OILERS AT SHARKS G7 (12-13) 31.1.13
As we begin today, Taylor Hall is tied for 7th in the entire league in assists and tied for 13th in overall scoring. The Oilers are in 5th place in the conference and with a win tonight could sit alone atop the NW division. What the hell is going on around here?
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Ralph Krueger isn’t going to use his goons unless he has to based on what we’ve seen this season. He mentioned yesterday that teams value those 2 points so much every night in the shortened season, and that could mean some of the career enforcers in the league wind up out of work or in the minors. Darcy Hordichuk could be one of them.
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This Nail Yakupov fellow keeps scoring goals! A huge one last night has the young Russian at 6, 4-0-4 so far this season. This despite some long stretches of ‘rookieness’ and several turnovers in bad areas (all of which is to be expected, learning involves mistakes).
NHL ROOKIE SCORING 2012-13
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Bob McKenzie’s mid-season top 30 is out, worth having a look at if you’re a draft nut. I think its very good that a talent like Pulock is at #15, a clear indicator that this is indeed a deep draft.
Terry Jones has an article out about the Oilers and their draft plans for this year and some nice comments from Stu MacGregor.
- MBS on Eberle in his draft year: “You always hear teams at the draft say ‘We had him projected a lot higher’. That was definitely the case with Eberle. When we went to the draft that June we had him No. 10.”
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I had a coffee with David Staples yesterday (we do that about once a year) and he spent about 5 minutes talking about Lennart Petrell and how much he liked him. Hours later, Petrell went out and had perhaps his best game as an Oiler.
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Oilers looked stifling at times on the forecheck last night, those third and fourth lines are really starting to show well. Ryan Smyth had some wheels last night–well, he was faster–and Hartikainen was effective in his role too. A nice little team here, confidence is rising.
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About tonight: the Sharks are a very good team and everything is firing smoothly. If the Oilers weren’t my team, I’d say they’re going to get killed. They are my team, so I’ll be happy if the final result is close. Would consider it justice if Khabibulin played tonight, doubt it happens.
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Anyone hear anything about Horcoff?
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Tonight won’t be perfect, but I’ll be interested to see if Taylor Hall can push the river against a very good, veteran club like San Jose. I think he’s about to go super nova.
All these give aways around the bluelines are making me nervous.
401!
Here you go.
The Onion on the belt thing is a Simpsons reference from a Grandpa Simpson digression.
2 minutes for being six feet away from a guy that can’t skate. Awesome.
Dubnyk certainly had not been the second best goalie this game. Continues to be solid.
The context of the clip, as I recall, is that Mr. Burns had just asked Smithers to get him some strike-breakers – “Real ones, like they had in the thirties!”
Grandpa Simpson rambling stories = Pat Quinn & Barbara Ann Scott
Grampa: One trick is to tell ‘em stories that don’t go anywhere, like the time I caught the ferry over to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe, so, I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on ‘em. “Give me five bees for a quarter,” you’d say. Now, where were we? Oh yeah, the important thing was I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn’t have white onions because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones..
Dive.
This is NHL Hockey stripes – good game here – just leave it alone dammit
Handzus purposely turns into the boards after already going down and the dumbass ref falls for it. Pathetically late call too. Just bad.
Who’s-in-the-what-now?
"Steve Smith",
Beauty. Thanks!
icecastles,
I feel hono[u]r-bound to point out that BlacqueJacque beat me to it, with the last comment on the previous page.
I have to say putting Gomez on the Sharks powerplay is a curious decision.
The Oilers PK isn’t a diamond, it isn’t a box, it’s a rhomboid. Hybrid box-diamond. Only explanation I can think of.
Hold for at least one point please.
Great game. A ‘win’ for this young team regardless
Ice Sage,
Yeah, full value for a BTB game against a hot team.
The entire league is really seeing the full spectrum of terrible officiating this year. I don’t think any team can say they’ve played a well-reffed game at this point.
I’m calling Yakupov for the game winner. Batting it in on a shot from anyone but Hemsky.
Some of these breakout attempts remind me of the classic Robertson Davies line:
“He got back on his horse, and rode madly off in all directions.”
These Sharks just don’t hesitate in the offensive zone. Quick passes and shots and decisive skating.
Has Schultz Junior even come off the ice? I saw him with Smid, Schultz, and now Smid again.
JohnnyRocket,
I’m still calling Hordichuk.
Has he been back on the ice since his skate broke? Maybe he’ll pull a Klima in OT.
Leacock.
You gotta call that one.
How is THAT not a penalty?
I think there are no rules in this game. The refs just blow the whistle now and then to make sure it still works.
