This is the second game this season in which Dany Heatley has scored a hat-trick. The first one stung. This second one for some reason hurts a little more.

I suppose it comes at a time that Dustin Penner, who to date has been the best Oiler by far and is no slouch at 23 points and a plus/minus +11, has start to come back to reality and we now realize that 3 and 4 points nights won't happen all the time. Penner can't be perfect -- even though we'd love him to be.

Dany Heatley with his performance on Friday has effectively passed Penner in the points race, which was inevitable. As good as Penner has been, Heatley is the superior player. He's got a much more proven track record, he's playing with superstars and he's got something to prove.

Most of us were confident that Heatley would finish higher in the standings in terms of individual accolades than Penner would, but that doesn't make hurt any less.

Saturday, the Oilers take on the Chicago Blackhawks. The Oilers are in tough, still missing key pieces of the team and Chicago is on a tear of late having won five in a row. In fact, no team is as on fire as Chicago is and the last time the Oilers faced the Blackhawks, it wasn't pretty for Edmonton even though the game was deceptively close.

Many will call me yee of little faith, but tomorrow's game for me isn't about the Oilers winning. I just don't think they will. No, for me its about keeping an eye on Dustin Penner. Something tells me, that while this isn't a game of one-ups, Penner wants to show everyone that he can keep pace with one Dany Heatley.

If that is what he's thinking, I hope he's right. The Oilers could use a Penner boost on Saturday. 

Comments (3)

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written by Jay, November 21, 2009

This has been an interesting season. From what I recall, David Staples had created a Heatley Trade Analyzer to track Dany Heatley's scoring vs. Cogliano, Smid, and Penner. It wasn't long before Penner himself was ahead of Dany Heatley.

I am sure that Dany Heatley was obviously aware of this (Penner comparisons) and as you suggest he did have something to prove--both in terms of this embarrassment and for making Team Canada.

Considering that Penner's bounced around lines somewhat and has played with two players with shoulder injuries, he's done remarkably well this season.

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written by sportsjuice, November 21, 2009

Hey Jim,

From my selfish perspective, I'd still be happy even if Heatley went on to score 60 goals this year. I know as fans we cheer for the logo on the front of the jersey and quickly latch onto the new players and just as quickly start to dislike those who depart to other teams. For me I also need to like the players on the team, especially the 'stars'.

I can live with Comrie on the team because he is an unproductive bum, but it would be hard to get satisfaction from victories resulting from Heatley's great play. I guess in a strange way I prefer the pain that comes from watching the current edition of the Oilers vs. a slightly better edition that included Heatley.

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written by Jay-, January 09, 2010

Hey Jonathan, you wrote that in November, but you had no idea how much pain your were in for watching this season's Edmonton Oilers, lol. Currently 29th league, last in West--not that Heatley would have stopped that though...

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