The Oilers continue their tour through towns where wins go to die with a stop off in Nashville. The Preds have been on the road a lot since the start of the season and still rank among the top 4 teams in the conference. They are 6-1-3 in the last 10 and have opponents singing the sad songs all night long.
Nashville's defense is currently posting some unique plus minus numbers. Shea Weber (+19) and Ryan Suter (+15) lead the way--by a mile. Kevin Klein and Jonathan Blum (both -9) are joined by Francis Bouillon (-5) as the other regulars. It's a curious gap, suspect it'll close as the season wears on. Still, you can't argue with that top pairing.
--
I think this is crunch time for the summer statements by Steve Tambellini and Tom Renney about winning being the priority and playoffs being the goal. If true, then the 4line and the inexperienced D have to be altered right away. The Oilers don't have Linus Omark as a callup option, but Teemu Hartikainen could get the call and Magnus Paajarvi is a better player than he's shown this year.
The blue? Peckham-Petry, Chorney-Teubert. It's the hockey equivalent of getting 4 ab's in a hitter's park against the inconsistent spot starter. The young D are playing like Bob Sebra 1987.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePlace your bets ladies and gentleman! My money's on Oilers lose 5-2; our rookie D-men get torched by the Predators' system play.
ReplyDeleteRead somewhere that teams not in a playoff spot by the end of November only have a 15% chance of making it.
ReplyDeleteFor the Oilers that means winning at least two of the next three road games, then probably winning both home games against MIN and NSH.
Not liking their chances.
It's quickly becoming a Calder-watch season for Nuge, and boning up on scouting reports for June.
No worries. Alex Plante just got recalled!
ReplyDeleteSo any chance lander sits for MPS, and Eager back in for Hordichuk? WOuld like to see MPS on the Horcoff line.
ReplyDeleteAnd with Plante up Chorney heads back to OKC.
ReplyDeletei don't think they have to send chorney down, they have injuries.
ReplyDeleteNo worries. Alex Plante just got recalled!
ReplyDeleteLordy.
Last night too many of the Oilers were complementary players, with very few warranting complimentary comments on their play.
As far as being into the game, their heads were not there. They're just not consistent enough.
With Chorney, Tuebert, Peckham and even Petry playing with the big club, its easy to see that v3.2 did not ensure that they had enough Actual NHL Dmen to insure against injury.
On the subject of v3.2, one has to hope that if he can't re-sign 83, then v3.2 would resign from his position with the Oilers.
The Oilers are in tough, playing a very good team in their rink on the 2nd of a back-to-back.
The burning question for me is:
Did Hunter make a purchase decision on his new TV?
ok, my bad. they did reassign him. ok then, bye bye chorney, you will never be an oiler. here's hoping you get picked up again and free up a contract for us
ReplyDeleteWoodguy, that was awesome.
ReplyDelete@ Clay
ReplyDeleteThat is actually teams not in a playoff spot by American Thanksgiving...which is Thursday.
Quick and dirty EV and SC splits for home/road; while not discounting that the Oilers are a poor team on paper now given the "depth" of the D:
ReplyDeleteHome: 124-99
Road: 97-143
I'm digging out my hour glass to time the Tuebert-Plante pairing for tonight.
ReplyDeleteIf they play together it better be for about 5 min total.
not sure how many teams could survive losing 3 of their regular defensemen, 4 if you count BArker. So we are essentially playing 4 of our AHL dmen. No team in the league would stay at the top with that scenario. Yes there are a lot of issues, but a healthy d corps makes us a better team, especially in transition and on special teams. Based on play year to date (and assuming whitney healthy) our 6 dmen are
ReplyDeleteWhitney-Potter
Gilbert-Smid
Sutton-Petry
And the three missing guys are all special team staples. Would love to see 3.2? get a vet via trade or signing. We could make a run for a playoff spot if we had some vets back there.
So who is available via free agency? And who could we target for trade?
After so much pain, it is too early to make a push. Finish poorly well again, let ST show his magic (begins nervously sweating) before the deadline and/or next summer to put together a legit NHL roster.
ReplyDeleteTo contend with a team full of young guys, there needs to be a balance of the right type of veterans to carry the load, at least until someone develops into a legtimate option. We need a Smytty and a Horcoff for the D.
With how ST left the D corp for this year, there is no other properly strategized route to take. Trying to win with only 2.5 good NHL D, one of whom plays half seasons, is wasting a top 5 pick, and to me is incompetent.
DBO: Seem to remember reading last week that Chorney was up on an emergency assignment - which if true would mean he does not have to go through waivers on the way down.
ReplyDeleteWould be nice to see them get an actual NHL d-man in here, but it looks like they're gonna wait on Whitney and Sutton to come back.
Oh well.
On the subject of v3.2, one has to hope that if he can't re-sign 83, then v3.2 would resign from his position with the Oilers.
