A shit-kicking from the Oilers always stings

Whether it occurs during the pre-season, regular season, or playoffs, it just plain sucks.

As you all know by now, the Flames prospect squad got their asses handed to them in their first pre-season test against a more experienced and better prepared Oilers team. I was unable to watch/listen to the game as I was partaking in a lovely dinner date/catch-up sesh with my girlfriends and fellow bloggers Sanja and Brittany, so I don't have first-hand knowledge of what went down last night, but I did my best to stay updated via Twitter. I was perusing Matchsticks and Gasoline, Calgary Puck, and the Flames game blog on the team website for post-game reports and here are my findings:

- Boyd looked good, as per usual in pre-season play. Moss was above average, Dawes was completely invisible. Overall disappointing outing for three players hoping to crack the top-six

- PP was terrible (surprised?) and went 1-8 on the night. According to Sutter Jr., they haven't really practiced the powerplay yet. Good.

- Stralman was solid and impressed viewers with his smooth-skating, until an errant pass led to an empty net goal and sealed the victory for the Oil. Played big minutes with fellow Swede Kronwall

- Colin Stuart is fast, but not much else

- Matt Keetley will likely be an AHLer for life

- Differing perspectives on Chucko, Greentree, and Lundmark, who set up the Flames' only goal

- Jason Jaffray scored the Flames' only goal

- As predicted, there were two fights in this game, one involving Prust and Stortini hoping to impress with a display of goonery

- The Flames took bad penalties at inopportune times and couldn't capitalize on their chances

- Adam Pardy didn't handle the pressure of being one of the lone "veterans" in the lineup all that well, and ended the game a -2. Pelech was also -2

- Negrin and Palin weren't especially noticeable on defence

- Eric Nystrom is all talk and no action

Yes, it is pre-season. Yes, it was good to get a feel for what these prospects are capable of at the NHL level. Yes, the result was to be expected. I just hate losing to Edmonton under any circumstances.

Up Next: John Tavares and the Islanders hit the 'Dome tomorrow night for their second game in as many days. I think it's safe to say we'll see a few more regulars sprinkled into the lineup on Thursday; expect Theo Fleury to draw big crowds as he tries to earn a job with the team that drafted him twenty-two years ago.