Tag Archives: Grant Fuhr

Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Edmonton Oilers: Weed Wednesday Pots the Oilers A Comeback Win. Chronic Issues Remain as Seconday Scoring Still Blunt

I wanted to see how references to marijuana I could fit into that title. How’d I do? Nice to see Canada getting with the times. Mind you, it’s not for me. I tried it and it didn’t really do anything for me apart from make me hungry and tired and irritated because I was too tired to eat. We’ll see if we can toss a few more references into this post to make it a bit more entertaining.

There are two things that have bothered me since the end of the game versus Winnipeg until now.

  • The hate on for Jason Garrison
  • The unrelenting love for the PP from the MSM

Now both have been good and bad and what I mean by that is Jason Garrison is a 34-year-old PTO signing. He was brought in to play sparingly in my opinion. I’m of the belief that the primary reason was to add a more veteran presence to the locker room and to be a mentor to Evan Bouchard and the other young defenders on the team.

And the powerplay has been excellent so far but I’m not so sure if it’s all down to the all-lefty system.

Garrison did not have an amazing game last night (nor did his partner Matt Benning… Again). Adam Lowry basically made Garrison his bitch on both his goals. But the funny thing about hockey is that one play can make or break a game and it was Jason Garrison that kept the puck in the Jets zone enabling the Oilers to score the game-tying goal.

Had Jason Garrison not stopped that puck and given it to McDavid, we might be having a much different conversation right now. It doesn’t hurt to find some positive in an ocean of negative every now and then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idNAIirb1s0

As for the all-lefty powerplay, the Oilers are 4th in the NHL (4/12 for 33.3%) and that is out-bloody-standing compared to where they were last season but if you look at each goal scored with the man-advantage this season for Edmonton, you have to ask yourself, how many are really a product of the all-lefty system.

  • Goal 1: Milan Lucic scores after McDavid rushes the puck into the Devils zone, circles the net and finds Lucic in the slot.

  • Goal 2: RNH moves the puck down low to Leon who fires a pass cross-crease to McDavid who awkwardly backhands it through Lundqvist somehow.

  • Goal 3: Leon carries the puck out of the Oilers zone and passes to a streaking McDavid who blazes past the Jets defense and beats Hellebuyck on the backhand.

  • Goal 4: From the high-slot, Nuge rings one off the post, the puck bounces around the slot a bit and then finds its way to McDavid’s stick, Connor buries it easily.

So out of those four goals, which one(s) do you think is(are) a product of the all-lefty system?

I’m going to say goals no.2 and 4 because there was some set up required and the secondary goal was to get the puck over to McDavid. I believe that they might be using RNH as the primary shooter in this scheme as he’s been set up quite a few times already and hit the post on at least two, maybe three occasions. Teams seem to be leaving him alone as they cover McDavid and Nuge has got a very deceptive wrist-shot.

F*ck those guys! Click the link and grab one of these beauty shirts!

MAKING COCO

How many of you made it out to the premiere of Making Coco at Rogers Place? I erroneously mentioned in a blog that the premiere was on Tuesday. My bad.

I’m really looking forward to watching this documentary as I felt Adam Scorgie did an outstanding job at setting the bar for not just hockey documentaries but sports documentaries in general.

Ice Guardians was one of the best docs I’ve seen in a while and so I expect more of the same from Making Coco.

Don’t spoil it for me but I wonder how close the doc will be to Grant Fuhr’s book, Grant Fuhr: The Story of a Hockey Legend?

Click the image and pick up your copy today!

I’m reading it right now and really enjoying it. It’s a pretty easy read as Bruce Dowbiggin sets the stages for different times in Fuhr’s life and then Fuhr comments on them throughout each chapter.

Game 5: September 13, 1987 – Canada 6 USSR 5 is a great chapter since that hockey game is widely regarded as one of the best games ever played. Learning how Fuhr felt going into that game having so many off-ice distractions going on in his life was so eye-opening.

If you think you’d be interested in picking up a copy, you should click this link.

Full disclosure. If you do click the link above or any other ad on my site, I’ll get a few bucks for referring you and I’d be eternally grateful because every buck I get from this site goes right back into my family be that for clothes, education, groceries, or even funding flights back home to Canada.

