The Edmonton Oil Kings are the 2012 Western Hockey League Champions and winners of the Ed Chynoweth Cup.
Last night, the Oil Kings punched their ticket to Shawinigan, Quebec and the MasterCard Memorial Cup with a 4-1 victory over the Portland Winterhawks in game seven of the championship series.
My initial reaction during the game however was simple. Where were all of the fans? I know perfectly well that there was a satisfactory crowd last night and the 12, 514 fans need to be commended, but the capacity of Rexall Place is 16,839 which is 26% less than a sellout.
There will be a seventh and deciding game tonight in Edmonton for the Western Hockey League Championship.
Last night in Portland, Oregon, Edmonton native Oliver Gabriel scored twice including the game winner as the Portland Winterhawks defeated the Edmonton Oil Kings 3-2 to tie the series at three. Gabriel’s second goal won the game for Portland with 2:39 left in the third period.
Gabriel, a left winger who is property of the Columbus Blue Jackets, is the latest Winterhawk to score a key goal in the series, joining Sven Bartschi and Brendan Leipsic.
The Winterhawks have the offensive firepower and stronger offensive talent, and until last night I thought Edmonton was better on the defensive end. But for the Oil Kings to win, it is clear that defenceman Keegan Lowe needs to get better. He was on the ice twice for Portland goals in the third period, including one time when he gave the puck away that led directly to a Portland goal.
Game seven is tonight at Rexall Place at 6pm on Shaw TV.
The Edmonton Rush have advanced to their very first championship game in franchise history.
In one of the grittiest defensive playoff performances in the history of the National Lacrosse League, the Edmonton Rush only allowed three goals the entire game Saturday en route to a 15-3 win over the Minnesota Swarm in the Western Final.
I know Calgary Roughnecks goaltender Mike Poulin was named the National Lacrosse League’s top goaltender on Thursday, but the play of Edmonton goaltender Aaron Bold cannot be ignored. Bold made 39 saves on 42 shots in a magnificent performance and one for the ages. According to the Canadian Press, there was a span of 37:50 when the Swarm could not score.
Edmonton is trying to win the championship despite going 6-10 in the regular season. They will play the Rochester Knighthawks in the Champion’s Cup next Saturday in upstate New York. The Knighthawks defeated the Toronto Rock 17-13. The Rock were the defending NLL Champions.
Three game sevens (and possibly a fourth) will dominate my sports viewing this weekend.
In the NHL, there is a game seven in the Eastern Conference Semi-Final between the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. This will be a battle of Alexander Ovechkin versus Henrik Lundqvist. Despite limited ice time, Ovechkin leads the Capitals in scoring with nine points, but will have to get by Hart Trophy nominee Lundqvist to move on to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time in his career. The game can be seen on CBC tonight at 5:30pm.
In the NBA, there are two game sevens, both involving the Los Angeles teams. Tonight the Los Angeles Lakers host the Denver Nuggets in game seven of the Western Conference Quarterfinal tonight (TSN2, 8:30pm). Questions are surrounding the health of Lakers star Kobe Bryant who played with the stomach flu in game six on Thursday. Afterwards, he was not happy with Pau Gasol for his lack of effort and had no problem telling him so.
Then tomorrow the Memphis Grizzlies host the Los Angeles Clippers (ABC, 11am) in game seven of another Western Conference Semi-Final. Like the Nuggets, the Grizzlies were once down 3-1 in the series but have clawed their way back to force a game seven. Last night in Los Angeles, the Grizzlies won game six 90-88 on Marc Gasol’s 23 points.
Well the Edmonton Oilers completely stunk this season, but the same cannot be said for two teams very close to them.
On Thursday night, the Edmonton Oil Kings, who are owned by the Edmonton Oilers, defeated the Portland Winterhawks 4-3 to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Hockey League Championship Final, and the Oklahoma City Barons, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers, defeated the San Antonio Rampage 2-1 in overtime to take a 3-1 series lead in the Western Conference Semi-Final of the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs.
I watched the Oil Kings victory and have thoroughly enjoyed the WHL Final to date. The Oil Kings got a huge game winning goal by Mark Pysyk with only 56 seconds left in the game. Pysyk, a draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres is more known for his defense than offense, but performed admirably, recording a goal and an assist. Jordan Peddle led the Oil Kings in scoring with two goals and an assist.
Meanwhile in San Antonio, Chris Vandevelde scored his second overtime goal of the playoffs to give the Barons a key win over the Rampage, the AHL affiliate of Florida.
The Edmonton Oil Kings are neck and neck with the Portland Winterhawks at the moment in a very exciting Western Hockey League Championship.
Both teams split the two games in Edmonton and Portland over the last week heading into game five this evening in the Alberta capital.
On Tuesday night, the Oil Kings beat the Winterhawks 4-3 in overtime to tie the series as Rhett Rachinski scored his second goal of the evening at 9:07 of the extra frame.
If the Edmonton Oil Kings played like they did in the third period of game three of the Western Hockey League Final, they will be just fine.
The problem is that they waited over forty minutes to get their game into high gear.
Over the first two periods, the Oil Kings were out shot 26-14 by the Portland Winterhawks and out scored 3-0. Then in the third period, the Oil Kings delivered an amazing 23 shots on the Winterhawks net, and outscored Portland 3-1.
In the end, the Winterhawks won 4-3 to take a 2-1 series lead with game four tomorrow night in Portland.
