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Saturday, September 25, 1999
Oilers slicker
Twenty years from now, no one's going to look on the back of his rookie card, and read, 'He had a great season, but he did jack-squat against the Oilers in a meaningless pre-season game, 09/24/99.'
No one will remember.
After all, a playoff spot wasn't on the line. But jobs certainly were. So was playing time.
And that was the most disappointing aspect of the Calgary Flames' 3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers at the Saddledome last night.
For some players unsure of their NHL employment, this miniature 'Battle of Alberta' meant a lot.
And in the end, the Oilers dressed more desperate players than the Flames did.
Calgary coach Brian Sutter always stresses 60 minutes of hard work. He figured he only got two, and a lousy second period was the difference.
"I don't think anybody got checked in the second," said Sutter. "We had a very good third, and first, but in the second, they scored on a power play, and we didn't battle enough on one of our power plays, and that was the difference."
The difference was desperate-to-play guys like 22-year-old forward Dan LaCouture, who's so concerned about making the Edmonton squad, he hardly noticed ex-Oiler legend Grant Fuhr between the Calgary pipes, and treated him as such. LaCouture, with only three games worth of NHL regular season experience, streaked into the slot home free, grabbed a pass from equally-desperate linemate Eric Houde and lifted a backhand over Fuhr's left shoulder to open the scoring.
After Alex Selivanov's pretty power play goal at 1:24 of the second, Houde, a 22-year-old who the Montreal Canadiens gave up on last year, made his own statement.
At 16:35 of the second, with the Flames on the power play, Houde snagged a Marc Savard giveaway, shot it at Fuhr, who kicked it out, but the Flames forgot to check Houde, and he tucked the rebound in to make it 3-0.
This guy doesn't want to go to Hamilton.
This game was supposed to be Fuhr's story, his first game against the Oilers in Flames garb.
He stopped what he could -- which turned out to be 17 of 20 shots -- but his counterpart, Tommy Salo, was sensational, stopping 28 of 29.
"Grant was fine," smiled Sutter. "And Tommy was good when he had to be, especially in the third period."
Only Marc Savard's tip of Steve Smith's point shot at 4:51 of the final period got by Salo.
But the story was the Oiler players on the bubble, those borderliners who tried to swing coach Kevin Lowe's mind their way.
"We've had guys step up, but no matter what happens, the guys (that don't make it) haven't made a lost impression," said Lowe. "We have to make cuts, but we know the guys aren't going far away. If we're not going during the season, well, they'll be back."
It's a nice problem to have.
The Flames, though, need a full-game effort fast. And they need it now, in these last two pre-season games on the road.
* Rocky Thompson was scratched, squashing fan hopes of a heavyweight bout with Oilers tough guy Georges Laraque.
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