Ryan Stone likes going for the big hit, likes getting under the oppositions skin, can play the PK, and has decent hands for a pest. Like I said in the thread title, he's no Darcy Tucker but he brings an element that the Edmonton Oilers have missed for some time, a guy that can take the oppositions top players into a very unhappy place.
A bottom 6 with Stone, Jacques, and Stortini in it won't win the Oilers too many popularity contests around the league, all 3 are willing and able to dish out physical punishment to varying degrees. These 3 are all young, relatively inexpensive, and have offensive upside (again to varying degrees).
Pat Quinn has transformed the Oilers from a team that was perceived to be a bunch on wimps minus a select few players, to a team that is ready, willing, and able to initiate a bloody battle on the ice. It is amazing what a new approach and a few new additions can do. Quinn seems to encourage momentum changing physical play. The Oilers are just lacking Theo Peckham on the blueline to complete the metamorphosis into a team full of junkyard dogs ready to rip a chunk out of trespassers asses and legs if they as much as see them look at the fence.
The Oilers once again are not a team that opposing teams would look forward to facing in the post season, because once again, win or lose, the Oilers will leave their mark on their team. The Oilers need to make sure that Stone remains with the team when the injury bug gets fumigated. Also of note, the Oilers have been the physical aggressors without big Steve MacIntyre on the ice or his predecessor Georges Laraque. The Oilers have enough beef in their lineup and enough willing combatants that the aggressive mentality has spilled over to the smaller guys on the club.
Also of note, this years club seems more willing to stand tall alongside each other, for the first time in quite some time, the Oilers are becoming a TEAM instead of a team of individuals.
But they still suck crap compared to my beloved Maple Leafs.
GO LEAFS GO!
