uh, what?

Ok, this is just a weird week... The Flying Fridge is wearing an A and dominating, with 9 points in 7 games; Ladi is +8, yeah, you heard me, +8, and the Oilers are making the most of some surprisingly glorious chances.

And I don't hate Comrie as much as I used to. He is a useful NHL player with a hot girlfriend. Good for him.

I don't get it. I thought this team was supposed to be a rag-tag bunch of people who didn't like each other in the slightest, had no balls (which is better than having the balls of a hamster like last year's team), and had no chance at winning, let alone finding ways to hang around in games that they had no business even surviving.

Patrick O'Sullivan is a whale of a hockey player, known as shooter, yet possessing some really slick hands and unreal hockey sense. He's developing some really solid chemistry with Penner and Gagner. Gilbert Brule has 7 points in 7 games, looks damn good with basically anyone he's skating with, and hits as hard as anybody his size.

I am lost. Topping off all of this madness is the fact that Souray and Staios aren't around, we still have Cogliano taking draws (to which he appears to be less terrible, and actually looks great flying around with Chopper and the Animal), and Hemmer isn't at 100% And while we're on the subject of the Animal, he scored twice, including a PPG?! Are we living in the bizarro world?

I am just putting it out there, despite my instincts telling me to calm the hell down and remember that the team started 4-0 last season and we've beaten some teams that weren't supposed to be great anyway, but they look almost like a real team, and that they're having fun.

I am convinced that is the key in all of this; sure Quinn is running a tight ship and Renney bag-skates the crap out of them a lot, but they seem to be having fun together, as a team. They are playing loose, fearless and as a team. Maybe this has something to do with the coaches, maybe the fact that a bunch of smurfs are playing for contracts, maybe something happened in the offseason that allowed them to not live in fear of a public thrashing anymore. I don't care, I just want it to continue. Eventually things like tightening up defensive zone play will come, but these players want to play together and they want to win.

It's a nice change of pace, especially to see a team that won't quit, even in the face of a 30-12 shot differential, a team that defends each other, a team that has players that bounce back after getting levelled by Boogaard and make sick behind-the-back passes to the A wearing flying fridges for goals at timely moments. Basically, what I am saying is that the team looks like "the little team that could" again, for the first time in years. They have a new identity, but it is an identity that actually looks and feels like Oilers Hockey again. I hope it lasts. It's been fun!

Go Oilers

SWS

So this is the new year...

This is the 'Bulin Wall celebrating his 300th win last night, a sloppy, chippy affair that was a back and forth battle between two teams not expected to be very good. In truth, the Oilers didn't look all that great, but they did show something I don't think I saw in any game last year; heart. Quite frankly, that was present in both the Calgary loss and the win last night. This is a good sign. At one point, the Oilers were outhitting Dallas 9-0 and ended up with a 24-14 advantage. They scored twice on the power play, and came back three times to tie it up, rallying to the win behind some reasonable (I didn't say great) goaltending and the play of the second, third and fourth lines. Now both Khabibulin and Quinn have that first win monkey off of both their backs and can get down to the business of winning games in a less skittish fashion. Furthermore, the team won about 60% of the draws last night as well, a welcome improvement to be sure.

It must be said that the players who needed to step up have done so in spades so far. The much maligned flying fridge has two goals, as does the hockey hobbit, Samwise Gagner. Comrie has two points, Grebs looks awesome, Patty O has been getting all kinds of opportunities and soon enough he'll bury a bunch of them and Brule is hitting and generating chances, scoring a goal-scorer's goal saturday night, coincidentally from the same spot that Gags scored yesterday. The offense looks fine.

What looks better is the sense of urgency that the team is showing, as a team. There is no quit in these guys right now, they hit, they score, they chase after the puck and get in the dirty areas, and they are saying the right things in interviews, about going to the tough areas, playing aggressive and having a desire instilled to make RX1 a hard building to come into. This was the M.O of the Lowtide era, the early MacTeams and most recently, the 06 near glory boys. I'm not suggesting we start planning on burning every car on Jasper Ave tomorrow (though I wouldn't be opposed to such things either), I am beginning, ever so slightly, to consider having a taste of the Kool-Aid, just a sip and maybe have some hope for this season after all.

