Category Archives: Stanley Cup Playoffs

Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Stanley Cup Playoffs

#Operation19W Edmonton Oilers: Dach>Doc Plus More Oilers Thoughts

What a gut-wrenching loss that was for the Oilers, eh? During that whole game, I felt uneasy about Edmonton’s play and that’s because there were far FAR too many scoring chances and posts hit by the Blackhawks. I mean, Jonathan Toews must’ve had at least five chances (including the one he “scored”) on his own and I don’t even think he played that well. It’s just that Edmonton’s defense left him alone enough times that he got the opportunities.

The Oilers did not deserve to win that game. Simple as that.

I have a plethora of things rattling around in my head, so I’m just going to throw them down here on digital paper and let you digest them as you see fit.

  • If the Oilers shut 19-year-old Kirby Dach down, will they shut down the Hawks?

This guy is good and he’s running Edmonton’s show AS. A. ROOKIE. Now, I seem to remember talking about this weeks ago. I believe I said that the Oilers have to be aware of a young player like Dach because these are just the sort of scenarios where young superstars emerge… Where’s Zack Kassian when you need him?

  • These refs have to get their heads out of their asses.

Two games in a row the refs have sent the Oilers to the box FOUR consecutive times. Are the Blackhawks simply not breaking any rules or is this pre-season for the refs? How can they go from calling every little BS infraction for two periods and then nothing for the third? Get it together!

  • Andreas Athanasiou… 

Went from playing the best game of his career to becoming average and vanilla again. Bruce McCurdy and David Staples have touched on this before and I think they’re right. What they’ve been saying is that AA needs to stay on that third line where he runs the offense because when he is promoted to play with Leon or Connor, he’s lost and he defers to them.

  • It’s hard to win the 5×5 battle if the majority of the play is on special teams.

Not only that, but it takes away from the flow of the game. This isn’t football. Hockey can’t be stopped and started all the time for it to be entertaining.

Getting back to the original point. The Oilers are shooting themselves in the foot by taking so many penalties. They’re forcing their best players to sit on the bench and taking away the team’s best chance to win the game. Now, with that said, what are the odds you start to see McDavid killing penalties in game 4?

  • Chicago has turned their weakness into a strength.

The defense of the Blackhawks was their supposed weak link and they’ve taken that and used it against the Oilers. How many shots are they getting from the point because Edmonton’s forwards don’t feel that they’re a threat? Without Adam Larsson, the Hawks can do what they want to in front of the net and it’s paying off.

It’s funny and I think you should have to ask yourself this, do you think that the Oilers defense has full confidence in the goaltending if they’re blocking so many shots?

Another point on their defense. Where’s Edmonton’s forecheck? We’ve got maybe the fastest team in the league and the softest forecheck. When I have seen the Oilers put some real pressure on Chicago’s defenders, they’ve caused turnovers…

  • Chip and Chase?

The Oilers need to stop trying to carry the puck over the blueline and chip it into the zone and hunt it down. I get the whole possession game thing, but if one team is shutting that play down, why would you continue to go to that well? Go to another one!!! Edmonton has the speed and the talent to chip the puck past the blueline wall and retrieve it. Boom! Possession. Again. Weird how that works against a slow plodding defense…

  • Where’s the desperation?

While’s Chicago’s D is having all the fun in the Oilers’ zone, why isn’t Edmonton’s defenders having a bit of their own in the Hawks’?

The Oilers have players who can shoot the puck, so why don’t they? Oscar Klefbom has got a great shot for redirections. Darnell Nurse’s shot is very hard but not so accurate. Ethan Bear might have the best shot on the team save for Evan Bouchard and what about Matthew Benning? Hardest shot on the team and one of the hardest in the league! And here’s the thing, it doesn’t even matter how hard the shot is, it just needs to get to the net! Chicago knows this and they are murdering the Oilers with it because Koskinen and Smith both have had real problems with redirections all year.

Well, I think the problem is, apart from James Neal and Alex Chiasson, not many players want to get into the muck and that’s a problem.

  • Patrick Russell to the rescue!

That’s a tough break (no pun intended) for Tyler Ennis. Here’s to a speedy recovery for him.

Now, who’s going to come in to replace the local boy? Well, I’m going to say, Patrick Russell. The coach loves him and he plays a very predictable and honest brand of hockey. Not only that but he had two points in a handful of minutes in that tune-up game vs. CGY.

Gaetan Haas is another option but as a winger, not a center. He’s right shite on the dot but other parts of his game could be very useful. Things like his unpredictability, his no-fly-by rule, his speed, and his tenacity. I don’t know how much the coach enjoys his lack of consistency though.

