OILERS AT CANUCKS G1 (12-13) 20.1.13
There was a picture in the newspaper, a guy who looked like my Aunt Stella standing in front of a strange looking logo on a billboard beside a highway and selling a new hockey league. I was a kid. The newspaper was king in my home–my father followed all world events that way: when he spoke of the DiMaggio streak you’d think he had been there but the truth is he got the news by reading the papers in a Radisson SK cafe every Saturday when he went to town.
The man who looked like Aunt Stella was Bill Hunter, the highway was the Yellowhead and the new league was the WHA. When you’re a kid “new” means “good” and when you’re old it means something you’ll need to adjust to, so I warmed to the new league right away. About 9 months after I’d heard of the Alberta Oilers, Ron Anderson was scoring the first goal in WHA history for them:
The goalies were Ken Brown (Oilers) and Les Binkley (Nationals) and the Meloff penalty came when the defender attempted to play the puck with Binkley’s stick. That got some play in the newspapers the next day. Jim Harrison and Al Hamilton were the big stars, I liked Bill Hicke because he was part of the original Oakland Seals expansion club. Followed that team on the radio mostly (Rod Phillips began broadcasting in year two if my memory serves) but they did have some television games.
The Oilers NHL debut is a pretty famous boxscore because so many incredible players made their NHL debut on the Oiler side. Jim Matheson has the game story here and Terry Jones has an outstanding companion piece next to it that I can’t link to but would highly recommend. Among the Edmonton Oilers who would debut in the NHL during the 1979-80 season:
- Wayne Gretzky
- Mark Messier
- Kevin Lowe
- Dave Hunter
- Brett Callighen
- Blair MacDonald
- Dave Semenko
- Risto Siltanen
- Ron Chipperfield
- Eddie Mio
- Jim Corsi
- Peter Driscoll
- Ron Areshenkoff
- Bryon Baltimore
- Ron Carter
- Don Cutts
- Bob Dupuis
- Kari Makkonen
- Mike Toal
The veterans on that first NHL team (Stan Weir, Colin Campbell, Al Hamilton, Bobby Schmautz, Dave Dryden, Bill Flett) were for the most part unable to provide leadership for one reason or another (Hamilton was injured, Schmautz wanted to be traded, Dryden was pretty much done and Flett was all done) but this year’s veteran group is stronger and deeper. Ryan Smyth and Shawn Horcoff are along for the heavy lifting and Ales Hemsky is going to have an enormous season if he can stay healthy.
I think Ralph Krueger, Nail Yakupov, Justin Schultz, Craig MacTavish and Mark Fistric are excellent additions to this hockey club. Why?
- Krueger: Smart guy, he’s already impressed me by not hiding Gagner on the 4line or talking about Hemsky needing to be tougher. The only “news” that got through during camp was Ryan Whitney telling Jason Gregor he needed to be a better man because Krueger was disappointed in him. Do you think the players felt the same way about Pat Quinn? He’s a motivator and a communicator and with young men like the Oilers cluster that’s going to sell all day.
- Nail Yakupov: We should be prepared for him to be the most outspoken of the #1′s and possibly the best (seriously). Yakupov has immense skill and the one thing that has stayed with me is a comment from Stu MacGregor about the kid always hitting his spot when shooting. This guy is a sniper and he’s going to have an impact.
- Justin Schultz: I think he’ll help the PP and am curious about him defensively. There was so much attention paid to his defensive game that I think we maybe forgot this was a first year pro. If you’re expecting perfection, you’re going to be disappointed but that’s on you. Manna from heaven.
- Craig MacTavish: A wonderful addition because he’s the bookend to Lowe’s emotional leadership. MacT is the voice of reason and I do believe he’ll be an enormous help for coach Krueger.
- Mark Fistric: I think this is an important addition in that he’s tough but not stupid. Fistric doesn’t have insane PIM totals but can blow up sorties with a big hit and stay out of the box. Oilers need some of that Jason Smith-Steve Staios toughness and Fistric–while not the same quality of defenseman–can certainly do that without hurting the team with silly trips to the penalty box.
