WAIVERLY WONDERS

Any intent to injure McD, Lucic needs to set the tone early in the season big time and send a message to the whole league. Worth the suspension in my opinion, if he goes down in any significant time, Oil is bottom feeder again.

square_wheels:
This Crosby concussion is scary. Every time McDavid cuts through the middle at Mach 1, how long before a player hooks him off balance and he gets corked ?

Same concerns with his edge work in the corners, most D if they commit to hitting him can’t adjust as fast as he can. Players like Crosby, Duchene, Kane etc all have suffered from being the shifty forward that gets hulk smashed.

Friggin brain bangers, scary.

Oh my, epic..
All the best to you, thanks for sharing.. am still in awe..

Fog of Warts: I wrote a post a few weeks back where I addressed this subject somewhat indirectly, as viewed from the Jim Pattison Pavilion at VGH, solid organ excise division.

I, too, am thankful that the comment forum continues to exist, in so far as the comments section deserves to continue existing: that there remains a conversation worth having, and that LT derives from his role here more pleasure than pain—not neglecting the decade-long rock garden under the bridge.Even the sturdiest birch bark can only take so much in one lifetime.

If not, hasta la vista, so it goes, onward and upward, reasons other than former glory.

I won’t quite feel the loss like a missing kidney.It would be wrong to say that.What is right to say is that knowing what you stand to lose should only make you cherish it more.Many people have trouble with this concept—until their first-born reaches puberty.For those who spaced their families close together, this intimation of mortality impacts a suddenly raw nerve like dental surgery on Fedex Island.And there’s already another tooth that aches like an elephant’s circus barrel whenever you chomp down too firmly.

Those who spaced their families further apart suffer ingrown whiskers instead—the kind you get after you deposit a fury tuft of your unkempt beard on a stout wooden snag, having slipped catastrophically at the interstice of a jaw-shaped tidal crag whilst attempting to spear the meatiest mother crab.For a while, you think your sprained ankle is the news of the day, but damn it, by the time the left side of your face is covered with half a dozen inch-long purple welts—how exquisitely tender for a fist-full of .22 cartridges that somehow became uncomfortably wedged under Private Pyle’s Mexican blanket—your minor hobble is barely attended.Still, it beats waking up on the cold cave floor after a night of unconscious suffering.

Or does it?

Either way, it’s a wake-up call right to the kisser to cherish what you had, while you had it.

So, my lemon tree and I spent a night together at a B&B, less than a ten-minute walk from VGH. It was an interesting night.

While my lemon tree was digesting extremely frank discussions of how they slice and dice the donor if the laparoscopic surgery goes sideways—it’s a long list—and what else you can end up losing (in the 5% eventuality referred to somewhat euphemistically as a “conversion”; turns out a nephrectomy can precipitate an “open wide” ribectomy if you role snake eyes twice, unconscious on the cave floor.You’re sitting there taking gory inventory of your own body parts being tossed into the air like the loop of intestines amid a passel of ravenous orcs who just mutinied after the worst bag skate ever and thinking “wow, this extremely competent young surgeon with the laser eyes really is a lot calmer to speak with than I imagined Dr. Christian Szell”.The rational part of your mind is dividing by ten, and dividing by ten again, but still the brainstem revolts) … uh, let’s start that one again … While my lemon tree was digesting her dissection, what I didn’t mention is that I was beginning two new medications myself: one to fix my last remaining sleep issue, and another to mitigate my newly diagnosed cervical spinal stenosis, “wow, it’s multilevel bilateral already”, my chiropractor gushed over the phone.After the acute manifestation—somewhere between the whisker and teeth scenarios—in which my impinged nerve tried to give my entire right shoulder tendinitis from calf cramps settling down to business in super slow motion (the first two minutes of which really puts the “awe” into sobbing self-observation) and exhausting several hundred prone postures—and more hasty re-arrangements of scattered pillows than the Kama Sutra will ever know—it settled down random electricity down the right arm and a constant numbness of the tip of the thumb and one side of my index finger.The spasms linger, too, just often enough to make the outside of my right shoulder slightly hypertrophic.If I elbowed someone in the ribs with my right arm to assert my place in the Black Friday checkout line, the sprawling brawling bull might earn me a double spare: one for the next line over, and another for the line after that.Memo to self: no green shirts.