Let it also be said that this gritty effort yesterday was without Fernando (who would have helped a slightly discombobulated PK) and thecaptainethanmoreau, as well as a lack of anything offensive from the 1st line. Horc did win draws, but JFJ looks like he's having growing pains, and Hemsky did nothing aside from giving the puck away or hang on to it for too long...until the third when he blocked a shot and set up Greb's beauty of a goal. But let's be honest, it was not his strongest outing. That the Globe and Mail claimed Hemsky carried this team to victory is a serious misnomer, considering aside from the plays I just mentioned, he bordered on invisible for most of the game. Ok, he scored the shoot-out winner, but he even went on record to call it dumb luck and admitted that he wiffed on the shot.

But I don't want to get greedy. It's early, I'll take the good with the bad, and so far there has been less bad then expected. This is a team that won't let itself get pushed around, making me relish the chance to watch them take on the flames again thursday night. My hope is that Stone or the Crazy Train take out Rehger at the knees, that Stortini eats Phaneuf (literally...that would be sweet) and the scoring and grit keep coming like they have been. So far so, well, better... I am not ready to say good just yet.

In the meantime, just some food for thought. The play-by-play guy for the Stars made a comparison of Zorg to Animal from the Muppets last night. I know that ideas from the enemy are normally bad, but in this case an exception can be made. I vote that Zorg be removed in favor of this new moniker and plan to use it from now on. The proof is in the pictures below. Yeah, I thought you'd like that...




Go Oilers

SWS

Lessons from the Book of Maciocia

This is Danny Maciocia. He is often cited by fans of the Eskimos as the most terrible mistake that the team has ever had: that he is not a good coach because he has never played, and he can't get the players we need as a GM because he was a bad coach. I realize folks taking this position have a point, because of the losing record (33-38-1) suffered through when he was the head coach. But today I am going to tell you what Tambi can learn from this man. Today, the Eskimos dealt with some of its problems through player movement!!!

First of all, Maciocia traded for a defensive back Bryan Parker. We have had to sit through over half of a season of inept secondary coverage. Maciocia didn't just sit back and hope the guys gelled or grew into their positions, he did things about it. He release Jonte Buhl, after terrible coverage all season long. Now he has gone out and got Parker, who has 99 tackles, 18 interceptions, and 6 TDs in his five year CFL career (oh he was a CFL allstar in 2006 and 2007, too) Good move, Maciocia.

Second of all, Maciocia signed defensive lineman Jerome Haywood. This will be his 8th year in the league and has an impressive 225 tackles and 29 sacks over that time. Why did Maciocia sign Haywood, because he had a veteran go down to injury. Instead of relying on solutions from with (aka practice roster), the GM went out and found a experience hand for his coach. Coach Hall should be getting Briadwood back on the defensive line soon, as well.

While most of Eskimo fans love to bitch-and-moan about Maciocia's incompentence, at least he is pro-active. He, as did any one watching the green-and-gold's games, saw problems in the defense side of the ball and has attempted to fix them. Tambi still gets the benefit of the doubt by a lot of Oiler fans, but he has never be pro-active, or even reactive. Tambi just does not make player acquisitions: we are still in the developing from within pattern. The problem is it takes years to develop veterans, and the Oilers need them now. Tambi go and sign a veteran forward, and trade a smurf for another while you are at it. I am tired of this crap: Poo is not going to be a veteran center this year, and we have PK winger problems as well. I don't care if we lose SMac, Reddox, or Stone on waivers, I want veteran solutions.

*PS: shameless plug for a Friend, if you like humor or the CFL, go check out Henry Svec's CFL sessions, it will be the best few minutes of your day, unless the Oilers trade for a veteran 3C also that day.*

The more things change...

Well, here we go again, another year, another rant about heart and suck. So I should tell you, I recently began a new program in my life, a PhD at Queen's university in Kingston, Onterrible, a city in Canada that at the moment seems to not suck. It is a lovely campus, with lots of tradition, including an engineering program that seems to pride itself on the students painting themselves purple, drinking heavily and engaging in such lovely traditions as shaving the heads of freshmen and then making them climb up a giant greasy pole. Even the Dean gets in on the fun, and there is a distinct lack of gender bias; the engineers actually boast about a 40% female population. It's actually kind of refreshing to see the older people making the younger people feel welcome, inviting them to join in long-standing traditions and really making sure they are actually part of the team. The archaic and sometimes savage notions of initiating the frosh may be seen as repulsive and a little bit, well, stupid, but the thing that it does do is encourage loyalty and a notion of team spirit and being a part of something great. And also, it creates a culture where each year's rookies know to expect some harsh crap right off the bat, but that they'll be given the chance to get a whole new crop of freshmen back the next year. Cycle continues...

