Every Single Thing Darcy Hordichuk Did
Jonathan Willis
January 27 2013 10:14AM
Saturday night versus the Calgary Flames, Darcy Hordichuk made his 2013 debut for the Edmonton Oilers. He had four shifts, and played a whopping 1:11, all of it coming in the first period. After the jump, every single thing that Hordichuk did on Saturday night.
Shift One
This is Darcy Hordichuk (16 for Edmonton) entering the ice for his first shift. Ralph Krueger sent the fourth line out for a defensive zone draw, and had Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (93 for Edmonton) take Hordichuk’s spot, just in case Belanger was tossed from the circle (which is an interesting choice in its own right). After gaining possession, Nugent-Hopkins passed the puck off to Petrell (37 for Edmonton) at centre and went ot the bench to allow Hordichuk on the ice.
Hordichuk was the trailer on this play, and Petrell tried to pass to him but the puck redirected off a Flames stick; Hordichuk continued on to the net and then wheeled around.
Here he is at the blue line. After the puck went towards the blue line Petrell got on his horse and stalled the Flames breakout, eventually forcing a turnover; Hordichuk will quickly touch the puck and then immediately pass it into Eric Belanger’s skates, at which point it ricochets deep into Calgary’s zone.
The Flames chase the ricochet down and finally break out, but are stymied thanks to the efforts of Petrell and Smid. Jeff Petry takes the puck and passes it to Belanger, who in turn forwards it to Hordichuk on the offensive side of centre ice.
Hordichuk can’t handle the pass; it bounces off his stick and the Flames gain possession.
Hordichuk can’t catch up to Dennis Wideman, who takes possession and passess off to T.J. Brodie. He can’t catch up to Brodie, either, who skates up and makes a pass without trouble. After Brodie makes the pass he just glides, so Hordichuk angles towards him and throws a late but harmless hit (at the very edge of the screen). Brodie had passed the puck while inside the defensive zone faceoff circle; Hordichuk catches up with him just inside the Flames’ blue line.
Shift Two
This comes right after the Flames crashed the Oilers’ crease to make it a 1-0 hockey game.
Flames win the draw; Hordichuk goes on the forecheck.
After Petrell and Justin Schultz engage at the side boards (Petrell landing a big hit on Sven Baertschi) the Flames get the puck out; Hordichuk follows it back to his own end. Side note here: Eric Belanger picked up on Justin Schultz’s aggressive pinch immediately and responded accordingly, getting back to make this a 2-on-2 rather than 2-on-1 rush for Calgary.
Calgary gets a not especially threatening shot off, Dubnyk stops it, and that’s it for this shift.
Shift Three
Ryan Smyth (94 for Edmonton) dumps the puck in; Magnus Paajarvi (91 for Edmonton) will briefly pressure and then circle to the bench; Shawn Horcoff (10 for Edmonton) is already changing. On comes the fourth line.
T.J. Brodie collects the puck and sets up for the breakout; Darcy Hordichuk forechecks. Brodie will pass cross-ice and slightly behind him to Dennis Wideman.
Wideman (26 for Calgary) surveys his options; Hordichuk gave Brodie a little tap with the stick and then circled around to put pressure on Wideman.
Wideman takes his sweet time and then finally passes as Hordichuk lumbers into him. Hordichuk lands a good hit, and Wideman’s pass goes directly to Petrell – basically the definition of a successful forecheck.
The Oilers are bunched up a little bit because of Hordichuk switching wings – both Petrell and Belanger were already on the left side – but Justin Schultz (19 for Edmonton) jumps in to offer them a right wing option.
Petrell smartly decides to pass to Schultz, but his pass is no good – he’s sent the puck not even to where Schultz is, let alone to where he is going to be, but rather to where he was.
Eric Belanger, however, makes a quick play here, getting his stick on the puck. He can’t control the puck – he’d been going to the net, then turned suddenly and got his stick out – but he does manage to redirect it to Schultz. This isn’t really Hordichuk-related, but Belanger’s had a tough stint in Edmonton so it seemed only fair to highlight this particular nice play.
Schultz takes the puck, and Hordichuk goes to the net with his stick down. Schultz opts for the shot instead of the pass, which Kiprusoff handles fairly easily.
This is where Hordichuk does something stupid. He decides to crosscheck Dennis Wideman. The puck’s frozen (and Kiprusoff is on the other side of the net), the play is effectively over, and Wideman’s been nowhere near the puck since the last time Hordichuk hit him.
