NHL Freak

Oilers Lose A Tough One

noreply@blogger.com (pete tyler) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 05:03:00 +0000

A tough loss tonight in Edmonton where one mistake can cost you the game. Whatever, it happens. - A few thoughts from tonight. I will break it into what I like and then what scares me about the Oilers from what I have seen so far in preseason and this game:

What scares me about the Oil:

Moreau is not even present on the ice. Is he not the leader? What the heck is he doing?
Khabibulin does not look confident, regardless of the mistake, I mean all game
Hemsky does not look as strong as I remember
Passes are not crisp, the Oilers still are giving up the puck a lot
Defensive zone coverage sloppy

What I like:

Quinn's plan of adding size is working
The new Penner
Gagner fighting to get back up to the right line, a goal and a fight
Comrie and O'Sullivan (Sully missed a lot of chances but he will bounce back)
Horcoff's faceoff percentage

It is only the first game. How the team bounces back will determine how they do in the next few weeks.

PTB

Top 5 Reasons to be Excited so Far

noreply@blogger.com (pete tyler) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:13:00 +0000

With new coaching and a new system we as fans do not know what to expect for this season with the Oilers. Without a top-end 100 point guy are the Oilers going to have trouble scoring goals again? Or, will the current roster step it up and produce to their potential? Personally I think that it was a lot about the coach. This year we will really see what these boys are made of. Maybe Mac T did "coach the scoring" out of guys like Gagner, Hemsky, Horcoff, and Penner. O' Sullivan is going to be better guaranteed. Comrie is looking good so far and leads the Oil in points in the preseason. Either way, I have the top 5 reasons you should be excited judging from the preseason so far:

1. Mike Comrie - leads the Oil in points in the preseason and looks like he has a new confidence. Remember that he has been injury-plagued the last few seasons. He also has to "make it up" to the fans here at Rexall. Not a fan of the Comire deal? Well remember that there is something to be said about a man with a mission and something to prove.

2. Patrick O' Sullivan and Mike Comrie - they are the top 2 guys in preseason and look great together on a line. I believe that O' Sullivan will be top-3 in Oilers scoring this year. Remember that he came here more that 1/2 way through last year and had to adjust to the coach and system. Both were suspect so look for O'Sullivan to have better year and produce at least 50 points. Comrie will have more as his line mate.

3. Khabibulin, Nikolai - has a Stanley Cup ring, had a shut out in his first game, is a veteran goalie and a proven starter. I think he is an upgrade to Roli and he has had way more success. Did we ever solve the argument if Roli was a legit starter or not? He may have proved it last year as he was the team's MVP but we will let the argument filer out to New York where it looks like Roli is part of another 3-headed-monster situation. Have fun buddy, thanks for 2006.

4. Gilbert, Souray, and Visnovsky - scoring will again be coming a lot from the back end. These 3 make the Oilers challenge for having one of the best defense teams in the league. If they all stay healthy, the Oilers will only increase in scoring from the D position.

5. No sense of entitlement - last year the media, coaches, management, and fans all had the Oilers making the playoffs no problem. The players however let it get to their heads a little and before you knew it we were counting games and using the "If" word. This year is different. Everyone is just happy to be here and nobody is guaranteed a job. It is all about the game plan and each player actually playing hockey. Every team is good and you never know who could surprise you each and every night. Let's sit back and see what the boys can do.

PTB

Welcome to the 2009-2010 season

noreply@blogger.com (pete tyler) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 06:27:00 +0000

It has been a while as far as writing action goes on this blog, but a lot has happened in the world of hockey. We were able to see Crosby raise the cup and bring it back to Canada...well sort of. Craig MacTavish was booted out of the Oilers organization and since we cannot over-pay players anymore, (well we can..cough....Horcoff..) we elected to hire two top-notch coaches in Renney and Quinn. We got to watch, and are still watching, the Phoenix Fiasco as the desert dogs really became the dogs of the NHL. (What's happening with that now anyway?...ahhh who cares).

There were a lot more happenings like the draft and the Heatley thing, but I did not really pay any attention to most of it. My attention stopped when I found out about the before mentioned hiring of the new coaches. At that moment I had the feeling that my Oil were...in a way...taken care of. Don't you feel that way?

You see, MacT was smart and all, but I didn't feel safe when he was behind the bench the last few years. Maybe it was the confused look he had when the Oilers took yet another bench minor. Maybe it was the fact that he was so well spoken in interviews but did stupid things like put guys like Marc Pouliot on the power play when the Oil were behind a goal with 30 seconds to go.

I don't know.

I just get the feeling like we are safer as fans. I like the moves the Oilers have made and I like the look so far. Comrie is back and that doesn't seem so bad either. Penner in in shape and has told reporters he has laid off the Sour Patch Kids and Beer. Good job Pens. No Sour Patch kids = 30 goals? We'll see.

More than ever the Oilers have more to prove this year but I do not have that uneasy feeling like I did last year when I predicted they would finish 3rd in the West. I predicted it, and then I watched a few more games and became worried in my prediction.

This year I will wait for the predictions for a bit. Instead, here are my top 10 things that are missing which will contribute to the Oilers having a better season. Why? Well, we were all mad that Heatley did not come to Edmonton. Guess what? Sometimes it isn't what you add but what you take away that could help you out.

