Monthly Archives: December 2015

Beer League Hero, Prospects

The BLH 2015/16 World Junior Hockey Championships Group A Preview

Can the Canadians win their second gold medal in a row in 2016?
Can the Canadians win their second gold medal in a row in 2016?

The World Junior Hockey Championships are almost here! It’s by far one of the best times of the year for any hockey lover. So many memories of hockey come from this little tournament. My all-time favorite being the year Eberle scored that goal to tie the game versus Russia and send it to OT. What about you?

Before getting into this year’s version of the World Junior Hockey Championships, why don’t we watch a little recap vid from last year. The year of Max Domi, Darnell Nurse, and none other than Connor McDavid.

The Teams

Sweden

Led by this generation’s version of the Bure brothers, the Nylanders, Sweden will be looking for retribution after losing last year’s bronze medal game to the upstart Slovakians. The Swedes will be a tough opponent for anybody coming up against them. They’re big, physical, and have moves like Jagr.

Player(s) to keep an eye on: The Nylanders, William (TOR) and Alexander (Mississauga Steelheads), are going to tear this tourney up. William has led the AHL in scoring at times this season and Alexander the same but for rookie scoring in the OHL.

Notable draft eligible(s): Alexander Nylander, Rasmus Asplund, and Carl Grundstrom.

Denmark

Last year the Danes managed to take the Russians, the Swiss and the Czechs to extra time during the group phase of the tournament largely on the back of the netminder George Sorensen and the scoring of Nik Ehlers (WPG) and Oliver Bjorkstrand (CLB). They lost to Russian and the Czech Rep. but did find a way to beat Switzerland giving the team their first win in the U20 WJHC ever.

This year they’re projected to be cannon fodder for the likes of Canada, the USA, and Sweden.

Player(s) to keep an eye on: Normally we’d put Nik Ehlers here but I’m uncertain of his status. So we’ll put his cousin in instead. Alexander True of the Seattle Thunderbirds is a hulking presence on the ice sitting at 6’4″. He’s putting up reasonable stats for Seattle (19 pts in 29 games) and he’ll be relied upon to do the majority of the scoring for the Danes.

Notable draft eligible(s): Matias From, Nikolaj Krag Christensen, and Daniel Nielsen. I don’t have much info on these guys but let’s be honest. How many of you are going to be tuning in to see the great players from Denmark? We’ll watch when they do something of note I suppose.

Switzerland

Ah the Swiss. They sure have come a long way from being the pinatas of the WJHCs. Now they are a team that gives everyone a helluva challenge. They always play a very defensive North American style that gives teams fits except last year when they were leaking goals like crazy. They managed not to get relegated after a two game series with Germany where they outscored the Germans 10-4.

This year it appears the team will be stocked with a few more veterans. Noah Rod (SJ), Timo Meier (SJ), Jonas Siegenthaler (WAS), and Pias Suter are on their way to Helsinki to prevent the team from falling into a relegation battle again.

Player(s) to keep an eye on: Not Kevin Fiala. Nashville didn’t loan him to Switzerland for the tourney. But you can rejoice in watching the wrecking ball that is Timo Meier. Anybody that knows him from his play in Halifax knows that he’s a beast. He hits, shoots, and causes havoc.

Notable draft eligible(s): Nico Hischier is a 16 year old center who is eligible for next year’s draft in 2017. Hischier is already playing in the top flite in for SC Bern because he was dominating the U20 division. He’ll be the youngest player at the tournament. Some say he’s better than Roman Josi and Mark Streit at the same age… So we’ll see.

USA

Team USA was stacked last year and couldn’t find a way to make it past the Russians in the quarter finals. This year will be even harder without the likes of Jack Eichel, Noah Hanifin and Paul Bittner. They will however have goaltender Brandon Halverson, defensemen Brandon Carlo and Zach Werenski and the lock for first overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, 18-year-old Auston Matthews.

