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!
“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.”
Would be really surprised at this point if Perry isnt an Oiler and have felt this way since Stauffer's knowing grin last week https://t.co/MqeCCyg7O3
“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.
The BLH Instagram account is growing like crazy! Three weeks ago when we started to get it back going we were at a shade over 1900 followers and now we’re gunning for 2000. So please, head on over and give us a follow as we’re posting exclusive content over there that won’t be published here or on our Twitter page.
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.
The King of the North is here! Click the pic and grab a shirt!
We’re going to talk about the recent Oilers rumors making their rounds briefly and then move on to take a look at how the Oilers draft would look like if we used Steve Kournianos’ 2019 NHL Draft Report to make the Oilers selections at this year’s NHL entry draft.
THE RUMORS
Corey Perry is the latest to come up and if Anaheim can’t find him a new home via trade, the talk is that they’ll buy him out. Now, I wouldn’t mind having the former Hart winner on the team because he’s an epic shit talker and you never know when you’ll need someone to concuss a goalie or pick on a rookie? But if he’s going to cost the Oilers anything more than $2M, I don’t think I’m interested. The Oilers ARE trying to get faster right?
Nikita Zaitsev has the same agent as Pavel Datsyuk and we know who the former Red Wing’s GM used to be right? It’s the Oilers new GM, Ken Holland. I don’t believe there’s much to this Dreger rumor and Friedman basically shut it down on Oilers Now yesterday morning. Edmonton’s defense is full at the moment, why would they be looking to add another overpaid option and weaken their leverage? I mean, are the Leafs looking to add some functional truculence to their team? In that scenario, let’s talk.
Would you rather have James Neal, Loui Eriksson, or Milan Lucic? For me it depends. Would I rather have someone who can score, help out on the PK, or address my puck possession numbers? Neal will kill on defensively but he’s not that old and he is still a bit of a pest at times. Lucic can’t score but he doesn’t kill you in the fancies. Whereas Eriksson will offer some veteran guidance to the younger players on the team, but not much more than what Lucic is giving you production-wise, apart from the puck not dying on his stick.
The fact of the matter is, Milan Lucic has gone to management THREE SEASONS IN A ROW and has made it known that he wouldn’t stand in the way of a trade… That followed an incident in Calgary that involved some alcohol and him breaking his leg thus making him ineligible to play in the final Battle of Alberta of the season and subsequently the one game where Connor McDavid gets hurt… I think that’s a poor display of leadership from someone who was brought in to bring just that to the locker room.
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THE DRAFT ANALYST’S 2019 NHL DRAFT REPORT
The 2019 NHL Entry Draft is just around the corner and I’ve got a plethora of draft guides sitting on my desktop and in my tablet just waiting to be utilized. So I thought a good idea might be to use the picks from each guide’s rankings to perform the draft for the Edmonton Oilers.
Check out the previous articles written in the 2019 series below:
Now, some guides don’t have enough players ranked to do the entire draft, so we’ll just have to do with rounds one to four in that case, but for the rest that do have enough, I’ll lay them out for you and give you the best brief reports on those players that I can. I haven’t watched all of the players and therefore I’ll be forced to go with reports from other publications and my own digging about to get a good idea on them in order to present it to you.
Today we’re going to use one of the most affordable draft guides available, The Draft Analyst’s 2019 NHL Draft Report. You can find it for the low low price of $5 right here. What will you find in this guide? Let’s let the Draft Analyst himself, Steve Kournianos, tell you,
The Draft Analyst’s 2019 NHL Draft Report is now complete. Inside you’ll find 249 player profiles that take an in-depth look at every prospect’s skills, strengths and weaknesses. Also included are rankings for both first-year eligibles and draft overagers, as well as the most detailed NHL team previews around! Find out what each club is doing right, doing wrong or in some cases, not doing a thing! Each team’s top prospects are listed by position, as well as immediate draft needs and the players they should target to address each one.
Want more? How about a two-round mock draft, top-25 rankings by position and a detailed breakdown of the draft order. I’ve also added a Top-31 ranking for the 2020 NHL Draft. There’s no better guide to have in your hands as NHL teams run through pick after pick. Don’t miss out on one of the most detailed draft primers on the market.
