Tag Archives: Oilersnation

Around the Oilogosphere, Bakersfield Condors, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

Around the Oilogosphere – April 7th Edition – Tragedy Strikes Humboldt, Congrats on 10 years Oilersnation, Friedman on Tavares/Karlsson, and NHL Rumors!

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I never want to start out my Oilers posts with bad news but today it’s simply unavoidable. I’m sure you’ve heard but yesterday we lost some really special people in a car accident in between Tisdale and Nipawin, Saskatchewan. I don’t know all of the details and frankly, I’m not sure I want to. The number of lives lost is staggering. It’s a dark time for a lot of families right now and the words I’m reaching for to describe how helpless I feel won’t help but I hope they know they have the unending support of the entire hockey community.

I’m not really sure why my heart feels as heavy as it does. I don’t have any ties to the team or the players or the league. I live on a small island off the coast of China but there’s a small town just east of the accident site called Arborfield and that is where my mother’s side of the family grew up. We went there a few times when I was a little boy. Maybe that has something to do with it or possibly just the fact that as writers or fans of hockey when something like this happens, it hits us all.

Either way, that’s not important. What’s important is that the families of the victims, the billets, the people close to the hockey team, they get the support that they require. I understand that there’s a Go Fund Me that has been started and if you can afford to donate, it’s more than a worthy cause.

OILERS NEWS

The Cult of Hockey – The Humboldt Broncos Tragedy: This wasn’t supposed to happen. Again. – One chilly January day while playing in a Midget tournament in Saskatoon, my Dad pulled me aside, just after I had gotten off the ice…

The Cult of Hockey – Excellent advice to NHL players from Jason Strudwick: ” I don’t think players should be on social media” – Whether you’re the best player in the league or the worst player, you’re going to find something that rattles you…

Edmonton Sun – Ryan Smyth greatly appreciated Sedins on his NHL farewell – “I don’t see them crying like I was,” laughed the former Edmonton Oiler winger who played his 1,270th and last NHL game against the Sedins when the Canucks were here April 12, 2014. The Sedins made sure every Vancouver player shook Smyth’s hand before he took one last sobbing lap around the rink.

Sportsnet – Golden Knights are playoff contenders the Oilers were supposed to be – How much money could you have won back in October if you’d have wagered that, in this April 5, Game 81 meeting between the Stanley Cup-favoured Edmonton Oilers and the tomato can expansion Golden Knights, that the latter would be the team prepping for the playoffs, and the former sending players to the world championships?

Oilersnation – 10 Years: Nation Rising – I had no idea what I was in for as I drove to Earl’s restaurant on 170th Street and 100th Ave. in late February of 2008 for a lunch meeting with three guys I’d never met to talk about getting involved with a website that I’d never heard of…

Oilersnation – Cam Talbot expects to rebound next season – After yesterday’s practice, Cam Talbot spoke to the media about the season that was, where things went wrong, and what to expect from the goaltender heading into next season…

NHL NEWS AND RUMORS

Sportsnet – 31 Thoughts: Expect Canucks to be Aggressive in Post-Sedins Era

Friedman | Islanders must still convince Tavares they can win

Friedman believes Karlsson has played last game for Senators

NHL Rumors: Oilers, Kovalchuk, Knights, Senators, Sabres and Maple Leafs

NHL Rumors: Carlson, Voynov, Canucks and Stars

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Around the Oilogosphere, Bakersfield Condors, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects, Rumors

Around the Oilogosphere – April 3rd Edition – Oilers Prospect Reports, Staying the Course, Top-10 Free Agents, Karlsson/Trouba Rumors, and More!

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Two more games until the end of this disastrous 2017/18 Oilers season that has been derailed by slumps, injuries (disclosed and not), bad coaching, and questionable GM-ing.

That special portion of the Oilers fanbase is looking for their sacrificial lamb. Some yearning for Todd McLellan to be fired or for Peter Chiarelli to get his pink slip but this is what I don’t understand.

Peter Chiarelli’s job was to get the Oilers into the playoffs ASAP when he was hired, right? Why in Sam’s Hell are you all concerned with how he does it?