ReplyDeleteI know this is a poke regarding the pre-game thread yesterday, but Hemsky looks like a rag doll out there. He is either still hurt or has some PTSD over getting hurt.
Trade him at the deadline.
BTW my pet peeve is "irregardless".
WG with the Spelling Clinic - and no kudos from the weary?
ReplyDelete+
Woodguy wins the blog at 8:51. I'm not even going to try to complete with that.
ReplyDeleteLet's review.
1. It's relevant - not just some funny irrelevant stuff.
2. It referential to the discussion yesterday, but satirical in that it takes the pissy and/or formal tone of yesterday's discussion and mocks it, but in a respectful way.
3. It doubles down right at the end with the reference to Hunter's TV purchase.
Compgratulentations on a job well done!
Whoops, the Captain caught it, I missed that on first pass.
ReplyDeleteNashville isn't exactly lighting the wolrd on fire with their offense, and the Oilers can't score on the road...
ReplyDeleteWhat's the under on tonight's game?
its
ReplyDeleteit's
clearly you're a born troublemaker
@ Jordan
ReplyDeleteOne regulation loss in the last 11 games and Shea Weber has entered beast mode, putting up nine points and a league-best plus-14 rating in eight games this month.
Causes one to get disorientated.
1) Woodguy, that was awesome. Also, what bookie said.
ReplyDelete2) Dennis, do you know if that makes EDM a good home team? I mean maybe it's just because of how bad they've been for so long but the idea of the Oilers being good enough to actually exploit proper matchups seems like growth in itself.
I mean: since 2006 we had our year of Lupul theoretically being a soft-minute killer but without actually killing the softs and a whole bunch of years without Ryan Smyth I just don't care to remember anymore. I think I've wandered past the point now but I daresay I think you will get my meaning.
Why do we call Tambo "v3.2"? What do the three and the two represent?
ReplyDeleteBloggy
ReplyDeleteHe's almost done evaluating the roster.
Suter and Weber just went through a 10 game stretch where they were not scored on at Even strength. Play hard boys you are recruiting a FA PP quarterback
I wonder if Motin is second guessing his decision to go to Sweden right around now? After almost getting demoted to Stockton again, he might have been next up on the call-up list for a cup of coffee in the NHL.
ReplyDeleteHere's to hoping that Tyler stops by to compliment WG on his complement of compli(e)ment's.
ReplyDeleteBloggy.
ReplyDeleteST 1.0 - Steve was hired, but was the junior partner of the three amigos (ST, KLowe, and Katz) who was there to awkwardly nod his head in agreement as they stalked Danny Heatley and signed Khabi. The team's plan is to win the cup with some big free agents to solidify the core.
ST 3.0 - The team sucks 1/3 of the way through the season. Khabi goes down with a back injury. Steve announces that he now really has the authority to do what the team needs - and what it needs is a rebuild. He proceeds to not seek out a goalie and unofficially announces the Taylor/Tyler debate.
S.T 3.0 - After finishing last, ST declares once again, that he NOW really is in control of the team and that NOW he really actually does have authority to do what is needed ( a culture change). I believe this is also when he acquired Toonces as a nickname. He fires the training and equipment staff (except for those whose firing would be politically incorrect), ships out Ethan Moreau and Steve Staios (ha ha ha ha ha Calgary) and does some other stuff. He again, unofficially announces the dive for RNH strategy. He smiles a lot on Oilchange with every loss!
ST 3.1/3.2 (some used 4.0) Steve Tambellini notes over the summer that this year, they are actually trying to win. He is gifted Smyth, he trades for some 'tough guys' and he finally finally finally fills the third line centre roll. The filling of the 3rd line centre position actually suggests that he may be ok with winning a few games this season. The holes on defence suggest otherwise.
@ bookie
ReplyDeleteThat should be "role" not "roll"
You're welcome :)
What a "fullapi"
I don't understand, how is Chorney behind Plante on the depth chart?? Why did they trade Chorney for Plante?
ReplyDeleteI don't think Chorney will ever be an Oiler after this assignment...
Ahh, well I guess that makes a bit more sense, in the context of him being ever the evaluator.
ReplyDeleteQuestion for all: Does anyone know of any historical trades that took a team like our Oilers and replaced the weak forwards and 3/4 of the D all in one season of trading?
I wonder if it's possible for us to put together two or three trades that could replace the dead weight with performing players in one season, or if it's just unprecedented to trade up like that in such a short time period.
Anyone know of any examples I could google, off the top of your heads?
I am concerned we've entered into a conundrum.
ReplyDeleteWe want Tambellini to take action and secure the blue via a trade. However, we do not want him to trade Hemsky, Gagner or Omark to make this happen. Nor does anyone want to move Paajarvi, Hartikainen, Petry or draft picks? So, who'll move a top 4D for what's left?
