That was the answer given to Sportsnet scribe Mark Spector when he queried Oilers head coach Todd McLellan on the status of Drake Caggiula. You knew McLellan wasn’t going to say anything more than that too but you have to ask the question.
http://www.gfycat.com/AnxiousCostlyHorsemouse
Helluva smack Draggiula took after a goal-mouth drive on Ducks goalie John Gibson in game two right in the earlier parts of the 2nd period. The fact that he immediately went to the dressing room didn’t do anything to dispell the injury speculation. Caggiula did try to come out in the 3rd but nothing was going. So, here we are.
So, here we are.
Should he even be in the lineup right now? I think it’s a question worth tossing out there.
Caggiula had 6 goals and 11 assists in 60 games during the regular season and in the playoffs, he’s amassed a grand total of ZERO points, 11 shots on goal and 10 PIMs whilst sharing the ice mostly with Zack Kassian and Mark Letestu. So I suppose we shouldn’t expect too much stats-wise from him but you’d like to see some progress in the statistical columns, no? And I’m not just talking about the time spent in the box.
The thing I do like about Caggiula is he reminds me of a more assertive Jordan Eberle but faster and less likely to button hook but more likely to take the biscuit to the basket. He’s crafty and he doesn’t mind taking a shot. I think that’s why Chiarelli and McLellan like him as well. #Gritensity
But one has to wonder, how good would Tyler Pitlick look on that 3rd line? Especially after the start to the season he had. I hope that Pitlick recovers and comes back stronger than ever. He’s a very entertaining player to watch when he’s playing his game.
So IF Caggiula is unable to go tonight, who do you think get’s a shot?
Iiro Pakarinen – Has already played some post-season this year. Seems to have the trust of the coach
Matt Hendricks – Cagey vet w/ an ability to take a faceoff. An area the Oilers are getting crushed in.
Jujhar Khaira – Great size and good along the boards. Not afraid of the rough stuff either but lacks the experience and consistency I reckon. Which is shocking when you look at the Drake’s stats.
Joey Laleggia – Small and crafty. Scored 20 goals in the AHL this year. Why not?
If I had to choose, I reckon it would be Pakarinen. I think that T-Mac is set with his centres and doesn’t want to tinker about with them nor do I believe he wants to risk putting Hendricks in due to his lack of speed or Khaira because he probably digs how the 4th line is going and JJ might not be 3rd line ready.
Personally, I’d toss Hendricks in. I love his heart and dedication.
Let us know in the comments below who you’d put in!
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Ha! I’m just kidding but I’ll touch on the hysteria that was caused when Adam Larsson scored two goals for the Oilers in game 1.
The real question is, How badly is Connor McDavid hurt?
The reason I bring this up is because the panel at Hockey Night in Canada was talking about it briefly during the 2nd intermission if I recall correctly, and then even more briefly during April 27’s Oilers Now! segment w/ Elliotte Friedman.
If you want to skip right to the McDavid conversation, jump to 5:58. I’ll quote some of it below too if you can’t be bothered.
Stauffer – “They brought up the question of McDavid’s health just based on Anaheim’s ability to shut him down. So if you could just clarify, and I know you didn’t specifically state it, but what did get said?”
Friedman – “It was Nick Kypreos and Ron MacLean who were really talking about it, but I didn’t disagree. They showed some video last night of McDavid and he didn’t have, and even Craig Simpson said it during the broadcast, and Simmer I think is really perceptive. He didn’t have “the burst”. We didn’t see him unload the speed and some of that you’ll look at and say, “okay, it’s Anaheim that’s preventing him from doing that.” But the one that really stood out for me is, there was a breakout, I think it was the 2nd period, but they were looking at him… (There’s a part there that I can understand, the audio isn’t great and there’s pucks being shot in the background, I don’t think it’s important to the context of the quote though.) He just didn’t have the burst.
You know, what’s the best breakout the Oilers have? You pass it to Connor and he goes and it just didn’t happen a lot last night.
He took that big hit from Manson, he took that big crosscheck from Sorensen in the last series, and there were a couple of shots of him pulling his equipment or his rib area. And sometimes, you know Bob, in our business it becomes a bit of the Zapruder film, like what are we looking at here? But it was just weird. It wasn’t the Connor McDavid we know.
So we were all wondering if there was something bothering him and I’m sure we’ll find out if it’s true at some point.
So that’s 5:58 – 7:42, and right after Friedman stops talking there, Stauffer breaks into talking about the JFK assassination and therefore ends the conversation of McDavid being hurt. I thought it was an odd way to go about it anyhow.
I didn’t think much of this as I watched the game but after I heard this from Friedman and Stauffer, I thought back and something did come to the forefront of my mind, and what I remembered thinking is why wasn’t McDavid bringing up the puck during the powerplay?
