FanHouse KevinLowe

A little more than a month ago, the Edmonton Oilers and their fans watched Mats Sundin make his Vancouver Canucks debut in Edmonton.

If a local Edmonton reporter is correct, the Oilers could be on the verge of one-upping their Western Canada rivals when it comes to "in-season signings."

Last offseason the Edmonton Oilers were quite active in the restricted free agent market, throwing huge offers at Buffalo's Thomas Vanek and Anaheim's Dustin Penner. The Sabres, naturally, refused to let Vanek get away, which in turn led to Oilers general manager Kevin Lowe gunning for Penner.

The Oilers signed the massive forward to a five-year, $21.25 million offer sheet, which the Ducks refused to match, sparking a rather hilarious war of words between Lowe, and then Ducks general manager Brian Burke. If you'll recall, Burke called the signing "an act of desperation by a general manager who is fighting to keep his job." Classic.

Anyway, the Oilers aren't even two years into Penner's contract, and they're already having a rather strong case of buyers remorse. Well, more accurately, head coach Craig MacTavish seems to be.

Through the first 16 games of the season, the 26-year old Penner has scored just three goals and was a healthy scratch in the Oilers 3-2 loss to Colorado on Saturday. Hopefully he found himself a nice, comfortable spot in the press box, because he's going to be sitting there again tonight when the Oilers travel to Detroit.

That sound you're hearing right about ... now, is the Toronto media working itself into a frenzy with the news that Brian Burke, the man they've been longing to take over the Maple Leafs, is now, in theory, a free agent. That's right, the Ducks announced today that Burke is stepping down from his position as General Manager and will be replaced by Bob Murray.

Burke will stay on as a consultant for the rest of the season.

From Bob McKenzie of TSN:

Sources tell TSN Burke will remain in a senior advisory capacity with the Ducks for now but that the final word on any hockey operations decisions in Anaheim will be made by Murray. Sources say Burke will, in this advisory capacity, have the ability to freely negotiate future employment opportunities as a GM in the NHL. That would pave the way for Burke to be hired as president and GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the days, weeks or months ahead, if the Leafs and Burke so desire. And there is strong reason to believe that is precisely what will happen. In any case, it would seem all but certain that Burke will find his way to Toronto as the Leafs' top hockey man.

Sith Lord Gary Bettman, the killjoy that he is, has apparently had enough of the public bickering between Brian Burke and Kevin Lowe and told both men/boys to STFU.

Playing the role of School Marm, Bettman had a teleconference with the aforementioned GMs, and let them know that their insults are 'tarnishing' the league.

Despite my assertion that Burke/Lowe are acting like little children, I agree with The Hockey News' Adam Proteau in that the league shouldn't be trying to put a halt to this petty feud. It makes for great press!

It doesn't matter whether you believe Burke's notion that Lowe single-handedly drove up player costs with his lucrative offers to other teams' restricted free agents, or Lowe's assertion that Burke is "an absolute media junkie" who deserves little credit for building the Ducks into a Stanley Cup champion.

What matters here is people are talking about hockey in July – and, most importantly, the next time the Ducks and Oilers play, there will be a huge buildup of hype and anticipation regarding what the next chapter of the dueling GMs will read like.

Yes, Monsieur Bettman, what hockey needs is LESS press coverage, not more.

Sure, the feuding looks unprofessional, but the NHL is in the business of providing entertainment. When there are no games on TV, why not let fans get their hockey fix through other means?

Ever since Kevin Lowe signed Dustin Penner to an obscenely large offer sheet last summer, Ducks GM Brian Burke has rarely seized an opportunity to rip into one of the league's worst managers.

Via bad trades, draft picks, and plain stupid signings, Kevin Lowe turned a surprising cup contender into a playoff no-show in the manner of a couple of months. Thus, he makes an easy target.

Well, after letting most of Burke's attacks slide, Lowe finally snapped and decided to respond to Burke's jabs with a few right hooks of his own.