There are many questions and the answers flow beginning tonight. Bless you Oilers, we’re behind you.
PROJECTED LINEUP
- RNH-Hall-Eberle
- Gagner-Yakupov-Hemsky
- Horcoff-Smyth-Hartikainen
- Belanger-Eager-Petrell
- Smid-Petry
- Schultz-Schultz
- Whitney-Potter
- Dubnyk
- Injured: Sutton, Khabibulin, Jones, Peckham.
I’ll update if anything changes.
Eberle-whiff!?
Young guns a little rusty. Probably not used to people watch them play again.
BTW anyone know what has the attendance been like in OKC since the exodus, since people didnt go when the star players were there.
Yak’s gotta shoot. led directly to that GA
Burn it down. The seasons a failure.
… Ugh.
Ah, crap.
Edler is worth that money. Okay. Nail needs to shoot, and Dubnyk needs to stop that.
ugh Yak .. don’t be unselfish, take the shot.
Wow. Every time a PP ends.
Seth Jones!
Yak looking to be the good teammate; passing to Hemmer when he has a shot from the slot. They’ll figure that out. That line looks great. Too bad about the screen on the goal.
I’m not sure that trying to create battles down low in the corners against the Canuck D is necessarily the right idea. We’re seeing a lot of dump and chase, and we haven’t won many of those corner battles.
In other news
The Harbaugh brothers to face each other in the Super Bowl. 49ers vs Ravens.
Well at least its meaningful hockey in Jan.
This is because Teddy Peckman isn’t playing.
Matt.N,
Woo! Ray vs. Randy retirement party
We’ll always have last place!
more PK practice!
Already hating the lack of talent on the PK. Old habits return easy.
NOW we’re talking! some beautiful music there from the Nuge line.
Oilers need a change badly.
great chance for Nuge there. i liked the strength on the boards from Eberle.
Hemsky falls on his stomach and still manages a perfect tape-to-tape pass from the corner all the way to the blueline. There aren’t a lot of players who can do that.
Oh, no. The PK better be great this game. To my eye Belanger looks a step slow.
Oilers get called for looking at a Canuck.
What were the advantages the Oil were bringing to this game? PK dominance? I sure hope so.
I guess we’re trying to practice that PK and give Dubnyk a good amount of shots to get him back into form!
even more PK practice!
And the refs sure haven’t changed…
am i the only person here who thinks the interference call was legit?
Sportsnet is still trying to flog that failure of a magazine that’s at least a decade and a half late? Someone needs to send them a memo that magazines are from a by-gone era (LT’s era!)
Oilers getting outshot 10-6 but quite a bit of that comes from the two (about to be three) penalties. I like some of the things the Gagner line is doing but wish the Nuge line would try the possession game more.
The blue looks fine until Smid-Petry leave the ice.
striatic,
No, the interference call was correct, especially by the ‘new rules’ metric.
striatic,
Yep. I used to think it was, until I saw it done to the Oilers a couple thousand times a season for years without being called.
I had forgotten the visceral reaction I got from hearing the name “Burrows”. Wow, really hate that guy’s play.
Im thinking of the old Soviet-style attack, where they would attack as a unit and if they couldn’t gain the zone, they’d fall back, regroup, and try again. Seems like it would be a good idea against a tam like Van. Dump and chase seems to be more often ‘dump and chase the play back to your own goalie’.
the good news is, the PK is getting lots of practice.
and the more practice it gets, the better it’ll be, right?
Oilers need to take advantage of this PP (obviously in the second). Lots of fun things but loose loose loose.
And they need some help on defense.
Well defense looks like it can move the puck out of the zone better than last year.
Oh good, Sportsnet is going to “evaluate” Yakupov’s NHL performance at the first intermission. Now there’s a sample size worthy of intelligent conversation.
I keep hoping Petrell or Eager (as they are expendable) will hurt certain Canuck players. I know, I’m a bastard, but the joy it’d bring to the world!
Not to be a jerk because there were 3 minors, but that Gagner line seems to have some jump and they spent 4:45 out there.
LT: Yeah. They looked good. Tape to tape passes.