At this point, I would say no on Nygard. He’s still on the mend from hand surgery I guess and I really don’t know how much he would bring to the ice aside from being able to skate really fast in a straight line. You’d like him to be a Grabner-type, but he doesn’t seem to have that skill or does but isn’t quite comfortable in his role yet to display it.

  • Tomorrow’s Lineup?

Neal-McDavid-Kassian
RNH-Draisaitl-Yamamoto
AA-Sheahan-Archibald
Chiasson-Khaira-Russell

Klefbom/Larsson
Nurse/Bear
Russell/Benning

  • The vets.

Chiasson, Khaira, and Neal have been very good in their role. I love the beef they’ve brought to the game. James Neal looks like a guy who’s been shot out of a rocket and Chiasson has slowly become one of my favorite players because he gives zero f*cks out there. I wish more players would play like these two are. They deserve more TOI, in my opinion.

  • SMITTY!

Reckon it’s Koskinen or Smith tomorrow? In the grand scheme of things, I don’t think it matters. The netminding in this series has been a dog’s breakfast. I like Koskinen because there’s less chaos, but on the other hand, Mike Smith really got hung out to dry in game 1 and he’s got a bit more “playoff” pedigree… Win and you’re in, lose and you’re out, right?

  • What a seesaw battle these two teams have given us. 

Edmonton is 1-2 in the regular season and post-season vs. Chicago. The interesting thing is, the Oilers have followed up their losses to the Hawks with a win the next time the two teams have played. Will that happen tomorrow though?

Here’s the thing. The Oilers aren’t even playing to their average potential. If they did that, they’d be the team up 2-1. So many players are sh*tting the bed right now, it’s not even funny. Edmonton’s best players are finding a way to be minus contributors on the shot share. The team’s PDO is .964 too though, so there’s an element of puck luck that isn’t going their way.

Hockey is chaos, but you can channel that chaos your way if you put the work in. The Oilers aren’t putting the work in nor are they making the necessary sacrifices and now their backs are against the wall. How they come out in game four will speak volumes to the leadership, character, and overall mix of players on this club; and should they come out colder than Donald Trump’s heart, it would not shock me to see some players moved who we thought were unmoveable.

We mustn’t forget though. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. That is all.

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Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Stanley Cup Playoffs

Helluva Run!

Back when the Oilers decided to go outside of “The Family” and hire Peter Chiarelli and Todd McLellan, I knew that the dark days were over. Gone were the rookie coaches and GMs. Gone were the days of trying to re-hash the great Oilers teams of the 80s. And gone were the unfulfilled promises of BOLD moves…

A new era was about to begin.

Now the first season of that era didn’t quite come out to a flying start. In fact, it fell flat on its face but there were signs of improvement. Signs we didn’t see previously.

But in the second season, when a more complete vision of the roster Peter Chiarelli had envisioned came to fruition. Bigger bodies were brought in and players with excellent leadership traits were acquired. Then magically, the injuries stopped, the defense came together, and the players started playing for each other.

The team became… A TEAM!!!

The signs of improvement were signs no more. What we were seeing were actually improvements! This was a team capable of competing AND winning in the Pacific Division! A perfect formula for making the playoffs, no?

Fast forward to yesterday, a gut-wrenching, heartbreaking game 7 loss to a more experienced Anaheim Ducks.

I wasn’t sad and I’m not down because the Oilers lost. I tried to explain to my wife that I was disappointed because I wouldn’t be able to watch my team play anymore. And then we started making plans to come back to Canada in October 🙂

I’m not going to harp on individual players or performances at this point. I probably saw the same thing as you and there’s no really point in bringing that back up. It was a tough game for everyone, neh! A tough series for everyone and I can’t wait until the re-match next year!

You see, the correct reaction to this is not to get down or angry, it’s to confront the challenge head on and be happy it’s there to give you something to aspire to overcome. Life, it’s funny that way. You think if you just surrounded yourself with happy and positive things that you yourseld would be happy and positive but in fact, the unhappy and negative experiences bring much more out of you.