It was Leon Draisaitl that was lugging the puck into the Ducks zone time after time, right? I guess I just thought it was part of the game plan because of Kesler’s shadowing of McDavid but now when I think back, what Friedman said is right. Why wasn’t McDavid holding down the Turbo button?
We shouldn't be surprised if he has something. McLellan said today "only players that aren't hurt are ones who haven't played in 3 weeks"
I can believe this. Klefbom looked like a ghost on the bench during the game where he sat for the 3rd and Draisaitl has been hacking up a hairball during pre and post game interviews for some time now. Pat Maroon is looking a shell of his regular season self and Eberle has gone back into a shell.
Therefore, I believe that McDavid IS dealing with some sort of injury that is holding him back from hitting warp speed. I hope that it’s a short-term thing though and it mustn’t be that bad because Connor was at the optional skate yesterday morning.
But as Elliotte Friedman said, we’ll find out soon enough.
Mark Spector Hates Women and Taylor Hall! What the F*ck Are You Talking About?!!
You’ve read the piece that Spector penned after game one I’m sure and if you haven’t yet, you’ve been exposed to the reactions on Twitter.
I like Spector, he tells us how it is and he doesn’t give a shit if you like it or not. He doesn’t care if you followed the Oilers in the 80’s or if you’re a new fan nor does he care if you are male or female, a cat or a dog, but this article got some panties (or boxers or granny undies or whatever your preference ladies) in a bunch.
Here’s one specific Tweet that lit the hockey world on fire:
That part about hockey MEN really pissed off a lot of people and I can see why it would but good lord people! Can we stop playing the victim card here?
“Oh my god, he didn’t say people. He’s a sexist!”
Have I got that right? Or do you actually believe that he’s trolling the entire female portion of the hockey-loving population?
Then I read this article from Megan Fowler entitled, “The Never Ending Breakup”. I’m not sure why I did that. Not that blogs devoted to Taylor Hall are a bad thing but I think Fowler takes it to a near stalker-like level.
“Taylor Hall is the boyfriend you can’t get over because even though you made excuses for why you broke up with him, you know deep down that he’s the best you’ve ever had and the guy you replaced him with is good, but not great. There’s lots of fond memories, and maybe a little regret about the breakup because you know in your soul you made a mistake and no amount of justifying things will make it better. The fact of the matter is that you broke up with him; he wanted to be with you forever and instead of letting him come to grips with no longer being part of your life, you keep reminding him of how much better you are without him. In doing so, however, you draw attention to your lingering affection for him. It hurt your feelings when he said he wasn’t going to pay attention to you anymore, because all you want is for him to look your way. He might actually miss you but he’s never going to admit it, especially not when you constantly drag his name through the mud and compare him to other, lesser, partners you’ve had.”
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It’s a bit much isn’t it? The part where an actual scribe like David Staples, Mark Spector, or Kurt Leavins can’t write an article about the Adam Larsson for Taylor Hall trade and them being in favor of it because it means Fowler will write a rebuttal because she feels they’re taking pot shots at her boy is ridiculous.
Anyways, I’ve gone off on a tangent here. Fowler’s favorite player is Taylor Hall, good for her. But how many articles entitled, “Farewell, My Prince” or “An Open Letter to Taylor Hall”, does the Oilogosphere have to endure?
Coming soon, The Taylor Hall Fan Fiction Collection…
I hope Taylor Hall wins a Cup in NJ before the Oilers win one. Fuck this team, man
And of some folks weren’t mad about the “Hockey Men” part, Maybe this little ditty did it for them:
Somebody wondered aloud, forgive me as I can’t remember where I read it, if Hall had crossed Spector somehow and this is his way of getting back at him. Sounds like a long shot but I could believe it.
The problem I find from the Spector article are thus:
Show me where he’s wrong?
Hall’s Oilers couldn’t make the playoffs and Larsson’s have. The Oilers traded a skilled winger for one who is hard AF and actually does embody everything that the old Oilers lacked. Nearly every team has this sort of player on their defense and I don’t mean almost every team in the NHL, I’m talking nearly every team in pro hockey. Are all of those people that run those teams wrong? If you think so, check your ego at the door, son.
“Edmonton got what they needed, and the price was well worth it.”
Can you say with a straight face after the season Larsson and Hall have had that the Oilers did NOT need a player like Adam Larsson and that the price was right? Can you tell me the last time a top-pairing defenseman was dealt for a 53pt LWer?
“The stats geeks still hate the Hall trade. The reason? Because their craft isn’t far enough along at this point to quantify the qualities in Larsson’s game that makes Edmonton better.”
Are the analytics types mad because he used “stats geeks” or because the old dinosaur is calling them out or because he’s right and the likes of Henderson, Mirtle, and Berkshire haven’t found a way to tell us what it is that Larsson has done to make the Oilers a better TEAM with statistics?
