Category Archives: 2016 Mastercard Memorial Cup

2016 Mastercard Memorial Cup, Armchair GM, Around the Oilogosphere, Bakersfield Condors, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

2023/24 Edmonton Oilers GM40: Oilers VS. Maple Leafs – 3P2W – “Keep your eye on a team like Edmonton. I think that they..will certainly have some interest.”

Hey y’all! Welcome back for another season of Edmonton Oilers hockey! I’m BLH and I’ll be giving you the skinny on today’s game!

If you’re new here and are wondering what 3P2W means, well, it stands for Three Players to Watch and seeing I’m as lazy as I am, I figured we’d shorten it to 3P2W.

So with that out of the way, let’s talk a little bit about what’s been going on lately in the Oilogospehere and then get into the player’s I’ve put under the spotlight for today’s matchup!

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Random Pontifications

“There’s anywhere between 4 or 5 teams… that have interest in Corey Perry… I know there’s been some talk about Toronto – I don’t see that as a fit…Keep your eye on a team like Edmonton. I think that they..will certainly have some interest.” – Chris Johnston

  • Perry’s on his way to the Oilers. It’s only a matter of time and man, do they need him in their bottom six because those boys have fizzled right the f*ck out. I would assume that’s why the games have been a lot closer as of recent.

“The Oilers are actively exploring the possibility of adding veteran forward Corey Perry to their roster, according to insider reports. Bob Stauffer, host of Oilers Now, has revealed that the team is diligently assessing the potential acquisition of Perry.”

“TSN’s Frank Seravalli notes that the Oilers have been in pursuit of Perry for several weeks and are expressing genuine interest in securing his services. Perry, who is reportedly considering various options, is said to have Edmonton high on his list of preferred destinations.”

  • I don’t always believe what Seravalli says but I do think he’s an entertaining guest on Stauffer’s show because he sticks it to Bob every now and then and doesn’t give stock answers.
  • Now, what I’m afraid of is the Oilers considering Perry to be their “top-six” winger addition that Holland was speaking to recently. That won’t work. The former Duck is way to old to be getting that kind of TOI and he’s been way better down the lineup.
  • One thing that could materialize out of a possible Perry addition is that Warren Foegele gets moved. He’s got ten points in his last ten games and seems to be a good winger for Leon but I could foresee a scenario where Draisaitl gets pissy due to the lack of finish out of McLovin’.
  • Perry could replace Foegele in the bottom six easily and #37 could be used in a deal to bring in somebody like Vladdy Tarasenko out of Ottawa. We know the Sens and Oilers have been talking and the Staios connection is there…
  • Just as an aside, do you think there’s a chance Edmonton moves Evander Kane? I’ve not heard anything and he’s been a lot better than some projected him to be (on and off the ice) when Holland brought him in, but I just wonder if the Oilers cut bait on him before he gets into Milan Lucic territory.

Quotes come from NHL Trade Talk

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Three Players to Watch for the Bad Guys

  • #34 Auston Matthews (33g 15a 48pts) – There is something to be said with regards to scoring goals at nearly a goal-per-game pace but if you’re one of those hockey people who are saying Matthews should be in contention for the Hart, you’re kidding yourself. He’s not even the MVP of his own team this year. The next guy on the list is…
  • #88 William Nylander (21g 36a 58pts) – I think he’s the best player on the Leafs but there’s an argument to be made there. He’s definitely the most entertaining and that’s not even close. He’s scored five goals and seven assists in his last ten games played.
  • #16 Mitch Marner  (18g 28a 46pts) – Surprisingly enough, Marner is the team’s hottest player in their last five games with four goals and three assists in that time. Now, I don’t watch the team enough but at the moment, Sheldon Keefe has him lining up on his 3rd line RW for some reason alongside Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi. That line could be problematic if they’re on their game.