"The guy is an absolute media junkie and I guess he's achieving what he wants because he gets his name in the headlines. But the reality is, I hate the fact that my name is linked to this."

"He won a Stanley Cup? Great. I've won six Stanley Cups, you want to count rings? Who cares? It's just a little pathetic that he carries on."

"He's a moron, first of all. Secondly, he really believes that any news for the NHL is good news. Thirdly, he loves the limelight and I don't think anyone in hockey will dispute that."

It's hard to argue with Lowe on this one. Brian Burke has rarely met a microphone or TV camera he didn't love, and has, in a rather immature manner, continued to attack Lowe long after the silly Penner signing went down.

What part of "let it go" does Brian Burke not understand? Hey, I love his tirades, but there comes a point where it just becomes childish.

Of course, we now eagerly await Burke's fiery response ;) ...

Hockey writers in Edmonton are notorious for being complete and utter morons who see the Oilers through rose-colored glasses, and rarely acknowledge the failures of their club.

The team misses the playoffs? Ah, there is always next year! The owner wants to gouge taxpayers to buy him a new arena? Oh, but it'll stimulate the economy in downtown Edmonton!

Witness this recent article by Robert Tychkowski, one of the biggest apologists for the reign of error that has plagued the Oilers for years. This 'mediot' takes time out of his busy schedule of ass-kissing and needlepoint to pen a gem about how the Dustin Penner deal ... wasn't so bad.

Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

One of the league's feel-good stories, the rapid ascension of the Washington Capitals to the top of the standings in the Southeast Division, got derailed, at least for one night, as the visiting Carolina Hurricanes took down Washington, 2-1. The loss dropped Washington out of first place in the Southeast Division after a stay of about 48 hours.

The Hurricanes, who have been playing in something of a fog for a couple of months, suddenly seemed to kick things back in gear by establishing the forecheck early, and picked up a pair of first period goals from Erik Cole and Andrew Ladd. The Cole goal was a thing of beauty, with the winger breaking in alone on Washington goalie Brent Johnson, drawing the goalie from post to post as he cut across the goal mouth. Unfortunately for Johnson, Cole dragged his stick behind him with his right hand and slid the puck into an open net for a 1-0 lead.

The Caps, who went 0-for-7 on the power play, had no answer offensively (Alex Ovechkin was held without a point for only the 11th time this season), at least until late in the third period when an incredible effort by Alexander Semin cut the deficit to 2-1. But as talented as Semin can be at one moment, he can baffle you the next with careless play, such as when he took an ill-advised slashing penalty in the game's final minute and Johnson pulled for an extra attacker.

With the win, Carolina slipped back into first, just one point ahead of Washington, though the Caps still have a game in hand.

As we wrap up the holiday season tomorrow, the cleanup of the mess that has been the last month of our lives will soon commence. For different people that can mean different things. Whether you'll be throwing out the Christmas tree, trying in vain to accomplish your New Year's resolutions, or recovering from a hangover, this week has a different meaning to us all.

One thing that a lot of us will be doing though is sorting through and possibly even throwing out holiday cards. While going through the trash behind NHL headquarters (I know, I live such an exciting life) I found quite a few holiday cards in the dumpsters*. Today, I'll share the text from some of the best holiday cards I found.

(* - by that I mean this is all fictitious, of course)

----
To: Gary Roberts
Postmarked: 12/29 in Leg Bone Heaven

Gary,

Sorry I couldn't make it to see the New Year. Not all of us are as indestructible and manly as you. Happy holidays!

Yours truly,

Gary Roberts' Fibula

When any NHL GM's tenure comes into question, the media, and the fans, always look to the top management and owners for signs about how much they support the job their GM's are doing. The obvious "We support out guy" tends to be code for "He's gonna be fired soon", as the ownership prefers not to tip their hand, lest things drastically change with the team's fortunes.

The Edmonton Oilers? They have been through two of the worst off-seasons in recent NHL history due to the constant bungling of one Kevin Lowe. I've harped on this enough, so I won't reiterate the long list of bad moves Lowe has made.

