Game Review: Oct.14/05 - Dallas Stars at Edmonton Oilers

Classic battle of foes.

1st period...

A very slow, chippy start between both teams. What was more unimpressive was the usually electric Rexall Place crowd. Somehow on a Friday night in Edmonton, sold out, the crowd sat in their seats and left their voices at home. Very disappointing.

Rookies Winchester and Rita were given their chances. Hell, Syvret and Shremp were sent down to make room for these guys. Let's see.... Winchester sucks. He doesn't fit into the Oiler style. He's slow, has no heart and no finish on his shift. He's like Brad Isbister, but without skill. Like Isbister had it? no. But neither does this fuck up. Rita.... he's got Oiler speed, too bad he never learned to handle a puck, how to pass, how to shoot. For fuck sakes, the Oilers should have drafted Apolo Ono. He can skate faster. Plus he has countless gold medals, give him a stick, he can't do any worse.

To cut away from the game, and part of the game at this point: MIKED REFS is an idiotic idea from the NHL. People in Edmonton already know what the deal is, we saw it happen. It's not the NFL where you wonder why the flag went down. It was clear why the arm went up. Then the ref says the call, and within 2 seconds, so does the PA announcer. I don't know if I've seen such an absurdely stupid thing this year in the NHL. Lose it.

Then Jokinen scores. No fault of Conklin, Staois was running around like a retard and left Conk out to dry on that rebound that should have been easily picked up by Staois. Shit happens. Staois played a horrible game, making moronic shots on the PP, horrible passes...

One thing I notice, the Oiler defense is slightly cramped in the mind, one time they used the 2 line pass during action sent DVO in alone. Why not make that a steady play? He's always ready for it.

I loved the Oilers faceoff formations, I don't know if that's MacT, Simpson, Huddy... but it's something we haven't seen here in years. They don't just line up straight atom 10-11 year old hockey style. Some point this year, that'll get us an extra 5-6 goals total.

From a docile and slow Oiler period, Moreau threw a cheap knee on knee hit to get the puck out front of the net... if it wasn't the Oilers, I know people on the boards around Edmonton would scream foul. Lucky Klemm got up, Moreau would be suspended for 15 games.

2nd Period:
Conklin let in a second goal and this pissed me off.... MacT pulled Conklin. What the fuck does that say to a kid that already is battling a confidence issue? He was left hanging on goal one. Luongo wasn't pulled until he let in 3 in the first period of the Florida game last night. MacT pulls this shit? Trade Conklin right now for his own good, MacT just crushed him mentally. Let him flourish somewhere else, idiotic move and just cost us a prospect.

2nd, 2nd 2nd.... fuck it, let me wrap this shit up, anyone that cares saw the game:

Stoll - this kid needs a reality check, he's not a star in this league. Like a scout asked Terry Jones in LA... "Why does 16 think he's MacInnis"? That's exactly it. He has no timing, and I'd rather him and Pronger pass it back and forth until someone has a clear shot... not just Stoll shoots it every fucking time Pronger gives it to him.

Hemsky - this kid got cocky somewhere along the line. He thinks he can do it all, it's not like Hemsky of the past that passed it off every time he got the puck, now he thinks he can stickhandle in the zone, wait... wait.... wait... and cough it up. Him and Stoll seem like ego maniacs ready to Randy Moss our chemistry into the ground.

Stars of the Game:
EDM - Radek Dvorak - complete hustle from the start of the game to the finish, was on ice for all Edmonton goals, in fact, Smith would have never scored without Dvorak's hustle and shot on net.
DAL - unseen by many but Jon Klemm - he consistently shut down every attack the Oilers had. Blocking shots, perfect breakout passes. The Stars played a great team game, but his in the rough efforts win my respect.

Retards of the Game:
EDM: There was Laraque's ineffectiveness... but no, as much as it pains me to say it: Steve Staois. He fucked up too many times, he hung Conklin out to dry on goal one, he kept getting his outlet passes picked off, he shot on the PP when a shot was unwarrented, and straight into the chest of Hedberg. The entire Oiler team played like shit, but he was the leader of it.

DAL: Hedberg's mask. Anyone get a good look at it? It's hard to explain. People that saw it know. The entire team played a good game, so all I have is his mask.

NHL: Rob Schick: This ref had no idea what he was doing on either side. That crucial puck over the glass penalty to Modano in the final 4 minutes went clearly off Peca's stick. Bad Call. The Oilers didn't score and I'm cool with that, it would have been cheap. But then in the final seconds of the Oiler push, Peca shot the puck on net at exactly 4 seconds left. He didn't blow his whistle until 1.1. Under review the Oilers ended up with 2.5. It don't sound like a lot, but it could have tied the game. His docile whistle makes the wonder of what could have been.

Game Verdict: The Oilers fucked up.