Tag Archives: 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs

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

How Do the Oilers Shut Down the Anaheim Ducks Offense?

Let’s start with the player above. Adam Larsson.

How long has it been since the Oilers had a top-end (I really want to say elite) shutdown defenseman? Since Chris Pronger? Jason Smith? Jeff Beukeboom? I am SO happy with Larsson’s performance not only to th eye but also on the stat sheet.

Let’s take a look at how five of the Anaheim Ducks’ top offensive threats have done against each of the Oilers top 6 defensemen in 2016/17.

Let’s preface this by saying that what happens in the regular season doesn’t necessarily mean the same will happen in the playoffs. As everybody knows, anything can happen in a short-term tournament like the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Goalies get hot, grinders start scoring, basically; anything goes. But I want to present to you some metrics that stand out for me.

Nothing special, just something to chew on while you’re waiting for game 1 to start.

I’d like to stick to using Goals for Per 60 (GF60) and Goals Against per 60 (GA60). I’m getting the numbers from stats.hockeyanalysis.com and they are the 5v5 numbers. The reason I want to use the goal scoring metrics are because a team can have all the possession stats they want but unless those translate into goals, they’re meaningless in my opinion, right LA Kings? Besides, goals win/lose the games, no?

Ryan Getzlaf (3g 2A 5Pts in playoffs) vs:

Adam Larsson (36:40 TOI) – 0G 0A 0PTS 3 shots
GF60 – o.00
GA60 – 3.27

Oscar Klefbom (29:50 TOI) – 0G 0A 0PTS 2 shots
GF60 – 0.00
GA60 – 4.02

Andrej Sekera (30:24 TOI) – 0G 2A 2PTS 1 shots
GF60 – 3.95
GA60 – 0.00

Kris Russell (25:54 TOI) – 0G 0A 0PTS 2 shots
GF60 – 0.00
GA60 – 0.00

Darnell Nurse (14:32 TOI) – 0G 3A 3PTS 0 shots
GF60 – 12.39
GA60 – 0.00

Matthew Benning (15:18 TOI) – 0G 1A 1PTS 0 shots
GF60 – 3.92
GA60 – 0.00

Is it safe to assume that the Ducks might try to avoid having Getzlaf on the ice vs. Larsson/Klefbom?

Rickard Rakell (2G 3A 5pts in playoffs) vs:

Adam Larsson (37:04 TOI) – 0G 0A 0PTS 2 shots
GF60 – 0.00
GA60 – 1.62

Oscar Klefbom (31:23 TOI) – 0G 1A 1PTS 2 shots
GF60 – 1.91
GA60 – 1.91

Andrej Sekera (29:42 TOI) – 1G 0A 1PTS 4 shots
GF60 – 2.02
GA60 – 4.04

Kris Russell (24:00 TOI) – 0G 0A 0PTS 2 shots
GF60 – 0.00
GA60 – 2.50

Matthew Benning (16:29 TOI) – 1G 0A 1PTS 1 shots
GF60 – 3.64
GA60 – 3.64

Apparently, Rakell and Darnell Nurse did not face each other but here we see that Larsson and Klelfbom lead the way in shutting down Rakell’s offense. Interesting enough was Russell and Sekera though. Rakell’s goals against shoots way up when Seksi is on the ice.

Jakob Silfverberg (2g 1a 3pts in playoffs) vs:

Adam Larsson (18:16 TOI) – 0G 0A 0PTS 6 shots
GF60 – 3.28
GA60 – 3.38

Oscar Klefbom (15:57 TOI) – 0G 0A 0PTS 5 shots
GF60 – 3.76
GA60 – 3.76

Andrej Sekera (23:46 TOI) – 0G 0A 0PTS 4 shots
GF60 – 0.00
GA60 – 2.52

Kris Russell (24:00 TOI) – 0G 0A 0PTS 4 shots
GF60 – 0.00
GA60 – 3.31

Matthew Benning (11:38 TOI) – 0G 0A 0PTS 2 shots
GF60 – 0.00
GA60 – 0.00

Darnell Nurse ( 11:25 TOI) – 0G 0A 0PTS 1 shots
GF60 – 0.00
GA60 – 0.00

Right here we see that Jakob Silfverberg spent the majority of his time lining up against Sekera and Russell with no luck. Althought, he did see an uptick in the GF60 metric when facing Larsson/Klefbom. Must be a Swedish thing. lol. Nurse and Benning shut the whole game down when they were on the ice with the Silfver Surfer. No goals for, none against.

