Feb. 20, 2007 - Issue #592: Alternative Oscars 07

In The Box

Nothing soothes the pain like someone else's pain ...

It’s getting a little uncomfortable here. This road trip the Oilers embarked on is four games old (with three left) and the team is only two points richer in the standings. The team is also short one short player after Marc-Andre Bergeron was traded. An overtime loss to Buffalo, a shootout loss to Ottawa and two good, old-fashioned losses (Toronto and Boston) are stretching the tiny gap between the Oilers and the last Western Conference playoff spot into a huge crevasse. It doesn’t help that Vancouver, Minnesota and Calgary keep winning. Hell, even the St Louis stinking Blues are catching up to Edmonton.

Bergeron Gone

A weekend trade that sent troubled Oilers d-man Marc-Andre Bergeron to Long Island for Denis Grebeshkov, a prospect blueliner, could mean any of these things: 1. The Oilers are out. Kevin Lowe’s next deals will dismantle the team and load up for next year. 2. The Oilers wanted Grebeshkov and had to take this deal while it was available. It wasn’t the deal Lowe needed to make but it was out there. 3. It’s time for another Russian player and hearken back to the days of Bobo Mironov and Andrei “The Tank” Kovalenko. DY

Small Comfort

Let’s revisit the Oilers’s playoff chances, shall we? Let’s say that 94 points gets them into the post-season. That means they need 32 points in 22 games. Therefore, they must win 16 out of 22 games. And I just haven’t seen them show the kind of jam you need to win 16 of 22. So, yeah, no playoffs this year. But I can still take solace (in a very shallow and immature way) in the fact that the Avalanche are in the very same boat, and look to miss the playoffs for the very first time since they moved to Colorado in 1995. It’s true. Other people’s suffering does help to soothe your own. TB

And Smytty … ?

Trade deadline is always fun for me. This year is ripe with rumours and trade options. So, in advance of next week’s issue, I’ll throw out a few trade ideas with absolutely no inside information or any clue whatsoever what Kevin Lowe has up his sleeve. Maybe one will actually happen and I can claim I know something. Or not. Here goes: Jussi Markkanen to Montreal for a third round pick and prospect. Brad Winchester (and his stolen octopus) to Detroit for a prospect. Petr Sykora to the Rangers or Devils for a young defenceman. And Mike Sillinger will get traded somewhere. He’s been traded eight times already in his career—five times at or near deadline day. DY

The best/worst job in Edmonton

With the Oilers’ poor showing in the standings this year and the all-too-real possibility of missing the playoffs, Kevin Lowe is already being questioned, slandered and analyzed by his unofficial staff—the folks who blog on the blogs and blab on the radio. If he makes any trades, he’ll be second-guessed for either waiting too long, giving up too early or getting rid of well-loved players. If he signs Ryan Smyth, he’ll either be cheered for locking up the winger or jeered for spending too much. If he doesn’t sign Smytty (either before trade deadline or next summer) he’ll be toast. Not too many great options, are there? But what a cool job. DY

Young Guns

I’ve managed to watch a few Penguins games in the last little while, and I think they may be the most exciting team to watch this year. They score in bunches, they have a solid core of fast-skating youngsters, and Marc-Andre Fleury seems to have found his game. Factor in that Crosby kid (who, with 95 points, leads the league) and you may have the makings of a team ready to make a run in the post-season. TB

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