Tag Archives: Beer League Heroes

Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Oilers Post Game Report, Madison Moroz, NHL

BLH Post Gamer: G1 – Edmonton Oilers vs St. Louis Blues

McDavid Blues
Photo by Dilip Vishwanat

FINALLY!!! The hockey season is here and upon us, we have all waited months upon months especially since the drafting of Connor McDavid for this day.

Tonight’s game for the Edmonton Oilers started off a little shaky, a little slow it took the boys some time to get their feet underneath them and shake off the first game jitters and ring rust. Once they started going though they were able to sustain some pressure in the offensive zone and did a pretty good job defending a team in their own zone that has normally dominated them over the past few years.

There wasn’t too many quality chances in their own zone, they did a pretty good job of keeping shots to the outside and making sure Talbot was able to see them. They battled hard most of the night and didn’t shy away from any puck battles and took the hits when needed. I think they did a pretty good job for most the night doing what Todd McLellan calls “playing in the opposing teams equipment”  as they kept the pressure on every time they had the chance in the offensive zone and created some chances they just couldn’t finish.

It was a tough team to start out against that being a big, strong defensively Blues team that’s been together for a few years. But the younger, quicker Oilers didn’t back down, they stuck up for each other and I’ll say it again, their battle level was excellent today. It certainly wasn’t the Oilers of old.

The only goals that went in were just small break downs with a tired group of guys on the ice, but as Matt Hendricks said in his post game interview, they were hard working mistakes and those are tough to complain about.

The Debut of Connor Mcdavid was everything I believe everyone expected, his speed, skill and IQ were on display tonight. Making plays off the boards, trying to split the D using his speed, nad making smart simple passes. I was as impressed as I was going to be, unless he scored a Highlight reel goal, then I’d be going bananas over his first game, But we definitely saw why he’s being considered to be a generational player.

Every Game I’m going to give out the Three Beer League Heroes. Today’s Heroes are:

  1. Cam Talbot – Made 28 saves in his Edmonton Oilers debut, didnt look shaky and came as advertised: Calm, poised, and positionally sound with great rebound control. Talbot really kept the Oilers in the game and gave them confidence.
  2. Justin Schultz –  Is this the same guy from last year? He played aggressive and even physical at times. Jultz looked to be a lot smarter at picking and choosing went to jump into the play and to the shock of us all, he was blocking shots! He looked extremely confident tonight and had a heck of a game for the Oilers playing 22:15, playing both the PK and PP tonight.
  3. Robby Fabbri – Connor McDavid’s childhood friend scored his first NHL goal tonight off a great pass from Jori Lehtera which ended up being the game winner. He didn’t play much tonight but he made the most of his one chance.

https://twitter.com/myregularface/status/652310139974852610

To go along with the three heroes…comes the Golden Plunger Award and it goes to….*drum roll please*


It saddens me to give him the inaugural award because I have high hopes for him. He trained with Gary Roberts in the off season and you can see his skating has improved but tonight he was just useless. Not that he was killing the play but just more that he wasn’t doing much to create a play. Purcell was more or less trying to keep it status quo on the ice. Could have been because he was on the top line and he was afraid of making a mistake so he played it safe. But here’s to hoping Teddy doesn’t get this award again and he can show us that he’s got what it takes to play with skilled players like he did in Tampa.

Overall, I was pleased with the effort and general performance. Of course I wish the Oilers could have come out on top and battled their way to a win but tonight’s loss wasn’t a loss of normal like last year. This was a hard working, no quit, stick to the gameplan, tough luck loss.

The Oilers have to build off this as a positive and take it forward to Nashville which is going to be an even harder task, its another strong defensive team, that has depth and scoring ability with a world class goalie in net. I think next game they are going to have to throw more shots on net, and try to crash the net and get the gritty goals to go in. With that said, they also need to continue to use their speed and puck movement and open up their game a little bit more to see if they can create some more chances off the rush.

Thanks everyone for reading it, feel free to follow me on Twitter @madi39 and let me know what you think there or in the comments below!

 

Jack Gruninger, NHL

Beer League Heroes NHL Season Primers 2015/16: The Detroit Red Wings

As usual, the Detroit Red Wings had another good season, making the playoffs for the 24th time in a row, but were eliminated in the first round by the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Red Wings may have suffered the biggest loss this offseason, losing head coach Mike Babcock to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Babcock has been replaced by Jeff Blashill, who previously coached Detroit’s AHL affiliate. He is a good coach who has had success at other levels and has coached many of Detroit’s current players before, so he will fit in well.

