UPDATED! Mr Poopy Pants II: Dany Comes Calling
Robin Brownlee
November 26 2009 09:29PM
HERE IT IS OFFICIALLY, as per Oilers release: OILERS HEMSKY TO HAVE SURGERY General Manager Steve Tambellini announced today right winger Ales Hemsky will undergo surgery to repair his left shoulder. Hemsky, 26, has played in 22 games this season recording seven goals and 15 assists. The Pardubice,Czech native has played his entire career with the Oilers skating in 443 games, tallying 353 points, including his 100th career goal on November 23 vs. the Phoenix Coyotes.
UPDATE FROM ROBIN B (12:42 MST): Given Quinn's reaction to the question about surgery being needed for Hemsky, we can only wait and see on this one. I'm trying to provide ON readers with the most up-to-date stuff here and I felt based on what I was told and who told me it was worth posting. The rumour spread pretty quickly among reporters this morning and I don't know if other outlets posted items, but they were certainly all over it when word got out. All I can tell you is my info didn't come from that "Did you hear about Hemsky?" buzz among reporters. All I can say at this point is I'm still inclined to believe what I was told -- I don't see why Hemsky would meet with doctors today to discuss the MRI if the opinion was "it'll be fine with 10 days rest." If the team provides an update, you'll get it here.
FURTHER UPDATE (11:26 MST): The Oilers have not confirmed the need for Hemsky to have surgery. At his availability with media after the morning skate, Coach Pat Quinn said Hemsky is meeting with doctors today to discuss the results of Thursday's MRI. When asked about the possibility of surgery for Hemsky, Quinn said, "I'm not aware of anything like that." Stay tuned for more details over the day.
UPDATE FROM BROWNLEE (10:30 MST): I'm hearing that Ales Hemsky will need surgery and is likely done for the rest of the season. No official word from the Oilers yet. Will update later.
Fans can boo Dany Heatley until their vocal chords are raw and they spew $8 beers Friday, but chances are he's going to get the last laugh when the San Jose Sharks beat the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place.>
The fact is, Heatley, who flipped off the Oilers last summer when he refused to waive a no-movement clause that would have brought him to Edmonton from the Ottawa Senators for Dustin Penner, Andrew Cogliano and Ladislav Smid, is already laughing out loud at our expense because he got what he wanted -- and that wasn't the City of Champions.
Heatley's playing for a better team than the Oilers in the Western Conference leading Sharks. He's drawing his $8-million salary in the Silicon Valley, away from the fanatical fishbowl-like existence that is Edmonton. And, just to rub it in, he's among NHL leaders with 18 goals and 29 points.
I'm relatively certain, then, Heatley will manage to stay composed when an angry Oilers faithful gets after him before, during and after the Sharks take out their frustrations on the Oilers after losing 7-2 to Chicago Wednesday.
"Heatley sucks. Heatley sucks." Yes, that'll shake him up.
Just another game
I'm guessing Heatley will spin Friday as just another game when reporters ask about his first visit to Edmonton since he queered the deal and made Kevin Lowe and Steve Tambellini beg last summer.
The Oilers, still stinging from Wednesday's 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, certainly did so this morning when asked about Heatley. What else are they going to say? "Screw you, Heater. You could have been a part of this . . ."
"It's one of those things that got made up bigger than it probably should have," coach Pat Quinn said.
"It was an attempt to bring Heatley to this hockey club. It didn't happen. You move on. It should be gone. It doesn't matter. He's a good player. He's a good kid, but he plays for someone else. We don't care about that."
With the Oilers slipping out of playoff contention with four wins and a 4-10-2 record in their last 16 games, Quinn's take is the pragmatic approach. He's certainly got bigger problems.
Fans, though, will want their pound of flesh, even if trying to collect it will come on a night when Heatley and the Sharks are likely to put the wood to the Oilers after getting embarrassed by Chicago. If Matt Greene can stick it to his former team, I shudder to think what Heatley might do.
Good luck with that.
