11/12 NW Preview: Edmonton Oilers
Kent Wilson
October 04 2011 02:30PM
10/11 finish: 62 points, Dead last
Playoffs: Ha!
Key Players: Hemsky, Horcoff, Whitney, Eberle, Hall
Additions: Sutton, Eager, Barker, Smyth, Hordichuk, Belanger, RNH
Subtractions: MacIntyre, Reddox, Fraser, Stortini, Jacques, Foster, Vandermeer
Cap Position: About $8M in space
Projected finish: in the conference's bottom four
It's neither rivalry nor spite that compels me to say the Oilers are - or at least were - awful. They've been the worst unit in the entire NHL for two years running and were only marginally better than that for several seasons prior. The period between Edmonton's unlikely cup run and now has been the gloomiest valley for a franchise that experienced a lot of peaks in it's history. One wonders how long the city's memories of former glory will continue to sell hope for the club and it's decision makers.
Backlund out six weeks with Broken Finger
Kent Wilson
October 04 2011 10:01AM
The Flames depth at center has gone from crowded to thin this this pre-season. With Brendan Morrison already on the shelf, Mikael Backlund will join him on IR after a slash in practice has left him with a broken finger that requires surgery.
Lost Russians: Calgary Flames
Kent Wilson
October 01 2011 04:08PM
Editors note: Andrey Osadchenko is the senior Russian Correspondent at the Nations Network. He writes regularly in Russian at allhockey.ru, and has a series of web videos called "Joining the Rush" with Steve Dangle. Today Andrey catches up with some of the former Russian-born draft picks of the Flames organization. The piece underscores why drafting Russian-born players has gone somewhat out of style; simply put, it's a risky proposition.
By: Andrey Osadchenko
The Flames are the first organization that successfully signed a Russian player – his name was Sergei Priakhin. He played just 46 games in the NHL and scored 3 goals but nevertheless has written himself in hockey history. Other than him, the Flames hardly can brag about big Russian players in their own history. Andrei Trefilov, German Titov and Oleg Saprykin are the only names that come to mind (and, of course, Sergei Makarov - ed.).
They haven’t even drafted any of Priakhin’s compatriots since 2002 and currently have none of the ruskies in their system. However, at the beginning of the century the Flames were quite fond of drafting players from the Motherland. Were there any good picks? Let’s find out.
Saturday Morning Shadenfreude - Tim Erixon Gets Cut
Kent Wilson
October 01 2011 09:28AM
Vicki Hall has the deliciously ironic news on Flames Insider this morning - the New York Rangers have demoted Tim Erixon.
Flames Cut Byron and Bouma
Kent Wilson
September 30 2011 09:28AM
Calgary has re-assigned Paul Byron and Lance Bourma to the Abbotsford Heat today. Roman Horak, Derek Smith and Jordan Henry are therefore one step closer to making the big club.