Key Additions: C Brad Richards, RD Mike Green, RD Robbie Russo

Key Subtractions: C Stephen Weiss, LW Erik Cole, RW Daniel Cleary, RD Marek Zidlicky, G Jonas Gustavsson

The Red Wings didn’t add a lot of significant players this offseason, nor did they need to, with a lot of young talent coming up from the minors ready to take on bigger roles. They have made upgrades in certain positions. Stephen Weiss was bought out, which allowed the Wings to bring in Brad Richards, an obvious upgrade. Marek Zidlicky, acquired at the trade deadline, has been replaced by Mike Green, another upgrade.

Projected Lines (All Players Healthy):
Henrik Zetterberg – Pavel Datsyuk – Justin Abdelkader
Johan Franzen – Brad Richards – Gustav Nyquist
Tomas Tatar – Riley Sheahan – Teemu Pulkkinen
Darren Helm – Luke Glendening – Tomas Jurco
Drew Miller

Niklas Kronwall – Jonathan Ericsson
Danny DeKeyser – Mike Green
Kyle Quincey – Brendan Smith
Jakub Kindl

Petr Mrazek
Jimmy Howard

Roster Contenders: C Joakim Andersson, C Landon Ferraro, C Andy Miele, C Dylan Larkin, LW Eric Tangradi, LW Tomas Nosek, RW Anthony Mantha, RW Mitch Callahan, LD Xavier Ouellet, LD Brian Lashoff, RD Alexey Marchenko, RD Ryan Sproul, RD Nick Jensen, RD Robbie Russo, G Tom McCollum, G Jared Coreau

A big advantage Detroit has with their roster is superb depth, mostly due to tremendous drafting and development. In addition to great depth on the current roster, there is tremendous depth in the system in all positions.

One concern I have about Detroit is the aging of key players. Datsyuk’s play hasn’t necessarily declined, but he is often injured. Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, and Niklas Kronwall have all shown signs of decline. Eventually, these players will have to be replaced.

All in all, there aren’t any glaring weaknesses in Detroit’s roster. An interesting thing is the progress of Petr Mrazek, and many have him penciled in as the starter for Detroit this season. Jimmy Howard could eventually be put on the trade block.

As usual, I fully anticipate that Detroit will make the playoffs this season. This is a team that has a very good roster in all positions and could cause some damage this season and in the playoffs.

**Hey Everyone, BLH here. We’ve got some good news and bad news. The bad news is that our famed writer Jack Gruninger is going on hiatus as he attends university. The good news is the rest of the Beer League Heroes crew is going to pick up where he left off with the Season Primer Series. Best wishes to Jack and we can’t wait for his return!**

Beer League Hero, Merch

Beer League Heroes Shameless Self Promotion

Hey all!! BLH here!

I hope the summer is treating all of you amazingly well!

The fine folks over at TeePublic are having a wicked sale on ALL of their t-shirts from August 12th-August 14th. Normally their t-shirts would go for $20 but right now they’re on sale for $14!

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We’ve got over 100 current NHL superstars in 16-bit form for all those nostalgic NHL ’94 lovers out there and there’s also the Official Beer League Heroes T-Shirt! (If you don’t see your favorite player past or present just contact us on Twitter or Facebook and we’ll help you get the player you want!)

There are also many different types of apparel on sale. Tank tops, children’s shirts, hoodies, sweaters, and long sleeve shirts are available as well in an s-tonne of colors!

I’ve included a few samples below for your viewing pleasure. So please hurry on over and pick yours up today! The sale ends in 60 hours!

Thank you!

-BLH

Jaromir Jagr
Henrik Lundqvist
Beer League Heroes Official T-Shirt
Corey Mitchell, Edmonton Oilers, Lindsay Ryall, Rob Cooke, Ryan Robinson

Beer League Heroes Sunday Night Pint

3 Comments

Welcome to the inaugural Beer League Heroes Sunday Night Pint! What we’re going to attempt to do is dazzle you on weekly basis with our vast VAST knowledge of the Edmonton Oilers in a Q&A format. A hotstove without the hot or the stove. Just dudes sitting around a keyboard, beers in hand.

How Much Does Cam Talbot Actually Improve The Goaltending This Fall?

Will Cam Talbot really help the Oilers that much?

Ryan Robinson (@ryandlace) – Significantly. The sad thing is, Talbot will only need to be average to accomplish that. Scrivens and Fasth don’t exactly leave huge shoes to fill. The good news for the Oilers is that Talbot will have plenty of motivation to excel. He is being given an opportunity to establish himself as a #1 NHL goaltender and he’s in a contract year. There are skeptics who claim they have seen this movie before, but the re-runs in Edmonton ended when Bob Nicholson took over. Talbot will be solid.