Top 10 Things the Oil Took Away to Make them Better

10. The Offspring opening song - Fun when you are winning, annoying when you are losing

9. The "team toughness" theory - Our GM went and got McIntyre and suddenly the Boogaards of the world went away. Hmmm...funny how that works

8. Kyle Brodziak - Nothing personal buddy but as the saying goes if we had a nickel for every checking forward that is big but plays small then we would be....well you know

7. The locker room separation at training camp - Quinn got rid of the vets in one room and the kids in the other for training camp. They are all in one room, every guy is fighting for a spot on the team

6. Give-always - Quinn make each squad do anti turn-over drills over and over again the last few days. He must have been watching last year. A few of the squads did not do it right so he flooded the ice again and made them come back and do it over. Then the other team that played in Calgary came back when the other squad was done and they had to do it again. Centre ice turn-overs = death.

5. Fat Penner - he is 20 lbs lighter and looks good. His face looks skinny and neck has some muscle. He looks faster out there and I think he knows that this year is his year. Look for him to produce like he did before he won the cup with the Ducks

4. No "Sophomore Slump" for Gagner and Cogliano. 3rd year is always better.

3. No 3-headed goalie monster. The #1 job issue is not even up for discussion. It's Khabibulin's show and you better get used to it. No debate, we are done here

2. Moreau not injured - Remember we did not have a Capitan for like 2 months at the beginning of the season last year? No leader to start could do bad things to a room really quick. Stay healthy Ethan.

1. Mac T - the obvious. A fresh start was needed, a new identity is formed for the team. In my eyes in can only get better from here.

PTB

Game 7 Pens Versus Wings

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:28:00 +0000

It really doesn't get any better than this folks.

Throw in the subplot of Marian Hossa switching from the Penguins to the Red Wings because he thought that his best chance of winning the Stanley Cup was to go to Detroit. This means that if the wings somehow manage to lose Game 7, then Hossa will have been on the losing end of both years, on the opposite side of the fence. Pretty amazing actually.

That said, it is going to be a very difficult game for the Penguins. They have yet to win a game in Joe Louis Arena these playoffs, and they have been much more successful against Detroit when Pavel Datsyuk is not in the line up.

I think that Datsyuk's foot would have to be cut off for him to miss this game, even then, he might find a way to strap on some kind of crazy skate and play this game. Heck, we might even nickname him 'Stumpy' from then on.

Hockey really doesn't get better than this, two very offensive teams, one a bit more responsible in their own end (I'll let you guess to whom I am referring on this one).

Let's just say that moments like this truly define the career of some of these young players. If Malkin and Crosby can step up and show the world how awesome they have the potential of being, and if Fleury can really shine (man he is going to have to be good), then maybe, just maybe the Penguins can win this game.

I would love to see the Penguins win, that said, Detroit will probably win this game.

My prediction is 5-3 Detroit.

Good luck Pens, I hope I'm wrong.

Quinn-tessential Oiler

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:32:00 +0000

Oilers are going to name Pat Quinn new head coach of the Edmonton Oilers. This is a very interesting move as it basically re-unites Tambellini with Quinn from their years together at the helm of the Vancouver Canucks.
Oilers have called a press conference for 12pm local time.

Tom Renney is named to be assitant coach.

Loads of experienced coaching comes in to replace the vilified MacTavish, I think the team will be better off with this change.

I like the East and My Picks

noreply@blogger.com (pete tyler) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 03:15:00 +0000

I will have to say that I really enjoyed the 1st round of the playoffs. The teams in the east, to me, were the most entertaining. They were all great games. For the west - the Detroit series I did not watch much of. It looks like I did not miss much. In another sweep, the Boston-Montreal series was really fun to watch and was closer than the sweep indicated. I was in Toronto for a few of the games and there are a lot of Montreal fans in Toronto. The sports pubs were packed and people are freaks about hockey out east. It was really fun to watch hockey in an atmosphere where people like hockey as much as me. I find Oilers fans can be kind of snobs when it comes to hockey in general. It is all about them and they cannot appreciate a good team when they see one – like Boston. In the end, Boston was just too good for Montreal, and is my new choice to win the cup.

Like many people in the hockey world, I am really excited to watch the Penguins-Capitals series. The two teams showcase a lot of talent and it will be interesting to see what team can shut down each other the best. Even though there are lots of goals to be had in this series, I believe it will be goaltending and strong defense that will determine the winner of this series, I can’t see the coaches giving their skilled players the go-ahead to play run-and-gun. The Capitals won the season series 3 -1.

I don’t really have a favorite game that I want to see in the west. Whatever. Chicago, Vancouver, Detroit, or Anaheim all do not really excite me. It may be neat to see the battle between the Anaheim defense and the Detroit forwards. I hope Pronger takes a bunch of cross-checking penalties again and Detroit’s powerful man advantage makes him pay. That would be a good time.

Here are my picks for the second round:

Chicago vs. Vancouver – Chicago in 5
Detroit vs. Anaheim – Detroit in 6

Carolina vs. Boston – Boston in 4
Pittsburg vs. Washington – Washington in 7

Now THAT is Hockey

noreply@blogger.com (pete tyler) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 03:51:00 +0000

I had the privilege of watching two excellent games tonight. Canes and Devils, Caps and Rangers. Wow. Next goal wins, fantastic goaltending, goals when the teams need them, hitting, emotion, fine coaching - both games had everything I love about hockey.

And how about that ending for the Carolina-New Jersey game eh? Wow. 1:20 left and the Canes score twice to win it. Talk about sudden death for the Devils and it wasn't even overtime!

Great hockey - I am glad the two teams that came out in the end won. I wanted to see the Caps win a series for once and I like the character of the Carolina team. Good stuff.

I will chime in tomorrow with my choices for the next round. I was 6/8 for this past round with my choice to win the cup - the Sharks - being upset by the Ducks. Next round will be tougher to predict but I am excited to see the next set of games, especially in the west.

