GDB 61: San Fernando es muy bueno!

Jason Gregor
February 26 2009 11:44AM

creationofpisani

The Oilers will get a lift tonight when Fernando Pisani returns to the ice for the first time since Nov 17th, a span of 42 games. He will skate with Moreau and Cogliano, while Stortini returns to his usual spot on the fourth line with Reddox and Brodziak.

His teammates wasted no time trying to make him feel part of the team again.

Moreau said jokingly, “It's easier for him to come back compared to a skilled player.”

When Mark Connolly and I asked Pisani about that he replied, “He should know. Have you seen the puck after he handles it? It's chipped up badly,” laughed Pisani.

Pisani is well-liked in the room, and Moreau went on to say how much of a boost it should be for the team.

Pisani does play a simple game, and since he doesn’t play very physical his conditioning shouldn’t be an issue.

Grebeshkov will not play tonight, but thinks he might be able to go on Saturday.

The last time the Blue Jackets were in town, it was the Ales Hemsky show. He scored twice, had two assists and basically beat the Blue Jackets himself. Hemsky has been okay of late, but he needs to amp up his game again. The Blue Jackets have been a good match up for the Oilers offensively this year, and they sounded like a confident bunch at the skate today.

Of course that doesn’t guarantee a solid effort, but for unexplained reasons this team has been able to ramp their game up at this time of the year before, excluding 2007.

Spotlight on coaches

Ken Hitchcock goes for win #501 tonight. He became only the 12th coach to win 500 games when the Jackets beat the Leafs last Thursday.

Pat Burns is next in line with 501.

Here is the top ten.

  1. Scotty Bowman: 1244-574-323
  2. Al Arbour: 782-577-248
  3. Dick Irvin: 692-527-230
  4. Mike Keenan: 660-539-163
  5. Pat Quinn: 657-481-180
  6. Bryan Murray: 620-465-154
  7. Billy Reay: 542-385-175
  8. Ron Wilson: 539-452-158
  9. Jacques Lemaire: 528-405-172
  10. Jacques Martin: 517-406-175

Pretty exclusive company for Hitchcock, but the Oilers are hoping he waits to tie Burns for at least another two days.

But wait, there's more!

And what were the Penguins thinking? Why not just sign Ryan Malone to the $4.5 million contract in the summer. Is Chris Kunitz better? Of course not. Ray Shero must have something else up his sleeve or Ryan Whitney has completely lost his game. I’m betting on the former.

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One of Canada's most versatile sports personalities. Jason hosts The Jason Gregor Show, weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m., on the TEAM 1260. He writes a column every Monday in the Edmonton Journal and appears every Sunday on Global TV. You can follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/JasonGregor
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Reply #51 Deep Oil February 26 2009, 04:08PM
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Ender the Dragon wrote:

@ Deep Oil: You don’t need any help with that.

Thanks ETD - how's the book coming ?

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Reply #52 swany February 26 2009, 04:11PM
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Ender the Dragon wrote:

BUCK75 - FMNF wrote: Wow Gregor - just heard you said the rake is in TO?!?! Can’t find any confirmation of this anywhere yet. If it’s true, Gregor really has the scoop.

It was a TSN alert not done yet and they pulled it the alert was Prongs for Antropov,Stajan,and a 2nd round pick.

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Reply #53 Dennis February 26 2009, 04:16PM
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Geez, I don't have a lot of confidence in Lowebellini knowing they were interested in Kunitz.

Then again, maybe this is gonna be as good as it gets for the scoring winger to play with 89 in the present and future.

At first blush I wouldn't want the guy because of his ~3.5 mill cap hit but then again, 12's current cap hit is 2 mill so would you want that upgrade for just an extra 1.5 mill?

Speaking of 12, from today's pre-game scrum, it seems like he's directly in the firing line. It makes sense because he's getting paid and he's not producing but MacT didn't have a lot of time to say good things about him today so I'd put him up there with 78 as the first guys out the door.

Oilers are now running with a 15-6-2 format with F-D-G so the first move you see is 78 for a dman and then 49 gets sent back to SF.

I'll say 12 might hang on until the summer when he's moved for an inexpensive D while one of the costly D are moved for a forward.

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Reply #54 Jason Gregor February 26 2009, 04:21PM
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BUCK75 - FMNF wrote:

Wow Gregor - just heard you said the rake is in TO?!?!

