Tag Archives: Detroit Red Wings

Beer League Hero, NHL

BLH’s 2016 NHL Playoffs Predictions: Eastern Conference

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Jagr-Cup
Can Jags win one more before his time is up?

The time is upon us once again to pick some teams to win the Stanley Cup. Of course it’s made easier for a tenth season as the Edmonton Oilers are out of the running for the Cup. 2016 is looking to be as solid as every as nearly every team in the Western Conference could go all the way and win it. The Eastern Conference will feature some great teams going forward without some big names to start the post-season.

So as we do every year, let’s begin by looking at the match-ups in the East and see what shakes out.

Eastern Conference

Washington Capitals vs. Philadelphia Flyers (Season series 2-0-2 for Caps) 

As the league’s regular season champions, the Capitals are firm favourites to win it all but they’ve never been able to make a convincing argument in the playoffs. They’re also going up against a Flyers team that is red hot and a team that will push the Capitals to the edge physically.

Philly on the other hand has a defense that is absolutely brutal apart from uber-rookie Shayne Gostisbehere and you never know what game Steve Mason will bring to the arena. Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, and Wayne Simmonds are gamers though and don’t forget about Sean Couturier as well. He shut Evgeni Malkin right down a few years ago, in his rookie season if I recall correctly.

I’m picking the Caps in six games because… Braden Holtby. He’s going to be a major factor for the Caps in any series and because the Capitals are just too deep and too good for the Flyers to match-up with.

Not-so-obvious players to look out for: Winger Andre Burakovsky for the Capitals and Shea Weber v2.0 Radko Gudas for the Flyers.  Burakovsky can go to Dangle City for Top Shelf Cheddar and Gudas is a killer out there. Literally. He’s probably going to put a guy out for the playoffs in this matchup. Head on a swivel has new meaning when Radko is on the ice.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. New York Rangers (season series 3-1 for the Pens)

I love the way the Penguins have been playing since turfing Mike Johnson. They’re a team re-born and that’s a lot to do with the coaching but it’s also a lot to do with some of the lesser knowns stepping up like Nick Bonino. Surely I’m not alone in thinking he was a throw in when acquired in the Brandon Sutter deal. Carl Hagelin has worked out fabulously since coming over from Anaheim and veterans Matt Cullen and Eric Fehr have proved their worth time and time again. We’re not going to talk about Justin Schultz here…

When Henrik Lundqvist is your goalie, you can never be counted out. He’s one of the top three netminders in the game today and can most definitely steal the Rangers a series on his own. Rick Nash, Derek Stepan, and Derick Brassard are no laughing matters either. The Rangers are team that can play it anyway you want. They’re big, fast and will punish you in ways only a New Yorker can imagine.

Both teams banged up and I have to wonder what kind of series this is going to be. Malkin, Fleury, the Pens other goalie Matt Murray, Beau Bennet, and Olli Maatta are all in the IR right now. For New York, Eric Staal, Mats Zucarello, Ryan McDonagh, and Dan Girardi are dinged up.

I’ll take the Penguins in five games. I think they’ve come together as a group and as soon as those injured players come back, they’ll be too overpowering for the Rangers to contain and Crosby is back to his Hart Trophy self…

Not-so-obvious players to look out for: JT Miller for the Rangers and Tom Kuhnhackl for the Penguins. A couple of youngsters looking to make their mark. They both play bottom 6 roles for the team but are guys who can put the puck in the net.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Detroit Red Wings (season series tied 2-2-0)

Man what can you say about this series. No Stamkos, Stralman, or Johnson to start for Tampa. Kucherov, Callahan, and Hedman are also nursing injuries… But they’ve got Ben Bishop who is a fine fine goalie to bail their asses out. But with that said, if those six players I mentioned earlier are out for any extended amount of time, (which Stamkos is) then they’re going to be in tough against a healthy Detroit Red Wings squad.

Can the Red Wings, who JUST got into the playoffs thanks to a serious tank-job from the Boston Bruins, use their veteran experience to pull off a pretty decent upset? Is their defense good enough, what about the sub-par goaltending tandem of Petr Mrazek and Jimmy Howard? Will one of them show up and give Detroit the boost they need?