Wideman goes flying, a minor scrum ensues, and the Flames go on the power play.
Shift Four
Three seconds after Hordichuk’s penalty expires, Jay Bouwmeester’s shot squeaks between Devan Dubnyk’s legs and the Flames have a 2-0 lead. Hordichuk never makes it to the Oilers zone in time to be involved in the play; all he gets to do is collect a minus.
With more than 45 minutes left in the game, this is the last time that Darcy Hordichuk will appear on the ice. He did not have a good shift in the game. On his first, he made a bad pass, couldn’t handle a pass on his stick, and then threw a late hit. He didn’t get a chance to do much of anything on his second shift. He makes a great forecheck on his third shift, which results in a big hit and a turnover, but he negates all that by taking a bad penalty. His fourth shift lasted all of three seconds as he skated out of the box just in time to collect a minus on the Bouwmeester goal.
Recently by Jonathan Willis
Weak Fist - just like Darcy's play last night. What good is his physical presence when it nets nothing except a penalty the leads to a goal...I agree with his being stapled to the bench. Accountability my friends, accountability.
Calgary manhandled your Oilers, I laugh at all these so called experts. Oilers are too small on their top 2 lines. Can't win faceoffs and are physically weak as a team.
I don't know if you know that teams like Vancouver St Louis LA are trying to get better with 2 way players with size on their top 2 lines.
You Edmonton fans can continue your with your party line but this team is going nowhere until it changes its philosophy.
Don't get mad at me , the results speak for themselves.
More Harti less Hordi. He should have played last night.
@Joel
On the other hand, if we're going for a 'results speak for themselves' line, shouldn't we note that the Oilers beat Vancouver on Sunday and L.A. on Thursday?
Of course, it would be crazy to do that because it's all academic. One game is almost entirely meaningless for any team, and a week into the season is way too early to be divining anything from the results (last year at this time, five of six eventual division winners were outside the playoff picture; the lone exception, Phoenix, was 8th in the West).
Time for changes,we have been patient fans but year after year it is the same thing,like watching re-runs of gilligans island.Hall,Ebs,Yaks,Rnh,Hemsky,schultz,shultz,petry and smid all stay,get hatri playing full time,butWhitney,ganger,belanger,hordi,horcoff,smyth and dubnyk need to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!last night the kids came out flying and playing there style but our back end caved and we were behind AGAIN,you could see our style of play changed and again a loss.we need a couple of monsters(2nd line center,one defence)to help with physical play,and we need a star goalie to allow these kids to play!Dubnyk will never get these kids over the top,whitney will never return to form,horcoff looks like he should be delivering gatorade to the boys,anyone who doubts this is smoking something good,just add pronger and a hot rollie(circa2006)to this team and see the difference and confidence difference if the group.time to use ganger,klefbom,musil,first and 2nd round picks to make a big trade(throw dubnyk in there to!)buy out horcoff,wave byebye to habbi at the end of the year and dont let the door hit whitney on the way out!WE WANT TO START WINNING!
I agree 1 game is meaningless, but this team has been a fast small team with great potential for years. I see a trend.
Oilers were suppose to be great at the beginning of this season because of the core playing in the AHL, well teams will be able to manhandle this team. They need strength in their top 2 lines, obviously easier said then done. A guy like O'Reilly would be a great addition to this team, because of his strength and tenacity .
Why should I think the philosophy will change with Lowe and Tambo. They are building an all-star team with no heart.
Sure, Hordichuk may not deserve a roster spot and sure, Dubnyk may really be shaved Sasquatch on skates, but I'd still rather have our lineup than the Flames'. As an aside, isn't "the Shaved Sasquatch" the name of one of Calgary's peeler bars?
First Willis I love these vignet/sequence commentary articles they are very good.
I was at the game and concur. I felt that just prior to the penalty that a 4th line energy player like Hordichuk needs a couple of shifts to get ready, but if he had not taken that stupid penalty he would have been an impact player for this game.
What makes the penalty even more brutal is that with the referee duo of Tweetie Dumb and Dumber at the helm any play like that after whistle and around the net was going to be an automatic minor and luckily he had no visor or we could have been sent scrambling to our rules books once again. Surely a coach like Kreuger cautioned the team in a pre-game thus making his sit on the bench academic.
btw I hate Calgary. . .
