Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Liam Reddox Heads To Sweden; Martin Gerber Rumors

Announced earlier today, Liam Reddox has signed a 1-year contract with the Vaxjo Lakers of the SEL. From the Lakers website:(Google Translated)

Liam Reddox comes from the Edmonton Oilers organization in which he played since
2007 and during four seasons there has been a total of 100 NHL games.
This past season, played 25-year-old 44 NHL games, recording a goal and nine assists.
In 37 AHL games with the Oklahoma City Barons was a total of 33 points
distributed on 18 goals and 15 assists.
- Liam is a Canadian who can play both center and outer forward and who thrive as both, "said sporting director Henry Evertsson on the new acquisition.
- He is good on skates and I work really hard, but also has offensive talent and technology. He is a two-way player who will run at maximum speed all the time. We fell for his drive in the game. He will do a lot of points, but he is primarily an engine of the team, a player who can draw with the team every night.
Was it important to get a driving player?
- We'll play three games a week throughout the season as the
smoothness will be important, and which will contribute to Liam. The difference
between hockey league Elitserien and is quite large, and we need players who can
deliver in every match. Liam Reddox, who signed for one year, will make his
first spell outside North America.
- That he has played in the NHL is a good routine, but he is no savior for it which is important to note. He has not been able to play for an NHL spot in full, so he sees this as a good start because the Elite Series is a great series.
The Oklahoma City Barons played Reddox the season with the Lakers second transatlantic acquisitions: Brad Moran. It has obviously facilitated the recruitment of Reddox.
- We have a good history with Transatlantic. Liam has played with Brad so they know each other, and we know what is important for Transatlantic and how to make lay-ups in order to fit them. I think we are an attractive option for those who still strive forward in their career, "says Henry Evertsson.
Henry Evertsson also announces that one
goalie, one of two defenders and a forward to be in the squad.

As the article mentioned, Vaxjo is the team that Brad Moran signed with right after the Barons season ended. Vaxjo has been making a big push with signings this offseason after winning their way into the SEL last season. In addition to Moran and Reddox, the Lakers also signed former Texas Stars defenseman Dan Spang earlier this month and it's been rumored that Peoria Rivermen's T.J. Hensick will be joining the team as well.

----

I've been wanting to mention this for awhile, but didn't really want to make a post just for rumors, so I'll just leave them here. Earlier this month, a Swiss website, sport.sf.tv, asked Martin Gerber about playing in Switzerland this season. To which he responded "At the moment everything is possible". Skelleftea AIK of the SEL and the Malmo Redhawks of HockeyAllsvenskan(the tier below the SEL) have both stated they have a big interest in acquiring Gerber for next season.

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

Saturday, May 21, 2011

If The Oilers Select Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 1st Overall, He Will Wear #?

I brought this up the other day on twitter and I thought I would share it with the people who don`t follow us on twitter. Nugent-Hopkins said on the Team 1260 that if the Oilers should select him at the draft, he would probably wear #93 as an Oiler. The #9 is retired so he must decide on another number. It was pointed out to me that that is his birth year (1993). So it makes sense to me. RNH also said he wore #93 in bantam so it`s not just a number he made up on the spot. I know this isn`t big news, but come on, it`s almost the summer. You have to make news. ;) -WRITTEN BY SMOKIN` RAY-

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Are You Kidding Me? Comparing Taylor Hall vs Tyler Seguin?

After last night`s Boston vs Tampa game the whole hockey world raved about Tyler Seguin and his 4 point night. I will say his 2 goals were pretty nice, but the assists were not highlight stuff (secondary assists). I wake up this morning and the big talk is Hall vs Seguin. Again? Really? In my opinion there is no comparison. Two different players on two different teams. Hard to say what`s what. Put it this way, Seguin was benched for 11 playoff games and when he finally drew in, he made it count. But if he was sooooo good, why didn`t he play in those other 11 games? Taylor Hall would have. Compare that. ;) The Edmonton Oilers have the better player. -WRITTEN BY SMOKIN` RAY-

Monday, May 16, 2011

Help The Victims Of Slave Lake Alberta / Donation Links Here

Picture Courtesy of CTV News
There is a disaster happening right now in our own province. The town of Slave Lake is burning down. And quickly. The mall, multiples store outlets, houses, you name it. It's all in the line of fire. Even the Hospital has been touched by fire.

The town has been fully evacuated (appx 7000 people) and it's not looking good for the northern Alberta community. These people need our help. Some folks have lost everything they own. We can all help and make a difference.

You can donate either by visiting the link below or,

 if you are a Telus customer, you can text the word REDCROSS to 30333.


