Monday, November 27, 2017

Get Over It!



Seems like almost daily that the fans of the Edmonton Oilers break down about what could or should have been. Now, I don't know about you, but that type of thinking would wear me down a lot and I would become even more depressed than I already am. Why subject ourselves to what ifs? 

We can't change the past, no matter what. So, why are we dwelling on trades and transactions that are long and over with? I can see the appeal. You see something that's going well and you wish it to be happening here. But, if we rewind the clock, people were happy to ship Hall and Eberle out of town as two examples. 

It was a general consensus that Hall had ran his time down here. People laughed and made jokes about how upset and sour he was to leave here. Taylor Hall was the laughing stock of the Oilers on his exit out of Edmonton and still was up to the start of this season. 


Some, claimed he was a cancer in the dressing room and that's why he was traded. Some, claimed his style of play would have him injured for most of his NHL career as the Oilers were better off not having that style of player here. Some, just thought he was a puck hog. 

No matter what your thoughts were on Taylor Hall at that time, you fast forward to now and you'll find fans missing and craving his goal scoring in Edmonton. You'll find people wanting to turn back time and not make that deal. And now, the same could be said for Jordan Eberle. 

Eberle was a bum in the playoffs, they said. Eberle has no heart and doesn't compete like an Oiler should. Eberle was renamed Eberlazy. Once again, those fans fast forward to today and they don't understand why he was traded. 

I think at times General Manager Peter Chiarelli and his staff actually read too much into the hype the team gets from MSM, bloggers and the casual fan. I firmly believe that the Eberle deal was made to appease the fans and critics. In my mind, it made no sense to trade him at the time he did. It made no sense to give away the goals he produced. But, should have, would have, could have, he's gone now. We have to live with that and accept it. 

Same could be said about Pouliot. He was a bum too right Oiler fans? Yet, here we are, desperately needing his strengths of killing penalties. 

Hindsight is always 20/20, but at the end of the day, decisions get made and love them or hate them, they happened. 

It's time to let it go and get over it. I know I have. 

Written by Brent Huska

Did You Miss Me?




So, here we are. Enjoying the Oilers win on the weekend. Everyone is happy. The suicide hotline has open lines for the first time in a long time. Fans going to work on this fabulous Monday morning with not a worry in the world. But, how long can this last? 

I've always been an optimist when it comes to the Oilers. They are my team. They make me happy. But for some folks, it's not the same for them. We tend to get very emotionally charged for games and the happenings that surround the team. While I can fully understand that, I just don't let myself get sucked in that far. 

But, wait! I've been gone for 2 years. Surely I must have left cause of the negative energy surrounding the team, right? Actually, no. I had to stop writing due to real life changes. Life became busier and I just couldn't focus anymore on Oilers Jambalaya. It wasn't the team, the fans, or anything else. I just had no time at all. But that's changed. 

I'm in a better place in life where I can spend a few moments a day and reflect on the current state of the Edmonton Oilers. I've missed this blog and I've missed the readers. The dot com name expired and before I could renew it, someone bought the name and now wants $100 for it. So I decided on using dot ca now. Sucks, yes. But I'm not paying someone $100 for a name that is 100% useless to them. They can hold it for life. I really don't care. 

Which brings me to now. I'm back and it feels good. Ive decided to just roll with my real name instead of the alias Smokin' Ray Burnt like I had done in the past. Not sure why I used an alias when I started Oilers Jambalaya, but I did and always regretted it. So with the new start to this, I'm making the change and I feel better about it. 

Stick around and make sure to bookmark
OilersJambalaya.ca 

Written by Brent Huska

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Beers and Jeers - Oilers vs Bruins



Honestly, I liked the combos before the game started. Seemed like a real good shake up. At this point, you couldn't possibly be worse right? 

Too much stock gets put into line rankings. The best teams have always had 3 solid lines and a decent 4th line. Each line is important, so to get too involved on the 5 W's of questions and why people are on certain lines, it will drive you crazy. 

Bottom line is, if the so called "3rd line" is playing the best in a game, that line will get played a lot more and in the end, that's all we all really want. Competing lines that can go out and score. 

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Ryan Strome scoring the 3rd goal


Beers - Connor McDavid finishing his check on the big Zdeno Chara, then not backing down from him all night long. Not many would try and get the best of the big man, but McDavid didn't waiver. Good on him. (2 assists in today's game)

Beers - Nugent-Hopkins constantly playing a solid game. He seems to do no wrong right now. Really liking every aspect about his game. 

Beers - Strome with a rocket of a shot. Nice feed from Draisaitl. Makes it 3-2 in the 2nd and ultimately it's the game winner. He looked great playing with Draisaitl. 

Beers - Talbot played strong at the end to keep the Bruins scoreless in the 3rd. Wouldn't say he stole the game for the Oilers, but he did keep them in it. Good to see from him today. Been long overdue. 

Beers - Leon Draisaitl was a force tonight. Used his speed and hands and walked away with a great game under his belt. He admitted he wasn't playing well and knew he needed a game like this. I had hoped he could turn it around and he did today. 

Honourable Mentions - Cammalleri played pretty well. One must imagine he's still trying to adjust to the team as you see him floating into spots that the other guys would normally take. But all in all, he notched an assist and looked OK with McDavid and Lucic. 

Speaking of Lucic, he had 6 hits tonight. That's an eventful night for the large fella. He still needs to work on some minor things to get his own game moving, but if he can bomb out 6 hits a night, it will go a long way to helping this team get better. 

Written by Brent Huska 

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