God Giveth, God Taketh Away!

It seems even the Bulin wall is permeable to some things, Alcohol, for Nikolai, seems to be the biggest noise maker in recent history.

Charged with two accounts of drunk driving after being pulled over for speeding in Arizona on Superbowl weekend; Khabibulin was sentenced with 30 days in jail and fines reaching up into the 5,000 dollar mark.  The Oilers have since refused much commentary, but it’s known that Khabibulin will appeal, and they are expecting the goaltender at training camp.

Giving us first round pick, taking the veteran goalie….that’s kind of a little bit of harshness from the upstairs of hockeydom, and a good example of “God giveth, God taketh away.”  But for the past few post seasons that have left Oilers fans, watching with envy as the season carries on without them, it is a wonder as to what could happen should the Bulin Wall not make training camp this year.

What do I say?  He hardly made it last year!

Khabibulin isn’t young.  To think he is, is really just kidding yourself.  Plagued with injuries and back problems, the 37 year old goalie only played 18 games last season before ending it with back surgery.  He ended the season with a none too shabby 7-9-2 record, which, compared to the rest of the underwhelming net minding squad for the Oilers, is actually good (the only goalie with more wins than losses on the Oilers roster…is Martin Gerber…which kind of makes you realize how bad this team needs some confidence between the pipes.)

Even the less than stellar 3.03 Goals against Average is better compared to the other two net minders the Oilers saw last season.  Delsauriers clocked in at 3.26 and Dubnyk in his equally short 19 game seasons posted 3.57.

The Oilers goaltending is weak, and it was a real scar on the season last year.  With an equally weak offensive group, we were looking at a team that really couldn’t produce on the very object of hockey: score more than the other guys.  The fact that an aging netminder and someone who played 12 games for the Leafs last season currently have better records than our young prospects, is really scary to a fan.  Gerber and Khabibulin are ticking down, as if injuries last year didn’t make it obvious enough.

Pumping up the offense with Hall, Eberle and Paajarvi will only get you so far in a sport where goaltenders can make or break games.  They can add to the score, and make games more even, but you’re looking at a team that wasn’t losing in close 1 goal games.  Looking back on the schedule, I remember 2, 3 goal deficits being the norm, with the Oilers on the losing side.

We can only hope that somewhere in the offseason, Dubnyk and Deslauriers did some big training to try and make their game a bit more reliable.  Deslauriers has spent much of his career as a backup goaltender to the likes of Dwayne Roloson, who at 40 is still posting numbers to be proud of with the Islanders a conference away.  You can argue that this was his first real season to ‘The Show’ and that he may be a little nervous.  Buf 48 games of nervousness?  Resigned for a year, he’s got one more chance to prove himself, and this drama with the Bulin Wall is his chance to turn heads and win back the faith of Oil country again.  Assuming appeals in court go well, I can only hope that Nikolai can come back for another season and maybe take the lead once more, giving Deslauriers and Dubnyk more time to adjust, but the fact remains, something needs to change on the blue ice in Edmonton.

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