Patrick Eaves (1g 2a 3pts in playoffs) vs:

Adam Larsson (25:30 TOI) – 0G 1A 1PTS 3 shots
GF60 – 2.35
GA60 – 2.35

Oscar Klefbom (23:48 TOI) – 0G 1A 1PTS 3 shots
GF60 – 2.52
GA60 – 2.52

Andrej Sekera (19:26 TOI) – 0G 0A 0PTS 3 shots
GF60 – 0.00
GA60 – 9.26

Kris Russell (16:15 TOI) – 0G 0A 0PTS 3 shots
GF60 – 0.00
GA60 – 3.69

No Nurse, Benning, or Gryba for Patrick Eaves 5v5 this season I guess. I suppose it makes sense, he’s been on the top line in both Dallas and Anaheim. Seems the Oilers 2nd pairing did quite well vs. Eaves and his magic beard. Well, I’ll tell you something the fine people who study the fancy stats won’t, the Oilers are 4-2 this post season against teams who employ players with ridiculously long beards.

Corey Perry (1g 2a 3pts in playoffs) vs:

Adam Larsson (28:02 TOI) – 0G 0A 0PTS 3 shots
GF60 – 0.00
GA60 – 4.28

Oscar Klefbom (22:46 TOI) – 0G 0A 0PTS 0 shots
GF60 – 0.00
GA60 – 5.27

Andrej Sekera (23:09 TOI) – 0G 2A 2PTS 3 shots
GF60 – 5.18
GA60 – 0.00

Kris Russell (20:46 TOI) – 0G 0A 0PTS 4 shots
GF60 – 0.00
GA60 – 0.00

Matthew Benning (15:42 TOI) – 0G 1A 1PTS 5 shots
GF60 – 3.82
GA60 – 0.00

Darnell Nurse (20:50 TOI) – 0G 1A 1PTS 3 shots
GF60 – 2.88
GA60 – 0.00

Eric Gryba (16:23 TOI) – 0G 0A 0PTS 2 shots
GF60 – 0.00
GA60 – 0.00

A couple of things surprised me here, one being how much Darnell Nurse played against Perry 5v5 and how badly Sekera struggled against him.

That’s it! I was thinking of doing up Ryan Kesler too but I don’t consider him to be a player that the Oilers will be wanting to “shut down”. Cogliano is another I see as a player not really considered an offensive threat to the Oilers, so I skipped him as well.

Multiple metrics would probably paint a better picture but I’m a simple guy and I like my hockey the same. Adding more numbers to try and create a more clear idea of who the Oilers should deploy against which Ducks might just muddy the waters that much more though.

Not sure if this helps or hinders your understanding of what the Oilers have in their defense going into the Anaheim series, but I guess I’m just tired of hearing how good the other team’s defenses are and I’d like to hear a bit more on how Kris Russell is helping the team, how Andrej Sekera’s performances have really gone unnoticed for too long, how Oscar Klefbom is an emerging no.1 defender, how Darnell Nurse is really coming into his own as a two-way threat from the blueline, how Matt Benning could very well be the best college signing in a very long time, and lastly, how Adam Larsson might just be the top shutdown defenseman in the NHL.

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

Oilers/Sharks G5: That’s Not a Spear, This is a Spear!

1 Comment

 

Missing: One broom – Last seen in the hands of a Duck on its way to Calgary.

THE DRAISAITL INCIDENT

Yesterday the punishment for Leon Draisaitl’s spear was handed down and as expected it was only a fine but wow, did hockey fans go batshit over the punishment handed down. For me, I didn’t expect Leon would be handed a suspension, why would he? He has no history of this kind of behavior nor has he ever been suspended unlike Joe Thornton, who also was given a game misconduct in January for a spear on the St.Louis Blues’ Paul Stastny but also escaped a mandatory vacation for his action.

