Showing posts with label edmonton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label edmonton. Show all posts

Friday, March 2, 2007

Ryan Smyth Says a Tearful Goodbye to Edmonton, or a Tearful Hello to New York

In what can only be described as one of those great sports moments that tugs at your manly heartstrings, Ryan Smyth gave a press conference on Wednesday to the people of Edmonton. He expresses how much he has appreciated playing for the Oilers organization and tries to look positively on his move to the Big Apple.

His emotional display demonstrates some of his classy behavior Covered in Oil has described in the past, and justifies the image of Jesus with Smyth's likeness instead of the savior. Anyway you cut it, Smyth characterizes the kind of player that can really pull a team and its community together- and the kind of player we could really use here in Columbus... a guy who can make a difference on and off the ice.




On a mildly disturbing sidenote, when i first saw the video, I thought he had gum in the side of his mouth. I thought, "Gee, that's unprofessional when on (inter)national media." Moments later I discovered that no, that's not gum... those are his teeth. And they're simply missing on the other side. Ick. I thought most hockey players had fake teeth they put in when they donned their suits and other formal attire. Guess not.

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Fire Sale 2007: The Aftermath

It's over- the trade deadline was yesterday at 3:00. As I watched TSN's tradecenter tracker, a few more trades trickled in after the deadline- more likely due to slow reporting, not illegitimate transactions. For the complete list of transactions, including waivers, call-ups and trades check it out TSN.

Arguably the biggest trade of the day came in right at the buzzer. Edmonton traded Ryan Smyth to the New York Islanders for Nilsson, Omara and their 2007 1st round pick. I was surprised and pleased by this transaction. Ryan Smyth was the star of the Oiler squad. After much of their defense departed following their Stanley Cup Finals run last year, Smyth was the dominant force on the team. Trading him truly demonstrates how far Edmonton has fallen since last season's playoffs. Covered in Oil expressed their woes for the departed Smyth in several posts. I can imagine that most fans feel the same way. I don't mind Smyth heading to the Eastern Conference though- he has done a number on our Jackets. It seems like every game he plays against Columbus he manages a point or two. With him securely on the east coast, he shouldn't give us any more problems for a while. After all, we play those teams what, once every third season?

As for the Jackets, only four transactions took place that were worth mentioning on national media. There was one or two moves by Syracuse (the CBJ AHL affiliate) but nothing substantial. For a great evaluation of what MacLean and crew were up against this trade deadline, check out Drew's take at End of the Bench.

Anson Carter - Traded to Carolina for a 2008 5th round pick.
Ty Conklin - Traded to Buffalo to back up Miller (Biron was traded to the Flyers earlier yesterday) for a 2007 5th round pick.
Brian Berard - Placed on waivers. Despite MacLean's best efforts, he can't seem to get rid of this defenseman. Anyone can claim him from waivers.
Brian Boucher - The Jackets grabbed this former Blackhawk goalie off of waivers to fill in the 3rd goalie spot. He's the only addition to the roster, and he's only here because the Jackets needed somebody to fill in Conklin's place.

So the Jackets opened up some salary room for what we can only hope to be some big signings this offseason. I'd really like to see the Jackets pick up a big time player or two- ideally a #1 center and a power #1 defenseman. I can dream, right? There's a bunch of players on waivers right now that have performed better than many CBJ skaters this season. Barring a plague of injuries, or an exceptional opportunity on waivers, I doubt we'll see the Jackets pick up anyone new before summer.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Oil Slick

Following last Thursday's victory in St. Louis, I thought I'd spend a few bucks and head down to Nationwide to see the Oilers game.

The joke is on me. CBJ is now 0-4 on games I've attended.

The jackets gave one away on Friday night. Despite beginning the first period on a long offensive streak with a very long possession, many shots and good cycling, the jackets couldn't get one in the back of the net.

The Oilers, being a solid all-around team, weren't about to let us keep that up. They quickly shut down any offense we would get the rest of the game, exempting only one power play goal by Anson Carter, which happened to be the 1000th goal in franchise history. Oh, and Fedorov went 80% on faceoffs.

About the only thing a Jackets fan could salvage from Friday night's game was the fighting, which yeilded 20 minutes in penalties, and another 20 in misconducts.

I'd love to put some of the team on notice right here, but the notice area isn't big enough. Instead:

ON NOTICE:

Gerard Gallant - Coach Gallant, you gotta get it together. You have the players, you have the fans, you have everything you need. Get these guys motivated and turn this season around or it will be your head!


Oilers win 4-1
Jackets 5-9-1, 11 pts. Last in Central Division

Box Score