Player(s) to keep an eye on: Matthews of course. We saw glimpes of his brilliance last year but he was simply overwhelmed by the occasion and the competition. This year won’t be the case and you can expect him to dominate.

Notable draft eligible(s): Matthew Tkachuk, Alex Debrincat, and Auston Matthews. This is apparently the line that will lead the Americans in Helsinki and what a line it is! At the moment Debrincat and Tkachuk are destroying the OHL. Alex Debincat (Erie Otters) is 1st in goals (33 in 30 games) and Tkachuk (London Knights) is 2nd league scoring (14g 45a 59pts).

Canada

Team Canada ripped through the tournament with ease last year. The only real threat came to them in the gold medal game when the Russians mounted a serious comeback bid in the 2nd period. Canada ultimately held on to win the gold medals.

This year the team will be led by a new group of stars including Mitch Marner (TOR), Dylan Strome (ARI), and Matthew Barzal (NYI). Returning will be Joe Hicketts (DET), Lawson Crouse (FLA), Brayden Point (TB), and Jake Virtanen (VAN).

Player(s) to keep an eye on: Toronto Maple Leafs draftee Mitch Marner is going to electrify you. He’s got skills to thrill and I think you’ll see him battling the likes of William Nylander and Auston Matthews for the scoring crown. If you like gritty little guys that can wheel then Anthony Beauvillier and Travis Konecny are your guys.

Notable draft eligible(s): Julien Gauther (Val D’or) is a massive 6’4″ 225lb winger from Val D’or of the QMJHL. He’s already racked up 29 goals and 37 points in 33 games. This kid can absolutely fly out there. He’s got the speed, size and an NHL shot already. Look for him to make an impact.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR4ofTEjB0M

Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Who is the Oilers Best Defenceman?

1 Comment

Well the time is here to talk about the Oilers defence… Again. After the atrocious performance given versus the Winnipeg Jets you could be wondering if the Oilers actually have three NHL-level defenders on their squad. I’m not sure if it’s that bad but the team is definitely lacking on the back-end and in the past I’ve pondered whether the team really needs a no.1 defenseman that will be worth in the range or $7 to $9 million dollars a year. I still don’t believe that is the case but after watching Dustin Byfuglien last night, I think he’d be a perfect player for the Oilers blueline core.

But we’re not here to talk about adding to the blue line, we’re here to talk about the best defenceman on the Oilers. First, let’s get the opinion of some respectable folks like Ryan Robinson and Walter Foddis.

Mr.Robinson makes some good points. The team definitely lacks substance and stability when Oscar Klefbom is in the lineup. Brandon Davidson also supplies the team with some great two-way play but I have to think he’s at least one or two seasons away from being a dman that can be relied upon heavily in key situations if at all.

Walter Foddis found this interesting gem and posted it on Facebook:

Inspired by Tyler Dellows’ work, Matt Cane developed a metric that measures how well defencemen suppress shot attempts following an initial shot. Like all metrics, it’s not a precise measure, but it’s still another useful piece of information to assess the value of a defenceman.

This visual is 2013/14 and 2014/15 data on the Oilers. The yellow square is 1 standard-deviation (68% of players) from the league mean. Red is 2 standard deviations (95% of players). Players to the left of the vertical line are better than average in suppressing the 2nd shot attempt.

Players below the horizontal line are better than average in suppressing the initial shot. All the Oilers D are above this horizontal line; reflecting our poor team defense.

Our apparent best “lock-down” defenceman is Klefbom. Smid was surprisingly good at this, although pretty bad at allowing initial shots, although not worse than Ference, who is weak at both.
Petry was 3rd best and Marincin was 4th, about team average. Of course, we had to trade Petry and Marincin (care of the MacT School of Defensive Devaluation).

The article on the metric he’s talking about can be found here.

So what I can curtail from the words of these two fine gentlemen is that they’re in agreement in that Oscar Klefbom is key to the success of the Oilers defensively. I can buy that soup.