It's his first game of the season with no preseason, give the guy a break Willis
@Joel
I am not sure what game people watched but the Oilers did not get manhandled last night. On the contrary Calgary kept them to the outside, gave sight lines for Kipper, executed its down low cycle offence and the refs kept the focus on them and did not allow any emotion in - Game Over.
Edmonton responded with a goalie who let in two of the softest goals of his career and did not get enough shots on net (4 in Period 2 and 6 in last frame - Cmon Man!).
This team scores enough they need a goalie and TEAM defence to achieve a .900 save percentage (currently .884) - this offence will score enough after that.
J.W., not to assail your efforts here, as your one of the best at this game, and I like this segment, however, why in the world you choose to highlight a guy like Hordichuck who plays 4 minutes a game and is never a difference maker?
There were so many other areas, like the uncharacteristic offerings of the first defensive pairings, or the continuous "watch me dangle displays", that ended up in broken plays and puck control. The Team is not playing like a Team. They need to get the message that it requires hard work, talent alone will not do.
I would suggest foreget the press clippings boys, roll up your sleeves and get to work!.
Honestly we are struggling 5 on 5. Our power play has saved us so far this year. We keep looking for the perfect goal instead of taking a lot of shots and go to the net. Plus We are getting zero energy or scoring opportunities from our 3 or 4 lines. That's why horkoff only played 12:30 minutes last night. This club has some exciting pieces but a lot of holes also.
@Oiler Al
Mostly just because I saw he'd only played 1:11, and I wanted to get a look at everything he'd done.
It's not often you can capture a player's entire night in one of these pieces.
I was at the game last night.......I'm sure there were as many Oiler Fans at the game as there were Calgary Fans.
Edmonton will not win many games if they insist on taking penalties. Hordichuck was NOT the primary issues as you article suggests. This is what happens when you only play a few minutes any given game.......you try too much to make an impact and end up paying the price like Hordi did last night.
I for one think that the first and second lines need to be altered a little. Hemsky still plays an individual game ( watch me carry the puck end to end) and does not work on the second line. Move him to the third line where he has some chemistry with Horcoff and Smyth. Move Hartikianen to the first line where he can creat some space for Eberle and RNH and move Hall to Gagner and Yukapov's line. Both Hall and Yukapov play a high speed game and Gagner is quite adept at moving the puck.
Krueger was out coached as much as the Oilers were out played.
I was at the game last night.
We can blame the refs, Hordichuk, soft goals, etc. I guess they all played a part.
In my opinion, the single biggest thing obvious from the get go is that the team did not have their heads in the game. It was a replay of the San Jose game, though not quite as bad. Or maybe it was as bad, and Calgary just isn't as good as San Jose. In any case, it was easily the worst game the Oil have played so far. Even the Van and SJ games were really just one horrible period and two decent ones, while LA was a solid game overall.
The consequence of this lack of focus is that the team was simply not on the same page, with each other or with the Flamers.
In the defensive zone, it meant poor positioning and coverage of the Flames, an inability to control the puck when receiving it, being a step behind the other team when chasing pucks, and losing puck battles (often as a result of being in late).
In the offensive zone, it meant an inability to control the puck when receiving a pass, being a step behind the other team when chasing pucks, and losing puck battles (often as a result of being in late).
In the neutral zone, it was incompleted passes and turnovers by the dozen.
The only players that looked sharp were Schultz Jr, Eberle, on occasion Gagner, and surprisingly, Whitney, only because I didn't notice any glaring errors on his part. Unfortunately, Hall, RNH, Hemsky, Yak, Petry, and Schultz Sr all looked to be skating reasonably hard but their heads were in a fog most of the game. This also reduced the effectiveness of e.g. Eberle, since he couldn't really effectively pass or receive a pass from RNH or Hall, so the whole line was mostly ineffective.
The only time the Oilers looked like they had their head in the game was on the powerplay and in the urgency of the last two minutes of the game.
The net effect was four softies against, and two PP/one EN goals for.
I wish I knew for sure why it is the teams defensive coverage can be so solid one night and so terrible the next.
For now, the most likely explanation is that it is still early, and I think a lot of every teams (not just the Oiles) inconsistency game to game is because of that, so I see no reason to panic. I expect to see the "vs LA" team a whole lot more often than the "vs SJ" or "vs Cal" teams as the weeks go by.
I really don't know why Hordichuk is on the Oilers. He is a great guy in the community and good with fans, but...
If fans want to flash back a few years ago to when he was with the Canucks...