With this condition, which never goes away, if I roll snake eyes I’m facing cervical surgery hardly more pleasant to contemplate than a “conversion” ribectomy.One of the surgery options involves creating a little cervical hinge by taking a vertical slice, or two, down the back of one of the cervical vertebrae (or two, or three).I was planning to continue reading about the other surgical options, but somehow I woke up cold and shivering on the cave floor before I got there.Someday, no doubt, I’ll be wringing the back of my neck like no tomorrow with an increasingly arthritic thumb, and the horrible deplorable dank Hankian thought will come to me “sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do” and I’ll wake up again on the cold cave floor.Scratch two.

I was writing more here lately.Maybe too much.Honestly, I can never tell.The flip side is that during those times where I can least tell, I’m also writing the most honestly.Life is a funny business.Never does one get that fourth heavy foot onto the barrel but the entire business degenerates into a static pose.My circus barrel lately is the weirdly extended and rambling half wall/half sentence.There have been others.This, too, shall pass.

I took this opportunity to celebrate—in my own strange way—this incredible journey that LT’s ineffable magic summoned from my of my once-comfortable cake cellar.“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door.”The first time I mentioned my lemon tree, I was thinking “perhaps it’s time to imply that this was a cake cellar built for two”.“Oh come on Sam,” you begin to hear people thinking, “put up, or shut up.”I also began to talk about life.

This summer, while my sleep routine had remained gloriously consistent, the sleep itself just wasn’t doing the trick.I had descended into a daily fog, a protracted spate of that which I never refer to as depression.First, it took me a month to get past the imposing word “never”, and then it took a month to find the first half of the remedy, and then another month to find the second half of the remedy, which I commenced that interesting night on the outskirts of VGH.

Except—you know—for this minor nerve thing, I’m now sleeping like a baby every damn night.

In addition to the slow lifting of the funk, I had that two-week period of six 07:00 visits to the chiropractor’s office, where each night I didn’t know if I was facing six hours of misery and two hours of sleep, or six hours of sleep amid here and there mercifully short outbursts of sleep-deprived pillow-shuffling panic.This facilitated a descent—which grew to an obsession, and then almost to addiction—with the recent news cycle.The fabric of civilization doesn’t disintegrate before your very eyes at any old conjunction of malign planets.Astronomers no longer believe this, but I’m beginning to think that Mars once had an angry consort, one far too thin-skinned and hot-tempered to endure for the long haul.What a spectacle it must have been.

My addiction reached such a fever that I can almost declare: no asteroid left unturned.Furthermore: that the moon really is made of green cheese.And finally: that asteroids are made of worse.They’re lumpy and misshaped and confined to a vacuum for a darn good reason.

As of this morning: cold turkey.Over to you, laws of motion.Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be.Confession: I always thought that was Latin, but just now I listened more closely, and Doris is quite obviously pronouncing “sera” with a Spanish accent.

That little bit of trivia notwithstanding, it’s a fine nostalgic artifact of what never was, in the first place, as gentle an era as it claimed to be.What the song omits: a bad Spitalian translation of “be thankful for what you had, the past can not be pickled in amber no matter how acutely we might wish to do so, onward and upward, so it goes”.

Today I wake up cold turkey upon the cold cave floor, not knowing what will be, will be.I don’t know whether the tooth is out, or whether these burrowing, purple whisker moles will keep bringing me back.All my arrows point elsewhere for the near term with my recent spate of contingencies now firmly planted in my rearview mirror.

I guess only time will tell.

“Maybe there won’t be a Shire, Pippin.”

It’s a dangerous business stepping out your front door.

To all the good times at my favourite shire fire.Yes, Virginia, it comes in pints.

Woodguy: Bears riding steers?

Bears with heavy ammunition?

Only in Alberta.

Hide the China.

Both families are Mormon!

Not bears!

Morman riding steers!

Which is diffrent than

Hutterites riding steers!

Woodguy: Yeah, I’m a little fearful of what Russell may do to Sekera’s results.

I can see those two getting hemmed in the zone when playing against big forwards.

Once they get the puck, both are good at advancing it quickly.

Centre of attention: Updates would be appreciated!