This year, we exit the 1st quarter with a +2 goal differential. Last year we were close to -30 or so. The team is moving in the right direction, we just need to be very planful about short term trades being long term regrets.
In a week or so, Whitney and Sutton return. That should make a grand difference and give us 5 true D-men. Unless a real steal of a deal comes our way, stay the course.
@ Bloggy
ReplyDeleteIn one off season, Dale Tallon in Florida did the following:
Acquired Kris Versteeg for a second and a third.
Versteeg currently has 25 points in 20 games.
Signed Tomas Fleischmann as a free agent.
Fleischmann currently has 20 points in 20 games.
Acquired Tomas Kopecky in exchange for a 7th round pick.
Kopecy currently has 10 points in 20 games.
Acquired Brian Campbell in exchange for Olesz who is currently playing in the minors.
Campbell currently has 18 points in 20 games played.
Signed free agent goaltender Jose Theodore who currently sports a .920 Sv%
Then he added to his depth by signing Scottie Upshall, Sean Bergenheim, Marcel Goc, Matt Bradley, Jack Skille and then, shortly after the season began, moved out David Booth for Samuelsson and Sturm.
I realize that this isn't an example of in season rebuilding but it does indicate how quickly a team can be rebuilt by a smart GM.
Not surprisingly, Florida is currently leading the SE division, is two points out of first overall in the NHL, has a goal differential of +9 and, unlike many season's past, is a fast entertaining team to watch.
Also of note, Hockey's Future released their organizational team prospects rankings yesterday and Florida was deemed to have the best prospect depth in the league.
With Huberdeau, Gudbranson, Markstrom, Bjugstad, Grimaldi, Howden, and Petrovic in the pipeline they are stacked.
Too bad no one cares enough to go watch them.
@ Bloggy.
ReplyDeleteI should also have mentioned Tallon managed to do all that and remain $9 million under the cap.
Man knows what he is doing.
It is too bad that Edmonton doesn't have any expendable forwards to trade for a defender.
ReplyDeleteEspecially because they have nobody in the minors that could replicate the numbers of such irreplaceable forwards.
Bloggy said...
ReplyDeleteQuestion for all: Does anyone know of any historical trades that took a team like our Oilers and replaced the weak forwards and 3/4 of the D all in one season of trading?
Doesn't fit all the prerequisites but when Chicago traded Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge, and Freddy Stanfield for Pit Martin, Jack Norris, and Gilles Marotte, it ended up helping the Bruins a little.
That would be roughly equivalent to the Oilers trading Khabibulin, Smid, and Gagner to the Kings and getting Kopitar, Dustin Brown, and Mike Richards in return. All apologies to Pit Martin for the Sam Gagner comp.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we can trade Steve Tambellini for Dave Tallon if we sweeten the deal with a draft pick! lol
ReplyDelete*Dale. Typo. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteTurris signs with PHX - 2 yrs $2.8 million total.
ReplyDeleteWhat was the point?
isn't it funny how things work sometimes.
ReplyDeleteKen Holland seems to have been the one to say let's see how everything looks by US Thanksgiving and then someone did the spade work to find out just how hard it is to make the playoffs if you aren't there at the quarter-pole. And, fuck, you're pretty much done before the first of Dec.
Note: this meme could easily be changed to "let's see how you look after 20 games" but most people seem to prefer to benchmark it by US TGiving but I digress.
So, Oilers start out 9-3-2 and on the morning of Nov 9th I'm thinking, "goddamn this team's gonna get drilled for the rest of the road trip but they might just test the 20 Game Theory."
Well, here come the banana peels and 13's out longterm and 44's out a month and whatever you think of 13, he's better than 33/41 and he might be better than 24 as well; he most likely is.
As it stands now the Oilers have every excuse to be a terrible road team - though I think they're gonna be a good home team all season - but it's funny how we got there D corps injury-wise, isn't it.
WG: yeah, I think they're gonna be a good home team because they'll get the matchups and they'll have two lines going - kids are more comfortable there - and only time they'll look bad is when they face elite teams and/or teams that have three lines.
ReplyDeleteThey hung on for dear life vs Van and Wsh but had great stretches against just about everyone else so I'm confident in saying that as long as the IR list isn't stupendous, they are gonna be good at Rexall.
While the Oilers certainly score more at home (30H - 20R), there is something else going on.
ReplyDeleteThe SV% in home wins has been of HHOF calibre.
1) Pitt .971
2) Van .846
3) NSH .912
4) Minn .968
5) NYR .1000
6) Van .946
7) Caps .971
8) STL .933
9) Ott .571
10) Chi .944
I'm guessing you can spot the losses.
While the Oilers average an even 3 GPG at home, it has pretty much been goaltending that has allowed them to post their 7-2-1 record at home.
