Oilers Win Divisional Matchup

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Pandastyle

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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.
 
Mar 1, 2002
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"GARBAGE!", said GM Greg Dockus. "Worst call in the history of hockey," said Bryan Muir. "An outrage, gutless call," decried Don Cherry on the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast.

Replays showed that Muir wasn't in contact with Oiler Rob Niedermayer when he tripped over the blueline in last night's game. That didn't prevent Muir from being called for hooking after the whining from the Oiler bench, led by Mike Keenan.

Muir then made contact with the referee, which led to the 5 game suspension. "XXXX him. XXXX him in his withered XXXXXXX. Is it my fault that Scott is the Niedermayer that knows how to skate and Rob should have a starter set?" said a still testy Muir hours after the contest. "We bust our XXXXXXX XXX for 60 minutes, and then to get a XXXXXXXX call like that from a gutless XXXXXXX like that. It's a disgrace. He shouldn't be allowed to ref Junior C games."

"I like my money, so I don't pass judgement in the press about refs," said a wiser and more mature Dockus. But, if you want to join me at the bar in 15 without your pens, recorders and cameras, I can tell you a thing or two."
 

Pandastyle

Registered User
"Dockus is full of it. We got his number, and he ain't happy about it. I wouldn't be all that surprised if I found out that Muir was acting on management's orders...." fired back Gledhill. "Also, since when has Cherry had any idea of what he's talking about. I personally applaud the fine officiating by the refs....they got this one right."
 
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