For $5 there’s no way you can go wrong with the amount of content you’re getting. Steve is an independent scout and you’d be doing a massive service to him and his efforts by grabbing his draft report. For the price of a Big Mac meal, you won’t regret it and you’ll be healthier for it!
The Oilers have the no.8, 38, 85, 100, 162, and 193 picks in the draft. This is who The Draft Analyst has ranked at those numbers.
At this point, you’ve probably heard everything there is to hear about “Goal” Caufield. The comparisons to DeBrincat are a tad shallow I feel. Sure, they’re small and they score goals but I think that Caufield is a bit better off the puck than DeBrincat is. The way that Caufield finds the areas on the ice where he can pull the trigger is really reminiscent of how Brett Hull used to do it. The other thing I like about this little fella is that he’s pretty effective at digging the pucks out of corners and finding an open teammate. I don’t reckon he’ll be winning and Selke trophies anytime soon but nobody cared about Hull’s 200ft game when he was scoring 70 goals a season and Cup-winning goals.
Put him on a line with McDavid or Draisaitl (or both) and the Oilers will reap the benefits.
I have to agree with Kournianos here. Boldy is already gone in his rankings, as is Turcotte, Podkolsin, and Zegras. So I’ll take the next best thing in my books, the scoring specialist. It might be fair to wonder about the choice mind you, the Oilers do have Kailer Yamamoto, who is the same size, coming along and there’s been no definite decision made on Jesse Puljujarvi yet. I simply feel that if all the other options are off the board, you take the goal-scoring specialist.
He’s a bull in a China shop folks. When’s the last time you saw Edmonton draft and develop a proper old-school power forward. I’m not talking about the days when Cameron Abney and Mitch Moroz were picked and no disrespect to Abney and Moroz, but Poulin is much more of a player than those gentlemen.
As I watched Poulin at the U18s, I noticed how responsible of a player he is defensively. Having an NHLer for a father has paid massive dividends with regards to Poulin’s hockey IQ and awareness. He’s not the fastest but he knows where to go and the best way to arrive at his destination. You’d think for a man of his size he’d lack in the finesse dept. but not Poulin. He’s got a good set of soft mitts on him and he can dangle.
I’ve watched Albin Grewe be a complete non-factor in games and I’ve seen him take over games as well. This is a player who is as feisty and pesky as he is skilled. He could very well be the next elite pest and we might be saying his name in the same breath as the Brad Marchands or Claude Lemieuxs of the world.
Grewe will blow past you, deke your D partner out of his jock, create a scoring chance, and then wallpaper your teammate in the corner chasing the loose puck. You have to keep our head on a swivel and be mindful of when he’s on the ice or you might just find yourself counting sheep.
It sounds like Grewe is the next coming of Cam Neely or something, right? He’s pretty dangerous but the way I see him is that he’s a throwback player with modern skills. He’d be the next Esa Tikkanen if the Oilers drafted him sans the Tikkanese.
The feather-lite Berka is best described as a gamble that could pay off massively should his development plan succeed. He is a dangerous player on the ice at all times as he loves to play inside the dots. His motor runs high at all times and you’ll never question his work ethic.
Berka’s wrist shot is hard and accurate, and he likes to use it off the stride.
Pinto is a really smart player that can see the way a play is developing before it does. His wrist/snap shot is pro-ready, he’s got the strength, hockey IQ, and positional flexibility that coaches at the next level will really love.
He’s not the most physically engaging player, but he doesn’t shy away from it. He could probably work on his defensive awareness in his own zone. I reckon he’d be a good pick for the Oilers as he’s pretty much flown under the radar until recently, I feel like with his size and toolbox, he could turn out be at the very least a depth scorer and at best, a two-way middle-6 forward. Edmonton could use as much depth as possible.
No. 100 – David Karlstrom – C – 6’1″ 187lbs – AIK U20 (SuperElit) – 41gp 9g 11a 20pts
Karlstrom is your standard 3rd line checking forward. He works his butt off and plays a very honest blue-collar game. He’s pretty average at everything sans his wrister, which is actually quite powerful and accurate.