That's leadership
When reporters asked Quinn this morning why so many players were missing for a workout at Millennium Place, he said he wanted to rest players who'd been playing a lot of minutes during a stretch that'll see the Oilers play four games in six nights.
Sorry coach, not buying that reasoning, not with the Oilers having days off between their last three games and with two days off before they play six straight games on the road.
Every able-bodied player should have been on the ice today. No problem with Ales Hemsky, injured on a dirty hit by Michal Handzus, not being there. That goes without saying. For that matter, the same goes for Shawn Horcoff, who has been playing with a bad shoulder.
But what good reason, unless there are injuries we haven't been told about, is there for captain Ethan Moreau, Steve Staios, Sheldon Souray and Dustin Penner not to be on the ice with the kids and the grunts today after stiffing against the Kings? Lubomir Visnovsky, who plays eight minutes more a night than the captain, practised, but not Moreau? Not Penner?
And . . .
-- Manny Malhotra, signed by the Sharks for a bargain basement $700,000 after pricing himself out of the UFA market early in the summer, is winning face-offs at a 60.8 per cent clip in San Jose. He's scored 4-4-8. Think the Oilers could have got him for less than the $1.25 million they offered Mike Comrie?
-- Robert Nilsson, Marc Pouliot and Ryan Stone all skated today. Nilsson put in extra work and was one of the last players off the ice. Can't see him being ready for San Jose, not with Ryan O'Marra and Colin McDonald summoned from Springfield.
-- Listen to Robin Brownlee every Wednesday and Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m. on Just A Game with Jason Gregor on TEAM 1260.
General Manager Steve Tambellini announced today right winger Ales Hemsky will undergo surgery to repair his left shoulder. Hemsky, 26, has played in 22 games this season recording seven goals and 15 assists. The Pardubice,Czech native has played his entire career with the Oilers skating in 443 games, tallying 353 points, including his 100th career goal on November 23 vs. the Phoenix Coyotes.
If the Oilers trade for a Kostitsyn I'm going to assume they've decided to tank the season.
Nicely done! I love Storts comment at the end. Classic.
Are you serious?
Brownlee knows more about this team than just about anybody else around. The team (like most pro teams) makes a point of being vague about injury status of their athletes. In sports journalism, I'm quite sure a condition of being allowed access to athletes and coaches is to respect that confidentiality.
@Ogden Brother Jr.
I'm not sure if 25 games is the time to do it, but if you look back at Robin's articles the same issues keep coming up. For the past 3 years!
The fans don't need to know what the direction is but I think we should be entitled to honest efforts & a somewhat competitive team. There must be a half dozen teams decimated by injuries & they still mange to show up at the rink & play hockey.
Maybe it's just me, but injuries seems like an excuse - not a cause of the bad performances. LA has as many key guys out & are in front of us, Boston has some key guys out & are still playing good.
Isn't Zack 23 years old or something like that? He's alot younger than he looks.
@David S
*cartoon eyes that buldge out of my skull*
Seriously? Wow, i would have guessed at LEAST 27.
EDIT: he is 24. Still...woah! I guess he is old in relation to the rest of the team though.
@BUCK75
New coaches, new system, might take more then 25 games with all the injuries we have?
LA has 4 guys out and we have what 9? Regardless of how invaluable Pouilot and Nilsson are to this team, we now have our 17th and 18th forward dressing.
Missing two key guys is one thing, missing two key guys and 4 other regulars is another.
My buddy pretty much threw in the towel after the LA game. His words were "Why do I even care about this team anymore, the obviously don't care about us. 3 years of this crap. I work my ass off for peanuts everyday and these guys make millions and play half their games like they don't even care"
I have to agree that the lack of effort is really frustrating. Losing would be alot easier if they at least put in a full effort every night. After that LA game I was expecting bag skates and passing drills, not a day off for our entitled veterans.
Brule on top line with Penner and Gagner.
O'Sullivan with Horcoff and Jacques. Stortini with the callups .And I assume Moreau, Potulny and Cogliano is the other line.
