Hawks Get Theirs...

Offensive Woes


I, like many other fans in this city, went into this season expecting the team not to be very good. The question for this season ticket holder was..."am I going to get my monies worth and still draft high, at the end?" To date, I'm still looking for my monies worth. Our record now stands at 4-10-3. Two of the four wins have come on the road. Our last win at home was on October 10th in game two of the season against the Florida Panthers. We squeaked out a 3-2 victory.


My Point you ask...is simply this. I want us to rebuild properly by drafting high, and developing well. But, with the veterans on this team falling short in Strudwick and Vandermeer as Robin Brownlee mentioned in his article two days ago at oilersnation.com, and now the forward guys like Horcoff and Hemsky are being benched by Tom Renney in games. Dustin Penner and Tom Gilbert don't seem to be any where near, who this team can turn to for guidance, so now what? Are we to look to a guy like Ryan Whitney to be the one? That's fine, he's played well, he demonstrates a desire to win on most nights (from my perspective) and to me..he's all that there is left at the moment, until something changes.


The offence (if you can call it that) in the Game last night, didn't exsist. By the end of the First period, we had been out-shot 20-4! by the end of the game...it was 47-18 in favor of the Hawks. Say what you will about the defence (as I have in previous posts), the offence has got to shoot the puck! 


As I watched the Hawk forwards dominate us in our end last night...I started to notice that they were shooting everything. They weren't just looking for the big one-timer from the point, nor were they only trying to make the pretty tic-tac-toe play (although both of those things happened any way) They shot at every opportunity possible. This seems to work, as Toews scored from a really bad angle. Granted, he got a lucky bounce...but check out where Toews' skates are on this shot...





they're behind the goal line! these are the kind of goals we need to get to build some confidence and win a close game or two. I hope that the Oilers coaching staff makes our team sit down and watch this game, start to finish. And if it were me coaching this offence...I would replay every single shot the Hawks made.


I am not a coach, I have never played hockey in any capacity what-so-ever. But, even I know, that when you put the puck on the net, good things will happen. And at the very least...what do you have to lose?


Gerber is Back


It was announced today that Khabibulin has been placed on the injured reserve list and that the Oilers have re-called Martin Gerber. Apparently Khabbibulin has a groin injury. With Khabbi's injury woes over the course of his career, and his age...we all knew this was only a matter of time. My question is...will Dubnyk get all the starts? If not, he should in my opinion. He's the future 'tender for this team, and we really need to see what he can do. Deslauriers got his shot when the Bulin Wall went down last year due to injury. I think it only fair that Dubnyk gets the same opportunity.


What to Do


Personally I don't have any answers as to how to fix any of this. What I do know is...as Oiler Fans, we will endure, we will trust in our team, our coaches, and our management to figure it out. Because if this continues into a second and then a third season...it won't be the team that needs rebuilding, it'll be the fan base. I heard the calls on Stauffers show when he did two hours of call in. I heard the calls into Tencer after the game on Ched last night. The grumbling has begun in ernest, and it will only get worse around here, if things don't change.


I love the Oilers and I am not trying dump on them. I will always support them, buy my tickets and say my piece as I am a die-hard fan...and I think that I earn the right to say my piece, paying for tickets faithfully, by actually showing up every night (not giving them up to others), buying the gear, tuning in etc...I wish I had something more positive to discuss about this team right now... believe me. But I have lived here long enough to know, that the fans won't wait forever. It was proven last night, when the game ended and there wasn't very many people left in the building, but many of those who were, booed the Oilers off the ice. And we're only at game 17 of the re-build.


GO Oilers Go!