The push for patience regarding Andreas Athanasiou is on now folks! Yesterday morning on Oilers Now, host Bob Stauffer and Mark Spector (Sportsnet) were already bringing up things like, “It could take up to three months for a new player to find his stride after a trade” or “It’s not easy to play with Connor McDavid.”
Now, both points I cannot argue with one bit because I believe they are true. I’m just finding it very interesting that we’re getting a bit of pushback from the Oilers media on this so soon after the trade. They are seeing the same things we are but are throwing some support behind the player (for the time being).
Sure, he scored 30 goals once and year, he’s coming from a team that is poor, but none of those really mean anything in the grand scheme of things. Don’t you think the Red Wings were trying to win games or that Athanasiou was trying to score this year? AA is underperforming as one could observe if you were to take a look at his career average shooting percentage vs the one he has right now.
Personally, I think AA has a lot of warts in his game and has had them for some time. I don’t think that the Red Wings current coaching staff did a great job of working with him on these and now it’ll be up to Dave Tippett and his team to do so to which I have full confidence in their ability to do so.
The other thing here that we should consider, The Greek Streak’s contract is up at the end of the season and he’s an RFA. If he doesn’t produce much this year, that should work very nicely into Ken Holland’s plans to re-sign this fella at a reasonable price.
There’s a kid in this year’s draft that reminds me a bit of AA, his name is Antonio Stranges. Great skater (not sure about his north/south speed, but his edges are sublime) and seems to produce well, but is a tad enigmatic. He was once considered a first-rounder, but due to a lack of consistency shown over the course of the season, he’ll drop into the second or third round I reckon. Skills are there and the potential is there but how’s his game between the ears and what else can he bring to the ice when his speed and skill are shut down?
Getting to tonight’s game, I think this is going to be one helluva test for the Oilers. It was against these very Jets that this streak of bad 5×5 games started and now Winnipeg is healthier and is desperate. Couple that with Edmonton’s continued poor play at even strength and what seems to be an endless parade of “dinged up” players… It’s not what one would call a recipe for success. The one thing that the Oilers potentially have in their corner is a smoking hot goalie in Mikko Koskinen. Might as well call him the Hungry Hungry Hippo with the way he’s gobbling up pucks.
Edmonton has to find a way to re-connect with their old ways and pay back their goalies with some good play in front of them.
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Random Pontifications (Coronavirus Edition)
- Connor McDavid is still under the weather and isn’t even practicing now. I fully expect him to sit another game out here. Have people started up the coronavirus rumors yet?
- I noticed that a large group of Leon Draisaitl fans made the trek over to Edmonton from Germany to watch their favorite son and I think that’s awesome. However, Germany is getting sacked pretty hard by COVID-19. They just shut down their own hockey league for a little perspective. I’m happy the group made it over safely and this is in no way personal or me taking a shot at anybody. I’m sure everybody is as healthy as a horse, but with the way that this virus is blowing up in the US and probably soon in Canada, I don’t think you can take too many precautions here. All it takes is one person who is incubating the virus and is asymptomatic in that group and there’s a massive explosion in cases in Edmonton.
- Wouldn’t it be so Oilers if Edmonton was well on its way to the Stanley Cup final and the NHL shut down the league due to the coronavirus?
- Or wouldn’t it be something if Canada got things under control and all of the playoff games had to be played outside of the USA? Doubt that would happen though. Reckon the NHL would rather play in empty arenas than in CHL rinks just from a broadcasting perspective.
- Stop buying toilet paper and start buying soap and other actual necessities, folks!
If you’d like a good slap of reality, watch this Joe Rogan clip with Michael Osterholm, an internationally recognized expert in infectious disease epidemiology and author of the book, “Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Deadly Germs”.
The BLH Instagram account is growing like crazy! Three weeks ago when we started to get it back going we were at a shade over 1100 followers and now we’re gunning for 1500. So please, head on over and give us a follow as we’re posting exclusive content over there that won’t be published here or on our Twitter page.
Three Players to Watch for the Jets
- #26 Blake Wheeler – One of the league’s great leaders today. Wheeler absolutely undressed Ethan Bear a week ago on his way to assisting on a goal from Kyle Connor. Big bodied players who can skate, shoot, and have hands like this guy in addition to being an old-school style hockey player aren’t a common occurrence these days.
- #27 Nik Ehlers – If not for Mike Smith’s heroics last time out, Ehlers could’ve had a couple of goals. He’s such a dangerous shooter and it’ll be of the utmost importance that the Oilers defenders not allow this guy have any time or space with the puck in their zone.
