The court case for Nikolai Khabibulin is under way for the incident occurring on February 8 2010 in Scottsdale, Arizona where Khabibulin was charged with impaired driving and speeding. The first count has been thus far thrown out and that is believed to be the is DUI with impairment to the slightest degree.

Just recently reported by Sarah McLellan a sports reporter in Arizona whom was witnessing the trial live in the courtroom is that the judge has charged Nikolai Khabibulin guilty on all charges. Really no surprise here as evidence was conclusive to Nikolai’s guilt.

Sentencing will be at a later date which has yet to be announced. I would expect a 1 month imprisonment and some community service but that is all a hypothesis.

It certainly looks like the Edmonton Oilers will be starting the season with goaltenders Devan Dubnyk and Jeff Drouin-Deslaurier.

Trent Kondo
NHLHS Edmonton Oilers Correspondent
tkondo@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter:@TK0N

Many NHL prognosticators predicted a post season berth for the Oilers with their off-season moves and coaching staff adjustments, bringing in players like Nikolai Khabibulin to solidify the goaltending. The team also brought in a past proven winner plus offensive spark plug and home town boy Mike Comrie. The additions of legendary coach Pat Quinn and Tom Renney as his assistant also looked like a pure genius move by G.M. Steve Tambellini.

Right winger Ales Hemsky led a cast of what seemed to be a decent forward depth squad with player’s such as Dustin Penner, Sam Gagner, Shawn Horcoff and Patrick O’Sullivan and what looked to be a solid back end with Sheldon Souray, Lubomir Visnovsky, Tom Gilbert, and Denis Grebeshkov.

Edmonton started off well going 6-3-1 in their first 10 games with all signs being indicative towards a successful season upcoming for the Oilers but unfortunately this was not the case as the wheels started to fall. The team finished the month of October posting a record of 7-6-1 and over the next three months had a nauseating 9-25-2 record including the month of January where Edmonton did not even record a single victory.

The downfall can easily be blamed on injuries to Hemsky, Khabibulin and Souray along with underachieving of big money man Shawn Horcoff and supposed sniper Patrick O’Sullivan therefore leaving the reigns to Dustin Penner, youngster Sam Gagner and speedster Andrew Cogliano. Not a great scenario by any means especially now having your franchise player, number #1 goaltender and best defenseman on the shelf for an indefinite amount of time. All of the aforementioned issues and unfortunate occurrences for Edmonton spelled a 30th place finish overall and obviously dead last in the Western Conference with a mere 27 wins on the season.

In all honesty, if the Oilers were completely healthy with their full roster it’s hard to fathom if Edmonton would have been a serious contender or even participate in the post-season this year as the forward depth is just not there and the lack of solid stay at home defensemen was most definitely a key to being one of the most scored upon teams in the league. The top 4 d-men for the Oilers are pretty much considered offensive defensemen and more of a liability defensively which really is not a good nucleus to have in today’s game.

The Oilers, realizing there was no hope for post season play, then began the movement for next season stating there will be a complete rebuild of this club from the bottom to the top. They were not kidding around either in saying that as it all began quickly by moving Visnovksy to Anaheim for Ryan Whitney and a 6th rounder, Grebeskov to Nashville for a 2nd round pick, and Steve Staios to the Calgary Flames of all teams for Aaron Johnson plus a third round pick.

Add in the trade demand by Sheldon Souray after the season was over plus the firing of long time trainer Ken Lowe, Kevin Lowe’s brother and equipment tech’s Lyle Kulchisky and Barrie Stafford which a combined 84 years of service altogether for the Oiler franchise. As one can see family members and long time service means nothing if the team is not winning.

Edmonton cleared up a bit of cap space and will have even more if they can dump Souray’s contract on to another team and furthermore will have to decide on a few upcoming unrestricted free agents in the likes of Fernando Pisani, Aaron Johnson, Mike Comrie and Jason Strudwick in which I expect none will be brought back and will go elsewhere trying to find more money or a team not in rebuilding mode. They will also have 8 restricted free agents with the most notable being Sam Gagner, Andrew Cogliano, Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers and Gilbert Brule who will be available to entertain offers from other clubs which can be matched by the Oilers or simply let them go on their way to another club.

