Tag Archives: Shawn Horcoff

Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

Questionable Sources

Well there you have it, Horcoff isn’t coming to Edmonton on a PTO and Gryba is still on the market. Brandon Pirri has signed in New York and if things follow the same path, Raffi Torres will still be a UFA by the time the 2016/17 NHL season starts.

All of the things I have tossed out there in the last week or so have passed without happening and I feel bad for you the reader but unfortunately that’s how she goes. Not everything I’m told comes to fruition, in fact very little of it comes true. I don’t put tons of concern into that though because, to be honest, it’s no skin off of my back. I don’t write for anybody but myself if we’re being completely frank.

I’m stoked that you will come to our site here and read what we have to say and comment on it but it’s really no different that heading over to the water cooler or coffee machine at work and having a chat about the Oilers.

That being said, Bob Stauffer mentioned on Oilers Now! that Matt Benning is signing somewhere (talked about 4 or 5 other teams being in the mix but tossed EDM and LA out specifically) by tomorrow afternoon and to keep an eye on Michael Stone.

I asked my source about Stone and it said that the Oilers are going to watch the Stone situation “loosely”. I guess that means they’ll be keeping an eye on him to see if he re-signs with the club or is shopped.

Stone is coming off of knee surgery and recently signed a 1-year deal with $4M according to Capfriendly.com

 

Now to the Main Attraction!

The title of the post is called “Questionable Sources” because of this post by Matt Henderson.

“It had been reported by some questionable sources that the Oilers were relatively close to signing veteran and former Captain Shawn Horcoff to a PTO. At the same time those questionable sources also suggest that Gryba was close to signing a PTO with the team.”

Now, as far as I know there were three accounts on Twitter speaking to one or both of the Horcoff/Gryba PTO rumours.

Kurt is a good guy. we’ve had a few chats on Twitter in the past. He’s not known to be the breaker of Oilers’ news per se but a wonderful writer over at Oil on Whyte nonetheless.

https://twitter.com/Boscorelli_HN/status/765771283376242689

This account belongs to Joshua Marshall I believe (E3), and it’s the one that put out the Yakupov for Petrovic rumours earlier this summer. I’m of the belief that Marshall is a good friend of Petrovic’s and that rumour might’ve been a practical joke.

I’ve never met this bloke before, seen his posts in the Edmonton Oilers Fans page on Facebook a few times, but a chance to talk to him, I have not had. 3PD tells me he’s good sh*t though.

Personally I have no problem with folks claiming they have an inside track because I know the odds of that being true or not. I think the fact of the matter is that it’s entertainment, we live in a gossip culture and everybody wants to know what’s going on behind the curtain. It drives hits to websites and followers to Twitter accounts. If you’re fortunate to work for a major media player, those hits and followers turn into $$$.

So maybe that’s the motivation for folks to have these rumor accounts? Maybe there’s a pipedream for some bloggers that believe that if they post these things, they’ll get a job with a team or a media conglomerate. I don’t know.

I write because it’s fun. If something comes of it, great! If nothing, that’s okay too!

The problem I do have is when writers like Henderson use phrases like “Questionable Sources” when everyone knows who the bloody source is. We all drink from the same watering hole, do we not? It’s a dick move to be honest. Either you say who it is or you don’t write it.

I don’t know, maybe my ego is so big that I couldn’t fathom anyone talking about anything other than myself or maybe Henderson is afraid to link to my post where I wrote:

“I’ve been told there’s a chance that Shawn Horcoff and Eric Gryba will be offered a chance to make the 2016/17 Edmonton Oilers if they choose to accept a PTO.”

Then again maybe we don’t know but you can take a pretty educated guess if you’re paying attention.

So Henderson writes,

“…the Oilers were relatively close to signing veteran and former Captain Shawn Horcoff to a PTO. At the same time those questionable sources also suggest that Gryba was close to signing a PTO with the team.”

And I write that,

“there’s a chance…”

Maybe my post wasn’t the source but there’s a chance…

Well anyways, that Matt Henderson post on Hockeybuzz is a pretty big ego trip of its own in my opinion.

“I make an effort not to “Break” news unless I have a very good reason to believe I have good information. To date, it has happened once. It was Jeff Petry’s contract negotiation status…

I wouldn’t even consider stating that Horcoff and Gryba were close to signing PTOs without having heard that from a legitimate source.”

Well good for Matty. What a saint.

With regards to that break on Jeff Petry’s contract negotiations, I was talking to the exact same contact that Henderson was but I was told not to say anything online about it. So either in my naivety or my stupidity, the contact went to Henderson with the info and Matt posted it on Oilersnation and was on Lowetide’s show talking about it.