I’m really trying to make a go of this working from home thing and any support I get from you through the website, I know I appreciate so much, and I’m pretty sure my kids and wife as well. So thank you in advance!

Click on the image above to grab a sweet 16-bit Fuhr shirt!
Dig Fuhr’s rookie mask? Click the image above and grab this sweet t-shirt!
Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Edmonton Oilers: Puljujarvi is Outplaying Yamamoto and Here’s How Plus Making Coco

Hey! Guess what day it is? If you said it’s Oilers gameday then you’re only 50% right. Tonight is the premiere of Making Coco at Rogers Place! If I was home, I’d be spending the day downtown just waiting to get into the rink to watch this most anticipated documentary.

If you’re not watching the game, then you should pick up a ticket and head to Roger’s place to watch this beauty. It’s from the company that brought you Ice Guardians. The documentary about fighting in the NHL.

And if you can’t make it, I definitely recommend picking up a copy of Grant Fuhr: The Story of a Hockey Legend! I’m reading it right now and it’s so enlightening to read how he came up as an adopted child and the trials and tribulations of playing and becoming the first black superstar in the NHL. Get that book here!

We did up a couple of shirt designs in celebration of the premiere! If you’re so inclined, please pick one up for yourself or a loved one! They’re on sale for 30% off for the next 72 hours!

Click on the images below or head to this link right here to go to the Beer League Heroes TeePublic shop directly and see all of the available designs!

Click the image to get this sweet t-shirt!
What design! Click the image above to get one for yourself!

Before I get going on this post I would like to preface it by saying the most obvious thing that must be said when talking about a team or players and we’re not even 10 games into the season.

We’re three games into the season! Don’t get too excited and don’t get too down. There’s lots of time for things to average out and today I’m simply throwing out some information I found interesting. I hope you find it interesting too.

Stats courtesy of naturalstattrick.com

PULJUJARVI > YAMAMOTO… So Far

I’m not an analytics expert by any stretch of the imagination but if we look at the traditional stats found on NHL.com we’ll find that Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto are pretty even save for a couple of categories and that could be due to linemates, opposition and/or deployment, right?

Here’s what I mean.

Stat Kailer Yamamoto Jesse Puljujarvi
Games Played 3 3
TOI/Game 13:38 11:41
Hits 2 2
Blocks 1 2
Missed Shots 0 1
Giveaways 2 3
Takeaways 0 2
Shots 3 3
+/- -2 0

So as you can see, things are pretty much even which probably lends things going Yamamoto’s way actually given his opposition should be a bit more difficult as opposed to Jesse’s.

So let’s look at which dmen from each of Edmonton’s opponents so far

Grab this sweet Yamamoto Nintendo parody shirt! Click the image above!

Yamamoto has seen the most of in this small time frame 5×5.

  • Kevin Miller (BOS) – 8:31 TOI
  • Andy Greene (NJ) – 7:46 TOI
  • Matt Grzelyck (BOS) – 7:13 TOI
  • Damon Severson (NJ) – 7:01 TOI
  • Kevin Shattenkirk (NYR) – 4:34 TOI
  • Marc Staal (NYR) – 4:19 TOI

Now, Puljujarvi.

  • Will Butcher (NJ) – 7:03 TOI
  • John Moore (BOS) – 6:45 TOI
  • Brandon Carlo (BOS) – 6:37 TOI
  • Ben Lovejoy (NJ) – 5:34 TOI
  • Frederik Claesson (NYR) – 4:09 TOI
  • Kevin Shattenkirk (NYR) – 3:58 TOI

I think we can give that battle to Yamamoto.

Now, if we dig a bit deeper and look at both Puljujarvi’s and Yamamoto’s advanced stats, we’ll see a different story I believe.

Stats (Rel 5×5) Yamamoto NHL Rank (RWs) Puljujarvi NHL Rank (RWs)
CF% 1.92 38th 9.13 9th
FF% -1.96 50th 12.74 8th
SF% -7.69 62nd 12.12 12th
SCF% -8.42 64th 8.14 18th
HDCF% -26.43 69th 21.21 6th

The rankings are derived from all the right wings in the NHL who’ve played 30 minutes or more like Jesse and there were 71 of those.

