OKC V TEXAS 22.12.12
In his last 6 games in OKC, Taylor Hall has delivered 27 shots on goal, an average of 4.5 per game. In his first 6 games, he was 3-1-4 -2. Since then, Hall is 13, 5-14-19 and +4.
- OKC coach Todd Nelson: “He has a very powerful stride. His knee bend is textbook, how you’re supposed to skate. He has a lot of ability. But the way he learned to stride as a kid, his technique is almost flawless.”
- Windsor Spitfires GM Warren Rychel: “He always had pop in his legs. His skating was unbelievable. He’s always been just as fast with the puck as without. That’s a unique trait. He has no qualms about mixing it up in the corners. He can skate and wants the puck more than anyone else. Combine his fearlessness with his speed, he’s a unique player. There’s a reason why he went No. 1 overall.”
The source for these quotes is here. I think it is easy for us (all of us) to forget about his shoulder (and other) injuries, surgery and become impatient waiting for Hall to dominate. Jonathan Willis wrote a nice piece at Oilers Nation today about Edmonton having a possible advantage if the season begins in January and for me the big advantage is the organization didn’t push Taylor Hall. It might seem like a small item, but long time fans of the Oildrop know that patience is not in great supply for the Oilers when injured players are close to returning.
A small silver lining to the future? Possibly. I do think the benefits for Taylor Hall could be huge. Get that shoulder right and God knows what he can do–certainly Hall was outstanding in 2011-12 playing at less than 100%.
What can we expect when he’s healthy? I can’t wait.
There is no possible way this could be a worse game to watch then the last game. Horrible video feeds aside I think the team will come out with a much better effort tonight.
What the Oilers will be like with 23 year old versions of Hall, Ebs, Nuge, N64 and Shultz is hard to fathom. We are in for quite a ride I suspect.
Not that they will be better then the Wild or Canucks of course.
Dsf, one of my favourite posters, shared this over at ON:
http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2012/12/22/krejci-hemsky-and-kindl-leave-pardubice/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Meh. Not my type of player.
jfry,
I recommend reading Lowetide’s previous post.
Pope Stephen Tambellini is in the middle(later by some accounts) of building from nothing, nada; a clearly multiple(2-3 minimum) Stanley Cup winning team.
Pope Stephen Tambellini probably gets as many offers as a busy hockey forum. He listens, then consults with his Katzland bishops, then waits.
Pope Stephen Tambellini has added two new young players(Yakupov/J. Schultz) to his glittering potential future superstars RNH/Hall/Eberle.
Most hockey fans can’t wait to see next season’s Oilers, considering them an unstoppable force to come. Only Canucks , Leafs or Flames fans try to argue.
PS: Plus embittered old timey fans, many who post on Lowetide.
jonrmcleod,
gah! There’s so many posts!! And they all look so small on my phone
Oklahoma City Barons @OKC_Barons
#OKCBarons lines: Hall-Arcobello-Eberle, Paajarvi-Lander-Hartikainen, Hamilton-Green-Pitlick, Byers-VandeVelde-House
I like these lines, except the C isn’t listed first.
Oklahoma City Barons @OKC_Barons
#OKCBarons D-Pairs: Deck/Schultz, Fedun/Teubert, Marincin/Plante. Yann Danis in net
No slowing down for this deck character
Way better effort early tonight, looks like Eberle has it going.
Deck getting the first pairing treatment , good to see. Nice progression from a player who was in the ECHL not long ago.
Schultz (Lander, Paajarvi)
Hall (Eberle)
Hunter what happened to change your opinion on the Oil I have been reading lowetide since the whole Heatley fiasco and I seem to recall you being a little negative on them not quite DSF style but almost.
What changed your viewpoint on them? Just curious.
Schultz (House, VandeVelde)
Also does anyone have a link or can fill me in on the score? Sounds like a much better effort tonight anyway.
Schultz with 2 woo hoo.
3-0 good guys, completely different team.
http://atdhenet.tv/52956/watch-texas-stars-vs-oklahoma-city-barons
Not working yet, but may soon.
Byers chopped some wood there.
House (VandeVelde, Fedun)
Surreal that Schultz is putting as much offense as the talented forwards.
Schultz has 2 goals, assists to Lander, MPS, Vandevelde, House. He is putting up offense with teammates not named RNH, Eberle, Hall.
As an “old timey ” I can say the guy Schultz reminds me of is Ray Bourque..
Very accurate shot,great passer and jumps into the play like Bourque .
I know it’s just AHL but if he bring it to next level,Wow where we lucky
House goal has now been changed to assists to Pitlick and Fedun. first point from Pitlick since Chris was a kid.
Nice thanks Lowetide and that would be too good to be true if he becomes a Bourque Slider.
I feel like they’re calming down a bit. I really wish they would explode for about six more goals though, that’d be nice to watch.
Really really nice to see Lander and MPS continuing and Pitlick finally getting on the scoresheet be nice if he can keep it going with the other 2.
