Taylor Hall eyeing return

Hat Tip: 4Taylorhall.com

My First Bruins Game

 [Box Score]

It was cool getting to see the World Champions live and in the flesh here in Columbus. Some things I took from this one:

-Milan Lucic is a dirty little player.

-I got to see Tyler Seguin, and although he didn't register any scoring it was pretty cool to know I saw him play.

-The Blue Jackets crowd was into it, and there were Bruins fans everywhere. Where do they all come from? 

-Saturday Night is definitely Hockey Night.

Love then they play this song on Hockey Night:

Here's Tim Thomas, the Stanley Cup MVP from last year. The guy registered several saves where he stood on his head. It really did remind me of when I read the book 'The Game' by Ken Dryden. It was like he stood back there in goal not even knowing how or when the game would come to him. But when it did it was time to twist, contort, and be as agile as a leopard.

Above is a view from up in the bleeds at Nationwide Arena. When the Oil come to town I'll make sure I keep score and have better seats.

This is a picture of the World Champions bench.

Zdeno Chara. The baddest man in hockey. And I got to see him score a goal. ZING.

My wife really likes this shot. This is during the National Anthem.

And this is the Blue Jackets anthem guy, Gene. I know this because the crowd yelled it. Anthems are a big deal in hockey. I love it!

Bill Simmons talks NHL

I listened to almost the entire first hour of The BS Report; where Puck Daddy's editor Greg Wyshynski stopped by to talk with Bill Simmons for the entire first hour.

Favorite part of the podcast is after the 30 minute mark when Bill Simmons is slobbering about Tyler Seguin and Wyshynski says he would still talk Hall over him. And they talk about it for 10 minutes or so.

The whole podcast is really enjoyable. I also like them talking about how shootouts suck and Wyshynski also calls the Oilers "the most exciting team in hockey" or something to that effect.

See you in 2 to 4 weeks

I'm just hoping Taylor Hall is back by Christmas.

This absolutely sucks. Good read here that I'm basically too depressed to keep reading. Get well soon, Hallsy. Please.

Black Friday NY City

Today was Black Friday and I visited the NHL store by Reebok in New York City. Absolutely awesome store. I was with company along with my wife who are not big hockey fans so I didn't have the chance to really look around it like I would have liked.

When I returned back from the city I found out the Oilers had won today 5-2, snapping their winless streak in Minnesota.

Here's a look-see at Taylor Hall's 7th goal of the season today, which counted as a game-winning goal. He also had two assists on my drive out to New Jersey in the Oilers win this past Wednesday.

Sidney Crosby's Legendary Return

[Event Summary]

[Empty Netters] [Puck Daddy]

Sid the Kid is back, and he delivered.

We had the game on at my house for a while--and by the time I had turned it on he had already netted a goal to open up the scoring. He would add another two assists and a second goal. He bested the great Mario Lemieux's return.

He proved that he's absolutely a living legend, beyond anyone that we've ever seen before. It's so good for the game of hockey to have this kid back and playing again. Still just 24 years old, Crosby has a real chance to continue building on his legend now.

The Return of Sidney Crosby

Sidney Crosby makes his emotional return to the sport tonight--about 11 months since he last stepped foot on the ice.

It's good news for the Penguins, and it's good news for the sport. When I started this blog, Crosby was my favorite NHL player. He's an icon. I'll be tuning into Versus tonight to see him hopefully net his first points of the season.

People have to remember that at one point there were rumors that Crosby might never play again. My personal hope is that Crosby never misses another game. I love watching him play and I think that he can still go down as one of the all time greats in the sport.

I'll have a recap tonight. Good for Sidney Crosby.

Taylor Hall's second career Hat Trick

[Event Summary]

[Edmonton Journal] [CBC]

It was my favorite night of the NHL season last night--a Saturday night and Hockey Night in Canada--and Taylor Hall made it an even more special night by finding the net three times. He broke the longest goal-less streak of his career last night by scoring once in each period.

Ryan Nugent Hopkins netted five assists. Jordan Eberle had a goal and three markers. It was just a fun night in which the Oilers ended a losing streak in taking out the top team in the conference.

This was the most goals the Oilers had scored in a game since I was their fan. It was on a perfect November Saturday night and just like Taylor Hall's first hat trick last season, I got a chance to watch the entire thing.

Jaroslav Halak robs Taylor Hall

This save actually had Edmonton fans moaning and groaning after the game (the Oilers 5th win in a row) and wondering if Taylor Hall has the ability to finish.



Ht: Pro Hockey Talk

Oilers beat Caps 2-1, biggest win since when?

[Event Summary]

[NHL.com] [Cult of Hockey]

The Washington Capitals have been surging, jumping out to a 7-0-0 start this season. Last night I think the Oil grew up a bit. Look at the sheer joy and passion on the face of Taylor Hall, as he scores his 50th NHL point on a beautiful goal. The video is below. 

It's almost as if Hall's look is part joy, disbelief, happiness, and 'holy shit can you even believe we're here doing this right now against an undefeated Alex Ovechkin-led team?!?!'

