All I can think of is the end of Slapshot where they introduce every goon that ever lived for the championship game against the Chiefs.

“I thought he was dead”

MacT must feel there is some use in keeping these thugs around. I know of at least one guy who doesn’t agree (hiya Bruce!)

I’m not sure how I feel about this. I would bet that Ales Hemsky is happy about this and I guess his opinion matters more then mine.

Yikes.

Here it is for anyone who didn’t read about it.

I hope for our sake the lineup stays the same as it was against NYR.

Quote from here:

“I almost died,” says Long. “It was within a couple of inches either way of happening. If I would have seen him, my natural reaction would have been to tip my head back and if I did that and he hit me in the neck, I would have been dead on impact.

“People ask me, ‘How do you compare what happened to Steve?’” says Long. “I tell them what [Boulerice] has done is worse. So much worse, you can’t compare them. It’s because if you use your stick, you can kill someone. You can truly kill someone. I know Todd had an intention to hurt but what [Boulerice] had was an intention to debilitate.”

Andrew Long says the Boulerice incident was worse than the Steve Moore incident.

And btw, I think Zack Stortini is a very useful player because he can do more than fight – he hits, kills the occasional penalty, and drives the net hard. And more skills than either MacIntyre or Boulerice by a long shot.

How is acquiring Boulerice a “sign that Stortini is on the block” all of a sudden?

He wasn’t on the block when we had MacIntyre, and he certainly isn’t now that we’ve downgraded to Jesse Boulerice.

MacT must feel there is some use in keeping these thugs around. I know of at least one guy who doesn’t agree (hiya Bruce!)

Hiya Pat. Fucking aye, I don’t agree, this thug is about the last guy I want to see wearing Oiler blue. Simply put, he can’t play hockey. Here’s his stats since the lockout:

43 GP, 0-0-0, +1/-10 = -9
2:42 TOI/GP
0.52 GF ON/60
5.16 GA ON/60

Then there’s the matter of the 25-game suspension and who knows how many other stupid penalties. He’s not a particularly effective fighter, who according to hockeyfights.com badly lost all three of his fights last season (to Eric Godard, Andrew Peters, and Colton Orr — nary a Robyn Regehr in the bunch).

There is absolutely no comparison with Zack Stortini who is not the greatest fighter either, but can play a little bit and is definitively NOT a cheap shot artist. I have never seen Zack use his stick on a guy or hit anybody in the back, even when the opportunity has presented itself. Whereas Boulerice has serious potential to both hurt and embarrass the Oilers.

Relevant quote: “Over the last several seasons, the American Hockey League has established a strict disciplinary standard relative to violent play. We strongly support the National Hockey League’s recent decisions relative to targeting the head of an opponent.
“In determining his eligibility date, it was taken into account that this is the second time in his carer that Mr. Boulerice has been assigned to the AHL while under a lengthy suspension in another league.”
– Dave Andrews, AHL President, 2007

Don’t get me wrong. I think Huggy Bear does have a spot on the team, he has a defensive up side, and most nights I rather have a goon then a pest (from preseason, I thought MacT was grooming him to eventual be 3rd liner and might odd shift on the PK).

After Huggy Bear has played 8 games to SMac’s 10 and we pick up Boulerice off waivers, I am getting the feeling that maybe Storini is being seen as “clearly not wanted and now again not needed.” I would assume we trade him rather then waiving him (since Florida or Colarado just lost their fighters to us).

For the record:
Huggy Bear = Defensive upside, leadership qualitites can fight a bit / why we draft him in the second round
Boulerice = waste of food that could be given to poor starving kids in africa, liability
Smac = waste of roster spot, and entertaining

Breaking news: the Oilers have signed Tim ‘The Hook’ McCracken and Ogie Oglethorpe.

Wow, I used to think if tough guys are supposed to deter the other team’s players from taking cheap shots, then why not hire and dress a mental patient with a lead stick who -only when commanded by the coach- would swing his lead stick at the opposing players heads. I always thought I was being silly.

But now, I see the Oilers had the same thought and followed through.