Corey Mitchell (@corn_cwm) – My opinion is that after the disaster that was Ben Scrivens last year, almost anyone brought in was going to be an improvement in net for the Oilers. And when it came to finding a backup tender that looked ready to make the jump to starter, Cam Talbot was always first on my list. There was lots of love for both Martin Jones in LA, and Eddie Lack in Vancouver, but the biggest selling point for me was late in the season. Talbot carried the Rangers on his back when Henrik Lundquist went down with a neck injury last February, going 17-4-3 over a 24 game span, while the Rangers cruised to the Presidents Trophy. Granted, the defense Talbot is going to have in front of him this upcoming season pales in comparison to the one he had in New York, but like I said, after last year, things can only go up.

Lindsay Ryall (@lindsman77) – This is a tough one to statistically qualify with wins because defence and goaltending mutually support each other.  I do believe Talbot will benefit from a much improved defence and would put that improvement at two games over .500 Talbot’s stats next year:  26W – 24L – 4 Overtime wins.

Rob Cooke (@Cooke_Rob) – The simple answer here is a lot. Talbot may not have played in a ton of games so far but he is the real deal. When you look at his stats no matter how you slice it this guy is a keeper. His adjusted save percentage last season was .935, good for 11th in the league. The season before last his numbers were even better when he posted a .942 adjusted save percentage. That put him fifth in the league. Over those two seasons there were only two other goalies that had played at least 950 minutes and managed to be in the top 15 both years, Carey Price and Jonathon Quick. Price is without a doubt the best goalie in the league, if not the world. Anytime you are on an exclusive list with him you know you are on the right track.

All my stats and info are from a terrific Oilers blog run by Darcy McLeod. It’s called www.becauseoilers.blogspot.ca. Go check out his 3 part series on the goalie situation in Edmonton. It was excellent.

Who are the defensemen that will be on the opening night roster?

Will we see these two causing havoc in the NHL next season?

Robinson – I’ve never been so happy to not know the answer to a question. For so many years, the Oilers have barely been able to ice an NHL calibre defense corps. This year, they may not have a lot of high end guys, but they have nine players who are capable of playing at the NHL level. As much as I’d love to see Reinhart and Nurse play the entire season in the American Hockey League, I think one of them will crack the opening night roster. My guess is that on October 8th in St. Louis, Sekara, Klefbom, Fayne, Schultz, Gryba and Nurse will be manning the blueline

Mitchell – It’s been a few years since there have been positive questions to ask in regards to the Oilers defense corps. With pretty much everyone from last season, save Keith Aulie and Martin Marincin, it was already going to be a tall order for any youth to crack the line up this year. Add into the equation two proven NHL players in Andrej Sekera and Eric Gryba, along with blue chip (yes, I’m that high on him) prospect Griffin Reinhart, and it’s going to be a really interesting training camp. Unless there are a few more moves made, I’ve got Sekera, Schultz, Klefbom, Fayne, Gryba, and Ference all making the opening night roster. I’m really ok with the idea of Nurse and Reinhart starting the year in Bakersfield, preferably on the same pairing. Brad Hunt is probably my 7th to start the year, with Nikitin either buried, or just gone altogether.

Ryall – While I believe Nurse will have secured a roster spot by the end of the season, the starting spots will be: Andrej Sekera, Oscar Klefbom, Mark Fayne, Justin Schultz, Andrew Ference, Eric Gryba, Griffin Reinhart

Cooke – The easiest way to answer this is to first figure out who are locks to be on ice opening night. We know for sure that newly acquired Andrej Sekera will be on the team, likely out there for the opening draw. His most likely partner will be Mark Fayne. Fayne excelled when he was paired with a solid puck mover in New Jersey. He will be better this year.

The second pairing will be young Swedish stud Oscar Klefbom and the defensive liability, Justin Schultz. Klefbom sure as shit deserves the top four minutes but Schultz will get his by default. There are no better options on the right side right now so we will use what we have.

Now for the third pairing there are quite a few possibilities on who will suit up in St. Louis. On the left it will be one of Nikitin, Ference, Nurse, or Davidson. On the right it really will come down to Gryba and Reinhart. The right is easier to figure out, with Reinhart having only played 8 games in the NHL to date he will have to be light years ahead of Gryba in camp to earn a spot. On the left 2 or possibly even three out of the final four will make the team in October. Ference will be here for sure, although I have my doubts to how many games he will actually see this year.

