BREAKING NEWS: Oilers sign Staois to 4 Year Deal! Plus: Battle of Alberta Tonight!

Staois resigning huge news for Oiler fans. Steve has been like a fine wine, he keeps getting better with age. The Oilers signed him for $10.8 million over 4 years, which is a decent rate for a top 4 defenceman. Of course, theres the possibility (and perhaps likelihood) that Staois' performance will decline over the course of the contract, I think he's still one of the best bang for your buck defensemen out there.

Plus there is a very interesting clause in his contract: He gets paid at a DECLINING rate. The contract will pay Staios $2.9-million in each of the next two seasons, followed by $2.8-million in 2009-2010 and $2.2-million in 2010-2011.

Thats not only an astute asset management move by Lowe, it's a clear indication that Staois is willing to concede salary for a better chance to win.

"Steve exemplifies what it means to be an Edmonton Oiler and we couldn't be happier with this long-term extension. He is one of those players who leads by example and will do everything it takes to accomplish the task at hand."

-Kevin Lowe

Oilers recalled tough guy Zach Stortini. Stortini knows he has one job: Fight. Who will be his partner? I'm betting on Darren McCarty.

-live (or near live) game updates and analysis during the game tonight

• Calgary is starting Kipper, and Edmonton Rolie. Both Bold moves...
• Calgary's forecheck is looking good early
• Reasoner sounds like a funny guy. "I'm wearing the mich tonight so everytime I come to the bench say I did a good job!"
• Jason Smith dominated Hamrlik physically when he came out of the penalty box. The captain is setting the tone early
• 1-0 Flames - Tjarnqvist miscommunicates with Roloson, immediately panics and turns the puck over. Good hustly on the forecheck by the Flames on that one
• Excellent chance by the Oilers created by: who else? Ryan Smyth. Overall there were some good chances by the Oilers over the course of that shift and the previous one.
• Iginla gets himself open in frot and lets a nice one go. He doesn't miss often on those.
• Both teams are really keeping it simple. Get in the zone, one guy drive to the, other guy get the puck to the net.
• SMOKED!!
• Nice work by Torres, driving hard to the net. Zyuzin continues to suck.
• Smyth is dominating down low. Amonte was basically forced to take that one.
• Hemsky took a shot! Then gave it away...
• 1-1 SHockey game
• Sykora, beauty shot. Excellent pass by both Bergeron and Hemsky. Despite oilogosphere insistence, I think Bergeron is the Oiler's best option on the point for PPs.
• Good hustle by both teams. A little tightness on both sides. Can't wait to hear more Reasoner talk...

• 2nd period
• Calgary's aggresive forecheck continues to yield quality scoring chances.
• Smith falls and hockeygirl's favorite Flame gets another chance off a Tjarnqvist giveaway
• Offensive zone penalty on Brad Winchester. Thats a bad one to take, especially with the Flames having all the momentum this period
• After that bounce I was going to say I'm starting to believe the Oilers are out to get the refs - until Ray Ferraro showed a good ref bounce from the Wings game.
• Hamrlik first couldnt control a simple pass, then upon retrieval of the puck throws a piss poor pass up the middle...
• Mesmorizing move by Hemsky which results in zone control and a half decent scoring chance
• I think when Tanguay and Staois got tangled up Staois was asking Tanguay how the family was...
• Zyuzin looks hurt off a MA Bergeron shot. Hopefully he can still play...(note the sarcasm)
• Did anyone catch who had that defensive zone giveaway for the Oilers? Brutal. Good composure by Bergeron to secure the puck and find the open man on that play though.
• Great defensive zone coverage and physical play by Bergeron. Greene on the other hand should have had a penalty on that play.
• Pisani vs. Regehr - my money will be on Regehr every time.
• Almost a goal off of Smyth's hustle. Ference did his job for the Flames, can't say the same for Zyuzin.
• Oh my god, awesome clip of Smytty's first NHL goal, against the Flames in November 1995.
• If you're a Flames fan, that clip hurts...Trevor Kidd? Ouch.
• Iginla drives to the net. I honestly doubted his claim of losing weight=getting faster, but he has legitimately been beating people with his speed this year
• Tangauy needs to shoot the puck...
• Nice work down low by Dion, and again on the foot race .
• Is it just me, or is this game lacking in big hits?
• This time it's Greene who has the good shift but has to take a penalty because of Bergeron's giveaway
• Wow, nice save by Rolie.
• Rolie! Rolie! Rolie! Rolie!
• Nice try by Tanguay from behind the net. Thats the sort of creative play he's paid to make.
• Boy there IS a lot of snow on the ice. It's like playing on the pond out there.
• The Oilers got outplayed that period by a longshot. Thats probably a worse sign for the Flames than the Oilers, as if you outplay a team that badly you expect to be up by at least 1 goal. And lets face it, while the Flames goal was due to hard forechecking work, it was also due to a pretty botched play by Tjarnqvist and Roloson. The Flames will probably need to score a real goal to win this one.
• Ice time leaders: Phanuef for Calgary, Tjarnqvist for Edmonton

• 3rd Period
• Damn, what was Reasoner saying? The mich was too heavy?
• Torres needs to keep up his enthusiastic play this period. His footspeed was really good on that shift.
• Oilers' second offensive zone penalty. You simply cannot take penalties like that and expect to win.
• You know it doesnt look like that was offside from the TV perspective
• If I were Playfair, I'd be giving Ference more PP time. He doesn't have Dion's shot, but he's very good at picking his spots
• Another good save by Roloson on Iginla's chance. Iginla's speed comes into play again, he was simply beating Smid in the footrace.
• Its hard to say if the Flames PP is that bad, or the Oiler's PK is that good. While the Flames PP has been looking somewhat decent over the last few games, they have been shut out handily tonight. The Oiler's PK is ranked #1 in the NHL though...
• I don't think there was any doubt Miikka was going to make that save on Petersen.
• Ohhh...Zyuzin IS hurt and can't play tonight...that sucks...(note sarcasm again)
• Roloson is no Kipper, but there is no doubt he is playing very very well.
• This pressure by the Oilers is a great example of Pisani and Horcoff using their speed to overwhelm the defence
• Iginla makes a shifty move and forces Smith to take a penalty. We shall see if Edmonton's PK dominance continues.
• Horcoff's positioning during that shift was just perfect. Same with Smytty.
• Flames PP woes continue.
• Flames are really pouring it one, but Ference got lucky at the point. This Oiler line really needs a change though.
• Smytty should have had a penalty on that forecheck
• 2-1 Oilers
• Sykora jumps on a HEMSKY rebound, scores the go-ahead goal
• WTF was Amonte doing on that? He could've had the rebound, but instead skated AWAY. Thats classic Bones for you.
• Oilers are really roped in their own end again. This reminds me of last year's playoffs, the bend but don't break philosophy.
• Ouch. After the Oilers had some nice neutral zone checking going on, Smid makes the poor pass to the covered Staois, who throws it out of the field of play, taking a delay of game penalty.
• Roloson is NOT afraid to clear it himself
• In hindsight, maybe taking a penalty was the smartest thing the Oilers could have done at the end.

therealdeal 3 stars:

3. Jarome Iginla - Despite not getting a point, Iginla was the Flames most dangerous player all night.

2. Petr Sykora - Two goals, including the winner. Sure, the rest of the time he was pretty much invisible, but he provided the only offence for Edmonton.

1. Dwayne Roloson - Besides from an early miscue, Roloson was perfect.