An account of the story behind those standings is available here, but it would take forever to explain it completely. Montreal would turn things around the following season and win the Stanley in 1971, due to Boston's overconfidence and a big man named Dryden.
I was never a Habs fan, but always liked their blueline as a kid. Serge Savard had lost his speed and played safety net for Larry Robinson, and Guy Lapointe arrived complete. Jacques Laperriere used to skate like he was slipping on a banana peel but it worked, and JC Tremblay was supremely skilled. I can't ever remember them fondly, because Orr was my hero.
But the Habs blue from 1971 spring through the end of the decade was insane. INSANE.
--
Based on latest reports, Barker is in (Teubert likely drawing out) and Hemsky could play. If 83 draws in, one of the forwards mentioned as a possible HS is Paajarvi. Talk of a "sophomore slump" showed up in a Joanne Ireland column in the last news cycle but I really don't think it should be a huge worry. Sure, Paajarvi is not posting huge numbers but then again no one in the bottom six is killing it yet. Leave MP with Gagner for a few games and good things will happen. Here is the 5x5/60 offense Magnum PS this and last year:
- 10-11: 1.36 in 13.25 a night (Desjardins)
- 11-12: .42 in 11.08 a night (Desjardins)
So, he's two EV points off the pace. I'm no math God, but it seems to me that luck is at least somewhat in play here and things will even out. Paajarvi has used his speed in driving to the net and at least one defenseman took a penalty on one of his sorties. If they HS him it won't be the end of the world, but I don't think he's close to being the right guy to sit (see Eager, Ben).
--
I don't think the Oilers have a snowball's chance in a hot place of winning tonight. Jacques Martin's 109th life kicked in awhile back and things seem to be on track despite a defense thrown together with binder twine and Elmer's glue. The Oilers aren't as good as their record, and the market correction should be provided on this road trip.
Things we can look for are the outstanding play of Ryan Smyth and Tom Gilbert. Nikolai Khabibulin's SP and GAA are extremely unlikely to have sustain and the Kid Line are a different animal on the road.
It's a journey.
Lowetide- Is it that Oiler fans have losing ingrained in their culture (you could extend this to Eskimo fans also) but it seems people just expect this team to lose.
ReplyDeleteThis team (right now) is a hard working team that is winning based on solid system play and we have seen many a team with less talent beat better teams in many different sports on a regular basis. The Predators are a prime example of this every year and I would also say the 2006 play off edition of the Oilers.
Even I have troubles believing this will continue and I am trying to figure out at what stage will I believe they are for real.
And to think the Habs owned the hockey gods and dictated which way the lucky bounce went.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a silly weekend to end the season. That idea of an expansion division, although sounding like a good thing was plain silly and a huge advantage to the weak sisters.
LT posting that the Oilers will lose has more to do with sports superstition that anything else. THere's a tread around here that expecting to lose is the best plan, because either:
ReplyDeletea - You're right
b - You're pleasantly surprised to be wrong
Managing expectations is a huge part of the psychological experiment that is the Oilers fanbase. And LT knows his audience very, very well.
THere's no way that MP should be scratched. His play has been fairly good, even if the results haven't been there. I'd much rather see Jones sit if Hemsky is back in the fold, esp. since he's been beaten around a little bit.
It's really easy to see that MP could do a lot more with players that can keep up with him. Gagner and Belanger are not those players.
There has been talk of putting Hemsky on the 3rd line to get that line going but on the Team this morning they mentioned moving Jones down to that line and this may not be too bad a plan.
ReplyDeleteWhat he lacks in talent he makes up for in drive and perhaps having him on that line getting in front of the net may give MP some more room to move and then you double shift Hemsky on occasion to change the look a little bit.
moving Jones down to that line and this may not be too bad a plan.
ReplyDeleteWhat he lacks in talent he makes up for in drive and perhaps having him on that line getting in front of the net may give MP some more room to move
The problem with that is playing with Jones killed MP last year. I don't see it working any better this year when luck is working against him too. Someone in an earlier thread mentioned moving Belanger down with Eager and Jones (misfit, I believe) and giving the 4th a chance to kill it, and then have 3 lines who can play. This is probably the best use of Jones - 5-10 hard working minutes a night, with likely some good bounces going in for him. It seems to be working for Calgary and Jackman, and I think that is a good template for the Oil's 4th.
mintea - no thanks, I'd prefer Earl Grey
Ha! That finish to the 1969-70 season remains by far the wildest I've ever seen, unforgettable stuff. Rangers pulling their goalie with a 9-3 lead; Habs pulling their own goalie for ten minutes.
ReplyDeleteChicago had to win that game to clinch first place and the Prince of Wales Trophy, and needless to say there were a lot of years worth of hatred of the Habs that led to them running up the score. I listened to that game on the radio and the crowd was just going nuts, clinching first, kicking the shit out of the Habs and eliminating them from the dance all in one swell foop. With each empty netter the roar just kept getting louder.
I had totally forgotten there was a tie-breaker in the other conference, which I didn't follow near as closely. The East was still the Original Six, and at least one and usually two eastern teams were featured in every broadcast. Check out the goal differential between the tied teams though and it's obvious the worse club got the tie-break. Still and all, 17 wins shouldn't get you in either.
Montreal fans were very upset that their squad had 34 (!) more points than a western team that got in. This was the catalyst for realignment; Chicago moved to the West while incoming expansion clubs Buffalo and Vancouver moved into the eastern conference. Van City in the east - just the first of many wonky alignments in the NHL in subsequent years.
