To the dearly departed
On Friday, January 29th the Oilers rid themselves of a problem.
They got rid of the heavy-living Andrei Kovalenko, who went to the
Philadelphia Flyers for Alexandre Daigle. Daigle, who the Oilers
wanted to sign a one-year, $1 million contract extension was then
flipped to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Alex Selivanov.
You could call this a good deal for all three teams, because they
each got rid of what they considered to be garbage.
Daigle was not playing well at all for the Flyers. He even refused
to play the center position, citing it was easier on the wing. He
pretty much walked himself into coach Roger Neilson's doghouse.
Flyer's GM Bobby Clarke didn't have any choice but to get rid of
him.
Selivanov wasn't playing so hot for the Lightning either, but hey,
who is? The team has like eight wins this season. It was pretty
much a hopeless cause. What a sorry organization, anyway, all that
losing must really do something to a man.
Selivanov had a 30-goal season two years ago, but has failed to
reproduce those numbers during the regular season. Management was
pretty much sick of him, and he had to be moved.
He knew he was pretty much on his way out when his father-in-law,
Phil Esposito was fired as Lightning GM. Selly, known as
"Son-in-law-ov" was ready for his ticket out of town. He wasn't a
favorite of Lightning GM/coach Jacques Demers, and he brought in
Daigle, who he thinks he can reach to because they both speak
French.
So "Son-in-law-ov" comes from the Bolts, who are dead last in the
league to the Oilers who are smack dab in the middle of a playoff
race. This should hopefully revive his career.
Selivanov is now playing on the second line on the left side with
Pat Falloon and Joe Beranek. They clicked quite well the other
night against the Nashville Predators as they netted a couple of
goals and looked like a solid, dependable second unit.
And we all know Kovalenko's story. After missing a team flight back
to Edmonton, Sather started to look for some takers. Sather feels
Kovalenko is a bad influence on Boris Mironov, who when together are
quite the dynamic duo. Kovy and Bobo would paint the town red.
Now a Flyer, Andrei Kovalenko had some trouble playing due to visa
problems. But he made it there last week and is slotted on the
Flyers' fourth line with Daymond Langkow and Dainus Zubrus. If for
some reason Kovalenko is moved to the Legion of Doom with Eric
Lindros and John LeClair, look for Kovalenko's numbers to soar.
Daigle is currently playing on the right side with fellow former
Flyer, Chris Gratton and Wendel Clark. Daigle has one assist in
four games for the Lightning, watch for him to drop down their
depth charts fast.
What, we're getting paid for the whole sixty minutes?
Last week, the Oilers played against the St. Louis Blues and the
Chicago Blackhawks. The Oilers are competitive with both teams,
especially the Hawks, who are last in the conference.
Both those games were should-wins for the Oilers. But the Oilers
came out of the gates with about as much determination as Al Bundy
at the shoe store.
The stories for the two games are almost identical. They come out
flat for the first two periods, playing some lazy, pathetic
hockey. The third period comes, they're down 3-0, and they
realize what they've done and storm the ice like Peg Bundy in heat.
So the Oilers battle back and end up tying the game and bring the
game to overtime.
Against Chicago, the Oilers came seven seconds away from a tie, but
good `ol Tony Amonte scored and the `Hawks walk away with two
points. He made the Oilers pay for not working those first two
periods.
So you think they would have learned their lesson the first time
around, but five days later, the Oilers do the exact same thing
against the Blues. This time, the Blues ended it early, 35 seconds
into overtime courtesy of Pierre Turgeon, leaving the Oilers
scratching their heads.
Both these games the Oilers could have one if they gave a full
effort. The have to learn the third period isn't enough.
This prompted local media to call for coach Ron Low's head. They
said the team doesn't listen to Low anymore and someone else must
be brought in.
After all, as the old saying says, it's easier to fire one guy
rather than 20. But GM Glen Sather said he would stand by his
man. He would make a couple trades before canning Low.
In turn, the team rallied around their coach and put in a full
game's effort against the formidable Ottawa Senators, the game
resulting in a 2-2 tie. Since then, the Oilers beat Nashville, so
the "can the coach campaign" has ended. For now.
Roman starts with "A"?
With Boris Mironov out with a shoulder injury, his alternate
captain spot is presently being filled in by Roman Hamrlik. Hamrlik
has been the Oilers' steadiest defenceman in both ends of the rink
this year.
Brathwaite's Back
For those keeping track, the former Oiler's backup Freddy
Brathwaite is back in the NHL after a two year banishment. After
stints for the Canadian National Team and the Manitoba Moose of the
IHL, Freddy returned with the Calgary Flames of all teams.
Brathwaite's number was up, as the Calgary Flames had exhausted all
their goalies through injuries and had to look outside the
organization. This was Brathwaite's chance and he has taken full
advantage of it with a 4-4-5 record and 2.31 GAA and 91.9 save
percentage.
Freddy was a good kid in his time with the Oil, but was not able to
deliver. He played 40 games over three seasons, so he didn't get
many chances to play. And when he did get a chance to show his
stuff, he was probably too rusty to play.
At the time Brathwaite was 21 and right out of junior, so he was
likely a little too green for the big leagues. But after a couple
years of seasoning he looks ready to make an impact in the NHL.
There are quite a few Edmontonians who are happy to see Freddy back
in the league.
Rumour Mill
There is still talk of Felix Potvin coming to Edmonton. The names
range from Janne Niinimaa or Boris Mironov going to the Islanders
to Mats Lindgren and Mikail Shtalenkov for Felix the Cat.
Don't count on this trade happening too soon. Bob Essensa is
playing some solid hockey for the Oilers. And when he runs out of
gas, Low will play Shtalenkov, who's been mostly reliable when
rested.
Bob is looking decent with a 90.7 save percentage and a 2.45 GAA.
Shtalenkov isn't too bad either with 89.9 save percentage and a
2.57 GAA. As long as these guys play solid, Sather will be in no
rush to pick up Potvin, or any other goalie.
Bye Bo?
Next to go is Boris Mironov, who the Detroit Red Wings are seriously
looking at. The Wings have some holes on the blue line. They'll be
in deep if Uwe Krupp is determined to need back surgery, which will
end his season.
This week they'll get a verdict on Krupp's back. If he does get
surgery, the Wings will need a d-man to play some big minutes like
Bobo does. The Wings will probably pick up a veteran defenceman
like Igor Kravchuk from Ottawa or Mark Tinordi from Washington.
The Wings are said to be dangling a combination of two of these
players: Anders Eriksson, Darren McCarty and Martin Lapointe.