It's absolutely astounding to me how much fun these Oilers are to watch. They're now 5-2-2 on the season and they're tied for first place with the Colorado Avalanche--whom they play tonight. I don't expect first place play to continue, partly because I don't think the Oilers get the type of goal-tending they're getting right now all season long. But you ride it for as long as it lasts and accumulate as many points as possible. Right now, the Oil are a good home team who are a tough out every night because of the energy the young kids like Hall, Jordan Eberle (each with goals last night, Eberle adding an assist to go with his GW Goal), and Nugent-Hopkins. Those guys are here to stay for the foreseeable future.

Save by save (34 times to be exact), Nik Khabibulin put another brick in the wall. How long can he keep this up? I do think to a degree with Bulin cools off, Devin Dubnyk will be there to pick him up a little bit. And surprise goal-tending was a reason I thought the Oilers could slip into the playoffs this year.

The great thing about this team is they are arriving ahead of schedule and doing it under the radar because no one in the NHL saw this happening.



All this hoopla and excitement happens the same night that the Winnipeg Jets beat the Philadelphia Flyers 9-8. Since it was a record setting game, here's the event summary of that beauty.

Watch video of the 17 goal game here.

Or just check this out:

Grantland on the Habs

Really nice read on the Canadiens over at Grantland.

Edmonton Arena Deal. Done.

BOOYAH.

Finally... the Edmonton Oilers are staying for good.

I need to start saving for hotel and air fare now.

Taylor Hall is Sorry He's Not Sorry, Vancouver

The Oilers won last night at Rexall 3-2 over the Vancouver Canucks.

Eberle, Hall, and Nugent-Hopkins were the causation.

If you want the full story, head over to Cult of Hockey.

Taylor Hall is Hungry for Pucks

Hopefully this leads to goal #2 against the 'Nucks tonight

Oilers can't close out Wild, lose 2-1 in shootout

[Event Summary]
[Cult of Hockey]

Second game in a row that I went to sleep with the Oilers leading 1-0 heading into the third period and at the end of the game, the Oilers found a way to lose instead of close it out for the win. They fall to 2-2-2 on the season with six points tallied. They should be a lot better off than that.

From NHL.com:

The Oilers were two seconds away from a 1-0 shutout before Minnesota's Dany Heatley beat Nikolai Khabibulin with 1.2 seconds left in regulation. After a scoreless overtime, Matt Cullen scored the only goal of the shootout, giving the Wild a 2-1 win that stunned the full house of 16,839 at Rexall Place


Jordan Eberle's and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' efforts were stopped in the shootout before Eric Belanger hit the post to end the game. Cullen, Minnesota's first shooter in the tiebreaker, came in slowly before whipping a backhander under the crossbar on the Wild's first try.

 Ugh.

The Bulin Wall's 30 saves were not enough because he didn't make the final save of the game. That's why Hockey is so painful yet so intriguing at the same time. I would think that 99.9% of fans watching this game had the Oilers going off as a winner last night. And it didn't happen. And until the Oilers learn to close and score one more goal that makes the other team quit on the night this is going to keep happening.

My playoff predictions may have been premature.

Rick Rypien article in Vancouver Sun

I haven't read the whole thing yet, but this was a good article in the Vancouver Sun on the struggles of Rick Rypien.

Oilers lose to Calgary Flames rally, 2-1

[Event Summary]
[NHL.com] [Cult of Hockey]

I went to bed with the Oilers up 1-0 on the strength of a Tom Gilbert goal. Then I realized that Taylor Hall had the flu and got the DNP.

After that I decided that I wasn't going to watch the game. And when I woke up in the middle of the night and refreshed the NHL app scoreboard on my iPhone, I was not surprised to see the '1-0' lead morph into 2-1 Calgary.

The Oilers are 2-2-1. And they're showing that they're just slightly improved rather than a legit playoff team.

Hopefully Taylor Hall is back from the flu on Thursday evening.

Oilers top Preds at Rexall

[Event Summary]

[Cult of Hockey]

The Oilers dropped a pretty good team last night (Nashville was 44-27-11 last year) by a score of 3-1, and they out-shot their opponent 25 to 12.

It was Ryan Smyth bobble-head night in Edmonton. He scored the game winning goal and assisted on an empty netter.

These guys are doing about what I thought they would do. They're playing well at home and logging points at a playoff-contender like clip. They got good goal-tending from Nikolai Khabibulin, who only allowed one goal. He's making it as though Devan Dubnyk is going to really have to battle to earn the majority of games. 

Strong games were logged by Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall, Tom Gilbert and the captain Shawn Horcoff. Horcoff logged three assists and Taylor Hall scored on a beautiful goal on the PP. 

Tonight the Oilers travel to Calgary for the Battle of Alberta, the first of the year. I have fond memories of this rivalry as when I first started following the Oilers they beat the Flames 4-0 on opening night.

RNH to Taylor Hall for the first time

A little history, and hopefully the first of many.

Monday Puck Drops

-Oilers play the Preds tonight at 9:30 ET. It's been a little while since the Oilers have had a win, hopefully it comes tonight. It's Ryan Smyth bobble-head night.

-Sidney Crosby is back tonight.

-A Detroit Red Wing with a huge lipper in at 30,000 feet. Tweeting.

-December Hockey Night, with an Ottawa blogger.

-This day in Habs History. And this day in hockey history with an Oilers twist.