That record would look quite a bit different with league average goaltending.
So you put those games together in terms of SV% per game, and they were getting an average of 0.906 in the 10 games.
ReplyDeleteSeems pretty league average.
cf14 obviously failed his math classes.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the word on the Keith hit on Hall? If nothing happens that's a bunch of BS.
ReplyDeletecf14
ReplyDeleteLet me help you out there.
In the 8 games the Oilers got points in this season at home, their save percentage averaged .955.
Tim Thomas had a phenomenal year last season, leading the league at .938
CF14 - The NYR SV% should be 1.000 when you whack it into your calculator.
ReplyDeleteAny word on lineup changes???
ReplyDeleteHenrik Lundqvist is beast. Thanks for the info about FLA, I am off to google that now -- what a terrific off-season, though.
ReplyDeleteI don't think many people in the 'sphere are against trading Hemsky and Gagner for some D, but I could be misjudging.
If you make that comparison you should probably only include the games that Thomas' team earned points. apples-apples
ReplyDeleteOilers outshot the Preds 25-12 in their win on the 17th. home game
ReplyDeleteStars outshot the Oilers 35-18 last night. road game.
I was clawing my eyes out during last nights 'power plays'. The Edmonton Danglers should take some shots tonight if they wanna win.
Smytty has Rinne figured out. Just give it to 94...
I predict a snoozer tonight, but a 2-1 win in the shootout. Hemsky the goal, Eberle the SO winner. Both teams <25 shots on net.
ReplyDeleteDSF may need a little help himself with those numbers.
ReplyDeleteIs .955 the over or the under for all point+ games by Thomas last year?
Are there stretches last year where Thomas smashed .955 including only the point+ games?
@DSF
ReplyDeleteJust want to be sure I understand your, argument here.
A team will have a good SV% when they win, and a poor SV% when they lose?
Groundbreaking stuff.
The Oilers have a .938 SV% at home. Great, to be sure, but you're implying that the team is winning despite letting the opposition stand in front of the goalie and take pot-shots.
All,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words. It more or less just vomited out of my mind in 30 seconds.
Istaleaf,
Any word on lineup changes
Renney stated that everyone is taking the warm up, then he'll decide.
Keeping the second guessing until after the game I suppose.
DD starts and Tuebert-Plante seems to be the third pairing.
They may be a 3rd pairing on a decent AHL team too.
Holy mackerel, we don't have a lot of defencemen here.
ReplyDeleteWould we, with a healthy roster, have the slowest Defense in the NHL going 10 deep?
ReplyDeleteSutton
Barker
Peckham
Tuebert
Plante
Surely there is another NHL team that can challenge our slow feet D men
Bob McKenzie update on Markham, ONT, 19,5000 seat rink.
ReplyDeleteBeen hubbub about this for a while.
The expansion/re-location fee kicked around for a team in Markham has been $500MM.
Dale Tallon's awesome. It's no coincidence that the Hawks took a bit of a nosedive the year after he was let go for Scotty Bowman's kid.
ReplyDeleteThe cap crunch didn't help either...
As for a defenseman, I can't see any trade out there to solve the problem long term, only stupid trades of potential impact forwards for mid-pairing guys with little ceiling/risky prospects (and we have plenty of those ourselves).
To acquire another top-pairing guy, we'll need to do that in the draft, in FA or make a big deal the offseason.
Would we, with a healthy roster, have the slowest Defense in the NHL going 10 deep?
ReplyDeleteIf you cherry pick most team's defence '10 deep' you could find 4 or 5 question marks. The exception might be LA.
In two years that should change.
If we're looking for a short-term fix, why not look at some of the NHL vets sitting in the AHL. Shaone Morrisonn in Buffalo would be a serviceable option and he's UFA in the summer.
ReplyDeleteDale Tallon's awesome. It's no coincidence that the Hawks took a bit of a nosedive the year after he was let go for Scotty Bowman's kid.
ReplyDeleteWasn't he let go after he missed the the period to qualify a number of RFA's?
But I agree he knows how to build teams. Funny, he likely would not be really anything that different from Tambo has been doing in terms of building thru the draft.
I think Gagner is a guy who badly needs to step up tonight. He's been playing a little better each game but he needs a 2-point night.
ReplyDelete@ Nate.
ReplyDeleteI'm not attempting to compare the Bruins to the Oilers.
I merely threw out Thomas' save percentage as an example of all star goaltending.
As it sits, the Oilers are on pace to give up 84 GA at home this season.
Last season's best was Nashville at 88 followed by Vancouver and Boston at 89.
I'm thinking a sharp reversion to the mean is in order here. (Last season the Oilers gave up 118 GA at home)
Your mileage may vary but remember where you heard it first :)
Rick:
ReplyDeleteChicago won the Cup in Stan Bowman's first year of tenure...some dive.
