The kid has game.
There's a window opportunity here (imo) for an OKC Barons forward to get a recall from the big club. Last night, the Oilers sent down Shawn Belle and Ryan O'Marra. Why? The defender was sent down because Jim Vandermeer is ready so he'll play this week for Edmonton.
Up front, things are in a state of flux. With Jordan Eberle likely headed to IR, and O'Marra sent to the AHL something is likely to give this week. Let's count up the forwards:
- Gagner
- Hall
- Jones
- Cogliano
- Penner
- Hemsky
- Brule
- Pääjärvi
- Fraser
- Jacques
- Stortini
- MacIntyre
- Eberle (likely to IR)
- O'Marra (sent to OKC)
I mentioned in my ON post today that Colin McDonald and Teemu Hartikainen were having some nice runs here over the last three weeks. Since we're probably looking at a callup (unless they're going to make a trade), it might be an idea to list the scoring leaders (among forwards) in the AHL since December 1. The top of the list features some of the hottest scorers in the minors:
- Alex Giroux 13gp, 7-8-15 E
- Brad Moran 13gp, 3-8-11 +1
- Colin McDonald 13gp, 7-3-10 +1
- Liam Reddox 13gp, 4-6-10 +3
- Teemu Hartikainen 13gp, 3-5-8 +2
- Linus Omark 4gp, 2-2-4 +1
- Hall-Jones
- Penner-Hemsky
- Jacques-Pääjärvi
- MacIntyre-Stortini
I'm hearing Omark and Reddox.
ReplyDeleteWhich makes sense, Bruce. I think Renney will hold onto Reddox the moment he watches him on the PK. IF Reddox comes up, suspect it's the end of the line for Jacques.
ReplyDeleteGiroux.
ReplyDeleteI've only seen him on film. The guy has offence, I think...
Verdict?
We can all pray that it would mean the end of JFJ.
ReplyDeleteTime to put him out of our misery.
Teemu was just demoted back to the third line, so I don't think he's the guy coming up.
ReplyDeleteAnd as Bruce said, the word out of OKC is Omark and Reddox.
Reddox scores, assisted by Omark and Harski.
ReplyDeleteIt's like they know :)
And Hartikainen was promoted again. He's skating with Omark and Reddox now.
ReplyDeleteAnd now Harski on the power play from Omark and Petiot.
ReplyDeleteI think Renney will hold onto Reddox the moment he watches him on the PK.
ReplyDeleteIf he plays him on the PK.
He had OKC 1PK C up for 9 games and he never sniffed the PK.
Don't understand that.
I haven't really been on the "Reddox is being treated unfairly bandwagon" (I think he's a solid replacement level NHL fourth-liner, though probably not much more, and that any hope for him to play effective defensive hockey against Real NHL Players is likely to be disappointed), but if he's not called up at this point, I think he could fairly wonder just what the hell he has to do.
ReplyDeleteHow the heck does JF Jacques keep surviving all of these re-assignments?
ReplyDeleteOne way contract aside, I don't get what exactly he's bringing to the table at this point.
How the heck does JF Jacques keep surviving all of these re-assignments?
ReplyDeleteA vain hope that he's tradeable? I don't know - I'm as mystified as you. Then again, I'm not clear on how he got a qualifying offer when Pouliot and Potulny didn't, so presumably Tambellini has seen something that I haven't. Possibly incriminating pictures of the entire Oilers front office, currently in Jacques' possession.
(Not that I think that Pouliot and Potulny were great losses, but both should have ranked ahead of Jacques on the list of who to qualify.)
I think Paajarvi gets the shot at RW with Hall and Gagner.
ReplyDeleteGodot: Agreed, MP will slide right into Eberle's spot.
ReplyDeletere: JFJ, Dan Barnes wrote a classic "greasing the skids" article in today's Edmonton Journal. This type of article always seems to magically materialize a week or two before a player disappears forever.
Barnes appears to believe that "lest" means the same thing as "unless", and his editor doesn't appear to know any better.
ReplyDeleteIt's well down the list of things to complain about regarding the local MSM's coverage of the Oilers, but it's infuriating just the same.
