I don't know, is Whitney in the future plans of the Oilers, if not he might play well enough to draw some interest to be traded. Face it's like getting blood out of a stone with the Oilers about the injuries of the players, time will tell if he can play or not.
Good point. If they plan on moving him, playing him to showcase enough for a trade is the correct move. If we have no plans of moving Whitney we might as well shut him down and hope for better things next year.
we gunna get owned, whitney re injures ankle. id rather see whitney sit out rest of season, give his ankle true rest and come back and play like he did when we traded for him then to have him play on a soar ankle rest of year.
With 2 points in 13 games, might it be Jones coming out of the line-up for Eager?
I hope it's not Petrell, PRV or Hartikainen coming out. We got those guys into the line-up, they played fine and the team won.
Jones had a great start, but he's really been a non-factor for the past dozen games.
Another terrible stretch: Captain Horcoff.
4 assists in the past 21 games. Horrible production from a supposed leader and the highest paid player on the team. If they could move him (I've even suggested for Gomez) they should do it. He's a 3rd liner at best.
Taylor Hall - Sam Gagner - Jordan Eberle
Teemu Hartikainen - Shawn Horcoff - Ales Hemsky
Ryan Smyth - Anton Lander - Magnus Paajarvi Lennart Petrell/Darcy Hordichuk* - Eric Belanger - Ryan Jones
Ladislav Smid - Jeff Petry
Ryan Whitney - Andy Sutton
Theo Peckham - Corey Potter
I wasn't impressed that Eager was back in the lineup but he is rested and plays decent against the Canucks. Hopefully he fills in for Petrell, Hartekainen should have made the team off the get go. Lander should be permanent til the end of the season and hoping Paajarvi does something this game, he's coming slowly.
Awesome that Whitney is back, should be Chorney's replacement no questions asked.
Luongo is good but we have fire power, Dubbie can outplay him.
One of Hartikainen/Petrell for sure. My guess would be Petrell.
Not to be that guy, but the Oilers lost 10 of 12 after Petrell was sent to OKC. I know, 4th liners shouldn't make a difference to winning and losing, but still, they win the game he's back in the line up.
The record with Petrell in the lineup is much better than with him in the PB or in OKC. I didn't really understand the demotion to begin with.
Why aren't we shutting Whitney down for the season if he isn't at 100% and likely won't be? At best we add a dman who's barely top 4 level , and at worse he makes the injury worse and potentially hurts his next season too. Sometimes the decisions this team makes just baffle me.
I expect this game won't be pretty. We aren't going to get .960+ level goaltending every game and the Sedins will skate circles around our D. Tonight I am cheering for no one getting hurt, especially Smid, Eberle, Hall, or Petry.
Not to be that guy, but the Oilers lost 10 of 12 after Petrell was sent to OKC. I know, 4th liners shouldn't make a difference to winning and losing, but still, they win the game he's back in the line up.
The record with Petrell in the lineup is much better than with him in the PB or in OKC. I didn't really understand the demotion to begin with.
Hartikainen > Petrell
I like Petrell's game a lot, he plays a nice two way game(under the radar) but Hartikainen provides energy that the Oilers are in need of at the moment to spark that offense up.
Why aren't we shutting Whitney down for the season if he isn't at 100% and likely won't be? At best we add a dman who's barely top 4 level , and at worse he makes the injury worse and potentially hurts his next season too. Sometimes the decisions this team makes just baffle me.
I expect this game won't be pretty. We aren't going to get .960+ level goaltending every game and the Sedins will skate circles around our D. Tonight I am cheering for no one getting hurt, especially Smid, Eberle, Hall, or Petry.
I like Petrell's game a lot, he plays a nice two way game(under the radar) but Hartikainen provides energy that the Oilers are in need of at the moment to spark that offense up.
I really don't see how Hartikainen brings that much more spark than Petrell. Petrell hits at a steady pace and makes smart plays. Hartikainen has one hit a game and makes grenade like plays with the puck.
Why aren't we shutting Whitney down for the season if he isn't at 100% and likely won't be? At best we add a dman who's barely top 4 level , and at worse he makes the injury worse and potentially hurts his next season too. Sometimes the decisions this team makes just baffle me.
I expect this game won't be pretty. We aren't going to get .960+ level goaltending every game and the Sedins will skate circles around our D. Tonight I am cheering for no one getting hurt, especially Smid, Eberle, Hall, or Petry.
My personal theory is that the prognosis may be that this is as good as its going to get for Whitney, and they want to see if/how he plays as is. It may help them to decide whether or not to draft Murray or Dumba, instead of Grigorenko lets say.
I'd rather put Chorney in tonight than an 80% Whitney. Taylor held his own yesterday, and moved the puck decently. What's the point in having Whitney play one relatively meaningless game before a one week hiatus for the All-Star weekend. He has any chance of healing, it's bound to be better to rest up an extra week.
90% > 80%
Excited to see more Harski. I'm glad the line combos have not been changed for tonight. Glimpses of chemistry last night on most lines.
Great, now that the games don't mean anything, Dubnyk decides to show up. Could someone please fill Devan in on the game plan. We need to finish as poor as possible.
If by chance there's another work stoppage next season, the Oilers placing will carry over for both the 2012 draft as well as the 2013 entry draft. Pittsburgh finished last in 2004 before the lockout and retained the first pick (Sydney Crosby) coming out of the lockout. The Oilers could sure use the services of Nathan MacKinnon as well to go with Yakupov or Grigorenko.