And of course the Habs got their ultimate revenge in Chicago Stadium, stealing Game 7 of the SCF 3-2 in that barn the very next season.
I don't get taking Teubert out instead of Peckham. 33 seems to be doing what 24 is supposed to be doing (but isn't).
ReplyDeleteI'll be at the Bell Centre in Blue and Orange and I'm jacked! I don't know if they'll win, but I think that if last year's Oilers could pull off a win (thanks DP!) then we can do it this year. Just excited to finally see Hall, Eberle, RNH, and Paajarvi not through a screen. The best Oiler's teams since I was old enough to remember have been underdogs, so I'm happy to be cheering against 'probability.' Goilers!
ReplyDelete@Lowetide: I think you somewhat understimate the Oilers. Maybe it's about playing a lot at home and fully leveraging home ice advantage with manic line and zone matching by Renney and small sample size, but they don't look that bad.
ReplyDeleteEyeballing behindthenet and timeonice, the Oilers:
- 18th at generating shots at 5v4 (habs 3rd) so that isn't terrible.
- 4th at preventing shots at 4v5, which is terrific (habs are 1st!)
- Timeonice tells me that, with the score tied, they stand at 45,5% corsi, but 49,2 Fenwick, which means they aren't far from breaking even overall at ES with the score tied. They do have a 1027 PDO with the score tied tough, mostly riding a .959 save %. (habs stands at 52,3% Corsi, 52,5 Fenwick, 996 PDO at ES with score tied).
So yeah, they look kinda outmatched on paper, but the habs 4th line is horrendous, Kostitsyn and Gomez are out tonight (which means a fairly feeble 3rd line) and they'll play Weber (their 6th D) at forward, wich means that after Subban/Gorges the D won't look good.
With Hemsky in there, I think this ain't a walk in the park for the Habs. My hopes mainly stand on Cole and Pacioretty going firewagon on EDM's D.
P.S. What about Seguin so far this year (13gp 8-7-15 +11)? When do we start to wonder if the best player at the draft June 2010 won't be the best overall player down the road?
ReplyDeleteWith apologies to LT, E at Theory of Ice absolutely crushed the game preview today.
ReplyDelete"...Five years ago, they rose within a breath of the Stanley Cup, only to be thrown back on the brink of victory by a Hurricane from the East. Defeated, they slunk back to their bleak tundra, bloodied and battered. There, they lurked in darkness at the very bottom of the League, eking out a few meager points by occasionally raiding the other vulnerable teams in their division. Occasionally a broken, terrified defensemen would be picked up fleeing south, half-mad with despair, but otherwise little was heard of them for many years, save in June when they would emerge briefly to kidnap any young men from the surrounding junior teams high-ranked and slow-witted enough to fall into their clutches. Many thought they were gone forever.
But now they have returned, bursting forth from the frigid wilderness like a swarm of flesh-flies from a fetid wound, ravaging the West with their maniacal child-army. They have clubbed Penguins, pillaged Capitals, vanquished Kings. They have taken over the standings in one quick, savage burst, silencing their doubters and mocking their detractors. Still, questions remain: Are they strong enough to achieve victory on foreign soil? Are they virtuous enough to keep the goodwill of the hockey Gods? Is it possible to go to the playoffs with a team incapable facial hair? And who, I ask you who, has the cojones to look these brutes in the eyes and make them regress?
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, the team so talented they have Swedes to spare, the ape-men of Alberta, the terrors of the tar sands, the franchise with the most to prove and the least to lose, our not wholly welcome guests, the EDMONTON OILERS!..."
http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2011/11/humble-game-preview.html
That gal knows how to write.
ReplyDelete@Brendan - Yesterday I was wondering how the Oilers would look if we choose Seguin instead of Hall and then Landeskog this year or Seguin and RNH down the center?
ReplyDeleteI still personally think Hall was the better choice, but thats just by eye.
TSN article claims Hemsky is in...though we know how accurate those can be.
ReplyDeleteMark Spector Sports
ReplyDeleteSportsnetSpec Mark Spector Sports
Hemsky in for #oilers, on line with Horcoff and Smyth. Paajarvi will be a healthy scratch. Barker in on defence.
3 minutes ago
When do we start to wonder if the best player at the draft June 2010 won't be the best
ReplyDeleteWhen they are 24 and closed to Growed.
Olivier: I think Gomez' trump his numbers by being the worst shooter in the entire NHL.
ReplyDeleteI require legal advice.
I'm thinking about suing my university. (Or Cegep in this case).
Basically, I'm supposed to follow a course in the highest level of english possible out of 4. That course is taken in consideration when seeking english-speaking universities scholarships, such as Mcgill. It would be possible they scrap the course for the next semester which would either:
A: Force me to take a summer course
B: Force me to study another session
C: Take a lower level of english and lower my credits
So based on that, could i sue them for lost of time/income/money?
So Ryan Jones to the 3rd line I assume. And any chance of gagner getting offense if officially over.
ReplyDeleteSo based on that, could i sue them for lost of time/income/money?
ReplyDeleteDoubtful, unless they somehow represented that the course would be available each and every semester.
Is my twitter feed on crack, or are the Barons really playing right now?
ReplyDeleteYea, a 10:30AM game this morning. Whaa...?
"I'm feeling good, excited. The shoulder's feeling great. I'm playing with Smytty and Horc." - Hemsky
ReplyDeleteGregor tweets 89-20-28 new combo as well.