We’ve got “smart” people complaining that he’s built this team around heavy hockey, well, has he?

He signed Milan Lucic and traded for Adam Larsson (who is +31 since joining the team). He got rid of a jaded goalie for Zack Kassian (nobody was complaining about that deal until this year) but you can’t even say Kassian plays a heavy hockey game if you take the time to watch him. Maroon was brought in and if you’re going to complain about his contributions to the team, then I suggest you head down the QE2 and shack up with the Shames because you’re just complaining to hear your own voice.

Are you going to shit on JJ Khaira’s performance this season? He plays a heavy game but I bet you’d take the time to criticize Chiarelli if he dealt JJ. Does Leon Draisaitl fall into this category as well?

So what I’m getting here is that special portion of the fanbase is so mad that Chiarelli traded their boys in Hall and Eberle (no mention of Yak ever which is unsurprising) for specifically targetted pieces that the team needed that they are blinded to the good things that Chiarelli has done for the team.

My advice: Be careful what you wish for.

The Gagner-Hall years were filled with skill. So much skill in that teams just bullied them into submission. Well, I’ll tell you this much, the bullying hasn’t stopped with those teams and yes, they’re still heavy teams. Those are veteran-laden teams who get the call more often than not.

So we go back to getting to the playoffs and not caring how Chiarelli builds the team to get there. To get out of the division and into the playoffs in the Pacific division, every team has to go through California and to do that they have to outmuscle Getzlaf, Perry, Burns, Thornton, Doughty, Lindholm, Carter, etc.

Many will point to Vegas and say, “SEE!” without taking the time to look at their roster closely. Yup, they’re a fast team and forecheck hard. You can’t deny they’ve also had above average goaltending and the coach has done a wonderful job but have you counted the number of expiring contracts on that team? We all know players playing on the last year of their deal play better (for the most part) and that’s exactly what the Golden Knights are doing and good on them for taking advantage. What will they look like next season?

I think you can look at an Oilers supporter on Twitter and immediately deduce if they are pro-Chiarelli or anti-Chiarelli quite easily and that’s what all of this is boiling down to.

Personally, whoever gets traded or loses their job this summer has it coming. I’m not so far up my own ass that I can’t say Chiarelli made some massive bets on his roster and they backfired. I supported Todd McLellan at the beginning of the year but have found myself frustrated as hell with his staff’s performances 80 games later.

I see the holes on the roster and it’d be nice to see upgrades.

This tweet kind of sums it up for me:

Speaking of Twitter, I’m going to start blocking people more liberally because it’s getting tiresome going around in circles for the sake of satiating another’s ego or my own for that matter. I’m not looking for people to always agree with my comments but I’m not looking for harassment either. It’s a drain.

OILERS NEWS

Sportsnet – Takeaways: Wild simply too much for nosediving Oilers to handle – It says here that the coaching staff is the least of this club’s problems right now, but tell me how you defend a staff whose special teams are this pathetic?

Sportsnet – Oilers Prospect Report: Kailer Yamamoto Offers Promise Up Front – Of the top four prospects in the Edmonton Oilers organization, none were drafted first overall. In fact, one is a deep first-rounder, another from Round 2, and then a fourth- and fifth-rounder — a sign the Oilers are perhaps figuring out how to find players below the No. 1 spot in the NHL Draft.

The Oil Knight – OHL Playoffs Round 2 – Niagara vs. Hamilton – Despite the success in the Regular Season vs. the Bulldogs, Niagara is going to be in tough in this matchup.

The Cult of Hockey – Fans should be wary about buying “stay the course” narrative from Edmonton Oilers – Heading into the season, most folks predicted the Oilers would be one of the top teams in the NHL. On paper, this looked like a good-to-great team. There is a serious gap between these expectations and how things turned out. I see a number of possible courses of action…

Oilersnation – Monday Mailbag – UFAs, trading the first round pick, and Al Montoya

Oilersnation – Let’s find some positives from this season

The Hockey Writers – Oilers Six Thoughts: Benson, Maksimov, Skinner; and Others – Here’s a quick recap of what’s transpired during the CHL’s first-round action, and how the Oiler prospects are doing.

