Monthly Archives: November 2016

Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, G Money, NHL

Rumblings From the Beer League Heroes Batcave

OILERS V. MAPLE LEAFS… #YIKES

So I had to watch the game after work yesterday and I’ll be honest, it wasn’t as entertaining as I thought it would be. I can watch the Oilers play and be content with a good effort if they lose. But last night, something was definitely out of place. The door was ajar if you will.

How the Oilers can get that many powerplay chances and not come away with one goal is beyond me. How they Oilers coaching staff can continue to use the same tactics on said powerplays is also leaving me baffled.

  • Where’s Puljujarvi and this shot of his we are continually being teased with?
  • Why isn’t anybody in the media doing their job and asking McLellan during the scrums about Jesse’s missing shot? They’re happy to bitch and moan about in online but I haven’t heard one MSM member question Todd McLellan about this.
    • Then today we see Eberle taken off the 1st PP unit and then replaced by…. Mark Letestu! Because he wasn’t commenting about playing too many minutes last year at the beginning of this season when he was scoring to start the year. Makes perfect sense!
  • Why does Andrej Sekera get any time on the PP?
    • His hatred for shinpads is getting old.
  • The other teams have the Oilers figured out and since the PP runs through 97, they just cover the cross-ice lanes and clog everything up like by bathroom sink. Thus, leaving McDavid to do it himself of move the puck to the point which still doesn’t help because the shooting lane is full of players.

Another thing I didn’t notice right away while watching the game but after, when I was reading G Money’s post-gamer over at his site, is the shooting charts 5×5. Check them out.

What the f*ck are the Oilers doing out there if they aren’t shooting the puck? We know that McLellan likes shot volume… So turn it up to 11 for Christ’s sake!! Why are they doing their best to get the opposition’s goalie a shutout every time a losing streak comes along?

Hopefully, they can get something together versus Patrik Laine and the Jets tomorrow night.

The new lines that were being run at practice are as follows:

Jesus, Mary and Joseph! How Pouliot stays in the lineup is mind-boggling, isn’t it? Not even the fancies have his back this time around. So to that, I say he’s must have some interested parties and the Oilers are showcasing him.

Taking out Kassian and Hendricks will bring the intimidation level down a bit but if they’re not performing to McLellan’s standards, then perhaps it’s time for a little break. In Hendricks case, he’s looking his age these days. I love the guy but let’s get that conditioning back up to par and then give it another go. As for Kassian, he’s looked a tad off for the last few games.

The team lacked bite against Toronto and adding in Pitlick and Slepyshev could bring back a bit of that edge and it most definitely will bring more speed.

Why hasn’t Anton Slepyshev been able to hold down a spot on this team? He’s been hitting, shooting, and creating chances for the majority of the games he’s played in. More so that say, Zach Kassian or most recently, Pat Maroon. This is a player that was once described as one of the best in the KHL before coming over. He’s a Russian that has accepted there’s a certain path that one has to follow when attempting to break into the NHL and that must mean something. For the most part, I wanna say the kids that come over from Russia expect to be slotted into their NHL team’s starting lineup right away but not with Slepyshev. He’s been a good soldier so far and I think he should be rewarded with an extended run.

Mark Fayne has been recalled because Eric Gryba was hurt at practice. This falls under the category of “Who gives a shit?” because I’d be more than surprised if he made it into the lineup. Then again Matt Benning has been having a tough go of it as of late… Maybe Battlin’ Matt Benning gets a rest one of these days and Fayne draws in.

Talbot needs another break here and Gustavsson made some sweet saves in the third period last night. I’d like to see Gus get a start in the next couple of games.

OILERS GETTING A VISIT FROM A SPECIAL SOMEONE?

Gawd I hope that G Money can shed some light on this play from the Oilers game yesterday when he returns from the game on Saturday 🙂

@Oilersnerdalert is G Money, if you’ve been following the Oilers online through our site, Lowetide’s comments section, Twitter, and his own page; you’re very aware of who G Money is.

