Wild vs. Canucks
Posted on January 31st, 2009 – 9:03 PMBy Michael Russo
Just got to arena after the worst travel day of my life. Eleven hours at the Edmonton Airport.
Colton Gillies in, Derek Boogaard out.
This is the campaign button designed by blogger Ms. Conduct. You see Heather’s blog here.
I wrote about it in tomorrrow’s paper. Talked to Clutterbuck about it, and he was humbled by the campaign but said there are other more deserving candidates like Steve Mason and Blake Wheeler.
Also, apparently Don Cheery lit into Clutterbuck tonight, calling him a coward for fighting with a visor. I know about it, so need to email me about it anymore. Apparently Clutterbuck and the entire team was watching it live when it happened, and people were infuriated.
But I had no access to him before the game, and I’ll try to talk to him about it later in the week.
On another subject, it’s always interesting how two sides have completely different takes on a game. Last night, I feel there is no doubt that the Steve Staios hit on Stephane Veilleux set the tone for the game. The Wild completely disagreed with that assessment. In fact, Jacques Lemaire almost seemed angry it was even a subject.
But the Oilers all thought that hit, 1:31 into the game, which was borderline dirty, was the key to the game.
Here was Oilers coach Craig MacTavish afterward: “That shift [from Staios] was huge. It was the perfect response from a veteran. When you talk to young kids about having savvy, that’s what you mean by stepping up and making the appropriate play. It just set the tone for everything.”
It certainly did. It was old-school hockey from a heart-and-soul veteran. The Oilers got spanked 10-2 three nights earlier. They were mocked by their own fans. And Staios knew just the way to get the fans, and his teammates, jacked up in a redemption game.
For your laughing pleasure, here’s me at the airport wearing my job on my face:
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