Capital Punishment

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:31:00 +0000

Hi All,

Look for the Caps to complete the comeback tonight, Ill take my winnings from the previous imaginary gamble I made and roll them over into tonight's game.

Caps - Rangers

I like the Caps tonight, they are dogs (+120) but the got momentum, and with all the junk surrounding Avery and Torteralla, looks like this could be a perfect storm for Washington.

Ill stick 150 of my imaginary 1150.00 bankroll on the caps for tonight.

Devils - Canes

The oddsmakers are saying that the Canes are the huge favorites to win tonight. I can't imagine how they are such favorites. I've watch the games, with the exception of the last game they have been good spirited affairs. Close games all of them. Yet the odds makers are saying that the Canes are -240 favorites. That makes Brodeur and the Devils +205 dogs. Give me those odds all day with Jersey at home.

Ill stick 300 of my imaginary 1000.00 remaining bankroll on the Devils for tonight.

Both of these matchups tonight are going to be tough games, I honestly think that basically both of these are going to be coin tosses, but with the odds paying out as good as they are, it would be easy to place a bet on these games.

My Comments for Tonight

noreply@blogger.com (pete tyler) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:05:00 +0000

Flames - Hawks
- The Phaneuf-less Calgary Flames will try to force a game 7 tonight as they take on the Chicago Blackhawks. Already without Robyn Regehr, the Flames back end is going to be too weak for Chicago's talent. I think the Hawks will finish off the series tonight.

Sharks - Ducks
- The Sharks have all of a sudden found their touch and have shown flashes of the team that was dominant during the regular season. If Thorton can do what he did last game and the rest of the Sharks can stay out of the box, I see the Sharks having a good chance for the rest of the series. The Sharks are going to win tonight to force a 7th game.

Headline: Duck bites Shark

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:49:00 +0000

Well I went 3 for 4 on my picks last night in the NHL. Philly surprised me and pulled out a win against the Pens to force a game 6.

This series is up for grabs now folks, Philly stole a game out of Pittsburgh last night and take it back to Philidelphia for game 6. That should be a good game to watch.

Only one game tonight, the odds makers are saying the the Rangers are heavy favorites to win tonight (average odds -175 favorite), the caps are the dogs (+150 dogs).

Just for the odds alone tonight I think that I would take the caps to win this game.

I'm starting with a pretend 1000 dollar bankroll, and Ill place a pretend 100 dollar bet on the caps to win tonight.

Should be a great game to watch tonight. I'll be flipping back and forth between my Blue Jays (12-5 so far this year) and the Caps / Rangers game.

No Hab for you

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:34:00 +0000

Montreal Canadien fans today are suffering for post playoff hangovers after their team lost 4 straight to the Mighty Bruins in a very entertaining series.

An aging Saku Koivu looked out stepped more often than not, plus former Hab Michael Ryder stabbed Montreal twice last night in the final nail in the coffin of Montreal's century season.

To top it all off, I won 20 bucks last night because Montreal didn't win the cup this year.

There should be at least two very entertaining hockey games this evening, Carolina versus New Jersey is a series that should be very fun to watch, and I gotta watch San Jose take on Anaheim. I am forcasting a very short playoff run for San Jose, I just don't think they have the heart to win the cup. Tonight is make or break for the Sharks, if the Ducks win tonight then San Jose would have to win 3 straight to win the series, basically an impossible task with the incredible defense and goaltending that the Ducks are getting.

Here are my nhl picks for the games this evening.

Detroit beats Columbus to complete the sweep.
Pittsburgh beats Philly to finish off the Flyers.
New Jersey beats Carolina to go up 3-2 in the series.
Anaheim beats San Jose to go up 3-1 in the series.(Here's my underdog choice)

Do you know the way to San Jose?

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:44:00 +0000

Well another playoff season is here and everyone is alive with the anticipation of some fantastic playoff hockey matchups.

Even though our beloved Oilers are out, there are still some great match up to watch. With this in mind I'll give you my quick summary of the playoff matchups.

As great as the Sharks were this season, I've always held true to my belief that this is not a playoff built team. There simply is not enough mental toughness on this team to push through a 7 game series against a team with proven playoff performers. This is a good first match up as well, Anaheim, although they sort of dismissed the Cup as a possibility has two phenomenal Defensemen, arguably the best two defensemen in the league in Pronger and Neidermeyer. Pronger has proven that any team he goes to instantly becomes a much better team, and Neidermeyer is a wiley Veteran who seems to have the uncanny ability to cover both ends of the ice at the same time.

I'm picking the Ducks to take this series in 6 games.

New York jumped out to an early start on Washington much to everyone's surprise, but I can't imagine this series being a short one, especially with all the fire power that Washington has. If I was to be picking this one before it started, I would have chosen washington as a no brainer, but spot New York 2 games and I think that makes them the favorite.

New York wins this series in 7 games.

Carolina has new life injected into it with Erik Cole back for a swan song, also lots of proven playoff grit in Brind'Amour and Staal. That said, never bet against Marty Brodeur, he's simply too good of a goaltender in the post season. As of writing this article NJ is up 2-1 in the series, look for them to close out the Canes in 6 games.

New Jersey wins in 6 games.

Pittsburgh has simply too much talent to bet against them. Philly has grit, but I'm not sure they have enough to overcome the sheer scoring punch that exists in the Pittsburgh lineup. Looks like Fleury is starting to play like a true number one goalie now too.

Pittsburgh wins in 6 games.

Boston should beat up on the Habs quite handily even though Montreal has been playing much better hockey the last 2 weeks before the playoffs started. Should be a very entertaining last couple of games however.