Stay tuned to OilersJambalaya.com for updates.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Stockton Arena Review by StadiumJourney.com

I was sent an email a little while ago (I forgot about it) from a website that does arena reviews. Paul Swaney, the president and co-founder of StadiumJourney.com asked me to check it out and tell him what I thought. Well...

I loved his review on the Stockton arena. The Edmonton Oilers ECHL team, the Stockton Thunder call this place home for a good part of the year.

Stadium Journey rates everything that involves the arena and location. From the neighbourhood the arena is in, to the food and beverages that they serve, to how good the fans are.

The Stockton arena's highest rating was a 5 out of 5 for the Return of Investment category. They loved the value you get when buying a ticket. They loved that this is very much a family friendly place to take your children.

The lowest rating the arena was given? A 2 out of 5 in the Extras category. Other than the cheesy stuff, they found the puck toss to be entertaining. It's a start, but that definitely needs to be better.

I'd recommend that you should read this review.

http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/stockton-arena-s906/

-WRITTEN BY SMOKIN' RAY-

Friday, May 13, 2011

You Can Track Batman.. I Mean Daryl Katz?


Remember the Dany Heatley to the Oilers episode? Yeah... so do I.

Not much good became of that situation except maybe this tip I got from a reader. I was told that if I went to this page, I could track the private plane of Daryl Katz.

Hmmm... Really?

While I'm not 100% positive that this really is his plane, but I did watch this plane fly back and forth between Edmonton and Kelowna when they were trying to "sweet talk" Heatley into becoming an Edmonton Oiler. So take it as you will.

-WRITTEN BY SMOKIN' RAY-

A Time Traveller Visits? Visions About The Edmonton Oilers?

This is a harrowing tale from the future about the ill-fated 2006 Edmonton Oilers.

Starring Craig Buchert, Elizabeth Ludwig, Matt Stanton, Trent Wilkie and Mark Meer.

http://www.mostlywatertheatre.com/


Sunday, May 8, 2011

Is There Something To Cheer For? Oh Yes.. Eberle vs Paajarvi

Tomorrow features an excellent game for all the Oiler fans out there to watch. Jordan Eberle and Team Canada take on one of our favorite Oil Swedes, Magnus Paajarvi, and the rest of Team Sweden.

So far in this tournament, Paajarvi has a goal and three assists in the 5 games he's played. Not bad. Not bad at all. His only goal might have came on the power play, but he's still playing well 5 on 5 too. He's a +4 in those five games and has played an average of 15:11 per game. I'm a little surprised that he hasn't scored more because he's 2nd on his team in shots with 18. He's one to watch tomorrow for sure. Can he score and improve his shooting percentage against Canada?

There is another Oiler who has 4 points too that's playing tomorrow. Jordan Eberle. The difference here is, his 4 points are all goals. No assists. Like Paajarvi, Eberle is also +4 in the 5 games he's played. So far in this tournament, he's played an average of 12:53 per game and has taken 13 shots on goal. Is there another clutch goal waiting to be scored by Ebs? Watch for it.

Both players have been good and it's nice (although it sucks the Oil are not in playoffs) to watch these two get better and better. It's like watching your own kids grow up. *sniff sniff* This has been the best year!

Check out the game on TSN at 2:15pm Eastern time.

ON A SIDE NOTE:

Remember this article I wrote from a while back? That very same goalie is on Team Sweden and we should be able to get a good look at him tomorrow as he's played 4 out of the 5 games. Are the Oilers doing the same by watching him too? Is he really the future goalie of the Oilers?

-WRITTEN BY SMOKIN' RAY-

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Devan Dubnyk Relegated To #3 For Team Canada?

Yes, it's true. Earlier today Team Canada coach, Ken Hitchcock finally said publicly that Devan Dubnyk has been bumped down to the #3 spot on the World Hockey Championship team.

It was clear that that was the current situation when Jonathan Bernier became the Canadian backup two games ago (plus he started and won one of those games). Once the Los Angeles Kings were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs, Bernier joined the Canadians for the WHC. That gave the Canadians 3 goaltenders, so it wasn't hard to do the math. But still...

Dubnyk made himself quite clear before the tournament started that he had no desire to be the #3 goalie this time around. That was a spot he graciously filled the last time he came to play with Canada at the WHC.

Dubnyk was the backup for 3 games at this tournament and he did play in one game for 13:50 in the 3rd period. He made 8 saves and let in no goals.

This situation makes me disappointed with Team Canada. Where's the loyalty? Why not give him a chance at playing a full game before this decision was made? What the hell?

I feel bad for Devan.  He didn't deserve this.

-WRITTEN BY SMOKIN' RAY-

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Oilers Jambalaya is in no way, shape or form associated with the Edmonton Oilers or the Bakersfield Condors. This is a fans blog for fans. We happen to love those teams, so we write about them.