Pandastyle
Registered User
Going into this season, the common pick for the Northwest Division Champs was either the Edmonton Oilers or the Minnesota Wild. And after 3 matchups so far this season, Edmonton has the upper hand going 2-0-1 against the division foe.
"Calgary is still our rival, but we really got something brewing with Minnesota. These are going to be some spirited games...." said Gledhill.
Goals for Edmonton were scored by Patrik Stefan (his 1st of the season) and Dave Andreychuk (his 4th of the season).
The storyline of the game though was the rough play of the Minnesota Wild. With the Oilers in shutdown mode most of the night, the Wild turned to less-than-legal means to try and jumpstart their anemic offense.
Shortly into the 2nd period, Darcy Tucker left his feet to take out Oleg Kvasha. And less than a minute later Bret Hedican took out his frustrations on a goal camping Ryan Smyth.
The worst offense of all came late in the 3rd, when Bryan Muir placed the blade of his stick in Rob Niedermayer's armpit and yanked. The result was a dislocated shoulder that will likely need surgery and require 3-4 months of recovery time. Coach Keenan managed to get a suspension of 5 games for Muir, but feels that even that is enough...
"That was just a flat out lazy play by Muir....he got beat and he hooked HARD. This guy should be out as long as Robby can't play which will certainly be longer than 5 games."
Mike Eastwood was called up from the minors to fill in the slot.
On a side note, Where are the fans?
Edmonton management has been disappointed so far with fan turnout. Ticket prices to start the season at $45, and then out of the goodness of his heart were lowered $7 to $38. Oiler fans are supposed to be some of the most loyal in the biz, but refuse to show up for a playoff contending team. Early estimates have the Oilers losing nearly $2 million this year, and will likely not be able to make thier 85% attendance goal.
Also, let us not forget the Vancouver Canucks. Largely overlooked in the preseason, the 'Nucks are out to an early lead in the Northwest. It's still very early to tell, but with the Canucks winning the first of thier series, Oil fans are very anxious for the next matchup.
"Calgary is still our rival, but we really got something brewing with Minnesota. These are going to be some spirited games...." said Gledhill.
Goals for Edmonton were scored by Patrik Stefan (his 1st of the season) and Dave Andreychuk (his 4th of the season).
The storyline of the game though was the rough play of the Minnesota Wild. With the Oilers in shutdown mode most of the night, the Wild turned to less-than-legal means to try and jumpstart their anemic offense.
Shortly into the 2nd period, Darcy Tucker left his feet to take out Oleg Kvasha. And less than a minute later Bret Hedican took out his frustrations on a goal camping Ryan Smyth.
The worst offense of all came late in the 3rd, when Bryan Muir placed the blade of his stick in Rob Niedermayer's armpit and yanked. The result was a dislocated shoulder that will likely need surgery and require 3-4 months of recovery time. Coach Keenan managed to get a suspension of 5 games for Muir, but feels that even that is enough...
"That was just a flat out lazy play by Muir....he got beat and he hooked HARD. This guy should be out as long as Robby can't play which will certainly be longer than 5 games."
Mike Eastwood was called up from the minors to fill in the slot.
On a side note, Where are the fans?
Edmonton management has been disappointed so far with fan turnout. Ticket prices to start the season at $45, and then out of the goodness of his heart were lowered $7 to $38. Oiler fans are supposed to be some of the most loyal in the biz, but refuse to show up for a playoff contending team. Early estimates have the Oilers losing nearly $2 million this year, and will likely not be able to make thier 85% attendance goal.
Also, let us not forget the Vancouver Canucks. Largely overlooked in the preseason, the 'Nucks are out to an early lead in the Northwest. It's still very early to tell, but with the Canucks winning the first of thier series, Oil fans are very anxious for the next matchup.