The BLH family has known about this for a while now but we were asked to keep it on the down low. But today is a new day and our old boy Zachary Laing has let the cat out of the bag with a little slap and tickle…

G Money just released a tweetstorm explaining the invite as well. So congrats to him and let’s hope for all the best!

 

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Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Jumping In Head First

I’m going to be touching on a few things here including the game tonight that I’ll miss due to work. GRRR! Also, I want to touch on the anti-Eberle fans and then on a more serious note I’ll be talking about a serious article from The Oilers Rig that has had me thinking and I hope you can help me with my thoughts a bit.

**WARNING! THIS POST HAS QUITE A BIT OF FOUL LANGUAGE IN IT. PLEASE GO ELSEWHERE IF YOU’RE OFFENDED BY SWEAR WORDS. IF YOU DO STAY AND READ AND THEN DECIDE TO EMAIL ME ABOUT SAID LANGUAGE, I WILL PROBABLY REPLY WITH THE SAME SORT OF LANGUAGE. THANK YOU!**

Oilers/Maple Leafs: McDavid vs. Kadri

I’m very interested in seeing how this is going to go down. Will Kadri try to go at McDavid like he did in TO? Will Lucic do something about it if Kadri does? How will McLellan work the last change?

I think that Connor is going to take this match-up very seriously and very personally. He looks like a man of immense pride and being embarrassed like that in TO has surely left a mark.

How will the Oilers combat Mitch Marner? What if Darnell Nurse was out there every time Marner was? Do what Arizona with OEL on McDavid and just have a single dman tasked withs shutting Marner down.

Will Auston Matthews and William Nylander have a better go this time around? They were pretty quiet in the previous game. Do you reckon that RNH will be given the job of taking care of the Maple Leafs’ kid line?

This should be a beauty of a game and in comparison to the last two versus Arizona, it should feel like 1987 all over again!

JORDAN EBERLE

Are you one of the fans that is yearning for the Oilers to sit Eberle in the press box for a night to “teach him a lesson”? Or are you the kind that wants the Oilers to deal him right now?

Ain’t happenin’ folks!

Eberle is the team’s best RW, period and he’s on pace to put up 25 goals and 60 points! You can’t even argue that Puljujarvi is one bit and he’s the closest one! WHY would you want to trade that?

Ebs scores, forechecks like a mutha fucker and he’s been backchecking like crazy this season. More than any other season that I can remember.

Do you think he’s lazy in the corners and too weak?

Remember how he and Hall and Nuge used to work that cycle in year’s past? Yeah, he had to go to the dirty areas to do that.

Look, I’m mad at him for missing that assignment in front of the net vs. Arizona too and I absolutely HATE how he has to dribble the puck 3 or 4 times before letting it fly but you win as a team and you lose as a team. The Oilers, and Eberle himself, had plenty of chances to score earlier and they didn’t. Boo hoo, we move on to the next team.

I mean if you’re going to pick on someone, be consistent. Get on Pouliot’s back.

ON A SERIOUS NOTE… This is Where I Jump in Head First.

As I laid in bed trying to get to sleep I had a Joe Rogan podcast playing in the background and today’s guest was a professor from the Univ. of Toronto and they were talking about social justice warriors and the likes and it got me thinking about an article I read from my old haunt, The Oilers Rig.

http://www.theoilersrig.com/2016/11/sports-email-abuse-2/

The article was from the site’s content manager Megan Fowler and she had an encounter with an unknown follower who happened to show a lack of appreciation for her fondness of Taylor Hall and proceeded to call her a cunt. Neh! A stupid cunt.

Now I’ve dealt with Ms.Fowler in the past and I’ll be honest, the interactions weren’t that pleasant. It was more business-like than I was used to and we didn’t see eye-to-eye because we’re on the opposite sides of the Hall debate and had no problems letting each other know. Don’t get me wrong, she wasn’t a stupid cunt or anything. But I left the Rig family soon after to concentrate on things here at BLH. Shows how smart of a guy I am…

I’m torn and a bit confused about my whole feelings on Ms.Fowler’s experience and that’s why I’m writing this. I’d like to know more about the situation and in the process, hopefully, learn more about myself by exposing my underbelly a bit on the topic and most likely open myself up to some public shaming due to my lack of empathy. Hooray! And a pre-emptive thank you for taking the time to read perhaps a different viewpoint.