Ryan Smyth - Shawn Horcoff - Ales Hemsky
ReplyDeleteRyan Jones - Eric Belanger - Sam Gagner
Taylor Hall - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle
Ben Eager - Anton Lander - Lennart Petrell
Ladislav Smid - Tom Gilbert
Cam Barker - Corey Potter
Theo Peckham - Jeff Petry
Nikolai Khabibulin
as per Joanne Ireland
Schitzo: Well it's a basic course (AKA every student in the college has to pass it, and you don't decide which level you take)
ReplyDelete@FPV: Re: Gomez trumping his numbers bc sh%...
ReplyDeleteThat is, at best, laughable. Gomez had crappy on-ice shooting% last year and now everyone and their aunt in montreal has bought the notion that Gomez sucks because he's not a good goal scorer.
I must say, that trope sure puts a dent in any argument about MTL fans being 'knowledgable'.
Olivier: No. That's not what I meant.
ReplyDeleteI think this is caused by the fact Gomez is so predictable on the ice it really narrows the chances for his teammates. People give him the shot because he shoots 5,5% (last 6 years) and his teammates get covered the hell out of them.
I generally agree to the stats. I use it every time.
But I'm not convinced on Gomez. I know it's stupid but watching the games, you just come to think defenders really don't give a $(")"$ if he shoots, so they take away the passing options.
In town for the tilt here tonight. Looking forward to it. Great atmosphere in le Centre Bell at these games. Thank you Hemmer for picking this game to make your return.
ReplyDeleteCircumstances beyond a buddy of mine's control left me with an extra ticket (section 303 first row...pretty good seat overall)..will let it go for pretty cheap if any OILER fan
in (or will be in) Montreal reading this wants it. (Hope it's ok Lowetide I "advertised" this ticket here..if not just delete it)
I somehow get the feeling that the 3rd line's gonna be an offensive sinkhole all season; kids will run wild at least at home and the 10 line's gonna be good wherever but one of the storylines will be trying to get something from 20, 89 and 91 and the bad news is that three of them together haven't gelled so where do you go from there?
ReplyDeleteEarly on it reminds me how current Hab Erik Cole - see what I did there;) - couldn't get comfortable in Edm.
Olivier: Holy. Didn't think it was THAT low.
ReplyDeleteMy bad. Even in the conditions i named It's still very shitty luck.
Dennis: we need to have belanger as a tough minutes 4th liner. GIve him JOnes and Petrell, then run Gagner with a combo of the 3 swedes. Especially at home where you can protect them a bit.
ReplyDeleteDennis,
ReplyDeleteI recall Cole starting to get into a rythm once with Gagner sometime before the trade deadline, then he was dealt. But yeah, until that point, the fit didn't seem to be there.
i think it is silly that Eager is starting ahead of Paajarvi on the 4th line.
ReplyDeletewilling to give Renney the benefit of the doubt though.
Brendan said...P.S. What about Seguin so far this year (13gp 8-7-15 +11)? When do we start to wonder if the best player at the draft June 2010 won't be the best overall player down the road?
ReplyDeleteTwo days ago
Cam Barker - Corey Potter
ReplyDeleteThis will not end well.
Ryan Jones - Eric Belanger - Sam Gagner
ReplyDeleteBah!
Renney talked a lot about having 3 scoring lines, but he's doesn't seem to be in a hurry to prove it.
Also,
I wonder if Hemsky feels differently about heavy lifting than he did when MacT asked him to do it.
I get why some want to put Hemsky with 10 and 94, but its a relief to the opposition coaches who have sweet fuck all to worry about when 93's line or 10's line isn't on the ice.
With that being said, watch 89 have a two point night.
Doubt it though.
Not sure where my tickets are for tonight. Lower bowl 3rd row or so.
Gonna be fun to watch a game at the Bell Center.
Go Oilers!
Paajarvi probably sits against Montreal and Boston, and plays vs. Detroit instead of Eager.
ReplyDeleteRyan Jones is at his high point as an Oiler right now.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletekinger; by not ending well, do you mean the defensive pairing results or the mangling of Cam Potter and Corey Barker that will be inevitable?
ReplyDeleteI suggest it will happen by the 15 minute mark of the first period. The mangling, I mean.
hah, verification is squessu - as in what you say when somebody belches at the dinner table.
JAKE70! JAKE70!
ReplyDeleteI am a good old Edmonton boy doin my schoolin in mtl.
OILER fan through and through ever since my granddad took me to my first game at the coliseum in 1990.
do you still have that ticket? and what would you like for this ticket?
If it's spoken for, enjoy the game!
email me if you like:
christopher.jordansimon@gmail.com
While I don't think any of Eager, Petrell or Jones have played particularly poorly...Paajarvi shouldn't be HS'd behind any of those three.
ReplyDeleteI expect this is going to be a one game thing. I'm hoping to see Paajarvi-Lander-Gagner and Jones-Belanger-Petrell, such that we're sending out an offensive line, a two-way power vs. power line, a two-way-line-in-training (TWLIT? That sounds dirty...) and a fourth line that can check, grind and kill penalties.
Right now, however, the bottom six doesn't make a lot of sense.
Oveschi: cousin of Alex Ovechkin and Sven Bartschi.
So that's how the Blues kept getting the the Stanley Cup finals.
ReplyDeleteLight sweet crude....email sent.