I was just writing a post about how I "see Conz good" (Swiss goalie) when he lets in a stoppable puck.
ReplyDeleteHe is still undrafted, isn't he?
Any chance he falls through the draft again?
I recall a Redline description of him as extremely streaky, along the lines of stopping peas or not stopping beach balls.
On an unrelated note, Paajarvi has scored more points in his NHL career than JFJ has.
"unless they're going to make a trade"
ReplyDeleteI found this comment really funny LT.
Katz forgot to pay the phone bill again?
I'm glad Omark is coming back.
ReplyDeleteHe just strikes me as the kind of kid who won't learn the nitty gritty aspects of the game without a healthy dose of cold, hard humility served.
Dominating the AHL might plug his ears, a la Patrick Roy and his Stanley Cup rings. A coach in the NHL also carries more weight with a cocksure 20-something than a minor league bench boss.
I'm not bullish on the red ox. He looked like a serviceable replacement level 4th liner for a few games last season, then his play deteriorated quickly after that.
ReplyDeleteIIRC, he killed a few penalties with Pisani and the unit looked good enough for people to speculate that he would be the Pis replacement, but that faded quick too.
Am I wrong?
There's 4 or 5 players that could be replaced by OKC players and the Oilers wouldn't be any worse off.
ReplyDeleteTryouts for next years team have already started. Time to give some of these guys a look.
Lord knows we've seen enough of a few of them to know what they're capable of or more accurately not capable of.
4 assists for Omark today in a loss. Buddy's too good for that league.
ReplyDeleteDreger: "Steve Tambellini doing everything within his power to intrigue Peter Chiarelli of the Boston Bruins into considering moving the second pick overall. The latest attempt was made 12-15 minutes ago, when Tambellini and Chiarelli were in conversation one more time. Some of the names being speculated about include Ales Hemsky, Jordan Eberle..."
ReplyDeleteThe pea brains in management need JFJ to succeed otherwise they have nothing to show for laying off Parise with Pouliot gone. A whole lotta bupkus. Which is what we have anyway with JFJ.
ReplyDeleteEvidently the oiler's braintrust (!) thinks the lottery picks this year are all world.
ReplyDeleteThe admin that drafted Jacques is pretty much gone now (Lowe the exception).
ReplyDeleteI think it's a matter of crust. The Oilers feel as though they need some and hope Jacques can play, but that back injury ruined his career.
There was a time when he looked like a player but that was years ago.
LT: Well to be fair, I think a good amount of the posters here, had some good hope for JFJ.
ReplyDeleteChecking back to the threads you also let some light in.
This year tough, there's no excuse.
L.T,
ReplyDeleteCurious why you posted the Dreger thing from last years draft.
After that Dreger talked about v3.0 shopping 13 for a 1st rounder, but getting no bites.
Tambellini gave him the triple hairy eye ball, and Dreger didn't have any more Oiler speculation after that.
Given the pitch for Seguin and the Heatley deal, I don't think v3.0 is scared of the big deal, or any deal. He just won't move until he feels the return is good, and the appearance is inertia.
The thing about Jacques is that the second Stortini showed up, he proved he was a better player. At that point they should have shipped out Jacques. He did absolutely nothing at an elite level and you only need 1 of that type.
ReplyDeleteMismanagement at the bottom of the roster (holding onto too many plugs, not allowing skill to break in and develop there, turfing valuable players (Brodziak, Glencross, etc) has been just as bad as at the top, if not worse.
LT said,
ReplyDelete"Steve Tambellini doing everything within his power to intrigue Peter Chiarelli of the Boston Bruins into considering moving the second pick...
IIRC, that's an old quote prior to the 2010 draft, not recent breaking news?
Re: the Dreger quote. It was absolutely at the draft. I posted it because there seems to be some confusion about what was said. That's the only time I heard it, so passed it along.
ReplyDeleteWithout explanation, which would have been nice. :-)
PLUS it's in the wrong thread. I'm putting the beer back in the fridge.