I picked these stats because I think they reflect a forward’s contribution more so than including the “for” and “against” stats. You probably noticed I didn’t throw up any statistics related to goals and that’s because the only player that is making an impact on the scoresheet this year so far is Connor McDavid. Hopefully that changes.

So as you can see, Jesse Puljujarvi is having a much larger impact on the Oilers shots than Kailer Yamamoto to date.

In fact, this season, Jesse Puljujarvi has improved nearly every player’s Corsi For when he plays with them except Caggiula and Strome oddly enough. Check it out here.

The same cannot be said for Yamamoto. Yet.

For a team that might be considered to be struggling offense-wise, wouldn’t it be prudent for the coach to put a player in the top-6 that can drive shots?

I suspect that Jesse is in McLellan’s doghouse because he’s not your typical hockey player on the ice. His game is not built for black and white, up and down hockey. It’s fluent and free-flowing.

Sean Patrick Ryan (@theoilknight) had this to say which I think is very relavent.

This chart supports the video I put out last week. Tough to maintain possession and get quality shots off from high danger scoring areas when all you do is dump the puck in. Plus it pretty much takes away any creativity enter the zone. The team is drowning in the “The Flood”.

It all makes sense now. Look at how many times Yamo does what coach wants & dump puck in. Now look at how many times Jesse dumps it in as opposed to carrying it in. Player not running coaches system. Coach not happy. No Top 6 time for u. We’re trying to run a flawed system here!

I have gotten word that McLellan has instructed his team that Connor is to be the only one carrying the puck through the neutral zone and to me that seems odd. If you’ve got more than one player who excels at rushing with the puck, wouldn’t you want to promote that ability? Or else wouldn’t you be utilizing fear-based coaching? Afraid that a player may make a mistake, so you strip him of one of his natural skills to save face…

What do you think? From what I’ve present today, does that give more or less credence to how Jesse is being handled by the Oilers?

A new season means a new design! Click the image above to get the new Pulju shirt!

RISHAUG ON PULJUJARVI

Not sure if you heard Ryan Rishaug talking about Puljujarvi on Jason Gregor’s show last night but he said some pretty interesting things.

They put Puljujarvi in that position so that he wouldn’t end up on one of the two scoring lines where if the start wasn’t great or people weren’t starting to circle guys that should be producing more and with him on the 3rd line you kinda go okay, they just need to be solid and play a good game and that sort of things. So they’ve got him in this position for a reason and you know that was maybe one of those games where, I thought he was good too.

As if they were concerned with Pulju’s well being. If you haven’t noticed the MSM has got the knives out for Leon Draisaitl even though he’s a point-per-game player at the moment. I highly doubt they’d be grinding on Jesse Puljujarvi if he started out goalless in his first three games on Leon’s line. How do I know? Not a word about Yamamoto’s drought to start the year.

He’s got some stuff in his game where he still has to iron out. There are some frustrating traits in his game if you’re playing with that guy. There’s a lot of East to West stuff that’s in his game. It happened the one time really obviously where he threw the linemate offside and ended up going back the other way.

Jesse doesn’t play with his linemates, they play with Jesse. It’s funny that Rishaug brings up that giveaway but fails to bring up a scenario in the 3rd period that is near exactly the same as that giveaway but in the 3rd Jesse chipped and chased. I wonder if his linemates found that frustrating? Or maybe the coaching staff was pissed off that Jesse did the right thing and he’s chipping away at their reasons to keep him bolted to the bench.

There’s some stuff in Puljujarvi’s game that he’s working through but he’s still young so they have him in this position so that the pressure will be off. Little positive steps are what’s going to be needed.

I think McLellan is going to be patient with JP and I think, you know, I’m not going to tell fans how to feel. I think fans should be patient with McLellan as he tries to be patient with Puljujarvi. I see Todd trying to do the right thing with this player and people are just pulling their hair out over it.

Has Todd ever considered stepping out of the box he lives in? He puts trust in the players to sort out their intermission talks, why can’t he put the same trust in them to do the right thing on the ice?

