26hrs and Counting: Mayhem Approaches

Written by: Hongkong Philly

 First off, I'd like to congratulate Shawn Horcoff on being captain number 13 in the franchises' history. His play will never match his pay, but what he lacks in pay to play ratio, he makes up with work ethic, dedication, and leadership. Last year you were the whipping boy and you still had nothing but great things to say about playing in Edmonton. I know somebody who decided to trash this city and management and payed for it. Send us a postcard with some chocolate from Hershey #44 - I'll get into that later.

Many people (including myself) thought that the Oilers were going to be captain less in the 2010-2011 season. But as the pre-season progressed, you could see Horcoff was the one guiding the ship. But I'm sure Whitney was considered. As soon as he stepped foot into the locker room he was considered a leader by all the players. He told players who didn't want to play here or live here, take your pre-Madonna ass out the door and play elsewhere. He ignited the team and you could see the results. The Oilers were staying in the games and keeping it competitive instead of looking like soulless robots. He made Tom Gilbert a much much much better player. Gilbert went from a soft giveaway machine, too a physical point per-game defenseman. (This is a little off topic but Gilbert hasn't been in a fight in his whole career! What kind of hockey player is that? Come on Gibby even Gagner and Cogs have fought.) To me a captain is someone whose maturity is far superior to that of his teammates, keeps the room in order, and puts the team in front of himself. Both Horc and Whitney show these attributes. On that note my personal candidate would not have been either. I know I'm going to be bombarded for this one but I'm sticking to my guns. He goes by the name Sam Gagner and he's only 21 with 3 full years of NHL experience under his belt. When I see Gagner, I see the wisdom and determination of Horcoff, and the ability to control the room like Whitney. Call me crazy but it seems that he is the one guiding the young bucks. When Horcoff's reign of captaincy is over, I will be truly disgusted if Sammy does not fill the void. I know i'm looking about 5 years down the road, but hey that's when the cup will be in our grasp. As for Horcoff you know he will be somehow connected to the coaching staff, whether he is an actual coach of some sort, head of player development, scout, etc. Anyways, I just wanted to say Congratulations Shawn Horcoff, please guide us to the light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm glad that pre-season is over. Us fans take pre-season way too seriously, as it has very little if any effect on the final roster. Management usually has a plan figured out way ahead of time based on last years performances and where they think the players are at this point in their careers. Look at Richard Petiot if you disagree with me. He completely outplayed both Peckham and Belle for that 6th defenseman spot but sadly he wasn't rewarded. It's the same case with O'Marra and Fraser. Veterans like Dustin Penner, Gilbert, and Smid all looked disinterested. There isn't much for them to prove at this point. I mean there's maybe 3 feel good stories every year in the NHL, the Ryan O'Reilly's, Matt Carkners, TJ Oshie's, and the list goes on. If you are not expected to make your respective NHL team, and you have nothing short of a stellar pre-season............off you go.

And finally Sheldon Souray. I love what Tambo did with this situation, we are doing a complete overhaul with the Oilers so lets get rid of all the dead weight. The public seems to be split 50/50 on this one but I don't understand why. He clearly was not interested in playing here, and like Kevin Lowe said - if he had the chance to do the Pronger fiasco again, he would just sit him instead of trading him for peanuts. Tambo didn't even send him to OKC. He lent him to Hershey. What a brilliant move, keep him as far away as possible. He tried hard to trade him, and I'm sure Cogliano was apart of the deals that were being thrown out there but i guess nothing was good enough for other teams to bite on.

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