I don’t like the Lightning’s chances if those injured players can’t play significant minutes. The Red Wings have still got a very good team but the goaltending concerns me. I’ll take Detroit on the backs of Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk in 7 games.

Not-so-obvious players to look out for: Anthony Mantha for Detroit has got big potential and often times we see breakouts in the playoffs. For Tampa I’ll say Jonathan Drouin because if he really wants out, he’s going to have to earn it. This is great chance to show the team his value.

*Mantha was returned to Grand Rapids… So throw that name out of the window. Replace it with Tomas Tatar.*

Florida Panthers vs. New York Islanders (season series 2-1-0 for Florida)

Well well well, what do we have here? The Florida Panthers are good again. I dig it. I’m cheering for Jaromir Jagr all the way here. I can’t say as I’m a huge fan of Barkov or Huberdeau but Jags, Ekblad, and Gudbranson are my kind of players! And who can forget about Bobby Lu? Luongo is due for a great playoffs and the opportunity to show the Canucks the big middle finger whilst raising Lord Stanley’s cup.

The Islanders are my wildcard team though. Their line of Martin, Czikas, and Clutterbuck is outstanding! John Tavares is no slouch and Kyle Okposo is a bull on the ice. But goaltending will be an issue for the Isles. Halak and Travis Hamonic are out and it’ll take a herculean effort from Thomas Greiss to keep them in this series.

I’m taking the Panthers in four games here. I just think they added some nice pieces in Jiri Hudler and Teddy Purcell (noted playoff performer), having five 20 goals scorers, and Roberto Luongo is enough to push them over the edge for me. The Isles simply will have to wait another year to make it out of the 1st round.

Not-so-obvious players to look out for: As I mentioned above, Teddy Purcell has a reputation for turning in on in the post-season. For the Islanders, Frans Nielsen. I like his ability to shut down start players effectively and efficiently.

So to recap I’ve got the Panthers, Penguins, Red Wings, and Capitals all moving on to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. My Western Conference predictions are here.

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Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Oilers Post Game Report, NHL

BLH Post Gamer G23 Oilers VS Red Wings: Crumblin’ Down

The Oilers picked up a loser’s point tonight and it was well deserved. Their play from the last game versus the Hurricanes overflowed into the first period of this one in Detroit and even though they made a helluva push to comeback on the road, they lost another one goal game.

I think we’re going to do this post gamer in point form as I missed parts of it due to work.

Iiro the Hero got a couple tonight but it wasn’t enough. Photo courtesy of Dave Reginek.
  • The Oilers grip on the 1st overall selection in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft is Hulk-like but there’s a part of me that believes this is the bed Peter Chiarelli made and now he’s got to sleep in it. Yet, the other part reminds me that Kevin Lowe, Steve Tambellini, and Craig MacTavish bought the bed from Ikea, assembled it and selected the bedding for it; so maybe it’s time to head on over to Old Man Comrie’s place and get a new bed.
  • The best players in the game weren’t the ones in the top six. The best players were the players in the
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    bottom six. Lander, Pakarinen, Hendricks, Letestu, and Korpikoski were tenacious as hell. I was really jacked to see Iiro the Hero get not only one goal but two due to his wicked work ethic. Now Nuge and Hall and Draisaitl all had their moments but it was the Scandinavians that tested the Red Wings defense with their blazing forecheck.