It just goes to show that maybe putting the team in the hands of a coach who has only had to coach veteran hall-of-famers (past, present, and future) wasn’t bright if the team had no intentions of giving him a veteran squad to work with.

That line I think the combination of Strome and Puljujarvi is together for a reason. If he lets it breath a little bit it’ll be good for Puljujarvi but he’s definitely got some stuff in his game that he’s gotta iron out before I think he’d consider elevating him. 

I think this is a bullshit narrative that the team is pushing to try and trick the fanbase into thinking that Puljujarvi on the 3rd line is the best course of action for his development. You can check his fancies at natural stat trick and it will tell you if Pulju was a drawback when he played with Connor and Leon.

One of these fine days the coach, be it McLellan or someone else, might have the sack up and tell Leon or Connor or both that this young man can help them on the ice and if they can’t accept him as a linemate then maybe they should spend some time on the bench thinking about what it means to be a good teammate and leader.

Click the image above and get this sweet Leon’s parody shirt!
F*ck those guys! Click the link and grab one of these beauty shirts!
Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

Possible New Oilers Rumor and How Watching the Oilers Literally Made Me Sick

The title is not a reflection upon how the Oilers played in game one of their 2018/19 campaign but a soft actuality of what happened. Although their performance was pretty shitty if we’re being honest.

The rumors are at the bottom if you want to skip there 🙂

I actually did get sick after that game, how whether it was because there’s a bug going around that my daughter and wife caught and passed it on to me or the Oilers lack of that invigorated spirit we’ve been hearing the captain refer to all pre-season, I’ll leave that up for debate but if I’m going to be bedridden and painting the toilet bowl a new color every time they lose, I’m better off reading Matt Henderson’s blogs 82 times this year.

Since that uneventful match in Sweden, the knives have been out for nearly everyone who isn’t named McDavid and Lucic and who can blame the fans for being pissed off about that game’s result?

I can’t,

I saw a lifeless team with no energy. A team that couldn’t figure out that their opposition’s goalie was pretty good at handling the puck. Every time the Oilers dumped the puck into NJ’s zone, Kincaid would stop it and ring it back the other way, stifling the Oilers zone entry. After a while, NJ’s defense knew what Edmonton was going to do and were already turned around anticipating the dump in…

You’d have to think that the coaches (or the players for that matter) would’ve noticed this and notified the players. I mean, that’s what good coaches would do, right?

I also noticed an Oilers team getting hemmed into their own zone and not being able to get the puck out.

Now, for me in that instance, I feel that it’s acceptable to risk an icing call and just do whatever it takes to relieve the pressure for whatever amount of time that play gives you. Sure, you relinquish possession but that beats getting your ass skated around in your own zone, no?

I don’t feel that a zone exit has to be under control 100% of the time, just as I feel a zone entry doesn’t have to be controlled 100% of the time. Both will give you better odds at a shot attempt but when you’re gassed you’ll make more mistakes, that’s a guarantee.

Cam Talbot… I’m not sure if I should be mad at the guy or feel sorry for him. He let the first shot of the game in again… FFS! How infuriating is that?! On the plus, the Oilers bounced right back with a PP goal. To me, I like that they were able to put the past in the past and move on. But then there was that brain fart behind the net with Bouchard, Russell, and Talbot… What can you say?

That said, I can’t be sure if there’s a correlation between the talent level of a goalie and the amount of shot-blocking his team does but letting in the first shot of the game has to stop. For the good of the goalie and the psyche of the team.

Milan Lucic was the best player in that game in my opinion. Yes, Connor was flying around as usual but I found that NJ quieted him down a bit whereas Lucic was banging and crashing all over. He was making great passes and his 2pts tell me his head was in the right place.

How many points did last year’s MVP have? I guess he’s lucky Keith Kincaid was there to bail him out again 🙂

A new season means a new design! Click the image above to get the new Pulju shirt!

Near the end of the 2nd, McLellan threw out Draisait, Lucic, and Puljujarvi for a shift and WHAMMO! A scoring chance!

One scoring chance might not mean much but the Oilers had gone 17 minutes in that 2nd frame without a shot on net and they were getting their asses handed to them in the “compete” department… So yes, even something as measly as a single scoring chance got be very excited.

