Jacques Demers: Just Visiting

Can you imagine if Jacques Demers had been appointed to the Senate as a Liberal by a Liberal Prime Minister. I was just thinking of the creepy voice over of a creepy Conservative attack ad:

Jacques Demers hates Canada. Jacques Demers coached in the United States for almost two decades. He only came back for the Senate appointment... etc.

All the way from Montenegro...

I was a Habs fan growing up. I only became an Oilers fan when they came to Edmonton in 1977. (<-fact check) I became a Habs fan briefly again when they won the Stanley Cup under Demers in 1992-93. When Shayne Corson and Vincent Damphouse did their reluctant tour of duty as Edmonton Oilers I hoped they would bring some Demers magic with them. Hope is a funny emotion.

I admire Demers very much. I think he is a great communicator and motivator and obviously overcame the huge handicap of illiteracy in the Hockey world, where any kind of weakness is not easily accepted and maleness is distorted.

(Run on sentence. Check.)

Demers said in an interview today that running for election wasn't really him, or words to that effect. As a result I hope he doesn't say anything at all about Senate Reform. If he did it would be an obvious broken argument.

He probably will get an orientation and realize very quickly that he is just there to vote the party line. Not to think. Not to talk. It would be nice if he could talk to people about literacy, but big daddy doesn't like that kind of thing. Too bad, because he is an animated and lively speaker.

Jacques Demers is too good a person to be wasted on Stephen Harper. He's in the wrong party. Its a shame. Please recommend this post

Sean Avery's Therapy didn't Take

A few months ago Sean Avery was suspended for saying adolescent things about Dion Phaneuf and Elisha Cuthbert. After his suspension and league mandated counseling the Dallas Stars put him on waivers and the New York Rangers picked him up. It seems he got ripped off with the counseling thing. I remember him doing interviews and being all emo about how serious he was about fixing himself. I thought this kind of dysfunction would probably take more than a few visits to some vocational guidance counselor to unravel the long term issues. Will the Rangers or any team sign him again next year?

The way the hockey world socializes young men, from a very young age, no doubt leads a few of them to become dysfunctional.

Please recommend this post

Edmonton Oilers Fans March Discontent

Its like this every spring for Oilers fans. After the last 2 disastrous losses the Oilers must get at least 6 points in their remaining 8 games to make the NHL playoffs. Unlikely I think.

There are 5 teams competing for the last two play-off positions. It may come down to the last game of the year. It doesn't help that the Oilers play back to back games with the Calgary Flames. The Flames have a lock on their playoff spot but they derive motivation from beating Edmonton, especially if they can knock them out.

A more likely scenario is the Oilers will be edged out by the result of games they don't even play in.

It might be better if they don't make the playoffs. They are due for a major restructoring and its probably time to try some new approaches. When you think about it, all the 80's feel good nostalgia and banner raising, as inspirational as it is, has not done a single thing to improve the on ice product. Please recommend this post

Sabres 10 Oilers 2

Worst losing score in Oilers history.

MacTavish described it as a debacle of monumental proportions. Like him or no, he has a way with words. The SS Schadenfreude sailed into Port Calgary this morning and hasn't stopped blowing its horns.

They sang the anthem, dropped the puck, and Buffalo scored in the first 10 seconds. Not a good sign. I left after the first goal and got to the gym 15 minutes later and it was 5-1.

In the last 5 minutes of the game the Oilers fans were on their feet cheering for the Sabres.

The Oilers play Minnesota on Friday night. Please recommend this post

Mac T Up In the Air

Last night (Monday) the Edmonton Oilers got on a plane for a three game road trip out east. Once the plane got airborne (is that a word?) Coach Craig MacTavish pretended he was the Prime Minister on an election tour and came to the back of the plane to talk with reporters. Near the toilet.

The Oilers are in deep trouble and rumors are swirling about all kinds of changes upcoming. It is known that Pat Quinn has talked with at least 3 NHL teams about a head coaching job. My pure speculation is these three teams are Ottawa, Pittsburgh and Edmonton. I have no idea if the Oilers would hire Quinn, but nothing would surprise.

Also before leaving for the trip the Oilers recalled their 3rd Goaltender Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers from the Junior team. This seemed rather odd to me to recall a goalie just for a 3 game road trip. Especially since the coach told reporters he likely won't be played. Conspiracy minded people will say the Oilers are working on a goalie trade while out east. Possibly. Lets throw that rumor around shall we?

Also the Oilers left behind Robert Nillson from the road trip for undisclosed reasons. Again, you conspiracy theorists need to work this one over. Later, Nilsson was added to the injury list with a mild concussion. Probably caused by repeatedly banging his head against expectations. In a post game several weeks ago MacTavish said he had seen enough and had enough of Nillson.

All the reporters in the scrum posed interesting questions, but MacTavish is very good at talking to the media and not answering questions. One of the pro-violence reporters from 630Ched wanted to know when Steve MacIntyre would be fighting next.