In ending it was a season of purgatory so to speak for the Edmonton Oilers and their fans but need to be positive as the future looks bright with the likes of Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson, Jordan Eberle, Taylor Chorney and yes either Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin in the upcoming NHL entry draft.

Trent Kondo
NHLHS Edmonton Oilers Contributor
tkondo@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @TKON

Despite not making the post-season for the first time since the 2003-04 season, the Anaheim Ducks gave their fans a night to remember with a rout of the Edmonton Oilers. Ryan Carter opened the scoring for the Ducks at 2:04 of the first period when he sent a wrist shot into the net behind Oilers’ goaltender, Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers. Carter’s goal was followed a mere 32 seconds later by a slap shot score from the stick of Steve Eminger.  This was just the beginning for Anaheim as the Ducks would go on to put up a total of 7 goals in the game.

With a little help from right wing, Corey Perry, Matt Beleskey notched the final goal of the 1^st at 13:24 sending the puck into the back of the net.

The only goal of the 2^nd period belonged to none other than Teemu Selanne. With only 16 seconds off the clock, Selanne netted his 14^th power play goal of the season during a hooking penalty assessed to Shawn Horcoff at 20:00 of the 1^st. Assist on Teemu’s 606^th career goal went to Saku Koivu and James Wisniewski.

The Ducks were to get another 3 in the 3^rd period with Carter adding his second of the game and George Parros notching an unassisted effort at 11:42. The final goal for the Ducks and of the game belonged to Kyle Chipcura who got one behind Deslauriers while Aaron Ward sat in the penalty box.

Edmonton did manage to get two of their own behind the Ducks’ goaltenders. One at close to the mid-point of the 1^st period when Mike Comrie’s wrister went  past starting goaltender Jonas Hiller and the 2^nd at the beginning of the third period from former Duck, Ryan Whitney when he sent one behind Anaheim’s Curtis McElhinney, who had taken over for an injured Hiller in the 2^nd period.

After the final whistle, Selanne and Niedermayer led the team on a skate around the ice to salute the fans after with the night ended as Teemu was serenaded with chants of,”One More Year.”

Video Highlights of the Edmonton Oilers vs. Anaheim Ducks on 04/11/2010

My Ducks’ 3 Stars:

3 – Kyle Chipchura: A short-handed goal and an assist, he played a very good game all around

2 – Teemu Selanne: His 606^th career goal on a power play at 00:16 of the 2^nd, the only goal in the 2^nd period

1 – Ryan Carter: 2 goals including the first of the game

Notes:

Teemu Selanne has been nominated for the Masterton Trophy.

Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne say that they will let the team know by the June entry draft as to whether or not they will return for 2010-11.

Quotes:

From Teemu Selanne on his possible retirement:

• “Obviously, I’m going to have a lot of time to rest this summer. It’s disappointing, because we had way too good a team to miss the playoffs. But in some ways, the tank doesn’t feel even close to empty.”
• “If you had asked me two months ago, it would have been easy to think, ‘This is it.’ But the way we have played since then (23-14-4 in the second half), after I got healthy, it’s been so much fun.”
  • “I feel I can still play. I still have my speed and my strength – those are the skills that make me successful. If they weren’t good enough to play at this level, it would be easy to do something else.”

“I always say, when I come to the rink every day to play hockey, I’m happy. It’s still that way. But there’s so much work, so much sacrificing, so much dedication (required in the offseason) to play at this level. You have to live for hockey – that’s the hardest part. If the season started (again) in two weeks, it would be easy (to come back).”

• “The reason why I’ve only signed one-year deals is that I can motivate myself and try to do whatever it takes and then re-evaluate again. Am I ready to push this hard again? Am I ready to dedicate all that extra time and energy for hockey? There are no compromises. You have to do it the right way or not at all.”

From Scott Niedermayer on his possible retirement:

• “I guess I’d be lying if (I said) I didn’t think about it.”
• “As you get older, you can’t do the things you used to do, but if you’re still committed to being as good as you can be, I don’t see why you shouldn’t play. It’s not a major issue.”
• “When it comes time to make a decision, it’s definitely personal.”