- #81 Kyle Connor – Seven goals in his last ten games according to dailyfaceoff.com. This is one red-hot ginger at the moment. Fun fact: Edmonton could’ve selected this player in the 2015 NHL draft. I think you know what they did instead…
#NHLJets line rushes and D pairs:
Connor-Scheifele-Wheeler
Ehlers-Eakin-Laine
Copp-Lowry-Roslovic
Perreault-Shore-AppletonMorrissey-DeMelo
Kulikov-Pionk
Beaulieu-PoolmanHellebuyck starts in goal vs #Coyotes
— Ken Wiebe (@WiebesWorld) March 9, 2020
Three Players to Watch for the Oilers
- #93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – This is his best season and it’s not even close. He’s a constant scoring threat since being moved to the wing alongside one of Leon Draisaitl or Connor McDavid. He’s thriving in Dave Tippett’s system and I’m here for all of it. That said, his trade value couldn’t be higher. I wouldn’t trade him, I’m just saying.
- #28 Andreas Athanasiou – I can’t help it. I feel like we need to keep watching this guy to get a better idea of what we have here. Someone compared him to Petr Klima on the radio last week and I’m starting to believe they might be on to something.
- #83 Matt Benning – The Battler got right shook up a couple of times early in that game against Vegas thanks to Ryan Reaves and I’m wondering if he might get the game off and Edmonton throws Caleb Jones back in. If that’s the case, then I want to watch Jones closely. He’s progressed very nicely since becoming a full-time Oiler and the Jets have some ridiculously talented forwards that would present an excellent challenge for a young defender looking for his groove at the NHL level.
The Next Twelve Games (71-82)
- 3/11 vs. Winnipeg Jets (36-28-6) – Winnipeg really gave it to the Oilers in their last game against each other but Edmonton’s goaltending was stellar and now McDavid is under the weather and Yamamoto is taking “maintenance days”? (LOSS)
- 3/13 vs. New York Islanders (35-23-9) – Who would’ve guessed that the Islanders would be fighting with the Rangers for a wildcard spot in 2020? (WIN)
- 3/15 @ Philadelphia Flyers (41-20-7) – The last back-to-back of the year starts here against the hottest team in the NHL. A lot of ppl ridiculed the Flyers when they picked up Justin Braun and Matt Niskanen, but they’ve proven to be very excellent additions so far. Top that off with some Carter Hart netminding and life is good in Philly. (LOSS)
- 3/16 @ Washington Capitals (41-20-8) – At the time of writing, the Caps are 4-3-3 in their last ten games and that’s generally not the kind of form you want to be in at the end of the regular season. What a great hockey team this is but unless they get great goaltending, I don’t think their defense is all that amazing aside from John Carlson. (WIN)
- 3/18 @ Ottawa Senators (25-32-12) – The Sens basically dealt away their best player and one of their most talented wingers at the deadline, in addition to that, Edmonton’s past would lead me to believe that the Sens should probably take this one. This is a different Oilers team though and I feel like they’ll win this one with ease. (WIN)
- 3/20 vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (43-20-6) – Speaking of teams that are cooling off at the wrong time. The Lightning are 3-6-1 in their last ten, they’re without Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman, and the guys they picked up at the trade deadline have done diddly squat since then. Maybe by the time this game takes place Stamkos and Hedman are back in and their deadline acquisitions are scoring, but I hope not! HA! (OT LOSS)
- 3/23 vs. Anaheim Ducks (28-32-9) – Poor John Gibson. This team is a shell of its former self but the good thing is, they’re icing quite a few youngsters and for a draft geek like myself, I dig that. (WIN)
- 3/25 vs. Colorado Avalanche (41-20-8) – How healthy are the Avs in this one? When I was writing this on the 10th of March Nathan MacKinnon had gotten dinged up and this is a team that will only go as far as he takes them. (WIN)
- 3/27 vs. San Jose Sharks (29-35-5) – Do you recognize any of the names on this roster? Will Evander Kane concuss another Oiler in this one? Is anybody still laughing at the fact that their first-rounder belongs to the Ottawa Senators and it’s most likely going to net the Sens a future first-line forward or top-four defender? (WIN)
- 3/29 vs. Anaheim Ducks (28-32-9) – Might we start seeing some players getting rested around this time? You can be sure that the Ducks will be playing to win and doing it in the only way they know. The Oilers will need to be careful not to get hurt here. (WIN)
- 3/31 vs. Vegas Golden Knights (39-24-8) – I expect there to be some fire in this one. A Vegas/Edmonton playoff series would be some great entertainment, would it not? (LOSS)
- 4/4 vs. Calgary Flames (36-27-7) – This is how every year should end, with a final installment of the battle of Alberta. Where are the Flames in the standings in this game though? Regardless, it’ll be a very interesting game if both teams have clinched playoff spots. Not sure how physical it will be but one thing you can be sure of, Matthew Tkachuk will probably annoy Leon Draisaitl and Andrew Mangiapane will most likely score a goal. (WIN)
(Standings as of March 10th, 2020)
