Recap: 11/24/2006 Oilers vs Canucks

Friday night brought the Hamilton Oilers over to Burlington for an epic clash between two rivals. The game was the second part of a two-game series, so the Oilers were struggling to regain a scrap of dignity after being completely in awe of the Canuck’s performance a week earlier. Said one anonymous Oiler to another: “I can’t believe how good the Canucks are. It’s like they had the opportunity to play in the NHL, but for the love of the CRHL they are here to grant us the amazing opportunity to play against such high level competition.” The Canucks were only too happy to grant the Oilers such an opportunity. With cat-like agility along with tremendous speed and talent, the Canucks rolled over the Oilers, and managed to score twice as many goals as them. How’s that for cockiness… :)

In actuality the game was pretty close. Both teams were not playing their best, but the Canucks did manage to edge out a 4-2 win. In the first two periods the game was extremely close. The teams traded goals (Arie and Jack for the Canucks, and Adam and Alko for the Oilers) to go to the third tied at two goals a piece. In the third period (after the Oilers lost one of their star players due to a poor call by the ref…) the Canucks finally got rolling and James and Matt each tossed a puck into the Oiler net to seal the deal.

There was great rejoicing in all the land, as the Canucks left the ice and headed out to celebrate. Apparently the Oilers were a little too embarrassed to show their faces at the Coachman, so the Canucks had to celebrate alone, although you wouldn’t know it to look at the bill.

That’s it for the Canucks-Oilers games until February. Next week we play the Vipers, 10:00 on Friday night back at Skyway arena. A rink in which many Canuckers have lost many games in as part of the old Viper squad. A combination of talented new teammates, and a winless Viper team should result something a little different this year.

This week’s video is up, and it shows a number of interesting game points. The penalty-shot awarded to James seems legit as the Oiler defenseman seems to purposely lift his leg to trip him up. A shot or two off the crossbar, a nice blast from the point by a talented number 33, a slow-mo 3 on 1, and Ken’s missed goal all make the highlight reel. Booted Oiler Jeff makes an appearance for a brief interview and states what everyone on both teams was thinking. Lots of pushing and shoving too, but hey - it’s hockey, not figure skating. Can’t wait till the rematch in February. Go Nucks!