What the hell is Shepso trying to say here you might be asking at this point of this? It's a simple answer. These engineers, they have heart. They respect the traditions of their proud organization and continue to play the game to the best of their abilities, fostering a sense of unity within the faculty, despite the humiliation many frosh must endure. That concept was lacking in the Oiler room last year, and the kids responded by playing flat and without heart. The divide between young and old was well documented last season, and I shall not get into it again. What I do want to discuss is the difference between the look of the team last year and now.

We've seen a couple of split squad games so far. The team that has Comrie (yes, Comrie) O'Sullivan, Horcoff, Gilbert, JFJ, Stone et al looks damn good. The team that has Hemsky, Gagner, Cogs, Penner, and thecaptainethanmoreau not so much. That second team eked out a win against a real shitty Isles team the other night, whereas the first team whipped the Flames and the Panther's ECHL affiliate. I know, I know, the quality of competition really has a lot to do with it, but that is my point...Last night, Penner, Hemsky, Souray and a whole lot of expensive vets played a Vancouver squad that had a lot of real NHL players. They looked a lot like last year's team, a team that played scared to make mistakes, hesitant, and just plain lost. It was their first real test, and it showed me that players are still uncomfortable on this team, in this dressing room, and perhaps about what it means to be an Oiler.

A little while ago, I brought up the idea of a change of culture on the team that has become necessary. I stand by this assertion. Perhaps there is a need to change the leadership structure, because the vets are supposed to be leading by example, and so far, aside from a couple beauty goals by Souray in his first couple games, the vets don't impress me much. Preseason is a lot like Frosh week; you're getting to know the new kids on campus, learning new systems and trying to impress the profs. The kids are wide eyed and impressionable, wanting to contribute without really knowing what to do or where to go, while the seniors and grad students try to shake out the rust of a summer's worth of drinking and debauchery and remember why they are there in the first place. There is a sense on campus, at least here, that the older students are going to look out for the younger ones, introduce them to the way life here. The older Oilers don't seem to be showing the kids how to play, floating through preseason games and still displaying the bad habits from the previous era, the ones in the middle aren't playing like they have something to prove, while the new guys like PO'S and Comrie (who is kinda like that kid who did his undergrad at home, got booted out and had to go somewhere else to make it, and is now, magically back at his original school as a grad student), and Stone are playing their assess off because they feel like they have something to prove, not to the vets, but to the coaches and to themselves. They so far seem like the only players that are trying. Just because the assignments aren't for marks yet doesn't mean they don't count for something. There is a sense that the gaps in the room haven't been fixed yet and the only players that don't see these gaps are the ones that haven't been around to experience the culture of losing, self-defeat and foolish entitlement.

I hope to see a team with more heart on the ice tonight compared to what I saw last night. When T.C. begins to wind down, the real team will be on the ice, which is, in my opinion, the first for-credit assignment of the year. If the real players can play with heart, they will be fine. If not, this is going to be another long year. School's back in session. Summer is over.

Go Oilers

SWS

failing to find meaning

After the lockout-shortened season of 1994-95, when a young Oilers squad failed to make the playoffs but boasted impressive rookies such as Todd Marchant and David Oliver, the Oilers finished the 1995-96 pre-season, a truly impressive 9-1.

It was expected Jason Arnott would rebound from disappointing sophomore season and that Doug Weight would carry the offense along with guys like Zdeno Ciger and maybe even Dean Mcammond. That year, of course, the Oilers missed the playoffs for a fourth straight year before finally making it in the spring of 1997.

Why do I bring this up? Well, heading into 95-96 the Oilers had missed the playoffs for three years just like today's Oilers. The last time the Oilers had made the playoffs they went deep (Conference Finals in '92 and Cup Finals in '06). Both seasons also saw new head coaches (though Ron Low replaced George Burnett midway through 94-95.)

But I suppose that can all easily be argued as meaningless. There are many important differences (like say, the fact that none of the players from 1995-96 are also on the 2009-10 roster) but I couldn't help but think of the red hot Oilers of September 1995 when I went to the Islanders' and Panthers' game this past week.

