The Kids Run Wild, But Come Up Short / A Beers & Jeers Game Recap

BEERS & JEERS GAME RECAP

Welcome to another fine Edmonton Oilers Beers & Jeers Game Recap.

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FINAL SCORE

MINNESOTA WILD - 4

EDMONTON OILERS - 2

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TONIGHT'S STARTING LINES

Penner/Gagner/Hemsky
Paajarvi/Horcoff/Eberle
Hall/Cogliano/Brule
Jones/Fraser/Stortini

Whitney/Foster
Smid/Gilbert
Peckham/Vandermeer

Khabibulin
Dubnyk

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VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS



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BEERS & JEERS PLAYER GRADES

The Cult of Hockey Grading System:
10 perfect game,  9 extraordinary,  8 great,  7 good,  6 above average,
5 average,  4 below average,  3 poor,  2 terrible,  1 deserves to be in minors.

#2 JAMES VANDERMEER - (4) He played 14:43 and the entire time he freaked me out. Out of Peckham, Strudwick and himself, he's the best option, but still... He ended up -1 and always seemed like a step behind. While he didn't get killed in chances, I didn't think he was very good in the first half.

#4 TAYLOR HALL - (8) BEERS Hall generated a lot of chances. He was the best Oiler on the ice. He made things happen every shift and he skated like the wind (he made Brule and Cogliano look slow). He played 20:29 and took 11 shots (6 missed) at the net. He's going to get his first goal soon. I can feel it.

#5 LADISLAV SMID - (4) Not a good game for Ladi. He was on the ice when Brodziak scored his second goal. In his 18:25 of ice time, he didn't do anything to help the team. He struggled.

#6 RYAN WHITNEY - (7) BEERS He led all Oilers players with 27:08 of ice time. Again, nearly a half a game. How does he not get tired? Whitney had two assists tonight and was visibly upset that the team lost. I love that emotion. Good choice for the assistant captain. He does need to watch the giveaways, as he had 3.

#10 SHAWN HORCOFF - (7) Horcoff was a stud. He scores again to help bring the Oilers close to tying the game. Cappy really has turned his game around. Playing with some hotshots like the Big 3 kind of helps. He went 15/12 for 56% on the dot tonight. He led the forwards with 23:32 in ice time.

#13 ANDREW COGLIANO - (6) Much better tonight. Maybe his best game of the season. He was lucky Hall was fired up tonight. It helped to get Cogs going early. He was 4/3 for 57% on faceoffs. Much like Gagner, that's a big improvement. He needs to shoot more from any direction. He just needs to fire the puck.

#14 JORDAN EBERLE - (8) BEERS The kid can play. Boy can he ever. He's like a seasoned vet out there. He controls the play and the puck so well, it's hard to think what these 3 will be like a few years down the road. He wants to be a winner and you can tell by his play. He was awarded with a lot of ice time (21:30) but he needs to shot more. He's got a heck of a shot.

#16 COLIN FRASER - (3) JEERS He was on the 4th line that blew this game. For 58 seconds, they had relapses and the Wild were up 2-0. He did get a little ice time (3:40 in total) in the 3rd once Penner took the misconduct. He looked out of place playing on the wing.

#22 JF JACQUES - (0) DNP (Injured)

#26 KURTIS FOSTER - (7) BEERS Good game from Foster. He, like the rest of the team looked more comfortable and therefore he played relaxed. He had 7 shots and 4 hits and played 23:02. I liked him. Oh right, he had an assist as well.

#27 DUSTIN PENNER - (6) He started out having a great game. He caused a ruckus in front of the net on the Hemsky goal. But taking the penalty wasn't so bad, it was the 10 minute game misconduct that sucked. Although, it did open up a spot for Hall on the 1st line with Gagner and Hemsky. Conundrum?

#28 RYAN JONES - (2) JEERS He was bad. -2 in less than a minute.

#33 STEVE MACINTYRE - (0) DNP (Healthy scratch)

#35 NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN - (6) He had a pretty good game. I liked his positioning and his rebound control. No real complaints about him tonight. He does need to work on his low wide shots. Maybe the bad back hampers some movement?

#38 JEFF DESLAURIERS - (0) DNP (Healthy scratch)

#40 DEVAN DUBNYK - (0) DNP (Healthy scratch)


#43 JASON STRUDWICK - (0) DNP (Healthy scratch)

#46 ZACK STORTINI - (1) JEERS Oy! What to say? -2 in 0:58. Ouch! Did he try to hard?

#49 THEO PECKHAM - (5) Average at best. On one hand he was great as a physical guy. He was banging and lipping people off. Good to see that. But on the other hand, he was a step behind just like Vandermeer. He had 4 hits and 2 blocked shots, but he also had 2 giveaways. I know for sure that one was a scoring chance for the Wild. I hope he gets better soon.

#67 GILBERT BRULE - (7) Brule was fast and had his chances tonight. Hall was the best on that line and Brule was second best. He had 5 hits and 2 shots. He even took some draws tonight and went 8/4 for 67%. Maybe tonight was the spark Brule needed?

#77 TOM GILBERT - (5) He had a team high 3 blocked shots. Gilbert again logged a lot of time on the ice with 23:19. Other than Penner, Gilbert took the only other Oilers penalty. He was out chanced by a 1/6 margin and a lot of it was because of his mediocre partner Smid.

#83 ALES HEMSKY - (7) He was all over the place. He scored a goal and made some nice plays. He had 4 shots and played 23:19. His fancy moves worked for him tonight. Ales Hemsky is ready for this season. He's going to prove the doubters wrong.

#89 SAM GAGNER - (7) His assist streak is over, but his solid play is just getting better. He was an amazing 13/5 for 72% on the dot tonight. Maybe his best game on faceoffs ever? Gagner played 19:15 and although he didn't create a ton of chances with Hemsky, they sure are seeming to be clicking. He had 4 shots on goal.

#91 MAGNUS PAAJARVI - (7) The kid fired off 8 shots on goal. Wow! A team high. He was really enjoying his time on that line with Horcoff and Eberle. No complaints about Paajarvi. Can you imagine these 3 kids in the future?

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EVENT SUMMARY

GAME SUMMARY

mc79hockey Scoring Chances

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BAD TIMING PENALTY (what is a Bad Timing Penalty?)

Dustin Penner - With 4:52 played into the 3rd period, Penner took a high sticking penalty. While on his way to the box, he argued that his stick was broken from a slash (it was) and therefore the Wild should have a penalty as well. He bitched to the point of receiving a 10 minute game misconduct. Did the misconduct hurt the team? Debatable.

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Special thanks to David Staples of Cult Of Hockey - Edmonton Journal for allowing us to use his grading system.

-Written by Smokin' Ray-