Oilogosphere

More proof that there seems to be something in the water that makes Oiler blogs both more prolific and better written than most;

From 'Cult of Hockey' comes this defense of Kevin Lowe's handling of the Pronger situation;

"

Where people go off the rails is when they blast Lowe for what he might have got for Pronger from other teams, if only he had held out for a better deal.

I've heard many, many people say the Oilers should have got more for Pronger, but do any of us really know how this might have been done? What were the other offers?

You know, I wonder if Lowe really had so many options as his critics imagine he did. Is it possible, for instance, that Chris and Lauren Pronger gave the Oilers a very, very short list of teams he would play for, and thus greatly limited Lowe's trading options? It's not hard to imagine Mrs. Pronger being extremely picking about where she might want to live and calling the shots here.

Of course, this scenario is utter speculation on my part, but I have no doubt there really is some kind of inside information about the Pronger trade that I lack and which limits my ability to judge whether Lowe could have got more in a trade."

Thoughtful and to the point.

That said, the Oilers still got bent over by Pronger who used them to get an overpaid-to-be-here contract, and then demanded out after less than a full first season.

The return of Smid, Lupul, etc. was simply pitiful, but one wonders if it would look so bad, if Lupul were playing as well last year (28pts in 81games) as he was for the Flyers over the first 17 games this year in which he registered 15 pts.

(Personally I suspect that the real Lupul is the guy who put up 2 points in 10 games since then)

Here's another sample from the Oilogosphere that I adored;

From Tyler at mc79Hockey;

"Following the 2002 Olympics, Tommy Salo finished out the season with a 9-5-2 record, a 1.86 GAA and a .929 save percentage. The narrative is a lie. "

Be sure to check out the comments too.