Tag Archives: Luke Schenn

Edmonton Oilers, Kris Hansen

BLH Edmonton Oilers Weekly Recap Jan 3rd-Jan 9th

 

The Oilers should be 2-0-0 this week after two games.

Somehow the Oilers managed to score five goals against Tampa Bay unfortunately three of them were on themselves.

Honestly, I have never seen something like that while watching hockey. Maybe one of the pucks go off the defender and in, sure that happens.

But THREE times? That’s witchcraft right there. It’s a damn shame too because I thought the Oilers outplayed the Lightning in that game.

The Oilers have four games this week, including one tonight against the red hot Florida Panthers, who have won 11 in a row.

Edmonton Oilers Three Stars 

3. Justin Schultz (!?!). Yeah, this one is surprising considering that Justin Schultz is Tom Poti 2.0 in the eyes of Oilers fans. He’s the whipping boy of the team. That said, the whipping boy looked pretty solid these last few games, He’s looked slightly better in his own zone and has rebounded since his awful game against Calgary on the 27th of December. He was solid against the Lightning, earning the second star for the night by having a goal and five shots.

2. Andrej Sekera. Chiarelli’s free agent acquisition is starting to look really good right now. He’s the defacto number one defenceman and it would be debatable that he is still that when Klefbom returns. He’s easily the best defenceman on the Edmonton Oilers right now. He’s the type of player who does everything right, but not flashy. He’s not a physical player, it’s not his game, and that drives people crazy. He scored the lone goal in a snoozer against his former team, The Carolina Hurricanes, in Overtime no less. I was thrilled when we signed Sekera and I’m still happy we have him.

1. Cam Talbot. Remember when people were declaring they were done with him after 12 games played? I do. It was silly to proclaim that. He’s been very good for the Oilers and has taken the number one job from Anders Nilsson. Woodguy55 of becauseoilers.com mentioned this after his game against Carolina:

That’s a starting goalie’s save percentage right there. Ten games isn’t a huge sample size, that’s granted, but it sure is a lot better than saying “I’m done” after twelve games. Talbot is starting yet again against a strong Panthers team and while he took the loss against Tampa Bay, there was no way any of those fluke goals were his fault.

Edmonton Oilers News and Trade Rumors

That’s too bad, but at least we have a date when McDavid will be returning. Not going to lie, I thought McDavid would be back by next week, but then again, I’m no doctor. I understand and fully support Management’s decision on this injury: there have been far too many times where the Oilers would rush players back from injury and it impacted them negatively. It stinks not having McDavid for another month, but we’ve lived without him for two.

Even worse news was the revelation that Oscar Klefbom would not be back until after the all star break. It’s rough news as fans were expecting a huge boost when both players returned.

One big name that is thrown out there is Kevin Shattenkirk. It was reported earlier that his name is receiving calls and the Oilers for sure should be involved there, but I’m wary of his contract status. There are not many options out there for a Right Handed top four defenceman for the Oilers right now, with Seth Jones recently traded and Hamonic injured. You can bet that Chiarelli would be interested.

Jonathan Drouin requested a trade from the Tampa Bay Lightning. It was revealed via his agent, Allan Walsh on Twitter, but the requested dated back to November. Can’t really blame Drouin here: he wasn’t getting any playing time and was recently sent down to the AHL. I don’t think the Oilers will be runners in this race, but St Louis has been mentioned a few times.

Keith Yandle is not talking an extension with the Rangers and that makes him a candidate to be traded. Yandle was acquired last year from the Rangers (with Chris Summers and a 4th round pick) for John Moore, Anthony Duclair and a conditional 1st round pick in 2016 and a second round pick in 2015. It was a heavy price.

Around the League

The biggest trade so far this season took place on Wednesday when Seth Jones was traded to Columbus for Ryan Johansen.  You just don’t see one for one deals of that magnitude in the NHL anymore!

Earlier that same day, the Los Angeles Kings acquired Vincent Lecalvalier and Luke Schenn . Philadelphia received Jordan Weal and a 3rd round pick in return.

Mike Richards signed with the Washington Capitals on Wednesday as well. 

Emerson Etem was traded from the Rangers to the Canucks for Jensen and a 6th round pick in 2016. 

Highlights

Lightning and Oilers game

 

Johansen scored in his first game as a Nashville Predator

 

Here were some of the best radio calls of the week

 

The Week Ahead

The Oilers play four times this week including tonight against the Panthers. They have a two game road trip visiting the Coyotes on Tuesday and the Sharks on Thursday, while hosting the Calgary Flames on Saturday.