REACTIONS FROM THE OILOGOSPHERE

“At the end of the day, we didn’t get the result we were after but that’s okay. For the first time in 10 seasons, the Edmonton Oilers were a damned good hockey team that put the league on notice for something other than draft lotteries” – Bagged Milk, Oilersnation

“The Oilers season may have come to a close, but this team went above and beyond and definitely built themselves a reputation”  -Sammi Silber, Oil On Whyte

“We needed this run. And I am sure as hell glad we got it.” -Bret Litke, The Oilers Rig

“I’ll just say this: that even though the Oilers did come a long way this year, the Taylor Hall trade was a joke.” – Who Cares? Copper and Blue

“We’ve been in plenty of dressing rooms where the dream has died over the years, but can recall very few where the leap from tonight to tomorrow was so easy to make. There are the ingredients of a Stanley Cup champion in this Oilers room now.” -Mark Spector, Sportsnet

“If you’re an Oiler fan who shelled out financially or emotionally for 10 years, and received so little in return, the team made a payment this spring. But these Oilers are on an instalment plan. You couldn’t get it all back at once.” – Dan Barnes, Edmonton Journal

“The Oilers have become contenders.” – Kurt Leavins, Cult of Hockey

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Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Stanley Cup Playoffs

Oilers/Ducks G7: Will It be Heaven or Hell?

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So here we are once again. For the 10th time in franchise history, the Edmonton Oilers are about to play a game seven. This time they are up against 2016/17 Pacific Division champs, the Anaheim Ducks.

Just to recap, the Oilers won the first two games in Anaheim, then lost the next three games in Edmonton and Anaheim and then returned home for game 6 to stave off elimination on the backs of a depleted defense and Leon Draisaitl’s legendary hat-trick.

Leon Draisaitl was on fire tonight! Have you seen the Ryan Getzlaf reactions to Leon’s goals though? The #Oilers are going back to #anaheim to close out the series and then it’s on to the #Predators for a shot at the #stanleycup! #yeg #Edmonton #NHL

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Honestly, I’m so nervous for this game because Ryan Getzlaf has been ridiculous… The Ducks have really taken the game to the Oilers at times during this series and really exposed them. I also believe Anaheim will be extra motivated to break their own game seven curse.

I think that the Oilers are going to win, not because I’m a homer (even though I am sometimes) but because we’ve seen this team all season long do the things necessary to overcome their challenges. That and the Ducks haven’t been able to solve the three-headed dragon that is 97-29-93. Or is it a four-headed dragon with Mark Letestu having more points than Connor now?

Speaking of the anointed one. I reckon there are a lot of people out there in the Oil Country that believe Connor McDavid is going to have a breakout game. Well, to that I say, don’t hold your breath. It’d be a great story but I’m not sure we could will that one into existence.

McDavid is doing an excellent job diverting attention from Leon Draisaitl and as a result, Leon is dominating like nobody thought he could. I mean without Taylor Hall and McDavid, I was under the impression that he wouldn’t be able to do much. He was a complimentary forward for at least a couple of more seasons…

Slam your hand in the car door if you EVER thought that.

In fact, nobody should be surprised at how well Draisaitl is performing at such an important time of the year and that is because you’d have watched what he did for the Kelowna Rockets back in his last season of CHL hockey. I believe he won the Memorial Cup MVP in a losing cause… Also, did you even watch him at the World Cup of Hockey this summer? #Epic. Lastly, you’d have noticed what happened when Leon’s stats dried up this past season. He goes on scoring tears like nobody’s business.

Leon Draisaitl is the real deal folks!

All of that being said, this is exactly the kind of moment that Jordan Eberle’s legend was born in. If there’s a need and he comes up big tonight, I won’t be surprised. He’s got a history there.

Now, originally, I wanted to go back and re-visit each game 7 the Oilers had played in but Sean McIndoe (Down Goes Brown) beat me to it. If you haven’t read his post please visit it here because it’s amazing! 

So instead, I made this Youtube video for your viewing pleasure. It’s a little underwhelming but if you like it, please share it and subscribe to our channel!

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Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Stanley Cup Playoffs

Oilers/Ducks G5: Chins Up! Chests Out!

Everything worthwhile in life is won through surmounting the associated negative experience. – Mark Manson (The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck)

I wasn’t really interested in writing about last night’s game, to be honest. I’m still feeling… Hurt, I guess. I don’t really know how to explain my feelings about what happened in Anaheim in game 5.

I’m not angry at all. After game 4 and what happened with the reffing, I made the decision that the officiating can be as bad as the 2015 Oilers d-core sometimes and that it couldn’t really happen again, could it. But it did happen again and I could only chuckle and think that this is just going to be one of those series, isn’t it?

I’m not disappointed because for the first 57 minutes or so, the Oilers were putting forth an outstanding effort and I’d have been just as happy with a 3-2 win as a 3-0 win. The Ducks got very lucky with that 3rd goal and it’s as simple as that. We don’t know what would’ve happened had Darnell Nurse not done his job and tied Kesler up. Maybe Kesler gets up and taps that puck in anyhow.