Boston beats Montreal in 5 games.

Detroit beats Columbus in 4 straight. Not much to say here.

Vancouver thumps St. Louis in 4 straight. The first 3 games have been total domination.

Chicago will beat Calgary, but look for Calgary to win a couple of home games. This series has a chance to go to 7 games, but my guess is that chicago will close out the series in Calgary for Game 6. Chicago in 6.

That's it for my predictions, I know I get the power of forsight somewhate because the series' have already started. I will try to do predictions for the second round before they start.

Jay

The Last Few Playoff Games and MacT

noreply@blogger.com (pete tyler) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 23:30:00 +0000

Well it looks like I was kind of right with the MacTavish thing. MacT was gone by the end of that week although he did not resign. If he would have done that then no buy-out package and no money for the rest of the contract. By "parting ways" with the Oilers, MacTavish still gets some money yet still gets to make the franchise look like they are taking steps to improve the team and everybody says thank you and shakes hands and all parties are happy.

So that is that. The Oilers begin what sounds like yet another rebuilding process and the fans get to have something to look forward to. A new coach, new players to come, old players to leave. I heard on 1260 that the only 2 guys safe in the "new Oilers" will be Gagner and Hemsky. Everyone else is subject for review and they better look in the mirror and see if they are the ones that were part of the terrible end of the season for the Oil. Nobody will take Horcoff's contract but anyone else I think can be moved. Even Penner. I heard that the Ducks may still want Penner and would agree to pick him up for 1/2 the salary if the Oilers put him on waivers. We'll see. A lot of deals come and go without the public ever hearing about it.

Meanwhile there is still some good hockey being played out there. For those of you who turn the TV off as soon as the Oilers are out should tune in just to see what good hockey looks like. The Boston-Montreal series is fantastic. The teams hate each other and Boston is playing some unbelievable hockey right now. Their checking game is good, their puck pursuit and puck possession is quite flawless and their goaltending (Tim Thomas) has been solid. Boston is by far my favorite in the East. What talent too! I wish the Oilers had even half what they have.

In other games it looks like I was wrong about Washington having control of New York and winning that series. The Rangers have found a way to contain Ovechkin and the Caps have had some bad calls against them and bad goaltending. The Flyers have evened up their series against the Penguins and I still think they will be the best team in the end of that one.

In the West it looks like Calgary is in trouble as I suspected, Vancouver is going to win their series, and the Blue Jackets never had a chance against Detroit. I am not sure what is going on with San Jose - they did not look good in the first game. Hopefully they bounce back tonight. Joe Thorton needs to step it up and become a factor in the games.

So far I am going to stick with San Jose to win the cup still only based on their regular season play and they have only played the one game. That said, Detroit is looking better than they did last year and I had no idea Boston was so good. The other team to watch is Chicago. They will be a factor in the next round and could go all the way as well. It will be fun to watch so we will see how the Sharks do tonight and if Calgary does not win at home on Monday they are done. I will be sad. I also like the winter.

MacTavish to Resign by end of Week

noreply@blogger.com (pete tyler) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:36:00 +0000

So as I mentioned in my February post "Time to Evaluate," http://www.nhlfreak.com/hockey/2009/02/follow-up-to-time-to-evaluate.html
the man they call MacT will resign on Thursday or latest Friday as coach of the Edmonton Oilers. There has been much talk of this lately so it will not come as a surprise to many. It will be interesting to see who comes in. Most speculate on the management's "short list" may be coaches that are currently in the playoffs so the Oilers may wait a bit. Personally I think they should make a quick decision and get it done before the draft. This will allow the new coach to prepare for the large task at hand.

I also found it interesting that I almost picked who would make the playoffs and who would not correctly with the exception of St. Louis and Dallas changing spots. The Blues got really hot and Dallas was not. Edmonton did what I said they were going to do - they did not want it as bad and were just plain not good enough, drowning in a majority of their final home games.

I mention this because in February you better have a dominant position where you stand with the other teams or get on a hot streak if you are lower than 6th. The Oilers were not dominant and could not even string together even a mini winning streak.

I guess we would not be taking about this if they did either of the above. Maybe MacT would stick around if the Oil had made it. We would not be questioning if Roli is going to stick around, we would not be pointing the finger at guys like Horcoff. I even heard today that Souray may be asking for a trade in the summer. Apparently he misses his kids who live in Southern California. Could Souray be headed to L.A. for example? The Oil like to trade with the Kings.

We will see the answers to these questions sooner than later. The Oilers management will not want to waste a summer to get their business in order. We will know the answer to the coaching question by the end of the week.

Meanwhile, there are 16 other teams still playing here. See my 1st round predictions below.

1st Round Starts Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (pete tyler) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 04:32:00 +0000

Hi All, I will expand on this later but "the show" starts tomorrow so here are my quick predicts for the 1st round. Remember I have picked the Sharks to win it all. Here ya go:

PETE'S WEST PREDICTIONS

SHARKS VS. DUCKS - SHARKS IN 5

RED WINGS VS. BLUE JACKETS - RED WINGS IN 6

CANUCKS VS. BLUES - CANUCKS IN 7

BLACKHAWKS VS. FLAMES - BLACKHAWKS IN 4

PETE'S EAST PREDICTIONS

BRUINS VS. CANADIANS - BRUINS IN 5

CAPITALS VS. RANGERS - CAPITALS IN 6

DEVILS VS. HURRICANES - HURRICANES IN 7

PENS VS. FLYERS - FLYERS IN 5

It's not you it's me

noreply@blogger.com (pete tyler) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:21:00 +0000

So the Oilers have now landed themselves in year 3 of the no playoffs club. Same ‘ol same ‘ol – same results. Most fans, disappointed that we will not see a run for the cup are already looking for Craig MacTavish to be fired. Others are saying that he has the job for as long as he wants it and is going to stick around for a few more years. Even the owner has rang in and told everyone (via text message) that MacT is not going anywhere!

