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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 G47 Oilers VS Panthers: Nuge Down!

Gudbranson hadn’t even thrown a punch and Hendy was bracing himself.

As I was watching this game I thought that the Atlantic Division leaders looked eerily similar to the Oilers of not-so-old. What I mean by that is they just looked uninterested, at least until the third period where they summoned the power of the score effects god, and I wonder if both teams were jacked to play an honest good old-fashioned hockey game until Hendricks went ahead and took on Gudbranson in the first period there. It seems to me that the fight sucked the life out of whatever intensity the rest of the match was going to have.

Apparently Erik Gudbranson injured a hand or shoulder in this fight with Hendy and Ekblad hasn’t played since Hendricks tried to put him into the 1st row last week. So I guess we could start calling him “The Giant Killer” or maybe “Captain Cajones” because it takes some pretty big balls to do what he’s done in the last two games versus Florida. I’m pretty certain Alex Petrovic and Erik Gudbranson are ranked in the heavyweight division of the NHL while Hendy plies his trade in the middleweight division.

I was happy to see that the big names for the Oilers were producing again. Hall, Nugent-Hopkins (before injury), Purcell, Eberle and Draisaitl were all on the scoreboard but it was Cam Talbot who stole the show yet again making 31 out of 33 saves. Also Brandon Davidson was the man! He almost single-handedly shut down the Jagr/Barkov/Huberdeau line.

As we can see below in Walter’s post-game shooting metrics, the Oilers were outplayed in every category except on the powerplay. They didn’t score on their one chance mind you but they did create some chances.

On the other hand, the penalty kill was outstanding for the Oilers leaving the Panthers with an 0-4 in their PP stat line.

There’s talk from the Oilogosphere that a lot of people would like to see McDavid come back early and I can certainly understand that but the Oilers DO in fact have other players that can play center to tide the team over until after the All-Star break. I reckon it’ll be Matt Hendricks or Anton Lander going with Eberle and Pouliot but I’d sure like to see Nail Yakupov get a promotion if he continues to score high on the Corsi%. Would it be so hard to put Yak and Ebs on a line together maybe with a defensively responsible center like Lander?

Another point on the roster, Chiarelli did talk about Griffin Reinhart during his availability after the Talbot signing and the message was Reinhart will be coming up after the AS break. Does that mean someone will need to be sent down? If so, I get the feeling that the player going down could be Darnell Nurse. He’s been having a tough go for quite some time now and I wonder if he could use the “break”, if you can call it that. Nurse has done and admiral job but perhaps the load is a bit too much at this point in his career.

Chiarelli also talked about the Oilers first rounder in 2016 and how it will NOT be traded. I want to believe him but there’s a part of me that believes he would deal it if the right deal came around for say a big upgrade on the blue line. But if the season ended today, the Oilers would have the 4th overall pick and would be in the market for some really dynamic forwards and possible a franchise defenceman.

  • Matthew Tkachuk, LW, London (OHL), 6-1, 188 lb (Complete power forward)
  • Alexander Nylander, LW, Mississauga (OHL), 6-0, 172 lb (Skills galore! Better than his bro?)
  • Jakob Chychrun, D, Sarnia (OHL), 6-2, 194 lb (Denis Potvin clone)
  • Olli Juolevi, D, London Knights (OHL), 6-2, 180 lb (Shades of Olli Maatta)
  • Clayton Keller, C, USNTDP (USHL), 5-9, 170 lb (Crafty pivot with big time vision)

Personally I’d like to see the team add more character to the team and perhaps pass on the skill, in the first round at least. Three names I like off the bat are Tkachuk, Chychrun, and Max Jones.

Next game is in Tampa Bay versus Steven Stamkos and co. Anders Nilsson will most likely be starting and I think it’s a safe bet that Anton Lander draws into the lineup to cover for RNH. The Lightning are on a six game winning streak and the Oilers will have the work cut out for them. Vladimir Namestnikov is on fire recently and that’s the tip of the iceberg for Tampa who also have Kucherov, Johnson, the aforementioned Stamkos, and Victor Hedman (who burnt the Oilers for three points during their previous meeting).

See you tomorrow!

BLH

Edmonton Oilers, Kris Hansen

BLH Edmonton Oilers Weekly Recap Dec 27th-Jan 2nd

– photo by Andy Devlin / Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club

Tough week for the Edmonton Oilers as they finish 1-3-0, against Pacific Division rivals no less.

That’s a tough pill to swallow. They blew a two goal lead, twice, against Calgary. Goaltending sank the team against Los Angeles. Anaheim was just better.

The victory against Arizona ended a four game skid, which is good. It was an entertaining game yesterday and I thought the Oilers played well enough.

The upcoming week there are only two games on the dock, as they continue their six game homestead.

Edmonton Oilers Three Stars.

3. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins: Finally making an appearance on the three stars of the week, the second line has finally stopped sleep walking through games. Nugent-Hopkins looked like one of the best forwards in yesterday’s tilt against Arizona. This week, Nuge posted four points, all assists in four games. It’s a quiet, but solid showing from 93, who has been struggling this year.