BLH’s Pick: Dustin Wolf – G – 6’0″ 156lbs – Everett (WHL) (ranked 106th)
Half of my prospect covering super duo, Max (@TPEHockey), had this to say about Wolf at the beginning of the season,
Wolf’s game is highlighted by his technical play that is common with a lot of upcoming high-level goaltenders. Every movement is calculated and crisp. He doesn’t panic when out of position and makes a recovery using his skating ability and edges. Wolf is a butterfly goaltender and makes a lot of his movements on his knees. He’s good at sealing the ice which prevents him from opening up holes when moving.
Another quality to his game is his puck tracking and vision. Screens and tipped shots don’t phase him since often a shot is taken through a screen and Wolf can easily find it and pick it out of the air.
The hits on Wolf are his size and ability to take up the net. He measures in at about 183cm (6’0”) which is under the expected height for a top goaltending prospect at 188 (6’2”). This doesn’t combine well with his lack of aggressiveness. Wolf relies a little too much on his lightning quick reflexes and could come out of his net more to take away space. Although this isn’t a huge issue as it’s something he could easily fix as he progresses his game.
One of the reasons I really like this player is his ability to handle the puck. Watching the Oilers offensive attack die on the vine because they’ve attempted to dump it in only to see the goalie stop it and make a counter play, it’s made me really appreciate how much skill it takes to handle a puck for a goalie. To add to that, Wolf put up comparable stats to Ian Scott (Prince Albert) but because Everett wasn’t as deep (read: successful), he lost the WHL Goalie of the Year to Scott.
I know that Edmonton has Skinner, Wells, Starrett, and Rodrigue in the system, but none of those netminders have the hands and calmness that Wolf has. I’m not sure I see Wells and Starrett as long-term members of the Oilers as it is.
No. 162 – Simon Jellus – C – 6’2″ 194lbs – Lulea U20 (SuperElit) – 35gp 12g 15a 27pts
Kournianos is the only person who has a report on Jellus in the draft guides I’ve covered so far. So really, all I’ve got to go on is what The Draft Analyst says with the young Slovak, which is thus,
An inventive playmaking center with size and strength who shows flashes of dynamism.
Jellus is crafty and creative with the puck, using a series of moves and tricks to get himself inside for a clean look at the net. Jellus is a very good set-up man who looks to involve the entire five-man unit into the attack.
Jellus is a heady player who keeps his eyes open and looks over his shoulder quite a bit, even when moving quickly up ice. He has excellent speed and strong balance, with little to no regard for traffic no matter how thick the wall of opponents at the line may be.
BLH’s Pick: Jackson Lacombe – D – 6’1″ 171lbs – Shattuck (HS-MN) (ranked 164th)
The Eden Prairie native is a fantastic skater with the silky mitts who models his game after Shea Theodore (VGK). Lacombe is an intelligent puck mover and an adaptable defender. Meaning, he can read situations quite well and he’s not all gung-ho offense all of the time. He knows when to go and when to stay back. He used to be a forward, so he has those scoring instincts ingrained into him hence the gaudy point totals.
This puck-moving defender played for Shattuck St. Mary’s High School program last season and racked up 89pts in 54 games. He did play five games for the Chicago Steel (USHL) but didn’t manage to put up any points. Apparently, Lacombe would’ve played more if not for an injury. According to Hockeyprospect.com, he should spend the year playing in the USHL next year and then move on to the Univ. of Minnesota.
I wonder long-term if we’re looking at a player who will find himself being compared to Cale Makar, Thomas Chabot, and Shea Theodore due to his outstanding mobility and edgework?
Washkurak is your typical short-statured hard-working grinder. He’s a smart player who knows where to go with and without the puck. He’s the kind of player that teammates love having on their squad because he goes to battle for them. Problem is, his skating isn’t great and he’s not that skilled. His ceiling is a 4th-line role player if he makes it to the NHL.
For me, I really think that these players can be found as free agents and that using a draft pick on them is a bit of a waste with the way the league is trending.