ReplyDelete(thanks LT for allowing the extra ticket post to stay......need as many Oiler sweaters in the stands as possible ;) )
Bruce, did you notice the new line in E's banner today too?
ReplyDeleteAnd BDHS with Vlad yesterday I was about peeing my pants (reading it at work of course). It's a regular Trifecta this week.
I'd switch MP for Eager too, but it won't do him a lick of harm to watch one, either. There's a lot of meat left on the bone yet this month and he'll get his sorties.
Thanks Jake!!
ReplyDeleteand LT for facilitating this. What a Wonderful WORLD!
GOILERS!
The time has come to realize that Renney's irrational fascination with roles is costing this team
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty incredible that the Oilers could add Hemsky to their lineup and field a team that might be worse than it was before.
The solution is so simple. Play Gagner at center and play him with good hockey players. Put Belanger/Jones/Petrell/Eager together and play them as much as you like in defensive situations.
That would give you four good lines that could be used depending on particular circumstances. Instead Renney has two good lines and two bad lines.
I've got Hemmer down for a Peter Foresburg Hatrick.
ReplyDeleteA goal, an assist and a debilitating injury.
Captain Obvious: I don't think Eager is a "real" defensive player, though. He takes too many bad penalties. He's the guy that turns a 5 on 4 to a 5 on 3. I think of him more of as a 5 on 5 banger, so he gets limited ice time.
ReplyDeleteMatt.N: ouch. That made me laugh but please no. Let's not let that be true...
ReplyDeleteAles Hemsky - The peter forsberg of the Czech Republic?
ReplyDeleteLOL
H-Bomb,
ReplyDeleteFor better or worse, I think we have to get used to the idea that Renney likes to have utility guys, PK guys and tough guys on the 4th line. (I think that's how he did things with the Rags, too.) Lander fits, I think, because he can PK. Petrell and Hordichuk and Eager will also fight for 4th line work. (Maybe even O'marra and VDV, but not Omark, MPS, or Gagner.) This isn't so dumb either. Adding 4th liners who do better at ES doesn't help win as much as having good PK'ers. Tough guys are another story, but most teams seem to think they need one.
Anyway, Renney's utility-use of the 4th line means, when the lineup is healthy, we'll have Hall,RNH,Hemsky,Eberle, and Horc as the top 6. And all of the following will compete to be Belanger's wingers on the third line:
MPS, Omark, Gagner, Hartikainen, Jones. (Hartikainen looks ready, IMO.)
That's 5 guys for 2 spots. And that spells "crowded." (Of course, injuries will make the crowding less severe, but not non-existent)
Personally, I think Jones is the worst of those guys (should be waived) but he and Gagner have an edge in that it's harder to send them down to OKC.
But a healthy team means a lot of HS'es and time in OKC for those 5 guys. We better get used to it.
I think Renney is using that crowding to create a sense of competition for spots and ice-time. I don't like it or agree with it, but I understand the goal of it. It creates a desire to accept coaching, play in the system, and removes a sense of entitlement, etc.
Jones has scored, and he seems to have learned PK'ing duties a bit. So he gets a spot for now. Gagner has accepted a move to RW and has recovered from injury. Right now, they're being rewarded. If Renney is fair, he'll give MPS and Omark (and Hart.) another chance. If they'd produced at a rate more in line with their shots and chances, Gagner or Jones likely would've got the HS.
IMO, anyway.
I'm going to disagree with you LT. Oilers get a big win powered by a hat-trick by Hall, and me at the game cheering my ass off
ReplyDeleteAgreeing that we keep the kids line together, you could also go:
ReplyDelete91-10-83
94-20-89
28-57-37/55
A guy like 94 has to be the easiest fellow in the world to play off: he's first to the puck; hangs out behind and in front of the net. I bet him and 20 could gel as well.
anyway, there's no real way to fuck this up if 83's healthy. Renney today admitted that 91 hasn't always gotten the best linemates but that might change so eventually he'll get a push with better teammates.
If we accept that the 94-10 duo works and the kids are good out of the box then the biggest storylines left all have to do with what the hell they have to do to get a third line going.
one other note and that is I'll be watching 44 closely tonight. He had a bad game in Phx so let's see if that's regression to the mean or just a blip. If he looks real and Oil can sign him as a top four D on the cheap then that means they could afford to give 83 five mill on a two or three year deal.
Kris, I think you are exactly right. But that doesn't change the fact that what Renney is doing is stupid and counterproductive. He is intentionally icing a team that is worse than it should be.
ReplyDeleteRenney is doing thinks that are stupid and counterproductive.
ReplyDeleteWon-loss record: 8-3-2
PK ~ 4th in league.
GA - best in league
pp - just out of the top ten, better than the Hemsky-Pronger PP.
line-matching mode: fully ON
More stupid and counterproductive please.
The Forsberg line isn't mine, but I can't remember where I got it from.
ReplyDeleteIf the Oilers went 82-0 this season, there'd still be a chorus yapping on about how stupid and counter-productive the coach is being.
ReplyDeleteLeave it to the Finns to best express the current Edmonton Oiler's success in most people's minds:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irLsjBDPe5c
Are they for real, indeed.
So Ryan Jones to the 3rd line I assume. And any chance of gagner getting offense if officially over.