ReplyDeleteJust fyi, the s at the end of Jacques' name is not pronounced when saying it, even in English, sounds silly....always hear Rishaug, Stauffer saying the S sound. Sorry, my french Acadian side comming out. Oh, also, Leblanc (as in Louis)...the c is not pronounced. Not the language police here..lol...that's next door in la belle Province.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see what Giroux can do in the NHL.
ReplyDeleteGiroux bitched about mgmt in the French newspapers.
ReplyDeleteHe stays in Oklahoma.
Jih-roooks?
ReplyDeleteReddox might be replacement level but at least he has PK in his book of business and with Eberle and Horcoff out, that's likely gonna be required reading.
What pisses me off about the injury rash is the way it limits Tambellini's hand. Who is he going to trade for a pick at the deadline while faced with a dearth of live NHL bodies?
ReplyDeleteSpoiler: We didn't exactly get killed by COL last time.
ReplyDeleteSpoiler,
ReplyDeletedid you refer to me as, "Jih Rooooks?"
Reddox might be replacement level but at least he has PK in his book of business and with Eberle and Horcoff out, that's likely gonna be required reading.
Granted it's a small sample of 9 GP, Reddox was no world-beater on the PK last season at the NHL level.
Reddox might have PK in his book of business, but I hope he's been using hooked on phonics because he had a GAON/60 of 12.68 last year.
That's good for the worst number on the team if you exclude Linglet and Stortini who have toi/60 below 10 seconds.
Just for the sake of completeness, Reddox had a 4v5 GaON/60 of 9.51 the year prior which was the worst amount forwards who had a toi/60 of greater than 10 seconds.
ReplyDeleteSpoiler, what suggest to you that Reddox is an effective PK'er at the NHL level?
Giroux's a pretty one-dimensional scorer. Nothing inherently wrong with that, but it does mean that to be an equivalent option to a multi-dimensional player like Reddox, he'd have to be outscoring him significantly, and he isn't.
ReplyDeleteAs for what he can do in the NHL, he's had 31 games since the lockout, and the answer that's emerging is "not a whole lot". I wouldn't be totally adverse to giving him a try, except that there are better options, both overall and with respect to the Oilers' specific needs.
I didn't get any emails from the team so I imagine this still isn't official?
ReplyDeletedid you refer to me as, "Jih Rooooks?"
ReplyDeleteI think he was anglicizing the living fuck out of "Giroux".
I agree with you completely about Reddox, incidentally. He can do most of what you could reasonably ask an NHL fourth liner to do, and very little of what you could reasonably ask an NHL third liner to do. He could grow into the latter role eventually, though.
Made no such suggestion. Made the point that PK is in his toolkit, it is one of the things that he does, and one of the many many things the guy he is hopefully replacing, JFJ, does not.
ReplyDeleteAnd no... Jih roooks was in response to Jake's comment about Stauffer's mispronunciation of French surnames and then the double referral to Giroux. It was not a reference to you nor am I sure why you would construe it as such.
Hey, what did you call me!
ReplyDeleteAnyone they call up cannot be worse than who they currently have in the bottom 6 (Stortini excluded, since Renney does so much anyways).
Okay everyone, it's not funny anymore. Stopping calling me, Jih Rooooks, already! :P
ReplyDeleteNo decent Oilers trade rumors floating around? I read a really likely one about Zajac coming here... :P
ReplyDeleteReddox is entitled to a look-see. Maybe the sample size works in his favour this time. We're decimated again so likely not, but it's time to have some looks at the organization.
ReplyDeleteAnd you're all a bunch of Jih-rooks by the way.
Jay: Have you heard of Max Pacioretty?
ReplyDelete(JK! JK!)
I sure hope Gingerballs is one of the call ups. Quite frankly, the team could use him... particularly, our bottom six could use him, injuries aside. I think him Jones and Stortini could have some good magic together. But with Eberle out, it doesn't make much sense that Reddox would be his replacement. However, for replacing him, I'm guessing Omark comes back up. Maybe both those guys get called up if Ebs is out.
ReplyDeleteI heard that JFJ is really good in the room and that management is really worried that Strudwick might retire next year.