I was so happy and it really re-energized me for the 3rd period until I saw the 2nd line’s next shift and Yamamoto was back up there. Nothing against the rookie but he was doing fack all up to that point. Jesse should’ve, and still should be, lining up with Leon and Milan.

Shouldn’t Puljujarvi and Yamamoto be switched? I mean Jesse has two years of pro experience, three if you count SM-Liiga. Yamamoto has 9 games… You’d think that’d mean Kailer gets the start on the 3rd line where the pressure isn’t as great. A place where he’d probably have a greater chance of success, no?

Now, if you don’t agree, let me point this out to you. Andrei Svechnikov is playing on the 4th line in Carolina… The 2nd overall pick from this year’s draft is a 4th liner on THAT Carolina team and he’s playing at a point per game. 18 years old…

I can see why the coaches like Yamamoto’s skillset on that line. He’s shifty, tenacious, gritty, and he disrupts things but what I’m trying to say here is that if Jesse hasn’t “earned” that spot on the 2nd line and Yamamoto has, what does that tell you about the evaluators?

And personally, if you want a player on Leon’s line who can forecheck, you’d want Puljujarvi out there because he’s the best on the team at it. Not only is he good at tracking the puck but he’s strong enough to hold onto it…

Alas, it’s game one. I bet for most of the folks who read this they don’t remember the season-opening losses from 1987 and 1988. Or should we pretend like the result from the first game of the season will have a direct impact on the rest of the year for the Oilers?

I read in Grant Fuhr’s book that he lost his first game to the Winnipeg Jets but then went

Click the image and pick up your copy today!

on an undefeated streak of 25 games after that. What if they’d quit on him then or after his first trip to Maple Leaf Gardens, a 7-1 loss.

A young Grant Fuhr learned the hard way how one should react to a loss and now we hear stories about how nonchalant he became.

Here is a quote from his book where he speaks to how he felt after that first game loss to the Jets,

It was a mixed feeling after the game. One, you’re disappointed, but two, you’re just happy to have played your first game in the NHL. So it’s six of one, half dozen of the other . source

It be only one game and not a team in the history of the NHL has won the Stanley Cup or have been eliminated from the playoffs after game one.

THE RUMORS

Yesterday Bob Stauffer brought up Pat Maroon’s name on Oilers Now and has this to say about the ex-Oilers,

I mean a year ago at this time I remember Frank Seravalli, who we both know well, put out a piece on the top lines in the NHL and the no.1 ranked line at the start of the season was McDavid with Draisaitl and Maroon. 

And you know how well Maroon played against Boston over the last two years. Obviously Maroon’s gone… For now… Remember he’s on a one year deal with St.Louis. Stranger things have happened…

Can you see Maroon coming back? It’s a tough scenario for me to envision with Lucic and Khaira occupying left wing on the 2nd and 3rd lines. Maybe Lucic gets moved?

I also thought that the conversation between him and Haggerty about Matt Grzelyck was interesting as Bob had talked about him recently.

Haggerty said about Grzelyck,

The way Grzelyck can go back into the corners, retrieve the puck and so quickly spin and go north and just get it out of the zone is so valuable and he’s so good at it. He’s got such good instincts for that part of the game.

Man, doesn’t sound like exactly the kind of player the Oilers were missing versus New Jersey? Maybe once Torey Krug returns from the IR Grzelyck could be moved…

Eklund has it up on his site that the Habs and Sabres are looking at Nurse… AAAAALLLLL-righty then! I hope you didn’t choke on your breakfast reading that… I nearly did.

Click the image above and get this sweet Leon’s parody shirt!
Grab this sweet Nintendo parody shirt! Click the image above!
F*ck those guys! Click the link and grab one of these beauties!
Edmonton Oilers, Micah Kowalchuk, NHL

The Heritage Classic – Which Golden Oldies Can Still Dangle?

Well folks, the Oilers are getting their outdoor game against the Jets.  Now, putting aside the fact that the Jets are actually the Atlanta Thrashers and have virtually no classic alumni, the NHL seems content letting them ice the greatest hits of the Phoenix Coyotes.  So, who can we expect to see on the ice for the Oilers?