I’m particularly interested to hear how is skating looks. He’s dealt with serious lower body issues for awhile and you have to wonder…

Fastest player on either team, by a bunch. We were sitting right behind the Giant’s bench and and we were watching the trainer heart rate monitor (iPad with all the players heart rates) Benson’s heart rate is barely moving when he is on the ice. He is playing in all situations and a leading the players on the bench.

Well, by the look of things we have won the pre-season. 13 spots in 1 week, from 27 to 14 on the espn power rankings: http://www.espn.com/nhl/powerrankings
#dejavu

Frank the dog:
What is the over/under on Wednesday’s game against the (spits) Flames?

Oil win 4-3. 1G 2A for McD. Nuge with the GWG.

Pouzar:
Wow…Flames won.

Elliotte Friedman ‏@FriedgeHNIC16s16 seconds ago
Elliotte Friedman Retweeted Johnny Gaudreau
Gaudreau re-signs. Hearing this will be six years at a $6.75M AAV.

5 rfa years @ 6.5m
1 ufa year @ 8m

Bob McKenzie ‏@TSNBobMcKenzie 1m1 minute ago
Gaudreau’s AAV is $6.75M.

FUck

What is the over/under on Wednesday’s game against the (spits) Flames?

Wow…Flames won.

Elliotte Friedman ‏@FriedgeHNIC 16s16 seconds ago
Elliotte Friedman Retweeted Johnny Gaudreau
Gaudreau re-signs. Hearing this will be six years at a $6.75M AAV.

OmJo:
Alpine,

That’s the story, but have any of those scouts spoken out about it? Makes no sense how Katz would push for Yakupov in the draft and not push to put him higher in the lineup in his sophomore season.

I read an article in the Sun yesterday at work where Jones briefly mentioned how the story is typically taken as gospel my most of us despite no evidence. It’s got me wondering. You’d think something like that would have gotten more attention than it did.

(Edited) Katz does not seem to me to be a person one wisely challenges. Also, don’t forget his brain trust built the team opposite to conventional wisdom. And then along came Connor.

OmJo:
Alpine,

That’s the story, but have any of those scouts spoken out about it? Makes no sense how Katz would push for Yakupov in the draft and not push to put him higher in the lineup in his sophomore season.

I read an article in the Sun yesterday at work where Jones briefly mentioned how the story is typically taken as gospel my most of us despite no evidence. It’s got me wondering. You’d think something like that would have gotten more attention than it did.

My theory is Katz saw Yak as another superstar and based around his love for the 80s Oilers, wanted a high powered offensive team. I guess he trusted MacT a lot more than Tambo and that’s why he never seemed to push for Yak to play more as much as he pushed to draft him.

Don’t get me wrong, it all seemed very weird to me at the time and that’s the most sense I can make out of it.

Woogie63:
Just settled into my seats to watch Benson take on the Hitman.

Updates would be appreciated!

I’m particularly interested to hear how is skating looks. He’s dealt with serious lower body issues for awhile and you have to wonder…

Just settled into my seats to watch Benson take on the Hitman.

Alpine,

That’s the story, but have any of those scouts spoken out about it? Makes no sense how Katz would push for Yakupov in the draft and not push to put him higher in the lineup in his sophomore season.

I read an article in the Sun yesterday at work where Jones briefly mentioned how the story is typically taken as gospel my most of us despite no evidence. It’s got me wondering. You’d think something like that would have gotten more attention than it did.

Pouzar:
Michael Grosso
‏@RumorBreak
Hearing the Islander’s are looking to part ways with Michael Dal Colle, not too pleased with his progress since he was drafted.

Good thing they sold high on Reinhart when they did. Otherwise they would have had two top 5 picks in 3 years that did not pan out as top line players.

Aron_S:
wheatnoil,

Good read/summary on Yak thus far. It was a little more eye-opening on his NHL rookie season than I was expecting. I recall his shooting percentage being through the roof, but I think it was the 6 of 17 goals being scored in the final few games that really inflated his Shooting%/PDO.

Did you see the thought process (I think Strickland mentioned it?) that STL was looking at putting Yak with two RH shots because that was where he had the most success in the past? Other than Hemsky/Gagner not sure when else this occurred, but it was an interesting thought in any case.

What I’d love to know is why his pre-draft numbers were so strong, yet he couldn’t translate them to the NHL. I know draft busts happen, but what was it that made 80% of Oilers scouts vote for Murray instead of Yakupov? I think this is something the numbers won’t uncover, but feel that’s the key to unlocking the mystery of a 1st overall draft bust.

