Sheldon's Souray's Approved Team List

Earlier today, six of the teams that Sheldon Souray would waive his no-trade clause for was released on TSN.  Previously, Sheldon Souray had provided Oilers GM, Steve Tambellini, with a list of ten teams that he would agree to be traded to.  Souray has a no-trade clause which expires on July 1st, 2010.

From Darren Dreger's report, the list of teams include three from each of the Western and Eastern conferences.  From the Western Conference, there's the Los Angeles Kings, Dallas Stars, and the Anaheim Might Ducks.  For the Eastern Conference, the list includes the Washington Capitals, New York Rangers, and the Philadelphia Flyers.  However, Souray had surgery on a broken hand on Tuesday.  The injury was incurred in a recent fight with Jarome Iginala.  It's anticipated that there's very little chance that he will be traded before the February 12th Olympic roster freeze, but there's a small chance that he still might be moved prior to the March 3rd trade deadline.

Though Sheldon Souray has a $5.4 million dollar cap hit on a contract that extends two more seasons, the actual salary is only $4.5 million dollars for the next two years.  Souray is already 32 years old and has struggled this season since recovering from his concussion injury earlier this season.  In fact, this year he has just four goals and thirteen points in 37 games.  Last year, he had 23 goals and 53 points in 81 games.  Would any of the teams on this list be willing to gamble on Souray given his age and recent injuries?

Game 54:  Edmonton Oilers at Minnesota Wild - Xcel Energy Center - Februar 4, 2010 - 6:00 PM - SNET

The Minnesota Wild (27-25-4) host the Edmonton Oilers (18-31-6) at the Xcel Energy Center tonight.  This season, the season series is currently tied with the Oilers winning Game 7 by a score of 5-2 while the Wild won the most recent game (Game 37) by a score of 3-1.  The Oilers have ended their 13-game winless streak with two-consecutive wins against the Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers.  Last night, Ryan Potulny scored the game-winning goal against his former team.

The Olympic Roster Freeze will being at midnight on Friday, February 12th and end at midnight Sunday February 28th, 2010.  Speaking of the Olympics, Columbus Blue Jackets coach, Ken Hitchcock, was fired yesterday.  He'll still be working with Team Canada at the upcoming 2010 Olympics.  I've always like the 'Hitch' as a coach and would have under different circumstances liked to have seen him coach the Oilers.

So far, the Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs have been the most active teams heading into the Olympic Roster Freeze.  As well, the New York Rangers and Anaheim Might Ducks have been involved in making roster changes too.  The Edmonton Oilers are still rumored to be shopping a number of vets like Ethan Moreau, but it doesn't seem that there's a huge demand.  By tomorrow, we may head that Ilya Kovalchuk's been traded by the Atlanta Thrashers.  From Darren Dreger, it sounds like five or more teams are still in the mix for the Kovalchuk sweepstakes.  Apparently, Kovalchuk is seeking the maximum allowable salary for next season which is currently $11.3 million per season.

Flyer, Darroll Powe, takes a high-sticking penalty late in 3rd period

The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Edmonton Oilers late in the 3rd period with just 17 seconds left in the game.  Darroll Powe took a high-sticking penalty drawn by Sam Gagner with a minute and fifty seconds remaining in regulation.  Jeff Deslauriers earned his shut out with 33 saves on the night.  Fourteen of which were in the first period alone.

With the Carolina Hurricanes losing to the Calgary Flames by a score of 4-1 tonight, the Oilers are now just 3 points behind the Canes and five points behind the Leafs.  Should this streak continue, the Oilers could be at risk of losing their top 2 pick for Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin.

Ethan Moreau's name came up as an Oiler would will likely be traded prior to the deadline.  I think this might be a mistake given how effective he's been stewarding the Oilers towards the Fall 4 Hall.  In other NHL trade rumors, Ilya Kovalchuk should be traded before he plays his next game on Friday.

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Game 55 Preview:  Philadelphia Flyers vs. Edmonton Oilers - Rexall Place - February 3rd, 2010 - 7:30 PM - TSN

The Edmonton Oilers (17-31-6) host the Philadelphia Flyers (28-23-3) tonight at Rexall Place.  Yes, that means that Chris Pronger is back in town.  For tonight's preview, I've interviewed Ryan from the 'Flyers Goal Scored By...' blog about the impact of Peter Laviolette replacing Joe Stevens as the Flyers coach this season.

We've seen in recent years how a coaching change can either have a profound or negligible impact on a team's success.  Pat Quinn's still probably in what Lowetide would refer to as his 'honeymoon phase.'  Basically that means that he hasn't been here long enough to criticize.  We all know that he also doesn't have much of a roster to work with either.  Speaking of Lowetide, someone at his site recently joked about Craig MacTavish deserving a retroactive Jack Adams award for keeping the Oilers in the playoff race as long as he did last season.

Back to Pat Quinn, some have been critical about his poor line matching with the Oilers fourth line getting caught against the top opposition with regularity even when playing at home.  Some have also noticed his proclivity either for throwing Jason Strudwick over the boards with a minute left in game or using Ethan Moreau for the extra attacker when we pull our goalie in the dying minutes of a game.

Yesterday, Darren Dreger of TSN reported that the Oilers were pushing hard to trade Ethan Moreau or others.  Over at Oilers Nation, Robin Brownlee suggested that there's a rumor that Garnet Exelby of the Toronto Maple Leafs might be invovled.  Exelby who's a 28-year-old defenseman, has a contract that expires at he end of this season.  Brownlee speculates that we would have to trade our 3rd round pick for the Leafs' 4rth round pick to facilitate this trade.

Follow the jump for the interview with Flyers Goal Scored By and the projected lineups.

NHL GameCenter Live Review

Recently, I was invited by the NHL to review NHL GameCenter Live in return for getting the remainder of the season free.  Being the venal blogger that I am, I jumped at the opportunity.  Okay, I'm only joking about the last part there.  I was genuinely excited about this opportunity in light of the Oilers' current struggles.  Already, I was in the middle of deciding between the Los Angeles Kings and the Chicago Blackhawks as possible teams to follow for the playoffs while this will give me the opportunity to watch both of these teams during the regular season.

Like many bloggers who've been given this offer, the idea is that we provide an honest review of the product.  Now I've had the NHL GameCenter Live account since mid January, but I wanted to take the product for a thorough test drive before I wrote my review.

Follow the jump for my thoughts on GameCenter Live.