#12, Scott Hannan

WOOOO HOOO! Wow. That was an insane game. I was on the edge of my seat for two periods, especially considering the fact we had a whopping 8 shots on net. Then we go up by two, blow that lead, and score three more to rout the Sharks. What the hell? It's a pretty impressive night when Staios and Pisani can play as well as they did and not even make the Three Stars. Some other thoughts on tonight's game:

• My beardless face, mixed with the "I Love Nerds" hat and Whalers jersey, is now 3-0. Included in that ritual is always sitting on the right side of my couch. The beauty is, knock on wood, that it has yet to jinx the Canes.

• I know I have complained about the Oilers coaches in the past, especially Craig Simpson, but I should be fair and compliment their ability to drastically improve certain parts of the Oilers game this year. While Simpson's "prowess" on the power play hasn't really rubbed off, his skill at deflecting shots certainly has. The Oilers have also increased their abilities in three other areas: the aggressiveness on the penalty kill, their fearlessness in blocking shots, and the utter dominance in the faceoff circle. I say, thank you Mac T. All of these things played their part in the Oilers victory tonight, especially the penalty kill. I mean, if you had asked an Oilers fan two years ago if Jarret Stoll and Shawn Horcoff would be this good, they would have laughed at you. Congratulating the Oilers coaching staff for improving these players' games, therefore, would not be out of line. Hell, setting up shrines in your house for this would not be out of line right now.

• Three powerplay goals, one shorthanded goal, timely glove saves, and scoring in bunches. Sound familiar?

• I move increasingly closer to naming my next child "34". Between Papi and Pisani, I am living a blessed life.

• So much for Ron Wilson's assertion that the Shark Tank would be louder than Rexall. Unless you count booing the Canadian national anthem as a positive, San Jose fans were a non-entity tonight.

• Could Mac T be more of a contrast to Wilson? I am watching Wilson do the post-game, and he is still giving the Oilers zero credit. In his post-game interview, Mac T defended Toskala, and went out of his way to flatter the Sharks. I guess winning four Stanley Cups as a player, instead of losing in the finals all the time as a coach, makes a difference. Wilson is a total jackass.

• Jarret Stoll was just awesome tonight. Goals, faceoffs, and drawing those two penalties at the end of the game. Who drafted that kid again, anyways?

• Good to see the refs finally calling Jonathan Cheechoo on his repeated infractions.

• Is anyone else hearing Matt Carle's name as, "Hot Karl"?


• Shawn Horcoff was 6 for 7 on faceoffs in the defensive zone tonight. That's 86% on the draw. Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker.

• I have always preferred an active box to a passive one.

• Will Evgeni "In That Book By" Nabokov start in Game 6? I don't see how not, but Wilson seemed unwilling to blame anything on Toskala tonight.

• Reason #1 why Rob Schremp may never succeed as a professional athlete: in today's Edmonton Journal, he defended his recent shooting of a puck at the Peterborough Petes bench by saying he wasn't shooting at the Pete's head coach, Dick Todd. No, no, said Schremp. "I shot it at the ref, not even near the bench."

• Listening to all the honking and cheering on Whyte Ave right now made me think about heading down and checking it out. Then I remembered that in Edmonton, celebrating a Round 2 win involves getting shanked. I am therefore staying in. I would like to blame Calgary Flames fans for this, by the way. The depravity of the Red Mile challenged the heart and pride of Edmontonians, and we have answered the call. I can quite easily imagine an inebriated Edmonton bohunk watching the Flames playoff run two years ago and saying, "Tits? That's it? Tits? Fuck that. I'm gonna kill somebody. Eat a dick, Calgary!" Calm down people. It's a win in Round 2, and not even a series win.

• My favorite sign at the game tonight, had the year "200" on the left, the word "Cups" on the right, and the number "6" inside a Stanley Cup in the middle. Brilliant.

• The title of this post is in honour of Greg Millen, who repeatedly called Patrick Marleau, "Scott Hannan" on the play that gave the Oilers the 3-1 lead. Even watching the replay about seven times couldn't change Millen's mind. Stunning composure in the face of reality, really.