Tag Archives: Blackhawks

Edmonton Oilers, Michael Sifeldeen, NHL, Prospects

Deep In The (Oil)Well

1 Comment

We were having a discussion the other day in the BLH chat group, analyzing the sorry performance our boys put in against the Jets the other night and trying to figure out what it might mean come the start of the regular season. Yes, I know it’s preseason. We all know it’s preseason. But preseason is a great time to sit back see how the guys developed over the summer, evaluate line combos, and especially to see who amongst the fresh blood is really busting their ass every shift to make the show come October 14th.

We’re seeing that pretty consistently out of Caggiula, which a certain BLH writer may or may not have predicted back in July… I’m also seeing that fight in Versteeg; I think he’ll end up with a contract for at least a season, and I hope he can infuse some of his multiple-Stanley-Cup-winning magic vibes into this squad. Looch is still big and slow but he’ll get there. Even if he can’t quite keep up with McDavid yet and realize just how little work he actually has to do to rack up points just being on the ice with Him, he’ll get there, and his presence just makes me feel better knowing that the potential goons on opposing teams this season will absolutely be thinking twice before trying anything funny. Puljujarvi is looking okay, he certainly killed it in the junior games a couple weeks ago, but I don’t think his North American hockey IQ (or stamina) is quite there just yet, and he could definitely benefit from a few months at least in the A.

But I mean, other than that, it’s kind of business as usual with these guys, isn’t it? Kind of listless, a little soft, definitely on the razor’s edge of being a complete disaster dumpster fire of a season again should one of our big guys go down long-term, no? I can’t even begin to imagine what losing someone early in the season like Klef, or Ebs, or RNH, or god forbid, He Whose Collarbone Shall Not Be Named would do to this team. Which really brings us to the heart of the issue facing this Oilers team right now: Depth.

#prayforklefsfoot

This Oilers team, with the amount of seriously amazing skill it has up front, absolutely does not have the depth to be a serious contender this season if everyone isn’t running at 100% healthy for the vast majority of the season. Think about it this way: if Klef goes down, our top LHD is back to being Andre Sekera. If Larsson goes down, our top RHD is back to being Mark Fayne. (Now, I’d like to think BDavey could pick up that slack and run with it like he had to last season, but still, the point stands.) If Connor or Nuge or Leon suffers an injury, where are the classic “depth guys” to step in and at least attempt to fill that huge void? In Bakersfield? Doubtful. You know where they are? In Chicago, or Pittsburgh, or Los Angeles, even Florida and Nashville now to an extent. They’re being drafted and traded for and developed specifically by these teams to fill key depth roles with the understanding that top-12 forwards and top-6 defencemen occasionally need to be pushed into non-ideal minutes and situations. Do you picture Anton Lander or Griffin Reinhart or Iiro Pakarinen in your mind when you think of those situations? Because that’s what we’ve got.

You know who this team reminds me of the last few years? The late-90s-to-mid-2000s Blackhawks, just before they got Toews in 2006 and Kane in 2007. Train wrecks, basically. But remember, even when they got Captain Serious and Kaner, it still took them a couple years to become a serious playoff team. How did they do this? Why has Chicago won 3 of the last 7 Stanley Cups? Well it could be because they have two or three star players carrying the team. That would be an easy assumption to make; it’s been the case for some Stanley Cup winning teams throughout the years. Hell, it’s been the modus operandi of the Edmonton Oilers for the last decade. Draft a couple studs and screw the rest of the lineup, people come for the stars, and they’re who will get us to the cup. Right?

Except that’s not how the NHL works anymore. The Blackhawks have won 3 cups in 7 years because Niklas Hjalmarsson is a third pairing defender on that team. They have or have had the Andrew Ladds, the Marian Hossas, the Kris Versteegs, the Brandon Saads, and the Andrew Shaws to bolster their lineups and step up to fill the holes when need be. They aren’t the guys necessarily putting up 65+ point seasons ever year, but they are solid and reliable and tough, and teams stocked up in those particular skill departments are the teams who consistently string together winning seasons and ultimately end up wining championships.

As indescribably amazing as Connor McDavid is, he can’t win us a Stanley Cup on his own. As defensively sound as Adam Larsson is, he isn’t going to swing our goal differential into the positives on his own. As big and strong as Milan Lucic is, he isn’t going to be able to fight off the opposition on his own without the support of the third- and fourth-liners who we need to bring in to make this a playoff team for years to come. If we make the playoffs this season, suffice it to say that I will be surprised. We’re flush with skill guys, now we need to focus on the d-word. The Edmonton Oilers need to start trading for and drafting and developing depth players, and fast, before the p-word starts entering our vernacular in a serious way.