Honestly, I just want to know if my wheels are aligned or if they’re in dire need of an adjustment.

I’m not female so I can’t say I know how Ms.Fowler feels nor have I been called any sort of cunt before. But a part of me says if she’s going to passionately write about her team and be combative and have the words “Salty AF” (AF = as fuck) in her Twitter handle, then she should be prepared to have some shit slung at her and when it does come her way; she can’t go crying on social media and through her site about it.

I don’t know why but there lingering questions for me.

  • Did the email only contain the sentence, “Hey you stupid cunt, why don’t you cry about Taylor Hall some more?” Because ironically, that is a pretty cunty email to send if that’s all it said.
  • How do we know it was a guy that sent it?
  • Was it a person from Great Britain where the term “cunt” is fairly widespread and common?

The ego takes a bit of a hit there when someone calls you a name (especially a cunt in North America) and nobody likes to be disrespected be they male or female but the reassurances needed by Ms.Fowler, a grown adult and teacher, are also a question for me. She claims that it’s not the first time and certainly won’t be the last but if it’s happening so often, is there something there that should be reflected upon? I mean, what’s the motivation in posting an entire article on being called a name and why does she care so much about this one person’s opinion?

She claims that it’s not the first time and certainly won’t be the last but if it’s happening so often, is there something there that should be reflected upon personally? I mean, what’s the motivation in posting an entire article on being called a name and why does she care so much about this one person’s opinion if this is a common occurrence?

  • Social justice?
  • To shed light on women in sport and the abuse they have to endure?
  • Needed attention?

In Ms.Fowler’s case, she kinda made her own bed with her pining of Taylor Hall but hey, we all have our favorite players and even I’ll say that trade was questionable. My favorite band was Blink-182 when I was younger and I can say from experience, I did not want to admit that amongst my more punk rock engrained friends and I never wore a Blink shirt to the Warped Tours I attended… Stayed safe and wore Anti-Flag shirts 🙂

I guess personally, I just don’t feel the need to bring to light the garbage that someone is trying to toss on my lawn so I can say “Hey! Look at what happened here! This is an unspeakable offense!” I suppose I’m more of the type that says, “Wow! Whoever sent that is obviously having a tough time in life, I hope things get better for them but a name only has the power you give it.” And honestly, there are worse things to be called than a stupid cunt, unless you feel that you might be a bit a cunt and are pissed someone has finally called you out.

I imagine I’ve done my own but of shit-disturbing by now and there will most definitely be someone who’ll ask me, “What if that happened to your daughter?”

Well, the answer to that is, don’t worry about my daughter because it’s none of your business. I appreciate the concern but we’ll handle it.

I figure in this instance there’s some person out there laughing his ass off feeling empowered by what has transpired. So has Ms.Fowler really done anything to combat this sort of offense?

All of That Being Said…

Megan has obviously gone and done something so well that it has irked someone enough into showing their own insecurities to you by taking the time to email her and call her a cunt. She’s obviously talented at what she does and since taking over at The Rig, the site has gone stratospheric!

One must give credit where credit is due and often times when one cannot find it in them to give said credit, they go the other way and try to tear down what that other person has done.

You see, that’s the thing about the keyboard warriors. So so so so insecure and they believe that their opinion of you or your works counts for something. The mindset of “If I’m wrong then you’re a dick” is the most fucked up and childish one I’ve come across but I find it rare in public settings because those people tend to be taken care of one way or another. Give a guy a keyboard and the safety net of knowing they may never have to meet the person their denigrating though and it’s on!

In the end, I really believe that the sex of a writer is unimportant. Good content comes from everyone and everywhere, male or female or transgender, but if you’re being a cunt, you’re fair game.

So don’t be a cunt.

The comments section is open for your thoughts. Thank you!

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Kosmic Burrito, NHL

Oilers Playoff Hopes Still Alive in November? Am I Trippin’?