Three Players to Watch for the Good Guys

  • #18 Zach Hyman (14g 10a 24pts) – Is this stat true? According to hockey-reference, Hyman has only played against the Maple Leafs three times. He’s got one goal and one assist in those games. Anyways, he’s still trucking along in the goal-scoring department with five goals in his last five games.
  • #97 Connor McDavid 0g 3a 3pts) – 16 points in his last ten games and historically versus the Leafs he has 31pts in 21 games. Now Careful with him though, January seems to be one of the months where Connor slows down a bit.
  • #74 Stu Skinner (9g 30a 39pts) – He’s 4-0-0 with a 1.24 GAA and a SV% of 0.957 in his last five starts. They’ll need him on his game tonight because Toronto has enough firepower to blow it wide open if Skinner shits the bed in the tiniest of fashions. That said, so much for his sophomore slump I was pitching earlier in the season. He’s now made it so that the co-GMs Holland and Jackson don’t need to stump up for a starting goalie. All they need now is a 1B.

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2016 Mastercard Memorial Cup, Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, International, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects

Taylor Hall, The Nuge, and Matty Tkachuk

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A lesser man would tell you he told you so with regards to Hall not making Team Canada but I’ll do no such thing. I got the news in a hungover stupor on vacation that Hall was out for the Canadians and Nugent-Hopkins was in for the U24 North Americans. Interesting….

No Taylor Hall for Team Canada this time around, maybe he’ll pull an Yzerman and be ready in his late 20’s.

My Thoughts on Hall and Team Canada

The following is going to come off as pretty anti-Hall but they’re just observations. I’ll admit Hall hasn’t been my favourite player since he’s come into the league and I’ve let my opinions be known on plenty of occasions. That being said, I am starting to see his game change for the better. So he may very well work his way into my good books and onto at least one Team Canada before it’s all said and done.

  • Taylor Hall wasn’t “snubbed” as some media and fans like to put it. He didn’t have a good NHL season and he doesn’t fit the mold of the players that Mike Babcock and his GMs prefer. Simple as that. Moral of the story: It’s better to slump at the beginning of the year than the end of it.
  • What kind of players does Babcock prefer? Well Subban, Letang, and Perry were all left off as well. Flash and dash can stay home.
  • Some say Hall is being punished by playing on a bad team. If that’s the case, why is Matt Duchene making the team? The Avalanche haven’t been a pillar of success recently.
  • He’s had a good couple of World Championships. Really?
    • The last two WC’s have been played on a larger ice surface thus allowing Hall way more room to use his best assets, his skating and playmaking. So he gets to carry the puck longer and he gets more time to set things up. Of course it looks like he’s playing well.
    • This year all of his points but one were accrued against the likes of France, Slovakia, Germany, and Bulgaria…
    • He only scored 1 point in his final four games which were played against Sweden, Finland (x2), and the USA…
  • A lot of folk on the Twitter machine say that Team Canada is making a mistake not naming Hall to the team but if you haven’t noticed, the men tasked with creating the roster have a bloody good track record when it comes to winning international events, no?
  • So it’s no surprise to me that the team went with Thornton and Marchand (Both whom I said would be better options than Hall back in March), Duchene (Who looked much better than Hall in the Gold Medal Final at the WC vs. Finland), and Giroux (This selection I’m a little perplexed by due to the surgery he’s just undergone that will keep him out for up to 12 weeks).
  • To me it looks like Hockey Canada was going with the hot hands. Marchand was a scoring and shooting beast this year and Joe Thornton had an outstanding season at the age of 36. I can’t speak for Duchene and Giroux though.
  • But I am surprised that Corey Perry didn’t make it. Maybe his dirty ways have caught up to him a bit.
  • Ryan O’Reilly not being named was also a little shocking.
  • Team Canada named 11 centers? There’s a positional shift coming I believe. The days of the “Natural” (fill in the position here) are slowly dying off. In the future players will have to be able to play all positions minus the netminder.
    • You can see it when we talk about Tkachuk vs. Dubois.
      • Some people will pump Dubois’ tires because he can play centre AND wing. It’s not such a bad thing. It’ll force players to be better skaters, better thinkers of the game and better 200ft players.
    • We also see it with defensemen. What happened to the strictly offensive defender or the dman that was specifically a shut-down player.
      • Now it’s “two-way” blueliners that can skate, move the puck, and think the game at a higher level. Physicality is fine but not required as much as it was in the past.

