EDIT: Oilers down a captain, Horcoff will play
Jason Gregor
October 06 2009 10:54AM
The Oilers will be without their captain and possibly one of their assistants as they look for their first win of the season, against the 0-0-1 Dallas Stars.
The Stars dominated the Predators on Saturday, but couldn’t beat Dan Ellis, so it could be a good test for Nikolai Khabibulin to see if he can rebound.
Ethan Moreau wasn’t on the ice at the morning skate this morning and neither was Shawn Horcoff. Andrew Cogliano took his spot alongside Sam Gagner and Zack Stortini. Robert Nilsson skated with Gilbert Brule and Dustin Penner. Horcoff skated yesterday, so it is strange not to see him on the ice.
Marc Pouliot skated with J.F Jacques and Ales Hemsky, and if he plays there tonight then this coaching staff really wants to give every guy a clean slate. If Pouliot, after sitting out for two weeks, actually plays all game with Hemsky, then Hemsky either needs to carry the line or he we shouldn’t expect much from him offensively.
The Oilers swept the Stars at home last year winning 5-2 and 4-1. The Stars won both games in Dallas by scores of 4-3 and 4-2.
The Oilers PK was actually good against Dallas allowing only three goals on 20 chances for 85%, while the Oilers scored three PP goals on 16 chances for 18.8 %.
Last year was the first time since 1992/1993 that the Oilers swept the Stars in Edmonton.
Both the Oilers and Stars lost their first game even though they out shot the opposition. The Stars outshot the Predators 40-26, with James Neal potting both goals for the Stars.
***Update***
Just spoke with Horcoff, and he will play. He says it isn’t a big deal, and that he has a small tweak but he is just resting it.
Robert Nilsson admitted that he has to cut down on his risky plays in the defensive and neutral zones if he wants to stay in the lineup. Look for Nilsson to simplify his game in those zones, but he feels that he should generate more offence by not giving the puck away as often as he has.
Quinn explained the reason why he inserted Nilsson on the RW, and moved Cogliano on the left side with Gagner.
“I like Nilsson’s game on the right side, he generates more from that wing, and I know that Cogliano and Gagner have played together before, and played well, so this should give them both a better chance to produce.”
I'm really curious to see how the team preforms without chopper on the ice.
I'll miss Horc in the dot though. Hopefully this isn't too painful a faceoff schooling for us.
If they planned to activate Pouliot, won't they have to send a guy down?
Surely they would have done that already.
Go OIlers!!!
@Rick
Per Gregor's Twitter this morning:
"Horcoff and Moreau not on ice for morning skate. Pouliot took 10s spot while Nilsson replaced 18! If 78 plays the oil have to put guy on IR"
Poor, Poor Ales. How's he supposed to get his game going with these linemates. Couldn't they shake things up even more and put someone other than Pouliot at 1C.
My Inner Eklund says: The Oilers are sitting Horc and placing Moreau on the IR to activate Poo and play him and Nilsson in order to showcase them as pending trade toss-ins with a puck moving D-man. The trade is with an unnamed team from the East. Big dominoes. Huge. (E3.14)
Like, we're also moving a puck-moving D man? Or we're looking for one, because we want to collect those now that we've locked down small forwards ...
...damn...Tencer just tweeted that Horcoff is in. I guess I can turn off my Inner Eklund and move on with life.
@blu
No no no...the deal in my head was...toss in a poo/nilsson WITH a puck moving D-man...but as I type it I can't even believe it myself. Besides...Poo is sitting still, apparently.
@Minister Towel Boy
You have deals in your head, and I have trouble understanding written english. It's all good.
He expects Horcoff to play i would assume. He isnt going to mess up a couple line combinations in practice instead of just one. Besides, he can get a good look at how Pouliot is playing after his injury and if he belongs. I doubt they send him away but he is still on the bubble.
Yeah, update from Gregor:
"Just spoke with Horcoff he will play. He just rested a small tweak. Said it isn't an issue!"
@Minister Towel Boy
I can't see how anyone will ever trade for Pouliot no matter how far up the lineup we were to play him in an effort to showcase his talent because he's got no talent to showcase. Every team in the league has a player like him that has just never turned out to be worth a dime. Send him the AHL as soon as he's healthy and forget about him.
Conversations about Pouliot with Nilsson sitting in the PB are making me insane. For crap sake, lets ice the best team possible and see what happens. Wins this time of year might be a bit easier because lots of teams are still not 100%. BTW - those lineups Jason mentioned above looked pretty sweet.
My guess is that no one will even notice Moreau isn't playing, aside from the fact that we will have less PK's to deal with. From what I saw last game he probably shouldn't have been in that game either. I wonder if Lowe will ever asked Moreau and Pisani for some money back since they never play.
Good Horcoff playing is good! Also on SNW it says Modano is probably out as is Lehtinen. I think they will not miss Moreau. Maybe Nilsson pots one tonight? One can opnly hope!
Go Oilers GO.
Who can we get to take bad penalties now?