The other three are a little trickier but if I was a betting man I would say that Nikitin will come to camp healthy and in a lot better shape than last season looking for a bounce back season after the disaster last year. Davidson will stay up with the big club as a healthy scratch as his development likely won’t be hampered as much by sitting for long stretches. Nurse and Reinhart will both start the year in Bakersfield and will most likely be the top pairing down there until they get their call ups. Before Christmas for Nurse is my guess there. Reinhart will depend on injury I think.

Are the Oilers done making moves this summer?

Is Petey C all done making moves this summer?

Robinson – Unless he can find a taker for Nikitin or Ference, then I think Chiarelli is done. The management team should dedicate the first quarter of the upcoming season to evaluate their group. Several players regressed under Dallas Eakins, so I believe it is wise to give them an opportunity to prove their worth under a savvy, veteran coach in McLellan. If individual players do improve, they will either contribute more to the team or boost their trade value.

Mitchell – The logical answer to this question is no, the Oilers aren’t going to be making anymore moves. The goaltending is (hopefully) solved with Talbot, Scrivens, and Anders Nilsson all signed. The Oilers really don’t need to add any forwards, be it top or bottom six. And with the number of signed defensemen on the team right now, adding another one doesn’t make sense. That being said, it’s the Oilers, and logic has been thrown out the window by this team a long time ago. If it were me, I would be calling teams day and night in a hope to unload Nikitin, even for a late round pick. Ference would be on my to do list as well, making room on the  for either a Cody Franson signing, or a long shot home run trade for a minute eating defenceman, possibly from Chicago.

Ryall – I think there may be maintenance moves but I don’t think anything significant.  The Oil don’t seem to want to get into a bidding are for Cody Franson’s services and that’s long-term smarts.

 Cooke – Barring a trade right now I would have to say yes. I know most Oilers fans are clamoring to add one of Christian Ehrhoff or Cody Franson and I know that it is possible with a little cap creativity but it isn’t in the cards I fear. I think Chiarelli wants to see what he has with the ten defensemen heading to camp that are realistically competing for the big club’s eight slots. The forwards are fairly well set right now, although I wouldn’t mind a solid scoring winger to join the team on the cheap. Goaltending is miles better as we already discussed tonight so outside some minor league moves to bolster an already impressive AHL roster we are likely done. With the one caveat being that I think that the Oilers will have Oscar Klefbom re-signed to a long term deal before the end of August

There you have it folks! I hope you enjoyed our very first Beer League Heroes Sunday Night Pint! If you have any comments or questions there are three options:

– Leave them in the comments below!
– Follow us on Twitter (@beerleagueheroe) and let us know there!
– Hit us up on Facebook!

Lastly we’d really love it if you took a short trip over to the BLH T-Shirt shop where you can get the official BLH shirt and also our vintage 16-Bit NHL Superstars T-shirts! They come in all colors, sizes and styles and priced low at $20! Help us keep this little blog trucking!

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Thanks for reading!

-BLH

NHL Entry Draft, Prospects

Defenceman in the 2016 Draft

The 2016 NHL Draft will not receive the same attention from the media as the 2015 version, that being said, there’s still a lot to be excited about.

As it stands right now, there looks to be a higher talent level when it comes to defenceman. Headlined by Jakob Chychrun, the list of 2016 defenceman is quite extensive and features more than just two way defenders like we saw in the first round of the 2015 draft. Beyond Chychrun, you will see names like Chad Krys, Charlie McAvoy, Sean Day, Jake Bean, and Dante Fabbro as guys who will likely rise and inhabit a top 20 spot. Aside from those more highly touted prospects, this is also the year we see Max Lajoie, Luke Green, Olli Juolevi, Kale Clague, and Victor Mete being selected. Whether or not they’re first round selections remains to be seen, but I do believe it’s possible that we see a draft with ten defenceman being selected in round one.

Here’s a brief synopsis of what to expect from the potential first round defenceman:

Jakob Chychrun – LD – Sarnia Sting: Expect Jakob to build on what was an impressive rookie campaign. After recording 33 points and playing more minutes as the season progressed, it’s clear that the 6’2 blue liner is ready to take over the blue line in Sarnia and dominate the OHL. He does have top pairing NHL potential, as well as NHL ready size so don’t be surprised if he puts up 50 points and is relied upon as the top shutdown guy.

Chad Krys – LD – USNTDP: The 5’11 blue liner is coming off a very strong offensive season. Being in the American system, Krys jumped around to five different teams as the season unwound, but never dropped below 0.70 ppg. If Krys wants to stay in the conversation as a top 5 talent, he needs to show a commitment to playing strong in his own end, as well as continue to be dominant in the offensive zone. Expect him to be a point per game guy at each level he plays at this season.

