Merry Christmas Baby

Hey! Look! SLOW FRESH OIL updated! Begin Christmas riots... nnnnNOW!

So yeah, not much to say about the Oilers that hasn't already been discussed in the ever-growing Oilogosphere. Other than this:

MERRY CHRISTMAS,

HAPPY HOLIDAYS & A JOYOUS NEW YEAR!!!

Wishing for Wins, the Calder & a good return on the Hemsky trade. From Stan Weir & your friends at SLOW FRESH OIL!

Mach 20

Taking a little hiatus on Reasonable Artspectations before I dive into the blueline. Not an inspiring bunch, I daresay.

Anyway, I found myself filling out a top 20 for The Org's $10k contest with ATB. Worth checking out even if you just plug ISS rankings into it. This draft should be enough of a crapshoot that just about any schmuck has a reasonable chance of winning that cash.



Here's my Mock 20 with (little to no) rationale:

1 - The Nuge - Having #19 means we're taking a forward first. Pegged as The Org's guy & I buy it.
2 - Huberdeau - Kurt Russell (dead ringer, no?) is going to the Avs thanks to his Memorial Cup run. Otherwise, they'd be taking Landeskog. And they might anyway.
3 - Zibanejad - Heard the Persian Prince is now in the top 3 conversation. People will lambaste Tallon, but I think he gets the last laugh.
4 - Larsson - Loophole Lou can't believe his luck. First, he wins the lottery & now he sees his #1 fall into his lap.
5 - Couturier - Will flourish as 2C behind Tavares.
6 - Landeskog - It would be insane if he drops this far, but I'm banking on this draft to be crazy. Sens get the Skinner of this year's draft.
7 - Khokhlachev/Strome - I see the UnJets taking the Spitfire riser or the IceDog. Either way, his counterpart will drop out of the top 10. Just my take.
8 - Siemens - The Org trades for this pick, or the Jackets hang onto it. Either way, the kid's going at 8.
9 - McNeil - Chiarelli rounds out his 1C/2C for the next decade (thank you, Brian Burke). This will make Boston's recent cup win even more ridiculous ;).
10 - Baertschi
11 - Hamilton - Avs atone for passing on Larsson & are sitting pretty in the prospect department.
12 - Armia - Jussi Jokinen's spiritual successor & Jeff Skinner's future best friend.
13 - Murphy - Flamers grab a falling waterbug in Don Cherry's #1 Overall. I will hate him regardless, but I see him being a long-term thorn in The Org's side.
14 - Phillips - Stars double their chances at C by taking another Scott Glennie.
15 - Miller - Not on my radar at all, but tried to think like Slats (read: crazily). Close to picking Oleksiak, but I see the American pivot with size as Sather's darkhorse.
16 - Strome/Scheifele - If Manitoba takes Khokhlachev, Strome's going to Buffalo. If not, the Sabres stick to Canada & the Russian drops out of the top 20.
17 - Beaulieu
18 - Saad
19 - Oleksiak - I think (pray?) that he'll slide & that The Org makes the right decision. Personally love this kid's arrows & raw physicality.
20 - Biggs - Kyle Turris: meet your future linemate & bodyguard.

There you go. Nothing groundbreaking, but a fun diversion & hey, I might win 10g's. If I do... DRINKS ON ME!

Reasonable Artspectations: Massive Update Part II

Ryan Jones & "The Flow"

JF Jacques

I had zero inspiration drawing this one. Jacques, as is widely known, may be the least effective big man in NHL history. But he is big... So I went with that.

Liam "the Red Ox" Reddox

Obviously the opposite case here... Liam Reddox is a little ginger that works his bag off and gets great results. Yet he struggles for a regular gig while Jacques gets millions handed to him by the Organization for no return. Sigh.

That's all I have done for now, so stay tuned to twitter as I tackle the dregs of the Oilers forwards & on. As always, read Lowetide and take your vitamins.

In an effort to keep pace with the prolific blogger that is LT, most of these are pencilled, inked, and coloured in an hour or so. Previews and roughs will be posted on my twitter (lgwgreen). Scans and finished work will be uploaded here & my flickr whenever I get around to digitizing the damn things.

Resonable Artspectations: Massive Update Part I

While Lowetide is still a good eight skaters ahead in his series, Reasonable Artspectations is chugging along behind the scenes. If you've been tuned into my twitter feed, you may have seen previews for a bunch of these. Finally got some scans done, so here's the first batch of the update:

Ales Hemsky, the Prince of Pardubice

Sam "Crazy Eyes" Gagner, Movember Edition

Andrew "Ironman" Cogliano

Komrade Horcov

*If you don't get this one, do yourself a favour & familiarize yourself with Pat "BDHS" Mclean's Kaptain Horcov


Jones, Jacques & Reddox to follow in Part II. Sharp eyes will notice that I skipped Magnus Paajarvi & Linus Omark, I will post them after the draft as part of a bigger piece.

In an effort to keep pace with the prolific blogger that is LT, most of these are pencilled, inked, and coloured in an hour or so. Previews and roughs will be posted on my twitter (lgwgreen). Scans and finished work will be uploaded here & my flickr whenever I get around to digitizing the damn things.

Reasonable Arts-pectations

A year of inactivity on this blog can be credited to the information found within the second most recent post. Call it a boycott, if you're generous.

Anyway, I'm back at it. In an effort to hone my drawing skills, I will be posting illustrations of each Oiler as Lowetide posts his ever-riveting Reasonable Expectations. The first two recaps were posted by LT on April 11.

First up: Jordan Eberle



And: Taylor Hall



The series will continue with Ales Hemsky (preview) and Sam Gagner. In an effort to keep pace with the prolific blogger that is LT, most of these are pencilled, inked, and coloured in an hour or so. Previews and roughs will be posted on my twitter (lgwgreen), as well as in the comments section of LT's profiles. Scans and finished work will be uploaded here whenever I get around to digitizing the damn things.

Enjoy! (And please don't hesitate to let me know what you think)