Nice, just had an ab workout laughing at this. Michael J Fox would be proud of Storts!
as long as moreau staios and horcoff are on this team, we will suck like we do(.)
you can defend them all you want for all you want, but the truth, which is their play and playing ability speaks for it self.
on top of all that strudwick is on the team too, watch tonight what the sharks do to exploit his skill as well.
if they cant contribute on a mediocre team like the oilers, they have no use in the nhl.
i have read daily how nillson has no heart just some skill so he cant cut it.
if you have no skill other then the simple basics and alot of heart, why are you playing the game then.
no one ever wins championships with heart and trying hard, you need skill. oilers have a lot of guys with basic skills and a lot of "heart". so this is where we sit, this is where that gets us.
Against San Jose?
~Relax boys. This one is in the bag!~
UPDATE FROM BROWNLEE: I'm hearing that Ales Hemsky will need surgery and is likely done for the rest of the season. No official word from the Oilers yet. Will update later.
FML
@Minister Towel Boy
I spoke with RB on the phone, and he says it's just rumblings he's heard, but he said it was important enough even as a rumour to put it up there.
@David S
I'm more interested in seeing how could Macdonald is then anything else.
Although Quinn does have that one big guy per line, so maybe we have a chance
3-0 Edmonton. Stortini, Potulny and Horcoff score. 53 saves for JDD and Cogliano rocks Heatley with a big hit.
And fack on the Hemsky front.
Christ, Hemsky for the season?? Fook me and fook Kostitsyn. $8 a beer ain't bad, they're like $13 in Toronto. Fans would never spew 'em, though. They'd ruin their suits.
@Minister Towel Boy
~Awesome~
*starts doing research on Taylor Hall & Tyler Seguin*
Not to jump off the band wagon(too late,done) but were the Oil not saying how we would have a fast skilled team? We look slow and skill level of a popgun. The Oil, I think, have greatly overated the offensive talent on this team. We have been fed the same hogwash for years. Never seems to change.
As they are tied to some restrictive contracts and players, why not say it is what it is. Not the BS we are forcefed. Maybe management should be held responsible for a change. These small players will never play big. You cant teach offense and you cant teach Grit.You have to have it in you.
@BUCK75
*starts doing research on the liquor depot and superstore flyers*
Surgery? Bring on the lottery pick now. Oilers could lose anyone else on the team and still have a chance. Not Hemmer.
If Hemmer is done for the year, this is the day the season died.
So Tambellini keeps saying that he wants to see what he has when they're healthy before he makes any moves, I guess it means that with Hemsky being out for the season there will be no moves made till next year?
Guess Tambellini can take the rest of the season off as well and come back nice a rested in the fall.
I guess the worse of the injuries were still to come.
I wonder if him playing is one of the reasons that he is done. Horcoff is still injuried too, isn't he? Maybe we should actually rest him instead of taking the extra risk.
The NHL better get their fines ready, Quinn will likely get one next time he's asked about the Hemmer hit. FML.
We're not slow. But like Quinn has said over and over, we choose to carry the puck instead of pass it. Until they change this crucial part of their game, it'll be one giveaway after another.
To expand, we carry the puck when we should pass, we pass when we should carry the puck, we shoot when we should pass, we pass when we should shoot.
We seem to lack basic hockey knowledge.
@Ogden Brother Jr.
I don't know WTF is up with all of our injuries the past few years?!?! I don't understand the blaming our season on 'plugs' being out, but Hemsky...
*opens bottle of scotch in desk drawer*
If that's true, we're officially rebuilding.
*Googles "Springfield Falcons fan site" and reconsiders self-imposed HF boards ban*
Maybe Moreaus brothers training camp is a little too intensive???
No! let horcoff play, he is awesome on the face-offs. the best. we need him to slow the play down in the offensive zone, you dont want to exhaust the other teams d. you neeed someone to turn his back on the play so he can keep the puck in his feet for a few seconds more.
why rest him, he is only as good as the people around him make him.