ReplyDeleteJar Jar Rooooks?
ReplyDeleteI'm all about the numbers, but PK stats drive me up the fricking wall. Especially when we are talking about 10 game samples. There's just no way you can tell anything meaningful about a hockey player's numbers based on ~30 min of situational play. Too much junk going on there to sort out.
(aside: I think entire seasons of PK TOI are extremely noisy too. Besides the percentages, context plays a big role as well - some PKers never see own zone face-offs for example. That's a huge killer on the PK considering the scoring rate baseline and the fact that the draws are harder to win.)
I actually think that management thinks that many of JFJ's problems are 'in his head' and when that's the case, guys get a much longer look than they would if its the body or skillset that doesn't exist. There is the sense that if the guy can just get his confidence or something that they will actually live up to their potential.
ReplyDeleteOften these guys get traded around a bunch of times prior to everyone just giving up on them (O'Sullivan?).
Draws taken on the PK... is that being maintained somewhere around here?
ReplyDeleteI just saw a chart that had Strudwick ranked as the number one Oilers penalty killer, so I imagine someone is gathering PK faceoff and save percentage data, too. You know, just to support and expand on the erroneous mistakes causing mistakes per sixty data...
@ Steve Smith: The fans love to pick one minor league talent each season and bang the drum as hard as possible, hoping beyond hope to forget the rest of the crap team.
ReplyDeleteRyan Potulny one year, Toby effing Peterson another...the list goes on.
Lowetide: Reddox is too good for the AHL but blows at NHL level: ditto Cogliano, Pouliot, Toby effing Peterson, J.F."crazy train Jacques, Brule the list seems endless.
ReplyDeleteWoodguy....good comment.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be foolish NOT to call up Giroux at some point this year, and losing Eberle might be a good enough reason. Giroux was and is a goal-scoring machine in the AHL, and he'll walk next year to some other org if he feels he wasn't given a fair shake. If he gets called up and underperforms for a slate of games, he'll be easier to deal with next year. And the other hand, if he lights the lamp repeatedly for the Oilers, he might carve out a place on the team.
ReplyDeleteDespite the well reasoned and stats heavy comments re:Reddox not being an NHL player, I think it might be wise to see if he can help.
ReplyDeleteThrow Ginger on a wing w/Fraser and Zorg and you might actually have a 4th line.
ReplyDeleteAnd you get someone who might be able to kill a penalty, no small feat for this team.
Not that I'm holding my breath that it happens...and not that I think all the problems are solved. But there are lot's worse things you can do now.
The other lines are a real mess w/Horcoff and Eberle out. MPS draws back in, but where and who else comes up is a question mark.
Meanwhile, JFJ and McIntyre continue to take up space. Why not send JFJ down to see if he can be useful on the farm? He's useless here. He'll have one decent game and 3 invisible games which does not an NHL player make on the 28th team.
Magisterrex,
ReplyDeleteGiroux will be 30 next year. Calling him up for 10 games isn't going to make him happy. He has had that before.
He came to the Oilers system because they are paying him $500,000 to play for OKL - the same amount he would make in the NHL. He will follow the $ next year too.
He is not part of the future so it makes no sense to call him up.
Lowetide said...
ReplyDeleteDespite the well reasoned and stats heavy comments re:Reddox not being an NHL player, I think it might be wise to see if he can help.
Well reasoned? Maybe. I'm feeling charitable today.
Stats heavy? Definitely not. Unless of course the bar is so low that one number is enough for you.
Slipper,
ReplyDeleteJust added some comments to David's piece on PK at Cult of Hockey.
Clears some things up I hope.
He is almost directly attributing on ice PK SV% to PK skill of the player.
Jacques = soggy crust.
ReplyDeleteIf Giroux is called up and starts potting goals, I don't care if he's 30. In fact, it makes more sense to give some kids a little more time getting seasoned in the AHL rather than pushing them right into a league they may not be at all ready for.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, if Giroux shows he's ready, give him a shot. If he shows up for 20-25 goals and costs $500K, what's not to like?