First off, we need to pick players who are still physical able to compete.  Let’s start with the Oilers.

This was the roster for the original 2003 Heritage Classic game.  In net were Grant Fuhr, Bill Ranford and Andy Moog.  At forward was Gretzky, Andersen, Chipperfield, Hunter, Kurri, Linseman, Lumley, Semenko, Simpson and Tikkanen.  On defense, there was Beukeboom, Coffey, Fogolin, Gregg, Huddy, Lowe, McSorley and Muni.

Starting with the goaltenders, there is Grant Fuhr, Bill Ranford, Andy Moog, but there are also the other possibles in Tommy Salo or Dwayne Roloson.  Grant Fuhr has been retired since 2000, and played in the 2003 Heritage Classic, so that’s 13 years off the ice as a player.  He was a goaltending coach until 2009, so that’s not quite as bad as it seems, since he probably logged some time on the ice in his coaching capacity, and he’s 53, so he’s not too old to lace them up.  Based on his age I could see him being in a reduced role.

Bill Ranford is 49, has been retired since 2000, and played for the Oilers in the 2003 Heritage Classic.  In 2004 he was the goaltender stunt double for the movie Miracle.  And at this time he is still the goaltending coach for the Los Angeles Kings, so he’s likely still able to put the pads on and not be too rusty, he could be the starter.

Andy Moog, at 56, I expect to be off the roster this time, with one of Tommy Salo, Curtis Joseph or Dwayne Roloson taking the ice.  Now, Tommy Salo logged more games, but Dwayne Roloson’s cup run has made him a fan favorite in Edmonton.  He’s 46, and played until 2012, so he’s only 4 years off the ice at this point.  There’s also Curtis Joseph, the immortal CuJo, but in some ways he’s viewed as more of a Toronto Maple Leaf, so I would guess we see Grant Fuhr, Bill Ranford and Dwayne Roloson in net.

Moving on to our defensemen, we should all rejoice in the fact that, once again, we will see an NHL defense playing in Oilers jerseys.  I’d guess by the time this game rolls around Chiarelli will have revamped the existing one to the point it will be competitive, but in the meantime..  We can safely expect to see Paul Coffey, Kevin Lowe, Charlie Huddy, Jeff Beukeboom, Marty McSorley and Craig Muni out there.  It’s likely that both Lee Fogolin (61 with no real involvement in hockey since his 1987 retirement) and Randy Gregg (60 and out of the sport since 1992) will be the ones replaced.

As a result, this opens the door for two of the more beloved Edmonton Oilers defensemen of the last little while, Steve Smith and Jason Smith.  Other than the Chris Pronger effect, these are two of the most memorable “newer generation” Oilers defensemen to take the ice, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them both don the alumni silks for this game.  Now, for all of you wondering what a power play quarterback looks like, we can sit back and relax and enjoy watching Paul Coffey once again (as we search for his replacement and pray to whichever gods we hold dear that St. Peter manages to obtain Kevin Shattenkirk for us, amen).

And that takes us to our forwards.  Although we all now worship the McJesus and the collection of amazing young talent we have here, once upon a time the Oilers had some pretty good forwards too.  We can expect to see McDavid 1.0, Wayne Gretzky, take the ice, along with his entourage of Glenn Anderson, Dave Hunter, Jari Kurri, Mark Messier, Esa Tikkanen and Dave Semenko on the ice.  The only possibility is the fact that Semenko may have some lingering resentment to how the organization discharged him last summer, so if he can’t go, I would expect George Laraque to be the fan-favorite enforcer alternative here.

Now, there were a total of 10 forwards for the last Alumni game, so we now have 3 spots open.  The names that jump to mind are Bill Guerin, Doug Weight, and Ryan Smyth.  All three are much beloved members of the organization, experienced success here to some degree, and seem logical choices to flush out the heritage roster.  There’s also the possibility of Todd Marchant, another character player loved by the organization, to step in as an alternate here.

So fans, that’s who I’d expect to see on the ice for the next Heritage Classic, who would you like to see lace ’em up for the alumni game? Let us know in the comments below!