NHL RUMORS

Dreger and Friedman ponder cap space usage for Canucks

Friedman | Surprise team could pursue Karlsson trade

Ranking the Top-10 NHL Unrestricted Free Agents at Season’s End

McKenzie | Trouba probably looking to drive real hard bargain

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Around the Oilogosphere, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Prospects, Rumors

Around the Oilogosphere – April 2nd Edition – Lucic’s Numbers During His Slump, Determining the Hart Winner, A Partner for Leon, Firing McLellan, and NHL Rumors

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I can’t say I’m ever happy when the Oilers lose, maybe the year when everyone was tanking for McDavid, but certainly not when the Oilers are playing the Calgary Shames. I will say this though, from the 2nd period on, that was a good hockey game and for me, that’s all I can really ask for.

But the man who has drawn the most focus from that installment of the Battle of Alberta was Milan Lucic. He had a couple of chances to score, he was hitting, he was backchecking, and best of all he was stirring the pot baby!

I loved what Milan Lucic did there. He has had a VERY tough season on the scoresheet and there are a lot of people saying he’s finished as an NHLer (at age 29, give your head a shake if you’re one of those people) but the worst thing that I heard after the game last night was this from Rob Soria;

Now, Rob is one of the more experienced writers who blogs about the Oilers and he’s a pretty decent guy on the whole but maybe we should take hitting right out of the game too. We wouldn’t want to offend anyone.

Either way, it’s a BS comment, in my opinion, given that Mike Smith is the biggest a**hole goalie in the league and deserves everything that he gets.

As for Milan Lucic, I did some digging about and was quite surprised with some of my findings.

I went to naturalstattrick.com and set up some filters (5×5, 500 min TOI, forwards only, 12/23 to 3/31) and simply got his numbers for the duration of his slump.

In that time frame, did you know that he has the best CF% on the team (51%)? Did you know he has the 4th best Shots For/60, Fenwick For/60, and Scoring Chances Against/60 on the team? His Scoring Chances For % is #1 on the team and his High-Danger Changes For % is #2.

Now if we expand the focus to league-wide in that same time frame (using the same filters) we’ll find that Lucic still rates highly. I put some comparables (184 skaters) in brackets behind his league rank to give you an idea of who his peers are in each category)

CF/60 – #62 (Malkin, Couture, Wheeler)
CA/60 – #95 (Cogliano, P.Kane, Toews)
CF% – #88 (Ovechkin, Johansen, Hall)
FF/60 – #55 (E.Kane, Backstrom, Benn)
FA/60 – #56 (O’Reilly, Panarin, Marchessault)
FF% – #52 (W.Karlsson, Getzlaf, McDavid)

SF/60 – #55 (P.Kane, Benn, Konecny)
SA/60 – #102 (Panarin, Stepan, Draisaitl)
SF% – #87 (Trocheck, O’Reilly, Eberle)

SCF/60 – #46 (Ehlers, Kadri, Oshie)
SCA/60 – #123 (P.Kane, Marner, Toews)
SCF% – #85 (Kopitar, McDavid, Laine)

HDCF/60 – #14!!! (JVR, Rakell, Eberle)
HDCA/60 – #129 (Tatar, Jenner, MacKinnon)
HDCF% – #53 (Kucherov, Zuccarello, Hall)

Those are the good numbers. Where Lucic is struggling is in the goal metrics but that’s nothing new. In fact, that’s where Chia-haters and anti-Lucic folks go to dine heartily.

GF/60 – #174 (Drouin, Sobotka, Strome)
GA/60 – #164 (Barzal, Kucherov, Monahan)
GF% – #180 (P.Kane, Anders Lee, Josh Bailey)

Lastly, I want to point out that his PDO is .954 and that’s good for 180/184 skaters. What do we hear about players that have low PDOs? Eventually things will regress to the mean. But we don’t hear that about a 29-yr-old Milan Lucic, do we? We are told that because of his style of play (one that has yet to force him out injured for any period of time) he’s more likely to be in decline than other players his age that are experiencing this kind of slump. (stats courtesy of naturalstattrick.com)

I suppose that DOES sound good if you were against the signing in the first place or you don’t like players like Milan Lucic. I imagine you’d want to see him fail because for some narcissistic reason because in your world that means you were right… And being right trumps everything in the short term.

