What makes you think Ryan Jones would get more time than Hemsky?

Renney has shown us that Lines 1,2,3,4 have no absolute assurance of ice time in comparison to one another. The 2nd line (Horc/Smyth/Jones) Sees more time than our 1st line (Hall/Ebs/RNH). And on that 2nd line, Ryan Jones has the least amount of time with a ball-park avg of ~14-15mins/game. His Linemates are over 20mins/game.

If Hemsky comes out guns a blazin, i think it's a limited way of thinking that would have us believe he'll see less ice time than players with lower production.

In all honesty i think we should throw the line numbers out the window and look at them more of Character/Chemistry Pairings. Which ever lines are most effective against the opponent of the night will see the most Ice time. We're a lucky team to have a '3rd line' of Hemsky/Gag/Prv.

To add to my previous comment about keeping Omark with MPS on the second unit pp, we were not more than 5 games or so in to the season when Omark began to sit out 5 straight. How in that short of time and given how productive he was last year can a guy suddenly be out. Especially so when Lander just arrived, he was supposed to be in the OKC. Jones IMO has a longer leash. Gagner although injured at the start of the season and since coming back has not been lights out either. Some coaches have their favorite players and some just do not have chemistry with certain players.

I Honestly think Omark is a victim of the 60 games rule.

I like Omark, but he's on the fence at the moment; meaning he doesn't have a solid spot because they Couldn't afford to give him the Game time to adjust and fit in while still keeping him under the 60 game limit.

The only real way he would have broke free of this situation, IMO, is if he came out like RNH and wowed offensively for a bit.

I did, conclusion is that you are somehow related to Linus Omark.

EDIT : Tried to quote, did it wrong, this is in response to comment 103 by A-MC

Amen. That is my feeling as well. Just because Omark is sent down doesn't mean his career is over and he is never coming back.

It means we needed roster space to figure out what to do with the bodies we have.

Him, and Lander, are simply the best choices to go down because they don't have to clear waivers.

Heaven forbid we send down Gagner and lose him on waivers. Then everyone would be screaming about poor asset management.

This year is all about auditions for next year and beyond. Despite our dramtic start, lets be honest and admit we aren't going to be competing for the cup in round 4.

That being said, the decisions made this year (Hemsky long term vs trade, Gagner, Omark) will have an effect on the future and better to be handled slow and proper.

Just my $.02

Tiger - I think the point was that Renney knows more than you do about hockey, and certainly more about the chemistry and team dynamics inside the room. Maybe I disagree and should send your resume to info@edmontonoilers.com

I agree Omark isn't great defensively but I dont think his defensive zone coverage was that bad either. I think the main issue was his turnovers at or just inside the offensive blue line. Gagner turns over the puck a ton too, and his defensive coverage is no better than Omarks. His -17 last year somewhat attests to that. Gagner has been protected and babied his whole career so of course he's going to get the benefit of the doubt when he's not producing.

I have no issues with Omark being sent down. He hasn't played well. I think in OKC he will be able to light it up and gain some confidence. He can come up and step right in once Gagner is traded.

I would like to see Hemsky play with Horcoff and Jones slide down with Belanger. That would set us up with the kid line as all offense against the softs, Horcoff's line against the toughs and still produce offensively and Belanger's line against the seconds.

Personally I think Gagner will be in real tough on this team. There are better offensive options now and I see his production taking a huge dip this year. I think we'll be lucky if he scores 35 points.

And I think Tiger's point was that he is allowed to disagree with the coaches and management. If fans didn't disagree, then there would be no need for a discussion board. Of course Renney and Tambellini know more about the team and hockey in general than most of us. But they aren't always right and it makes for great conversation to talk about what we might do different. It is one of the great things about being a fan!

Mactavish played Thoreson and Toby Peterson on the PP and 1st line at times. Of course that was the right decision, right? I'm sure you agreed with it? I mean, how can you disagree with a coach who got his team to the SCF?

Give your head a shake. Coaches make crazy and inexplainable decisions all the time. If you agree with every decision Renney makes why are you even on this site. What's there to discuss then?

I sure hope he starts up soon. He's a notoriously slow starter and I think he's looked better each game he plays. The emergence of RNH and the good health of Horcoff have certainly changed the lay of the land.

I still think that he can fit in long term as the 2C when Horcoff becomes less reliable offensively. However, the old balls are playing like it's 2006 out there, so I agree with you that Gagner will be in tough to get the minutes.

I think he finishes with over 40 again though. If Gregor is right about a 91-89-83 line then I see the points starting to come again.

Dallas also played Peterson on the PP .... in the third round of the playoffs and Detroit played Justin Abdelkater on the 1st line... in the SCF.

Fans think coaches make crazy decisions all the time (though I'm sure they do the odd time) because fans live in a bubble and don't realize what they see as a "crazy decision" is actually common practice amoungst the pros.

I can hardly believe all the enlightening commentary coming out today. Thank you for this.

One thing though - how are you going to send them my resume? Where did you get it?

I can see how people see Gagner as expendable with RNH here and Horc (and a lesser extent Belanger) playing excellent hockey. I can see how it looks like he doesn't fit with the team anymore.

But it's pretty poor long term planning if we are banking on two guys creeping up on 35 to provide secondary scoring for much longer.... especially when I've been told for years that Horc is a 3rd... or even 4th liner at best by 90% of the site.

The good news for Gagner is that the old balls will not be around long term. Gagner can be.

91-89-83 would be a very interesting line.

Edit: Having guys for Gagner to play behind is not a bad thing, not for his development or for the teams bottom line long term.

