GDB 8.0: Oil in Columbus

Columbus is the 4th largest city in the Amercian midwest. Named after Christopher Columbus (who owned a Starbucks downtown), it was recently ranked as the 18th best place in the USA for a woman to find a useful male.

Rascal Flatts are from Columbus, Joe Walsh and Dwight Yoakam too. Jesse Owens and Jack Nicklaus are from Columbus. The great Beverly D’angelo is from Columbus, Ohio. Entertaining hockey is also available from time to time in Columbus. 
 

The Edmonton Oilers will be adding a couple of fillings for tonight’s game. Devan Dubnyk gets the start, Jim Vandermeer draws back in (replacing Kurtis Foster who has a malady but can’t find the words) and that means foot speed is a concern on the blue. MacIntyre plays instead of Zack Stortini and one imagines the club might insert Liam Reddox into the game except the three goalie system makes it impossible.

The Oilers are coming off an outstanding comeback in Calgary, and sometimes a young team will be able to use that kind of heart attack comeback as a springboard to short term success. The Oilers do seem to have some legit hockey players up front this season, from the three kids and Gagner to the older group that includes Hemsky, Penner and Horcoff.

Big Dustin seems to be getting some negative feedback for his play, but he was a man on the tying goal in Hades on Tuesday night.

Nothing about the Blue Jackets as an organization stands out. Rick Nash is a helluva player, but he seems destined to play his entire career in a town that doesn’t really notice him. Sort of the midwest Shane Doan.

Can you name 6 jackets? I can name five (nice, bad, dinner, Nehru, plaid) but don’t know what position they play.

After the game, the Oilers will fly (drive? take a cab? trolley?) to Chicago in order to play the Blackhawks. The CBS game would be the one to win, otherwise you’re in the windy city in danger of losing all three games of the road trip. After tomorrrow’s game, the team won’t play until Tuesday, giving us another reason to hate the Gary Bettman scheduling system from hell.

I have a good feeling about this team, but not about any specific game. The best way to watch the current Oildrop is with an eye to small steps forward. A nice passing sequence, a rookie in the right position in the defensive zone. Wins and losses are hard to come by in today’s NHL; there’s no expansion team down the road to bugger senseless once every couple of weeks and the truth is the Edmonton Oilers are the soft spot on the schedule.

Look after your health, brush your teeth and be nice to people. Oiler fans want to be healthy because when this thing clicks it could be a very nice ride.