I’ve often found it weird that this person didn’t go to Jason Gregor, Lowetide, or a guy like Ryan Rishaug with the information. Why go to a guy that calls himself Beer League Hero or Matt Henderson?

Anyways, the tidbits I get told are things I feel I should share with you because I feel like you’d like to know. I’m not afraid to share them with you because, like I said above, it’s no skin off of my back and we don’t sell more shirts because of it.

My source trusts me and I trust it.

You should never be afraid to do or say something in fear of what others will think or say. Within reason of course.

Matt Henderson is a wonderful Oilers blogger, really. I have no qualms with him on a personal level. He’s great on Twitter and his spots on Reid Wilkins’ show are quite entertaining. If you’re not reading his posts on Hockeybuzz or Oilersnation, you really should be.

To conclude, I’m a bit bent about his post but what Mr.Henderson wrote is not wrong at all. The source of the information in his blog, be it my post or another, IS questionable. It should be.

But shouldn’t everything be questionable? Especially the shirts below!

Click on the pic and grab a new 16-bit Fighting Looch tee!
Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Tops Off for Horcoff Again?

3 Comments

Whip out your Oilers swag from 2006 folks because I reckon there’s a chance we might be taking a trip down memory lane at this upcoming season’s training camp! I’ve been told there’s a chance that Shawn Horcoff and Eric Gryba will be offered a chance to make the 2016/17 Edmonton Oilers if they choose to accept a PTO.

Now we know that Gryba fared pretty well and was a good chap for the Oilers last year. He spent the majority of last year playing alongside Brandon Davidson and according to Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com, they put up a very respectable CA/60 of 47.84 in 283 minutes. Perhaps if Gryba decides to join the team for one more season, this could be a pairing. Unfortunately, Gryba’s Corsi Against was pretty shite with the other dmen on the squad. But Edmonton is in need of another right-handed defender and Chiarelli loves him some size and physicality, right? I’m only on board of the beard stays though.

As for Horcoff, hearing that he’d like to come back and give it another shot with the Oilers has me mind split like a watermelon on Gallagher’s stage. On one hand, Shawn Horcoff is getting older and his experience, work ethic, and locker room presence would be invaluable. On the other hand, Horcs is going to be 38 years old and how much of an impact can he have on the ice today?

Going back to Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com, the numbers are telling me that this guy cannot play a lick of offense anymore. His WOWYs say that his linemates do a helluva lot better when they are away from him. On the defensive side of the puck, he played quite well with Andrew Cogliano in the 363 minutes of 5×5 even strength time together:

CF/60 – 55.35
CA/60 – 46.92

Horcoff Away from Cogliano:

CF/60 – 45.27 (YIKES!)
CA/60 – 53.09

Cogliano Away from Horcoff:

CF/60 – 57.79 (Holy Snikees!)
CA/60 – 52.5

In 2015/16, Horcoff had the best even strength CA/60 on the ducks apart from Ryan Getzlaf (minimum 600 minutes TOI). Horcoff had 49.67 and Getzy had 48.73.

SHOULD WE KEEP OUR SHIRTS ON?

The thing is we’re going to have to consider the impact on the roster’s make up if Horcoff were to make the team.

L1: Pouliot – McDavid – Eberle
L2: Lucic – Nugent-Hopkins – Draisaitl
L3:  Maroon – Horcoff – Puljujarvi/Yakupov
L4: Hendricks – Letestu – Kassian

So the rub is that anybody who plays with Horcoff is going to see their numbers absolutely nosedive. I don’t even really know how much of an upgrade he is on Letestu. But what he would do is work his ass off, go to the areas that need to be addressed on the ice, provide a defensive presence, and be a reliable face-off man.

The one thing that keeps cropping into my mind though is, could Shawn Horcoff be Derek Roy v2? Is this a guy that could possibly bring something out in Yakupov similar to what Roy did. Horcoff loves the Oilers and being a former captain of the club, he knows about accountability and that’s something that Roy made Yakupov aware of in that short time they played together. Horcoff doesn’t have the skills to be like Derek Roy but maybe that was only a small part of it before…

If the Oilers are intending on keeping Yak for the majority of this season, I’d much rather see Draisaitl with Horcoff, Eberle with Nuge, and Yak with Connor. That’s just me, though. The numbers back-up those combinations and Draisaitl could learn a thing or two playing alongside Horcoff.

What do you think about the Oilers possibly offering Shawn Horcoff and Eric Gryba PTOs to come and try out for the team? Let us know in the comments below!

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