Click the pic and grab the new 16-bit Puljujarvi tee!
Edmonton Oilers, Zach Laing

Oilers vs Blackhawks Preview

“We are a lot more confident than we were at the start of the year. Sometimes that’s all it takes.” @hallsy04 https://t.co/ZQ8jWJxyc1

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) December 17, 2015

 

TALE OF THE TAPE:

Game: Edmonton Oilers (14-16-2) vs Chicago Blackhawks (17-11-4)

Location: Rexall Place, Edmonton, Alberta

Time: 6:30 PM MT

Where to find it: TV: Sportsnet Oilers – Radio: 630 CHED

Edmonton Oilers Preview:

Coming off the heels of a 4-2 loss to the Rangers that ended our fabulous six game win streak, the Oilers are in tough against a Chicago team that has already beat us twice this year. On November 8th, the Oilers lost 4-2 in the Windy City and then again at home 4-3 (OT) on November 18th.

Jordan Eberle, Teddy Purcell and Darnell Nurse have all recorded multiple points vs the Blackhawks this season so I would look for them to continue on their ways against last years Stanley Cup Champions.

One of the nice things that game with Tuesday’s game against the Rangers was the return of Rob Klinkhammer. However, he suffered an injury against the Blackhawks and so, Jujhar Khaira draws back into the lineup.

“For myself, individually, it’s going to be cool playing against all these guys you watch on TV,” Khaira said. “It’s good challenge for me to see where I’m at… but I’m not going to think about it too much and just play my game.”

Jordan Eberle has finally hit his stride and has scored seven points in his last five games, including a three-point night against the Boston Bruins Monday night. The return of Eberle has provided a much needed spark for this Oilers club

Tonight, the Oilers need to make the most of their matchups and try and beat down the pairing of Rozsival and Scuderi. That is certainly a weak spot on this roster, and the Oilers speed could blow by the 37 and 36 year olds.

The Otherside:

Kane will look to start a new point streak after his ended at 26 games in Chicago’s 3-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche at United Center on Tuesday. Newly acquired defenseman Rob Scuderi played left point on the third pairing against Colorado, and coach Joel Quenneville said he met expectations. Scuderi, 36, and 37-year old Michal Rozsival could form the third pairing for a second straight game. The Blackhawks aren’t pleased with their puck-possession, which was an issue in the loss to the Avalanche. “Their goalie [Semyon Varlamov] does well against us and we misfired on some of our shots and [didn’t have] enough traffic at the net, but we didn’t have enough zone time, possession-wise,” Quenneville said. “We didn’t have the puck enough or long enough.”

Line Combos and Starting Goalies c/o Left Wing Lock:


Oilers (Cam Talbot):
Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Teddy Purcell
JJ Khaira – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle
Matt Hendricks – Mark Letestu – Lauri Korpikoski
Luke Gazdic – Anton Lander – Iiro Pakarinen

Darnell Nurse – Andrej Sekera
Nikita Nikitin – Justin Schultz
Brandon Davidson – Eric Gryba

Blackhawks (Corey Crawford):
Teuvo Teravainen – Jonathan Toews – Brandon Mashinter
Artemi Panarin – Artem Anisimov – Patrick Kane
Bryan Bickell – Dennis Rasumssen – Andrew Shaw
Andrew Dejardins – Marcus Kruger – Ryan Garbutt

Duncan Keith – Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Niklas Hjalmarsson – Brent Seabrook
Rob Scuderi – Michal Rozsival

Any ideas on how to improve my game previews? Send me an email at zjlaing@gmail.com.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubECfPTOJUc]

 

Armchair GM, Edmonton Oilers, Rumors, Zach Laing

Oilers vs Blackhawks Preview – Hamonic to Edmonton?

TALE OF THE TAPE:

Game: Edmonton Oilers (6-12-0) vs Chicago Blackhawks (10-7-1)

Location: Rexall Place, Edmonton, Alberta

Time: 7:30 PM MT

Where to find it: TV: Sportsnet One – Radio: 630 CHED

Edmonton Oilers Preview:

Hard to think about a pregame when there are rumours of the Oilers trading for a stud defenceman like Hamonic. None the less, the team must prepare to take on the Chicago Blackhawks for the second time in the last 10 days. The Oilers know what they face in the Blackhawks.

They are a fast, strong, high-scoring team that will basically impose their will on any team they like. A tough task for any team, the Oilers need to look to slow down the Blackhawks game. When we played them 10 days ago, the Oilers were in it to the end and outshot the Blackhawks by a total of 36-28.

Tonight, the Oilers hope that they can replicate their November 8th performance only this time, come out on top.

