Let's Get it On...

The eve of a Battle of Alberta and what am I doing? The answer is not something like, oh, actually previewing the game. Instead I come bearing what can only be considered useless information after having followed a link from Battle of Alberta that led me to Andrew Ference's iTunes playlist. iTunes Canada is a wonderful thing. Basically in following it back through eight pages of celebrity playlists, I have discovered the following:

• Edmonton's Shawn Horcoff is hilarious. I can't think of a single other hockey player who could have something like Big & Rich's Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy on their playlist, and who I could still look in the eye (ignoring the fact that I'd probably have to be standing on a couple milk crates before this would be possible) without bursting into laughter. I really don't know why that is, but I'm willing to bet it's that ridiculous goofy expression he's got in his roster photo. The one that also makes the rest of his playlist, full of Green Day, Blink 182, and Good Charlotte, a little easier to swallow.
  

• Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres' was less exciting until I got to almost the very end where he includes Fall Out Boy's 7 Minutes in Heaven (Atavan Halen)--wait, Fall Out Boy?? The funniest thing about this, though, is that in his little blurb about the song, he jumps immediately to defending it by insisting he heard them before Cork Tree happened. Hil.ar.i.ty.

• Last but not least, my second least favorite Carolina Hurricane (edged out only by the monstrosity that is Rod Brind'Amour, who takes that category based on wins alone), Cam Ward. I think all I need to say here is that he quotes Nickleback as one of his favorite bands.

Don't believe me? Go look for yourself. You can check out Post-St. Louis Doug Weight, Philly's Robert Esche, and Anaheim's Dustin Penner, while you're at it.

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In slightly more Pertinent To The Actual Sport Of Hockey news, Oilers resign Staios for another 4 years. Now if only the Ryan Smyth problem would be solved this easily. Either way, the Oilers face the Flames again tonight at Rexall Place. I know I mentioned that I should maybe preview a game, but I don't have a good prediction about the game tonight--these two teams are one loss, one win both ways when it comes to each other, so tonight's victory will be huge. The Oilers are 8-2 at home and the Flames are 3-4-2 on the road--personally I'm rooting for the Oilers, so I'm going to pretend those stats say a lot more than they do. What I do know, though, is that the Oilers PK is 3rd in the league (90.3%), and Calgary's coming in at a weak 24th (80.4%)--maybe someone should tell the boys to take advantage of that?

San Jose plays tonight too, in a huge Battle of California game--I'm sure you can guess who I'd like to win that one. I might forgive Chris Pronger someday, but that doesn't mean I'm ever going to be a Ducks fan. Anaheim's got the hometown advantage though, and the better record overall, if just barely, so this game should be close. Jonathan Cheechoo still DTD might make a substantial difference for the Sharks.

As for the last game of the evening, Jaromir Jagr and his Rangers, who my one-time favorite Brendan Shanahan also now belongs to, take on the Canes tonight. At the start of the season this would have been an easy pick, what with Carolina coming off their cup victory with a string of terrible playing and lost games, but they've picked it up lately--enough to he point where they're top-contenders to storm (...oh pun definitly not intended) the playoffs again. I'm still predicting a Rangers victory for this one--they've definitely got the offense to get past Cam Ward, and Jagr's just coming off scoring his 600th career goal, which has to be a boost. Either way, I just have to stand by my man Jagr--it's not ever hockey player whose Sports Bar you've been to in Prague.

....I am so not doing this for every game from now on.