Dennis King has chances 10-3 Van, 6-0 on the PP and 4-3 at evens. I think Whitney might be done.
The team plays like it’s at least a year older. They’re every bit as skilled as the Canucks, just not experienced, but in 1-2 years from now…
Dubnyk sure doesn’t give confidence as any kind of a championship calibre goalie. And the Spengler Cup doesn’t count, lol.
Particularly interesting to my overarching desire for order is the way Oilers rolled out line 1, then line 2, then line 3 at the start of the game. Just like that. It was great.
Looked like Nuge had a bit of a tough period.
Not a great first period.
They aren’t breaking the cycle much.
Yak one of the better Oilers.
n
Give him time. Vancouver has a game behind them, a lot of Oilers have been playing. You will likely be proven right about Whitney, but it’s one period into the season after a long layoff.
I think the ice will start to tilt the right way as the Oilers get their legs and the Canucks start to remember they played last night.
Gagner’s line was the best one out there.
The Oilers aren’t bad… but they could use another top 4 D… who would’ve guessed?
Flashes of brilliance from forward Lines 1, 2, and 3 though.
this 2nd period PP is an interesting one imo. I’d send the Gagner line over first.
I have revised my prediction to 8-1 for the Oilers.
Lowetide,
The problem with starting with Gagner’s unit is that if they don’t score on the powerplay, you’re ending the PP with J. Schultz as the only D on the ice for the Oilers. Sets the Oilers up for a quick strike the other way. Mind you… you can avoid that by scoring on the PP…
That ATB commercial may be the best thing I’ve seen all day.
Anybody else have weird problems with the Gamecenter free preview? It works for a while, then stops. I thought it was a week preview, not 5 minutes. (Works again, ifI reinstall the thingy app.)
If Whitney is done, and he’s not looking terribly mobile out there, then this team desperately needs another top 4 D. Sweet jebus, doesn’t management know this? Maybe I’m panicking. Does Whitney look okay? Small sample size, but…
Lowetide,
I bet they’ll put the top line out, and they’ll score.
Good call LT… Gagner’s line starts.
Can we get a PP set up? Thank you.
Kris11,
Where did you sign up for the free preview..? I want to try it before buying.
About the PP or about Whitney?
Whitney with the Cam Barker impersonation.
jp,
Both.
Hard-hitting interview with Justin Schultz’s mother, there.
I haz an Ipad and when you download the free gamecenter app, it gives you an option to try, but it only gives you like 5 minutes of video. Good picture, though.
I may have to pay 50 dollars to the worst people in the world.
aw .. Schultz’s mom just is so adorably camera-shy.
I keep wishing #10 is Yakupov, and then he shoots… and proves it isn’t.
Good call LT. Petry with some high risk passes tonight.
Horcoff line out far too long.
Also, you’d think that Vancouver fans would be a little self-conscious about doing that moronic “LOOUUUUU!” thing after every pedestrian save at the same time as they anoint Schneider as their starter, and, by implication, try to run Luongo out of town.
Horcoff with two good chances in succession. The haters will simultaneously ignore he got the chances and complain that he didn’t score.
I didn’t know the Westboro Baptist church ran a website.
Kris11,
i just
buy the 49 usd, and appears a blackout. In brazil !!!!
Vancouver has such good attendance numbers because every Canucks fan has two faces.
This team should be playing better.
Had a gooder in the first too.
Icecastles FTW
Why does Katz look like Bono?
Good owner, bad owner, I’m sure we can all agree: Katz has GREAT hair.
icecastles,
a person with two faces uses more than one seat???
wheatnoil,
I was wondering that myself.
Katz is the new Al Davis.
striatic,
Jokes are funniest when you dissect them to the point that they no longer make sense.
(I have no idea whether I’m kidding.)
When he’s more comfortable, Schultz goes to Yakupov for a gimme on that play. #64 went to the absolute perfect spot.
I was Insufficiently forensic in calling that. Game back on.
Eberle would have gotten that through if it had been somebody sexier than Horcoff standing in front of the net.
Now that’s a 4th line shift.