Chicago took a dive the following year because they couldn't do what they did this summer, get rid of Bryan Campbell's contract. Because they couldn't get rid of Campbell, they had to get rid of 3 other guys, and rebuild the entire bottom of their roster.
Tallon has trouble with dates and arithmetic.
He intentionally dived for the lottery in both Chicago and Florida.
Tambellini observed Burke dive in the lottery to grab the Sedins.
I don't think Steve told Daryl and Kevin that that was his plan all along. Let the boss(Darly) think the boss (Daryl) come up with the idea all by himself.
Actually, the rumor is that someone under Bowman messed up the RFA qualifying offers, and Tallon as GM took the fall.
ReplyDeleteThe only difference between Tallon and the Oilers recent drafts is that Tallon drafted their franchise defenseman first in both Chicago and Florida, and we're still waiting for ours.
Was any of the key players on Chicago's cup winning team brought in under Bowman?
ReplyDeleteHossa was acquired by Tallon, all the kids were drafted by Tallon.
Stauffer tweeting that Flames scout Steve Pleau is watching the Oilers for the second night in a row.
ReplyDeleteA few blue I'd be fine with.
@ Rick
ReplyDeleteTallon's real skill is identifying and signing or trading for veteran talent.
He often overpays them but he also often acquires player who kick the shit out of their contracts.
Versteeg for example is currently third in NHL scoring for the princely sum of $3M.
Also, forgot to mention young defenseman Dimitri Kulikov who was not drafted on Tallon's watch but appears to have been developed patiently and well.
Currently sitting at 14 points in 20 GP +3.
I'm sure a few GM's would like a mulligan on the '09 draft.
Swedes!
ReplyDeletePaajarvi. Man. He won't get 5 better chances all season than that one.
ReplyDeleteMuch better start. Nashville apparently doesn't realize they can hit the Oilers and dictate the game.
ReplyDeleteThey're not running our show!! PLANTE IS ORR!!!!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Renney will keep this kind of mix at home.
ReplyDelete4-10-83
94-93-14
28-20-89
55-57-91
Spreading around the vets and no real "checking line" like 94-10-28 or 57-10-28 that he plays at home with last change.
Many have thought he should have "home lines" and "away lines".
Perhaps he has?
91 looks motivated, which is good to see.
Another assist for the kid.
ReplyDeleteOk, who gave Plante concrete skates and dulled his blades?
ReplyDeleteStudwick thinks he looks slow.
10 leading by example getting pounded in the blue paint in order to score.
ReplyDeleteOilers need more of that.
Teubert seems terrified. I hope that's why he's so slow. Anytime the puck goes to his side and the opposition hasthe puck, he's hanging back so far that it takes 10 seconds to even get him in the cameras view.
ReplyDeleteAles Hesmky is a bad, bad man.
ReplyDeleteTrotz is gonna be pissed.
ReplyDeleteShooting!
ReplyDeleteGreat play by 94 too.
ReplyDeleteNice play by 93 on the 1st goal as well.
Take a shot into traffic, not every shot needs to be a cross seam, one timer.
Teubert appeared to show zero awareness that Weber was behind him on that 2 on 1, horrible read.
ReplyDelete93 looks like the first legit ppg player the Oil will have since his chronological antithesis
ReplyDeleteEberle is so wicked
ReplyDeleteTaylor Hall gets crushed from behind again, ho hum.
ReplyDeleteNice distraction Hall!
ReplyDeleteAnother assist for Nuge I believe
ReplyDeleteThat's 8 points in less than 7 periods. Maybe he's a legit ppp player ;)
ReplyDeleteRNH is having more impact on the PP as a rookie than anyone since, well a long time ago.
ReplyDelete14 just cleanly beat one of the best goalies in the league.
ReplyDeleteShould have been 2 for hitting 4 from behind as well.
4 is drawing 3 NSH players to him every time he hits the blue, hope he keeps dishing it off when surrounded.
Man these Oilers are schizophrenic.
As always, PP success key to the Oilers game.
Wish Hemsky would take lessons from the kid and just throw the puck at the net when Smyth is fronting the goaltender at least some of the time, instead of playing patty-cakes with the point man.
ReplyDeleteWe want ten, we want ten...
ReplyDeleteEberle - he needed to shoot there, buddy took the pass away so take what's left, the goalie wide open.
ReplyDeleteNatural hat trick for Rieder. Tied for 2nd in goals in the OHL.
ReplyDeleteFussy Britches tweets that the Oilers are looking for a vet dman. Looking outside the NHL as well. Kings were interested in Omark before the injury, and they aren't interested in 83.
ReplyDeleteWell I love Omark but that's just crazy. LAK have a Stanley run in them, 83 is the better man.
ReplyDeleteA player coming from Europe would have to clear waivers.