If he shows up for 20-25 goals and costs $500K, what's not to like?
ReplyDeleteHe has 13 goals in 40 games in the AHL but he is going to get 20 for the Oilers in 40 games?
He has 13 goals in 40 games in the AHL but he is going to get 20 for the Oilers in 40 games?
ReplyDeleteI apologize for confusing you. I meant for NEXT season.
There it is, Wood Guy. Good stuff. I think Rivers has a good idea, too: to look at the own zone draws taken on the penalty kill? Those two items could save poor David a whole whack of time.
ReplyDeleteWhere you pulling those percentages from, anyways?
Well, back from my Edmonton trip after catching the flames matchup. What a dissapointment. We had some super seats but the game was pretty horrible to watch. I was amazed at the fact before we got there that the three rookies I wanted to watch for the first time were healthy and were ready to go. I flick on the TV at the hotel when we get into town and the first thing I see is that Paajarvi is a healthy scratch. Damnit.
ReplyDeleteOkay, fine. At least there is Hall and Eberle to watch. Eberle takes a tumble early and is gone for the rest of the game. Great. A least there is Hall? He registered one shot on net. I'm glad I didn't pay for the $200+ tickets.
Some things I noticed...
Tom Gilbert skating gingerly in the warmup. Didn't participate in much of the horseshoe action. He played a fine enough game though, so I guess it can't be that bad of an injury.
Smid wincing in pain and leaving the ice early on a couple of shifts. Hard to say what's wrong with him but he was going to sit out a shift before he gutted it out on the bench and told Kruger he was good to go for the next go around.
JF Jacques is just useless out there. Any skills he did have with the puck he has completely abandonned.
Strudwick and Belle is only a slightly better idea than Strudwick and Chorney.
Renney matched Hemsky and Penner against Iginlas line all night. relatively quiet night from both sides. No secondary scoring is a bitch.
Stortini was outskated once and wasn't seen much afterwards.
Peckham is as fun to watch live as he is on television.
Penner lost a draw in the defensive zone that led to the first goal against. I miss Horcoff.
The amount of ice they scrape off with shovels these days during the game is crazy. I've never seen it so bad.
Bouwmeester was very good that night. Pardy was physical and no one could stand up to him.
The Oilers were bad but I'm still very glad that I'm not a Flames fan. They are also the suck.
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ReplyDeleteTencer Tweet:
ReplyDeletehttp://twitter.com/dantencer
"Eberle hasn't had an MRI yet, but he says the ankle feels great. No more boot cast. He'll sit a couple but it looks like best case scenario."
"He says he feels extremely lucky given how painful it was initially. MRI tomorrow to confirm, but it sounds very optimistic for quick return"
WG,
ReplyDeleteI read your comment on the Staples piece. (I normally don't read Staples.)
You showed the argument he was making about Cogliano and Strudwick was invalid and he basically says "Thanks. That's interesting, but I still want to say what I said and just ignore you."
He should've said, "Okay, yeah. I need more evidence and better evidence if I want to say anything about Cogliano and Strudwick as PK'ers."
Giroux doesn't have the foot speed to get to the scoring positions he needs to be in at the NHL level. He showed as much in the pre-season.
ReplyDeleteAlso the veteran quota in the AHL will come into play with him at some point and he will end up in Switzerland within the next couple of years.
I think it's safe to say that Giroux is at his apex. He's a very good AHL scorer who isn't fast enough to check or score in the NHL. Hence, there is no point in calling him up.
I'll reluctantly admit that I'm a fan of Jacques in part because we share the same surname and we may be related somewhere far down the line.
His physical attributes are impressive and have bought him extra time at the NHL level. He doesn't have near enough nasty in him. He has to do something to get noticed...anything. Take a run at Iginla or one of the Sedins if you're on the ice at the same time by accident.
His time is up and it's too bad because you can see he has the toolbox(although that could be broken given his health the last few years). That potential is what has kept him around. I wouldn't be surprised to see him picked up if he were put on waivers. He needs to stay healthy for awhile to find his game and he needs to do that in the minors.