BTW, I distinctly remember a lot of statements by Lowe and MacT, to the effect that tough guys were otiose… kitsch even. Do any of you suppose either the new owner or the new GM is responsible for this new goonery? Or have the players demanded it? (And isn’t this the sort of question that sports journalists like Brownly and Macwhatsisname should be investigating?)

Ok, so wasn’t Tambellini in the Van organization last year when Boulerice axed Kessler??? Shouldn’t that make him taking Boulerice off waivers even more of a head scratcher?

Makes all the sense in the world.

This guy will not hug the teams star if another team goes after our players.

His actions and rep are the perfect deterent.

//43 GP, 0-0-0, +1/-10 = -9
2:42 TOI/GP
0.52 GF ON/60
5.16 GA ON/60//

You fail to mention Boulerice had exactly six shots on goal during these 43 games.

Good catch, Bill Needle. I had actually looked that up and was going to mention it, but it almost seemed redundant. Give or take Steve MacIntyre, this is the furthest thing from a hockey player to appear on Edmonton’s regular season roster since … geez, I dunno, help me out here. Mark Laforge? Dennis Bonvie?? Mike Ware???

Well just exactly what do us Oiler fans want? A reprise of the past 2 Laraque-less seasons, with an endless procession to the Injury Reserve list?

I LOVE having goons on the team. Lots and lots of goons.

And for you younger Oilers fans who obviously can’t remember the glory days of yore, our team has always had a plethora of goons on tap, from the heavyweight Semenko to the killer McSorely to the uber-pest Linseman.

*shakes head*

Man oh man am I happy that idiot Kevin Lowe isn’t running the team anymore. Team toughness!!??? Give me a break.

Andrew Long… Uh, he turned at the last minute? Put himself in a vulnerable position? Hockey is a very fast game?

Ah well, forgetting about Long will make it that much easier to write his “Can you believe how sweet this guy is?” feature on edmontonoilers.com.

EdmontonOilers.com, for ALL your Oilers online needs.

Hockey and sports in general provide an escape from the drudgery of everyday existance.

In everyday life, people who are prepared to push the law to the limit, as horrible as it might seem to the Sunday School crowd in here, tend to do way better than those who don’t.

See Lou of New Jersey, Sam Pollock of the Canadiens for clarification.

Fair enough that it’s not the 80′s. Of course, it’s also nice not to have to quiver in our collective boots at the thought of meeting the big bad mister Boogard, or those ever so mean Calgary Flames, who pick on Hemsky like the schoolyard bully.

But I do see your point. I really do.

I went to high school with Marc LaForge, Bruce.

He was a pretty good hockey player and a decent guy. Drafted by the local junior club and they asked him to goon it up so he did.

The incident against Guelph was brutal, iirc. There was a line brawl and he skated around sucker punching guys who were fighting other guys. The whole thing ended with him bouncing some guy’s head off the ice when the officials dragged him away.

To get suspended from the OHL in those days took some work.

In everyday life, people who are prepared to push the law to the limit, as horrible as it might seem to the Sunday School crowd in here, tend to do way better than those who don’t.

Hunter: Jesse Boulerice hasn’t pushed the law to the limit, he has gone WAY over the line. The two acts of thuggery linked above are repugnant to most hockey fans. I for one don’t want to see that shit, and I don’t want his stain associated with my team.

As for “doing way better”, other than a couple cups of coffee — which hopefully is all he’ll get here — Boulerice’s only extended service was with the Carolina Hurricanes. The ‘canes had gone to the Stanley Cup finals the year before he made the team. He played two full seasons there in which they didn’t even make the playoffs. Halfway through the following season they finally got rid of him, then went on to win the Stanley Cup. Seems to me his team was a fuck of a lot better off without him.

It is obvious now why the Oilers claimed him. From the Journal article today, they said Colorado had signed him. So since they had an open roster spot, they can keep him away from Colorado for awhile till SMac returns.

I also heard the Oilers were looking at picking up Clarence “Screaming Buffalo” Swamptown and Gilmore Tuttle for their big grudge match against the Leafs on Thursday.