ReplyDeleteRuotsaleinen Rule, implemented by the NHL to penalize the Oilers.
Trotz won't stand for a period like that. 3 shots. Terrible.
ReplyDeleteOilers better be ready for this and stick to the defensive game plan and not be a bunch of Fancy Dans and Barbara Ann Scotts.
Sweet. No Rinne.
ReplyDeleteword ver: frolov
LT probably has to do with trading a legit asset like Voynov for an UFA more than 23 vs 83, but I get your drift
ReplyDeletePetry is so good with his stick. lots of poke checks. He'll be a real beauty in time
ReplyDeleteAs per: dtolensky (Daniel Tolensky) twitter:
ReplyDeleteOlivier Roy (EDM) named ECHL goaltender of the week after two wins (1.50 GAA, .959 SVP). For the season he's at 2.32 GAA & .925 SVP.
I'm interested in how many scoring chances would have been counted for the Oilers on that sequence with Hemsky, Horcoff and Hall just now. It'd better have been at least 2.
ReplyDeleteEach.
ReplyDeleteGood play by Hornqvist to grab 77's stick and pull himself down.
ReplyDeleteI'm Sure the last thing Renney said was not to take any stupid penalties
ReplyDeleteDid I just see Teddy Peckman make a good play???
ReplyDeletePeckham has played pretty well on the PK this season.
ReplyDeleteBeauty play by Teubert. Maybe there's hope.
ReplyDeleteDubey is sharp tonight
ReplyDeleteWhoever that forward swooping behind the net with Tuebert needs to take the puck and not let Teubert make the decisions. Nearly lead to a GA
ReplyDeleteSmyth is really good at those innocuous looking passive dirty plays when a player lines him up for the "big hit". He learned a thing or two from watching Messier.
ReplyDeleteSmyth is really good at those innocuous looking passive dirty plays when a player lines him up for the "big hit". He learned a thing or two from watching Messier.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Weber getting a bloody nose from 94 when he had him lined up is nice to see.
Hope the kids learn to do that.
Watching 94, the key seem to be to still make it look like you still took the brunt of the hit.
94 is awesome.
After a good 1st period, 91 has had one 57sec shift in the 2nd.
ReplyDeleteI know penalties mess things up, but get him out there FFS.
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!?
ReplyDeleteGagner throwin' down!
Sandpaper Sam!
ReplyDeleteHemmer will be a big asset at the deadline. A fraction of a 4M cap hit. The contenders will be salivating.
ReplyDeleteThey need some push back here. Starting to get run more
ReplyDeleteHornqvist seems like he should be a Canuck
ReplyDeleteZERO push back. Just a matter of time.
ReplyDeleteLT wrote:
ReplyDeleteStauffer tweeting that Flames scout Steve Pleau is watching the Oilers for the second night in a row.
A few blue I'd be fine with.
Would you do Bouwmeester for Paajarvi?
speeds: Hmm. JayBo costs so damn much and I don't trust ST to get the contracts lined up. But I do like Bouwmeester for the Oilers (he doesn't have to QB the PP, etc).
ReplyDeleteHow much does Giordano make?
ReplyDeleteBouwmeester would be a terrible idea IMO. Too much money for what he brings. Is he any better than 77? Is he as good as 77?
ReplyDeleteHis contract probably makes him untradeable.
If Bouwmeester wore a visor, it would barely cover his forehead.
ReplyDeleteWhat about dealing for Tim Erixon?
ReplyDeleteIn reality I would take on Jaybo's contract, but I'm not sure what dollars you could send the other way to even out that trade, besides Brule's contract.
ReplyDeleteCalgary isn't trading away Giordano, he is one of the few good young players they have, but they really don't have much else that would interest other teams.
ReplyDeleteJbo has 19.8M real money left on his deal.
ReplyDeleteBrule has 1.85M.
Umm.. what?
Do we actually want to consider have TWO 3rd overall defensemen who haven't delivered to expectations? Jaybo's a goat within a week if we get him. Can't wait to see Paajarvi and Glencross scoring eight goals against us. Vetoed!
ReplyDeleteHey Lowetide,
ReplyDeleteDid you wish Scarlett a happy birthday. 27th today I think I read that somewhere.
Saw Erixon play here in St Johns last week. I wanted to hi5 him. Also saw Redden, whom is making 5+ million a year until 2014 playing in the AHL. Some guy next to me was heckling him mercilessly. Funny how success and failure are measured sometimes.
ReplyDeleteYep, Smyth is a tough and mean hockey player. Loads of people will look at that play and say "It's just an accident" but Smyth has quite a few of those accidents - far more than the average guy.
ReplyDeleteIn a 3-0 game, I would like to see PRV out there playing a bit more when he is playing as well as this. Give him a chance to break out of this funk.