Walter Foddis’ Pregame Metrics

Addressing the Rumours

Earlier this afternoon, it was reported by Elliotte Friedman that Travis Hamonic has requested a trade to a Western Canadian team.

Very quietly, the New York Islanders are trying a manoeuvre a difficult situation — the possibility of trading Travis Hamonic…There’s a ton to like about this player. He’s a right-hand shot, top-pairing defenceman with four years remaining on a good-value contract.”

This could in fact be a huge opportunity for the Edmonton Oilers to improve off of what has been a tire fire of a defence for some time.

Currently, the 25-year old right handed shot Hamonic has four more years left on a deal that will pay him an AAV of $3.85 Million/yr. His numbers aren’t fantastic. Over his 347 game career, he has scored 115 points, 47% CF all at 22 minutes of ice time.

BLH feels that “acquiring Travis Hamonic would be a GIANT step in the right direction for the Oilers and it would show not only the fans but the NHL that Chiarelli means business and he’s not willing to sit on his hands unlike previous GMs.” You can expect an article from him soon covering this potential deal in more depth.

The Otherside:

Goalie Corey Crawford will start for Chicago, which is 2-5-0 on the road heading into its “Circus Trip” to Western Canada and California. Since coach Joel Quenneville took over in October 2008, the Blackhawks have made six November “Circus Trips” and gone 25-10-2, outscoring opponents 125-92. They’re 4-1-0 against the Oilers during that span and 11-2-0 overall on the trip the past two years, including 5-1-0 last season. “I certainly think your team gets a lot closer [during the trip], and with the number of new guys that we have, I think that’ll be a good experience for some,” Quenneville said. “The best thing about it [is] it’ll be a good test to find out how we can play consistently on the road in some real tough buildings.”  – nhl.com

Line Combos and Starting Goalies:

Oilers (Anders Nilsson):


Oilers lineup c/o Left Wing Lock

Blackhawks (Corey Crawford):


Blackhawks lineup c/o Left Wing Lock

Any ideas on how to improve my game previews? Send me an email at zjlaing@gmail.com.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHSNahtN5Vg]

Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Zach Laing

Oilers vs Blackhawks Preview – To be the best, you have to beat the best

TALE OF THE TAPE:

Game: Edmonton Oilers (5-9-0) at Chicago Blackhawks (7-6-1)

Location: United Center, Chicago, Illinois

Time: 6:00 PM MT

Where to find it: TV: Sportsnet – Radio: 630 CHED

Edmonton Oilers Preview:

To be the best, you have to beat the best. Tonight’s game against Chicago will be a good litmus test for our Edmonton Oilers after coming off a strong showing against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Despite the fact we lost 2-1, I think the moral victory of playing the way we played was a good thing – but for heaven’s sake, can this team actually play a full 60 minutes?

The fact that the team comes out and plays such a weak first 20 minutes of a game is not helping. We are being forced to play from behind, and even though we have come back to win a few games this lack of drive early will hurt us moving forward.

I do not believe that constantly having to come from behind is sustainable hockey over the long term. In saying so, I think moving forward the team needs to work on coming strong out of the gate. We have the ability to compete with teams, so I would like to see us put together a full 60 minutes.

I was impressed with the Hall – Draisaitl – Eberle line a lot against the Penguins. The three drove play very well in all situations (58 CF%, 51 CF% and 60 CF% respectively) and that is what we need from our top line.

Todd McLellan said that “we have to play our game. It doesn’t matter who we play against, we have to play to our identity and to our structure and to our foundation.” He speaks lots about this, and it shows what the focus of this staff is.

A win against the Blackhawks would be a huge one for this team, and would help instill some confidence as we prepare for a four-game road trip.

Walter Foddis’ Pregame Shot Metrics: 

The Otherside:

Chicago, which did not practice Saturday, has allowed 20 goals in its past five games. All were played without injured defenseman Duncan Keith, who remains out for at least two more weeks recovering from surgery Oct. 20 to repair a meniscal tear in his right knee. The Blackhawks are 4-3-1 in their first eight games without Keith, but all three of their losses in regulation happened on the road. Right wing Marian Hossa and center Artem Anisimov are each day-to-day with lower-body injuries. – nhl.com

Line Combos and Starting Goalies via Left Wing Lock:

Oilers (Cam Talbot):

Oilers Defensive Pairings: 
Andrej Sekera – Darnell Nurse
Oscar Klefbom – Mark Fayne
Griffin Reinhart – Eric Gryba

Blackhawks (Corey Crawford):

Any ideas on how to improve my game previews? Send me an email at zjlaing@gmail.com.

Now I know this has nothing to do with the Blackhawks game, however can we just take a moment to appreciate the diamond cutters Messier had for elbows? Oh how the game has changed. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEUa0RuFd6A]