Sunday, December 14, 2008

The Rise of Ales Hemsky (a biased, Oiler loving, post)

In the 2001 entry draft, the Edmonton Oilers selected Ales Hemsky, a young forward from Pardubice, Czech Republic, 13th overall. 1 year later, that young forward hit Rexall ice for the first time. In 59 games of the 2002-2003 season Hemsky put up 30 points. It was just the beginning. The next season was a little bit of a disappointment for Hemsky as he only hit 34 points in 71 games. In 2004-2005 the players lock out hit. Hemsky went overseas and played with his hometown team Pardubice.

The lock out fizzled and a salary cap was formed. Ales returned back to Edmonton, and in 2005-2006 he took control of the team. He put up a career high 77 points in 81 games, and helped lead the Oilers into the playoffs. Hemsky was a pivotal player in the Oilers cup run that year, scoring the goal that clinched their playoff spot with a win over Anaheim. He then put up 17 points in 24 playoff games, scoring the tieing goal and wining goal in game 5 of the first round against Detroit. He then scored the winning goal in game 6 against San Jose. Hemsky was a force against the Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Final, however the "Canes" beat out the Oilers in 7 games. The very next season Hemsky ran into injury troubles and only played 64 games, though he still lead the Oilers with 53 points.

In 2007-2008 Hemsky put up 71 points in 74 games, still not reaching his full potential, however still leading the Oilers in points (something he has not relinquished since 2005-2006). Throughout his career Hemsky had been criticized for not shooting the puck more, especially as a player with his skill set. In 2007-2008 Hemsky broke the 20 goal mark for the first time. Now in the 2008-2009 season, Hemsky is on pace to break the 30 goal mark, and break the 80 point mark, Hemsky seems to finally be entering the super stardom Edmonton fans have been waiting for. Number 83 has never looked more dangerous game in, and game out for the Oilers. Ill finish off this post with a quote from the National Post:
Hemsky is one of the best playmakers, one of the slickest players in the game. He's a threat every time he touches the puck



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBwVfWtouIA

8 comments:

  1. You should have put up a picture of the breakaway that Hemmer had against Craig Anderson and the Panthers. What a beauty move he had there to put the puck right into the pads of Anderson. WEAK!
    I do love Hemmer though.

    On a side note, you boners should give me access to a weekly short column that we will call "The Potato Sack". My school newspaper (which sucks balls by the way) has a weekly blurb where a writer gets to bash someone who has shown excessive stupidity in the past week. They discuss how the person's move was stupid and throw him into the sack for a good beating.

    Ours will be a knock off sports edition where I get to pick someone from around the NHL (or other sports if I'm lacking inspiration) and tell you how stupid they are and throw them in the sack for a good beating. Easy examples over the past few weeks would be guys like: Sean Avery, Radim Vrbata (IDIOT!!!), or at present, Mats Sundin.
    I feel like it will be a good comical contribution. Plus I'm jealous that I don't get to be more a part of this.
    What do you think??

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  2. i think that Hemsky is not a superstar i think thats wayyyyyy to premature, please show me something called consistency, I would say that consistency from Hemsky would be key to his "super stardom" because hes popular here, means shit in the rest of the league, is he dangerous when he has the puck??? Ya maybe somedays, i guess we will see in the next couple years if this guy is a star, or another oiler dud

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  3. lol spoken like a true flames fan, just kidding, ya no i do agree with you that he has been inconsitant, but you have to admit that he has the knack and skillset to become one of the NHL's elite, this year seems like the year he finally is on the way to do so, but again we shall see, im a Hemsky lover so i believe he will. and the rest of the league does acknowledge him as a major threat, other teams try to check him, players have commented on his skillset (joe sakic), and minus the fact he hasnt played in an All Star game yet, everyone knows who and what Hemsky is. And lately he has been dangerous every night, and every time he touches the puck, try watching an Oilers game, you know when he is on the ice.

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  4. Oh and while your talking about duds, ill mention
    Mathew Lombardi, Robyn Regehr, oh and ill also mention the top five scorers on the flames are a combined -35 with none of them a plus player, that includes Iggy. While the Oilers top 5 scorers are all a combined +25,

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  5. I didn't even read it. I can just imagine what it says... I'm actually surprised Sporer had time to write this with his hands because it seems like hes using them to jerk off Hemmer....

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  6. lol why does everyone have to hate? Drew loves the underacheiving flames, who only have one cup and have one crappy ass organization, and steve loves his stars who are in last place, and modano who is getting old and noone cares, suck it fags

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  7. oh and about your poll, how can everyone say the Oilers are doing poor when they are only 5 points out of 3rd place and have 2 games in hand?! They are 14-12 which aint bad, and Hemsky and Souray are having career years, while Horcoff and Penner have picked up their play. I just dont get it?! like you guys know hockey, you should no better and be able to see through your OilerHating goggles.

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