What’s up you sexy residents of the Beer League Heroes Universe? I’ve just been vibing around on my Kosmic quest for another Oilers dynasty run, and everything psychedelic. What a trip! Can you believe that it’s November 23rd and the Edmonton Oilers aren’t just “still in a playoff position”, they are leading the (once mighty) Pacific Division. I’m serious, this isn’t another bad trip is it? Oh no dude, did I take the infamous “Brown Woodstock Acid”?

“Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?” – Freddie Mercury

No bro, this is the real freakin’ deal…

Let’s face it, the LA Kings aren’t the powerhouse that they once were, and both the Sharks and Ducks are not playing up to their potential. The Flames, well, they’re playing like everyone thought that they would, and Vancouver clearly needs to dump the Sedin’s and go into full out rebuild mode. The Canucks first order of business should be to fire GM Jim Benning, before he makes any other silly signings for this aging team (IE: Loui Eriksson). Then there’s the Coyotes, who were thought to rise up from the desert with their young and talented roster. Which isn’t quite the case as of yet, but they’re young and learning the game still. And lastly, we have our beloved Edmonton Oilers, who are on the rise…finally. Could they have picked a better time to do it? The “California Three” aren’t the juggernauts that they were in the past, Vancouver needs to go into rebuild mode ASAP, and the Coyotes and Flames are finding their game still. The Time is now…

How sick are Thornton and Burns’ beards though? Hella fresh! But not badass enough for a Stanley Cup ring. Yes, San Jose did make it to the Stanley Cup Final last year, but I think that extended run may have tired out some of their older soldiers. Not to mention that Thornton himself also played in the World Cup this past summer. That’s a lot of hockey miles in one year for a 37-year-old soon to be 20 year NHL veteran. Now I’m not suggesting that Jumbo Joe is slowing down, but Marleau on the other hand…yeah guy.

I am NOT trippin’ on some bad stuff when I say this! But LA’s days are numbered as a Cup favourite. Experts have been predicting the LA downward spiral for a few years now, and they definitely have some cap crippling contracts holding them back from adding any firepower (IE: Dustin Brown). Maybe the newly named Vegas Golden Knights (ugh, don’t even get me started) will help them out by taking a big contract off of their hands in the upcoming expansion draft. But until they can fix their cap issues LA won’t be a cup contender, maybe not even a playoff team.

Then I’m not really sure what Anaheim’s issue is, just a whole lot of underachieving if you ask me (or a batch of bad Brown Woodstock Acid). I mean, they still have a competitive roster. Just a down year I guess, it happens. I still think that they’re going to finish strong this year, and will be the major competition for first place in the Pacific.

Then as I mentioned earlier, both the Flames and Coyotes are still trying to find their identities. Both rosters boast a lot of up and coming young talent, mixed in with some solid veterans. It’s only a matter of time before both teams figure their game out.

“Time is of the essence.” – Unknown

But seriously, the Oilers couldn’t have picked a better time to show some improvement in their game (thank you McWizard). No, it’s not just all McDavid, just look at the play of Cam Talbot, the surprise goal production from Tyler Pitlick, and the steady presence of rookie defenseman Matt Benning. Not too mention the offense from young vet’s like Maroon and Eberle, and the muscle from Lucic. When you also factor in the strong play of defensemen Adam Larsson, Oscar Klefbom and Darnell Nurse, it’s easy to see why this entire team seems to have turned the proverbial corner. Are they a Western juggernaut? Not quite yet, but it’s coming. That much is easy to see. Of course, Captain Connor is leading the charge, and the NHL scoring race at the moment. But the rest of the team has also stepped up to meet the challenge. They say the best players bring out the best in their teammates, maybe this is the case with McDavid. But I think that it’s also a matter of having the same coach and systems in place for more than one season, unlike in the past. Also, it could be a matter of a whole slew of players finding their game at the same team and playing like a team. Which hasn’t really happened with past squads.

Whatever it is, it’s November and the Oilers are leading the Pacific Division. I’m just going to kick back, watch some stellar hockey, and enjoy the ride.