So I guess MacTavish is staying…right?

Think again.

Who cares if Darryl Katz sent his buddy in the media a text saying that MacT is not going anywhere. Kevin Lowe got up the next day with an “explanation” telling us that Katz is a passionate fan and he was reacting to negativity, etc, etc. So analyze that press conference for a second. What does this all mean?

My thoughts? MacTavish may still be gone if Lowe talks him into putting in his notice.

As an organization you would have to be retarded to not be looking at a coaching change. How can you sell the coaching staff to the players on the ice after 3 years of not making the playoffs? You can’t. A change for the players has to be made. The only other option is get rid of all the guys you feel are not buying into whatever system the coaches are coaching. To do that you would have to trade half the team because all the players took more than a few nights off this season.

The biggest thing here is not necessarily that MacTavish is doing a poor job. He is considered an elite coach in the NHL and if fired today, he would have a job in another NHL city tomorrow if he wanted it. The issue here is just that the players, fans, and other management will feel that a fresh set of lungs is needed at this point.

It is like the Ron Wilson example in San Jose. Ron Wilson is an excellent coach. Look at what he has done in Toronto. He turned that team around and I think they will be competitive next year. He was not necessarily doing a poor job in San Jose but when Joe Thorton was asked why they are better without Ron Wilson and was he fired because the room stopped listening to him, Joe’s answer was interesting.

“It was not that we stopped listening to Ron, it was that we just needed a new voice to yell at us.”

The Oil need a new voice, even if MacT is buddies with the owner. Even if he is an excellent coach.

So is MacT gone? Yes. He has to be! I see no other option.

What I see is that he will thank Darryl for the text message to 630 Ched and thank Kevin for the opportunity all these years but then will respectfully decline the “offer” of not going anywhere and resign for personal and professional reasons. You see, we have to ask ourselves the other question – Does MacTavish even want to stay? Maybe he is tired of the kids on his team not listening. Maybe he is tired of no “Hossa-like” RFAs coming to Edmonton. Maybe he is tired of the fans constantly being negative, not realizing how lucky they are to have an NHL team in their city, not realizing how good of a coach he is. Maybe he is tired of the bipolar media. When the team is winning he is a genius. When they lose the media prints negative, character-bashing articles in the local paper trying to run him out of town because they think that is what the public wants to hear. It makes for good reading after all and you sell papers that way. We are not so great you know. Maybe MacT is too good for us.

I am tired of watching the Oilers kill off a 5-on-3 only to hear nothing from the fans. They sit on their hands as if to say “That’s right you killed it off – do better next time and get a shortie.”

If I were him I would land a job Florida or somewhere hot like that and enjoy my last few working years before I retire. Why put up with the crap?

So that is what I think will happen. MacT resigns and they bring in someone like Rob Daum for coach.

If not and they keep it the same, they will get the same results. Wait… I said that last year. Weird.

Oil's Well that Ends well

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:19:00 +0000

The Oilers futility streak continues for yet another year.

Losing Visnovsky a couple months ago was a crushing blow, it never helps to lose one of your best players, especially when you fill the void with a call up from the farm. It's like putting the temporary spare on your car, yes it will get you from A to B, but it just doesn't have the same effect the old tire did. It's smaller, not as durable, and doesn't perform as good.

Grebeshkov is coming along, but still looks very bad, very often. His gaff last night cost us the game, not like we had much chance mind you, St. Louis won their game anyway, and the Oilers needed St. Louis and Nashville to lose and they NEEDED to win in order to have any shot at making the show.

Regardless, I'm a bit glad that we can just focus on cheering against the Flames now, and baseball started on Monday and already my team (Jays) is 2-0. Many baseball analysts predicted that the Blue Jays would lose 100 games this year, so they only have to win 61 more games to prove those guys wrong.

I'm interested to see how Tambelini will attempt to improve the team in the off season. Kevin Lowe hasn't done anything really to make the team better, even though he has tried most of his moves have ended up being duds.

I truly hope that our scoring problem can be addressed this summer, If I hear this summer that the Oilers have 'Picked up another Blue Liner' im going to lose it.

Yes we have great Defensemen, and yes our number two scorer is a Defenceman (Souray), but is that a good thing? Shouldn't we have at least one 25 goal scoring forward on this team?

Hemsky, you're a fabulous player, but 65 points doesn't make you elite. You need to show everyone how awesome you are truly capable of being and start owning some games. There was one or two games this season where you alone won the game for us, this team NEEDS MORE of that.

Roloson, great job, you are awesome and seem to be getting better the older you get. I have always thought that you are a great goalie, even when you were having
struggles at the beginning of the season. Come back and play one more season with these kids.

Gagner, Nillson, Cogliano, Brodziak, these kids are all on pace to become good solid forwards. Hopefully one or more of them can actually bust out and start becoming the type of player they have the ability to be. I think the big problem with being so young and having so much money is that the fame, girls, cash, fast cars and high life hit them really hard, they lose motivation on the ice because their off-ice life is so fun and exciting. You get a wiley old veteran like Steve Staios and he doesn't let the fame go to his head, he also comes from a very poor, hard working background so he appreciates every thing he gets.

The Oilers season was actually over about a week ago, a couple of huge games and the boys decided not to show up. Roloson was standing on his head doing everything possible, but in the end you cant win games unless you score goals.