Well he must be right to some extent because he’s getting a lot of mockery handed his way and in my short time on this plain of existence I’ve learned that if you’re getting made fun of for something you believe, it must be putting some fear into those who are mocking you or why else would they even engage you? Put downs and bullying are one sure way of telling someone you don’t understand or are afraid to.
The bottom line is not whether or not the Oilers would’ve made the playoffs with Hall, it’s that for whatever reason, everything fell into place after he left and I think that pisses off a lot of hockey influencers because they can’t figure out why. The numbers tell them that this team with Hall would be substantially better and only minimally worse without Larsson. I feel bad for you if you’re stuck in the black hole that contemplates what the Oilers would be with Hall right now. He’s a wonderful hockey player (truly) but ineffective on a Chiarelli/McLellan led hockey team but hockey can be a mysterious beast sometimes and there are instances where some things can’t be explained logically.
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The second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs resumes this Thursday for the Edmonton Oilers as they’ll travel to the Pond in Anaheim to take on those nasty Ducks. I’m anticipating some old schools shenanigans from Kesler, Bieksa, and Perry and I’ll be keeping a close eye on how close those three get to Cam Talbot.
Maybe Eric Gryba gets a game in here as a deterrent.
But here’s the thing. The Ducks have no forwards to match-up with Connor McDavid so they might have their hands full trying to sort that little problem out. Check out these numbers (5×5 btw):
Over the course of the 2016/17 season, McDavid managed to score 5 goals against the Pacific Division Champs and was on the ice for 1 goal against in 85 minutes. His per 60 metrics vs. Anaheim gather from Corsica.hockey are as follows:
GF60: 3.52
GA60: 0.7
CF60: 67.55
CA60: 45.04
So if you aren’t familiar with what those numbers are telling us, and I’m not a fancy stats expert, they’re saying that When Connor McDavid is on the ice against the Anaheim Ducks at 5×5, he’ll score nearly 5X more goals for than goals will be scored against.
Ignore the PDO of 107 though as that’ll make all of this look a little bit less shiny and optimistic.
But I regress…
Now to get more specific, according to Stats.hockeyanalysis.com, Ryan Kesler spent 50:01 minutes of ice-time playing against 97, the most of any player in the league this year, but McDavid averaged over 3.59 goals for per 60 minutes and 1.2 goals against per 60 while playing against him.
What about Ryan Getzlaf? Well, Connor McDavid only lined up for a shade over 21 minutes from Anaheim’s bald-headed wonder and McDavid averaged over 5.5 goals for per 60 minutes and ZERO goals against per 60 minutes…
As for Anaheim’s other pivots:
Antoine Vermette – McDavid averaged 5.7 goals for per 60 and ZERO goals against when on the ice with the “Slasher of Refs” in just over 10 minutes of play this year.
Nate Thompson – McDavid and Thompson didn’t share the ice this year at 5×5 apparently.
But What About a Defensive Pair?
If I were Randy Carlyle, I might make sure that Cam Fowler, if he’s playing, and Hampus Lindholm are on the ice any time Connor is; as it seems they did “okay” when tasked with shutting down the 2016/17 NHL Art Ross Trophy winner.
Fowler (35:52 TOI): McDavid only had 1.76 goals for per 60 when he was playing against Fowler.
Lindholm (40:22 TOI): Connor had 2.97 goals for per 60 when on the same ice as Lindholm.
Compare that with the pair of defensemen that the San Jose Sharks just deployed to keep McDavid at bay and Anaheim might just have something. Here are Vlasic and Braun’s numbers:
Here are Vlasic and Braun’s numbers:
Vlasic (59:47 TOI): McDavid put up 5.02 GF60 on Pickles.
Braun (54:35 TOI): Connor had 5.5 GF60 while stickhandling around Justin Braun.
WOOF San Jose!
CLEVER GIRL
But here’s where Todd McLellan gets shifty.
Take a gander at Lindholm and Fowler’s per 60 metrics versus Leon Draisaitl…
Lindholm (39.43 TOI): Draisaitl racked up 3.02 GF60!
Fowler (26:57 TOI): 4.45 GF60 is what the big German tossed up on Fowler!
So Lindholm’s #s against Connor and Leon are quite similar whereas Fowler seemed to have had a much better time lining up across from McDavid than Draisaitl. I wonder if this simply comes down to a bad physical matchup?
I wonder if this simply comes down to a bad physical matchup? Fowler is probably the only Ducks defender that can keep up with McDavid but Draisaitl can just swat him away like a mosquito.
The Nuge, what do the Oilers do with him? Well, I’ll tell you what they shouldn’t do with him and that’s put him on the ice at the same time as Ryan Getzlaf.. Nuge has a GF60 of ZERO and a GA60 of 3.1 when sharing the ice with Getzlaf.
