ITEM: But will the NHL crack down on the Montreal forward like the OHL did for a lesser crime?

Denis Grebeshkov was having an outstanding game against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night.

Not only was he well on his way to another 25-plus minutes of solid play for the game, he was also filling in well on the powerplay, combining with defence partner Sheldon Souray, making smart passes, looking like he was going to be able to step up and take over from the injured Lubomir Visnovsky as an ace pointman for the Oilers.

In fact, I had Grebeshkov down for two unofficial assists on the powerplay in the first period.

All this was very good news for Oilers fans, as Visnovsky's season-ending shoulder injury had the potential to be major trouble for the Oil if Grebeshkov was unable to improve his powerplay performance.

But there he was, directing traffic just like Visnovsky himself, and Visnovsky on a good day.

Then came

EDIT: Five thousands Habs fans in Edmonton with nothing to cheer about.

I have a confession to make -- I used to be a Habs fan.

I know there's not much of an excuse for this, but I will point out that this was in the 1970s when the Oilers weren't yet in the NHL, and I rooted for both teams, the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL, and the Oilers in the WHA.

But as soon as I saw the Oilers faceoff against the Habs in the NHL, my loyalties were clear.

Since that time, I must admit, I've come to be generally appalled by my former fellow Habs fans in Edmonton. At Oilers games, I've yet to run across more arrogant, loud and inconsiderate opposing fans than the thousands of Habs fans who descend upon the arena whenever their formerly great team is in Edmonton.

Now, at this point, before I bring upon myself an even greater wave of disapproval from Montrealers, I should say that I'm sure that Habs fans in Montreal don't

* ITEM: Yes, they should.

The latest in the Jagr rumour mill is that Oilers hockey ops boss Kevin Lowe is in Russia, but he's not there in pursuit of one Jaromir Jagr, but is there to do some work negotiating in regards to the 2014 Olympics.

Things are getting curiouser and curiouser.

My initial reaction to the thought of Jagr in an Oilers uniform was one of euphoria, but that's just the Oilers fan in me who hungers for instant gratification.

Let's take a closer look at whether or not Jagr would be a good fit for the Oilers next year.

He will be 38, ancient for a hockey player. Not many 38-year-olds have ever done much in the NHL. But, to his credit, at age 37, Jagr is doing

* ITEM: Oilers hockey boss Kevin Lowe addresses Jagr rumour.

Oilers hockey ops boss Kevin Lowe is indicating that Czech hockey ace Jaromir Jagr, 37, isn't coming to Edmonton -- at least not this season, reports Euro-hockey expert Peter Adler.

"Jaromir is under contract in the KHL," Lowe told Adler.

Jagr has also told Czech national team coach Vladimir Ruzicka he will be playing for the Czech team at the world championships in May.

Nonetheless, a source close to Jagr has told Adler that Jagr is close to finalizing negotiations for Jagr to play with the Edmonton Oilers.

The source refused to say when Jagr might be coming to Edmonton, but it would now seem that next season, not this season, is the most likely scenario.

Jagr is currently playing in Omsk in the financially-troubled Kontinental Hockey League. He has 25 goals and 51 points in 48 games.

As more information comes in on this, updates will be posted

ITEM: Visnovsky out, Jagr in, source says. A source close to Czech hockey ace Jaromir Jagr says that Jagr is close to finalizing negotiations with the Edmonton Oilers, reports Euro-hockey expert Peter Adler. The source would not say when Jagr would report to Edmonton, how much he would be paid, or how long he would sign for. Jagr is now playing with Omsk in the financially-troubled Kontinental Hockey League. With news that Lubomir Visnovsky will be out for the season with an injury, the Oilers now have several million dollars free to spend under the salary cap. Many Oilers fan have long complained that Ales Hemsky hasn't had a proper scoring star at his side. It appears that Oilers hockey boss Kevin Lowe is about to address this issue.

ITEM: MacTavish has lost the hockey crowd, but Daryl Katz is right -- so far -- to be sticking with his coach.

It would be an over-statement to say that Edmonton Oiler fans are divided over the future of Coach Craig MacTavish.

That's not at all the case.