  • Are the refs blind? Did Taylor Hall magically make his mouth bleed? Did Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ stick break in half on its own accord? I mean there were countless calls that were missed AGAIN! But that’s how she goes, right boys?
  • So much for Mark Fayne not making himself visible in the highlights… Remenda had a field day with him on that Larkin goal.
  • Is it fair to assume that just because something worked last season, with a different coach mind you, that it might not work this year? ie: 67-93-14 or Anton Lander…
  • A bit of talk going on right now that maybe the Oilers should move out some of their “soft-skilled” guys like Nuge and Eberle and bring in some players that will make a difference when things aren’t going their way on the scoresheet. To add to that, Bob Stauffer played a clip of Todd McLellan talking about his days in Detroit and he said the best of the four years was the year the team was its grittiest NOT the year where they had the best players. That is pretty telling.But even if the Oilers wanted to move out a Nuge or an Eberle, is right now the time to do it? I mean more specifically in the case of Nuge. Do you really want to move out the team’s best center for help on D? There’s literally no depth beyond him. Draisaitl is more or less a rookie, McDavid won’t be back until the new year, Lander can’t score and Letestu can’t score either.
  • Ference played not even 5 minutes… What’s the point? honestly. They scratched Gazdic so Ference could get just over 4 minutes of ice-time? Has someone sat down with Andrew and had “The Talk” yet?

The main stream media has their knives out now! Check out these tweets coming from some of the most respected journalists connected to the Oilers. Apart from Dennis King of course, who’s the man when it comes to Oilogosphere icons. Or should I say… The King…

https://twitter.com/nhlbymatty/status/670472640281370624

Next up are the Pittsburgh Penguins and I predicted that would be a loss for the Oilers but I’m iffy on that decision now. Justin Schultz is scheduled to return so I reckon that means bye bye Griffin Reinhart. F-me is Andrew Ference’s stubbornness really throwing a wrench into the cogs of the defence. But if I were in his shows I’d probably milk the team for all it’s worth too.

The Pens are starting their backup, so this will be the 2nd time the Oilers face Jeff Zatkoff. Last time he and his posts got the best of Edmonton but Evgeni Malkin is on a tear right now. Not sure if we’ll see Crosby or not after he was nearly decaptitated by Brandon Dubinksy… Now is that a guy you’d love to have on the Oilers? Dubinksy I mean. Is he the kind of player that McLellan is talking about? Gritty, knows what it takes when things aren’t going the team’s way… Can provide something apart from silky mitts. I wonder…

Until then! Take Care of yourself and drive safely!

BLH

Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Mrazek’s In and the Oilers Will Win

Photo Credit to Andy Devlin

That’s exactly what I said on The Oilers Rig’s Podcast the other day and that’s exactly what happened. Now there’s no proof that’s actually the case, I mean what if Jimmy Howard were in net? Would the Oilers have won or lost, who knows? But I’m going to take this one and hold it close because such conditionally predicted wins don’t happen so often.

Thoughts on the game:

You had to know it the ConYak Connection was going to continue their hot play as of late given that first rush into the zone by Yakupov. I mean once Yakupov gets his legs going he’s going to try and make something happen and he’s at an all-time high for confidence right now. He blew by the Red Wing defender as if he was back in Sarnia taking on Junior players and with ease he got a pass off. To no avail but that was the first hint as to what was going to be a good night for the Russian.

Later in the game he got the puck in his zone and both teams were changing, he started to get wound up as if he was going to try and make a break for it as he would’ve done in years passed but he circled back and ate up enough time for Benoit Pouliot (who also had a great game) to get to the other blue line and that’s when Nail Yakupov unleashed a ridiculous zone-to-zone pass to spring Pouliot on a breakaway… It came completely out of left field for me but put a smile on my face. Yak is coming into his own folks… It’s going to be a fun year.

In the end, lots of MSM folks were saying that was Yakcity’s best game as an Oiler… I say maybe, maybe not. Even so, he came away with 2 assists on an evening in which he could’ve had much more and none better than the one below. I love how he hypnotizes Niklas Kronwall (the Red Wings best defender) with his stickhandling before sending a laser of a pass across the bow of the crease to Elk Point’s own Mark Letestu! (I once knew a girl from Elk Point named Candace. She played defence for the Augustana Vikings Women’s hockey team. Quite the character she was! She hooked me up with a teammate which culminated in a very awkward date…)

TGFT: Thank God for Talbot Photo Credit to Andy Devlin

So many things are clicking right now with this team and it would all be for naught without Cam Talbot and Anders Nilsson. Talbot saved the Oilers’ butts on more than a few occasions and was well rewarded with the 1st star of the game. 29/30 for a .966 SV% is not too shabby in my books.

