this about Stortini. When he gets a shift, you know he's on the ice. He may not score, but his work ethic is un-deniable. The fight he had in Dallas aginst Barch was embarassing...I'll give you that, but that's not the only thing Zach brings to the table. In my humble opinion, I would rather have the guy that tries hard, is not scared of anyone, knows his role, and can agitate the opposition on my team for the rest of the year.
Hemsky Returns...
I didn't think Hemsky had a great game the other night against L.A. but, I did see that there is a big difference in the offensive chances when he's playing compared to when he's not. I'm sure it'll take a few games for Hemmer to get back in the groove and get his timing back, but all-in-all he had a solid performance. I want to see Hall center Hemsky and see if that is something that can work going forward into next year. (assuming Hemsky is still here)
Khabibulin Gets Start Vs. L.A....
I am not sure what the reasoning behind this move is, but at least there are several cases you could make for it even if I don't agree with any of them.
1) He's our starting Goaltender.
2) He was rested from the All-Star break and needs to play.
3) He needs to play his way out of this slump he's in.
4) Etc, Etc, Etc...
Based on the mindset of this being a development year alone, Dubnyk should be getting at least every other start from here on in. But since the the numbers say that Dubnyk has surpassed Khabibulin this year, in every facet of stats this should be the reason he plays. He's earned it!
Eberle Set to Return...
It's been reported that Jordan Eberle will play tonight against St. Louis as he's been cleared to go. This is great news and hopefully it won't be long until he's playing like he was before the injury!
My question is...what now. I pray we keep Omark here and look at whatever other options there are to make room for both these young awesome players. Omark will be on the short end of the stick if the coaching staff doesn't come up wit a plan. A lot of media types are suggesting this "thing" or that "thing", but I've found with this team...you never know what's going to happen...case-in-point....stortini gets waived!
GO Oilers GO!
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