Here’s my contention though. Jumbo Joe actually speared a guy. I mean he took his hockey stick and thrust it into the midsection of the opponent and that my friend IS intent to injure. Look at the pic above! Thornton actually puts enough force into the spear to create a bow in his stick…

Betcha a lot of Sharks fans forgot about that eh?

Leon Draisaitl merely brought his stick up between Tierney’s legs to cause some temporary discomfort and it must not have been hard enough because Tierney came back to play.  

I understand that what Draisaitl did is within the NHL’s definition of what a spear is but that’s not a spear. Check out this quick clip I made where I compared Leon Draisaitl’s spear with Thornton’s spear and then the mother of all spears, Marty McSorley on Mike Bullard and then tell me what Draisaitl did was THAT severe…

GAME FOUR and FIVE

7-0… But it could’ve been a lot different had Larsson’s shot went into the net and not off of the crossbar and if Nuge had buried that open net chance… Move on to game 5.

She’s a best of three and the Oilers have home ice advantage!!

The rubber match is tonight and I expect a fiery Oilers squad to come out and absolutely hand the Sharks a spanking. Nobody likes to be embarrassed like the Oilers were on Tuesday and everyone on that team will be fired up not to mention the fans. I don’t think it’s going to be a low-even game at all but I do have some questions going in.

Questions:

  • Will we see a timid game from Zack Kassian or will we get the human wrecking ball?

    In games 3 and 4 Kassian was as much a passenger as the rest of the team. Personally, I think the fans are going to rev this team up like crazy and that first 10 minutes we’ve been seeing where the Oilers are on their heels, I think it’ll be the Sharks who will be on their fins.

  • How will Todd McLellan address Pat Maroon’s slump?

    I wrote about Maroon’s lack of production after game 4 and we seen him dropped in the lineup in the latter stages of the game. Should the Oilers try using some more speed with McDavid? I mean, he’s looked okay with Cagguila at times and the Drake does have a gritty side to his game.

  • With the last change, will Draisaitl be up with McDavid again?

    No doubt the Oilers are going to take advantage of having the last change but who should they deploy to stop the Marleau/Thornton/Pavelski line? Not sure I’d have Nuge’s line against them as RNH is literally the only real defensive player on that line. How about tossing Pouliot/Letestu/Kassian against them as those players are the team’s primary penalty killers. Surely they’d have success in that role.

  • Keep Nurse/Benning away from the Sharks top 6.

Just going from the eye test, Benning and Nurse had a shit time trying to stop the Sharks skillers.

  • Edmonton has called up seven players from Bakersfield right? Reinhart, Ellis, Lander, Oesterle, Fayne, Laleggia, and Khaira.

    I can’t see any of them getting any action to be honest unless some real injuries take some of the top 6 out. But if I had to go from most likely to play to least likely I’d go Lander, Khaira, Oesterle, Reinhart, Laleggia, Ellis, Fayne.

    The computer boys will have Fayne at the top of course but I can’t see it at all. He lacks a certain element of determination that McLellan likes in his bottom pairing dmen and he’s certainly not replacing Kris Russell. The thought alone makes me chortle aloud.

    Now, Anton Lander can take faceoffs at least and Khaira can be a large presence on the wall but let’s be frank, Iiro Pakarinen and Anton Slepyshev are going to get the majority of the TOI because they’ve got size, they hit, they can skate well, and they can shoot. Oesterle and Reinhart shoot left so automatically they’re at a disadvantage and Nick Ellis is a total longshot to play unless Talbot loses a limb.

PULJU TO FINLAND

The Oilers loaned Jesse Puljujarvi to the Finnish men’s team so that he can play in the World Championships in Paris and Cologne. I suspect he’ll be reunited with his old World Junior linemate, Sebastian Aho. Too bad Patrik Laine is taking the tourney off. It would be something to watch this trio play after a year of pro hockey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn3AbZhENRU

Speaking of the Men’s World Championships, keep an eye on Swedish defender Rasmus Dahlin. He’s 17 I believe and is the youngest player to play on the Men’s team in half a century if I’m not mistaken. He’s eligible to be playing in the u18’s that are going on right now to put it into perspective. Some will compare Dahlin to Erik Karlsson or perhaps even Paul Coffey but they don’t do him justice because he’s basically doing what McDavid did to his opposition in junior but Dahlin is doing it versus men in the SHL.