Something that is beginning to irk me a bit is the amount of penalties the Oilers are being called on in ratio to the amount that could be called against their opponents. There were at least 5 potential Red Wings penalties that went uncalled and I’m starting to wonder if there’s some sort of bias within the reffing community against the Oilers because it’s pretty bloody blatant and the refs are always right there to see the infractions… Case in point, Taylor Hall getting hauled down in the Red Wings zone early in the game and then in the same shift getting called for a trip as he was backchecking. Ridiculous!

Meh… Oilers have the best penalty kill in the league right now, so call as many as you like but surely there’ll be a call from above to lay up a bit because the NHL’s new golden boy isn’t getting on the ice as much as they’d like… With that being said, McLellan did put McDavid out on the PK and he did great! His speed and already developed two-way game will do him wonders in any situation.

Speaking of players with speed and an already developed two-way game, Dylan Larkin is going to be an integral part of Detroit’s future and it’s mouthwatering to envision a time when he and Anthony Mantha are tearing up the league. McDavid is fast but Larkin just might be able to keep up. Boy can he fly! And he was trying his damnedest to exert himself on the Oilers but he’s not in McDavid’s class, not by a long shot. Lucky that he gets to play on the top line with future hall-of-famer Henrik Zetterberg and Justin Abdelkader though. His one real chance… Check it out:

This post wouldn’t be complete without mentioning “The Goal”… It was captured perfectly by the color commentator whose name escapes me right now but Connor McDavid’s first goal at home will forever be cemented in the annals of Edmonton Oilers history…

“OH WHAT A MOVE! WHAT A GOAL!”

That reverse bank pass from Yak to get the puck up to Pouliot and then the way McDavid held up Brad Richards enough and then pulled away from him with two steps was unbelievable. A legend’s move no doubt! Teddy Purcell managed to score one later but who’s kidding who, nobody is going to remember it and honestly who gives a flying fart.

I always believe you should leave on high note and there’s nothing higher in the NHL than that goal right now, so take care everyone! McDavid’s in the top 30 in scoring whilst Eichel is still sitting at 2 goals…

What was your favorite moment of the Oilers game versus the Red Wings?  Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter @beerleagueheroe!

Enjoy the game against the Capitals and I’ll see you on the flip side!

BLH

Edmonton Oilers, Merch, NHL, Prospects, Rob Cooke, Rumors

Oilers Firsts.

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There are seventeen days between now and the official opening of the 2015/16 season. The young stars tournament held annually in Penticton to me are when things really start to get exciting. This is our first chance to see some of these budding young players in actual games with physical contact. More importantly this is the first time we will get to see Connor McDavid play against someone other than his own teammates in a non-contact game. While I am not discounting his 5 goal performance in the Billy Moores cup it was just a prospect game which obviously presents little in the way of a challenge for Connor.

Thinking about Penticton and all the excitement that will surround the bustling little city gets me to thinking of all the Oilers firsts that we are going to witness this coming season, both for young McJesus and the Oilers in general. The first goal of the season, the first multi-point and multi-goal games of the year. The first time we see hats rain from the sky in celebration. The first pugilistic event of the season, good or bad it’s going to happen soon enough people. The first time the boys bring home the clean sheet and how long into the season will we be forced to wait to see the boys in blue victorious? One final thought I just had, hopefully not the final one ever by the way, was will the Oilers be the first team in NHL history to have four 1st overall picks score for one team in one game? Wouldn’t that be something to see!

That’s a lot of season highlights and they could all happen within the first two to three weeks of the season if things break right finally for these boys. With all the excitement that this train of thought is giving to Oilers fans the world over it is time to make some predictions. I want to hear from as many of you as possible too. Let’s all make our best guesses o all the topics above. The prize will be nothing more than bragging rights but you will get to hold your head high knowing that you somehow pulled a guess out of your ass that actually turned out to be true. I know if I am right I plan to laud it over everyone for as long as I possibly can and if not then I will erase all trace of this conversation having taken place and vehemently deny any and all predictions.