Stay trippy my friends!

As always, you can with me or follow me on Twitter @kosmicburrito

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Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

Benoit Pouliot is in Play

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The analytics community will be outraged but not surprised at this post. They’re rarely surprised by anything that an Oilers GM does as they’ve come to expect, what they call politely, unwise moves when any player transaction takes place.

**As I always say, believe me or not, but when I get news from my source I will always let you know. I’m not McKenzie, Rishaug, Dreger, or LeBrun but I hear things and I like to share the things I hear. That being said, I’ve found that rarely do these things pan out and in Pouliot’s case, he seems to be on the block every year.**

According to my sources, a memo to every GM in the league has been passed along that Benoit Pouliot is available. The Oilers are quite unhappy with the inconsistent play of Pouliot this season and are ready to move on from the Craig MacTavish signing.

The word on what the Oilers are looking for in return is unclear, perhaps draft picks at this point, but I’ve been told that other GMs want Edmonton to eat 50% of Pouliot’s contract.

My Thoughts

Two things:

  1. The big Frenchman has been healthy scratched 2 games in a row now and it doesn’t look like there’s much chance of him getting back in the lineup while the Oilers are winning with rookie Drake Caggiula and gritty veteran Matt Hendricks are getting ice time. He should get comfortable on Isle Ference.
  2. Peter Chiarelli has traded him before when they were both part of the Boston Bruins organization. At the 2012 draft, Pouliot’s rights were dealt to Tampa Bay for Michel Oullet and a 5th rounder. That player turned out to be Seth Griffin, a forward that was recently waived by the Bruins and picked up by the Florida Panthers.

I have no problems moving on from Pouliot but I don’t like the idea of them eating 50% of the remainder of his contract. I’m not against eating some cash but not 50%.

According to Capfriendly.com, the maligned left winger has 2 more seasons after this current one left on his deal and he’s being paid $4M per year. So it would cost the Oilers at least that much to move him, if what I’m being told is true.

If I were Edmonton, I’d look to move some of the defensemen from the Oilers’ system in Bakersfield to sweeten the pot a bit.

The best piece to sweeten said pot? What about Brandon Davidson? He’s injured at the moment, but he’s shown that he can play the game and he’s NHL ready. Also, Matt Benning’s play of late has sort of made the Oilogosphere forget about Davidson a bit. Not completely, but enough.

If a deal could be made where the Oilers don’t lose Davidson and say they move LaLeggia, Oesterle, Musil, or Reinhart instead; that would be a win for Chiarelli and Co.

I’d target teams that lean towards the analytics and that are struggling like Arizona or Florida.

We’ve been touting Michael Stone lately, and his ticket is the same cost as Pouliot’s ($4M). He’ll also he a UFA at season’s end and that means he wouldn’t need to be protected in the expansion draft. Double plus!

What do you think about Benoit Pouliot this season? Would you keep him or move him? Let us know in the comments below!

Black Friday sales are coming and we’re not exempt! Our Teepublic shop will have EVERYTHING ON SALE this weekend. Check out some of the designs below to see what we’ve got to offer and I hope you’ll head over later this week and pick something out for a friend or loved one!

**PS: We’ve got every NHL team covered in the 16-Bit nhl94 format. And we’ll take on your custom orders too! So if you want a Boston Bruins Ray Bourque, a Los Angeles Kings Wayne Gretzky, or a Montreal Canadiens Patrick Roy, WE CAN DO IT!! Just get in touch with us at beerleagueheroe@hotmail.com or on the Twitter machine @beerleagueheroe!**

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Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

TSN’s Oilers Expansion Draft Protection List… What?!

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If you’ve been keeping tabs on the Oilers through Twitter, you probably seen the momentary madness that was brought on by this tweet…

That is the Oilers protection list for the upcoming expansion draft. I found it over on TSN’s site here. Basically, it’s an article from TSN insider Frank Saravalli about how all the Canadian NHL teams protection lists might look come expansion draft time. We’ll find out who has gone where on June 21st, 2016.