ReplyDeleteBoxcars 2011-12
Jones 13 GP, 2-3-5, +2
Gagner-Belanger-Paajarvi-Omark combined 38 GP, 0-4-4, -2
Kris: I assume "Jones should be waived" is just your (low) opinion of the player as opposed to anything that you think will/should actually happen. They signed him for a reason, even as many in these parts don't happen to agree with it. People don't get waived a month into a two-year contract, it's useless to think about it. He's part of the team, so where does he fit?
ReplyDeleteMe? I'd lump him in with the fourth line utility guys you mention, as opposed to the "third line or off the team" manifesto. In addition to at least earning consideration for top nine duties, Jones would be absolutely fine in a group with Belanger (arguably), Lander, Petrell, Eager and Hordichuk . Wouldn't be the worst player in the group, either. For sure he fits the bill of utility player, including PK. Plays both wings, too.
Bruce: The fairer thing would be to put Gagner up with Smyth-Horcoff for 10 games and then compare.
ReplyDeleteI don't know, something tells me he'd have some crooked numbers. :-)
Mattias Ritola has refused to report to the AHL after being sent down by TBAY.
ReplyDeleteHe is on waivers. He will go back to Europe if he clears.
Its interesting as some here thought the Oilers should claim him last year when he was on waivers from DET.
Also, its a possible example of what may happen with Omark.
Bruce,
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's what I'd like, not what I expect: his past play at ES is horrible and he costs too much. We'll agree to disagree, same as with Stortini.
I do agree that Jones would be better on the 4th than in the top 9, but the Oilers seem to want to play him hard at ES.
Do you prefer Jones to MPS, Gager, Omark, and Hartkainen?
ReplyDeleteNo, no, no, no. NO.
ReplyDeleteI think Bruce will say yes somewhere there. If not, Jones needs to go.
ReplyDelete10th Row (row D) just inside the blue that the Oilers defend twice.
ReplyDeleteSweet!
Gonna be interesting. Montreal's results are finally coming after winning the percentages battle, while the Oilers might regress a bit to theirs.
A 3rd line with some pepper will help.
Hopefully Bruce's boy Jones can bring some O to 89 and 20.
LT: Obviously that's not possible. There are benefits to playing with top-drawer players even as they come with very tough assignments that are primarily defence-first.
ReplyDeleteThe third line meanwhile has taken on second or third toughs. It is chockablock with 35 point guys, it's not like Gagner (to use your example) is being forced to play with Eager and Petrell. Given that group's lack of production, I think it's ludicrous to say that "there goes the offence" just because Jones was inserted. What offence? It just struck me as a cheap shot that could be easily countered with the most basic of numbers, which I did.
Honestly, the hate for that guy around here baffles me. He has his shortcomings, but he's far from useless.
As for his "horrible" past play at even strength, surely it deserves mention that he led the Oilers in even-strength goal scoring last year. I'd prefer to put both in the past and monitor his present play at even strength. And his present play on the PK while we're at it. He too is still a developing NHL player with <200 GP. Yet people seem to assume the guy we saw last year in his first full season was somehow a finished product.
Woodguy: He is NOT my boy. I just refuse to participate in the bullying. :)
ReplyDeleteKris: No, no, no, no. None of the above, at least long term. But his role is different from all of theirs.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if you asked Tom Renney those questions, you might get a yes or two.
One more and I'm out:
ReplyDeleteAll you folks who are attending the game live tonight, I would dearly love to read a post-game post of your experiences and impressions.
Enjoy the game!!
I will be shocked of #83 makes it to the 60 min mark without getting injured.
ReplyDeleteJones had 17 ES goals after shooting 14%. (Injury depleted squad.) Brule had 15 ES goals the previous year with a similiar percentage to finish second on the team.
ReplyDeleteThe Brule example is one of may that shows that ES goal scoring totals without context can be an extremely unreliable indicator of quality of play at ES and are not very projectable going forward. (This is especially true when average forwards shoot at high rates like 14%.)
Jones also had a worse RelCorsi than J.F. Jacques last year.
I'm sure Bruce knows this. (We don't nee to here the reply that goals are more important than Corsi numbers. That's a red herring.)
I'll stop now. I respect Bruce's opinion and will be interested to see how Jones fairs going forward.
My speling has gone to ppoop.
ReplyDeleteI think Horc and Smuth will play better with Hemsky. Jones was missing crasy almost tap in passes from those two Hemsky wouldn't have missed.
ReplyDeleteI also think Jones might be what Belanger might need as a winger. Simple game might help each other.
Anyone have a link?
ReplyDeleteBruce: I'm not dissing Jones, but said (and believe) that if Gagner had the same run with Smyth-Horc he could be counted on to post numbers.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a hater. LOVE Jones. I just believed the Oilers when they talked about "3 lines who could score" but then they sent Omark to a Turkish prison and have HS'd a 15 goal man from a year ago.
Maybe they'll bring back Laraque?
I like to think of OKC as more of a Cyprian prison. Also wish they'd keep Hemsky out a bit longer and give Omark a go.
ReplyDeleteI don't think either of 28 or 55 should have the term or cash that they're hauling down
ReplyDeleteANyone have a decent feed. The NHL, in their infinite wisdom thinks I should attend the game 1000 miles away in Montreal (from Halifax) so they've blacked it out. I guess the $249 for NHL Centre Ice isn't enough. Fucking ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteGame link (certified works for me):
ReplyDeletehttp://myp2p.cm/live.php?v=event_id%3D69608%26tid%3D220028%26channel%3D0%26layout%3Dpopup%26Itemid%3D327.html
MPS sitting is perhaps a message of solidarity to our Siberian Omark: don't bolt yet.