I’d make sure RNH is out there vs. Antoine Vermette if I were in charge. He wouldn’t win a lot of face-offs (if any) but in the 15 minutes Nugent-Hopkins played versus Vermette this past season, he had a GF60 of nearly 4 (3.8) and a GA60 of 0.00.
Scary stuff there between Nuge and Getzlaf but then again, Nugey didn’t have a great season this year stat-wise.
I just spouted off using a few metrics to attempt to tell you that the Oilers are in good shape versus the Ducks from an offensive point of view but let’s not fool ourselves, the Anaheim Ducks are still a good hockey team and any letting off of the gas by the Oilers here could severely dampen their chances at an appearance in the Stanley Cup final. The Oilers MUST attack the Ducks from the get go. Shock and Awe baby!!
Does Todd McLellan go the three-headed dragon route vs. the Ducks when they’re in Anaheim?
What would you do? Let us know in the comments below!
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As I watched the San Jose Sharks lay the boots to my Edmonton Oilers in game four, I remembered that Don Cherry would often say that you never embarrass your opponent because it’ll come back to bite you in the ass. Well…
San Jose simply blew their loads in that 7-0 drubbing of the Oilers and a bit into the 1st period of game 5 but after that they were spitting sand and it was ALL Oilers.
Crikey, that’s graphic…
The Sharks simply couldn’t keep pace with the Oilers and I’m not wondering where that “experience” was when they needed it most? Were the Sharks not a Stanley Cup finalist last season? There were some that were saying that McLellan was outcoached in that blowout but I think over the course of the series, it was McLellan who outcoached Deboer by keeping Nuge’s line on Thornton’s as much as possible and leaving McDavid to Vlasic and Braun.
Something I’ve noticed as the season went on is that the Oilers got better and better and tying down 1-goal games. They seemed to have won so many more tight games this year and they certainly were okay with playing without the lead as well, no?
GM OF THE YEAR?
Peter Chiarelli said he was going to come in here and build a team that could compete in the Pacific, no? So in came players of higher character and out when players who had trouble buying into McLellan’s system. Chiarelli brought in players that knew what it took to get to the playoffs and surrounded his young phenoms with humble leaders.
Now, I love that the Oilers GM has built a team to take care of business in its own division because after all, if you can dominate in your own division, the playoffs aren’t that far from your reach, right? And once you make the playoffs, anything can happen.
DUCK HUNT
There are two narratives that instantly come to mind:
Can the Anaheim Ducks roll through the Alberta teams?
Can the Edmonton Oilers take care of the California teams?
It was Edmonton that officially eliminated the LA Kings from playoff contention I believe and wouldn’t it be something if they could run through the Sharks AND the Ducks after all these years of being their whipping boys for a decade?
One has to reckon that the Ducks are going to be more of a challenge to the Oilers than the Sharks but I’m not so sure to be honest and here’s why:
Anaheim’s Forward Depth: Their top 6 is pretty good but Edmonton can equal it without question. The Ducks bottom 6 is where the Oilers have the edge I believe. Apart from Corey Perry, it lacks skill and speed. I’ll take Pouliot/Desharnais/Slepyshev over Wagner/Thompson/Shaw anyday.
Anaheim’s Defense Depth: It’s a young d-core right now with Montour/Theodore filling in for Fowler/Vatanen. Korbinian Holzer is basically Mark Fayne with a bit more sandpaper. So AHL level. When Fowler and Vatanen come back, that’ll definitely change things but how long will it take them to get into playoff shape and can the Oilers take advantage of this fortunate turn of events? That said, Josh Manson is no joke.
The Ducks have nobody to sick on McDavid: Ryan Kesler? Good luck with that. Anaheim simply doesn’t have a Vlasic that can shut down an elite forward.
Who will RNH’s line be tasked with?: McLellan shut down the Sharks top line by using Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ line. That Sharks trio is a heavy line to deal with. Will the Oilers 2nd line go head-to-head with Getzlaf/Eaves/Rackell or Cogliano/Kesler/Silvferberg?
There are two players that do concern me on Anaheim though:
Patrick Eaves
John Gibson
Eaves has continued his scoring tear from the regular season and Gibson, apart from one game (like Talbot), looked sensational versus the Flames.
Look, without sounding like the homer of all homers, the Oilers have a better roster. Simple as that. The Flames barely scraped into the playoffs where as the Oilers nearly beat out the Ducks for first in the Pacific. Anaheim might be rested right now but the Oilers are just getting going. Sickness or not, Edmonton can go toe-to-toe with any team in the Western Conference right now and feel confident of beating any one of them.
I think I can guarantee one thing though, this series is going to be a battle of epic proportions. It’s going to get physical and it’s going to be dirty and we’re going to see some ridiculousness. I mean a team with Corey Perry and Kevin Bieksa on it is going to be unpleasant to play against.
But what are we worried about?
I can’t wait.
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