The hardest part of the whole thing for the average Oiler fan to swallow is that the Oilers really didn't seem into it. Too many first and second periods were pittered away in the last 10 games, only to try very hard in the final 20 minutes and just fall one goal short. You can forgive loses if the teams try for 60 minutes, but that really wasn't the case.

So now we sit, and wait for another playoffs, off season, and new season, so we can Rinse wash and repeat again.

Will the Oilers finally address their overwhelming need for scoring?
Will the Oilers re-sign Dwayne Roloson?
Will MacTavish resign?

We will know the answers to these questions over the next 6 months.

Stay tuned for our playoff editions.

Thank you Oilers

noreply@blogger.com (pete tyler) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:40:00 +0000

Dear Favorite Hockey Team,

Thank you for always making me look good by living up to my projections. Losing 6 of your last 8 games, including a stinker in Ottawa last night, will definitely make my prediction of you not making the playoffs correct. You are playing like the games mean nothing and guess what - all the other teams in the league have the book on you except you. You are an easy team to play against. What is the book? Wait for you to gain the zone - you will not dump it in so just poke-check the forward that is trying to get past the defenders. That will lead to a turn-over and they have won the game. Or clog up the neutral zone, your D will try a stretch pass, anticipate that and guess what? - Another turn-over!

Book note #2 is if you actually do gain the zone then no problem - you are not up for the game so it will be easy to win those one-on-one battles. See that Penner guy? Don't worry, he looks big but plays about as hard as your grandmother. See Hemsky? Ya - he is your only truly skilled guy but don't worry, you have not found a #1 centre for him to play with so just double team him 'cuz he likes to take a pounding. Either that or he will try one of his fancy moves so again - just double team him because his centre will do nothing. You have one other semi - skilled centre in Gagner but don't worry because the guy is small so just push him off the puck too. You have Nilsson - no wait - the coach has shattered his confidence and gives him no offensive freedom. He's been benched 3 games in a row now just in case he had a little confidence...the coach took care of that.

Now I know what you are thinking Favorite Team, if I am so smart then why am I not a coach or a player? Because - I am a consumer of your products. I pay the money to watch you on TV, go to the games, purchase the pay-per-views, and drink those expensive beers.

I am allowed to expect a better effort than the last 8 games.

I guess we all like being right but for once can you make really wrong? How about going on a run here to get some excitement going?

If not I may just stop watching and spending my money because I am bored and instead of experiencing "groundhog day" again I may just hit the snooze button.

PB

Aleš Kotalík

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:28:00 +0000

Nice grab by Lowe-tide. Total rental player, will probably step right in to the first line. Kotalik is an Unrestricted free agent this summer, don't expect Lowe to try and re-sign him, don't expect Kotalík to want to stay in Edmonton.

O'Sullivan an O'iler

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:02:00 +0000

Well Erik Cole is going back east today. It looks like the Oilers couldn't really address their issues by getting a legitimate number one center, and decided to pick up a very talented young player.

Our team three or four years from now is shaping up, unfortunately, we still have to watch all the hockey games from now until then.

I realize that long term this is the best thing to do, and there is a chance O'Sullivan can step right in and help the Oilers, but the reality is that he's a young kid, just 3 years out of the minors, and its most likely he won't be a solid performer for a couple more years. I hope I'm wrong about that.

Regardless, Cole was pretty much dead weight for us, so it really can't hurt us one way or the other.

Deadline Day

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:02:00 +0000

This is easily one of my favorite days in the year for hockey.

It's truly the day where owners put up or shut up, and basically a last minute chance to tinker with your team to try and find the magic formula.

Calgary is looking for some help on the back-end, but could face cap issues, Edmonton is desperately looking for a top-line forward to help address scoring issues, although there really didn't seem to be much scoring issues last night.

I've said this many times before, and I will say it again. Roloson, as sharp as he has been the last 10 games, needs to figure out some way to hold onto his stick. Me and my friend tracked it last year, and it worked out to 2.8 times per game over a 10 game stretch. That is ridiculous. The may have lost the game because of it last night (I didn't see the play my mom doesn't have sportsnet.. boo).

Anyways, here's to hoping that Kevin Lowe pulls the trigger and gives his team a chance to make the playoffs this year. If rumors are true, and Kevin Lowe is making a move to bring in Olli Jokinen that would be potentially a great match for Hemsky and Horc. I'd like to see Smyth back in Oiler blue, but the reality is that for the money that Smitty makes we can probably get much more talent in the line-up. True it's a bonus that he loves playing for the Oilers, but at 7.25 million per annum, the Oil just dont have the cap space to squeeze this gritty left winger into the lineup. Maybe if Colorado takes Penner, but I don't give this move a large chance of happening.

I am pretty sure Cole will move today, I don't know where, or what the Oil can possibly get back in return, but I don't think that Lowe is very impressed with what he has done this year, so look for him to fall back to Carolina possibly.

#94 Coming Back?

noreply@blogger.com (pete tyler) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 02:07:00 +0000

There are rumblings out there that Smyth is coming back to Edmonton. Nilsson is a healthy scratch so there could be something there. Smitty really wants to come back and improve his situation - Denver could be sellers as they are out of the playoff race.

Tomorrow is the day. Hopefully something happens as it has been slow so far and Cole and Nilsson are still Edmonton Oilers as of right now. I would like to see Penner moved as well but who would take on that salary?

I would take Smyth back. He is the only one crazy enough to stand in front of Souray's slap shot.