A) He couldn't win fights then, which is pretty damning for an enforcer B) He couldn't skate fast enough to keep up with the play and land legal hits
The Oilers fans rightfully made fun of him, no one in the division was intimdated by him, and the Canucks eventually dropped him in favor of guys like Rick Rypien,Tanner Glass and Dale Weiss, who can actually skate with the play... and actually win more of their fights if you go by the percentages on Hockeyfights.
Now Hordichuk is a few years older, and he still doesn't intimidate anyone. He can't keep up with the play, and the few hits he does land tend to be late and borderline penalties most of the time.
If you want an enforcer, get a real enforcer who can put fear into the other team. Or dress someone who can actually play.
But at least he didn't injure himself through a hit in his first game, like last year.
I was at a dinner party with a bunch of Flames' fans last night and didn't see much of the game, but I don't think Calgary dresses a Hordi type player these days. They've got more than a few guys who can chuck knuckles if the moment arises though.
Dinosaur.
@JW: Great piece, again.
Did you happen to see what Ebs was doing on the Glencross goal? A dman (Petry?) had pinched in the Calgary end (Oilers had the puck down there for a while), and Iginla skated the puck up his right wing on the breakout. The lone dman back was closing in on Iggy, and Ebs was coming back to cover the other side, when all of a sudden he's drawn over to the puck carrier, leaving the slot and far side wide open for Glencross to slam home Iginla's pass.
Was that Ebs responsibility, or was he covering for someone else's mistake?
Not trying to rag on Ebs (Wayne - talking to YOU), and he did make up for that alleged blunder by scoring a nice goal.
I like Darcy Hordichuk but he is just not good enough to play hockey in the NHL. He's not even good enough give 5 minutes of ice time to in what was by no means a "must-win" game.
And what ever happened to pounding the puck into the other teams end and chasing it down. Over and over again this year because we have all this talent, its carry it in or try to. The Opps team sees this and holds like blue line and the oilers forwards try to razzle dazzle their way in. Calgarys D is slow, there was no reason not to dump and chase.. only because if there is a reason we dont have the forwards that can pound. This team better beef it up. Its been like that all year, we will get away with it against some teams but not against most. Need to be bigger and tougher even if we have to sacrafice some talent to get it. Watch and see.
Next up: J.W. examines the full 71 second play by play of the guy in seat J16, section 104, who just bought a tray of nachos! Stay tuned! More exciting action coming your way!
@justDOit
I'd have to go back and look - I think I remember the play you're talking about but I'd want to check video to make sure.
There is clear, overwhelming evidence emerging to support carrying the puck in as the best offensive option. In fact, carrying it in results in double the scoring chances versus dump-and-chase.
RE: "Blaming" Hordichuk
These pieces aren't meant to capture the whole game, and despite Hordichuk's poor game nobody should read into this that I think he was solely at fault for the loss. He didn't help, but the Oilers as a team did lots of things wrong - and Calgary did some things right, too.
These pieces are designed to be a look at some small piece of the most recent game, rather than a comprehensive overview. When I'm watching the game, I flag a few things that I want to look at again, and then just pick the one that interests me the most - in this case, having a guy with just over a minute of ice-time offered the temptation of breaking down his entire contribution to the game, and I felt like doing that.
I'm afraid that leaves everybody hostage to my whims as to which play gets broken down, but hopefully I'll be able to pick plays that have broad appeal.
i totally agree with you and like your lines,hemsky is a one man show when ever he feels like it,which is not very often.he could be a top player in this league if he was motivated,but he is not,thus no chemisty with anyone.i would like to see hall ,gags,and yak together also.i wonder about managment everytime i see glencross,what were they thinking,and why isn't tootoo on our team?
Just watched the replay, and without knowing exactly what Ralph Krueger's instructions are, it's hard to speculate on what Eberle was supposed to do.
Eberle's position is tougher too because Nugent-Hopkins is basically covering the spot where Petry pinched from. RNH stayed with his man but didn't stay in front of the net, while Eberle seemed to think about going over but instead covered Bouwmeester towards the point.
If Eberle had played it differently it probably wouldn't have been a goal against, but I have trouble being too critical of him on that play - frankly, RNH probably should have stayed in front of the net given that he was covering for Petry, though it's easy to understand why he followed his man, too.
The game last night had the Oilers trying lots of dump and chase. They got beat to the puck more often than not, and when they did get there in time, they usually lost the puck battle.
