Shawn Horcoff collided with Cory Perry in the first period and had to leave the game. Didn't look like a dirty hit (i only saw it once real quick but looked innocent?) but unfortunatley for the Oilers, they're saying he could be out for as long as 8 weeks! He'll have an MRI tomorrow but doesn't sound good!
I was at the game. The hit was not dirty at all. At worst Perry was attempting to put Horcoff offside. The hit really looked harmless. Horcoff got up himself, took the next face off and tried to skate a bit. He turned back to the bench and didn't come back.
Big lose for the Oilers. Eberle and Hall looked like fish out of water without Horcoff in the middle.
What did look pretty gross was the guy who got hit in the face with the puck off a dump in attempt. One of the Ducks was trying to fire the puck in deep and it went over the glass. It was flying and hit a dude square in the face. He was down for a few minutes and there was a ton of blood. He did walk out under his own power and gave the crowd the thumbs up though.
Yeah, some would think it's not so bad as they can give their youngsters more ice now but that's not true. Those guys will develop much better with a guy like Horcoff around. Not the end of the world, but not a good thing for the "kids".
Horcoff is still around but the young guys are stepping up on their own.
Tom Renney has always been a coach geared toward the development of younger players.
The Oilers have made a commitment to psychological preparation for their players and listening to renney speak you get a feel for this cerebral approach.
The young guys will shine thru because of this. listen to eberle speak, he speaks like a saavy veteran and so far he has backed up what he says with his performance on the ice. hall is beginning to show why he was chosen first overall.
I like horcoff but he ain't the only guy to learn from.