Saturday Morning Special - July 9th

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What a fantastic way to start your day - not only did we have terrific guests today but we had major breaking news occur during our broadcast and our listener auction produced almost $3000 for charity!

Congratulations and a huge "Thank You!" to the Owner(s) of O2's Taphouse & Grill who coughed up the high bid on the day, a cool $2800. For that they picked up the trip to Jasper, the Moosehead prize pack and the autographed Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Red Deer Rebels jersey.

If you were one of the many who were in on the fierce bidding war, don't worry; We're doing it again on Tuesday and next Saturday with a signed Mark Pysyk Edmonton Oil Kings jersey followed by a Buffalo Sabres sweater autographed by local product Tyler Ennis!

Tambellini's Great Week is a Good Start

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It's been a a long time since Oilerville has felt this much optimism. After 4 years of non-playoff hockey that has featured seemingly endless stretches of futility, injury and turmoil, Edmonton fans are starting to get a sense that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Time to give credit where and when it's due: General Manager Steve Tambellini, who has been criticized a lot in this space, has had one hell of a week.

Does Tambellini have the stones to make a deal on the draft floor?

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When Kevin Lowe was G.M. of the Oilers he never seemed to have trouble making a quick decision on a deal. 2007 he moved up to take Riley Nash. He had no problem giving up a first round pick in 2006 to bring in Dwayne Roloson. The future of the Oilers certainly rests with whoever is drafted first overall today, but another big part of the future could depend on if current G.M. Steve Tambellini can make a quick decisison, something I'm told doesn't happen very often. If team X calls up the Oilers and wants to deal a pick for a player, or other picks, and Tambellini has to make a call on the spot...can he do it?

Past evidence that has been presented to me suggest no. From different sources across the league, here's what I've gathered from past deals the General Manager has and hasn't made.

Prendergast Fired... Oilers Reach New Low

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The Edmonton Oilers announced late this afternoon that GM Steve Tambellini has fired Assistant GM Kevin Prendergast ending the executive's 20-year association with the organization. While the decision does not shock me, I wrote back in January that I felt this outcome was pretty much inevitable, I am stunned and disappointed with the classless nature with which it was carried out.

Recently there was a lot of talk about Sportsnet writer Mark Spector's story that quoted Sheldon Souray's request to be traded. More to the point, the timing of the story was what some people had an issue with - the fact that Spector sat on the information until such time that the player was OK with the story being published.

Mainstream media in town quickly came to the defence of Spector (not that he needed it) explaining that sitting on information until the right, or appropriate time, happens on a regular basis.

Allow me to bring that thought back to today's news that the Oilers have gassed Kevin Prendergast.

(See the last couple of paragraphs for some thoughts on information that came my way late on Wednesday night.)

Could The Lightning Be A Trading Partner For Edmonton?

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Tampa Bay finished the season strong this year...so strong they played themselves out of a lottery pick. They also played so bad this year that they finished 6th worst in the league and watched their head coach and GM get the axe. Now there's word that Martin St. Louis might want out...or atleast he wants to win now. You can read his comments in a story that Jonathan Willis wrote here. And click to read on about why Tbay might make a good trading partner for the Oil.

Oilers Turn Frown Upside Down

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After a year of disappointment and suffering, Oilers fans finally got something to cheer about yesterday as the NHL lottery played out with Edmonton receiving the #1 overall pick at the June Entry Draft. As you would expect from The Pipeline Show, we were all over it as we expanded to 3 hours last night on the TEAM 1260.

We began the show by opening up the phone lines and keeping a running tally of who the listeners wanted Edmonton to announce on June 25th assuming the lottery went the way of the Oilers. Personally I was a little surprised at the outcome although I have to admit I don;t argue with it.

Coming Down the Pipe Tonight: Seguin & Tambellini

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The draft lottery goes tonight and The Pipeline Show will be all over it. We're on the air from 6-9 pm mst with extensive draft lottery coverage.

Scheduled to join us will be:
Oilers G.M. Steve Tambellini and
Possible 1st overall pick Tyler Seguin

We'll also take your calls and emails. Who do you want your team to pick if they win the lottery?

From 7-9 we'll speak with EJ McGuire of NHL central scouting. AJ Jakubec and Nathan White on the WHL and QMJHL playoffs, Chris Kreider who just won an NCAA championship with Boston College, and we'll preview the Alberta Cup.

Listen online www.thepipelineshow.com email pipeup@theteam1260.com.

Tambellini Passes on Hall vs Seguin

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Last night in Windsor the hometown Spitfires played host to the visiting Plymouth Whalers which meant prime head-to-head viewing of the top two rated 2010 players for the second last time on the OHL calendar. (Photo: Aaron Bell/OHL Images)

With the NHL on hiatus for the Winter Olympics, this might be the first time this season that some NHL GMs would have had the freedom to take in a live game and view Taylor Hall versus Tyler Seguin for themselves.

While most, if not all, General Managers delegate the draft day decisions to their chief scout, when you're talking about potential franchise players it's reasonable to believe some first hand knowledge would be a good thing.

Heads Will Roll

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"The fans will need a sacrifice."

That from a caller to Oilers Lunch a week or so ago. Radio host Bob Stauffer was fielding calls from Oiler fans, many who are relishing the thought that the team will end up with a lottery pick this June and some who demand change from the organization.

When a team finishes dead last in a professional league it is reasonable to expect that someone will lose their job as a result. Perhaps more than one. Sometimes it's not who the fans believe deserves to get fired and other times it's actually pretty predictable.

I believe there will be a price to be paid for Edmonton's futility this year and I predict that the person(s) who are let go will (A) not satisfy the fans and (B) is fairly simple to foresee.