While the Panthers are having their training camp in Canada so as to not saturate the Miami market with too many games, the Oilers are still in the business of selling hope, especially after their failure to acquire Dany Heatley. And while they did lose last night in Vancouver, they were veteran-laden Oiler squads that dispatched of the Flames, Islanders and Panthers. True, it is tough to tell if the Islanders are icing an AHL squad or the one that actually plays in the NHL, but the fact remains these victories are pretty meaningless. And yes, it was kinda cool to hear the fans chant 'Comrie' follwing a fight and four-point night but it won't mean a thing come October 3rd.

Obviously most everyone recognizes this and the pre-season is largely about seeing how far some prospects have come and getting some veterans back into game shape. But when Jason Strudwick looks like a decent and competent top-four defenceman, you know something's wrong rotten in Rexall Place.

Just a couple of quick notes from Wednesday: how stupid are the Edmonton fans who gave Sheldon Souray a standing ovation for twice breaking the glass? I mean, I appreciate a little barbarism myself but the point is to put the puck in the net, not break glass. Admittedly he did score the winner but it was unfortunately on a dinky backhand. Secondly, the fight between McIntyre and Young (not too sure if it was him actually) was utterly senseless. OK, the guy is trying to show he's tough and is working for a job but these kind of fights should be eliminated. I want fights after cheap shots, and against hated opponents, not just guys jostling for position. The fight is supposed to accomplish something within the game itself not serve the career of an individual. October 3rd can't come quick enough.

The Not-Yet of Johan Motin

Really wish could find the large cool pictures like Lowetide and other great bloggers do, but oh well. To the left is Johan Motin, lasts years 4th round pick, and the biggest surprise at this years camp, for me at least. I am suppose to be finishing my series on philosophers and the Oilers Dmen, so I am going to try and work this young man in. Why? Because I think he has played better then some of the veterans-Staois and Strudwick in particular-and if I was choose a team today, he would be on it. I know it is early, but this kid can play. His skating is great for a big man. His vision was terrific: in last nights game, he held the blue line well multiple times, angled opposition into the corners, pitched at opportune times, and looked like he belonged on the ice with the NHL players. I really think he and Smid, could develop into a top flight shutdown D pairing in a few years. That has me excited.

Part of Bloch's Not-Yet, is the Can-Be: what is Possible but is still not-yet. It is latent state that is realizable within an idea or an object. In hockey the Can-Be is often referred to as potential; the Possible states that a player could achieve, but are not-yet there. In a very materialistic way, hockey bloggers think about the not-yet of players all the time and then spend a huge amount of the time arguing over their interpretation of the not-yet: see Lowetides 'comparables' for an excellent example of this. The Possible of the Not-Yet is not just a deterministic understand of the history of a society or a player (as it is often interpreted in Vulgar Marxism), instead Bloch sees the Possible as slippery rather then fluid: "But just as man is mainly a creature who enters into the Possible and has it in front of him, he also knows that this does not coincide with vagueness, that precisely his open character is definitely nothing arbitrary" (principle of hope vol. 1, p.224). So that the Can-Be or potential, is both not deterministic, but also not completely mutable, rather it is an space or field of logical possibilities. Bloch has many different kinds of Possible, and we can use them to examine comparables.

1) The Formally Possible: "statements which are not nonsensical, but run counter to sense, where the listener at least shakes his head in disbelief. Namely when the statement directly contradicts itself, as in the concept 'round square' or in the judgement: ['Motin is comparable to Nick Lindstrom.'] A meaning like this which is directly contradictions itself in its characteristics or its predicates is absurd, but definitely not nonsense, rather it is countersense. The latter is, in contrast to merely sayable nonsense, definitely something conceptually possible possible, a formal Can-Be" (Ibid. 224). So why Motin and Lindstrom are conceptually comparables, that they are both Swedish hockey players and defensemen, hence sayable and not nonsense, the formal comparable contradicts what we know about their characteristics: the Lindstrom is offensive and Motin is not.

2) The factually-objectively Possible: "it presents itself as a statement of caution, then as one grounded in opinion, of grounded assumption of its capability-of-being, in short as a factually-objectively grounded possibility . . . factually valid statement itself does not exist in a complete form" (Ibid, 225). This Possible is on based around facts, but is still based on induction (ibid, 228), so it can never be a total or complete Possible, if we believe in science. The factual-objective comparable for Motin, could a Charlie Huddy, a Chris Phillips, or other shut down defender with limited offensive potential. It is a assumption that is based in facts, but exists in a rather incomplete form; one based on an opinion rather then experimentation. This is the comparable that most "Saw him good" Fans use.