Now what happens when we compare say the defenses from the Oilers with the Nashville Predators? I chose the Predators because they are the team most often associated with the Oilers when it comes to trade rumors. They also have a very deep back-end full of young and talented defenders. So these are the players you’re clambering for when you talk about trading Nuge to the Preds.

Check out this player usage chart from Hockey Abstract:

Oilers defence vs. Predators defence.

Now the higher you go in the chart, the more difficult the competition, and the farther to the left you go, the more difficult the zone starts. The color of the bubbles represent the players Corsi% relative. So if it’s brown, they’re not doing great possession-wise and if it’s blue, they’re doing well with the possessions. The size of the bubble tells us how much ice-time they’re getting.

So as you can see we’ve got Josi and Weber waaaay at the top. Big bubbles close to center but lean more to the brown. So they’re getting the toughest assignments night in and night out and having a tough time. This is where you should find the league’s best defenders.

Now if you look way at the bottom right you’ll find Seth Jones, a player most often mentioned in connection to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. His bubble is small and he’s getting the easiest zone starts but it’s blue. So it appears the Preds are taking their time with this fella and he’s responding well. Good choice. THIS is where Justin Schultz should be but for whatever reason a myriad of coaches and management types continue to play him in a fashion that is above his current ability. Would you still trade RNH for Seth Jones after seeing this?

Klefbom is the man for the Oilers.

As for the Oilers, it appears Fayne and Klefbom are/were getting the toughest assignments but keeping their head above water. Darnell Nurse is getting the most ice-time but is being fed punches left and right. Brandon Davidson is sitting very well as a two-way option and Eric Gryba is where you’d expect him to be. But check out Griffin Reinhart. He was given the easiest zone starts and competition but couldn’t keep his boat afloat. He’s where he’s supposed to be right now, meaning the AHL. But shite, the payment to acquire him is looking painful today. We should revisit in 3 or 4 years.

Justin Schultz’s bubble makes me curious. His zone starts appear to be the hardest out of all the players, the bubble isn’t large and it’s blue. I’m guessing that tells us despite the tire fire he appears to be to our eyes, he’s actually holding his own but question the competition I imagine. Is McLellan using him solely to get the puck out of the Oilers defensive zone and then changing him? That’d be an odd role, no? But I guess if he’s not producing any offense what’s the point in having him play that role. An Erik Karlsson he’s not.

So to conclude, Oscar Klefbom is the team’s best defender. Not Darnell Nurse (yet), Rej Sekera, Brandon Davidson or Justin Schultz. He’s the Oilers’ best defenceman because he’s better defensively than any other blue liner on the team and he’s 2 points from being the highest scoring defender on the team despite playing 4 few games. He’s attained 62 blocks and is second to only Sekera in that category. He trails only Taylor Hall in defensive point shares with 1.2 and has the highest offensive point share amongst defensemen on the team. But if the numbers don’t convince you then just watch him play. The eye test won’t fail you.

The Swede may just be the Brent Seabrook we’ve all been waiting for and he’s locked up long-term. What do you think? Is Oscar Klefbom the best defender on the Oilers? Let me know in the comments below!

Happy Holidays!

BLH

You definitely won’t get anything by Christmas but you can still look cool for New Year’s! Head on over to our TeePublic page and grab some sweet Beer League Heroes swag! Our Oilers themed shirts and 16-bit NHL 94 designs are aplenty! Click the pic below and head on over and find something for you or a loved one!

Grab this sweet tee along with many more over at the Merch Shop! Click the pic and get yours today!
NHL

BLH Post Gamer G35 Oilers VS Jets: Talbot 5000

Do you remember the old Rocky movies? You know how in every huge fight that Rocky eventually wins he takes a shit kicking beforehand? Well The Edmonton Oilers you’re watching these days are akin to Rocky when he’s fighting Spider Rico in that old church in the first movie. They’re just building up to the big fight with Apollo Creed. The weird thing is for the last ten years they’ve been the Rocky from the first fight with Clubber Lang or the Apollo Creed fighting Ivan Drago. Weak. Last week.