Cole to be traded and more...my comments

noreply@blogger.com (pete tyler) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 23:35:00 +0000

There is a lot to say about the NHL on NHL Freak and if one had the time, they could write something here everyday about the game/league that we love. But we do not have the time although I dream about being a professional Oilers fan one day. That is not going to happen anytime soon however I did have a chance today to think about the Oilers and what is in store for them here in the next week. It will be interesting to see what other teams do as well as the trade deadline is coming up pretty quick - Wednesday.

What will the Oilers do you ask? Well, like the question of if they will make the playoffs or not - it is hard to say. I think I was a little hard on the Oilers in some previous posts. The notion that they are not good enough to make the playoffs may have been a little harsh. They are just better than average and in the west you might get that 8th spot with that kind of team. You will not win the cup, I have made that clear. Again, Detroit and San Jose are just too dominant. I really like Washington in the East - they may do something but are still not as good as the 2 in the west.

So the Oilers are faced with the possibility of making the playoffs. Moreau held a players-only meeting today during the afternoon skate and told his team not to let the fans and media get to them, that he things they will make it. OK great. I don't doubt that they all think they can make it. I think that Moreau is capable of not taking stupid penalties but he has not done that yet. We will see what team decides to show up down the stretch. We will see what kind of leader Moreau decides to be down the stretch as well. Now I was going to ramble on about what the Oilers need to do to get over the hump and make the playoffs but it is just too tight. I will save my breath. Even if they improve immediately and put a run together here, it will still be close. So I am going to be a good fan and just cheer and wait to see what happens.

Now...trade day. Here are the top 5 things that I think are going to happen with the Oilers within the next few days:

Cole will be traded - probably to Carolina or Boston
Nilsson may be traded - possibly look for a 2-player deal with Cole in there too
Look for an Oilers D-man moved for an impact forward for the Oilers
Horcoff to turn it around and start contributing offensively
Roloson to continue his stellar play (look for the Oilers to re-sign in the summer or before for another 2 years)

That is all I've got and the only one I am pretty sure about is Cole. The Oilers would like to get something for him before he is an UFA this summer. I did hear a rumor that the Oilers were looking at gritty winger Tuomo Ruutu for Cole but since Ruutu is a former #1 the Oilers might have to give up more than Cole.

I am predicting an Oilers win tonight over the Wild. The Wild are all beat up from playing Calgary and are sans Boogaard (suspended). The Oilers will be looking for a big win to make up for the tough loss against the Blue Jackets Thursday night.

Follow up to: Time to Evaluate

noreply@blogger.com (pete tyler) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 05:09:00 +0000

A month ago I evaluated the Oilers' season and along with a few other points, described this season as "Groundhog Day" as I have seen the same team year after year. Unsure from one game to the next, the Oilers find themselves fighting near the bottom but not quite terrible enough to know they are out of it for sure this year.

So it is a month after my evaluation but not much has changed. Vancouver and Dallas have changed spots in my "sure 6" for the playoffs so here is what we've got - A month ago I said San Jose, Detroit, Calgary, Chicago, Vancouver, and Anaheim. Now we've got:

Detroit
San Jose
Calgary
Chicago
Anaheim
Dallas (who is 8-2-0 in their last 10 and playing awesome since Avery has left)

I believe for the most part this will stay the same for the rest of the season so as I mentioned we have 2 spots left to fight for. Are the Oilers going to be one of those 2 teams? Sorry boys, like a month ago the answer is no. And, like I said a month ago, there are other teams that want it more and have showed more heart and grit than the Oilers. We have Vancouver, Minny, CBJ, L.A., and the Oil. (That's right, don't look now but the Kings are IN IT.) I have taken out these teams:

Nashville (slim chance)
Phoenix (no way)
Colorado (no way)
St. Louis (no chance)

That means that the Oilers are to fight with the Wild, Vancouver, and the Jackets...and lets put the Kings in there, for the last 2 spots. I can break it down but I am not going to. You can see the writing on the wall here. Columbus wants it more because they have to make the playoffs, the Wild are better, Vancouver I think will pick it up here, and the Kings are really hot lately. (Stoll is looking not too bad these days - man are the Oil missing him right now)

The Oilers have days where they look great. Like last night against the Habs they looked like a team that had it together and new what they wanted to do. That said, the Habs were playing way later than usual (an 8:00 start is like 11:00 in Montreal) and had to play the Flames 2 nights before. But I am not going to take that win away from the Oilers. Usually when Hemsky is "on" and Roli is paying attention, and Souray is back there crushing bodies, the Oilers have a chance to win. The problem is, all the other guys on the team are just not sure if they are going to show up or not.

But we'll see - if the Oilers do well on this next road trip and stop losing 10-goal games when they come home, then maybe I will eat my words.

Like Trev said, it will come down to the last few games and the Oilers will be right down to the wire for making the playoffs. But you know what? Unlike their run in 2006, it does not really matter. What?

It does not matter. You know why? Because unlike 2006 the elite teams are way above the other teams. Detroit and San Jose are so dominant and so "on" their game that it does not matter. There is no way even Chicago or Calgary can upset these two.

As I have mentioned before, I have been watching every Detroit game this year. I have seen just as many Wings games as I have seen Oilers games. No...no...I am not turning into a Wings fan but I watch so I can marvel in the excellence that is Detroit's game. I see what puck possession teams should do and how the game should be played.

And then there is the Sharks. I still have them picked over the Wings to win the cup as I feel they have better goaltending and we all know how far good goaltending can go in the playoffs. Boston was looking dominant in the east but a lot of questions were answered when they lost to the Sharks the other night. The teams in the west are just stronger.

