The Oilers are playing St Louis tonight, which happens to be my birthday, and they desperately need a win. It seems like earlier in the season, or even about a week or two ago, they were winning games that they maybe shouldn't have, but now, when we should be winning games we're losing them. We're getting a point because most of them are in OT, but we're losing games we should win. Even playing wise, we should be winning these games, we outplay the opposition, have one or two big mistakes, and if we're in OT one of them occurs in OT or the SO, and we lose the game, because, unlike the Oilers, it seems like every other team in the bloody NHL can capitalize on the other team's mistakes. Or maybe it's just the Oilers' mistakes that teams capitalize on.
When is JDD going to get some playing time? Because I think it is pretty clear that Roloson, despite how good he's played for us this year, is getting a little tired. The rebound that resulted in the OT goal last game would not usually have happened; give him a rest. The question is when? The next five games for the Oilers are against the Blues, Avalanche, Blackhawks, Wild and Red Wings. Tonight is an important game, not that every game isn't important, but the fact is that we aren't going to catch Detroit or Chicago this season. The Blues and the Wild are teams that we are battling with for a playoff spot, so these are '4 point games'. The only odd one out is Colorado; do we play JDD then? If not then when can we afford to play him? I'm sure the coaching staff would like to wait and see some separation in the West, but I think it is pretty clear that that has not happened this season, and there is a good chance that it will be tight until the end.
Looks like Ladislav Smid wasn't at practice yesterday, and I'm wondering if his head is a little less 'okay' than we thought it was? I know he's had concussions in the past, are we taking a precaution here or is this something to worry about? Smid has played really well this season, and I personally would like to see him play some more. Like, a lot more.
I look forward to seeing Patrick O'Sullivan on the first line tonight, it'll be interesting to see him play with Hemsky.
As Always: Go Oilers Go!
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2 comments:
The picture at the top reminded me of something... with everyone struggling up front to score, why not bring Brule back up?
I believe the reasoning is that he only has a couple of games left before he'd have to clear waivers to go back down.
I'm not sure what Reddox's waiver status is, but I personally would rather give Brule his spot.
That said, in Brule's time in the NHL (both in Columbus and in Edmonton) he hasn't really broken out offensively. He was had success at the WHL level though (in three seasons .896, 1.24 and 1.41 points/game average respectively) he's had problems translating that production in the NHL. This season he sits at 24 points in 39 games, but the team as a whole has not done overly well this season and there must have been coaching issues because there was a change made.
Who would you send down in his place?
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