Oilers been taking a lot of punches these years… It’s about time they started punching back.

I mean the last half of the game versus the Jets was the Oilers holding on for dear life and Cam Talbot saving their asses… Again. Being outshot nearly 3-1 and not maintaining possession for any sustained period of time after the 30 minute mark  is not the way a successful team plays. Check out McLellan’s comments about the game below and tell me you’re not completely on board with what he’s selling.

Now I suppose we should be happy that the Oilers got away with another one and that’s two points in the books but you can be bloody sure that if the team continues to sell their goalies down the river that their goalies are going to lose their cool.

It’s an odd position to be in isn’t it? For years it was the team not having confidence in their goalies and now it’s the other way around.

We can’t short change the Jets here. They are a really good team and if they can find a way to resign two, if not, three of Byfuglien, Ladd, and Trouba this summer; they should be set. They’re big, fast, techincal, and very smart. If they can get their netminding sorted they could be a powerhouse in the West.

The Kingston Cannonball, The German Gretzky, and The Newfie had major success against the Jets last night. They put up eight points and 6 out of Edmonton’s 21 shots and continue to be a beacon of hope for these Oilers until Connor McDavid gets back. Did you put Purcell in your hockey pool like I told you to?

Grab a tee! Click the pic to get yours now!

Justin Schultz scored… Yeah. I don’t know what to say about this. Good for him? It took him over 20 games to get his first goal. This has to be unacceptable by the coach’s, the GM’s, and his own standards. Yet I’m not so sure he’s all that concerned about it. When you listen to his interviews there’s a lot of “hope” and “confidence” and “lucky” being thrown around out there and I don’t buy a single word of it. I don’t want to hear about hope, I want to hear a guy say to the world that he’s going to go out there and do something like score a goal. Not, “I hope the bounces come my way and I can be lucky enough to put one in.” I think that’s a bunch of BS and it screams ZERO CONFIDENCE to me. You know what I hope for? I hope that we’re lucky enough to see Schultz pull it together so that when he’s traded the team will actually get something of value back.

How about Darnell Nurse taking that shot in the wrist and then coming back like it was nothing? I’m certain he had one or two more blocks after that. The guy is an absolute stud and I’m so jacked, unlike others, that the Oilers took him instead of Valeri Nichushkin at the 2013 draft. In his 25 minutes on the ice last night he put up four blocks, 1 shot, a hit and a roughing penalty at the end of the game after Mark Scheifele slewfooted him. Scheifele is lucky he got as little as he did, I reckon Nurse was going to make an example out of him before everyone stepped in. Although I would’ve loved to have seen Trouba and Nurse drop the mitts.

Brrrr. Must be cold in Edmonton. Pick up a sweet hoodie by clicking the pic!

The return of Mark Fayne went largely unnoticed. Lol. That’s a good thing if you’re wondering. He went +2 on the night and not a gaff that I can think of. Good on him because that is what he is being played to do.

Lastly, the other player that I wanted to touch on was Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. He was 73% on the face-off dot, had two shots, two hits, and played over 20 minutes. That’s great because there are those out there that think he’s struggling this season and that with the emergence of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl that he should be trade bait. I am NOT one of them.

Any NHL player can have one good season, right? So at the moment we have a good idea of what we have in Leon and Connor but there’ll be a time when one or both aren’t going and if Nuge isn’t there to pick up the pace, the Oilers have trouble. We can afford to keep all three for another season at least and then if we need to, make a decision at that point. RNH is the best two-way forward on the team and is quickly emerging into one of the best in the league if not the best under 23 years of age.

We did read yesterday that Nashville is interested in him but is unwilling to move Josi, Weber, or Jones to get him. To that I say, fine. Try to go after Duchene, Stamkos, Johansen, and what ever other NHL superstar center with the conversation starting at Ryan Ellis or Mattias Ekholm. Good Luck!