NO I said that I had three friends who subscribe to tsn alert on their cell, got a message stating there was a trade with Antropov, Stajan and a 2nd for the Human rake....details to follow on tsn.ca

It never happened, and I found it interesting that something like that would get sent out even if it was an accident. BUT I never said it had happened. Just to clarity.

As for Slats...he has 497 career wins for those curious.

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Reply #55 Deep Oil February 26 2009, 04:24PM
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Jack "FMNF" Bauer wrote:

Who is going to be in net for us tonight dare I ask?

Is that a rhetorical question from you 24? MacT is in survival mode - bet on Roloson again - groundhog day.

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Reply #56 Bruthah February 26 2009, 04:25PM
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Jason Gregor wrote:

As for Slats…he has 497 career wins for those curious.

It's funny that Slats didn't step in for the rest of the season just to break 500 wins..... or is he just worried he wouldn't get there?

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Reply #57 Smokin' Ray February 26 2009, 04:35PM
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GAME DAY!!!

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Reply #58 shakey February 26 2009, 04:46PM
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Deep Oil... Some days you're the dude in the know. Some days you're the dude yelling at the stop sign.

Which one is it today?

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Reply #59 Ender the Dragon February 26 2009, 04:58PM
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@ shakey:

There are some pretty upset stop signs in the previous blog.

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Reply #60 Bruno February 26 2009, 04:59PM
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shakey wrote:

Rick, I’m usually on the ‘what the f**k is Reddox doing here’ bandwagon but I thought he played pretty well last game. He did something positive every shift and made a great shot block near the end of the game.

Im on that bus too ,

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Reply #61 Ender the Dragon February 26 2009, 05:04PM
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Deep Oil wrote:

MacT is in survival mode - bet on Roloson again - groundhog day.

Still, though, I don't necessarily think that's a bad decision. If JDD plays against Ottawa next week and costs you two points, you suck it up and life goes on. But if JDD plays tonight and ends up costing you four, that might be a decision harder for MacT to defend, especially if the Jackets make the playoffs and we don't.

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Reply #62 Deep Oil February 26 2009, 05:16PM
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shakey wrote:

Deep Oil… Some days you’re the dude in the know. Some days you’re the dude yelling at the stop sign. Which one is it today?

Definitely in the know - but not happy today - this 0.500 hockey is so boring - the parity is deafening.

This site gives KLOWE a pass - he has most of you at your knee's giving praise - wake up and smell the coffee here that LOWE got the job adhoc when Slats left and he has been learning on the job every since - here you have a former hockey player managing millions - not very well I might add. Do we have a forensic capologist - didn't think so - thought I would throw in forensic as it sounds important - we are not in court as of yet....

I don't like yelling at stop signs - but get a devious thrill speeding through photo radar with snow on my license plate.

Running with scissors is on my list as well.

Cheers, Remember to take your meds.

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Reply #63 Deep Oil February 26 2009, 05:24PM
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Ender the Dragon wrote:

Deep Oil wrote: MacT is in survival mode - bet on Roloson again - groundhog day. Still, though, I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad decision. If JDD plays against Ottawa next week and costs you two points, you suck it up and life goes on. But if JDD plays tonight and ends up costing you four, that might be a decision harder for MacT to defend, especially if the Jackets make the playoffs and we don’t.

I think given the circumstances JDD will have splinters in his butt - cant play the tough games and a non conference match that you are supposed to win - is a must win as well.

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Reply #64 Deep Oil February 26 2009, 05:25PM
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Ender the Dragon wrote:

@ shakey: There are some pretty upset stop signs in the previous blog.

No they don't yell back and cheaper than professional counselling.....

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Reply #65 Jonathan Willis February 26 2009, 06:49PM
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@ Deep Oil:

Yeah, this site keeps giving Kevin Lowe a pass.

I sometimes wonder if you even believe your ramblings.

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Reply #66 Andrew W February 26 2009, 06:58PM
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@Deep Oil,

"Do we have a forensic capologist - didn’t think so"

I'm surprised you don't know that Rick Olczyk is the Oil's capologist. For all of your ranting and raving, normally it's at least well informed.

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Reply #67 Hockey Gods February 26 2009, 06:59PM
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Deep Oil wrote:

not very well I might add. Do we have a forensic capologist

Holy f*ck he used a period. It's still not a complete sentence, and I still think he is yelling at a stop sign, but he is incorporating puncuation. Oh my boy is getting so growed up... **sigh**

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Reply #68 Colin February 26 2009, 07:17PM
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no posts and the game is underway?