Charlie McAvoy – RD – Boston University: As one of my favourite players in this upcoming draft, it’s hard for me to find a flaw in his game. He could always get quicker and more agile, but as it stands now, the BU commit has shown both a strong defensive zone presence as well as the ability to control offensive zone play. As he takes the next step, I’d hope to see him bring his level up to the point that he’s a top four defender at the NCAA level.

Sean Day – LD – Mississauga Steelheads: Opinions differ a ton when it comes to the 229 pound defenceman. According to some opposing players Day is soft and his skating is the only reason he’s in the O. Others believe he brings a fairly well rounded game and has shown hints of dominance. If he’s going to be in the conversation for a top 10 spot come next July, Day has to commit to controlling his own end. If he can prove to be a reliable defender, the offensive side comes naturally to him. Going into the 2016 season, he’s my biggest wildcard.

Jake Bean – LD – Calgary Hitmen: After going undrafted in the WHL Bantam Draft, the Hitmen listed a potential top 20 NHL draft pick (further proving why I believe the WHL draft should be changed, but I digress), without knowing that he would progress this much. Jake had a good rookie campaign, proving he can be relied upon in both the offensive zone and defensive zone. Bean chipped in 39 points in 51 games and will look to build off that. He’s a skilled two way defender, and we’ll see if he can play at a similar level as Travis Sanheim did in his draft year.

Dante Fabbro – RD – Penticton Vees: It would be great to see the 6’2 right handed defender jump up to the WHL ranks, but he will spend the next year in Penticton meaning two things. First, there won’t be a ton of mainstream coverage. Secondly, for those who won’t get a look at him, he will likely be talked about as a two way defenceman who is good offensively. He’ll be a bit of a mystery but one thing is certain, the kid is good. He’s solid in almost every aspect, from his skating to passing. He should be able to dominate the BCHL this year.

Max Lajoie – LD – Swift Current Broncos: Lajoie had one hell of a coming out party this year as he posted 40 points in 72 games. It’s rare to see a player put up 40 points as a rookie defenceman, but it’s even more rare to see a guy play a full season without missing a single game. Lajoie looks to be rounding into a solid two way defender, but he will still need a strong outing in 2015-16 to be considered for a first round selection. Development in his case, much like the other defenders in the first round, will be seen if he is relied upon in key situations. I want to see him on the PK, and continue the offensive production we saw last season.

Luke Green – RD – Saint John Sea Dogs: After being selected first overall in the QMJHL draft, Luke Green had a decent rookie season. As an undersized defender, Green showed he’s a fairly strong offensive defender who has decent defensive instincts. The good thing for Luke is that he will be playing on a stacked Saint John team that will allow him to develop next to guys like Thomas Chabot and Jakob Zboril. I’d expect Green to post around 45 points and the Sea Dogs to finish top three in the league.

Olli Juolevi – LD – London Knights : As a player makes the transition from Europe, it’s hard to come up with an accurate prediction of how they may fair in North America. At the same age, Julius Honka posted 0.36 points per game where Juolevi (at the same age and level) recorded 0.65 ppg. Stats say very little about a player, but this is an interesting comparable. It’s a wait and see situation with Olli, but with his skating and puck moving ability, it’s likely he puts up pretty solid offensive totals in London.

Kale Clague – LD – Brandon Wheat Kings: Clague was dominant in his Midget and Bantam AAA years, but struggled with injuries in his rookie season. He’s a great – and I mean great – skater. He has good puck moving ability, and a pretty good shot. His biggest problem is the fact that he plays like he’s 5’10. In my viewings, I rarely saw him engage in body contact, and a few times saw him shy away from contact. This season will be a better test as he is likely to play more than 20 regular season games, and if Provorov ends up in Philly, he will take a larger role on a strong Wheat Kings team.

Victor Mete – LD – London Knights: After a decent rookie season, Mete looks like he will be one of the best offensive defenceman in the league in the coming years. He’s an aggressive, smooth skating defender who battles. I’d expect him to pick up his offensive numbers quite a bit given the fact he’s on a loaded London Knights squad. He’s drawn comparisons to Ryan Murphy which I find intriguing given the fact that Murphy dominated offensively during his draft season.

There are plenty more defenders who are going to be in the conversation come next June. It will be exciting to see who is the Provorov-like riser of this year, but one thing is certain, this will be a year where many teams walk away with a top four defenceman who they will be able to ride over the next 10-15 years.