I can’t wait until next season…

So I can see why the coach would want to put Lucic out there when the team needs a goal. Now, where he asks Lucic to go on the ice and what he tells him to do, that’s a different story.

Regardless, at the end of the day, Milan Lucic must find a way to be a difference maker on the ice. Be that with a hit, a fight, using his body to win a board battle or create room on the ice for a linemate, a shot, pass, or even a goal; it’s up to Lucic to find a way.

I would like to urge you to forget about his salary though. It is what it is and now it’s on the coach to find a place for him to be as impactful as possible. If that is the 3rd line, so be it. If that is on the 4th line, so be it. You have to get rid of his idea that there are 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th lines. Every coach will tell you that whatever line is running onhot on a given night, that’s the top line.

I’m sure Ryan Callahan and David Backes don’t take as much shit as Lucic does making what they make and producing what they produce. Just like Lucic didn’t take as much crap last year when the Oilers were in the playoffs.

OILERS NEWS

The Cult of Hockey – Connor McDavid, Claude Giroux, Nathan MacKinnon Rank Highest for Individual Achievement in NHL This Year – It’s no easy matter to determine which player deserves to be the National Hockey League’s Hart Trophy winner, the award given to the player deemed to be most valuable to his team in the regular season each year.

The Hockey Writers – Will the Oilers Really Fire McLellan? – With the season all but over and the Oilers about to head golfing for the summer, the organization is rumored to be taking a good, long look at the roster, the coaching staff, the management and other areas that let the team down this season. No doubt, there will be people who lose their jobs. Is one of those people the head coach?

Edmonton Sun – Puljujarvi’s Progress a Slow Process – He hasn’t caught up to the pace of the game on a consistent basis so his skills can take over naturally. And until he does, there will be nights like Saturday against the Flames where the 19-year-old Edmonton Oilers winger gets 13 uneventful minutes.

The Oil Knight – Oshawa/Niagara Series Recap – t was a very chippy series with plenty of penalties and where 2 players were suspended. Oshawa did their best to try and punish the Ice Dogs physically but Niagara did a great job after that first game of just settling down and playing their game and letting their skill take over.

Oilersnation – Finding a Partner for Leon Draisaitl – Could the team still use a skilled volume shooter to ride shotgun on their top-line? Sure, but you could argue that a more glaring need is finding a competent line mate for Leon Draisaitl who, if all stays the same, will be centering the teams second unit next season.

Oilersnation – Oilers Prospect Update: Benson and Hebig are No Joke 

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NHL RUMORS

NHL Rumors: Edmonton Oilers and the San Jose Sharks

NHL Rumors: John Tavares and the New York Islanders

NHL Rumors: St. Louis Blues and the New York Islanders

NHL Rumors: Capitals, Islanders, Rangers, and Canadiens

 

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Around the Oilogosphere – March 30th Edition – Button on Puljujarvi, Friday Fights, the McBlender, McKenzie on Tavares, and the RUMORS!

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A lot of talk about the Oilers and Milan Lucic tonight and rightfully so I imagine. The big $6M winger is having a poor back end to the season, no poorer than David Backes, Rick Nash, Brandon Saad, or Nick Foligno’s full year mind you but that’s beside the point for some Oilers fans.

Not a peep did we hear from this faction of the Oilers fanbase while Milan was playing well before Christmas. But since then I don’t know if I’ve heard one good thing said about Lucic from the folks who are feeling like this is “justified criticism”.

I will take this time to remind you to be careful about what you say online. You might believe that the players don’t read the socials or the blogs but you’re wrong. They do and the people around them do. These are humans and words affect them.