Danny:
ReplyDeleteI'll admit that I haven't watched a ton of Bouwmeester the last couple of years, but what he has given his teams, since the lockout, is 82 games per year of 25+ minutes.
My guess is that a portion of the criticism of Bouwmeester comes from style concerns; people don't seem to like a non-physical D unless he posts a ton of points.
27? Young girl.
ReplyDeleteBouwmeester's contract ends when RNH's deal is up, same time as Gilbert, I don't really think the money/cap hit is much of a problem given proper foresight.
ReplyDeleteI'm not necessarily advocating the deal, it just came to mind.
EBERLE.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shot!
Ridiculous Mr. Eberle. Ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteEbs schools them all ... oh my goodness ! what a play !
ReplyDelete@Traktor.
ReplyDeleteRead my comment again and you'll see that I implied that the Oilers don't have enough bad contracts to make that deal work besides the Brule contract.
Nobody is taking Khabby's contract.
Trotz will be ecstatic about that shift. I guess they were tired after Smid walked them.
ReplyDeleteCan anyone figure this team out? Seriously. It's like back in the days of rum and tequila. The only constant was dry mouth in the morning.
ReplyDeleteSpeeds, yeah that's kinda true, but salary is a big factor here. Hejda is a guy that isn't that physical, and doesn't score many points. But he only makes a pittance, so it's easier to like the guy.
ReplyDeleteI think JBO would make the Oilers a much better team, top 3 on this team, but you can get better value out there. The market for a guy like Brad Stuart is 3-4 million. 6+ is getting into Weber territory, and JBO doesn't belong there.
Paajarvi won't get you a used jock
ReplyDeleteWhiff.
Can we get Gagner and Paaravi some ice time. It's 4-0.
ReplyDeleteOilers and Leafs are having parallel seasons.
ReplyDeleteCan we pull a Brent Burns and convert PRV to D?
ReplyDeleteHe's adverse to physicality, but throwing him into the shark tank might be good medicine.
The Flames are interested in Turris. Maybe their interested in Gagner as a default option.
ReplyDeleteGagner, Peckham, and one of the prospect defensemen for JayBo.
I chose "their" to annoy mc79
ReplyDeleteOilers and Leafs are having parallel seasons.
ReplyDeleteThey both wish they drafted Seguin?
Teubert is better then Peckham IMO. He's throwing Tootoo around like crazy. Love it.
ReplyDelete@godot
ReplyDeleteHave to add some bad salary to even out that trade. That's a lot of money to take on.
The Dish!
ReplyDeleteRieder's hat-trick was on the PP, though (all three goals), so we know that inflated PP production is a mirage -- like Nugent-Hopkins.
ReplyDelete(Kidding in multiple ways.)
Guy's really stepped it up as of late, though. He was 9-7-16 in 13 games through the end of October, and is 9-6-15 in 9 games so far this November. 10 points (7 goals) in his last four games.
18-13-31 for the year (23 GP) for those who can't count. :)
Has Gene Principe called an assist for 58 a "Petry Dish" yet?
ReplyDeleteHorc deserves a raise.
ReplyDeleteHorc! What a blast! Must have got a new shipment of sticks from Mexico!
ReplyDeleteGood for 89 even though I think that pass was a throw it in the slot prayer through 4 preds.
Gagner having a noticably good game
ReplyDeleteNice to see the velvet hands of Samwise the Brave make a return.
ReplyDeleteGagner finally gets a point. Nice pass, wonderful shot by Comrade Horcov.
ReplyDeleteOn some nights these players can make you forget all the atrocities committed by ownership and management over the last half dozen years.
ReplyDeleteJust build that stupid rink, already. Just as long as an equal ammount of public money into technology that will assure that Ryan Smyth continues to play for the next 20 years.
6th place in the West
ReplyDeletesame points as the 4th place team
3 points outta 1st place
¡Goilers!
I have invented the Bionic Mullet.
ReplyDeleteI know the Oilers legs are tired and are reaching a bit with their sticks at times, but that's 3 questionable stick calls.
ReplyDeleteI will add the Preds have been going down rather easy tonight.
I like it, but I don't really understand it; the Edmonton Oilers play 4 defensemen with 100 or so games between them and can make good teams look bad.
ReplyDeleteThey won't be the backup goalie's game for the next few years.
@ Danny.
ReplyDeleteDon't think Burke is losing a whole lot of sleep over having the NHL's leading scorer in his lineup.
Having the second leading scorer in Lupul likely has him doing fist pumps.
Does DD get the start Friday in Minnesota???
ReplyDeleteDam that Eberle's easy to like. Could have shot for the trick, but he was trying to set up 89 the whole shift.
ReplyDeletePlante a little deep there.
@MIN, @COL and then a 7 game home stand. Hopefully there's a good little run in the next 9 games, and the guys get healthy before going back onto the road.