Suffice it to say, I was quite shocked to see that Lowe was granted a CONTRACT EXTENSION, rather than the proverbial pink slip and a boot in the ass out the door.

"This franchise is measured upon the quality of the key management people and the quality of our hockey players. Therefore this is a very important announcement for our franchise," Cal Nichols, Chairman of the Edmonton Investors Group said in a statement. "The Edmonton Investors Group also acknowledges his stature as a pillar in the community, which brings even more value to this team, this city, and the greater Edmonton community. Edmonton should feel fortunate to have him as our General Manager, and we are thrilled to be able to make this announcement today."

Pillar of the community? C'mon, this is just dumb. The Oilers have always been unfailingly loyal to certain employees, instead of just do the 'bad' thing and fire someone for poor performance.

Needless to say, many Oilers fans, such as Chris over at Covered in Oil, aren't exactly thrilled at the prospect of FOUR MORE YEARS!

Needless to say, I don't like it.

Yes, under Lowe, the club has made a huge leap forward in terms of scouting and the draft, and certainly the man has made some beauty trades. But Lowe has also iced a team with obvious, glaring holes in the roster for three straight seasons now, and, as the above quotes attest, seems to have serious issues when it comes to formulating a plan and sticking with it.

I mean, really: either the man is employing some seriously Columbo-esque misdirection here or he is exactly as bewildered as he sounds. I don't hate Sheldon Souray as much as some fans, but there was absolutely no reason for the Oilers to sign him - not for that price, not for that length - except to atone for the fact that Lowe had bombed out in free agency early on and to silence the escalating din surrounding Darryl Katz's attempts to buy the team.

In the end, it's a case of the Oilers protecting their 'old boys' to the detriment of their hockey operations.

With the Edmonton Oilers in search of offensive help, empty-headed GM Kevin Lowe has shown that he'll do anything he can to get his smelly hands on somebody who can score a few goals.

Massively overpay for a restricted free agent? Check (Dustin Penner).

Trade for a has-been winger who is more predictable than a network sitcom? Check (Geoff Sanderson).

Invite washed-up, lazy winger with a history of disinterest? Check (Anson Carter).

Well, we might add "sign your first round draft pick to a deal and stick him on the first line" to the list above. With the Oilers showing serious interest in keeping Sam Gagner, the sixth overall pick in this past summer's draft, we just might see the 18-year old in the NHL when the season starts.

The Oilers and Gagner's camp are opening discussions, trying to get an entry-level deal sorted out.

The base money is pretty stock given where he was drafted (the rookie maximum is $850,000). The only haggling point would be choosing an NHL bonus schedule - one is worth an additional $875,000, the other $2 million more, if he hits all the targets.

"I don't really worry about the contract side of things," said Gagner. "If I worry about that it'll be just another unneeded thing on my mind. I just try and focus on playing hockey and enjoy myself while I'm out there. Hopefully it'll work out for the best."

Now, when an 18-year old makes the NHL, they are usually there for a short audition (Gilbert Brule), they are there due to the short-sightedness of management (Manny Malhotra), or they truly belong in the bigs (Sidney Crosby).

Bringing in such a young man is generally a big risk, and ends up costing the team more in errors and blown coverage than in actual net offense/defense. Sure, the guy might score 15 goals, but if he goes -25, what good is it to the team to have a player in way over his head?

In the current CBA, a player can become an unrestricted free agent at the age of 27, OR after seven accrued seasons of service. Thus, an 18-year old playing full-time from the start could be free and clear by the age of 25! Yes, that is the age when most players are just primed to explode and put out their best production. Watch your years of development and training go out the window when he signs with another team, right?

So, before the Oilers do something even more foolish, they must ask themselves if it is really worth it to potentially lose one of their more skilled prospects by the time he is 25. If Gagner is not going to help the Oilers SIGNIFICANTLY this season, then he should be right back in juniors, developing his game until he's truly ready to give the Oilers a positive impact on the ice. It's not as if the Oilers will make the playoffs, anyway.