Team North America

  • Mark Scheifele, Jonathan Drouin, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Auston Matthews were the final forwards named to the U24’s.
    • Scheifele I have zero problems with. He was a defensive stud for Canada at the WC’s. Played a very smart game with Ryan O’Reilly, and Mark Stone.
    • Jonathan Drouin’s selection must infuriate a lot of people given he only played during the playoffs. But even so, he was one of the best players in the playoffs and completely filled the hole left by Stamkos’ absence.
    • Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ experience and two-way game get him on this team but I reckon it was barely. He’s still rehabbing a hand injury, so here’s to hoping he’s got that sorted out by the beginning of the tourney.
    • Auston Matthews… This is going to be fun. Who else sees him playing with Gaudreau and Eichel?
  • Matt Murray will be the no.1 goalie going into this. He got his NHL team further than John Gibson got the Ducks. That position went from the team’s no.1 question to no question at all.
  • The entire team is going to be a lot of fun and I think that if one were to be a betting person, they’d bet on a Team Canada/Team North America Final. I haven’t checked but is that even possible?

The Draft

  • Matty Tkachuk was hurt the entire Memorial Cup but still found a way to scored the overtime game-winning goal to win the tournament for London… Gotta love the balls on this guy. Would’ve loved to watch the game… Lucky Zach Laing…
  • Former writer of the blog, Kris Hansen had a good comparison between Matt Tkachuk and Pierre-Luc Dubois. Stylistically, no but situationally, yes.
  • I’m torn on what the Oilers should do with that pick. I’m a draft geek at heart and using it on Tkachuk would not bother me one bit. Trading it outright would piss me off and trading down with it would leave me unsettled given the high probability the pick and/or player acquired could fail.
  • Recently on Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer, Jim Matheson said, and I’m paraphrasing so don’t quote me, that unless PK Subban was part of a deal; he couldn’t see the Oilers dealing down. Now that doesn’t mean the 4th overall for PK Subban, just a trade involving those pieces.
  • If I’m not mistaken, the Oilers trading down at the draft has not been a story book filled with wonderment and happy endings as it is. I say take Tkachuk and laugh all the way home about it.
  • Here are my top 5 options for the Oilers at no.4 overall
    • Matthew Tkachuk (LW) – grit, smarts, and size.
    • Pierre-Luc Dubois (C/LW) – powerhouse that plays multiple positions.
    • Mikhail Sergachev (RD) – apparently has the highest ceiling and is a lefty but plays right side.
    • Alexander Nylander (LW/RW) – creative mastermind that can play either wing.
    • Olli Juolevi (LD) – cool and calm, very good puck mover.
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2016 Mastercard Memorial Cup, Edmonton Oilers, Zach Laing

Memorial Cup: Huskies eliminate Rebels, face Knights for championship

The Rebels knew that tonight’s Memorial Cup semi-final was going to be the biggest game of their season and many of their lives, but didn’t come out playing like it.

It took only 10 minutes for the Huskies to get on the board, when Timo Meier found Francis Perron on the power play and he wired one past Rebel G Rylan Toth.

One minute and seven seconds later, the Huskies got back on the board when Martin Dzierkals sent a soft backhander to the net which managed to squeak by the Rebel netminer. A third goal in the second period came to the Huskies in thanks to a power play tally by Nikolas Brouillard and the game was out of reach.

Rob Wallator/CHL Images

However, that wasn’t due to a phenomenal effort by the Red Deer Rebels. In a typical Alberta fashion, the Rebels did everything they could to fight through adversity and come back in the game.

Unfortunately for the Rebels, who outshot the Huskies 37-27 by the end of the game, they ran into a goaltender who wouldn’t take no for an answer. The Rebels managed to score in the third, when captain Luke Philp found the back of the net.

With their win tonight, the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies advance to the finals against the London Knights Sunday afternoon at 2:30 PM MT.

“I don’t think any of you guys out there thought with us being hosts and being beat out in the semi-finals that we could play against these top teams,” said Rebels Head Coach Brent Sutter. “We deserved to be in this game tonight with our two and one record.

“We played with this team tonight too. We made a couple mistakes in the first period that put us behind – we didn’t quit – we kept battling and I thought their goaltender was the best player on the ice. That’s the way she goes”

Huskies goaltender Chase Marchand certainly was the best player on the ice tonight, as he turned aside 36 shots from the resilient Rebels.

“I thought we played a good game,” said marchand. “Our defence played great, they boxed out the guys and allowed me to see shots.

“We’re looking forward to the rematch [with the Knights].”

