Oilers 2014 = Avalanche 2013 ???

With roughly one month left in the 2013-14 NHL season, you would be hard pressed to find a team who has surprised more people than the Colorado Avalanche. After beating the Chicago Blackhawks by a score of 3-2 on Wednesday night, the Avs find themselves in tie for third place in the Western Conference with the San Jose Sharks and a point up on the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

The Viktor Fasth Era begins

From the moment he took over as GM of the Edmonton Oilers, Craig MacTavish made it abundantly clear he wasn’t happy with his goaltending. After starting the 2013-14 campaign with Devan Dubnyk and Jason LaBarbera, the Oilers general manager decided to replace that duo with the trio of Ilya Bryzgalov, Ben Scrivens and most recently Viktor Fasth.

MacT has been busy but...

Anyone that was expecting the NHL Trade Deadline to be anything but anti-climatic for Craig MacTavish and the Edmonton Oilers wasn’t paying attention. While the return for Ales Hesmky wasn’t exactly overwhelming, the Oilers GM didn’t exactly have many bullets at his disposal.

Trade Speculation - Ilya Bryzgalov

Earlier today I posted my first in a series of columns on Edmonton Oilers players who could possibly be on the move leading up to or at the NHL Trade Deadline over at HometownHockey.ca and focused on potential suitors for one Ales Hemsky.

Is Ben Scrivens really the answer?

When the Los Angeles Kings decided to trade Ben Scrivens to Edmonton Oilers for a third round pick back in mid-January, the Spruce Grove native must have felt as though he had won the lottery. While the Kings may have been battling for top stop in the Western Conference at the time of the deal, the former Toronto Maple Leafs netminder was clearly #3 on the depth chart. 

Time to get busy

With the NHL Trade Deadline less than two weeks away, one can’t help but wonder how many players will ultimately find their way off the Edmonton Oilers roster. While the names of Sam Gagner, Ales Hemsky and Nick Schultz continue to make the rounds in rumour mills across the league, there are a number of other players who general manager Craig MacTavish could send packing prior to the March 5th deadline.

Oilers schedule is far tougher than some think

With twenty-two games remaining on their schedule the Edmonton Oilers find themselves within four points of the Calgary Flames and Florida Panthers in the NHL’s overall standings and just five back of a New York Islanders squad that just lost the services of John Tavares for the remainder of the season.

Yak delivers

Heading into yesterday’s game between the Edmonton Oilers and New York Rangers, I took it upon myself to call out Nail Yakupov in my Thursday morning column. While the kid has had his fair share of ups in downs during his sophomore campaign, in my mind, it was time for #64 to step up to the plate and deliver.

Bryzgalov has gone toe-to-toe with Scrivens

For the vast majority of Edmonton Oilers fans, the moment Ben Scrivens put the finishing touches on his NHL record setting 59 save performance against the San Jose Sharks was the moment he became this club’s #1 goalie. 

Bryz comes up large

It was far from a masterpiece and at times, it was frankly difficult to watch but in the end, the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres was two points Dallas Eakins crew had no business earning. After watching Ben Scrivens be peppered with 100 shots over his last two starts, the Oilers clearly didn’t want Ilya Bryzgalov to feel left out.

Preview: Oilers vs Sabres

With the 2014 Sochi Olympic break less than a week ago, hockey fans everywhere will be treated to battle between the NHL’s two worst teams on Monday night. Yes it’s the matchup everyone has been waiting for, as the Edmonton Oilers pay a visit to the Buffalo Sabres…or maybe not.

Bryz comes up large on David Perron night in Vancouver

While much of the hype following the Edmonton Oilers surprising 4-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks has revolved around a hat-trick performance from forward David Perron, he was not the star of the show during Monday night’s victory.

Six games and counting

It was yet another disastrous start for the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night. After digging themselves a fairly deep hole over the opening thirty or so minutes of action, Dallas Eakins’ side would respond with their usual frenetic third period comeback but would ultimately end up short, falling 4-3 to the visiting Phoenix Coyotes.

Make that seven straight!!!

What can you say that hasn’t already been said about the Edmonton Oilers during the 2013-14 season. As the losses continue to pile up, one can’t help but wonder just how bad this might get for Dallas Eakins' crew.

Forty minutes just isn't good enough

As the games on their 2013-14 schedule continue to fall of the calendar, the Edmonton Oilers have started to show signs of improvements in their overall game. Now it hasn’t done much for their placement in the Western Conference standings but the fact this team seems almost incapable of playing a full sixty minutes of hockey surely isn’t helping.

Bryz needs to be better

Let’s be honest here. the Edmonton Oilers and Ilya Bryzgalov were quite literally forced upon one another. While the two sides did have discussions surrounding the veteran netminder possibly joining the Oilers prior to the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, ultimately nothing came from those talks.

Close but no cigar

Even when the St. Louis Blues don’t bring their “A” game to rink, the Edmonton Oilers need everything to go just right in order to have any hope of beating Ken Hitchcock’s side. Last night’s 5-2 loss could have gone in a completely different direction but the Oilers best players simply weren’t good enough.

Bishop's departure = Oilers victory

For one of the few times this season, the Edmonton Oilers caught a couple of breaks and used them to their advantage on Sunday night, slipping past the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 at Rexall Place. Jordan Eberle led the way upfront with a pair of goals while Taylor Hall rebounded from a couple of off nights, picking up his 40th and 41st points of the season.

The Cogliano Show

About the only difference between the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 defeat to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday evening and their 5-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks last night was who ultimately did the last place Oilers in.

Finally....it's over!!!

Should any of us have really been surprised? Watching the Edmonton Oilers blow another late third period lead and eventually drop a 4-3 overtime decision to the Phoenix Coyotes seemed to be the perfect way for this group to end what has been a rather tumultuous 2013 calendar year.