Game 50:  Chicago Blackhawks vs. Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place - January 26, 2010 - 7:30 PM MT - TSN

Tonight, the Edmonton Oilers (16-28-6) host the Chicago Blackhawks (35-13-4) at Rexall Place.  Yesterday, Mike Comrie was interviewed on the radio and he mentioned that it's difficult for fans when their team is struggling since they feel helpless.  Really, there's not mention in their control outside of shutting off the TV or not buying PPV's or tickets to games.  However, Quenneville's Blackhawks are a very exciting team to watch, so this will definitely be a game to check out.

The Blackhawks head into this game following a 5-1 loss on Saturday to the Vancouver Canucks while the Oilers head into this tilt following a 10-game losing streak.

Most recently, the Oilers lost game 23 to the Blackhawks by a score of 5-2.  In that game, Nikolai Khabibulin was a late scratch from the game due to his back injury problems while Ales Hemsky was still in the lineup.  Prior to that, the Oilers lost game 6 by a score of 4-3 to the Blackhawks.  After that game, Pat Quinn remarked that the score flattered the Oilers.

Olympic Hockey Blog - Bloguin

For those who're excited about the upcoming 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, with a particular interests in Olympic Hockey, there's a recently launched Olympic Hockey Blog which will provide coverage during these Olympic games.  Already, there's a number of player profiles on the site with some Olympic hockey previews on the way as well.  There's also an Olympic Hockey Forum on the same site.

To visit this site, follow the link:  Olympic Hockey Blog.  I'm one of the several contributors at that site.  My first article was a player profile for Drew Doughty on Team Canada.  Essentially why Steve Yzerman selected Drew Doughty instead of Mike Green.  Here's the link for that article:  Drew Doughty Player Profile.

NHL's salary cap crushing roster

To start off with, I thought that I would attempt to create a roster of NHL players that would rival both Team Canada and Team USA in terms of the Team Cap Number.  However, the goal of this particular endeavor was to create the worst possible team roster while maximizing the team's salary cap.  In order to accomplish this, I included players who are among the worst contracts in the NHL this season.

It would certainly be very easy to make an inferior roster of players comprised of AHL call-ups and role players that would cost far less money in terms of the NHL salary cap.  Again, this was not the point.  The goal was to create the most expensive roster in terms of team cap number with the least value based upon the players; 2009-10 stats.  In short, the roster is made of players who represent the least bang for the buck.  Also, I gave extra points to players who's contracts have longer terms.  i.e.  Eric Staal who has an $8.250
million cap hit for four more seaons would be selected over a less-effective player who's contract was for $3 million cap hit for a shorter term.  It's basically like trying to create the worst possible fantasy league team while using as much salary cap as possible.  Follow the jump to find out who made the list...

The Oilers Fall to Stars

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It was another heart-breaking loss for the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place.  Well, that's unless you're already among the Fall 4 Hall group of Oilers fans.  Either way, it's now been ten-consecutive losses for the Oilers. James Neal scored for the Stars with just 22.2 seconds left on the clock in the third period for the game-winning-goal.

The story of tonight's game was the Oilers getting into penalty trouble early with four-consecutive Oilers penalties at the start of the first period contributing in part to an early two-goal deficit.  Follow the jump for the game recap.

Oilers Seeing Stars...  Opponent's blog:  The Other 6 Seconds.

Game 50:  Edmonton Oilers vs. Dallas Stars - Rexall Place - 7:00 PM MT - SportsNet West

The Edmonton Oilers (16-27-6) host the Dallas Stars (21-18-11) tonight at Rexall Place.  For the Oilers who've already been knocked out of this year's play off race, they must feel like they're seeing stars.  Yet for Oilers fans who've watched their team win one game in the past 17, they might not feel like they're seeing any stars on ice.  Even Dustin Penner who had a hot start to this season, has just one point in his past five games (a goal) along with a minus five rating.  Over his past ten games, Dustin Penner has just two goals, one assist, and a minus 7 rating.

The Oilers have defeated the Stars in their two previous games this seasons, both times in shootout wins.  In game 2, the Oilers won by a score of five to four while in game 29, Shawn Horcoff scored the shootout winner for a final score of three to two.  Follow the jump for the pre-game rant, projected lineup, and stats comparison.