I am still waiting to see a tam execute the icosahedron PK.
I like our play 4v4.
A point! Good one boys!
I’m pretty happy with a point tonight, but I’d sure like two.
icecastles,
Back when I coached, I preferred the heptagon.
We got called for too many men a lot.
A big point, one more bar of gold ahead of the Godless Flames.
That’s a pretty impressive point they just earned.
I think RNH surprises the opposing players with how strong he is.
Oh man, you’re right. I feel shame.
Kreuger’s such a good communicator Steve Smith looks like he knows whats going on.
icecastles,
D&D nerd?
Great game. I wish these teams would play each other more often.
Just love the skating legs tonight – not much of a fall off in the 3rd like I thought there would be
Okay boys, we’re proud of you. Now, lets get greedy!
clap clap clap.
well done.
point on the road.
this team might, might just make it.
Lol
That wins the night.
This Oilers team is such an improvement over so many years of Oilers teams. I don’t know how happy to be.
Oh my God Eberle just… that’s.. unreal.
Eberle out Eb’d himself
Oh man, Eberle! Hesitated on the shot, but amazing patience!
This is sensational.
Man these kids are fun!
Exciting second place hockey is a lot better than exciting last place hockey.
Meanwhile Hall hits warp speed and Hemsky still finds him through two defenders. Those two play well together.
Hall-Gags-Hemsky at some point this season.
Some points from the SJ commentators in OT: Eberle can Dangle and Hall is Quick
Hemmer stayed out there a little too long. Hall’s motor is incredible tonight.
On the list of things I never thought I was hear:
“Joe Thornton against Sam Gagner. Gagner wins the draw.”
Figures
Oh boy
Whitney sucks again.
Another absolutely bush league terrible call/
THAT was a penalty? And the Smyth mugging wasn’t!?
Another weak call – that’s 3
This is crap. Hang on to the shoot out boys.
BlacqueJacque,
Architect. Geometry nerd.
Belanger can forcheck like a supreme being, but his passing isn’t so good.
Petrell lol. Nice shot you crazy Finn.
Petrell almost made my year
hoyl crap can’t type
Wow, we’ve got our $$$$ worth
Well that’s why you sign Smid and flush Whitney.
Where’s the AED that was mentioned? Whoa
Action Jackson
My first star and new hero is Ralph Krueger. This team has been well coached through this road trip to this point.
Sharks v Oilers 1st Round Series from Hell now in the mind of the Sharks players.
sighs
DD – 1st star
You think the Sharks will fall to 8th?
Lowetide,
Yes, sign Smid forever.
Absolutely
bookjLe,
He learned from 1st game and called the timeout before Oil bled out. Hey, it’s worked! I love that Oilers raised their game tonite
I’d go Gags, Ebs and Hemmer
Nuge’s stick is cursed this season =/
I am just fine with this loss, best loss in a long time.
Well, good game, folks.
No Eberle or Hemsky? Mistake.
Dubnyk was great, but got scored on when he went down early 4 times.
Damn damn damn damn
Nice game, Oilers. I think most people thought it was an impossible task and they did alright.
Well Dam – not even a shot on net in the SO. Needed the classic Horc backhand five hole
I wonder what the scouting report was on Niemi in shoot outs? Gagner and the Nuge tried essentially the same shot.
3 points in two games on the road against playoff teams last year isn’t too shabby. If they beat Colorado on Saturday it will be a hell of a road trip for them.
For that matter I wonder what the scouting report on Dubnyk is? He was beat the same way twice. High blocker.
LMHF#1,
The shooters didn’t finish but had Niemi beaten. I believe in the oilers ‘shoot out war room’. Fun game, bonus point and a shitload of confidence
+1
As far as shootouts go, next time maybe they should use players like Hemsky earlier in the shootout. And RNH cannot seem to hit the net to save his life this season, despite a lot of great play so far.
Way too many turnovers and questionable play by players like Whitney. Still, I consider this a “win”.
Gagner and Hopkins both had room after waitin him out and simply missed.
I’m loving this young team. This was a strong Sharks team with miles of chances–the shot clock doesn’t do it justice–but they hung in there. And you know what? They could have won this game, in San Jose against one of the best teams in the league this new year. A veteran team.
Impressive young hockey club.
The Flames would kill to have a loss like that.
No complaints about this game at all. Of course I won’t be able to sleep for three hours now…
Hall is the future of this franchise.
Yes, agreed. Both could have cashed, too fine.
totally happy with the outcome here.
gotta beat Colorado now. a loss would be extremely disappointing but right now the Oilers are on track for 5/6 points on the road.
“Jesus watching the greasers we are going to be their bitch for many years to come”
Just read on CP.
