I have a lot of people ask me "Who is your favorite Oiler?"

Well, I have a few.

1) Jarret Stoll...when he's not boning Rachel Hunter.
I've watched him play since he was a PeeWee and have followed his career. Call me a homer. He is a nice player to watch, he has a great shot and can play defense.
2) Ryan Smyth.
It may be the mullet, the muffin of a shot...but you have to love Ryan Smyth. He wears the Copper and Blue proudly and even when he could turn down the opportunity to play for Team Canada he never does.
3) Ethan Moreau.
Honestly, I never really paid attention to him until a few seasons ago. I just love the way he plays. It's never pretty, he's never in the spotlight, but he plays an intregal part of the team.
4) Raffi Torres.
He just makes me laugh. He is like one of those wind up tops that you wind and set free. And he's a shit disturber. I wear #14 for a reason.
Come on, admit it. You laugh at him as well.
5) Dwayne Roloson.
I [heart] Roli. Any guy who says that "I'm a pretty ugly guy anyway" gets my vote. He is a strong goalie who has great puck handling skills and is seemingly unflapable.

Honorable mentions: Steve Staios, Jason Smith and Shawn Horcoff.

I guess now I can offically start thinking about hockey. It's August. I have stopped throwing darts at my printout of Brind'amour and can utter the word "Ward" without breaking down in tears. It must be time to start thinking about hockey.
With he who should not be named out of the picture for the Oilers opting to go to California to perfect his man-bimbo look the Oilers are without a bonafide superstar.
Sure the Oilers have firepower up front with Hemsky, Stoll, Horcoff and now Sykora but what I am fearing is a season like the Avs did in '03-'04 where sure they can score goals...but what good is it when your D lets in 4 or 5 a game?
Anyway, enough of my whining here is some actual INSIGHT into the Oilers back end. Without HWSNBN gone it leaves a hole in their backend. (Yes, I just made an ass joke. Deal with it.) But it is not as bad as everyone thinks.

Jason Smith
Although he is not your usual TOP defenseman seeing as he lacks an offensive game (though every once in a while he comes through...)
He is a shot blocking machine, mean in the corners, does not pick favorites and will hit anything that moves. He is a tireless workhorse that can log tons of minutes. One downside to his play are the injuries that come from playing this style of hockey.

Steve Staios
I love the Staiosian one. While he still isn't a huge offensive prescence he isn't a slouch in that category either. He is smooth skating and very confident in the defensive zone. And can be mean if he wants to.

Daniel Tjarnqvist
Perusing some Wild message boards, Tjarnqvist has gotten a bad rap.
To quote one memeber Goaliefights101 his skating skills remind me of the chippers that come out during intermission. he cant pass. he has little to no puck handling skills as evidenced by how often he turns the puck over in our own zone............
Honestly, I've never really watched him play, but I have heard that he is a good puck handler, a decent PKer and has a good shot from the point.
I shall make my jugment later on in the season.

Matt Greene
As much as I freaked on this boy during the playoffs about taking his one penalty per game, he IS turning into a good defenseman. He isn't afraid to play hard, give some shots and take some.
But really, how can you NOT like a guy that got hit by a car...and the car got the worse end of the deal?

MA Bergeron
Okay, so the kid had a tough time during the playoffs. He killed my goalie first of all and had a few bad bounces. But all in all he's not that bad of a player. He's fast, has a rocket for a shot, and has good hustle.
Sometimes he reminds me of Ozolinsh with his ability to NEVER play defense, but he is a very offensive player...so...yeah.

Jan Hejda
I really don't have that much insight into this guy. The MYSTERY man. So...anyone want to enlighten me? Why didn't Buffalo want him? Did we get taken? Can he even skate?

Ladislav Smid
I've only seen him at the WJC and I liked what I saw. He has the ability to make that good first pass, has some good stick handling abilities and moves and has a good transition game.
Lets just see if he can bring it to the Oilers this season.

We still have about $5 million for wiggle room under the cap. I'm not sure if Lowe is planning on brining in another defenseman or not, but it does leave us some options.