Most of the few good chances came from trying to carry the puck in, but as you observed, the vast majority of those were miserable failures too.
JW, did you get the pics above from the Zapruder film? I noticed Wideman, after being hit by Hordichuk, went ... back and to the left, back and to the left. Maybe there was a 2nd enforcer? ;)
@Jonathan Willis
Thanks Jonathan. Agreed, without knowing RK's plan, it's impossible to determine if the plan failed, or failed to be executed by the troops.
That was one of the plays I saw last night, and while watching it develop, my thoughts went from 'oh, Ebs is back - ok, good...' to 'wha? where's he...'.
But boy, was his goal a beauty - surrounded in the slot by Flames, he takes a half-second more to stickhandle, gains a little more ice, and keeps Kipper guessing until the puck is in the net.
It's early in season folks, and without a proper TC, working a completely new plan in with the kids is going to take a while. Those of you camped out on Jasper Ave, waiting for the parade, might want to go back home and wait - a couple of years.
@Jonathan Willis
Hordichuk has no business being on the Oilers, and players like Hordichuk have no business being in the NHL-lack of actual hockey skill and ability.
Would you be able to find out what percentage of goals in the NHL have been scored on the powerplay so far this week?
I think this is a very concise summary. Nice job Lama.
Hemsky doesn't work very well with the younger guys, never did. He's still far too prone to dangling the length of the ice and losing the puck just inside the blueline - over and over and over and OVER!!!
As far as the lines go in general, with such a young, new team Kruger has been forced to do in-game evaluations as opposed to seeing who best works with who in exhibition games. I don't think he's being out coached as much as out knowledged. Opposing teams know who works with who, and have some level of confidence regarding their levels of performance.
It's my opinion that the young guys, while having played in lesser leagues during the lockout, are still readjusting to the NHL. Hall is off, and so is NUUUUGE.
Gagner/Yak is starting to gel. But at the end of the day Yak is 4 games into an NHL career, so once again Sam draws the short stick. Too bad because Sam is ON IT this year.
I like your suggestion of Hall, Gagner, Yak. They're fast and Sam is starting to define himself as a great trailing set-up/"cleaning up the garbage" player. That combo has GOT to be better than it currently is with Hemsky.
Lastly, as happened last year the vets are not carrying their share of the mail. Smyth is looking ooooold. Horcoff is...well...Horcoff. Belanger is given' 'er but there's nothing going on there either. And man could we use Ryan Jones (can't believe I'm saying that) on that third line. At least he goes all-in every game and (SHOCKER!) scores once in a while.
[SIDEBAR] *Just wanted to say thanks to the Oilers Nation gods for that sweet edit button. Now if you could just get on the OILERS NATION ART GALLERY.
So far this season, a little under one-third of all goals scored have come on the power play, a little over two-thirds at even-strength, and a tiny fraction while shorthanded.
Im no expert but i would trade a meaningless prospect or a 5th - 7th round pick for Patrick Maroon... give him a flyer in the big league. See if he can play on the fourth line and with skill and a bit of physical play. And do the same for Anthony Stewart. More skilled but a big guy for the forecheck. Then most likely waive Hordi.
With the options of Eager/Petrell/Belanger/Maroon/Stewart That could be a big physical 4th line that can actually take a regular shift.
@Jonathan Willis
Thanks pal
Keep up the good work ;-')
I honestly was under the impression that it would have been higher than one third on the PP. It seems a lot higher when you watch the highlights.
@kawi460
We could have had Maroon for free last week: he was put on waivers.
@Oilanderp
i was kinda disapointed we didn't claime him... stewart was also waived i beleive by the Kings.
I'm unsure, but once you clear waivers you don't have to go through them again? So it might be a nice option they could be sent up and down and had at low price.
After reading about the oilers being too small,no heart,etc. etc. people seem to forget that the core is still very young..I am tired of idiots ramming Sam Gagner for either being to small.no good at the dot,no heart and on and on...This guy is only 23..seems to me he scored the game winner the other night..his faceoffs are better than last year...and his HEART...its right up there..he has passion..this guy is getting better..anyone that does not see this is obviously a young dude complaining from his mom's house,probably never played hockey in his life.. ---I agree that the oilers need some more pieces to be contenders ...Ryan Whitney is done as an Oiler..Kabby will be gone(what A waste of time and money)and we do need a bigger center to replace Horcough..Ryan Smith is near the end..with 2 or 3 pieces this team will be very good for years..
