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head coach: Ron Low

roster: C - Doug Weight, Todd Marchant, Tony Hrkac. LW - Dean McAmmond, Rem Murray, Valeri Zelepukin, Ryan Smyth, Mats Lindgren, Bill Huard, Mike Watt. RW - Bill Guerin, Mike Grier, Andrei Kovalenko, Kelly Buchberger, Georges Laraque, Dennis Bonvie. D - Bobby Dollas, Sean Brown, Greg deVries, Kevin Lowe, Roman Hamrlik, Boris Mironov, Drake Berehowsky, Frank Musil, Janne Niinimaa. G - Curtis Joseph, Bob Essensa.

injuries: Janne Niinimaa, d (rib injury, indefinite); Kevin Lowe, d (inner ear infection, placed on IR Oct 23, indefinite).

transactions: Traded Dan McGillis, d, and a second-round pick in this year's draft to the Philadelphia Flyers for Janne Niinimaa, d; sent Boyd Devereaux, c, to Hamilton (AHL).

standings:

Western Conference - Pacific Division
Team         GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   
x-Colorado   77  37  24  16    90  217  192  
Los Angeles  75  34  30  11    79  210  204 
San Jose     76  31  37   8    70  190  205  
Edmonton     76  30  36  10    70  192  208 
Calgary      75  25  36  14    64  200  222  
Vancouver    76  24  39  13    61  212  258  
Anaheim      76  24  40  12    60  187  241  
x - Clinched playoff spot

game results:

3/25 Washington    W 4-2
3/27 Buffalo       L 1-0
3/30 Calgary       W 3-1
4/01 at Vancouver  L 4-2
4/03 Dallas        W 4-1
4/06 Vancouver     W 3-2

team news:

by Jim Iovino, Edmonton Oilers

If the Edmonton Oilers don't make the playoffs, it won't be for a lack of effort. With a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Monday, the Mighty Oil have won four of their last six games, including a surprising victory over the struggling Dallas Stars.

Monday's win at home against the Canucks was big for several reasons. First of all, before the game the standings showed that if the playoffs were to start then, the Oilers would have been out of the postseason picture. Edmonton was tied with San Jose in points, but because the Sharks had one more win, they would be in and the Oilers would be out. That's just not cool.

The other reason the game was a big one was because of what happened five days before. The Canucks pulled the best of all April Fools jokes when they defeated the Oilers, who were in the midst of a playoff race. The Canucks, you see, must have taken a break from all their internal rifts to play some hockey. Their 4-2 win stunned Oiler fans, who thought their team's playoff hopes might have gone out the window with that loss.

But the next game was redemption as the Oilers blew away the Stars, 4-1. That set up the rematch against the Canucks, and this time Edmonton wouldn't be denied those crucial two points.

Pavel Bure opened the scoring with an incredible shorthanded goal late in the first period, but Boris Mironov answered back with a shorthander of his own about nine minutes into the second against LCS whipping boy Garth Snow. But less than a minute later Brad May (of all people) put the Canucks back into the lead with a power-play goal assisted by Peter Zezel.

Did the Oilers fold the tent? Not a chance. A little over a minute after May's goal, Ryan Smyth knotted the score again. It was Smyth's 18th on the season. That set the stage for Scott Fraser to score the game winner later in the period. Dougie Weight slipped Fraser the puck in the slot and Fraser snapped it past a screened Snow for the goal.

CuJo kept Bure and Co. off the scoreboard in the third to seal the victory.

After Monday's game against Vancouver, the standings in the West look like this:

6. EDMONTON 77 31 36 10 72 
   PHOENIX  75 30 33 12 72
   CHICAGO  77 30 35 12 72 
9. SAN JOSE 76 31 37  8 70  
---------------------------
10.CALGARY  75 25 36 14 64 

With the win, Edmonton joined Phoenix and Chicago in a tied for the sixth spot, while San Jose dropped to ninth and Calgary is a lowly tenth.

Problem for the Oilers: Phoenix and Calgary have two games in hand and San Jose has one.

Good news for the Oilers: Of the team's five remaining games, two are against Anaheim, one is against Calgary, and the final game of the season is a home tilt with Toronto. The schedule makers couldn't have given the Oil anything better.

Niinimaa adds to impressive defense

The Oilers acquired another impressive young defenseman to their roster before the trading deadline with the acquisition of Janne Niinimaa from the Philadelphia Flyers.

Niinimaa, who was acquired for defenseman Dan McGillis and a second-round pick, joins Boris Mironov and Roman Hamrlik on the Oiler blue line to make a tremendous trio of young talent. Niinimaa, 22, was impressive in his rookie season with the Flyers last season, but seemed to fall out of favor with the club this year. After scoring 44 points (four goals) in 77 games last season, Niinimaa fell off the pace a tad this season with three goals and 30 assists in 66 games. But, more importantly, Niinimaa wasn't as aggressive as the Flyers wanted, either in the checking department or on the point on the power play.

But Niinimaa's still young and has tremendous potential. Since he's a Finn, his skating is bound to be great. And he's shown good instincts in spite of his youth.

Niinimaa adds more youth and potential to a group of defensemen that includes the 26-year-old Mironov and the soon-to-be 24-year-old Hamrlik. Hamrlik was acquired earlier in the season from the Tampa Bay Lightning. The offensive- minded defenseman has scored 24 points (six goals) in 36 games with the Oil. Hamrlik, who has been known to slack off in his own end, has already showed an improvement defensively. He's a plus 6 during his time in Edmonton, which is great in comparison to the minus 17 he posted in 37 games with Tampa Bay.

Mironov has a cannon of a shot from the point and has been a steady performer all year for the Oil. He's scored 15 goals on the season, including 10 on the power play, and has amassed 42 points in 75 games. The trio of Mironov, Hamrlik and Niinimaa should keep fans interested in their team for years to come. Or, you know, until one of them wants a really big contract and they're traded away for more guys with "potential".

Gary Thorne Drinking Game

The best part of the trade, however, could be the fact that since the Oilers are hardly ever seen on ESPN, Niinimaa won't have his name butchered by announcer Gary Thorne any more. Thorne has had trouble pronouncing Niinimaa's name ever since the defenseman entered the league. Thorne insists his name in "NiiMiNaa" instead of "NiiNiMaa". I know I'm getting picky, but if you had to listen to that all the time you'd get tired of it, too.

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