I have to agree that he has looked better the last game or two. I was actually impressed with the jump he had before the ankle issue but when he came back it was like he was skating in quicksand. He's starting to get some flow back in his stride again.

We will see if and how he plays with Hemsky. I really haven't seen a lot of chemistry between those two in the past. If Gagner struggles on the dot they may be playing without the puck quite a bit as I don't see them being real strong puck retrieval players. Only time will tell. Having a 3rd line scoring would really pick up this team and take some pressure off the kids, especially on the road, so I hope they can produce.

You should wiki sarcasm.

Obviously I'd prefer higher FO% to lower FO%.... whowever most people blow FO ability way out of proportion.

A guy like Gagner is going to take 10 - 12 FO per game.... so the difference between him at 40% vs 50% is really only +/- one win per game.

Is that really going to make that big of a difference?

Spot on sir. Its silly to get rid of depth. Developing players is what we should be all about and it finally looks like that is the moves we are making. Also you should consider that's way too early to give up on Omark. He has little value to trade away and the upside of his developement could be a huge boon.

I agree faceoffs are overblown to a degree so let me rephrase my previous comment. Off faceoffs or anytime they don't have possession, they may struggle to regain possession and I can see them getting cycled in their own zone. On the flip side, I've been impressed with Paajarvi's ability to read plays and pick off pucks up the boards in the offensive zone that should allow Hemsky and Gagner to keep sustained pressure in the offensive zone.

As I said previously, only time will tell. I'm as curious as anyone to see how that line plays. I can see if it struggles that Hemsky will get moved up with Horcoff and Smytty and Jones gets moved down.

A couple of things. People thinking Belanger is "playing excellent hockey"are a bit off the mark. Other than his FO prowess, if anything he's been a boat anchor for PRV and Gagner.

Also, worth a read:

http://www.coppernblue.com/2011/11/1/2528166/linus-omark-shooting-percentage-and-the-illusion-of-validity

Me and OB1 must have really got that kid all hot and bothered because he had to turn around and write an article all about it.

I'm looking forward to his article about Omark heading back to Europe.

OR whoever it was that I was answering should consider proofreading. I'm no grammar nazi but when their entire meaning is changed by their mistake I will comment. If he meant to say it how he did then it was kind of weird.

I believe, based on my own comment which you blockquoted, that my sense of sarcasm is more or less fully intact. I generally prefer irony however. ;)

right on spot!The team have problems because Rnh made the team and lander also .

What to do with omark? i think they trying hard to trade him away because if he tears up the ahl and makes 4 more games up hes needed to clear waivers to go down again(875k) and we lose him for nothing! I hope they doesnt trade him inside our conference so it hurt us later.

Too many quality forwards is a good thing. The challenge for the Oilers is to find ways of increasing their value.

I would like to see MPS and Lander join Omark in OKC. Give them a dozen games, play the three together for twenty minutes a night and let them get really comfortable playing together.

Despite how well RNH is doing, I would also like to see him play the WJ's. I believe he would benefit from participating in that tournament. Bring back the Swede line at that time, give them quality minutes, and see what they're capable of.

Interesting idea, but then what do you do with the NHL line-up?

Kid line

Jo-Smhoe line

Hemsky, Belanger, Gagner

Eager, Brule, Petrell ???

Maybe swap Hemsky for Jones, Gagner slots to the middle between Jones and Petrell moving Belanger to the fourth between Eager and Harti... I dunno. I like the idea of the swedes getting prime playing time in OKC to boost their confidence but it just seems that would leave to many questions on the big team eh.

Also, while RNH in the WJ's would be cool, the way he is playing there is no way that is even an option. Maybe if he wasn't doing FREAKIN AWESOME!!! it might have been an idea but yeah not gonna happen ;)

A guess, based on the fact that he's a former fourth round pick that is meeting fourth round expectations (i.e. a marginal NHL'er). Perhaps I'm being too generous? I mean, if it hadn't been for all of those injuries to a last place team, he would have never been given the opportunity to play 51 NHL games (and score 5 goals!) last season. Maybe I've become biased by those YouTube highlights like the rest of his fans?

I'm on my way!

Edit: Ha Ha!! It took until the second comment in the POSTGAME article that a lottery pick is coming, and poster Cmon, I'm Ollie Jokinen says: "Lottery pick here we come!!!! Yeah, baby!!!! I can promise you there will be no mad dash to mediocrity at the end of this season. Columbus and the Flames will be battling for last spot in the West. When all is said and done, the Flames will be drafting Yakupov or Murray this summer."

Well.... all of a sudden, it's not such a bad idea eh?

Somebody over at Flames Nation said it the best (not a direct quote): The Flames rebuild isn't going to be Edmonton. But it isn't going to be Philly either.

I thought it was a great analogy.

My question is this:

What do the numbers say about Penner?

The Flmaes rebuild is going to be Toronto. They don't have the young peices that eith Philly did or even what we did. Its going to be ungly for a long time in Cowtown.

who knew a thread on Omark would lead to such infighting among the Oil faithful... oh wait, this is just like all the other treads but on steroids!

I'm glad Omark is in OKC. He needs to play. Sitting on the bench is a terrible option for a young(ish) player still trying to figure out his pro. role. Also, I can't think of a viable scenario on the Oil for him right now, other than Platooning him with someone... and that creates the same problem... parcelling out minutes to young players still developing is against their interest and against the interest of the team in building a cohesive, steady playing force.

Glad he didn't throw a fit and opt for SEL. He still has a role to play in Oilersnation and is first on the call-up list for his position. He'll be given lots more chances this year to prove himself... hope he manages it... or, at least finds success back home or somewhere else.