None of that is on Yak. Few things are worse organizationally than when a clueless owner overrides his expert, paid staff on a call like this. Regardless of them being sub par on a lot of their calls, they were proven right on this call. So be the look of things Yak was doomed from the start. Poor bugger.
(Edited for grammar)

gogliano,

That, along with…

Hall for Larsson, Lucic, Caggiula, Benning, and Versteeg.
Yakupov for Pachiro, a conditional third round pick, and Russell.

Jim Matheson ‏@NHLbyMatty 2m2 minutes ago
Looks like last year’s part-time Oiler D Adam Clendening has made the Rangers as rightie puck-mover after good camp

OmJo:
Not saying this to be a smart ass, I am sincerely curious, is there any evidence of the claims that 10 out of the 11 scouts didn’t want him? Aside from the hearsay by Mark Spector.

And what did they see in him that the rest of the hockey world missed? Seriously, weren’t these the same Oilers scouts who couldn’t draft outside of the first round? He was the unanimous #1 pick, the greatest Russian prospect since Malkin and Ovechkin or something like that.

They probably just liked Murray a lot because he was the consensus best D, and maybe having watched Yak a lot in juniors thought he was one-dimensional. They also probably discounted Yak as he was a smallish scoring winger which they already had a couple of.

Murray also played out West and they probably watched him closely for years.The plan was always to draft him at 2OV, and I guess winning the lottery didn’t change that until Katz did. Team need played a big role in them liking Murray.

So Crosby is out with another concussion. His third one they say. What is the protocol for retirement? How many concussions can one endure? I don’t want to see him retire. Is there a guideline for this?….

Michael Grosso
‏@RumorBreak
Hearing the Islander’s are looking to part ways with Michael Dal Colle, not too pleased with his progress since he was drafted.

Trending says

Larsson RHD
top 20 hsca d
facing 1 st comp
tough zs
Puck transition / box anchor
Role

Davidson LHD
1 st 2nd comp
Top 30 hsca d
Top 30 pk ga d

Klefbom LHD
1st comp
Top 30 transition d
Top 60 hsca d

2nd comp
Top 40 box anchor d

Fayne RHD
2 nd comp
Top 80 hsca d
Top 40 SA d
Box anchor d
Needs

Sekera LHD
2nd comp
Top 20 hsca d
Top 80 Sa d
Top 60 transition D
Needs a 2 nd comp box d

Russell LHD
1st/2nd/3rd comp d
Needs top 120 hsca d
Top 60 transition d with box anchors d
Can partner with larger top 80 transition d.
Cannot anchor with bottom 60 hsca d.

If they claim PA Parenteau and he plays well, I’m revising the trade in my head to Reinhardt for two picks, plus a conditional we’ll throw in PA Parenteau via the waiver wire if the two picks out compete Parenteau for a roster spot in 2016.

Solely for mental sanity.

Not saying this to be a smart ass, I am sincerely curious, is there any evidence of the claims that 10 out of the 11 scouts didn’t want him? Aside from the hearsay by Mark Spector.

And what did they see in him that the rest of the hockey world missed? Seriously, weren’t these the same Oilers scouts who couldn’t draft outside of the first round? He was the unanimous #1 pick, the greatest Russian prospect since Malkin and Ovechkin or something like that.

OmJo:
rickithebear,

Well that’s the way the Oilers are going, so anything I say is kind of pointless lol. All the importance put into playing players on their proper side and then they go and do this. That’s pretty much the only reason I see these two being better for 2RD than Russell.

Did Russell play RD or LD last season? His most common partner was Hamilton, so I assume LD.

Well, maybe just maybe I’ll get to say “I told ya so”, but I really really hope I don’t get that chance and Russell proves me wrong. Is it Wednesday yet?

Goalies are not voodoo.

It is about Hsca save%. Even and ST.

Dmen are voodoo
You can look at a dman partnering
By
1. Hsca rank
2. Comp
3. Puck mover/ box anchor
4. Side.
You can see a favoured trending
100 % Successful with bottom 60 or better hsca d facing 2nd/3rd comp.

Pair him with one and can still be total shite…….
Voodoo!

Sounds like they signed Versteeg….