Now playing a sport should not be about packing it in just because the other team is better. If that were the case then teams would be folding during the Oilers' Gretzky days. We all know that every team thinks they have a chance to win and they do in a way. Most years it is always up in the air. In the past we have had Ottawa or New Jersey or the Ducks or Montreal all looking really good and any one of them, if they got on a roll, had a chance to win it all. This year I just see the Wings and the Sharks as way above everyone else.

So should the Oilers pack it in and start selling-off guys because the Sharks are going to win the cup and if they don't then it is probably the Wings? No, of course not. Just don't get your hopes up though, OK? Enjoy the Oilers for the team that they are trying to build and watch them, because they are still good. Just not elite yet. If it were me I would try to get a future asset for Cole and do not spend too much next week unless it is the right player (like Jagr for example).

In conclusion, my evaluation is still the same. I still am picking two of the other teams in the hunt to get those last 2 spots. Let's say the Jackets and Canucks make it. The Oilers are good when they show up, but are too inconsistent to win enough games to get ahead of the pack. MacT will be gone at the end of the year along with his other coaching staff. Also if something is going to happen trade wise - it should be tomorrow (Friday) or early next week.

It was great to see the Oil kick Montreal's but last night. Let's hope there are more game like that and the Oilers make a good run for it here. Please Oil let me eat my words and make the playoffs! Even if it is only for 4 or 5 games!

The Difference Talent Makes

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:35:00 +0000

I had the great displeasure of watching last night's Columbus versus Edmonton tilt with a die hard Montreal fan. A short aside note here: I gave him 16-1 odds on montreal winning the cup this year, so if Montreal figures out a way of winning the cup, I owe him 320 bucks. I think I'm pretty safe in this bet though, we will have to see.

This particular fan said that there is no one on Montreal's top two lines that he would trade for Ales Hemsky, my first thought was that it is probably a good thing that a person this dumb isn't managing an NHL Hockey team.

My second thought was that this is unfortunate for the rest of the league, and fortunate for us. Ales Hemsky will probably always be kept the NHL's best kept secret. Unless the Oilers go on a Stanley cup run and make it really deep, or Ales Hemsky is traded he will probably always be hidden from the spotlight of the Eastern North America press monsters.

The one benefit to this lack of spotlight is that it tends to allow the team to sign the player for slightly less than market value when it comes time to extend/renew a RFA contract (A contract that other teams usually do not interfere with). This benefit is small though, because it is offset by the fact that if a player feels like he has been low-balled by a GM during his tenure with a club, this will make him more likely to want to leave that club. You have to believe that every GM in the league knows how good of a player Ales Hemsky is, and if Hemsky ever makes it to UFA status he will get some serious offers.

So just how good of a player is Ales Hemsky? Set aside the fact that we probably would have lost the last two games if it wasn't for him.

Where does Hemsky stack up in the list of Oiler greats? I did some comparisons to other Oiler greats (and some not-so-greats) to see where this slick winger fits in inside Oiler history.

Player Name	Games Played	Goals	GPG	Assists	APG	Points	PPG
Ales Hemsky	385	84	0.22	222	0.58	306	0.79
Wayne Gretzky	1487	894	0.60	1963	1.32	2857	1.92
Paul Coffey	1409	396	0.28	1135	0.81	1531	1.09
Mark Messier	1756	694	0.40	1193	0.68	1887	1.07
Ryan Smyth	889	300	0.34	337	0.38	637	0.72
Doug Weight	1168	272	0.23	729	0.62	1001	0.86
Jari Kurri	1251	601	0.48	797	0.64	1398	1.12
Dave Semenko	575	65	0.11	88	0.15	153	0.27
Mike Comrie	491	150	0.31	176	0.36	326	0.66
Miroslav Satan	995	350	0.35	365	0.37	715	0.72
Glenn Anderson	1129	498	0.44	601	0.53	1099	0.97
Chris Pronger	988	139	0.14	448	0.45	587	0.59
Ray Whitney	958	294	0.31	479	0.50	773	0.81
Esa Tikkanen	877	244	0.28	386	0.44	630	0.72
Craig Simpson	634	247	0.39	250	0.39	497	0.78
Jimmy Carson	626	275	0.44	286	0.46	561	0.90
Petr Klima	786	313	0.40	260	0.33	573	0.73
Martin Gelinas	1273	309	0.24	351	0.28	660	0.52

From a sheer numbers perspective, Hemsky's production falls somewhere between Craig Simpson and Doug Weight. Keep in mind it is a lot harder to score in the modern era than it was during Craig Simpson's era, and it's a little easier to score in the current era than it was in the Doug Weight era. (We don't have Patrick Roy and his Rubber Dingy Sized pads and Sumo Wrestler sized jersey to contend with)

Hemsky IS the Oilers right now. The one difference that the Oilers currently have against Columbus is that there are two or three more talented players on the Oilers than in Columbus. Columbus has Rick Nash, and Kristian Huselius, and then the talent pool steeply drops off.

Oilers have lots of depth in the talent pool, but most of it has been under-performing for most of the year.

In order of decending Talent: Hemsky, Visnovsky, Cole, Horcoff, Souray. This says nothing about work ethic mind you, and the talent we have waiting in the wings with Cogs, Nillson, Gagner, Gilbert, Brule could make your head spin if we could ever put everything together.

I think maybe by getting rid of Garon, maybe the Oilers have isolated their identity somewhat. Kevin Lowe has basically said that he is sick of waiting for Garon to get his act together, and we will go with the average but relatively consitant goal tending of Roloson to try and get through the season. The offence knows this now, and realizes that they are going to have to score 3 goals or more each game if they want to have a chance at winning the game.

If Hemsky can play the second half like he played the last two games the Oilers are going to the show.