Lupul Signs, Rookies Impress, and Grande Prairie Gets Ready!

If you look carefully at my last post, you will notice that I mentioned Kevin Lowe saying "Joffrey Lupul will be signed by Training Camp...It's Not an Issue!"
Sometimes, I hate it when I'm right, but this is not one of those times.
I couldn't believe the news when I heard...Lupul signs for 3 years at $6.9 Million (not per, but term)
Now there had been some rumours floating around about Joffrey not being happy about being in Edmonton, suffering from the "I don't wanna play in front of the home town crowd this early in my career" blues. A 3 year deal, foregoing 1 year of arbitration doesn't sound like that to me. Now this deal means Lupul will be an Oiler until he's 25. That gives us 1 or 2 more years of Lupul as an RFA (depending on how you read the CBA). This is the perfect deal for the club. I don't want to see Joffrey sign a 6 year deal, and then walk away from the club as an RFA(well maybe I will in 6 years, but we'll see). This deal works for the Oilers and for Lupul.

In other news, the annual Oiler Rookies VERSUS the U of A Golden Bears went earlier this week. The Rookies won 6-3, with Troy Bodie scoring a pair! Dubnyk looked good and went a long way towards easing my fears that he only stops pucks because he's bigger than the net.

Training Camp opened in Grande Prairie on Thursday, with the first pre-season game to be played Sept17 in Winnipeg! Yeah! Fucking rights! Although, it is a bit of salt in the wound that the Oilers will play in Winnipeg against Phoenix, which of course used to be the Winnipeg Jets. Whoever let the Jets leave the league can kiss my ass!

And thanks to ATA, I'll be at 6 more Oiler games this year. I already had my grubby paws on a 3 game mini-pack, when ATA called me to ask if we should get more! Hell yeah! There weren't any 3 game packs left, so we settled on a 6 game. The 6 game means that I will be at Rexall for Chris Prongers second return to Edmonton. You'll notice me, because I'll be the only one not booing him!

Training Camp, Rookie Camp, and Stephen Harper Threatening the Senate!

Well, this week had the all the indications of going right to hell in a handbasket. But in the end, it actually went pretty well. I have to say I'm excited that I will get to be at Rexall Place on October 5th when they raise the Western Conference Champions Banner to the roof! No thanks to the Edmonton Oilers though. Because of their "fair" lottery process, I wasn't chosen to buy a highly coveted minipack. But alas, a colleague of mine was a minipack buyer last year and had first dibs on buying them this year (BIG THANKS TO PETER MICHAELS ON THIS ONE....Mid-days on Red Deer's Best Rock, 106.7 The Drive.)
Also, Rookie camp gets going here pretty quick down (or up depending where you are) in Leduc. I'm excited to see what the Schremps, Mihknovs, Pouliots, Dubnyks, and Pettersens can do or what they are willing to do to make the club. Don't forget to check out the annual Rookies VS Golden Bears game on the 12th. It should be a doozy.
One of my colleagues at work got the chance to pick Kevin Lowes brain for 15 minutes on Wednesday. Some of the tidbits include:
- Joffrey Lupul will be signed by TC, and is looking forward to being an Oiler (why would the GM lie?)
- Lowe is confident with the defense as it stands, and he's really high on no-names (at least to us in North America) like Jan Hejda, Ladislav Smid, Daniel Tjarnqvist, and Tommy (not Salo) Gilbert.
- Expect the unexpected
- Lowe hasn't put stock in anything produced by the "The Hockey News" since 1980 (this year the HN is predicting the Oil will finish no better than 12th in the WC)

So that leaves me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. Lowe still needs to make a deal for a blueliner, but I ain't pushing the panic button yet.

That's all for hockey.

How about the Prime Minister making an appearance before a Senate committee today? First time in history. And he didn't just appear, he threatened them with an election if they stalled his Accountability Act or his desire for reforming the Senate. Now any good Canadian will tell you that the Senate is an outdated, archaic waste of money. But for Harper to waltz in guns blazing? I don't think that is the right way to do it. But I will say that Harper is doing what he said he would, and as a Liberal, I have to say that's refreshing. It's been a long time since I've seen a government do anything, but remember, Harper is trying to lay the groundwork for a majority government, and that's why so much is getting done on Parliament Hill. But at least he's do something. Are you guys taking notes? I'm looking at you Rae, Ignatieff, Hall-Findlay, Dion, Brison, Dryden, Kennedy, Fry, and whoever the hell else is running for Liberal leader!!

Till next time....

Sorry, ATA, nothing controversial this time...other than the fact that I outed myself as a Liberal living in Alberta. How much longer do I have?