So at the end of the day the Oilers sit in 2nd last place in the West three points above the Ducks but only 1 point out of a playoff spot. McDavid is skating (and shooting) again and I bet you that he’s back in the first half of January. You think the brass in Edmonton, let alone the NHL, is going to miss an opportunity to put the next great star in the all-star game? Especially one that features 3v3? Book it folks! McDavid will be back sooner rather than later.

Take Care and have a really great Christmas! Stay safe!

BLH

Edmonton Oilers, Zach Laing

Oilers vs Jets Preview – Oh Oscar, Where art thou?

TALE OF THE TAPE:

Game: Edmonton Oilers (14-18-2) at Winnipeg Jets (15-15-2)

Location: Rexall Place, Edmonton, Alberta

Time: 7:00 PM MT

Where to find it: TV: CBC – Radio: 630 CHED

Edmonton Oilers Preview:

You’re hot than you’re cold, you’re yes then you’re no.

The lines Katy Perry once sang in her hit “Hot ‘N Cold” (Yeah, I had it on my iPod) apply all too well to our Oilers. After winning the first six games of the month, the team has fallen to the hands of their opponent in their last three.

However, in the last three games one particular Oiler hasn’t been in the lineup. Oscar Klefbom.

As TSN’s Frank Seravalli pointed out in his #MondayMustRead, “you could make the argument that the Oilers have missed Oscar Klefbom has much as Connor McDavid.”

He also noted in the blurb that the Oilers have allowed an average of five (!) more shorts against and one more high-danger scoring chance against. Seravalli also noted that Klefbom could return to the lineup soon. I hadn’t really thought twice about the team’s performances sans McDavid, but it just goes to show how important he is to the team.

Klefbom is currently on pace for career high’s in Goals, Assists, Points and Time on Ice per game.

The season is still young, and this group is just finally getting it’s legs underneath themselves despite the last three losses. Mark Fayne, who was sent down to the Bakersfield Condors has been recalled and will draw into the lineup tonight.

Fayne’s play was so poor that it warranted his demotion and it showed this new management teams holds all players accountable. In five AHL games, Fayne had one assist.

The Jets have gone 5-5 in their last 10, compared to the Oilers who have gone 6-4 in their last 10. Both teams are on a bit of a cold stretch, so it will be interesting to see who comes out on top tonight.

The Otherside:

Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is expected to start, but coach Paul Maurice has not confirmed. Winnipeg starts a stretch of seven of nine games on the road tied for the third-fewest road wins in the NHL (six). Having lost 10 of the past 13 road games (3-9-1), Winnipeg continue a two-game road trip Tuesday against the Calgary Flames. “It’s tough to explain sometimes,” defenseman Mark Stuart said of the road record, according to the Jets website. “You’re together as a team [on the road] and don’t have to worry about anything else but hockey and concentrating on the games. You can get on a roll. That’s what we need to do.”

Line Combos and Starting Goalies c/o Left Wing Lock:


Oilers (Cam Talbot):
Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Teddy Purcell
Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle
Matt Hendricks – Mark Letestu – Lauri Korpikoski
Luke Gazdic – Anton Lander – Iiro Pakarinen

Darnell Nurse – Justin Schultz
Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne
Nikita Nikitin – Eric Gryba

Winnipeg Jets (Connor Hellebuyck):

Andrew Ladd – Bryan Little – Blake Wheeler
Mathieu Perrault – Mark Scheifele – Drew Stafford
Chris Thorburn – Alexander Burmistrov – Nikolaj Ehlers
Joel Armia – Andrew Copp – Matt Halischuk

Jacob Trouba – Dustin Byfuglien
Toby Enstrom – Tyler Myers
Mark Stuart – Ben Chairot

Any ideas on how to improve my game previews? Send me an email at zjlaing@gmail.com.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6eetEkubjE]

Kris Hansen, NHL

BLH Edmonton Oilers Weekly Recap: Dec 13th-19th

The Six Game Win Streak was nice while it lasted. The Oilers finished their four game road trip with an abysmal 1-3 record. Sure, they grabbed a win against Boston on the 14th, but everything else was just….bad.