But if my Goat (Moreau) is sitting...who will I rag on? Looks like Staios will draw my ire for this evening.
The way I envision Poo getting moved is like how I proposed...a toss-in...kinda like when you have a garage sale and you don't wan't to haul your crap back inside...you start giving it away. "Oh, you want to give me 7 dollars for my Rick Astley box set? Sure...I'll even toss in Pouliot for free."
That kinda deal.
I think my optimism about the team would have gone down significantly if Horc was out tonight. But he's in - hooray minor tweak!
That "1st line" is weak enough with Horcoff on it, swapping him out for MAP would go head to head with the NYI for worst 1st line in the league.
So Horc is in, and all our previous comments are out?
#confused
It's a known issue: when comments reach 20 (or 40 or 60, etc) then vanish briefly until a new comment is posted.
Welcome to the Nations, Citizen!
Your account has been created and a confirmation link has been emailed to you. Please check your email for further instructions. Remember to check your spam folder just in case!
I then go to sign in and the password is wrong..WTF?
Yeah, basically I want my last hour back.
Yeah, less terrible penalties and less wasted offensive chances.
He is usually good for one emotionally and physically crushing hit per game though. JFJ or even Brule can supply that, the way they're playing.
Stort, who should supply it, seems as fuzzy and inconsistent as his own personal grooming. Still on the fence about that guy.
Yeah, I see them now. Thanks for the heads up.
I should have changed my GOAT player to Horcoff. He centres the top line and makes $7 million. He had better score 70 points this season!
Same thing happend to me.
Bingo/Admin... please (if you can) reset my account so I can maintain my original handle.
Thanks Brothers of Ogden
email me with screen shots and details, please: bingofuel [at] oilersnation [dot] com
Wow. We had potential to have the worse 1st line in NHL history. Poor Hemmer.
So any word what we are saving Macintyre for? I only see two games this month where he will be needed and in the one (nashville) It would be to smack Tootoo.
What is this small tweak with horcoff? Back, knee, shoulder dare I say another pubitis injury?
When are people going to let this go? He makes 5.5 M on the cap hit. Are you guys not able to see that Horc brings stuff to the table that isn't outlined in conventional stats (see JW, Lowetide et al)? As well, if our maelevolent overlords Lowe and Tambo actually addressed some needs like getting another guy who could win a draw Horc could have a little gas left in the tank on offence.
I have no issues with this contract at all. I hope he gets more traditional points and stats this year so everyone who wrote him off can jump back on the bandwagon.
Why is it that Hemsky has make others better? Why can't others (Horcoff) not drag him down?
So bingo. From what I can gather the Avatar is what is covering up my name. The avatar is X out and then there is about 30 numbers and letters.
The text string you're seeing is the alt text because your avatar isn't displaying. I'm not sure what the issue is, but I've emailed Citizen Alpha to see if he has a solution.
Because if Hemmer is to make the next step he needs to make others around him better.
@rubbertrout Can you, or anyone else, explain to me how his $7 million this season translates to a $5.5 million cap hit? That doesn't make sense to me and please tell how it does? Educate me. The sites I've looked at, like the NHLPA's, show me he comes at a $7 million cap hit.
Yes, Horcoff can win faceoffs, kill penalties, etc. But, do you know who else makes $7 million this year? Try Jarome Iginla.
I am confused with this Horcoff contact! Is it $7 million or $5.5 million?
Sure, Horcoff is overpaid for what he brings. Then again, there's a guy like that on every team in the league....except for the Rangers, who have 14.
Gregor do you honestly, think that MAP or Nilsspn will last til' Santa comes...?
@AlbertaRanger
It's a front loaded contract. Average payout per season is 5.5M and that is where the cap hit comes from.
i see the same thing
if you are @ work good that part be blocked by the companies filter?
@AlbertaRanger
Cap hits are based on the average amount of money a player makes per year. Meaning if someone signs a 2 year contract...where in the first year he makes 4 million, and the second year he makes 2 million. Then his cap hit will be 3 million, because that is the average he makes over the two years.
What do you mean by front loaded contract? Obviously I need to take NHL Salaries 101.
I get it now. The light bulb just turned on. Thanks peeps.
check out nhlscap.com for various FAQ's. Very informative.
That could very well be the case. We're working on a fix that makes the alt text much shorter so it doesn't cover anything up.
@TonyT
You should see the teams production when they play seperatly ;)
For example Marleau is signed to 2009-2010 at 6.3 M Sedins are signed to 2013-14 for 6.1 M Chris Drury is paid 7 M until 2011-2012 Scott Gomez is signed at 7.4 M to 2013-14 (that one stinks) Daniel Briere is signed at 6.5 M to 2014-15
Horc at 5.5 to 2014-15 is not too bad.
Sure he's not a conventional #1 centre but show me someone who was available at the time that brings that value for comparable money. There are always deals out there especially with one year contracts but locking up one of the most valuable players on the team is worth it.
Zetterberg is obviously a better player but the average cap hit is 6M per year until 2021.