Pitlick’s assist was taken away, but he just got a goal!
Pitlick (Green)
Are we sure it was Pitlick? Not some other player with his Jersey? I thought Pitlick didn’t score goals?
Pitlick finally playing like he’s hungry on the powerplay. He tasted goal scoring.
Oh no Taylor Hall don’t fight!! Still remember that last time…
Why the hell is Hall in a fight in the AHL. Bad, bad, bad
I love Hall’s fu attitude. He’s a stand up guy across the board. Takes on the filthiest player I’ve seen in the AHL this season. The result doesn’t matter, Hall stood in there.
The man has the balls of a pirate!
Taylor should pick his spots better .His two fights have both been with tough guys.
He has shown he is tough now be smart..We need him to score not get hurt.
Nice go Pitlick agree on Hallsy though if he’s gonna fight might not wanna be taking in the toughest of the tough.
Who did he fight Oleksiak
I’d like to see Gagner fight Wellwood.
Oilertown,
I think you might be missing the point. If he’s looking to send a message, the toughest is exactly who he should be going after. I understand your point, but I’m not sure you understand Hall’s point in doing that. I love that he’s channelling his inner “Messier.”
Lol looks like the smooch cam guy is having trouble finding smoochers
Haha, that would be excellent.
Antoine Roussel
Injuries are a concern, but I agree it’s great to see Hall mixing it up without fear when he feels it. Ballsy indeed.
Me as well just don’t need another injury. I think he might be getting strong enough and starting to do a better job staying on the blades though.
Think Gags would destroy him Wellwoods a pussy.
Arcobello (Eberle, Teubert)
You’re probably right. I think Gagner has 6 career fights to 0 for Wellwood, so he actually has a bunch more practice at it too.
That was goals 15 and 16 for Schultz. The rookie record for defencemen is 20. That’s crazy. He’s going to pass it in January at this pace. Wow, crazy.
http://tinyurl.com/c9bsgtq
Here’s a nice set of stats:
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – 20gp 7-14-21
David Rundblad – 26gp 6-12-18
Jake Gardiner – 22gp 9-8-17
Justin Schultz – 28gp 16-24-40
voxwah,
Wow, running out of things to say about JSchultz. There’s a bunch of other guys worthy of adding to the comparison too. The conclusion remains the same: One of these things is not like the others.
Adam Larsson D 26 2 12 14 +2 22
Justin Faulk D 26 5 17 22 +3 16
Dmitry Orlov D 18 1 8 9 +1 10
Marco Scandella D 23 1 10 11 +1 13
Jonas Brodin D 8 2 2 4 +2 4
Slava Voynov D 29 6 9 15 0 22
Ryan Ellis D 14 0 6 6 0 4
Justin Schultz D 28 16 24 40 +14 6
Oliver Ekman-Larsson D 20 7 14 21 +5 28
David Rundblad D 26 6 12 18 -1 6
Brayden McNabb D 27 2 12 14 0 23
Nick Leddy D 26 3 9 12 0 10
John Moore D 24 3 6 9 +14 10
Jake Gardiner D 22 9 8 17 -1 6
Wow that is insane wonder where Karlsson would be on this list if he was playing in the A. Schultz is killing it though. I honestly think he should become if not our #1 then at the very least #2 in very short order. If a big if Whitney can become himself and take his #1 spot that pretty much pushes everyone else down to where they should be.
The only thing I think the Oil have to worry about is a cpl more vets for the bottom 6 forwards and a reliable backup for Dubnyk.
Oilertown,
You choose the Rubicon for Kevin Lowe there, don’t you?
After that hilarity, the 30th place finishes took on the mirror image of the Lidstrom era Detroit Red Wings.
I simply enjoyed following the worst team in hockey history; they’re worse than the California Seals ffs!
As per always the arrogant pricks(who Lowetide points out in his excellent next post) drove me a little crazy with the sickening pretense of taking the other guy…then Taylor Hall appeared like a ROCKET; Jordan Eberle quietly paces the entire team every season improving to the point I’m happy to predict some Dany Heatly form of season for him, probably next year, or whenever. I’m wrong most of the time, but re Hall’s rocketing status I also seem to be the first poster at Lowetide to state 100% without any doubt Hall was going to star instantly(he did).
Then comes RNH; too bloody small and he gets flattened, by next season he’s 15-25 pounds heavier on a 6 foot frame, Joe Sakic is my career trajectory for this insane young talent – barring injuries.
Then, after another enjoyable season watching the Horcoffians go for broke, they fluked NAIL YAKUPOV! Another instant superstar!
Then Justin Schultz astonishes the Oilersphere, actually choosing to join the youngest collection of hockey geniuses this side of 1981.
i guess that about sums everything up.
As an aside to my previous post, Tambellini’s been wonderful to date. i don’t believe I just typed this.
hunter1909,
Wow that’s really neat thanks. I have always been very curious what’s started the turn around. Now if only we could get DSF turned back onto this team’s bright future. Unfortunately I think that’s a lost cause lol.