@Scorecoff Hemmercules
Our owners personal trainer is now the oilers trainer - can't blame on m0reau's bro anymore
Are you sure you're not trying to fire up the "divide in the room" story again? You seem to be the only one in the Edmonton media riding this story and it's going on a year of it now. And yet you didn't respond to all the valid questions on your last article about how the veterans who clearly care about losing and give it their all on a consistent basis are the problem.
Maybe you have an axe to grind with Ethan Moreau?
No one would say he's having a great year. It's looking more and more like the injuries of the last couple of seconds have affected his skating and his timing. But what do you think he's doing that is making waves in the dressing room? Is he undermining Quinn in some way? Is he stuffing Gagner up in to the rafters? Are the older Oilers not on speaking terms with the younger Oilers?
Now, I did read a suggestion by Staples a year ago that the Oilers had traded away most of their guys in the mid 20s, creating a group of married late 20s/early 30s Oilers and a group of early 20s bachelors. In that piece he wondered if there'd be problems relating and if guys like Stoll, Greene & Torres had helped to bridge that gap before. It's a good question, and if that's all the divide is? Well, that's not that serious.
I don't think the core group missing practice is that big a story. If people are nursing various bumps and bruises, maybe a day off isn't a bad thing. Maybe Quinn wanted to work on some specific things with a certain group of players. Who knows? I'm sure it's not evidence of a huge fracture in the room or what not and I'm not sure how you could draw that line at all.
quinn wont be here next year. get your resume ready maybe you can assist renney.
unless ofcourse, youre content with yelling shoot from the seats on the powerplay.
Are we allowed to hit the Panic™ button yet?
@DK0
I'll have to get the developers to install one first...
I missed the part where Brownlee said it was a "huge fracture in the room"???
All he said was it seemd odd that guys like Moreau and Souray didn't practice when this team clearly needs some full team practicing. You could be right though, maybe Quinn wanted to focus on certain things with certain players.
Since when does shoulder surgery in NOVEMBER end a season? Sure he will be out for a few months, but i would think he would easily be recovered by the 3 round of the playoffs...wouldn't he?
*crickets*
*throws his arms up in disgust and goes to google more pictures of Carrie Underwood*
@DK0
http://www.audiomicro.com/panic-sound-effects-166279
@bingofuel
To tide us over till thats implemented, can we get the ON logo at the top changed to "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here..." until Wanye gets back from Eurasia and writes a super ballin' motivational post?
This will have to do for now...
http://sadtrombone.com/
Maybe the vets missed practice because they new Hemsky was done and they were too busy being curled up in the fetal position?
if a granny wsa my leader for a battle in war, i sure as hell wouldnt take it that serious. if moreasu is my leader on my hockey team, i sure as hell wouldnt take him or the team serious. on top of the that horcoff is your 1st line centre.
i think these young kids we have are very disappointed in the organization and that shows in their play and attitude.
there has been so many line shuffles in the first 25 games, why is cogliano always stuck on the 4th with moreau ?
Indeed. For the rest of the season, I can skip all the GDB's; they'll all be depressing anyway. I think I only want to see scouting reports about the #1 pick that's going to compliment our new top line.
Man; looking forward to next season in November. That's got to be some kind of personal record.
[sigh]
SELL OFF THE VETS! TANK IT FOR #1! WE'RE DOOMED!!
Is that enough panic?
And just when you thought the season couldn't get any worse...
While injuries are compounding for the team and on one side its hard to be upset at the team, but with that said it's also time for our underperforming players will take the reigns and work at trying to salvage to the season. Proving their worth as professionals and fighting for their jobs for the years to come. Times like these are what shows the true character of people IMHO.
Go Oil!
That's freaking awesome Buck!
Recommend immediate implementation.
"The Edmonton Oilers are pleased to select, from the Windsor Spitfires, Taylor Hall"
relax people, ales is a gamer... he will just play with one arm like Horc does.
Maybe this will be like that movie, Rookie of the Year.
Willis, what do you figure are our chances that Hemsky comes back from surgery with super powers?