* Item: Hankering for Vincent Lecavalier on the Oil's first line? Watch out what you wish for. It's not uncommon to hear an Oilers fan say something like, "Without Hemsky, Shawn Horcoff and Dustin Penner don't amount to much. They should be giving Hemsky half of their paycheque. Hemsky would do much better if he played with a real first... [...] Continue reading...

Dustin Penner, Ales Hemsky and Sha wn Horcoff are hot, hotter and hottest. In the past 11 games, if you compare the numbers of goa ls that each player has created at even strength to the number of goals that each player has caused at even strength, you get a good idea of how each player has been doing. Well, in the past 11 games, Penner is +5, Hemsky... [...] Continue reading...

* EDMONTON WINS, LOOKS GOOD, REALLY GOOD, ALLOWS MACTAVISH TO SLEEP WELL (FOR ONE NIGHT AT LEAST) About four or five times this year the Edmonton Oilers have won a game and looked like they were clearly the superior team. So it was against St. Louis on Saturday afternoon, as the Oilers took the game 4-2 and did so in some style. Here are the grades... [...] Continue reading...

* ITEM: DON'T WRITE OFF SHAWN HORCOFF JUST YET . . . How quickly things change. And how fickle we fans are. The almost universal elation that erupted from fans of the Edmonton Oilers after hockey boss Kevin Lowe inked Shawn Horcoff to a new five-year contract last July has now dissolved into grumbling about Horcoff's weak results so far this... [...] Continue reading...

* ITEM: ODDBALL OILERS YET TO HIT THEIR STRIDE, AND WON'T DO SO UNTIL THEIR DEFINING PLAYER, SHAWN HORCOFF, GETS IT GOING. The Edmonton Oilers have been an oddball team this system. Consistent in their inconsistency, winning games they should maybe lose, losing games they should maybe win. They have been a team with no clear identity, no clear style... [...] Continue reading...

ITEM: HEMSKY AND SOURAY COME OUT ON TOP OF RANKINGS FOR THEIR POSITIONS (PLUS A WORD ABOUT THE DENNIS KING "SCORING CHANCE" STAT, AND THE GREATEST OF ALL STATS) There are various ways to rate Edmonton Oilers hockey players, but when you put them all together, the top performing forward on the Oilers so far this year has been Ales Hemsky, while... [...] Continue reading...

* ITEM: HOCKEY NEWS LABELS HORC AS A "SECOND-LINER." Shawn Horcoff is under-rated no more in in his own hometown. The majority of Oilers fans have come to see the self-made player as an outstanding first liner, an all star, good enough to compete for a spot as a fourth line energy player on Team Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics. There is no aspect... [...] Continue reading...

Alll I'm saying about Marty Reasoner's departure is that as much as I liked the way he played the last 50 game s of the year, and as much as I would have been pleased if he had signed a new deal, it was time for him to go. The young guys -- Brodziak and Pouliot -- are ready to play some serious hockey. And all I'm saying is the Oil's dressing room looks... [...] Continue reading...

* ITEM: AND AFTER SOME CAREFUL STUDY OF THE DEAL, I'M ECSTATIC AS WELL. As all Oilers fans know, Shawn Horcoff has signed a contract extension. That's why everyone in this city is smiling this morning. It's a rare morning when all Oilers fans agree that things are great, but today is such a day. But is the joy justified? Now, Horcoff has... [...] Continue reading...

ITEM: THE LUNATIC OILERS FAN IN ME IS DELIGHTED The nutbar Oilers fans inside of me is momentarily ecstatic that the Oil has signed up ace center Shawn "Scorcoff" Horcoff. The Mighty Horcules is an Oiler for six more years! At last a home-grown star player is going to be here well into his thirties. But, of course, my initial delight doesn't mean anything... [...] Continue reading...

* ITEM: HORCOFF'S SIGNING ON LOWE'S CALENDAR Oilers GM Kevin Lowe was asked today about the possibility of signing Oilers top line center Shawn Horcoff, the man the Oilers called upon to help recruit Marian Hossa, Horcoff having been Hossa's linemate in Sweden during the lock-out. Lowe responded in positive fashion to the notion of a deal, saying: ... [...] Continue reading...

* ITEM: KEVIN LOWE MUST NOT FORGET THE HARD LESSON OF CUJO AS HE DEALS WITH HORCOFF AND GARON What to do with two excellent but aging stars? That is the true question of the Oilers off-season. There's been a great deal of talk about the need to sign all the Oilers' restricted free agents, players such as Joni Pitkanen, Tom Gilbert, Robert Nilsson and... [...] Continue reading...

* ITEM: SHOOT ME NOW. PLEASE. The image of Shawn Horcoff that will be in my head always -- no matter what comes next for this hero of the Ice Palace -- is how he turned himself into a shooter this year, an NHL All-Star. Horcoff had always got his goals the hard way before, charging at the net, jamming away, maybe the odd slapper. This year, though,... [...] Continue reading...

* ITEM: CAN THE OILERS SIGN THEIR ACE? For every great thing happening to the Oilers, there are more than a few downers. The greatest thing, of course, is the rise of Shawn "Scorcoff" Horcoff, a.k.a. the Mighty Horcules ( career stats ). Horcoff has picked up from his Stanley Cup run of 2006, demonstrating the dominance he displayed then in this regular... [...] Continue reading...

* ITEM: PENNER, HEMSKY AND HORCOFF AGAIN STAR OFFENSIVELY, BUT ARE ALSO DEFENSIVE GEMS. No Oilers forward line comes close to producing the offensive thrust of Shawn Horcoff, Ales Hemsky and Dustin Penner, but through the first 46 games of the year, these three players have also proven themselves to be defensive gems. As readers of The Cult of Hockey... [...] Continue reading...