ReplyDeleteI think Renney would be fine with cutting Jones loose if he were certain he could maintain the current level of hard plays on scoring chances without him.
He's challenging MPS to wrestle some of those minutes away. What MPS is presently doing is fine, but he's not pushing the pace and forcing the other team to react. Hall and Hemsky go out there and make the other team a little bit crazy, then MPS jumps onto the ice and the other guys relax and regroup. Every line needs to contribute to the suffocating feeling.
When Hall jumps back onto the ice, you want the other team thinking "wasn't he just up to bat ten pitches ago?" You want the other team so caught up in clawing for inches that when the bell rings, they have to ask the man in the corner "was that the bell to sit down or stand up again?"
If MPS can pull the rope-a-dope lull-you-to-sleep routine, that's fabulous. But he needs to learn how to wake up in the eighth round and deliver the lethal knock-out blow.
Coach's message: More scars, please.
I said before that it's not the role of the coach to be a supplemental GM. It's also not the role of the coach to actually win the hockey game. The players have to do that out on the ice.
While we enjoy the RNH, Hemmer, Gagner, Omark skill jam, Renney is going to roll crust on the fourth line. If you pack a line up full of skittles, they will collectively fall into the mode of a perimeter skill attack knowing they can't win the physical game if that's what they get dragged into. A team like that would get bent over the barrel in a Boston minute in post-season play.
There's something to be said for turning your back on the regular season W of the fragile variety while you're building your foundation.
(steps off soap box)
(steps onto ramparts)
ReplyDeleteI think if Khabi pulls off his best impersonation of Patrick Roy for two periods, the fragile hockey psyches in Montreal will explode in the 3rd period. Even a passable imitation of Mike Vernon might do the trick, but be sure to burn the evil mojo after the game.
After their cup win, the Flames would not win another playoff series for 15 years.
The thing about Montreal is that they don't bend easy, but when they break, they break like a chandelier ballroom from the Bourne Identity.
My appt building in Montreal had a night watchman with a little black and white under the desk. If the other team intercepted a pass, you could have walked eight gorillas through the lobby without him noticing a thing. You could spend a month in old Montreal and not get the essence of Gallic extremes emanating from that nerve bundle of heartache balled up behind the corner desk while you rang the elevator. The only thing even that even came close to conveying the intensity of the Gallic essence was the napalm joual coming up from the elevator pit if the elevator itself didn't arrive.
As translated by Cervantes
Incidentally, contractors piled dirt over the underground parkade during a landscaping exercise causing it to shear off the rest of the structure. From the fourteenth floor I felt a rumble as if one of the city buses charging down Dr Penfield had jumped its tracks. Then there were sirens from all directions. I descended in the elevator (probably a bad idea) and disembarked at the bottom level of the packade which was my usual exit to the street on the lower side of the building. There were three layers of cars blocking my path, half of them with the car alarms still ringing. During the day, the parkade was run as a pay parking lot with an attendant in a little glass booth overseeing the complex operation. He was the only guy who had to scamper out when it came down, so no lives were lost. He was about as nimble as Gimli with a bad case of rickets, but I think he found sixth gear for one brief moment.
Good call. I was yellin.
ReplyDeleteJones is turning out to be what they feared Glencross was going to be. Jones can't carry Glencross' jockstrap!
ReplyDeleteCam Barker's stride isn't pourous. It isn't leaky. It is a massive gravity well of energy efficiency.
ReplyDeleteBarker is so fucking slow. yuck.
ReplyDeleteThere's one for the Barker haters. He didn't disappoint.
ReplyDeleteVery lazy penalty by 13.
ReplyDeleteNever started moving his feet at all on that play.
Terrible.
Is Barker the worst, non-goon skater in the NHL?
ReplyDeletewe need this break.
ReplyDeleteDo they still have lap dances in Montreal?
ReplyDeleteNHL Gamecenter saying Montreal has 2 shots on goal so far. Somebody should tell Khabbi to quite working so hard: apparently those are just phantom pucks he's stopping.
ReplyDeleteIt's Montreal. They probably have face dances!
ReplyDeleteHe was dead slow on the back check leading to the Gagner penalty too.
ReplyDeleteLack of Confidence is not Barker's disease, it's a symptom of the disease.
Belanger got to re-try the stickbreaker set-up with better results.
ReplyDeleteGagner = Rally Killer
ReplyDeleteLol. Where were you on the plays where he didn't kill the rally?
ReplyDeleteAles Hemsky, rally killer
ReplyDeleteHemsky was favoring is left leg (ankle?) When he skated across the ice after the period ended.
ReplyDeleteKris: Of course I know that. I also know it's a results-oriented business.
ReplyDeleteJust because I cite reasons that decisions get made doesn't mean I necessarily agree with those decisions, but I'm prepared to live with (most of) them.
Letestu to CBJ. I'm already leading my hockey draft. If I get Crosby back this early, I should have it won by Xmas.
ReplyDeleteAnother poor period by Gagner.
ReplyDeleteSame first period from the Oilers as they gave in PHX. Habs did less with it, but there's chaos in all three zones and curious decisions all over.
ReplyDeleteBelanger had a dandy chance after a Hemsky pass but broke his stick. Bad luck? To be sure. But I do wonder why Belanger is on the 2nd PP.
Wouldn't Omark be a better option? If only there was a way....