I think I just feel very bad for the Oilers because they got screwed but here’s the kicker, the team will be better for it in the long run.

On to the game,

Nearly every forward from the 1st line to the 4th played with the required amount of intensity and sandpaper. The big boys were hitting, the skillers were zipping about, and the main men (Connor and Leon) were playing the Ducks like fiddles.

I think that getting Draisaitl on against Getzlaf was a bit of a game-changer too. I mean it took the Ducks moving Getzlaf to the blueline to get him away from Leon and they needed an extra man (and a dodgy video review) to tie the game up.

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**Just an aside, do you think that the Ducks’ captain was aiming for Leon on their first goal? I mean it certainly didn’t look like he was trying to pick a spot on the net and both times he teed up those shots, they hit Leon. The game was lost for Anaheim at that point and it’s plausible that Getzlaf thought about getting his pound of flesh with his target right in front of him knowing that scoring 3 more goals was a nearly insurmountable task.**

Lastly, Kassian fighting Ritchie eh? Wow! I love Zack Kassian as an Oiler so much.

 

 

HEROES

Adam Larsson and Darnell Nurse were the only Oilers defensemen NOT to get hurt in the 1st period (that we know about). Is that ridiculous or what? I mean the hockey gods were really working their magic last night and Ryan Kesler trying to feel up Cam Talbot is what did it… It’s really amazing when you think about how many lucky bounces had to happen for the Ducks to win that game.

  • Benning gets absolutely CRUNCHED behind the net from Nate Thompson. I thought he was done at first but then I took a second and realized that Battlin’ Matt Benning isn’t one to stay out of games. This guy is a warrior.
  • Oscar Klefbom takes a clapper right to under the arm in the ribs. That’s a scary part to get hit in, right? Not a whole lot of protection there but he perseveres and comes back to play.
  • Kris Russell. Are you f*cking kidding me? The game of his life! He gets railroaded by a guy nearly 50 pounds heavier than him in the most vulnerable of positions, takes a breather, then shakes off the cobwebs (and the trainer) and skates back to the bench! But he’s not done there. He goes on to play the 2nd most minutes of the night and sets an Oilers record for blocked shots in a game.

Sad night for ‘Rej (Sekera) as he was unable to come back. That must’ve been some injury if he couldn’t return to the game though. He barely made it to the bench.

I wonder if we’ll see Eric Gryba make his debut in this series on Sunday? He’s a tough fella and he’ll definitely keep the front of the net clear but can he deal with the Ducks speedy wingers and will he be able to keep his cool if he draws in?

You’d think you’d want to put a player in similar to Sekera, right? Jordan Oesterle is around, right? I can’t remember. Is he one of the black aces? If there’s anybody that’s as close to Sekera in terms of playing style, Oesterle would be that guy.

I guess they could throw Benny Pouliot back there again 🙂

It’s too bad the sacrifices that those players made are being lost in a shit storm thanks to the officiating and Ryan Kesler’s wondering mitt.

COMING BACK

The Oilers lost 3+ games in a row on six occasions in the 2016/17 season.

  • 10/30, 11/1, 3 – Won the following two games
  • 11/8, 11, 13, 15, 17 – Won the following three games
  • 11/25, 27, 29 – Won the following two games
  • 12/4, 6, 8, 9 – Won the following game
  • 1/31, 2/2, 3 – Won the following game
  • 3/7, 10, 12 – Won the following four games (outscoring their opponents 18-5 no less).

So if we dissect that superficially a bit, the instances when the Oilers only managed to win one game following a three-game losing streak, they had back-to-backs to deal with.

I know some folks might be worried about the Oilers luck on Sundays. They’re .500 in the playoffs on said day of the week and if that gets you down, just consider that Anaheim has been in this position in the last 4 years. Up 3-2 in the series, going away to close it out but lose and then they’ve lost each and every time in the 7th game at home as well.

I’m sure there are more numbers I could dig up to make us both feel better about the Oilers going him down 3-2 in the series and on a 3-game skid but it’s not happening.

That said…

We’ve seen these Oilers come back so many times this year. I don’t expect that to change.

Go Oilers Go!!!

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Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Stanley Cup Playoffs

Oilers/Ducks G4: That Was Hard to Swallow

I’m not sure I’ve ever felt such a rush of emotions each way in such a short time as I did last night. I yelled so loud when Drake Caggiula scored the game-tying goal that my cats jumped 4 feet in the air, only to fall into a cone of silence when Silfverberg won it for the Ducks in OT.

