Jordan Eberle scored a sick shootout goal, just wicked. And you know what? Few will remember it. Why? Linus Omark brought out his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and the crowd went wild. 

It’s making headlines in Finland and it is the talk of the town here. Not just the shootout beauty, but the entire team. Lordy the Edmonton Oilers have some bullets, and this just a few short months after the entire organization seemed to be hanging by a thread.

Stink for a few years, draft well and then hang on for the ride. If I didn’t hate the Flames so much, I’d suggest it to their general manager Crazy McNutty.  

The best part of the evening may have been the reaction to the shootout goal by the Lightning team.

Village elder Steven Stamkos painted a grim picture for the future of our game when he spoke of the Omark tally. "I didn’t think it showed a lot of respect in this game.I mean, you don’t see Crosby or Ovechkin doing that and they’re the two best players in the game.(Omark’s) a creative player, he’s got good skill. I’m not taking that away from him, but it didn’t really have any implication on his moves, so I don’t know why he did that." The entire article is here.

I’ll have a lash as to why he did that: it entertained the crowd and he scored a goal doing it!!! My word, the NHL needs about 30 of these guys to beat some of the stuffing out of a league that can turn a kid like Stamkos into Mr. Furry Brow overnight.

The fellow trying to choke poor Gerry Ehman of the Oakland Seals is none other than Eddie Shack. Back in the olden days, Shack would do damn near anything to entertain a crowd and he became known as a true character.

Make no mistake, Shack could play the game (he won wherever he went, strange coincidence I’m sure) and brought a physical element that bordered on crazy. Anyway, before we tell Mr. Omark to stop scoring goals that delight the crowd because we’re fretting over the game’s rich history, let’s remember that this is hockey and we could use a little more character and a lot less structure in today’s game.

 

What we have in Omark is a very important character in the story that is the new Oilers. He can play the Jerry Lewis part (to Pääjärvi’s smooth Dean Martin) and when they make the Rat Pack films he can be the one who draws all the attention away from the robbery. Omark is a fully formed player and character: just add linemates and get rid of the extras, and we’re on our way.

Question: after last night, how do you send Omark down when Hemsky is healthy? Riddle me that one, Batman. Linus rhymes with minus now, but this guy is the cock of the walk.