To my amateur eye, RNH is getting mega-flex on his shots and their flopping wide…time for a stiffer stick? (Yeah,yeah, that’s what she always says)
Now to try and get to sleep.
I suspect a lot of that could simply be due to exhaustion.
AND it was the second game of a back to back!
Oh, the Flames. (1-3-1)
Ooh, lookee here! Oilers are now No. 1 in the division and No. 3 in the conference standings. Not a bad night’s work, I’d say.
The Flames would love anything that resulted in the team getting a point.
Agreed. Going toe-to-toe with the best in the league right now and coming away with at least a point is absolutely huge for this team. Especially after what happened during the season opener.
*And* they had to do it with some creative lineup juggling because of Horcoff’s injury. Looks like they are a noticeably deeper team this year than last.
So, go with Dubnyk until the BTB games on Feb 9/10?
Flames aren’t as bad as their record suggests.
They are, however, an extremely mediocre team with serious goaltending issues.
reffing was suspect tonight against the oilers, no hold on smyth getting hauled down with 4 minutes to go, and the cross check to petry was simply knocking the guy off balance – a real cross check can be observed in the first period when talyor hall got pasted across the back with no call. the hold on petry was also a joke, he played the man without even touching him. Very disappointed in refs. tonight. I liked the comment about RNH missing the net all year and I agree it might be his stick.
I would say, “yes!” He’s young and obviously has good stuff. Evidence sez he can handle a heavy workload and probably even wants the frequent work. Someone on Gregor’s show earlier today made a good point that he doesn’t appear to waste a lot of energy in net. His size helps with that. But the energy conservation ability could make him a long term bonafide starter material.
There was also the goal by Clowe that was called back for no reason – let’s be fair about this.
Does 6 being slow to move and then falling down unmolested count as a “reason”?
Well Dubnyk didn’t try to stop it (PVR checked) because the whistle had gone, so lets not call it a goal, how about scoring opportunity. However, I agree that the reffing was suspect, but not necessarily against the Oilers.
absolutely.
at some point you want to rest Dubnyk, but only if the standings start to stabilize somewhat. which may never happen.
so what was that poke check all about?
Looking back. I always thought Kassian was overrated. Now the trade looks like it could be one of the worst in Canucks’ history.
That wasn’t my impression from seeing it once, at full-speed, but I defer to the PVR.
striatic,
Thanks for helping to clear that up.
I’ll be cheering Calgary on during their annual valiant charge for 10th place. They’re far too proud to want to pick a Seth Jones, or Nathan McKinnon – not when there are Jordan Eberle’s to be had after the top ten.
he [Hodgson] put the nucks in a crappy situation… awesome, I know!!
Romulus Apotheosis,
What did he do?
hunter1909,
you know, the funny thing is the Flames are really in a much better position to rebuild than Edmonton ever was. rebuild without completely tanking even.
they just refuse to move any of their valuable core. sad.
bully for us though.
He poke checks him, but is already moving out of his stance and not moving with any intensity. So, its like a half hearted effort to make the save.
not sure… we only have Gillis’ peevish and very public version:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/globe-on-hockey/gillis-hodgson-wanted-out/article1390890/
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=394143
http://forum.canucks.com/topic/328739-gillis-drops-a-bomb-on-cody-hodgson-situation/
http://blogs.theprovince.com/2012/04/24/hodgson-a-centre-of-attention-again-gillis-has-no-regrets-about-debatable-trade-deadline-move/
http://blogs.theprovince.com/2012/04/25/how-mike-gillis-built-cody-hodgson-into-an-nhl-scorer/
LT went to sleep and my comment is awaiting moderation.
Gillis whined after the trade that Hodgson was a crybaby or something and so they gave him a huge offensive push to make him look good and then traded him…
basically Gillis very publicly burned a bridge and exposed to prospective trading partners that he may just offload damaged goods with inflated numbers.
Romulus Apotheosis,
So these guys had a guy who complained on not being on the top 6, went on the top 6, scored a lot, then proceeded to trade the guy.
Oh well. Good for the Sabres. Lindy Ruff seems to think he’s a nice guy.
That’s the technical nub of it yes… now add a ton of spite and bitterness and you approach something like the human decision making process going very wrong.
Romulus Apotheosis,
Makes me think of the Sergei Kostitsyn case. People want tough, mean SOB’s that play hard (well a part of your roster) and act all surprised when some talk hard too.
It seems like A LOT of the calls we’ve seen this year have been really crazy. The refs forgot how to ref it seems. Not just on the Oilers but all over the league. The Nuge non-goal was a disaster. Even Kerry Fraser ruled against the Calgary goal on the TSN site. That’s two points possible we could have picked up, one for sure in a 4-3 game.