So Saravalli, along with Pierre LeBrun and Craig Button, picked each team’s protection lists and this is what they had to say about the Edmonton Oilers’ list:

Twenty-five-year-old left-shot defenceman Brandon Davidson jumps off the page as the Oilers’ most vulnerable asset. His game took a huge leap last season with his ability to play the off-side on defence. But Davidson has been out since the season opener and rookie Matt Benning, who plays the right side naturally, has capably filled in, leaving Davidson potentially expendable.

Tyler Pitlick has played himself onto the protection list this season. Benoit Pouliot will likely be exposed because of his contract (two more years at $4 million per season).

The main argument here is coming from the analytics community and folks such as Oilersnation and Hockeybuzz writer, Matt Henderson.

This tweet re: Tyler Pitlick’s inclusion

I like Pitlick and also see him in the same Fernando Pisani-type manner that Lowetide does. But is there a threat from Las Vegas that he’d be taken if exposed? Could Jujhar Khaira replace Pitlick in the Oilers’ bottom six next season? Could Tyler Benson? Could Cal Clutterbuck (UFA this summer)?

Pouliot shot 18.1% with the Oilers in 2014/15…

Re: Benoit Pouliot

I question Pouliot’s ELITE 5v5 scoring a bit due to the fact his highest scoring season was 36 points and he’s done that twice, once with the Rangers in 2013/14 and last season w/Edmonton.

I know how one could look at his time in Edmonton and say that Pouliot is indeed an excellent producer given in his two previous years with the Oilers he put up some very nice totals whilst being limited to injury.

in 2014/15 he had 34 points in 54 games and in 2015/16 he had 36 points in 55 games. That being said, in 2014, his shooting percentage was 18.1% and in 2015, it was 12.8% but he’s always had some gaudy shooting percentages over the course of his career.

Anyways, we get back to the ELITE 5v5 numbers for Pou. According to stats.hockeyanalysis.com, from 2012-2015, Benoit Pouliot’s points/60 (5v5, 2000 minutes TOI minimum) was ranked 55th in the NHL w/1.96. He was sandwiched in there with the likes of Jason Spezza, Patric Hornqvist, Nick Foligno, and Jason Pominville. He was better than Daniel Sedin, Joe Pavelski, Alex Ovechkin, and Henrik Zetterberg, to name a few of the more prominent names.

So Mr.Henderson does indeed have a point here. I’m just not sure I put tons of value into it because he had only one healthy season in there (80 games played 2013/14 w/New York).

Another major argument is the disclusion of Brandon Davidson and my counter to that is the team has a young kid named Matt Benning playing right now and Chia’s summer signing is staying healthy and proving to be one of the team’s best defenders, much like Davidson did last year.

I also like to point out that there are going to be some very nice dmen available for Las Vegas to pick this summer and I wouldn’t be surprised at all of Davidson was skipped over because of his inability to stay healthy.

I mean that injury concern could very well be a blessing in disguise for the Oilers if he indeed is passed over. Depth on the backend is of the utmost importance these days. Another thing is, Davy can skate, move the puck, plays the body and he has a cannon!! He’s just shy to let ‘er fly. We’re finding out the value of blueliners who can skate and move the puck to be growing every year, regardless of what the fancies say (right Kris Russell?).

My surprise is that Letestu is on this list.

The Oilers have a young team with a lack of right-handed veteran pivots. Now that’s not to say that Letestu should be lining up in the top 6 but he serves a very important role in the bottom 6. I put value in what a hard working veteran can bring to the team. I was disappointed when Boyd Gordon was dealth because he was VERY good at his role.

I reckon that Kassian could be the one left off in lieu of say Brandon Davidson or Mark Letestu.

There’s one thing that could throw that list for a bloody loop and that’s IF the Oilers obtain a top 4 defenseman to run their PP. Like a Dougie Hamilton for instance… Then their list goes from a 1-3-7 to a 1-8 and players like Maroon, Pitlick, and Kassian would be exposed anyhow.

What do you think about TSN’s list? Let us know in the comments below!

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