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Reply #69 Travis Dakin February 26 2009, 07:40PM
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Holy man, settle down everybody. This thread is getting out of control....

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Reply #70 Travis Dakin February 26 2009, 07:51PM
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That's better.

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Reply #71 Poo Czar February 26 2009, 07:52PM
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Anybody ever notice Fernando's eyes? They're somewhat unusual. Just sayin...

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Reply #72 Hockey Gods February 26 2009, 07:52PM
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Thanks for calming this down TD, this thing was getting raunchy.

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Reply #73 Fiveandagame February 26 2009, 08:02PM
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hey guys the usual interweb feed has NO hockey games listed. any of you smart guys know where a feller can get a free feed?

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Reply #74 socaldave February 26 2009, 08:05PM
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channelsurfing.net , scroll down and voila

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Reply #75 jeanshorts February 26 2009, 08:17PM
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HEY GUYS SORRY I'M LATE DID I MISS AN..... wha? Hello?

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Reply #76 Fiveandagame February 26 2009, 08:36PM
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so cal dave you are a god send!

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Reply #77 Didsdave February 26 2009, 08:40PM
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There are fans in the stands that paid to watch this??? I want to puke. This second period has to rank as one of the worst in history.

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Reply #78 The Towel Boy February 26 2009, 08:45PM
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Monday Guy just sent me a text from the game:

You can let the Nation know that from sec114 the game is borderline sh!tacular.

Well Monday Guy...from my couch...the game looks borderline sh!tacular as well.

...I'm gonna go back to sleep now.

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Reply #79 oilersordeath February 26 2009, 08:56PM
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What an ugly game!! Just sickening to watch, give me something to cheer for boys!! not heart at all

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Reply #80 bingofuel February 26 2009, 09:02PM
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booooooooooooooooring

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Reply #81 bingofuel February 26 2009, 09:03PM
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wow, torres scores? that's salt in the wounds.

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Reply #82 Travis Dakin February 26 2009, 09:09PM
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And now he's hurt. Carma is a bitch. This sucks.

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Reply #83 Travis Dakin February 26 2009, 09:10PM
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Stupid internt! BE MORE FUNNY

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Reply #84 Fiveandagame February 26 2009, 09:12PM
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What did one snow man say to the other.....

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Reply #85 Fiveandagame February 26 2009, 09:13PM
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Do you smell carrots?

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Reply #86 Fiveandagame February 26 2009, 09:13PM
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I hope ethan moreau gets sent to russia......

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Reply #87 Travis Dakin February 26 2009, 09:14PM
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@ Fiveandagame: I appreciate the effort.

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Reply #88 Fiveandagame February 26 2009, 09:14PM
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Good to know this team shows up when things matter.

No point in the playoffs if this is what they bring.

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Reply #89 Fiveandagame February 26 2009, 09:15PM
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What do you get when you cross a garden tool with a retarded Donkey?

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Reply #90 Fiveandagame February 26 2009, 09:16PM
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Chris Pronger

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Reply #91 tommy February 26 2009, 09:16PM
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Dear Santa

My name is Tommy. I know christmas is not coming for a long time but I wanted to get in line early. Please bring my dad and his friends a hockey team. The one we have now is broken and doesn't win very often. My dad drinks a lot when they don't win and my mom is unhappy.

Tommy

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Reply #92 Travis Dakin February 26 2009, 09:16PM
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haha Me like.

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Reply #93 Fiveandagame February 26 2009, 09:16PM
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What do you get when you cross a goat with bottle of whiskey?

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Reply #94 Fiveandagame February 26 2009, 09:17PM
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Craig MacTavish

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Reply #95 Fiveandagame February 26 2009, 09:17PM
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What do you get when you cross Corky from Life goes on with Captain Kangaroo?

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Reply #96 Fiveandagame February 26 2009, 09:18PM
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Ethan Moreau

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Reply #97 Fiveandagame February 26 2009, 09:19PM
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What do you get when you cross heart with raw skill?

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Reply #98 Fiveandagame February 26 2009, 09:19PM
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I don't know either cause it's been a long time since I've seen it on home ice.

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Reply #99 oilersordeath February 26 2009, 09:22PM
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Fans need their money back! What a sad team. No playoffs again this year, the way they are playing today just showed why. How can Katz keep allowing this?

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Reply #100 tommy February 26 2009, 09:23PM
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Dear Tommy

I don't to disappoint you but I'm Santa not God. Mrs Claus has a drinking problem as well so I know what your mom is going through. Good luck son.

Santa

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