I’d like to see a challenge rule. If players KNOW they’re not going to get away with cheap garbage then doesn’t it eliminate the majority of it? Seems everyone has forgotten about those Colin Campbell emails last year. I think replay would be a warranted experiment. If they tinker with net sizes and trapezoids behind the crease then why is replay dismissed? Ref pride? No one goes to see the refs.
I felt bad for Clowe on that play. Reminded me of Fuhr hearing the whistle and getting scored on. The Yakupov penalty nixes it though. The ref looked as if he was looking at both the players during the entire deal.
I’ll stop n…
Despite the score I think this was our best game so far. Highlights for me were:
Dubey: Solid game overall. First period he really looked confident and made some big saves. I’m glad they played him back-to-back. Hopefully he becomes one of those workhorse tenders who thrives on a lot of minutes.
Gags: another solid game. Work ethic has been outstanding. You can tell he is really feeding off that energy from the other young guns.
Nuge: As prev mentioned, his board play and strength in the corners is very deceiving. I can’t recall a player who hides that strength so well.
Hemmer: A better team game compared to last night’s. He started to play with a chip on his shoulder and imo that’s when Hemmer is at his best. The 2nd line had one shift in the 2nd where they really started clicking.
Yaks: 2nd goal really wasn’t his fault, dman should have played the puck with more urgency. Gags and Hemsky are starting to look for his shot. There was one play in the first I think, where Gags tried to hit him in the slot with a rifle pass and he took one of the quickest one-timer wristers I’ve seen. Also, I believe it was in the 2nd where one breakout Yaks passed it back to the D and then circled back behind him, effectively taking him out of the play since the D quickly moved the puck up. That player dumped it in and the first guy on the puck was Yaks, which was holy crap moment.
PP: I have gamecenter live and so I’ve been watching a lot of teams I would normally never get a chance to watch. Watching the NYR-Pitt game, I realized how amazingly better our 1st PP is at moving the puck and controlling it on the half boards compared to other teams. You don’t realize how good Nuge and Ebs are at being patient with the puck until you watch a good amount of other teams PP games. Having said that, our PP is also one of the few who primarily attempts down-low plays instead of the usual point shot or back door one-timers. Any time Smitty or Horcs has to handle the puck on the boards, you can’t help but cringe.
Looking forward, I think you are wrong.
Hodgson: 7GP 4G 2A 6P
Kassian: 7GP 5G 0A 5P
Kassian has also engaged in two fights and won both convincingly (hello Ben Eager)
It appears both Buffalo and Vancouver got exactly what they wanted.
I’m guessing one of those box cars is unsustainable… in fact, both probably are. but that 33.3 sh% doesn’t look very promising for the future, nor does the line push.
I’m certain that Canucks and their fans are totally enjoying their depth at centre right now. Thank god Vancouver got exactly want they wanted.
And thank god Gillis told everyone else in the league how he operates with that trade. Nothing like saying “fuck you” to another GM. Canucks and their fans probably wanted that too.
And that’s my favorite player to sit down at a Poker table with… A Gillis who can’t keep their mouth shut. Kind of like this jerkoff D. S. F. Canuck-type fan who used to post excesssively here. Must be something in the water in BC… Scopolamine maybe.
All sorts of unsustainable around right now…but that’s hardly the point.
Suggesting the line push is temporary would be wrong if you listen to Gillis and AV. They could be playing Burrows with the Sedins but aren’t.
When Kesler and Booth return, expect Burrows to be their line mate.
The Sedins have been playing quite poorly thus far so I would think Kassian should do very well if they ever get going.
Yeah, but as between Kassian and Hodgson, who’s better at Scrabble?
Captain Happy,
you were the one pimping the box cars… perfectly reasonable to question their sustainability… One player seems more likely to me to keep up.
You see Kassian on the first line going forward, even after Kessler and Booth return?
Which is more likely to have a nuanced mastery of letter frequency?
http://norvig.com/mayzner.html
The Sedins are aging. It happens. Time for Gillis to ‘work his magic’ and find one last deal (?Iginla) to give this group a push. Too bad he can’t figure out which goalie to unload! No one fears that cracked whale anymore
Yes.
That’s what he was acquired for after the Sedins got pushed around by the Bruins.
I wasn’t “pimping” any boxcars, merely responding to the myopic folks who were declaring Buffalo had a clear win in the trade when the facts don’t support that at all.
Of course, Kassian isn’t going to score the equivalent of 59 goals this season and more than Vanek is going to score the equivalent of 175 points.
