One Fan's Perspective

The Edmonton Oilers had a very publicized off-season. With the departure of Ryan Smyth to the New York Islanders (now with the Colorado Avalanche) and the high profile signing of Restricted Free Agent Dustin Penner, and the signing of Sheldon Souray, General Manager Kevin Lowe did everything possible to keep his team competitive.

Currently, though the Oilers have a run of bad luck by losing four in a row, the last three on the road. The news does not get better as Souray will be out three-to-four weeks with a separated shoulder after a fight with Byron Ritchie of the Vancouver Canucks.

After a crushing defeat against the Minnesota Wild last Saturday night, the Coyotes want to win their way back to .500. Even though the Oilers are vulnerable, they are still a fast team and the Coyotes will have to give 60 minutes of effort to win. With players such as Ales Hemsky, Jarret Stoll, Joni Pitkanen, and Raffi Torres, the Oilers have skill and would want nothing better to get back to winning against the Coyotes.

The power play for the Coyotes needs to pay dividends while still playing a disciplined game. While Anaheim leads the league in penalties taken, the Coyotes are third to last in that statistic with 27. By utilizing their speed and quickness, the Coyotes can force the other teams to make mistakes. However, they must capitalize on them.

Alex Auld will start in the net for the Coyotes as he played well last Saturday night to keep the Coyotes in the game. If the Coyotes play their up-tempo, aggressive style they should be competitive against Edmonton.

A view from the Oilers include: Covered in Oil, Lowetide, mc79hockey, and the Battle of Alberta.

Tags: Edmonton Oilers, Hockey, NHL, Phoenix Coyotes by pbcoyotes
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The Phoenix Coyotes lost to the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in a shootout Tuesday night. The team fired 40 shots at Oiler netminder Mathieu Garon, but he was solid in net.

The Coyotes did have a 5-on-3 power play chance, but failed to convert. It’s a trend from last season that has definitely reappeared, and hopefully they can begin scoring on these opportunitites. It could have been the difference between winning and losing.

Shane Doan, Daniel Carcillo, Mike Zigomanis, and Zbynek Michalek all had the night off.

Niko Kapanen has been a quiet contributor to the Coyotes’ offense, scoring his first goal Tuesday night adding to his three assists. He has not been spectacular though and even he admits that he might need a little more punch, “So far, I’m doing OK. Maybe nothing really awesome, but nothing really bad. I’ve been playing at a pretty good level in certain games. Maybe I just need the one step more.”

Thursday night the Coyotes travel to Dallas.

Tags: Edmonton Oilers, Hockey, NHL, Niko Kapanen, Phoenix Coyotes by pbcoyotes
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“Test not a desperate man”

Romeo, Romeo and Juliet, Act V scene iii

The actions of Kevin Lowe, Edmonton Oilers General Manager, have caused a stir in the hockey world. Going after Restricted Free Agent Thomas Vanek with a huge offer that Buffalo Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier later matched, showed what kind of pressure Lowe is under to make his team better.

Unfortunately, the ramifications of the Vanek signing could cause unintended consequences and all because Lowe is upset that no one will play for him and his storied Oiler franchise.

The consequences are simple. Players who are now Restricted Free Agents can instruct their representation to look for outside deals that would force the negotiations to sky rocket. Players that were set in value for one level of payment, now can entertain the possibility of looking for a higher pay scale for the upcoming year. It seems that if Lowe is going to fall, he plans to take the rest of the GMs with him.

There are some players that will be worth the pay increase. Ray Emery plans to take the cash strapped Ottawa Senators to arbitration, but there may be others whose value have now become inflated.

Is Vanek worth the money? The third year player, first round draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres had these numbers last year: 84 points with 43 goals and 41 assists, so quite possibly he was. Lowe definitely thought Vanek would have made a significant impact for his club. However, should we expect the same scenario for other players in Vanek’s position?

Take for instance defenseman Keith Ballard. The third year Phoenix Coyote is currently a Restricted Free Agent and an offer was tended to him last week. There have been no reports of him accepting the offer or signing it.

Can other players and organizations suffer through the inflation that Kevin Lowe caused with the Vanek signing? Or was this just an isolated incident?

I would like to think that the Kevin Lowe situation was just limited to him and his desperate attempts to save his neck, but I would not be surprised to see far reaching effects with other Restricted Free Agents and with other GMs that might consider tyring the same thing that Lowe did.

Desperate people will make irrational decisions so that, in their minds, they can make their lives better. But these decisions come with disastrous consequences.

Just ask Romeo.

Tags: Buffalo Sabres, Edmonton Oilers, Hockey, NHL, Restricted Free Agents, Thomas Vanek by pbcoyotes
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