Before we get into the match I want to point out that the Oilers really need to stop shitting the bed in the 2nd period like this. The boys were up 2-0 and everything was looking grand. All they had to do was settle in and enjoy the rest of the game. I think it’s great entertainment for them to keep coming back in the 3rd like they have been but whatever McLellan is saying in the 1st intermission, he’s got to stop.

Also, can we get a faceoff win from McDavid/Nuge/Draisaitl? As per the Cult of Hockey podcast, those three won 7 and lost 28… TWENTY-EIGHT!!!

Do you hear that? I think that is the frantic dialing of any upcoming free-agent that can take a bloody draw… Brian Boyle, are you there?

I think that teams with poor character rip refs/linesman when they lose but I would’ve given them a pass last night if somebody would’ve commented on,

  • Getzlaf’s first goal where Cam Talbot was interfered with by Corey Perry (Below). I mean it’s so painfully obvious that it’s interference.
  • The icing being called off in OT. Honestly, WTF?
  • The offside goal.

So these are the goaltender interference rules that apply to this above clips I believe (taken from here),

69.3 Contact Inside the Goal Crease – If an attacking player initiates contact with a goalkeeper, incidental or otherwise, while the goalkeeper is in his goal crease, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed.
69.4 Contact Outside the Goal Crease – If an attacking player initiates any contact with a goalkeeper, other than incidental contact, while the goalkeeper is outside his goal crease, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed.

Kelly Hrudey said it best when he was talking about 97% of Talbot’s body being in the crease and 3% being outside. I reckon the part speaking to the “incidental contact” is where the refs decided that there was no interference on the play but come on. It’s pretty cut and dry, no? Perry has made a career of these kinds of plays and his reputation more than precedes him. He prevented Talbot from making that save.

https://twitter.com/teamleafs94/status/860009048967700480

I get it, the longer the games go, the more money it is for everyone (except for the players of course) but I truly hope that isn’t one of the mandates that has been passed on to the officials this post-season. I just have no idea why the linesmen would waive off that icing that late as it f*cked every Oiler on the ice.

Are they really trying to manage the games that closely?

There have been a couple of pink elephants in the room during this playoff series,

  1. Ryan Getzlaf
  2. Jordan Eberle

There’ve been more but I’m happy to see that Todd McLellan went ahead and addressed one of them, the other went ahead and picked up 4 pts last night.

Jordan Eberle was sent down to the 4th line after two HUGE giveaways that lead to a goal and in his stead, Anton Slepyshev brought energy, speed, creativity, and desire.

I enjoyed seeing Slepy in the top 6 but here’s the thing, I enjoyed the job Eberle did on the 4th line with two defensively capable veteran forwards in Pouliot and Desharnais as well. The shackles were removed and Ebs started to look like his old self which is something I don’t get.

Was it because he was told not to worry anymore, just go out there and do what you do best? Because he did just that. He was juking and jiving and twisting and turning Ducks defenders this way and that. He was also on the ice when Caggiula scored the game-tying tally.

Personally, if I were the coach, I’d give him one more chance… On the 4th line.

I know! There’ll be some that will cry that you can’t put a $6M player on the 4th line and that is true… In the regular season. But now that we’re in the post-season where there are no paychecks and everyone is on even footing, the best place to put Ebs is where he can be of the most service to the team and be the least risky.

Funny thing happened right as Ebs got demoted, I got a message from my source and he said,

“That’s it! Ebs is done. Chia is considering leaving him exposed for the expansion draft or dealing him for a RHD.”

Made me chuckle. I’ve scoffed at the idea when it was brought up before but I wonder what kind of deal Chia could swing using Ebs as the base of a deal and if NJ is interested in doing business again 🙂

Another thing I’d do if I were the coach is toss Leon Draisaitl up against Ryan Getzlaf. Big body on big body. The Oilers only have one centre that can physically go up against Getzlaf and that is Draisaitl. I’d probably wait until game 6 to employ this strategy but it’s one I’d have in my hip pocket for sure.

I don’t feel robbed like I probably should be because as I’ve said in the past, I’m just so happy there’s even a team in Edmonton because there was a time when the possibility of them moving was a reality. So, just to see them play is a blessing in itself for me. Adding McDavid, Draisaitl, Lucic, Talbot, and co. is just a huge cherry on top.

I hope more fans can share this feeling. Winning is fun, don’t get me wrong but having a team in Edmonton is even better.

Now, all of that being said, the Oilers did an excellent job of coming back (again) and are making this series a helluva lot more interesting than the others. It’s back to Anaheim where the Oilers are undefeated this offseason for a best of 3 and I’m putting my money on the Oilers.

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