God Damn Horcoff
Eager playing as though he wants to see 10 min a night. Hope he keeps it up.
Not a bad shift by the 4th line.
spoiler,
Agreed. They’re looking pretty good tonight.
The oilers 3rd and 4th lines have been looking great.
Much better period thus far. The ice is tilting the last 5 minutes or so
delooper,
Except for the always unsexy Horcoff. Bastard.
They’re going to have to break up the Nuge line.
Horcoff has been looking pretty solid. Good faceoffs, and a few good shots.
Kesler training for his next career.
Yah, the RNH line is a looking a little soft.
Great hit by Petry!
Calgary lost, right? so at least there’s that.
That Smid-Petry pairing is beautiful.
Wow. What a hit.
Nice hit there by Petry!
Can Petry and Smid be cloned? Let’s keep their cap hit too.
The oilers have had a lot of good fortunes in the past few years. While Schultz is a clear woohoo moment and well-celebrated, Petry is just fucking awesome.
that was great.
I prefer Hall, Gagner and Hemsky too, but I think on the road, it it then was Yak, RNH and Ebs, they’d be seeing the Sedins all night.
Justin Schultz delivers hits too, sort of.
Weise needs to get some Messier treatment. Stick that stick out and gut him when he comes in next time!
That Edler goal is the reason Dubnyk will likely never win a Stanley. Which is to say that I hope the Oilers find a real answer in the crease.
His positioning is great. He makes spectacular saves. He stops most of the pucks. But all the good ones do. It is the soft ones that make all the difference between good and great.
Chris Tanev. The best AHL’er to only score 2 goals in a full AHL season’s worth of games.
I can see RNH struggling a bit in his second year. He’ll be a major target and not likely to have as sheltered minutes.
And… shit.
Fucking Horcoff.
Gagner pulls a jones. Just lets Kassian walk right by him
Lordy.
Whitney farting around in no man’s land…lovely.
Not happy about the GA, but Smid made me smile.
Looked a little like J. Smith on that one.
That was Whitney’s check.
Edmonton, this would be a good time to get a couple-a-goals.
Hall is PISSED.
LMHF#1,
Arggh Yak with the rookie defending. Gagner as well.
Not a good sign when Yak isn’t the one screwing up the defensive assignment in a GA.
I’d blame Whitney on that goal, he was neither a door nor a window. He was an observer.
Seconded. Gagner had Henrik.
I’ve got no problem with the way #64 played that. Forced him outside and into a low percentage pass. Not his fault Whitney was doing absolutely nothing.
That wasn’t Whitney being slow either… that was just getting sucked out of position. He’s got to be better than that.
Nope, Gagner’s. He has the slot. Kassian skated right by him.
I just googled “Dubnyk + Astonishing facts” and, as it turns out Dubnyk is a 6’5″ Housefly! With compound eyes, poor Devan has to decide from the hundreds his eyes offer exactly which IS the right one.
Every time, etc.
Need a goal before the intermission. I sound like Louis DeBrusk.
Yep. If he hadn’t been relaxing his ass on the bench, there would’ve been no goal there.
JR: Actually, a goal here would be very good. I nominate Taylor Hall.
Whitney leading the Oilers in time on ice so far. I thought he was on the third pairing?
Dman always has the low spot when the play shakes out as it did. Whitney needed to be there.
It’s such an adjustment having Yakupov on the team. Every time I see him on the ice I think “damn!”.
i think we are seeing the Canucks benefitting from having played a game already.
It looks like Vancouver just realized this is in fact the Edmonton Oilers they are playing.
I want Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to one-punch Zack Kassian. Then I want Nick Schultz to get a hat trick.
He’s been facing the Sedin line all night.
It takes him so long to get off, is all.
No. Smid to get the hat trick. That’s how you know you have a goaltending issue!
shocker Horc no goal
Can you imagine how many goals we’d have if we’d let somebody else create all those great chances Horcoff’s had?
Horcoff the most dangerous Oiler!
Beauty old timer line chance there. C’mon Horkov!
Lowetide,
Beautiful.