Enjoy the Oilers game tonight folks! It’s going to be a beauty! McDavid is going to break out tonight and Edmonton is going to be electric!

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Edmonton Oilers, Lindsay Ryall, NHL

Who will be the Oilers’ Surprise Sniper in the Playoffs

You would have to go back 27 years, back when the Edmonton Oilers last won the Stanley Cup, to see one of the best surprise snipers in NHL history.  In 1990 this player was Washington Capitals’ winger, John Druce.  He went from being a fringe NHLer to scoring 14 ginos and 17 points in 15 NHL playoff games. Sadly he never developed into a consistent NHL scorer and the magic he briefly had, never showed itself again.

In the Oiler’s 2006 playoff run that clutch scorer was the legend of Castledowns, Fernando Pisani, who notched 14 goals (some crucial) and 4 assists in 24 playoff games.

Realistically, every NHL playoff year there is a player or two who rises from relative obscurity to playoff glory. And while it seems magical, it’s actually very practical.  When things tighten up in the playoffs, the top six of each side often cancel each other out, leaving opportunities for third and fourth liners.

So the question is, are there any of those players currently on the Oilers, just waiting for their time to shine in playoffs?  I would say there are more than a couple, but here are my top four.

Now a couple of things will need to happen for a player to emerge from darkhorse to thoroughbred, and most important is games played.  On that note, I took a sip of the Kool-Aid, and liked the taste,  so it says here, the Oilers will play in at least two series.  That should be enough minutes for something special to happen.  And the following are the most likely candidates.

Which One Will Emerge . . .

Zack Kassian:   Because Kassian was a scorer in junior, and can play up and down the line-up, it’s not that far-fetched for the big guy to emerge as a surprise sniper.  He’s had several goals reversed because of off-side challenges (in another time they would be goals).  Watching him play he does a lot of things like a top-6 forward.  He skates well, can make a pass, a play, can fill in on any line really, but his main role has been as an agitator/intimidator, and he does that very well.  So much so, his production has been neglected.  However he’s in the lineup every night, so the opportunity is there.

Anton Slepyshev: I’m reaching on this one because Shlepy struggled with consistency during the season, and isn’t a regular, but if there’s an injury in the top nine, or he gets hot, look out.  Slepyshev may have the best wrist shot on the club, both hard and accurate, and he has the size and speed to get to the net.  He’s proven to be a defensive liability which has kept him out of the lineup, but he has the tools to do the job.

Drake Caggiula: The Oilers top college FA signing has had an up and down year but has shown some glimpses of the scoring potential he showed in college.  The experiment of putting the Drake at centre seems to have finished and Caggiula is settling in nicely on the wing.  There would need to be an injury for a true opportunity, but he definitely is the most likely darkhorse candidate, that is if one emerges.

Iiro Pakarinen: Another stretch, at least as much as Shlepy, but Pakarinen has played this role before.  During the Oiler’s previous farm team, the OKC Barons’ 2014 – 15 regular season, Iiro held a hot hand, sniping for 17 goals in 38 games.  Pakarinen became such a proficient clutch goal scorer he earned the moniker “Iiro the Hero.”  Pakarinen game has slowly come around in the last month and he seems to be gaining confidence.  Could the hero return?

For the Oilers to Win They Need . . .

All season long the local and national hockey pundits took a worrisome look at how much scoring production fell on the shoulders of the McDavid line.  Towards the end of the season, the resurgence of Eberle and the Nuge allowed most fans to breathe a sigh of relief.  But for the team to get a bolt of unexpected scoring like Pisani did back in 2006, now that would be special.