Like what happens to every Junior hockey player, there is always that one final game. Tonight, the Rebels Haydn Fleury was one of those guys as the 2014 seventh overall draft pick will vy for a spot on the Carolina Hurricanes next season.

“It’s certainly disappointing to be in this position

“We spotted them two quick, and we couldn’t really bounce back this time,” said Fleury. “We had the scoring chances and the shots on goal to do that, but the bounces just didn’t go our way.

“Coming here as a 15-year old was surreal, and the Sutter’s have been great to me. Next August I won’t be coming to Red Deer, I’ll be going down to Carolina – I’m going into Carolina next year to make their team.”

As we look toward the Memorial Cup Championship match Sunday afternoon, the CHL’s Top Ten ranked No. 1 Rouyn-Noranda Huskies face off again against the No. 3 London Knights. A matchup Huskies Head Coach Gilles Bouchard is looking forward too.

“We want to be better game after game,” said Bouchard. “We have a group of players who work very hard and compete very hard.

“If you want to win some day for sure we have to respect this. We have to compete and battle in every situation for 60 minute with consistency is what would be most important for Sunday.

Come Sunday, the Knights will have had a total of five days off since their last game and after taking a trip to Banff yesterday, they will be skating everyday up until the championship bought.

 

I am credentialed and covering the 2016 Memorial Cup in Red Deer. You can follow me on twitter here for live updates from all this year’s games.

My work at this year’s Memorial Cup:
Knights surge past the Rebels 6-2 in the tournament’s opening game – Beer League Heroes, May 21.
Conner Bleackley shines in first game in over two months – Copper and Blue, May 21.
Should the Oilers be looking at drafting Kale Clague? – Beer League Heroes, May 22.
Top lines from the Knights and Rebels dominate at the Memorial Cup – Copper and Blue, May 23.
Rebels top line of Helewka, Philp and DeBrusk lead the host squad to a 5-2 victory over the Huskies – Beer League Heroes, May 23.
Wheat Kings dethroned in “disappointing” loss to the Knights – Copper and Blue, May 24.
Tyler Parsons shines as Knights beat Huskies 5-2 to book berth into Memorial Cup final – Beer League Heroes, May 25.
Rebels eliminate the Wheat Kings and book a berth in the semi-finals – Copper and Blue, May 26 

2016 Mastercard Memorial Cup, Zach Laing

Memorial Cup: Tyler Parsons shines as Knights beat Huskies 5-2 to book birth in the Memorial Cup final

Rob Wallator / CHL Images

For the first time this tournament, we got to take a “break” from watching WHL teams play as the London Knights and Rouyn-Noranda Huskies took to the ice.

The games tempo was set early on, as nine seconds into the game the Huskies found themselves killing off a two-minute minor for roughing.

From there 16 more penalties were called by the end of the game, something Knights Head Coach Dale Hunter felt slowed down the game.

“The penalties were a lot tonight and everyone knows it,” said Hunter following the win.

“It just breaks the flow of the game.”

As they have all tournament, the London Knights made the most of their power play opportunities, going 3/7 in thanks to goals from JJ Piccinich, Matthew Tkachuk and Christian Dvorak.

Through the tournament’s first three games, the Knights have gone a whopping 9/20 on the power play.

Despite the fact that the Knights have scored goals like they are playing NHL 16 on easy mode, their goaltender Tyler Parsons has been an absolute star.

“Tyler Parsons is hands down the best goalie I’ve ever seen and I’m not just saying that because he is my goalie,” said Knights F Max Jones in his post-game availability. “That goalie should be the number one goalie – I’m not a scout or anything, but that kid is at the top of his game.

“Hopefully he doesn’t read it and get his head too big, but he is playing outstanding.”

Although Parsons is playing some of the best hockey of his career, he attributes it to the team playing in front of him.

“It’s not easy playing against teams like [the Huskies] in a tournament like this,” said Parsons following the win in his post-game availability.

“We know our gameplan and we know we have great offense that is going to score goals.”

Next up for the London Knights is a trip to Banff to get some rest and relaxation before they play for the Memorial Cup on Sunday.

I am credentialed and covering the 2016 Memorial Cup in Red Deer. You can follow me on twitter here for live updates from all this year’s games.