Sadly, this is how he looks in his 30th game with a full slate of pre-season games too.
@Rick Carriere..die hard oiler fan
I agree... don't forget gagner is pretty gritty. He plays bigger than he is and fought Johnson and Kesler. Give everything he's got. thats all you can ask for. But since the oilers have a smaller top 6 i would like to see a bigger bottom 6 to balance it out. But guys that can play. Harti will replace smyth and it may be possible to trade horcoff when he's contract is almost up to a team the needs to make the cap floor when his actual pay is less than the cap hit.
As for the d. Schultz/Schultz, Smid/Petry seem good and Fistric is solid so far... but they will need to replace whitney.
@dawgbone
I don't even know why he was in.. they didn't dress him against the more physical teams and the flames didn't even dress Jackman
id pay hundreds of thousands of dollars (8 of them to be exact) for such a quality contribution to team hockey.
is there any way some of the stat dorks could do this all year and put money blips above him in the pics like a video game for how much he gets paid out of that 850k for what he does on the ice?
Did Hordi win or lose this game? No. Did his dumb ass penalty lead to a goal? Yes. Did that define the game? No.
I have to wonder whether Hordi was benched because of the penalty or because he looked slow. I would have to say, and it's just my humble opinion, that it was because he's not in game shape. Slow.
In his first game last year he looked much faster, albeit until he hurt his knee, but their was way more jump in his game. Way more.
I think this is a byproduct of the lockout. It would seem that some players, especially "goons", have a hard time getting back their legs. This may be the case with Hordi.
Did the coach mention anything?
I believe this team needs a "grind line" and right now this is one of the few players willing to play that kind of game.
Solution: get him up to speed. Literally.
I really hope that Eager gets healthy soon. He actually played real well in the opener and brings more functional toughness than Hordichuk can.
On a positive, I think this piece shows some solid play from Petrell and Belanger, both of whom I thought played fairly well last night. Add Eager or Hartikainen, when they are on their games, and I think that our fourth line is actually pretty solid. We could use a guy like Ryan Jones somewhere in the lineup for energy as well.
People here love to complaign about anything and everything, If it isn't Horcoff, it's Eager or Gagner or Bellanger or Hordichuk. None of you could carry any one of these guys hockey bags. The only reason the Oilers lost last night was a lack of shots on net and traffic in front. They all try to make the perfect pass or the pretty play and end up coughing up the puck. Just because you are a skilled group doesn't mean you don't have to drive the net. Stop trying to blame one guy all the time. It is a team game and a good team can overcome one bad play or a guy having an off game anytime. It was a team loss!
Jeeez what a difference a game makes, some on this board went from odds on favourites to win the cup after a 2-1 win to a lets blow up the team after a 4-3 loss. Is it any wonder some NHL ers are reluctant to become an Oiler ? Lets cut 'em some slack it's early, really early.
Would have loved to see Smyth or Gagner's picked apart instead of Hordichuk who is a fringe player..... Strange how some of the media are okay going after these type of players but never seem to take on the over-hyped guys!!
Maybe they're afraid of being denied access, understandable with a mortgage to pay but cowardly all the same.....
JW these are comments directed in general to Edmonton's "sport beats".
Metric or Standard, i fail to see how one minute and 11 seconds can be responsible for the other 58:49.
I want to see the Nacho guy, a chip by chip replay of that guy in J16, section 104. Did he select the mild,medium or spicy cheese dip, did he wash it down with a beer, or a soda?
He took a stupid penalty that cost us a goal. We lost by...a goal.
The fact that he's on the team roster means another useful player isn't. *cough* Harski *cough*
@David S
Harski, Paajarvi, just another kid who needs to be babysat. Lets waive Hordichuk and let all the Oiler marshmallows run roughshod over the opposition then, is that what you want? Edmonton would continue to be the easiest team in the league to play against.
This is a black and white issue. Either you're a babysitter like Hordichuk, or you're in need of a Hordichuk type to babysit all the kids.
Stop over analyzing things. He happened to be in the box for the ice breaker last night. He wasn't in the penalty box when the winning goal was scored. Rage riders are prone to incidents of rage every now and then..... bullets do often come out the barrel of a gun, don't act so disappointed.
If they nuetered Darcy Hordichuk, then the Oilers would be left with another Hartikainen type whose battles would need to be fought for him.Might as well change the name to the Edmonton Marshmallows.