In recent months, a consensus has grown up among the vast majority of Oiler fans -- even those most loyal to and believing in the Lowe/MacTavish regime -- that the coach known as "MacT" to the fans and as "Mac" to the players is no longer doing an adequate job as coach of the Oilers. 

Most fans would have had MacTavish fired by now. A minority of fans haven't called

 ITEM: Is Smid finally getting a clue on offence? Against the Wild, he showed a glimmer.

Ladislav Smid has improved his defensive play this season, especially when it comes to looking off the man with the puck and picking up the various snipers lurking in front of the Oilers net.That used to be a real sore point with the big Czech kid.

Some hardcore fans groused he would never figure it out. But Smid has done it.

It's at the point now where Smid can be counted on in his own zone as much as any Oilers defenceman not named Sheldon Souray.

On offence, though, Smid has been consistently clueless. It's apparent that his strong skating and puck-handling skills aren't going to translate

* ITEM: Brodziak, Gagner struggle against Minny and Detroit  to do all the hard, necessary jobs that defensive ace Shawn Horcoff does.

In the Oilers family, Shawn Horcoff is the dad who works all day, then shovels the walks, cleans the bathroom, does the dishes, cleans the kitchen, helps get the kids to bed, then finishes up the night with a few more hours of extra work from the office. 

If that dad gets sick, a lot of dirty, un-fun but absolutely necessary work has to be done by others or it doesn't get done at all.

In the case of the Oilers family, the Kids (Sam Gagner, Andrew Cogliano, Kyle Brodziak, Marc Pouliot) may be keen to fill in for Horcoff now that he's out

* ITEM: Player grades from Edmonton's 8-3 loss to Detroit, courtesy of Bruce McCurdy of Oil Droppings.

(Note from Staples: Today's grades from the Detroit-Edmonton game come from Bruce McCurdy of the Oil Droppings blog. McCurdy has been one of MacTavish's most consistent supporters on the Oiogosphere, but he rated the coach as a "1" for this game. For a player, that low ranking indicates a game so bad that, if repeated regularly, would certainly merit demotion or trading. A coach would be fired if he kept getting this kind of grade. . .  Here is McCurdy's report)

This was one of those games where I looked at the schedule and pretty much

* ITEM. Don't blame the goalies for the Oilers' 8-3 loss to Detroit. But blame Dwayne Roloson for his hack on Dan Cleary.

The NHL is as soft on crime as the most liberal, feeling-sorry-for-criminals judge in the Dominion, so don't expect Dwayne Roloson to be suspended for his uppercut, goalie stick chop at Daniel Cleary's private parts.

But Roloson deserves to be out a few games for that one. Imagine the upset and anger in Edmonton if an opposition goalie did that to Ales Hemsky.

Of course, in Detroit, it's happy times because of the big win, with Cleary himself getting revenge on Roloson, scoring a typically beautiful and skillful Detroit marker in the first period. This kind

* Item: Mike Patterson of Mike's Blawg grades the Oilers/Blues game, gives Roli top marks.

(Here are Mike Patterson's grades for the St. Louis game. Today, Bruce McCurdy of Oil Droppings will be grading the Detroit game. I will grade the Minnesota game on Sunday, though my kid is having a birthday party so the marks won't be up until later in the evening. Cheers, David.)

Decent game against St. Louis, better than a lot of the usual efforts lately, but there were a few little things, like the repeated turnovers at the bluelines,

ITEM: With Drury and Nylander looking to be the biggest mistakes.

Who are the winners and losers of the unrestricted free agent class of 2007?

The class had plenty of big name players who were also over the age of 30. The list included such stars as: Michael Nylander, Jason Blake, Paul Kariya, Keith Tkachuk, Brendan Shanahan, Bill Guerin, Chris Drury, Brian Rafalski, Sheldon Souray, Ryan Smyth, Roman Hamrlik, Ray Whitney, Todd Bertuzzi.

I'm interested in this over-30 group not only because the decision of Oilers GM Kevin Lowe not to sign Smyth was a key moment in the history of the Edmonton franchise, but also because I've long argued about the great risk of signing players who are leaving