With that being said let’s get down to business and start with the guessing.

First goal of the season/ first goal for Connor McDavid

The first goal of the season will come in St. Louis on October 8th. I think everyone knows that by now. If you don’t then what the hell man? You really need to straighten out your priorities! As you can see I added in McDavid’s first goal as well because 95% of the excitement this off-season is directly related to this amazing young man. And now for the official proclamation, (drumroll please) the player that will score the first goal of the 2015/16 season for the Edmonton Oilers will be…..

The crowd won’t obviously go wild and bras won’t rain from the sky for our very own baby Nuge when he lights the lamp midway through the first period in the Scottrade center. That will unfortunately have to wait a week until the very same Blues will visit Rexall to open the final season of the old barn. Young Connor will light the lamp for his first goal of the season in his second game as a pro. He will score a highlight reel beauty streaking off the wing to beat Rinne. Yeah I know that is a pretty detailed prediction but this is the big leagues folks and if you wanna play with the big boys its time to put on your big boy undies, yeah the ones your mom laid out will be fine, and get to guessing!

 

The first multi-point and multi-goal games of the season/ McDavid as well.

There is an immense amount of talent in the Oilers top six, hell there was a lot before we added Connor. The phenom just pushed us even higher. Obviously with that amount of firepower it will be a little harder to accurately predict who will be the first to register a two or more point game and a two or more goal performance. Since there is a fairly decent chance that these both don’t occur on the same night we will make separate guesstimates for both. The first player to record a multi-point game will be…

Again the award goes the Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The first multi-point game of the season will in fact be the season opener in St. Louis. Nugey will contribute a goal in the first period as we already determined but he will add an assist on a Jordan Eberle third period goal as well to take the honors. Connor will have his first two point night against Dallas in the 3rd game of the season.

The first player to score more than one goal is something altogether different and I really don’t see this one going to RNH. Nuge is more of a playmaker than a sniper and because of that he will prefer to pass the puck more often than not. The winner of the award for first multi-goal game goes to….

Hallsy is still our best offensive weapon for the coming season and adding McDavid as his center is only going to take the speedster to new heights. It won’t take very long for Hall to bulge the twine on more than one occasion in a game. I’m guessing that he completes the task in Dallas against the Stars on the 13th of October. Dallas bled goals last season and with relatively the same D-corps and same starting netminder could see the trend continue this year. Dallas’ saving grace is that for as badly as they give up goals they are also able to find the back of the net more often than nearly any team in the league. Hall will score twice that night and both will be off of passes from Connor McDavid. Goals are obviously a tad bit harder to come by than assists in the NHL so it will be a little longer before Connor is able to see the red light go on twice or more in a game. Although I don’t think that he will have to wait that long and will manage to accomplish the feat in the Battle of Alberta game on the 17th of October.

 

First Hattrick of the season

The first time that the heavens will open up and hats will pour from the sky will be a truly glorious event to behold for the thousands in attendance and the hundreds of thousands if not millions watching on television at home. Should it occur on home ice you can guarantee a delay in the game while all the errant hats are rounded up and removed from the ice. Even on the road most other teams fans realize how special a three goal performance is and will generally litter the ice with more than a few sun blockers. How long will we be forced to wait to see this wonderous occurrence? Well if my guess is right it shouldn’t take that long at all! The first player to record a three goal game will be…

 

The first time that we will see hats raining from the sky will in fact by off of the stick of our young saviour Connor McDavid. Not only will the future of the franchise be the first to score a hattrick this season, which is wonderful news in itself, but he will do so in his first multi-goal game of the season too! That’s right folks. I predict that the first time we see the threepeat will be on the 17th of October live on CBC Hockey Night in Canada against the hated Flames. Calgary has been our most hated rival for virtually the entire time that the Oilers have been in the league and it usually means that the players are even more amped up to play than normal. Connor in a normal game will be a formidable player to watch but when he elevates his game to compete in the BOA he will be virtually unstoppable. Good news for Edmonton fans, not so good for Dougie Hamilton and Mark Giordano.