2. Jordan Eberle: Like 93, he showed up this week. Eberle posted five points in four games, including three goals. Two of those goals were nifty ones against Arizona. Yesterday, he also registered his 300th point of his career. Eberle has taken a lot of flak these last couple weeks due to lack of production, but it’s good to see him starting to turn it around now.

1. Benoit Pouliot: To be fair, it was a toss up between Eberle and Pouliot as they posted the same box numbers and Eberle did reach a milestone yesterday. That said, I like Pouliot’s game. He plays aggressively on the forecheck, sometimes too aggressive as he did have two penalties in the offensive zone yesterday against Arizona. The goal that stands out for me was his second against Calgary: he losses his helmet, but that doesn’t faze him one bit as he goes to his spot in the slot and scores. He brings a grittier element to his line.

Edmonton Oilers News and Rumors

Connor McDavid and Nail Yakupov both skated with the team on Friday.  This is obviously great news: McDavid would be a tremendous boost to the team. Sure, he’s not playing Defence and can’t bring stability to the crease, but he’s such a special talent that I don’t think we can really grasp just how good he is. Based on some short clip (I know great sample size) he seems to be shooting, stick handle and pass the puck just fine. He keeps saying to the media that he’s feeling better. I think he plays before the All Star Break.

I wrote about an interesting part of Lowetide’s blog regarding a Mayor’s Manor tweet: The Oilers are interested in the services of Mike Richards.  Some people will say that it’s to replace Nugent-Hopkins but that’s foolish: Richards is a shell of his former self and would be strictly a bottom six role. I think he would be more effective than Lander save for faceoffs.

Earlier this week, The Edmonton Oilers acquired Zack Kassian from the Montreal Canadiens for Ben Scrivens.  Last night was Kassian’s debut in Bakersfield where he posted no points, a +1, four shots on goal and four minutes in penalties.

 

Around the League

https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/683690926666084352

That’s some big news. I’ve been saying Free Drouin for awhile and I don’t think he’s getting a fair shake in Tampa Bay. I also don’t think the Oilers make sense as a fit either.

I wonder when he’ll get dealt.

Toronto Media can’t get over the McDavid lottery. 

The Canadiens thumped the Bruins in the 2016 Winter Classic. I personally love outdoor games.

John Scott, NHL All Star Captain.

Rob Martell refereed his 1000th and final NHL game.

The Florida Panthers have won 8 in a row!  

Crosby is on a point streak. 

Highlights

The Coyotes Oilers Game

Dougie Hamilton had a spill into the bench

 

Shane Doan broke the franchise record for goals with the Arizona Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets

 

The Alumni Game Shootout

 

 

The Week Ahead

Only two games for the Edmonton Oilers: Monday they host the Carolina Hurricanes and Friday they host the Tampa Bay Lightning.

That’s the week that was, follow me on Twitter and have a good one!

 

Corey Mitchell, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Ryan Whitney Hangs it Up

I’ve always liked Ryan Whitney. Being a Penguins fan, I got to see him at his best, before the ankle injuries took their toll on him. Earlier today, this was posted to twitter

It’s really too bad that his career had to get derailed by injuries. I’ve always thought that Whitney was among the better of the many defensemen to pass through Edmonton in the post-Pronger era. The start of his career showed a ton of promise for the 5th overall pick from the 2002 Entry Draft. This was a time when the Pittsburgh Penguins were god awful, and had an embarrassment of riches resulting from low finishes and high picks. After spending a few season in the AHL with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Whitney made his NHL debut in 2005-06, playing 68 games and posting 38 points. Whitney would spend parts of the next three seasons in Pittsburgh, and developed instant chemistry with Sidney Crosby on the power play, having the best season of his career in 2006-07, putting up 14-45-59 in 81 games that year. The next season, he would help the Penguins to their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance since 1992, falling to the Detroit Red Wings in 6 games.

Unfortunaley, Whitney would not be returning to the Finals with the Penguins the following year, as he was part of the three player deal that brought Chris Kunitz and Eric Tangradi over from the Anaheim Ducks. It’s too bad that the Pens felt they had to move Whitney to bring in a winger to play with Crosby. I would have loved to see Whitney win the Cup with the Penguins.

His time in Anaheim would be short lived, as just over a year later, Whitney would be moved to the Edmonton Oilers with a conditional pick for high priced blue liner Lubomir Vishnovsky. Honestly, it didn’t seem like Whitney meshed very well with a tight knit team in Anaheim, and wasn’t able to produce the way he did with Pittsburgh. But coming into Edmonton, at the end of a lost season, he was joining a team that was finally willing to embrace the rebuild process. Jordan Eberle was already waiting in the wings, and that spring, the Oilers would use their first ever Number One pick to select Taylor Hall, and begin the culture change in the City of Champions.

