The Fifth Liners

So once more, the Edmonton Oilers are looking towards a new man to lead them back towards the promised land. That man comes in the shape of former San Jose coach, Todd McLellan . After recently being given the chop in California after a seven year stint, this guy has been given the tough challenge of actually getting something out of a beleaguered Edmonton side! When former boss, Dallas Eakins was given the boot back in December, the damage had already been done to their season as Edmonton as usual limped home dead last in the Western conference to claim another wooden spoon. But what does McLellan offer that other coaches will not? Well for one he brings a consistent play off run with him! In his seven seasons in charge he led San Jose to over six playoff appearances (including two conference finals). His record of  311-163 from a possible 434 regular season games is a fine record to take across to Alberta. Eakins was an ambitious experiment that sadly went array. His youthfu...

If you want to join Alex and myself in the  Fifth Liners NHL Bracket Challenge , feel free to join our league. Good luck! Quarter Final Predictions St Louis Blues v Minnesota Wild For this one, I have go with Minnesota Wild purely for the fact that they have been a real surprise package in the latter half of this season and I think they will be eager to please come playoff time! St Louis on the surface appears to be a perfect package after being seeded first overall. But in previous seasons they have looked impressive in the regular season,, but typical fall short in the playoffs! Also a good playoff run would be the perfect ending for Wild goalie, Devan Dubnyk who has had a career season! This one will be tight and I am prepared to be proven wrong, but right now I have to go with the Wild! Prediction: Wild Nashville Predators v Chicago Blackhawks  The Predators have had nothing short of an amazing season and although they have made the playoffs 7 times in the la...

Today it was announced that Los Angeles Kings backup goalie Ben Scrivens has been traded to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for a 2014 third round draft pick, meanwhile regular goalie Devan Dubnyk has also been traded to the Nashville Predators in exchange for forward Matt Hendricks! Trading Scrivens is either a stroke of genius by Edmonton or pure silliness by LA because this player has been one of the finds of the season since he deputised so superbly for regular Kings goalie Jonathan Quick back in November, and so far he holds a record of 7-5-4 with a 1.97 GAA! This also included 10 shutouts and two first star performances (one of which I witnessed against the Rangers at the Garden). Being Quick's backup is a bit like being Petr Cech's number two at Chelsea, which is unless something drastic happens, you don't even consider leaving the bench!  So in that light, this move will give the guy game time, which he is not assured of at LA. But also it weakens the Kings b...

After shamefully forgetting to include the Phoenix Coyotes on my Most Improved Teams list recently, I thought I would make amends by recapping their impressive 6-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers Rexall Place last night! Mike Ribeiro was the stand out as he turned a 1st star performance with a goal and two assists! But it was Mikkel Boedker who put Phoenix ahead on a powerplay after 03:37 of the first period, but David Perron soon levelled the scores for the Oilers after 9 minutes after making the most of a breakaway. Into the second period and Ribeiro skillful set up Radim Vrbata to put Phoenix ahead after 06.58 played and then Shane Doan's tip in pushed then 3-1 ahead. Perron then pulled one back on a power play for Edmonton with 52 seconds left to give the home side hope! The Coyotes took control in the third period as they scored three without reply with Ribeiro putting them further ahead after 4 minutes and Keith Yandle then made sure of things when fired past Oilers goal...

The Vancouver Canucks season is finally underway and John Tortorella's first home game at the Rogers Arena couldnt have gone any better as the Canucks brushed aside the Edmonton Oilers 6-2 with the Sedin Brothers proving the standout! After being torn apart by San Jose on friday night, this win sees their season getting back on the right tracks. But many Canucks fans must have thought they were in for another frustrating night when Jeff Petry gave the Oilers the lead after less than two minutes played! But there was to be a silver lining for the Canucks soon after as Brad Richardson seized on a breakaway chance to bury a shot underneath Oilers keeper Devan Dubnyk and then with only 90 seconds left in the first, Dan Hamhuis buried a spectular slap shot from distance before Jannik Hansen scored to push the Canucks into a 3-1 lead! The second period saw Vancouver truly take control as Daniel Sedin scored on a powerplay off an assist from his brother Henrik after only 7 minutes be...