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Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Oilers/Sharks Gm 2: Smile You Son of A…

This evening we will be treated to game 2 in the Oilers/Sharks first round playoff series but before I get to that I want to touch on a few things in game one as I took the chance to watch the game again to see if I could notice what everyone was getting on about.

GAME 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UryV6sLhzhU

THAT is how you ring in the first playoff game in ten years, right? I had a feeling that the Oilers would do something special with the anthem and it clearly impressed the players and I know that because when the anthem was being sung, the cameraman was focused on Lucic and the look on his face said it all (about 0:49 into the video above).

As for the actual game, I was not surprised one bit that Edmonton came out flying nor was I surprised when they lost momentum. There was no way that that adrenaline was going to carry them for 60 minutes. Not that it wasn’t for a lack of trying, I think that the crowd tried their damnedest as well to try and lift the team up on numerous occasions.

To get more specific these things stood out for me:

  • Nerves – The Oilers looked like a very nervous team as the game wore on. The cute little passes weren’t connecting and the home run passes weren’t either. They couldn’t keep possession in the Sharks end for any sustained amount of time and the vets on San Jose were eating them alive.
  • The Hits – I loved how they boys came out with a fire in their belly and were determined to seek & destroy… See what I did there. Kassian is a beast!
  • Brent Burns – Yikes kids! Gotta get a handle on this guy as it seems he’s running the show for the Sharks right now.
  • Eric Gryba – I don’t think he had THAT bad of a game but unfortunately was on the ice for two key goals against. That said, I’m not sure Matt Benning would’ve fared any better and I’d rather have veterans in the lineup than rookies if all things are equal.
  • Penalties – The Oilers took some shady PIMs last time, some I can agree with and some I think the ref blew completely, like Gryba’s elbow on Couture… Brutal call from the ref there. But Edmonton has to refrain from taking shitty penalties in the Sharks end.
  • Connor McDavid – He had his chances to put the game to bed but couldn’t get the puck over Jones’ pad. But I’m not so disappointed at that as the mad hooking calls that weren’t called on the Sharks when they tried to stop him.
  • Tim Peel – I knew as soon as I saw that he would be officiating the Oilers/Sharks series that we were in for a “treat”…
  • SHOOT THE BLOODY PUCK! – 17 shots is simply not going to cut it if the Oilers are going to make it to round 2. For this reason alone I would have Anton Slepyshev in the lineup. He can do everything Iiro Pakarinen can do but at least he shoots.

GAME 2

I know that Todd McLellan doesn’t like to flip guys out of the lineup after a less than stellar performance but this is the playoffs baby and there’s no time like the present. I’d take out Desharnais and Pakarinen and replace them with Matt Hendricks and Anton Slepyshev.

David Desharnais has shown me very little (is that a pun?) so far and him being demoted to the 4th line tells me the coach is also thinking the same. I know that you’re thinking that Matt Hendricks is too slow and the game has passed him by but how many minutes does the 4th line get anyhow? I don’t believe it’s enough time to concern yourself with them being a huge risk to winning game 2.

I think there are some people who think that Drake Caggiula should come out due to the fact that he took a couple of dodgy penalties last game but to me, he was looking great! He was tenacious on the puck and reminded me a bit of Esa Tikkanen. He should stay in.

  • Faceoffs – I believe Hendricks (Or Anton Lander) would help here. Leon Draisaitl was the only positive player on the dot in game 1.
  • KISS – Keep it simple stupid! None of this cute shit. Get the passes on the tape, move the feet, shoot the puck. The Oilers really are a much more skilled team and they failed to capitalize on that in the first game.
  • Shadow? – If the Oilers put a guy on Brent Burns from the get go, how much of a difference do you think that would make? I mean he had more shot attempts than the Oilers 1st line in the opening game…
  • Boom Shacka Lacka! – Keep up the physical play for the whole match and I would target Couture/Pavelski for sure.

Connor McDavid is on a 15 game scoring streak going back into the regular season and I fully expect him to put up another point or two tonight. One player on the Sharks that looks to be heating up is Tomas Hertl and Edmonton might be smart to not forget about the damage he did two nights ago.

What do you think the Oilers should do? Let us know in the comments below!

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