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Some early season numbers we may not know about....

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    Some early season numbers we may not know about....

    http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sport...027/story.html

    Oilers show early promise with grit, intensity

    Team no longer a mere speed bump for visiting clubs

    By Dan Barnes, Edmonton Journal

    There is more promise in their play than there are points in the standings, but the essence of these Oilers is in other, better, more surprising numbers.

    Among the most eyebrow-lifting? The first-line right winger, Ales Hemsky, leads all Oilers forwards with six blocked shots.

    The first-line left winger, J.F. Jacques, is third in the league with 19 hits. Third-line winger Ryan Stone ranks eighth with 16 and fourth-line centre Gilbert Brule is 14th with 14. No other team has three players in the top 14.

    From pushovers to pushing back, that is quite a transformation.

    "We're getting more big hits and it becomes contagious," said defenceman Jason Strudwick. "Guys are blocking shots, winning draws. And it's not just the centres winning draws, it's guys fighting battles on the wings. When you see Ales Hemsky go down(to block a slapper), if I don't try to block the next shot, what does that say about me?"

    But when he does, and somebody follows him with a gut-busting effort, it says the right things about a team that had to re-establish its historical colour scheme of copper and blue collar. Through four home games they have delivered in grit more than finish, in try more than accomplishment, but you can see it is all there somewhere.

    They have yielded as many goals as they have scored and are an encouraging 2-1-1, not an unbelievable 4-0 as they were last October. But that burst from the gate was an empty promise, little more than a tease of prosperity based on some lucky breaks. They were 4-4-1 in short order and the season eventually unravelled in accordance with sophomore slumps, veteran malaise and a steady decline in effort and intensity. They became a speed bump for teams travelling through Alberta, going 18-17-6 in Rexall Place, the seventh worst home record in a 30-team league. In lopsided home losses to Chicago and Buffalo, they were completely embarrassed.

    Late in the loss to Buffalo, the crowd began chanting "We want 10." The Oilers acquiesced, to their complete shame. They may well have a stinker or two in them this year, but so far they are tougher to play and easier to watch.

    Yes, they are but 1/20th of the way into the first season of the Pat Quinn era, perhaps still running on the energy and newness of coaching and personnel changes. Hasty conclusions are generally unwise in a game that can still be dictated by erratic bounces and key injuries. But the Oilers had to deliver on the promise Quinn made to every fan prior to each home pre-season game in a video message. He promised this team would compete. Not win. Not secure a championship. Because they basically shamed themselves at home last year, Quinn had to bottom-line it with the most basic of expectations.

    They have looked good doing it, pleased those home fans, satisfied critics and restored a standard of work ethic that had been eroded by inconsistency.

    "There was no standard," said Quinn.

    There has been one through the first home stand. The speed bump has been fortified.

    "The main thing is the intensity is there," said centre Shawn Horcoff, who has won more faceoffs this year than anyone but Sidney Crosby. "We're physical. We make it tough for teams to come into our building. I think it's all effort. We look better because the intensity level is back. Fans have always been able to count on us for effort. We may lose games but we're going to show up every night. That's our M.O.

    "We lost some of that last year but it's back. And when you add in some sandpaper, some grit, it's contagious."

    It has spread from Brule, Stone and Jacques. Dustin Penner is still throwing his weight around, even though there is less of it. Sam Gagner has already fought off Quinn's tepid perception of him as a one-dimensional player and has made an impact with scoring and physicality.

    "We want this to be a tough building," said Gagner. "That's what we want to get back to and we feel we're making the right steps."

    Their losses have been last-minute heartbreaks. Goals have gone in off the wrong people at the worst possible times. Their wins, over Dallas and Montreal, were not exhibitions of dominance, but even as they were chasing Montreal's water bugs on the freeze and being outshot badly, they were not easy to play against. They outhit the Habs 25-16.

    "I just think that's the mentality this year," said Andrew Cogliano. "Everyone realized our downfall was we were too easy to play against. Everybody is just buying into that mentality."

    #2
    Re: Some early season numbers we may not know about....

    Deslauriers gets the start tonight while Souray looks to be out for a while with Taylor Chorney being recalled.
    Quote from Inquiring Mind:

    Of course stamphater is sacred... we all worship the ground he walks on.

    #PizStrong

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      #3
      Re: Some early season numbers we may not know about....

      Thank god for tonight's ass kicking.

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