' Christmas in Oil Country'

Twas the night before Christmas and all throughout Oil Country, not a creature was caring, not even a spouse. The banners were hung by the rafters with care, in hope that a new Stanley Cup would soon be there.

The fans were stressed, all snuggled in their beds, while visions of playoffs danced in their heads. And Lowe in his office and MacT in his, had just sat back for another long winter's nap.

When out on the ice, there arose such a clatter, a fan sprang from his bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window, he flew like a flash, tore open the curtain and saw such trash.

The shine from below, of freshly shaved ice, gave the impression of a team about to grow. When, what to my wondering thoughts should appear but a NHL team and eight little players.

With a little elite player, so sly and so slick, I knew that moment it must be the Nuge. More rapid fire, then ever did I see, he buzzed through the players like a saw cutting a tree.

Now Hall! now Perron! Now Eberle and Yakupov! On Gagner! On Petry! On Justin who's sticking! To the top of the standings! To the top of the heap! Now play on! Play on! Play on all!

As the fog begins to lift from the Rexall Ice, When they meet their opponent, all big and all proud. So to centre ice the players, they go. With their sticks squeezing tight and their heads too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the ice, the screaming and shouting, a fight on the ice! As i watch closely from my seat, eagerly awaiting a new found treat, down the ice Hall flies, stride after stride.

He was dressed in Oiler orange and blue, from his helmet to his skate, And his jersey was torn by skates and with blood. A bundle of hope he flung on his back, and he looked like a soldier, leading the pack.

His stare- how it pierced! His face how serious! His drive was like a tornado, his alertness like a Tsunami! His look was simple all wrapped up in one face and the dreams of a Stanley nestled beyond.

The vision of a goal he held tight to his sight and the fog from the ice encircled his head like a wreath. He had a broad face and a real tight belly, that appealed to the girls like nice fine pearls.

He was cute and adorning, definitely a stud. And the girls squealed at his site, in spite of the gash on his head. A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, and the puck was in the net to the other team's dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to the bench. And filled up his water bottle then turned with a look. And pointing his finger toward the net, And giving a nod up the ice he choose!

He sprang to the goal, to his team he said, it's ok, and away they all skated, at the sound of a whistle. But I heard him exclaim, as he scored another goal, "Happy Christmas to all fans and to all fan's a good night"

In a time where there is much to cheer about, I thought taking a moment to reflect on something from a positive standpoint may be something to add some holiday cheer. Merry Christmas!

             Division                     Conference                       League         

NHL
Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OT	ROW	PTS	GF	GA	Home	Away	Last 10	Streak
1	Anaheim	39	27	7	5	25	59	127	98	13-0-2	14-7-3	9-0-1	Won 9
2	Chicago	39	26	7	6	22	58	145	107	13-2-5	13-5-1	6-2-2	Won 1
3	Pittsburgh	39	27	11	1	24	55	121	88	17-3-0	10-8-1	8-2-0	Lost 1
4	Los Angeles	38	25	9	4	19	54	106	76	13-5-2	12-4-2	8-2-0	Lost 1
5	St. Louis	36	24	7	5	21	53	128	85	14-3-2	10-4-3	6-2-2	OT 1
6	Boston	37	25	10	2	24	52	106	77	15-3-2	10-7-0	7-3-0	Won 2
7	San Jose	37	23	8	6	18	52	121	94	13-1-3	10-7-3	4-5-1	Won 2
8	Vancouver	39	22	11	6	20	50	106	93	11-5-3	11-6-3	8-1-1	Won 2
9	Colorado	36	23	10	3	21	49	106	88	12-5-1	11-5-2	4-3-3	OT 2
10	Tampa Bay	37	23	11	3	18	49	106	87	14-3-1	9-8-2	7-1-2	Won 5
11	Montreal	38	22	13	3	20	47	96	84	12-7-2	10-6-1	6-4-0	Won 1
12	Phoenix	36	19	10	7	15	45	111	110	10-3-2	9-7-5	4-3-3	OT 1
13	Minnesota	39	20	14	5	15	45	88	96	14-3-2	6-11-3	4-6-0	Lost 3
14	Detroit	39	17	13	9	16	43	99	108	6-10-6	11-3-3	3-5-2	Lost 1
15	Dallas	36	18	12	6	15	42	106	107	7-4-4	11-8-2	5-3-2	Won 1
16	Washington	37	19	14	4	11	42	117	112	12-8-1	7-6-3	5-3-2	Lost 1
17	Toronto	39	18	16	5	13	41	106	113	12-8-1	6-8-4	3-5-2	OT 2
18	Philadelphia	37	17	16	4	16	38	93	104	11-7-0	6-9-4	5-3-2	Won 1
19	NY Rangers	38	18	18	2	16	38	88	102	8-10-2	10-8-0	4-4-2	Won 2
20	New Jersey	38	15	16	7	15	37	92	99	7-5-4	8-11-3	4-4-2	Lost 1
21	Ottawa	39	15	17	7	14	37	111	126	8-10-4	7-7-3	4-3-3	Won 1
22	Winnipeg	39	16	18	5	11	37	103	116	8-8-4	8-10-1	3-6-1	Lost 2
23	Nashville	37	16	17	4	16	36	85	109	8-8-3	8-9-1	3-6-1	Lost 1
24	Columbus	37	16	17	4	15	36	101	106	9-8-2	7-9-2	6-3-1	Won 2
25	Carolina	37	14	15	8	13	36	86	105	7-8-4	7-7-4	4-3-3	Lost 1
26	Calgary	37	14	17	6	11	34	95	118	7-7-3	7-10-3	4-4-2	Won 1
27	Florida	38	14	19	5	10	33	88	123	7-8-3	7-11-2	7-3-0	Lost 2
28	NY Islanders	38	11	20	7	7	29	96	129	5-7-7	6-13-0	3-5-2	Won 1
29	Edmonton	39	12	24	3	10	27	101	135	6-11-1	6-13-2	3-6-1	Won 1
30	Buffalo	37	10	24	3	6	23	66	105	7-12-2	3-12-1	4-4-2	Won 1