Three big divisional games, with no McDavid or Klefbom to save them. It’ll be tough.

That’s the week that was. Follow me on Twitter (I changed my Twitter handle recently) and have a good week!

Edmonton Oilers, Kris Hansen, NHL

The Weekly Round Up September 20-26

Hey everyone, this is Kris here and here is the weekly round up for the week that was September 20th-September 26th. With pre-season underway, we inch ever so close to the debut of what should be, an exciting, 2015-16 season.

My Top Three Oilers of the Week:

Honorable Mention: Leon Draisaitl. It was a toss up between Draisaitl and McDavid for the three spot. Draisaitl has arguably been one of our best players this pre-season, although he did not look as effective last night as he has in prior games. He’s going to make it a really tough decision for Todd McLellan and that’s a great thing.

3. Connor McDavid. He had two assists in his pre-season debut with the Oilers on Monday against Calgary. McDavid looked (and even he admitted it) shaky at the start but McDavid is exciting to watch every time he touches the ice. His skating is really something else and his defense was really underrated.

2. Griffin Reinhart. A surprising pick but his game against Winnipeg on Wednesday was superb. He did everything right, not flashy, but right. He’s basically the yin to Nurse’s yang: opposites in style but each offering a unique game that the Oilers sorely need. Reinhart was effective in all areas and hence why he earns my number two spot. I wrote about Reinhart on Oilonwhyte.com yesterday and I think we should definitely be supporting the young man.

1. Justin Schultz. Oh boy, I really hope this is the Justin Schultz that we get for the regular season. Forget the goal he scored but look at the Klefbom hit: Schultz of all people was the first one in the scrum! Finally some resilience from the man. He’s been playing like a top four defenceman. Perhaps he could surprise everyone with a rock solid year.

TSN Had a recent feature on Schultz

Connor McDavid to Play Against Minnesota in Saskatoon Tonight

There has been much talk about Connor McDavid and his lack of Pre-Season play, but this confirms that he will be playing in Saskatoon tonight rather than Winnipeg last night. This makes sense on a couple fronts: Yesterday’s squad was mostly filled with AHL players and players fighting for their roster lives and tonight’s squad is playing in an Edmonton Oilers market. It also makes sense on the front where Saskatoon has a large Oilers fanbase. Might as well treat them to one of the best stars in the league.

 

Lowetide’s Rollerball

Lowetide has always been a favorite of mine. He’s THE icon of the Oilers blogging community and he constantly produces quality content. This one stands out however, as he looks at the big three on the back end (Klefbom, Nurse and Reinhart) and their potential offensive production. Lowetide urged that some of the comparables for offense was a good Steve Staios and that we should not be disappointed with that especially if they are rock solid defensively. I think it’s important to stress the defensive side of the game here since quite frankly, the Oilers have had very ineffective defenseman who can play quality defense. Lowetide also hints that maybe Klefbom’s potential might be hidden due to the invisible Swedish Secondary Assists (where they do not count the secondary assist, just the primary).

Patrick Kane’s Case is Bizarre 

Patrick Kane’s Rape Accusation case took a really bizarre turn of events this week when the accuser’s lawyer, Thomas Eoannou, held a press conference declaring that the Rape Kit was delivered to the Accuser’s Mother’s doorstep and that it had been tampered (the evidence bag was empty, was supposed to hold the rape kit). Eoannou, the very next day no less, resigned from the case stating that it was within ethical reason for him to leave the case as he did not believe the Mother’s story.

This is downright confusing. I have no opinion on whether Kane is innocent or not and that is not up to me to decide. I am purely neutral in this case and without anymore evidence or news related to the story, I will remain neutral. That said, this is just plain nutty and confusing.

Even ESPN’s first take had talked about it (although I do warn you, tolerating Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith takes a lot of patience)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfkleAuOl1I

 

Flyers Brothers on Trading Block?

According to NBC hockey, both Braydon and Luke Schenn are on the trading block from the Flyers. It’s not really surprising: I find both players to be blunt, mediocre at best. Luke Schenn is fighting for a job with a log jam of defensiveman and Braydon Schenn has not produced to the levels that were expected of them. One thing though, I really hope that the Oilers stay far away from both of these players. They are not what the Oilers need in my opinion: We are set at Center and I would rather have Lander over Braydon Schenn and Luke Schenn would just be another 5-6 Defenceman that the Oilers don’t need.