Unless something really changes, I doubt they'll make the playoffs. As a long time fan I hope they make some changes. Please recommend this post

Sean Avery: Classless Buffoon

The Dallas Stars are playing the Calgary Flames tonight in Calgary. After an afternoon skate Dallas player Sean Avery sought out a camera and a microphone (Thanks TSN) and said some nasty things about Flames Dion Phaneuf who is now dating Avery's ex girlfriend Elish Cuthbert. In related news the United Nations continued debating its contentious run on sentence treaty. It would not be unreasonable to assume that Cuthbert dumped Avery. Who could blame her?

(If you think that plot line is complicated try following our Federal Parliament.)

I won't repeat what Avery said because it is gratuitous and for anything this sleazy and attention seeking our go to guy is Eric Duhatschek. That's his oeuvre after all.

The NHL immediately suspended Avery indefinitely for conduct unbecoming to the league. The League is right to continue to uphold their incredibly high moral standards.

You probably just think I'm mad because when the Oilers played Dallas on Sunday Mike Modano scored his 1300th career goal sinking the Oilers late in the 3rd period. How many times has that happened? Yes, I'm angry about that. And what were the Edmonton coaches doing scrapping with a fan at the end of the game? Its like a bizarro universe for those poor Oilers.

But back to my original point, I don't care who you are, you don't say bad things about your ex-girlfriends. Why does the world of hockey seem to have such a hard time respecting women?

Update: I should have mentioned I don't have any Elisha Cuthbert pictures on this site. Sorry. Please recommend this post

Weekend Sports Predictin(g)

With Calgary and Edmonton's sports teams in action this weekend I thought I would offer some predictions so you can bet appropriately.

Friday: Calgary Stampeders at Hamilton Tiger Cats

Tough call. Hamilton has only won 3 games this year. If Calgary wins they will secure first place in the West. On the one hand I'd like to see Calgary finish first so they can have their lunch eaten in the Western Final in Calgary. I like that sort of thing. On the other hand I think Hamilton can beat Calgary. That would be cool to. I think Hamilton will win.

Saturday: Edmonton Oilers at Vancouver Canucks

Oilers will win barely. It will be a dirty violent game.


Saturday: Edmonton Eskimos at Saskatchewan Roughrider

I don't really see the Eskimos winning. They will get the crossover spot in the East and make a quiet exit. Will seek new coach in off season.


Saturday: Calgary Flames at Phoenix Coyotes

Phoenix will win. Don't bet against Gretzky. Calgary media bragging about flames indicates an imminent loss.

Sunday: Sloth vs Gluttony.

Have to give this one to gluttony, but it will be close. Sloth won't go down easy. The win will set up a nice re-match between Gluttony and Lust. Please recommend this post

Oilers: Three Points Out

If you're an Edmonton Oilers fan don't cry in your beer just yet.

In my previous post on the Oilers Playoff hopes, which I considered slim, I noted that the Oilers would probably require 95 points to make the playoffs.

The cutoff of 95 points was a reasonable estimation. Last year the Calgary flames finished in the 8th playoff spot with 96 points. The year before that it was the Edmonton Oilers with 95 points. But this year I'm not sure it will be that high.

As of today the Oilers do not have enough available points left to reach 95 points, and anyway they probably won't win all of their remaining games.

However, they are 3 points back of the final playoff spot with six games remaining. They could finish as high as 93 points, and they could still finish as high as 6th place.

Behold, the standings:



The shaded column is the number of points.


The bottom 3 playoff spots (6,7,8) could be won by any one of the six teams in positions 6 through 11.

But its really really a long shot for the Oilers I think.

If the Oilers did finish in 8th spot they would play the Detroit Red Wings in the first round of the playoffs.

Detroit fans are probably already becoming incontinent at the thought of playing a high flying team of devil-may-care rookies. Please recommend this post

Oilers Playoff Hopes or Neurotic Math

Its the middle of February. Its the time of year Edmonton Oilers fans start working themselves into a frenzy about whether the team will make the playoffs or not.

With Horkoff, Torres and Souray all out for the rest of the year, the odds are not good for a playoff spot.

And then there's the math. They did the math on the Radio the other morning and assumed that the cutoff for making the playoffs would be a minimum of 95 points. I think it will be higher this year because of overall improvement of the teams in the conference. Maybe this year you will need 100 points.

But for sake of argument, if the cutoff is 95 points, and the oilers have 24 games remaining, they will need to get 80% of the remaining potential points. Of course this ratio changes on a day to day basis. If they go on a winning streak, they might get within reach.

The Oilers do have one incentive to finish as high as possible. The lower they finish the higher their draft pick, but its a pick which goes to Anaheim. This is because of the terms of the Penner trade and the free agency of Teemu Selanne's moustache.

Daryl Katz will have some difficult decisions to make this summer about management and general top level strategy. Most Oilers fans live in kind of a bubble, they don't really think anything is wrong with the coaching or the management. Katz has a different business philosophy than the EIG, and will be able to make decisions much easier and quicker. I think next year results will be much more important. Please recommend this post