Right now, Jordan Eberle is on top of the hockey world.
First came the season opener against the Calgary Flames. In what will probably be as big of a stage as this years Oilers are going to be on, Jordan Eberle showed off the skills that anyone that follows the World Juniors would already be familiar with. The kid seemed to be almost everywhere that night, literally landing an assist off of team captain Shawn Horcoff for the clubs fourth goal, getting four shots for the game, being a penalty away from landing a Gordie Howe hat trick in his first NHL game. Oh, and his first goal that lit up the highlight reels and social networks everywhere with the awesomeness of its execution; that was pretty impressive too. With over twenty thousand screaming fans at the Northlands, I mean, Rexdall Place, and many many more wondering just who is this speedy sniper from across the world, Oilers faithful were thinking that there was finally a light at the end of the tunnel, and that the soap-opera’esque off-season headlines would be soon replaced with the headlines that every hockey fan wants to see for their team. Ones celebrating great goals, dominating fights, and of course, victory and after victory.
And then the TSN interview showed up (link to video here).
For those that have been in the bush for the last forty-eight hours, under a rock, or stuck in the Southern United States, TSN’s reporter Ryan Rishaug interviewed some of Eberle’s teammates, and they had some pretty damning things to say about their teammates performance that night. Quotes like the following:
“Guy [Eberle] gets a couple of lucky goals in the World Juniors a couple of years ago, and the first game he’s looking off our captain on a two-on-one. It’s uhh…pretty disappointing to see actually.” – Ryan Whitney
“I mean honestly, I was completely wide open. If you look at the replay I would have had a tap-in” – Shawm Horcoff
Naturally, folks were amazed and angered by a players teammates throwing him under the bus after authoring such an amazing performance. Calls to have Horcoff’s Captaincy stripped, having Eberle traded to a team that would actually value his scoring prowess, and releasing the “spoiled brats”, “classless morons”, and other adjectives not fit for print burned up blogs, facebook, twitter, and sport forums around the internet. Even this writer was working on a damning article about the whole fracas, wondering if the entire team had been replaced with an NBA squad or some other mental regression to make them all have such back-stabbing personas.
Damn, wish I had thought of that one!
Too bad it’s not true.
Yes that’s right, the entire interview was worthy of being a Punk’d season finale, and a lot of fans (myself included, I’m embarrassed to say) were taken in hook, line and sinker. Heck some still are out there that still do, and for those that are reading this and are, check out the last three seconds of the interview where Eberle breaks down into a giggling fit before the video stops. It was a spoof that would not only own anything that Ashton Kutchers show will ever pump out, but it also gives up a glimpse into the state of the Oilers locker room. The doom and gloom of a team that hasn’t seen the playoffs in years is not present, replaced with a team that seems to be pretty tight knit, getting along pretty well, and “already their minds are becoming as one“. For a team that has had issues with players sticking around (or in Pronger’s case, his wife), and success being few and far between, it’s a refreshing change. Sure it’s only one game into the season, but teams dont’ have statement games like this every day. Especially not against their in-province rivals.
Even with the lockerroom implosion getting the Snopes treatment, there’s some folks that weren’t all that impressed with Mr. Eberle’s first goal. Folks such as Ian White of the Calgary Flames for example, who got a front row seat of Eberle’s first goal.
“Well, it was fluky. I got a poke-check on it and it bounces right over. I’m sure there’ll be nicer ones down the road, but good for him to get his first one like that. But it was lucky. I did get my stick on it.” – Ian White
Well that’s one way to convince yourself that you did all you could to prevent a goal, instead of acknowledging that you were deked out of position like a practice pylon sliding across the ice helplessly. I mean, if you got your stick on it, it must have had the force of a feather in the wind because it sure didn’t stop him taking it to the net. In fact, getting your stick on it would have stopped it while Eberle skated past, or bumped behind Eberle and right into position for T.J. Brodie to pick it up and clear the zone. If your looking for fluky goals, Mr. White, the fourth one where Eberle banked it off of Harcoff and in would qualify. Eberle’s one here wasn’t fluky, it just made you look silly.
This writer isn’t going to predict that the Oilers are heading to the playoffs, or even the Stanley (yes, I’ve seen that show up already.). They’ve got some good scoring talent, The Boulin Wall looked good last night and their speed gives flashbacks to their last Cup Run, but giving up almost forty shots a night isn’t going to put the fear into anyone. But that’s not what this column was really about. More it was chronicling the effect one awesome goal can have on the fans, and the waves it causes. And from the excitement level that this has generated (it’s currently still trending on twitter as this article went to print), I’d say this will be a very exciting season for those that follow the Blue and Orange, and possibly for hockey fans everywhere as well.
And for those that are interested, our last look at what could be one of the better goals of the year.
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The owner of the Sports Blog Network, Chris tells it exactly as he sees it, be it in the stands, in front of the tv, or on his semi-trusty laptop. And always with a can of trusty Dr. Pepper by his side, and spell-check working overtime. 
Eh it was pretty good, but White has a good point.
That goal is probably one of the best goals I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been following the Oilers since the WHA. Just amazing!
You got it! If they had turned the camera a bit further you would have seen me going nuts.after that goal. What a game!
Saw some of the interviews that they had on TSN from players. Fleury hit it on the head when he said it was “sick”. Bet he’s not liking the prospect of facing him and Hall.