I mean this is a player on your favorite team (assumingly) and you want to talk trash about him? There’s a fine line that’s being walked when you take that route. And all of this for 3 months of slumping? Something tells me this kind of criticism has less to do with the player and more to do with the GM.

“Daddy, why won’t good players come play in Edmonton”

“Well son, it’s because there’s a portion of the fanbase that is a relentless tire fire if the team isn’t winning and even then you’re lucky to get a peep or positivity out of them. Oh and it’s cold in Edmonton and the team has to do a lot of traveling when they go out on the road compared to teams in the Eastern Conference.”

And one more thing, this is more specific to Lucic, take the time to think about what he’s gone through since choosing to come to the Oilers. Take the time to read about his father’s tragedy. 

Depression is no joke and about 40% of people who have it pass it down. The other 60% is dependent on other circumstances like the environment a person lives in and I can assure you the environment for a professional athlete can be a toxic one.

Lay off Lucic. He knows how his year has gone and you’re not being helpful or original for that matter by bringing it up constantly. Try being more helpful instead of kicking him when he’s down and putting your boots on his neck. Think about how you’d like to be treated if you were having a tough time doing the thing you loved.

OILERS NEWS

The Cult of Hockey – Craig Button blasts Edmonton Oilers for failure to properly develop Jesse Puljujarvi – This in from Craig Button, talking to Jason Gregor of TSN1260 radio about the Edmonton Oilers handling — or mishandling — of Jesse Puljujarvi.

The Cult of Hockey – It’s Worth it For the Edmonton Oilers Not to Tank, But There’s a High Price Attached – True fans want their team to win, but they also sometimes put on that general manager’s hat where they carefully assess the value of draft picks.

Oilersnation – The McBlender – I think most people who watch the Oilers this season have been frustrated or confused by the amount of line juggling we’ve seen from Head Coach Todd McLellan.

Lowetide – Union City Blue – As upset as one might be about last night’s game, and it was the 44th loss so you should be used to it by now, this club had their chances.

Beer League Heroes – It Was a Hockey Trade – In the end, though the simple fact was we needed a right-handed top pair defenceman very badly. The off-ice stuff might have made it easier to justify the supposed low return. Maybe other NHL GMs heard things from friends of friends of friends like we all have. Quite frankly it’s naive to think they didn’t. Even without the noise Hall wouldn’t fetch a Subban, Seth Jones, Karlsson, etc etc. That’s just dreaming.

NHL NEWS AND RUMORS

Fan Rag Sports – McKenzie Shares Gut Feeling on Tavares Free Agency Potential – The John Tavares free agency storyline has been unfolding for years now, but with only months to go until the franchise center can leave the only NHL team for which he’s played there is seemingly more and more momentum to that very notion.

Fan Rag Sports – Friedman explores dynamic between Islanders and Tavares – The John Tavares free agency storyline has been unfolding for years now, but with only months to go until the franchise center can leave the only NHL team for which he’s played there is seemingly more and more momentum to that very notion.

NHL Rumors: 2018 NHL Free Agents: Scraping The Barrel

NHL Rumors: Detroit Red Wings and the New York Rangers

NHL Rumors: Datsyuk, Peters, Holland, Brickley, Panthers and Blackhawks

NHL Rumors: Kings and Dergachyov … Where John Tavares Could End Up

NHL Rumors: Maple Leafs, Canucks and Hurricanes

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Around the Oilogosphere – March 27th Edition – McDavid Hart Debates, 31 Thoughts, The Oilers Biggest Need, and Plenty of NHL Rumors!

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I think we could all use a night off from the Oilers after watching them sh*t the bed against the Blue Jackets last night. Good grief! What in Sam’s Hell was that? Can’t blame it on fatigue. Can we blame it on coaching? I mean I have no idea why McLellan was deploying his lines the way he was. Maybe he didn’t have a choice since the whole team was stinking up the joint, just let the lines roll baby…

But that shouldn’t have mattered anyhow. The Blue Jackets came to the rink prepared to outwork the Oilers and that they did. The Oilers could use a few more players like Boone Jenner on their roster in my opinion. Players who are willing to do what it takes night in and night out.