Slipper,
ReplyDeletePulled from Behind the Net. New interface is a little daunting but you can really customize which stats get shown. I find eliminating what I don't want to see really helps.
Kris,
I'm on my blackberry so I haven't read his response yet (his blog doesn't format well on my blackberry) but thanks for having a look.
I think I was on the right path, no?
kris I think that is an unfair characterisation of Staples' response. He is presenting his counter-argument that by his metric they seem to be limiting chances.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I buy that argument, but I haven't cracked any numbers to figure it out either. It just seems weird to think those two have more of a defensive clue when there is more attackers around them than when they are on equal terms.
Eberle, he even heals better than most guys?:)
ReplyDeleteLet's hope.
Well Swedes got hosed on that icing call, but score on the PP. Lander isn't flashy but he makes a lot of smart plays. 2-1:
ReplyDeleteAnd as soon as I call him smart he takes a holding penalty. Swedes close out the period on the PK, still 2-1.
ReplyDeleteRussians buy off the American lineseman? Broootal.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm an anti-Larsson guy, but other than his goal, he's been invisible this game.
ReplyDeleteI just don't see the hype around him. He doesn't have the subtle impact of Eberle (even when Jordan isn't producing), he isn't dynamic like Tarasenko or Schenn, and he's not a physical presence like Kassian.
Bad: It's tough for 17-year old defensemen to impact this tournament. Larsson is in the young end of the roster(s) and before he does a thing offensively he has to make sure to mind the store.
ReplyDeleteDefensively he's done some nice things imo. I have no idea if it's enough, just that expecting a massive impact on the scoresheet is probably a little behind reasonable.
Wojo: I'd also just point out that he's playing with a groin injury and I'm a little curious as to why you compare him with a list of forwards? Are you sure you're not watching the OTHER Larsson? They have one playing up front as well.
ReplyDeleteIt's not about the offense, it's the little things.
ReplyDeleteOf course, he assists on the game-tying goal right after I post...
But anyway.
I dislike his boardwork. He pokes his stick in rather that muscle with the Russians. He obviously pinches well but his defensive positioning just doesn't seem great, and he seems weak when in front of the net. I know he's 17, but he's also almost 210lbs and at 6'2 he has leverage.
Eberle, he even heals better than most guys?:)
ReplyDeleteLet's hope.
Some are attributing it to young flexible joints and tendons.
I'm attributing it to that fact that he's even clutch at healing.
Moose, would you rather I compare him with Orlov and Ellis?
ReplyDeleteLet me put this another way:
ReplyDeleteCam Fowler was much more impressive to my untrained eye than Adam Larsson, when he played last year.
Larsson (Adam) has made a lot of smart quick plays to my eye. He probably has the best first pass of anyone playing in this game. He's not as quick as I had hoped but he has a long powerful stride and should improve with age.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with Germany and Norway automatically being sent down. They should be allowed to defend their spots against Latvia and Denmark. I know it's probably a logistical issue, but it does no good for the tournament if the two new teams are worse than the two old ones.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying Larsson isn't good.
ReplyDeleteJust not great.
I also don't see anything to validate Nick Lidstrom comparisons or generational talent defenceman claims by so many people.
If we draft third and RNH and Couturier are gone, I understand if we take him. I just hope we give Landeskog a close look as well.
As always, I trust in Big Stu. Despite my confident tone, I know I'm no NHL scout :)
Spoiler, it's a Euro thing.
ReplyDeleteThe way clubs get relegated from the Premier League, with no chance to defend themselves against the up-and-comers from the Championship.
I always want to compare Larsson to Hedman. It's not even close. Hedman looked NHL ready when he was having a bad game.
ReplyDelete23 and 85 officially recalled from OKC.
ReplyDeleteGood luck Powder.
What a thrilling game, the Russians tie it with 90 seconds to go.
ReplyDeleteTencer tweets that Oilers at risk of losing the Ox when he goes down again.
ReplyDeleteI imagine the risk is about the same as losing JFJ or JDD.
Spoiler, it's a Euro thing.
ReplyDeleteThe way clubs get relegated from the Premier League, with no chance to defend themselves against the up-and-comers from the Championship.