 

The First Fight/ Will McDavid fight?

The first fight of the season isn’t included as an important seasonal milestone as the rest we are discussing but this is still a contact sport and sooner or later tempers will flair and fists will fly. The only question is how many games it is going to take before we have a couple willing combatants? My guess for the player to drop the gloves and earn a 5 minute trip to the sin bin is going to be…

Matt Hendricks. We all know and love the guy for what he brings to this team and he seems to be a very well-respected vet by the younger guys on the team. Hendy is never going to be a dynamic offensive dynamo but what he does bring is a willingness to do all the little things and the work ethic to handle the tougher zone starts. Another great thing about Hendricks is his willingness to stand up for his teammates. He will definitely be the first guy to come to the defense of his team and I think we will see him drop his mitts if not against the Flames then on the very next night against the loathsome Vancouver Canucks. Will McDavid fight this coming season? I really doubt it, I m fairly certain he will be under fairly strict instructions to keep his gloves on and let others handle the physical violence when it is needed.

 

First shut-out of the season?

We have a new starting goalie this year in all likelihood. Cam Talbot is basically being gifted the job barring a horrendous camp from him or an absolutely amazing one from either Scrivens or Nillson. Smart money is that we will be seeing the ghostbuster mask belonging to Talbot in between the pipes far more often than the other two goalies combined. Even then just because you are getting the majority of the starts doesn’t necessarily mean that he will be the first to record a perfect game. The first goalie to record a shut-out this season will be…

Just kidding! There is pretty much no possible way that the first shut-out isn’t going to Cam. He is hopefully the future in goal for the Oilers and will want to establish himself as a bona fide starter sooner rather than later. My prediction is that his first one will come against the Detroit Red Wings on October 21st. Seeing as it will be only the second home game of the season after five out of the first six games are on the road should make for a very raucous crowd and a great time for Cam to show what he has to the Oilers faithful.

First win of the season?

Last season the Oilers played and lost the first five games of the season. They could only manage to earn one point out of the possible ten. A rough start to be sure but after the first five game skid the Oil managed to put together a fairly successful little streak winning the next four straight to nearly end the month of October. Edmonton only managed a 4-5-0-1 record in October last season and didn’t earn a win against a Western conference team until December 7th against Todd McLellan and his former team the San Jose Sharks. Not exactly awe-inspiring now is it. For the Oilers to show that they are a much improved team and that they will not again be the basement dwelling team that was nearly unable to beat any teams in their own conference they will need to set the tone early and what better way to do that then to walk into Scottrade Center in St. Louis on opening night and leave with their first two points of the season? That is right peeps, I am predicting that Edmonton, on the strength of the aforementioned RNH two point game, will slay the dragon right out of the gates and not only win their first game but do so against one of the big baddies from the West that they had so much trouble with in seasons past. Edmonton wins the game 3 to 1.

 

Will all four first overall picks score in one game?

I am not 100% positive but I am reasonably certain this would be an accomplishment that has never occurred in the NHL before. How cool would it be to see all four of these young stars light the lamp in one game? If it happened at home the roof would come off of Rexall in a quick hurry I can guarantee you that! The odds of something like this happening have to be fairly long. I can’t imagine a lot of people contacting Vegas to lay money down on a long shot like this. I completely agree that there is a better than good chance that this doesn’t happen. Not only this year but ever, but what kind of predictions would these be if I didn’t at least make a guess on the subject. My guess is that the Oilers will light up the Maple Leafs on November 30th in Toronto and show Leafs Nation exactly what they are missing by not having Connor. Couldn’t happen to a better group of fans! Leafs fans have always considered themselves the center of the hockey universe so what better place to make history than right there in the ACC.

I want to see your predictions now people. Who will score the first goal of the season? When Will Connor score his first? First multi-point and multi-goal games? For Connor? First fight, first shut-out and first win for the team? Let me know what you think in the comments. Hit me up on twitter, @cooke_rob, and send me your answers. I want to hear from you!

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Cheers

Rob