You and I both know Horcoff didn’t create that chance.
YEAHHHH BABBBBBBYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jordan Fucking Eberle! how?
!!!!
Wow.
wow what a backhand
Something like that. #14′s backhand is just gross.
JESUS H. EBERLE!!!
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!! Eberle!!
Does that one count for two!!??
Eberle. his shooting percentage is unsustainable
Eberle spent the first 39:57 of the game saying to himself, “not yet… not yet…”
It damn well should!
They should never break up that Nuge line.
‘Atta boy, Ebs – that’s how you do it when you’re not Horcoff.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTT
Wooooooo!!!!!!!!!!
Lou looks back in utter disbelief.
Captain Clutch!
As good of a backhand as that was by Eberle.. Loungo has to stop that. All he has to do is maintain positioning and it hits him in the shoulder. But he bit on Eberle going down low or around the net.
I thought the nuge line was soft?
With that single goal, Eberle just saved the entire Oilers franchise.
He always waits for the dramatically appropriate moment.
Damn that was awesome! The season starts now…
They should trade him.
There’s got to be some way to brainwash Eberle into thinking it’s always the last minute of the period whenever he’s on the ice.
Very well said.
Unsustainable backhand percentage.
There we go Ebs…now lets keep going!
Is there anyone who has scored so many huge goals so late?
What is he Nightcrawler from the X-Men? Gagner was the goat on that goal. He has to follow his check through the slot.
Not saying that Whitney didn’t help the schmozzle, but Gagner should have been all over Kassian.
Both Whitney and Gagner errored on the second goal against. Whitney because he has to know to move back towards the net instead of getting sucked out of position (looked like he just didnt trust Yak to do his job) and Gagner for letting his guy just go.
That panel is starting to sound like Pierre McGuire talking about John Tavares.
It’s obvious from the first two periods the Oilers need to trade RNH, because he stinks after that fluke rookie year. Hall has been okay, but Eberle’s definitely got to go while his trade value is highest. Yakupov screams bust, but they could get Morgan Reilly(if Tambellini acts quickly).
Great play by play, in between assorted anecdotes that really improve the experience of merely having to sit through a hockey game.
Agree to disagree.
Anyone still think Eberle isn’t the best of the kids?
Anyone?
and old reporters (jones and matheson) on twitter blame Yak for that goal. wow, starting early with killing him in press and running him out of town
I am so not used to watching commercials. They annoy me more than I remember.
Captain Happy,
Yes.
Luongo could have had that on his shoulder if he had stayed square, but his positioning wasn’t atrocious and stops 98% of shots from that angle.
it was a perfect shot.
Captain Happy,
Maybe, but Chris Tanevs 2 goals in the AHL this year were pretty sweet too!
Captain happy: What Steve Smith said.
End of period two reflections.
1. J. Schultz is a beauty
2. Yak is figuring it out, but he looks good and is working uber hard. He is going to be great. The chemistry with Hemsky isn’t there yet.
3. Ralph has the third and fourth line playing well.
4.Eberle is going to kick LT’s Reasonable expectations ass.
5. Defense needs some work.
I actually thought that, other than Whitney, it’s looked okay.
You should try to watch an NFL game. Bloody ridiculous. These intermissions are almost as bad though.
How does Mark Spector have a job that involves speaking on TV? Does he not make other people want to punch him in the face?
For a guy who’s been skating in the off-season, Whitney looks…how do I put this? Not good. Guy can pass, but his mobility appears similar to last year.
“Steve Smith”,
He sure does.
Hopefully the young Oilers don’t bring the OKC 3rd period performances to the NHL with them…
last period Krueger had Belanger out to take a D-Zone face-off between Hall and Eberle, and switched for Nuge on the transition up ice.
were the Oilers doing that at all last year?
one thing we need to address is that when we dump puck in the other D have no fear. we are butter soft except for 4th line and Harsky.
striatic,
Nope
Question: Why was Luongo on his knees for Eberle’s shot?
Answer: He was begging Eberle not to shoot.
Smid covering there for Petry. Well, that and fail from Weise.
icecastles,
Awesome.