The amazing thing is actually how FEW points Hodgson has considering he’s playing with Vanek.
The standings this season look eerily the same as they did at a similar stage last season.
You have to bear in mind the Canucks are missing their second line allowing opponents to key on the Sedins.
Imagine how Hall, Hopkins and Eberle would be faring if Hemsky and Gagner were injured.
Captain Happy,
Except that he wasn’t on that line much last year so that justification doesn’t add up.
sure you were.
The trade may work out in Van buf or both’s favor. but it looks to me like a loss to Van right now, just like it did on trade day. Not sure why you think that is myopic? that doesn’t even make sense. a stray comment on a trade is hardly myopic.
besides Gillis acted like a child.
exactly, Hodgson (of all these players) is the closest to sustainable and 6 points in 7 games is a damn high clip.
The Canucks second line has been a shambles before and ‘keying on the Sedins’ still didn’t work – they dominated 2-5 yrs ago as a #1 line (vs other top lines) but can’t now… the game has caught up to them. I love Kassian’s old-time flair and ‘Anson Carter’ moment – coulda used this in the SCF! I still see Vcr making the playoffs this year but they’re going to have to battle all the way and consider keeping both G.
Good grief…amazing how you’re trying to spin things you seem to know little about.
Kassian was immediately placed on the Sedin line after the trade but was unable to keep up due to conditioning and consistency issues. Not only was he moved down the lineup but he also was sent down to Chicago.
This season, he came in 20 pounds lighter, in much better shape and made an immediate impact.
Not sure why you would count the trade as a “loss” for Vancouver other than an irrational dislike of the Canucks. Kassian 5 goals put him in some heady territory in league scoring while Hodgson has registered ONE additional point in 7 games.
You have absolutely nothing to support your opinion that Hodgson’s performance is more sustainable other than tour dreams.
Gillis acted like a child?
Please explain.
Hard to tell what’s going to happen until Kesler and Booth return.
Hey tiger. cool out.
There’s no need to take trolling into dickish land.
What is your evidence that I am “spinning” anything or that I don’t know anything about said thing?
You are simply repeating the facts as I stated them: “he wasn’t on that line much” adding that he had conditioning and performance issues simply provides the missing subtext. Why you presume I didn’t know that is bizarre.
I do have an irrational dislike of the nucks, but I’m not sure why you think that means I don’t like Kassian. Where have I said anything of the sort.
Unlike you I don’t evaluate players in a zero-sum fashion. Kassian is a very valuable coke machine with scoring upside. Saying I think Hodgson is a better bet says nothing about Kassian, because believe it or not, Kassian’s performance is NOT contingent upon some other player he happens to be linked to by pure happenstance.
And, I am hardly alone in thinking Hodgon is the better bet longterm.
Hodgson’s sustainability can be argued for by past performance. His shooting % is above his pro average, but only by about 2-3 %. Kassian is off the chart at the moment.
Besides, the case was “One player seems more likely to me to keep up.” with scoring sustainability… are you actually arguing that Kassian’s pace is more sustainable than Hodgson’s?
What “tour dreams”?
See the links above on Gillis. He acted not unlike many GMs — big egos used to being obeyed, aggrieved, peevish and spiteful… we’ve seen this from numerous GMs in the past.
Like so many, you’re placing value on shooting percentage while ignoring everything else.
I don’t disagree that Kassian can’t keep scoring goals at the rate he has been but, if you had watched Canucks games you would see pretty quickly that Kassian has been the best player on the ice for most of their games.
Not sure how you would assess a trade without the “zero sum” fashion you’re complaining about…but carry on.
What makes you sure I am ignoring everything else. Shooting % is merely a factor. There is also line assignments, which we discussed, past box cars, also discussed… etc.
if you don’t disagree… what is the hubbub about? My original comment: “One player seems more likely to me to keep up.” doesn’t seem very objectionable, nor does it imply the Kassian hatred you project, yet here we are.
Easy. you assume both teams can win, both can lose and most importantly that 1) the future isn’t static; and 2) that a player’s performance is not related to his team’s decision making.
Oilers – Canucks next week. Still the pre-fab excuse of ‘no Kesler, no Booth’, of course (wasn’t Shroeder drafted around Eberle range?)
Some myths propelled in this space are now dispersed (eg. Florida = awesomely competent management and players, Gagner <= Wellwood, Dubnyk not in Schneider's league) so let's enjoy the debate, but take some jabs with a grain of NaCl.
In my minor hockey association in rural coastal BC, the Oiler jerseys now outnumber all others… the kids are alright.
Just amazing the conclusions you can reach after 6 or 7 games and a trip to the local rink.