My work at this year’s Memorial Cup:
Knights surge past the Rebels 6-2 in the tournament’s opening game – Beer League Heroes, May 21.
Conner Bleackley shines in first game in over two months – Copper and Blue, May 21.
Should the Oilers be looking at drafting Kale Clague? – Beer League Heroes, May 22.
Top lines from the Knights and Rebels dominate at the Memorial Cup – Copper and Blue, May 23.
Rebels top line of Helewka, Philp and DeBrusk lead the host squad to a 5-2 victory over the Huskies – Beer League Heroes, May 23.
Wheat Kings dethroned in “disappointing” loss to the Knights – Copper and Blue, May 24.
Tyler Parsons shines as Knights beat Huskies 5-2 to book berth into Memorial Cup final – Beer League Heroes, May 25.
Rebels eliminate the Wheat Kings and book a berth in the semi-finals – Copper and Blue, May 26 

2016 Mastercard Memorial Cup, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects, Zach Laing

Memorial Cup: Rebels top line of Helewka, Philp and DeBrusk lead the Host squad to a 5-2 victory over the Huskies

Jake DeBrusk celebrates with fans after a goal against the Huskies in the Memorial Cup’s third game. Rob Wallator/CHL Images

Unlike their game Friday night against the London Knights, the Red Deer Rebels started the Memorial Cup game against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies nervously.

It didn’t help early on when Rebel got called for a very weak cross-checking penalty. Timo Meier made them pay, scoring his 3rd goal in just two games.

Following the second goal, Rebels Head Coach Brent Sutter called a timeout.

“I told them that I loved them,” said Sutter. “And I told them that if they went out and won the game I’d love ’em even moreWe killed the penalty right after the timeout then shortly after we made it two – one.

“It was huge and it gave the boys some life and some momentum.”

The timeout and the subsequent successful penalty kill that the Rebels were tasked with seemed to give the squad some jump that lasted the rest of the game.

All it took was 40 seconds into the second period for the Rebels to score again, when Adam Helewka found the twine on a feed from Boston Bruins First rounder Jake DeBrusk.

“The two players I was playing with are both great players,” said Helewka in his post-game availability. “They both see the ice real well, they work hard and we just tried to get some chemistry going.

“They made it easy for me.”

Rebels Head Coach Brent Sutter chimed in on the Adam Helewka, Luke Philp and Jake DeBrusk line that combined for seven points tonight in his post-game press conference.

Sutter said that “they’re offensive type guys that need to have the puck on their stick to make plays” and that “they were really intelligent with the puck and their puck possession ratio was really good.”

The host team Red Deer Rebels fans played a huge part in tonight’s game making deafening noise all night. Rob Wallator/CHL Images

After scoring two unanswered goals to even up the game at 2-2, the fans in the Enmax Centrium got on the backs of their beloved Rebels. Three more unanswered goals later, and it was apparent that the Huskies couldn’t keep up with the host squad.

No matter what they did, the Huskies couldn’t seem to stay out of the penalty box and it cost them.

Huskies F AJ Greer found himself in hot water with the referees more than once tonight. After taking an embellishment call that he clearly didn’t agree with, Greer went to the penalty box and began to throw water bottles around.

“I overreacted, that was about it,” said Greer when asked about the call. “I saw it a different way than the refs did.

“I shouldn’t have acted that way and that’s all that happened – I will learn from my mistakes.”

Playing in their second game in two nights, the Huskies didn’t seem to be able to keep pace with the  Rebels once they scored their first goal. Huskies Head Coach Gilles Bouchard denied it having any effect on the team in his post-game press conference, which is what you would expect him to say.

What’s next for both teams?

Well both teams will have time to dwell on what happened tonight, as the London Knights and Brandon Wheat Kings square off Monday night at 6:00 PM MT.

The Rebels next game comes Wednesday when they take on the Brandon Wheat Kings.

The Huskies next game comes Tuesday against the London Knights.

I am credentialed and covering the 2016 Memorial Cup in Red Deer. You can follow me on twitter here for live updates from all this year’s games.


My work at this year’s Memorial Cup:
Knights surge past the Rebels 6-2 in the tournament’s opening game – Beer League Heroes, May 21.
Conner Bleackley shines in first game in over two months – Copper and Blue, May 21.
Should the Oilers be looking at drafting Kale Clague? – Beer League Heroes, May 22.