You need someone on the PP to win the face-off. Hence Horcoff on PP1 on Belanger on PP2.
ReplyDeleteMain concourse at Bell Center as narrow as Rexall, but had food lines bisecting the crowd.
ReplyDeleteMakes Rexall between periods seem roomy.
Face offs is exactly the reason Belanger is on the 2nd PP. And he got an exact repeat of the stickbreaker from the slot you mention LT, on the next PP and fired a decent one timer.
ReplyDeleteGodot10,
ReplyDelete89 is taking draws on PP2, not 20.
13 is never in hurry to do anything, just moseys everywhere.
Deciding what to order in a restraunt with him and v3.2 would be torture.
The Left D have been burnt 3 times on almost identical plays. It wasn't just Barker
ReplyDeleteThey're flat footed and are underestimating Montreal's speed.
Hopefully Hemsky only needs one period to get his mojo back.
Scary period - should be 2-0.
Yah - I don't get Belanger on the PP. I thought he was a better skater with quicker hands than he's shown so far.
Barker's slow, but Smid was beaten clean by Gionta and only an hauling ass 93 saved 5.
ReplyDeleteChrist!
ReplyDeleteJones is all about making the smart play.
ReplyDeleteHemsky has been ragdolled/ crunched almost every shift. I don't like his odds of playing more than a few periods at this rate.
ReplyDeleteThe Jones-Belanger-Gagner line is useless. So useless...
ReplyDeleteWoodguy
ReplyDeleteBelanger won the very first FO draw taken by Edmonton. Gagner took won on the 2nd and lost to Cammalleri a non FO guy, IIRC.
Took one. Freudian something.
ReplyDeleteFourth line doing what they're supposed to.
ReplyDeleteThrow some hit and bring some passion. The rest of the guys look flat
Jonesy!!!
ReplyDeleteNow THAT was a great play by Jones. Wonderful.
ReplyDelete28!
ReplyDeleteShorty!
Shouldn't someone be complaining about Jones?
ReplyDeleteYou Love"em, You Don't: Ryan Jones
ReplyDeleteWhat were we saying about Jones?
ReplyDeleteDid you see Plekanec dive on that play? What a piece of crap...
ReplyDeleteJones.
ReplyDeleteThe bum.
I doubt he would have scored if Woodguy hadn't been at the game, lol.
ReplyDeleteI really wish they'd trade Hemsky and give the top unit time to someone who can actually learn. He has more experience than when he was a rookie, but it's shocking how little his hockey sense has developed. Too bad other teams have a realistic sense of his value rather than an Oilers fan sense of his value.
ReplyDeleteThe stats say that Jones would never have scored that goal if he was put on waivers already.
ReplyDeleteThe Jones-Belanger-Gagner line is useless.
ReplyDeleteworse than MP-Lander-Omark. Cause one is in the AHL and one is PB.
Heh heh.
ReplyDelete:D
Well deserved + for Smid and Gilbert.
ReplyDeletethefuturecaptainTaylorHall takes a stupid penalty.
ReplyDeleteChanneling his inner-ethan
Speaking of dives...so weak there P.K.
ReplyDeleteJones with the egg on my face.
ReplyDeleteYes, if only Hemsky could lean to play hockey. He also needs to learn how to hold his stck right.
ReplyDeleteFirst the 4th line gets a double shift, then Lander gets some PK time.
ReplyDeleteSmyth tried the same move. Looks like Price learned something
ReplyDeletePotter is such a gift. Lordy.
ReplyDeleteQuinn, Don't EVER say "a race for the puck" when Barker is involved.
ReplyDeleteIs he that slow or is he just Lazy??
Maybe the Oilers should take some more penalties. They could run the guys taking the extra shot at Hemsky...The two best chances they have had this game came on the PK.
ReplyDeleteTime to try Eberle on the PK again?
I think he really is that slow. Can anyone detect a trace of power in his stride?
ReplyDeleteBarker has feet of lead.
ReplyDeleteWhat is Gagner doing that's putting him 3 steps behind the play? Is his positioning that far off right now? Yuck.
ReplyDeleteThe rate at which this team accumulates too many men penalties is both incredible and frustrating. Jesus.
ReplyDeleteHow has Potter not been in the league until now? Never looks harried out there. Cool and calm.
ReplyDeleteNot sure Potter is a gift. More like found money.
ReplyDeleteLove found money.
Oh Eager. That didn't go well, did it?
ReplyDeleteThis team make a ton of dumbass mistakes.
ReplyDeleteGood god.
Another Stupid play. Just dump it in and change.
ReplyDeleteThey Do not look good tonight
Could Eager not have made a smarter play than losing it at the blue in the direction of the line change? Like, dump the damn thing in? WTF
ReplyDeleteThat was a wonderful wonderful play by Peckham. MAN.
ReplyDeleteAnd then a dumb penalty by Theo. Oilers are not going to win this game playing like they are now.
ReplyDeleteThat one is on Eager, he could have just dumped it in. Instead he tried to retain possesion and threw it a guy by the bench - guess he was taking my advice...great, now a two man advantage.
ReplyDeleteDUMB. That's 5 stupid penalties
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure Theo saw the puck change direction and come off the boards.
ReplyDeleteLooked in and out to me.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDidnt Eager lose that puck btw? Didnt look like a pass.
ReplyDeleteLooked like a wicked elbow to me.
ReplyDeleteWow - khabibulin is stopping goals after they happen. Did he go back in time and ungoal that?