ReplyDeleteI think it's time the losing streak in Minny ends. Any word on Whitney???
ReplyDeleteImpressive game tonight.
ReplyDeleteEbs is unreal!
Eberle is the main man.
ReplyDeleteMuch better player than Hall and will be more consistent than Hoppy.
Book it.
To further the argument: whoever is playing good RIGHT NOW is good.
ReplyDeleteThere. I just saved DSF a whole lot of time and the internet a whole lot of bandwidth going forward :)
Has Gene Principe called an assist for 58 a "Petry Dish" yet?
ReplyDeleteOn Petry's first NHL game, he worked that phrase into his opening monologue.
@ DSF
ReplyDeleteAgreed on the Eberle point, he's the complete package. Great shot, passing ability, and hockey sense.
Too early to make a call on RNH, the kid is 18, but Eberle and RNH were born to play with each other.
Thought Tuebert and Plante were exposed at times which is to be expected. Nice to see them get more ice time than they normally would though.
ReplyDeleteJust don't let them touch the puck and they'll be fine;)
Tuebert may make Peckham expendable next year. Some would say he already has, but Peckham was better tonight.
Would like to see the video of Trotz in the room after that 1st period.
I think WG nailed it - This team is schizo
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ReplyDeleteAnother nice part of the win, was to see the Oilers add a -1 to the +/- of Suter and Weber.
ReplyDelete@DSF - insert attempt at logical argument to counter absurd hyperbolic statement here
ReplyDeleteNo argument from me Oil Leak.
ReplyDeleteTwo sublime players.
Is it me or against all odds Ryan Jones will make it again?
ReplyDeleteMaybe he should get a special stat just for him.
The ''I'm a plumber but I score when I shoot''.
Gagner showed heart tonight.
ReplyDeletePlante? Teubert?
RNH/Eberle the main ones, as Hall busts, lol.
Vancouver fans watch and wonder when that scurvy team finally wins the cup.
The 3rd period goal was insane. Like a powerplay, they simply kept it in until they worked out how to score a nice easy looking goal.
Now, split the next 2 games.
@ bookie
ReplyDeleteInsert comment including sex and travel.
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ReplyDelete@ the quarter pole, 7th in the west. Eberle, Hall, and others look good. Amazing compared to the injuries and schedule.
ReplyDeleteHopkins is amazing.
Good time to be an Oiler fan.
DSF- Nice - I laughed outloud at that.
ReplyDeleteEberle looks more like Steve Shutt every day. What a beauty.
ReplyDelete89 only needed a goal for a Gordie Howe, nice to see.
40 looked good making a lot of 2nd saves from good position.
33 is much closer to belonging in the NHL than 48. I can't see why they switched 41 for 48. Maybe because 48 is tougher, but man, he can't catch anyone to hit them.
24 had a better game too. Still pounds of chaos and the team is better off having a better option, but he made some nice first passes tonight.
5 and 77 doing what they do. Nice to have a solid pairing to rely on.
Smid 24:39
Gilbert 24:07
Peckham 19:27
Petry 19:17
Plante 14:47
Tuebert 14:37
Man I hope 6 is back in MIN.
Smyth 22pts 21gm
RNH 21pts 21gm
Eberle 21pts 21gm
When is the last time the Oilers had 3 guys on pt/gm pace at the quarter pole?
Heady days ahead.
RNH and Smyth currently tied for 10th in NHL scoring. This is truly bizzaro-world. o
ReplyDelete@ Woodguy
ReplyDeleteAs much as I admire Shutt you are seriously under rating Eberle.
Doesn't quite have the wheels but he is more Lafleur than Shutt.
...Bouwmeester LMAO
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I admire Shutt you are seriously under rating Eberle.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't quite have the wheels but he is more Lafleur than Shutt.
That's pretty high praise sir.
Lafleur scored over 50 6 years in a row (one year with 60), Shutt did it once (60), although scored 49 the next year.
Not sure Eberle is in Lafleur's company.
I loved Shutt and when he had the puck on his stick anywhere inside the circle he could beat any goalie in the league.
Agreed that he doesn't have Lafleur's wheels.
He is cold blooded in his lack of panic in tight spots.
Mind you, Lafleur scored 28 in his 21 year old year, and Shutt scored 15.
Eberle has 7 at the quarter pole....
He doesn't turn 22 until May.
Crazy.
Nice win but I don't understand this team at all.
ReplyDeleteAny love for Sarich out there?I think he'd come cheap and he'd look good with Whitney.We can swing for the fences on D next summer.
201
ReplyDelete@ WG.
ReplyDeleteBarring injury, Eberle flirts with 40.
He's the real deal.
I think it's weird to compare guys cross-eras because guys in those times were just so weak compared to now.
ReplyDeleteLafleur smoked in between periods.
Save %
ReplyDeleteBulin .936
Roloson .887