Retro?

So, what's up with 08 anyway. We've got a new Get Smart movie, a new 90210, and a new Knight Rider (Hasselhoff free thankfully), new AC/DC, Metalica, and Guns N Roses(*more on this later) albums -when was the last time those three bands all released in the same year? We've got an upcoming Friday the 13th remake, and apparently Logan's Run, Conan the Barbarian, Hellraiser, and Death Wish all in the works. Claude Lemieux is attempting a comeback, apparently Henry Burris is the star of a new Blazing Saddles movie, and Dwayne Roloson is the Oilers starting goaltender.

Coming into last season the Oilers had Roloson coming off a fairly strong season on a very weak team as the incumbent starter with Matthieu Garon his newly signed backup. The plan was to have Garon play 25 or so games to rest off Roli - something the coaching staff was never confident enough to let Markanen do the year before. After a few early shaky starts, Garon emerged as the go to guy, buoyed by his unbelievable shootout performances, snatching the starting job from Roli and running with it until he seemed to run out of gas late in the year (we found out later that he had been playing through injury).

Coming into this season, the roles were reversed with JDD thrown in the mix just to make things a little more complicated. Garon was the number 1 with Roli and Deslauries expected to fight it out for the backup role. If Deslauries proved worthy then Roloson would likely be dealt for a bag of pucks at some point in the season if a taker could be found. Now, 20 games in and Roloson has more starts than the other two and shows no signs of giving the job back to Garon yet.

Lots of theories out there as to why this has happened, ranging from illness to injury to MacTavish just liking Roloson more. I don't really buy any of those. I just think Garon has done now in Edmonton what he's done in Montreal and LA in the past. He doesn't inspire confidence in his coaches. I especially don't buy the "likeability" argument. For one, Roloson is a cantankerous old prick so Garon can't be any worse. And two, didn't Garon take Roloson's job last year and get played by MacTavish to the point that it was obvious he was in need of a break? He also didn't look great in that first win of the year as the Oilers starter and came right back for games two and three. I speculated in a post below that his confidence is shot and he's become the victim of the three headed monster in the crease for the Oilers. I don't think he has the mental makeup of a starting goaltender - he's too easily threatened by the competition, and as soon as the "you win you play" tactics started, his game went south. He's got all the physical tools for sure, so why has he never stuck as a starter? I like Garon and hope he rebounds but he needs to get in and have one hell of a game to stick and I'm not sure he's wired that way - Roloson seems to be the exact opposite and I can see why he's succeeding. As for JDD - the poor guy gets the short end of the development stick again - lack of playing time has been what's held him back since turning pro.

*Anyway, this little tidbit inspired by the post at BoA regarding the new GNR album Chinese Democracy. Since it's release I've heard Paradise City, Civil War, November Rain, Patience, and Sweet Child o' Mine played regularly on various Edmonton radio stations and have yet to hear Chinese Democracy (I actually listened to it on youtube tonight after reading the BoA post)...weird. And has anyone ever made more money off three chords than AC/DC? Their stuff is good but damn, I here the start of one of their songs and think "Oh, AC/DC, turn it up....which one is this?"

Completely random inclusion. I saw the new Double OH Bourne Solace movie last night. reminded me of some other Spy Movie I saw recently. Nice to see the Bond franchise taken from the campy unbelievable stuff and deliver two real entertaining action movies in a row. Daniel Craig was an inspired choice to play Bond. I grew up with Roger Moore's bond, and let's be serious, a Roger Moore punch wouldn't knock my 4 year old daughter down. Since then, Timothy Daulton was doing wheelies in tractor trailers and Remington Steele smirked his way through some decent but heavy on the disbelief factor entries. These last two are the best Bond movies of my generation.