I don’t know about this Boulerice other than what I’ve seen and read. He doesn’t sound like he’s going to be here to put up points.

What would Ned Braden think?

Oh, God, Boulerice is feeding Kesler stick, left and right! Oh God! The humanity! Why won’t someone please stop this madness– wait, what’s that? THAT’S STORTINI’S MUSIC! Boulerice doesn’t know how to react! Stortini jumps in the ring and… hugs him! Oh God! How can the world possibly stand against this evil union!

… and then Joe Sakic skates by and scores a goal.

Blackdog my guess is NB would walk up to the Oilers press box in his skates and tell Rod Phillips and the entire world that he indeed is a chickenshit.

Back to Burke.

I hear he’s already in talks with the WWE or UFC to take on recently laid-off, Kimbo Slice.

The first thought that occurred to me was we picked him up to keep him off somebody else’s roster for a while, it’s the only thing that makes sense.
And whatever happened to Lefebvre – if SMac was out for a longer stint wouldn’t he have been worth trying again? Mr Boulerice looks like a poison pill to me.

Oh I kid not about the misfortunes of the NHL’s greatest windbag, Brian Burke.

I see he caught Pronger Disease and cited family considerations as his reason to not sign an extension.

Toronto seems to be the logical place for Burker: Team on the upswing all created by someone else….

I read that Burke’s leaning towards Philly,

…. just so he can trade Lupul to the Oilers again.

Hmm, and after the NHL got involved in the feud, neither GM is now a GM.

Coincidence? Or part of Bettman’s dark designs?

I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.

My meagre sources (ex-NHLer in the office) indicate that Lowe really was promoted and the decisions still run thru his desk. He technically gets to leave his GM hat on.

I think it’s pretty obvious Burke was moved because of his refusal to sign an extension, likely creating a lack of confidence in whether he will act in the best interests of the team.

Hey, if he was in sales, they’d be escorting him out the door before he could print off his client list. “It’s not unusual…”

I’m sure they’re not too happy about his cap management either, but it did bring them a Cup. Now he can do his song and dance routine elsewhere, before the high water mark in ANA recedes, leaving Burke standing there in the Full Monty for all to see.

The more I hear about this Boulerice character the more I fear that he will do something incredibly stupid that will come back and bite the Oilers in the butt.

You know if guys like him and Steve Downie aren’t in Philly’s plans, then the Quebec Senior League is calling.

Dennis – I would say in the end that’s what it comes down to

How else would you explain this deathbed conversion?

Plus you have a bunch of little smurfs running around – Gagner, Nilsson, Cogliano

They are building a skill club here, which I think is great, but “team toughness” hasn’t gotten them anywhere the last couple of years.

And with due respect to Stortini his presence on the team last year did not prevent guys like Reghyr tossing Hemsky into the dasher every chance he got.

MacIntyre is the nuclear deterrent. You’re always going to have hitting (Ruutu) and punks like Cooke but put it this way – if a guy like MacIntyre does give Hemsky and Gagner extra room out there (and remember how happy guys were after he played his first game in the preseason?!)then to the Oilers he is worth it.

To me its stupid. But I’m not the guy out on the ice. (and I hate that argument – Domi used to say it all the time – but in this case it may be true)

Dennis – there are a couple of things I like about the setup

every year a guy or two rots in the pressbox for a month before he gets three or four minutes of icetime and then they send him down

this year Pouliot and Brodziak know they have to contribute more then one guy to stay in the lineup rather then two and both have more to offer then Stortini so they can play a little relaxed which I think helps

on top of that when MacIntyre was on the bench they were getting minutes with guys like Cole, Nilsson and Hemsky – that has to help them do some good things

imo both guys are better players then they were last year and I think that’s part of the reason

of course now there is an extra goalie so it seems they can’t get everything right

if things continue to go well the guy I wonder about is Nilsson – he had a good start but he’s in the doghouse again – he really has a tradeable contract and I wonder if they move him and a guy like Smid or Grebs for a young stud Dman

move him and there’s that spot for Brule

because once they get to the playoffs they’re going to need a guy who can play on that fourth line