I did see that Jesse Puljujarvi has been in the conversations today though. I don’t get it with pundits and fans when they talk about Pulju. They all want him to be this 19-year-old Finnish Jari Kurri and right now too. Even when you listen to Stauffer, who says he loves the kid, talk about him, he stumbles over his words. Says things like Jesse comes from a “rural” part of Finland when defending him on his show. What the hell is that supposed to mean?

I reckon there are a lot of folk who are concerned that if our Grinnin’ Finn doesn’t start to pick it up here that he’ll be moved. It’s stark reality too given Peter Chiarelli’s transaction background but there’s a player here. Let’s give him the time to properly marinate.

There was once a time when 1st round draft picks didn’t make their team in their first, second, or third camp even. Hell, most of the time they had to go to the AHL to earn their stripes and then they’d get the call and it wasn’t straight to the top 6 either, it was bottom 6 and earn your way to the top lines and PP.

Now I’m not saying JP hasn’t earned it or that is even a thing now but Jesse Puljujarvi is in the best spot for him at this time in his development. 3rd line TOI against 3rd line opposition with two players who have been in the league quite some time.

So there’s absolutely no need to rush him in the final 12 games (5 games now) of the season. All the team needs to ask him to do is relax and work on some specific instructions. Then in the offseason, maybe go home to Finland for half and then come back to North America for half and train with someone like Gary Roberts and/or Adam Oates.

We’re going to see a drastically different player, for the good, next season and by the time Puljujarvi is 21, we’re going to have an outstanding winger because the team was patient with him and brought him along slowly.

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OILERS NEWS

The Cult of Hockey – McDavid is Taking His Game to the Next Level – Remember when Connor McDavid was having trouble putting the biscuit in the basket? It was just a couple of months ago that the Edmonton Oilers phenom went through a drought, scoring just once in 13 games leading into the All-Star break.

The Cult of Hockey – Various Hockey Analysts on McDavid and the Hart Trophy –  A number of NHL hockey writers say they will downgrade or eliminate Connor McDavid from contention to win the Hart Trophy for the league’s most valuable player because his Edmonton Oilers will fail to make the playoffs.

Oilersnation – Brownlee on the McDavid/Hart Trophy Debate – Whether an MVP candidate’s team makes the playoffs or not and how much weight that carries – is front and centre in the Hart Trophy debate right now. That’s understandable. What I don’t get is that some media people who have a vote don’t think McDavid even belongs in the top five on the PHWA ballot.

Oilersnation – The Oilers Biggest Need – The Edmonton Oilers have five games left and then the offseason begins. Roster moves don’t happen until June, but some coaches and general managers go, college free agents sign and the lottery balls are drawn to see who gets the first three picks in the draft. What is the Oilers’ biggest need going into the summer?

Oilersnation – The NHL Draft Lottery Odds Have Changed – The Edmonton Oilers are seasoned veterans of winning the draft lottery and they will be in consideration for the top pick yet again this year. Not a single person among us, media included (no matter how hard they try to revise history) believed that the team would be this bad this year.

Oilersnation – Cam Talbot’s Next Contract – How do you handle Talbot’s next contract? He’s signed for one more year before he can hit the open market. At this point last year, it seemed like a no-brainer he should be inked long-term. But is that still the case after this year’s showing?

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NHL NEWS AND RUMORS

Sportsnet – 31 Thoughts from Elliotte Friedman: Stan Bowman Believes More Cup Runs Possible for Blackhawks

Fan Rag Sports – McKenzie | Rangers open for business on trade front 

Fan Rag Sports – McKenzie | Capitals face cap crunch with Carlson

Fan Rag Sports – LeBrun on Futures of Tavares and Pacioretty

Fan Rag Sports – NHL GM offer sheet forecast timeline nears

NHL Rumors: Coyotes and Hickey … Blackhawks and Quenneville … Senators and Duchene

NHL Rumors: Chicago Blackhawks and Toronto Maple Leafs

NHL Rumors: The Montreal Canadiens Are Facing A Crucial Off-Season

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