According to Gord Miller (TSN play by play) the SEL has the bottom two team from the Elite division play the top two from Div II in a playoff to see who gets to play in the Elite Div the next year.
The SEL is the exception, not the rule.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great way to settle it, however.
I dunno Wojo every time the Russian come down Larsson's side he comes away with the puck.
ReplyDeleteSometimes he makes it look ridiculously easy.
I see the Lidstrom resemblance. Calm, good stick, smooth skater, great passer.
Would be thrilled if he were an Oiler.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Gord Miller (TSN play by play) the SEL has the bottom two team from the Elite division play the top two from Div II in a playoff to see who gets to play in the Elite Div the next year.
That's wrong, it's 4 team(top 3 and place 4-7 that play for the last spot) from Allsvenskan and 2 teams from SEL. So a total 6 teams fighting for 2 spots.
Like I said, I'm not saying Larsson isn't bad - not by a mile.
ReplyDeleteI'm just not sold on him being the top pick. If the Oilers draft for need, I suspect they'll take him or Couturier. If they draft BPA, it's a more open field.
Wow, some serious suckage for Sweden. Lander off the post in shootout.
ReplyDeleteLander looks crushed.
ReplyDeleteBeat the goalie but not the post.
Can't wait until he's an Oiler.
Well crap. Nailed that post though.
ReplyDeleteLander needs to score to keep it going and....hits the post. That top corner was wide open though.
ReplyDeleteWhy is Lander not clutch like Eberle? I don't get it. Did MBS screw up with this one?
ReplyDeleteI think 14 has more clutch in his left ankle than most players do in their whole bodies!
ReplyDeletebookie thingy!!
ReplyDeleteFrack. Poor Lander. Damn, someone go over there.
ReplyDeleteDefenseman are just so hard to judge at 17 or 18. Not as hard as goalies, but still hard. That gives Landeskog some edge over Larsson. But then again a top-notch D-man has more value than a top-notch forward. So that bumps up Larsson's value. Tough call, but "in Stu we trust."
ReplyDelete---
Bar Qu,
I realize I was being a bit snarky in the tone of my characterization of Staples' response to WG. My bad. But in terms of content, Staples is simply ignoring the fact that WG has shown Staples' pro-Cogs-pro-Struds on the PK evidence to be worthless. If Staples thinks the evidence looks good from his perspective, that's a problem for his perspective.
Would be a little sweet for Coach Cameron if Canada wins gold against the team that beat Sweden out.
ReplyDeleteBad Mojo,
ReplyDeleteI would be careful about painting most of Europe with the Premiership brush.
Also... when you think about it, the comparison is not that valid; after all, you're comparing Professional European Football to Junior Hockey, and even more importantly a once a year tournament to a full season. The League teams have earned the right to go up or down on the virtue of 40 games... without a one game playoff increasing the luck factor.
"...it's a European thing" isn't really s valid excuse or sufficient explanation for why it is the way it is with the IIHF. Besides most here are aware of the FA's custom of relegation and promotion.
My mistake, then.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I was aware, most of the European leagues operated like the EPL. I know that's the case in Poland, from my own experience there.
I'm also not defending the IIHF system. Just saying that seems to be the European style.
Sweden had 3 goals. Larsson had a goal and two assists.
ReplyDeleteTo use the argument from Eberle's World Championships last season, 'What's he gotta do?'
Definitely 'Saw him good territory' but quietly dominant - hence the Lidstrom comparisons.
Re-phrasing my point from yesterday, I am pretty sure that the forwards at the top of this years draft are not the dominant studs that one hopes for from a #1OV. 'Cause he's a D Larsson may still be. Even though he' old for his draft class, he is younger than all of players in this tournament that are already drafted
If we win #1 OV can we pick Erixson from the Flames stable? He has been awesome by my eye.
Swing away Stu.
Bob says...
ReplyDeleteOiler brass - Tambellini, Lowe and scouts - were one row below us watching Larsson in a dominant performance for SWE.
Not a bad start if you're an Oiler fan.
ReplyDelete