In watching the third period last night, I was impressed by the level of excitement the local fans showcased. Don’t forget, the Western Hockey League is the highest level of hockey available in the entire state of Oregon.
This week on the show, we look at the tragic death of former NFL star Junior Seau and the latest bounty suspensions from that league, as well as news from the NHL that Raffi Torres is appealing his lengthy suspension. We also look at the situation in the Nashville Predators camp, along with speculation that the NY Islanders might soon have a new home.
In the GABBYs: Leo Messi, Jose Mourinho, Jered Weaver, the NY Knicks, the Montreal Canadiens and Jeremy Affeldt. The Punchline this week is, once again, the Charlotte Bobcats!
Despite an excellent regular season, the Calgary Roughnecks were stunned 19-11 to the Edmonton Rush in the western semi-final of the 2012 NLL Playoffs.
According to the Canadian Press, Ryan Ward led the Rush offensive attack with five goals and six assists. Corey Small also had a huge game with five goals and three assists while Tom Johnson recorded a hat trick.
Roughnecks goaltender Mike Poulin, who had been suffering from an injury the last while, was pulled after giving up six first quarter goals. Frank Scigliano replaced Poulin but didn’t play mich better.
Team Canada will have a chance to build off of their tight 3-2 victory over Slovakia yesterday when they face their American archrival nemesis this morning at the World Hockey Championships in Helsinki (TSN, 10am).
The Americans are coming off a commanding opening victory over France yesterday where they won 7-2.
Even though, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Devan Dubnyk and Jordan Eberle missed the playoffs for the Edmonton Oilers, this tournament could be valuable experience for them.
An American Oilers fans would be familiar with is defenceman Jeff Petry, who is joined on the American blueline with Jack Johnson, Alex Goligoski and Cam Fowler.
Here are the other events I’ll be watching this weekend:
Saturday–NHL Eastern Conference Semi-Final Game 4–New York Rangers @ Washington Capitals–10:30am–NBC–After coming off the longest game of the playoffs Wednesday night (game went into triple overtime), the Capitals will try to tie the series at two games apiece. Brad Richards continues to produce in the playoffs. The former Conn Smythe Trophy winner leads the Rangers in playoff scoring with nine points. For the Rangers to get by Washington however, they will need more from Artem Anisimov and Ruslan Fedotenko. They combined for 25 regular season goals, but only have a combined total of one goal in the playoffs.
Saturday–MLB–Arizona Diamondacks @ New York Mets–1:30pm–FOX–Despite only hitting .254 last season, Mets third baseman David Wright has got off to a great start in 2012, batting .395 with eight extra base hits. Last night J.J. Putz recorded his sixth save of the season as Arizona defeated the New York Mets 5-4. Arizona is 14-13 while the NY Mets are 13-13.
The Edmonton Oil Kings have got off to a strong start in their Eastern Conference Final in the Western Hockey League.
Jordan Peddle scored the game winning goal shorthanded as the Oil Kings defeated the Portland Winterhawks 3-2 to take a 1-0 series lead. Rhett Rachinski also had a multi-point game for the Oil Kings as he scored a goal and an assist as well.
The Oil Kings had a commanding 3-0 lead before the Winterhawks made things interesting with two late second period goals, one by Calgary Flames draft pick Sven Bartschi.
It will be interesting to see how Airdrie native Ty Rattie plays in game two for Portland. He got hit hard in game one and took a lot of time to get back up.
Meanwhile, the news wasn’t as good for the Edmonton Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Oklahoma City. The Barons lost 6-4 to the San Antonio Rampage in game one of the Western Conference Semi-Final.
The Royal Mayfair Golf and Country Club will be hosting most of the world’s top ladies golfers in 2013.
Unlike the PGA Tour, whose very best rarely come to Canada, the LPGA Tour rarely has that problem.
So expect to see world number one Yani Tseng, Michelle Wie, Paula Creamer, Sun-Young Yoo, Se Ri Pak and Ai Miyazato.
The 2012 Canadian Women’s Open will take place in Vancouver.
The Royal Mayfair Golf and Country Club last hosted the Canadian Women’s Open in 2007. That year the winner was Mexican great Lorena Ochoa.
Ochoa retired in 2010.
Another interesting fact about the Canadian Women’s Open is that no Canadian has won the event since Jocelyne Bourassa of Shawinigan, Quebec won at the Montreal Municipal Golf Club in 1973. The event also had major status from 1979-2000.
This week on the show we’re looking at the second round of the NHL playoffs, the Roberto Luongo situation in Vancouver, some racist comments from Boston Bruins “fans” in reaction to Joel Ward’s series clinching overtime winner and the latest IIHF rankings.
In the GABBYs: Mark Visentin, the Edmonton Oil Kings, Tyrone Crawford, Mohamed Sanu, the Miami Marlins and a couple of Texas Rangers fans. The Punchline this week is the Charlotte Bobcats!
The Edmonton Oil Kings have advanced to the Western Hockey League Final. Friday night at Rexall Place, the Oil Kings defeated the Moose Jaw Warriors 4-1 to win the best-out-of-seven series 4-1.
Martin Gernat led the way with two goals while Tyler Maxwell and Griffin Reinhart each recorded two assists.
The Oil Kings rebounded after a disappointing 5-1 loss to the Warriors in game four of the series, which subsequently ended the Oil Kings’ impressive 22 game winning streak.
The Edmonton Oil Kings are the 2012 Western Hockey League Champions and winners of the Ed Chynoweth Cup.
Loading ...