Whitney would be relied upon as a veteran leader in the dressing room, a role he seemed to relish. Unfortunatley, he 2010-11 season was also the year that injuries began to take on impact. He was limited to only 35 games, but still put up 27 points. The following season saw an even steeper decline in his production, as his 54 appearances resulted in just 20 points. The fans soured on Whitney, which I always felt was unjustified. If not for the ankle issues, Whitney could have been a very effect blue liner for the Oilers, and could have stabilized a position that found itself in turmoil until just recently when Peter Chiarelli took over the team.

Whitney would last one more mediocre season with the Oilers, and signed with the Florida Panthers in 2013-14. He played just seven games in Florida, spending a majority of that season with their AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage. The next season, Whitney signed with Sochi HC of the KHL, and posted totals of 6-13-19 in his 42 games with the club. In 2015, he signed with MODO of the Swedish league, although he would only appear in 2 games, before deciding to call it a career.

Ryan Whitney was a very polarizing player during his time with the Oilers. While my personal opinion is that he got the short end of the stick from the fans in this city, many people would say it was justified. He by no means had an all-star type of career, but its a career Whitney can be very proud of. He finishes with 50-209-259 in 481 NHL games, and was able to represent his country in the Olympics, playing for Team USA. While Ryan Whitney will never be remembered with the fondness and admiration of say, Ryan Smyth, he was a class act during his time in Edmonton, and represented the Oilers as well as any has during his shirt time here. All the best Ryan Whitney. Enjoy your retirement.

Beer League Hero, NHL

Beer League Heroes 15 – 16 Season Primers: Florida Panthers

Who will fall out in the East so the Panthers can make the playoffs?

I’m telling you right now the Florida Panthers are a team on the rise. They’ll join the likes of the Buffalo Sabres and the Edmonton Oilers as NHL powerhouses in the next few years no doubt. Will they do it with this group of players, I’m not so sure about that. The veterans they do have at the moment are exactly the ones you’d want to have on a burgeoning team like this. Jaromir Jagr, Brian Campbell, Willie Mitchell and Roberto Luongo are the perfect mentors for the young Panthers. I can only imagine where the Oilers would be if they had those players on their team. Funny thing is I’m pretty sure each one of those veterans have been linked to Edmonton at one point or another in their careers.

Key Addition: F Reilly Smith, F Corban Knight, F Greg McKegg, D Cameron Gaunce, G Mike McKenna

Key Departures: F Brad Boyes, F Jimmy Hayes, D Shane O’Brien, D Jesse Blacker, G Dan Ellis

Roster Contenders: F Lawson Crouse, F Rocco Grimaldi, F Quinton Howden, D Alex Petrovic, D Mike Matheson

Last season the Florida Panthers jumped 25 points in the standings from the 66 points to 91!! That’s what you call progress. Maybe that is something we can optimistically expect out of the Oilers this year… Anyways, the roster didn’t go through a lot of turnover that I would call “Earth Shattering”. The team is more or less the same as last year and that is including the coaching staff as well. The difference this season? Everyone’s a year older and hungrier than ever after coming within a few wins of a playoff spot last year.

I think we’ll see Jonathan Huberdeau continue his rise alongside Jaromir Jagr and Sasha Barkov. Nick Bjugstad is also trending upwards and turning into one of the league’s best two-way centermen. And how can we get through this preview without mentioning the man-child Aaron Ekblad? Is it embarrassing to other NHLers that come playoff time Ekblad, who is 19 years old, has had a better beard than them since he was probably 14 years old? Bloody Awesome it is… And not awesome like, “Hey, the new NHL game is awesome!” I mean it inspires Awe like, “How the hell does that even happen?”

Potential Lineups

Huberdeau – Barkov – Jagr
Jokinen – Bjugstad – Smith
Pirri – Bolland – Trocheck
Howden – MacKenzie – Grimaldi

Campebell – Ekblad
Kulikov – Gudbranson
Mitchell – Petrovic

Luongo
Montoya

Jaromir Jagr… I guess this guy is our generation’s version of Gordie Howe. An ageless hockey player that could still play with effectiveness well into his retirement years.

Florida was only 8 points off a playoff spot last season and I reckon the biggest threats to their playoff chances are the Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings. If either of those teams fail to recreate last year’s performances I think we could see the Panthers sneak in there sort of how the Sens snuck in last year but with less luck in the net as Luongo is still a great NHL goalie.

Keep an eye on Lawson Crouse as he’ll be looking to crack the team as an 18 yr old. He’s already known for his two-way game and he’s got a man’s body already. Let’s hope he’s a bit closer to Eric Lindros than Ben Eager though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3b_7S-sGBo

Thanks for reading! I hope you’re enjoying our Season Primers series because we’re having a blast bringing them to you! Let us know in the comments below if you agree with our assessments.

I’ve heard you can wear shorts and sandals all year long in Miami even in the winter, so why not head on over to the Beer League Heroes Merch Shop and pick up a nice t-shirt or tank top with a 16-bit Jaromir Jagr or Aaron Ekblad on it?

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Take Care!

BLH