Put it this way: in the last three games against the Rangers, Blackhawks and Avalanche, the Oilers were outscored 13-3. That’s horrid. Worse yet were the apparent efforts against the Blackhawks, where they won 4-0 in an easy win. Last night, the Oilers could do no right against a hot goaltender like Varlamov and lost 5-1.

It’s a grim record for sure. Monday they play the Jets and then have a five day break before a back to back against Vancouver and Calgary. It doesn’t get any easier either: They take on the Kings on the 29th and the Ducks on the 31st. It’s going to be tough and there are hurdles like mad.

The Oilers are definitely missing Oscar Klefbom and he could not come back any sooner. Worse yet was the apparent injury of Brandon Davidson where he was cross checked from Blake Comeau.

 

No call on the play. No reaction from the team. Nothing. It was old Oilers hockey where someone gets hurt and the team has not even one bit of a response from them.

It’s a damn shame because Brandon Davidson has been the most underrated rookie in the NHL this season and it’s not even close. Losing Davidson and Klefbom stinks. A lot.

Edmonton Oilers Three Stars:

Honestly, this week, there are not any stars. The team stunk this week, despite a win against the Boston Bruins.

The only player that deserves a remote star is Cam Talbot, where he posted 47 saves in 3-2 win against the Boston Bruins. That’s about it.

Who deserves a star? They’ve allowed 4, 4 and 5 goals in the last three games, so certainly not the goaltending or the defence.

They’ve scored a whopping three goals in three games: 2,0,1. The offence certainly doesn’t deserve any praise.

Tough love for the Edmonton Oilers for sure this week. I can’t find any positives in those last three games. Sure, they outshot the Avalanche heavily and were equal in shots against the Rangers, I’ll give them that.

Edmonton Oilers News and Rumors:

So the NHL has the holiday freeze now in effect for any trades. Expect rumors to be the same.

However, there were some newsworthy posts around the Edmonton Oilers recently:

Matt Henderson had a scathing post at Oilersnation.com about Justin Schultz.

Oilonwhyte had a conversation with former Edmonton Oiler, Patrick O’Sullivan that is definitely worth a read.

(Side note: I’d highly recommend the book. I just completed the read and it was engaging and disturbing. There were things that a parent should never put their kid through like John O’Sullivan did to his son.)

Oilersnerdalert had some solid metrics as usual concerning the game against the New York Rangers. Do note however, that he is away from December 17th-January 8th. Darn.

Connor McDavid has been skating with the Edmonton Oilers again.

Around the League:

Montreal Canadiens Legend, Dickie Moore, passed away at 84.

Like Jaromir Jagr? Sportsnet Magazine recently did an Oral History of Jagr.

Bad News for the Canucks: Henrik Sedin to miss second straight game due to injury.

Ryan Johansen could be traded according to Blue Jackets President, John Davidson. This comes after Johansen was a healthy scratch in a 7-5 win over the Arizona Coyotes

Stockton beat Bakersfield in an AHL outdoor game in Sacramento yesterday. The game was moved to Saturday after a rain delay on Friday.

NHL All Star Vote Leader John Scott was put on waivers.

Canada destroyed Belarus 7-1 in an exhibition game in preparation for the World Junior Tournament.

Highlights:

Colton Parayko had a beauty against Calgary

 

 

As did Alex Ovechkin against the Lightning

 

Jimmy Howard had a nice save on Alexander Burrows

 

The Week Ahead

It’s a slow week for the Oilers with only two days taking place over the span of five days: they play hosts to Winnipeg on Monday and Vancouver on Saturday.

That’s the week that was. Follow me on Twitter and have a happy holidays!