While this season seems to have been lost some time ago, we can at least take solace once again that the rebuild continues into the draft season once again. It is very highly likely we will enter this season's 2014 NHL Entry draft with a top 3 pick and at worst a top 5. That pick may be traded, we may keep it. Regardless , I think now is the time that we here at Oilers Jambalaya give a further look into the top 15 prospects around the world and what we could be looking at as our consolation prize. Let's call this our Oiler Christmas Gift all wrapped under the tree this christmas.

NEXT UP: #3 prospect of REVS Top 15 2014 Draft Prospects.

For Oiler and Baron news and 2013/14 NHL draft watch

www.twitter.com/revingev

"Back in the Seat"

My deepest apologies to all our readers who grew accustomed to reading our posts once or twice a week. This past 6 weeks has been crazy with work, family and a assortment of other thing NOT related to Christmas Candy. Spread the word, Oilers Jambalaya is going to light up the Oilers Blogosphere once again with some inside rumours occasionally, some different perspective views then the regular fan and a further in depth look at the Oilers Prospects and the regular REV'S NHL Draft Prospect updates. Be sure to follow on twitter for updates and inside information on those prospects.

While I may be back in the seat (of blogging for the Oilers) the question remains are the Oilers back in the seat? This team has been crazy unpredictable but alas these past 12 games have shown incredible progress. Sure we can look at each loss with critical eyes but it seems many a Oiler fan also likes to look at even win with critical eyes. I like Dallas Eakins comment on the fact, wins are wins. Sure we can evaluate the win and see what we can improve on but why freak out about the win. 

If the Oilers of past dynasty were critiqued for every win like this team…..wait, they were as well. Guess no team in Edmonton will ever be free of the criticism unless they win, and win decisively. It really shows the passion of Oiler hockey fans. Good or bad, you want passion, it goes both ways and until the Oilers start winning 3 or 4 consecutive games in a row consistently , you likely will continue to see fans react in the same manner.

So, back to the statement 'Back in the Seat'. Are the Oilers truly back in the drivers seat or are they still looking like they continue to be student drivers? Let's look at some interesting things that have been happening this year from a positive standpoint.

1. Boyd Gordon sits 6th OV in faceoff wins in the NHL with a 58.3% and the top 2 have had at least 100 less face-offs to date. Not a bad pickup and signing by the Oilers even if some are concerned with how much he makes per season. This has been a huge compliant for a long time.

2. Mark Arcobello is sitting at 51% and that is for a rookie. Not bad  for a undrafted free agent signing that has developed in the system. His points this season have been a welcome addition and his ability to withstand the size of the opposition players has been incredible. He also is a very good utility player that can play multiple roles or on different lines. He flat out works hard and has a good future ahead of him.

3. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has recovered well from his surgery and despite a time here or there is proving to be a very capable two-way center defensively. His offence will only improve and his ability to stay away from being hit continues to prove the early skeptics wrong. Ryan is showing all up arrows from this point on IMO.

4. Like Ilya or not but Bryz is definitely a solid addition to the goaltending tandem. I liked what i have seen in a short stint to date but here is hoping we continue to see more of what he showed to date upon his return.

5. Taylor Hall is trending upwards and onward. He is coming into his own and like every other year, only gets better as the season progresses, fingers crossed he stays healthy the rest of the way. His adaption to the style of his game should benefit him more and take away the % of injury due to his old reckless style. IMO, Hall has truly showed he will be the next Captain of this team in a year or two. In 75 games this year, Hall is on pace for 36 goals and 81 points. Could this be the year he consistently stays a point per game player from this point on?

6. David Perron is a machine, a beast of a small man. Did i say small man? Yup, he is only 5'11 and that is a complaint from many a fan and media for this team. If this team had two more Perron's, size and all with his grit, effort and skill, the Oilers would be in playoff contention. IMO it's not the size factor but the fight back factor. This was a trade many were questioning. In fact 45% of Oiler fans polled after the trade did not like this one and were critical. Don't think they are complaining now.

Only time and more games will tell us much more, but I would say the Oilers are starting to shape together and build a bit of a identity, it's just you don't know which kind of game to see on nightly basis. 

For Oiler and Baron news and 2013/14 NHL draft watch

www.twitter.com/revingev