3) The fact-based object-suited Possible: "The fact-based Possible does not live on the insufficiently known, but on the insufficiently emerged conditional grounds. It there does not designate a more or less sufficiently conditioning in Objects themselves and in their factual relations" (Ibid, 229). Rather then creating a comparable for Motin on known characteristics of his and, more importantly, others' style play, this Possible is on the relations of new conditions for Motin himself. Instead of thinking about the comparable based on the others' style, we look at the the results of their play (where did they play, ow much did they play, and what they scored). This Possible is constructed similar to math, as an abstract relations between objects. For example: is Anton Volchenkov's 20 year old season in the KHL comparable to Motin's 20 year old season in the Swedish Elite league? Yes, but the numbers (through deduction) don't give us that much ability to work with: as Volchenkov went 47 game, 4 goals, 15 assist, 19 points, and 47 PIMs while Motin went 52 games, 0 goals, 3 assits, 3 points, and 28 PIMs. This is the type of Possible that number-based fans use.

4) The objectively-real Possible: is the possible that exists in matter not just thought as "real possible thus does not reside in any ready-made ontology of the being of That-Which-Is up to now, but in the ontology, which must must constantly be grounded anew, of the being of That-Which-Is-Not-Yet, which discovers future in the past and in the whole nature . . . as a process" (Ibid, 237). What does this mean? Well, I am not quite sure but I interpret it this way: the possible or comparable for Motin is not just based in what he has done up until now or his season in the Swedish Elite League, but there is more possible. His offensive has the possible to improve since his possibility is a process that is not written yet. I am not saying that he has the ability to become a Lindstrom, but I think his future could be similar to Volchenkov's. The AHL and the NHL provide a ontological possibility that is anew, or that he may not be trapped in the possibilities that were set up across the sea . . . there is a New, a Not-Yet possibility to Motin.

While I have not provided a single piece of evidence for this, I am going to say the Can-Be, or comparable, for Motin is Vochenkov. What do you think?

Graduation Day.

Hello all,

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly congratulate my dear friend and fellow blogger Shepso. Today he is defending his Masters Thesis at the University of Windsor, in Sociology. I am very proud of him and hope I can follow in his footsteps one day.

with deep respect,

BCB

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Technically, he has to pass his defense before he graduates, but I am fully confident that he will, since he is extremely knowledgeable about both the theorists he is using (Derrida, Barthes, and Foucault) as well as the object he is looking at (education systems of the Jewish Diaspora). But what does this have to do with hockey?

Well this September is also graduation time for one Oiler in particular, Hockey Jesus. Most commentators agree that Schremp has the talent to be an NHL, even if they only think he could do it on the power play in a speciality 4th liner role. There has been a lot of discussion whether Schremp has the drive to be an NHLer. Here is my perspective:

1. Last year's terrible AHL season, leaves me thinking the Hockey Jesus is in trouble. He should have dominated last season, but took a large step back in his development. Regardless of how we see his brief NHL stint, last years numbers SUCKED for the messiah of Oilers' hockey.
2. Is it a issue of confidence or drive? I do not think these are the same thing, but rather they represent two separate mental attributes of a hockey player. If it is confidence, then the new coaching staff may be all he needs to push him over the top. But if it is his drive, then no coaching change will ever convince him to back check, come into camp in shape, and deliver on his promise. If it is the first case I see him in the NHL next year, and if it is the latter I see him the KHL.
3. Is there just too many other NHL skaters that replicate Schremps' skill set (small, skilled, offensive-only player, that needs sheltered minutes). Most likely yes, since I rather have O'Furniture, Nilsson, Gagner, and Cogliano instead of Robbie. If Comrie really is on his way back, then Schremp shouldn't even unpack his bags since he is going to definitely on the waiver-wire or in Springfield.

The difference I see in Shepso's and Schrempso's graduation days is massive. I am 100% sure Shepso will graduate, since he is smart, a hard worker, and willing to answer the hard questions with grace and honestly. I am not sure that Schremp will pass his, since he has none of the qualities that Shepso has and still believes in "Robbie-FUCKEN'-Schremp Hockey'. Of course, I could be wrong about the latter, since training camp has not opened and Hockey Jesus still has one more chance to make the Oiler faithful believers again. But I am not wrong about the former: I am sure every single member of the Oiler diaspora is proud of you Sheps.