I never thought I'd say this:
ReplyDeleteThank the lord for Khabibulin
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSeries of stupid plays by 93 there. Just started watching part way through the second. Game has been frustrating from what I've seen.
ReplyDeleteGood thing about that non-goal.
This team is looking eerily like the road team of the past 5 years
ReplyDeleteRNH with 3 straight Hab Takeaways. Not a good shift. But I still would like 5 of him.
ReplyDelete...minus Khabibulin
ReplyDeleteOilers are not close to sharp, incredible they are up by a goal. Incredible.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitily a team full of "seen em' bad" tonight.
ReplyDeleteWorst game of the year so far IMO
35 is the MVP. Weird.
ReplyDeleteOutplayed, outhit, outsmarted, outhustled but not outgoaltended. Lucky bastards after 2.
ReplyDelete@book¡e
ReplyDeletewith some stolen plutonium and a delorean.
Yes, and 50s left in the period 94 just passes right to Mtl D - like he thought he was in the ozone.
ReplyDeleteYes, maybe that was it....
book¡e said...Yes, if only Hemsky could lean to play hockey.
ReplyDeleteSaying Hemsky is a great hockey player is like saying I design great buildings except when they collapse. If my buildings collapsed, it wouldn't matter how good they looked or how energy efficient they were or how far under budget they came in. I wouldn't get work. Because nobody wants to pay for a building that will eventually cave in. "He's good when he plays" just doesn't cut it for me: It makes any contract a bad value contract when you not only get injured so often, but don't or can't adjust your game to avoid getting injured. And for all the "value" of Hemsky's contract, it seems that 29 out of 30 teams don't think he's worth too much on the trade table either.
He's in year what, eight? And he hasn't figured out that (a) people hit and (b) he's injury prone? Plus taking either years to figure out how to avoid putting his teammates offside or hanging on to the puck too long.He has great hands and does neat-o tricks with the puck, but that's a pretty big hole in the hockey IQ.
Sorry to rant. I've slept 3 hours in four days and I somehow have to figure out how to design and build a public library, a city park, a pedestrian bridge across a river on the kind of budget usually reserved for cab fare.
Not every woman in Montreal is beautiful, but every last one of them know how to dress.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite cities to visit and that's one of the key reasons.
I hope they pull it out of their asses in the third, for 35 the win. And a steak, [or something...]
ReplyDeletefeallygo: Yes, ma'am.
No Lulu Lemon in the Heavyweight division?
ReplyDeleteWG - Agreed - the difference to Edmonton is stunning
ReplyDeleteIce - we have no idea how Hemsky is valued by other teams.
1 goal lead with 20 to go on the road. I'll take it, but they better find a period of hockey inside themselves.
ReplyDeleteEdmonton has no downtown night life. When the arena district gets hopping, it should take suburbia out of the girls.
ReplyDeleteYou know its bad when your top 2 dmen ev min are almost the same as there PK minutes.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Pääjarvi will have to sit a second game. Not at this rate.
ReplyDeleteEager should sit after that stupid, stupid play that led to the too many men.
ReplyDeleteImbecile.
book¡e:
ReplyDelete1) Comments around the trade deadline last year implied pretty strongly that Hemsky had been up for grabs and the return wasn't even close to what the Oilers were hoping. So we don't "know" how they value him, but we have a vague idea.
2) (and this is the important one): I'm pretty thrilled that I figured out how to type your name. I think I will rename myself ¡cecstles. :)
LT:
ReplyDeleteIf Renney benched guys for stupid plays tonight, they it would be Montreal v Khabibulin only.
That's Hall's second big hit tonight. He crushed someone behind the Hab net in the 1st.
ReplyDeleteNice hit by Hall, and gagner touched that puck first. Nice effort.
ReplyDeleteWow, Gilbert has ice in his viens - Under pressure, could have wrapped it around to the Mon D, but held on and made a little dish to the C right beside him for an easy break out.
ReplyDeleteC**treal lives for the PP - dives galore. Camelerri had a succesful one in the first.
I really dislike Cam Barker's game.
ReplyDeleteThis officiating is horrendous.
ReplyDeleteLT
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Eager should sit for Magnus. Other than the one cycle that led to Lander alone in the slot, a horrible game.
Hemmer is just twirling around like always. That guy really raises the frustration meter!!
ReplyDeleteItsaleaf: thank you. I just laughed so loud I scared the person working nearby.
ReplyDeleteI could also deal with a mild but long term injury to Barker.
ReplyDeleteso much interference by the habs going uncalled
ReplyDeleteNext goal wins.
ReplyDeleteIt's starting to look like 89 and 20 are dragging JONES down
ReplyDeleteAnd Smytty Jarret Stolls the puck into the iron.
ReplyDelete0 for orca: been that way since I was a kid.
ReplyDeleteMan the Oilers are bad. It's like the league is going to step in and award the points to no one even if the Oilers win.
Smyth has turned back the aging procees. Oil of Mullet.
Rope a Fucking Dope. In honor of Joe Frazier!!
ReplyDeleteKhabby been smokin Oil of Mullet too. Irae, mon.
ReplyDeleteIf McCurdy gives out game grades higher than a 5 for anyone I'll be surprised.
ReplyDeleteNK not included.
Clarkenstein: That's perfect! Hadn't thought of that, but it's pretty much what we're watching.
ReplyDeleteWrong fighter.
ReplyDeleteFrazier was never a dope.