BLH’s Pick: Jonathan Brinkman – W – 5’11” 165lbs – Aalborg (DEN) (ranked 204th)
Brinkman is considered Denmark’s premier u18 prospect. He’s fast, intense, tenacious, gritty, elusive, and his shot and release are both lightning quick. I look at players like Michael Grabner and Marcus Sorenson, for example, and I think that taking a shot at Brinkman in the 7th round has very little risk and quite a bit of upside. I think the Oilers’ plan is to get faster and more skilled and Brinkman is both of those.
What do you think of those selections? Let us know in the comments below!
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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, is this interference? Looks like maybe Perry just skates by and brushes Talbot, screening as puck goes high blocker. The next angle tho- pic.twitter.com/HJduSfnlof
Not only does Perry's skate clip Talbot's, but his leg hits his blocker, sending it down and in just as the puck goes high and outside. pic.twitter.com/egmMDm01Il
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.
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,
Ryan Getzlaf
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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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?
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.
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.
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.
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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This is going to be a short article. But there are some things I’ve been wanting to say to Edmonton’s faithful who are still on the “boo hoo how could we trade Taylor Hall” bandwagon, and this is an appropriate enough time as any.
May 27th, 2016
Team Canada’s World Cup of Hockey roster is fully announced. The initial roster announcement weeks before was notoriously Taylor-less, as he had just made his presence felt in a great IIHF World Championship tourney, and everyone and their dog was expecting to see that big #4 show up on the finalized full player list sooner rather than later. Well, May 27th came and went, and Team Canada was still without, what some people thought and still think, is one of the NHL’s top-3 left wingers.
Now, at that time, we could’ve argued that he was missing simply because the coaching staff made a conscious and strategic decision to load up the forward lines with centres, and yes, at that point in time, there is validity to that.
July 16, 2016
Rumours abound that Jamie Benn, having undergone surgery to repair a core muscle injury this offseason in July, may not be able to participate as planned as Team Canada’s top left winger. Who better to replace him than one of the NHL’s other high-scoring left wingers than… Taylor Hall?! The very same Taylor Hall so heartlessly and thoughtlessly spurned from the initial Canadian roster.
August 23, 2016
Logan Couture is named to Team Canada as replacement for Jamie Benn. Christ almighty, the sky is falling in Taylor Hall Apologist land. How stupid could Mike Babcock and Doug Armstrong be to just forget that Taylor Hall is ripe for the picking for that #1 LW spot? Are these guys even paying attention? Do they even hockey, bro? Forget for a moment that Logan Couture, just a couple months prior, scored 10 goals and 30 thoroughly convincing points in a Western Conference Championship run with the Sharks, Edmonton’s twittersphere cannot fathom how New Jersey Devils legend Taylor Hall wasn’t on speed dial as soon as Benn became a question mark.
September 2, 2016
Los Angeles Kings forward Jeff Carter is ruled out of contention for Team Canada following the announcement that he had suffered a lower-body injury during offseason training. (Boy oh boy, with all these inexplicable injuries plaguing the World Cup teams, I’m starting to think everyone forgot the All Star Game weekend isn’t until February…) Regardless, surely now is the time the Canadian management team realizes where they left Taylor’s number and fires him off a text at the very least inviting him to camp at the start of next week… Oops, Corey Perry is announced the same day as Carter’s last-minute replacement. What has Corey Perry ever done for a Canadian international squad, anyway? Idiots!
Present Day
Shock and disbelief is still palpable in the tweets and Facebook comments of Oilers and Devils fans. But it shouldn’t be. The lame excuses of “Well, Armstrong just has some kind of vendetta against Hall”, or “Babcock only wants centres” are overplayed and irrelevant at this point. There were four opportunities for Taylor Hall to be named to the team, and five times he was passed over for other players. Edmonton has in the past, and to this day continues to overvalue him and overlook the obvious flaws in his play. (We’re not getting into this shit again about the truth or falsehood of the claims about his off-ice behaviour.)
We aren’t better coaches than Mike Babcock. We aren’t better at crafting teams than Doug Armstrong. There is a general opinion amongst the professionals in this league about how Taylor Hall plays hockey, and it isn’t as good as Edmonton’s media and social media commentators want to recall it was.
Sorry.
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