Aron_S:
wheatnoil,

Good read/summary on Yak thus far. It was a little more eye-opening on his NHL rookie season than I was expecting. I recall his shooting percentage being through the roof, but I think it was the 6 of 17 goals being scored in the final few games that really inflated his Shooting%/PDO.

Did you see the thought process (I think Strickland mentioned it?) that STL was looking at putting Yak with two RH shots because that was where he had the most success in the past? Other than Hemsky/Gagner not sure when else this occurred, but it was an interesting thought in any case.

What I’d love to know is why his pre-draft numbers were so strong, yet he couldn’t translate them to the NHL. I know draft busts happen, but what was it that made 80% of Oilers scouts vote for Murray instead of Yakupov? I think this is something the numbers won’t uncover, but feel that’s the key to unlocking the mystery of a 1st overall draft bust.

Good question on the pre-draft numbers. It’s too bad that ExtraSkater got hired by the Leafs. We don’t have any advanced stats for Juniors as far back as Yakupov. I would be curious to see if he was buoyed by 2nd assists or massive TOI, softer comp… something!

Of course, maybe not. Maybe he just hasn’t translated his game to the NHL.

I think it was Friedman who talked about the two RH shots. It’s a good point. I actually added that Ineffective Math graph that showed him doing well with Gagner and Hemsky after I read that. It’s also interesting that it means he did best on the left side, since Hemmer is a right winger. I’ll keep an eye out to see if that comes up again.

He also played well with Perron, who is a right-shot left winger. I wonder if Yak would have done well with Eberle?

wheatnoil,

Good read/summary on Yak thus far. It was a little more eye-opening on his NHL rookie season than I was expecting. I recall his shooting percentage being through the roof, but I think it was the 6 of 17 goals being scored in the final few games that really inflated his Shooting%/PDO.

Did you see the thought process (I think Strickland mentioned it?) that STL was looking at putting Yak with two RH shots because that was where he had the most success in the past? Other than Hemsky/Gagner not sure when else this occurred, but it was an interesting thought in any case.

What I’d love to know is why his pre-draft numbers were so strong, yet he couldn’t translate them to the NHL. I know draft busts happen, but what was it that made 80% of Oilers scouts vote for Murray instead of Yakupov? I think this is something the numbers won’t uncover, but feel that’s the key to unlocking the mystery of a 1st overall draft bust.

wheatnoil,

Looking forward to the rest of this, thanks for putting in the time and effort into an in depth look at his time here!

Centre of attention:
wheatnoil,

I agree send Pulju down but I think Cagguila has earned a spot by merit.

Cagguila is not some 18 year old yute either, he is an older and more developed prospect. His time is now IMO.

He also had a fantastic camp. Many good arrows.

Yeah, that’s a valid point. I think Versteeg allows Puljujarvi to be sent down. I just think Parenteau is a better bet than Caggiula and Drake doesn’t need waivers. For the record, I think Parenteau is also a better bet than Yakupov for next season.

Besides, how healthy is Versteeg? I’m glad they have him, but there’s certainly question marks there.

Just wanted to wish LT and everyone here a happy turkey day!

https://youtu.be/lf3mgmEdfwg

Bakersfield CondorsVerified account
‏@Condors
The Condors have released six from PTO’s and assigned Frankie Simonelli to the @NorfolkAdmirals. >> http://bit.ly/2dSn96H

wheatnoil,

I agree send Pulju down but I think Cagguila has earned a spot by merit.

Cagguila is not some 18 year old yute either, he is an older and more developed prospect. His time is now IMO.

He also had a fantastic camp. Many good arrows.

Yeti: Did your wife make you do more interior decorating in the bear cave or something? You’re definitely more grizzly than black bear today my furry friend!

My youngest son and daughter play with kids who have single dads.
Both have older brothers in the top 10 in u 18 steer riding. Alberta and cfr.

Both are at alberta finals in red deer.

So i have 9 instead of 3 kids in our house.

They break something every time.

1. Driver side trailer pkg mirror

2. Light switch on hawk missle nose cone with all the internals made into a reading lamp.
One of 2 Know to be privately owned.

rickithebear:
WG:
Ps: I still use you as a first reference paired with corsica combo/pairings to see what i have to further look at.To get the real answer.

Did your wife make you do more interior decorating in the bear cave or something? You’re definitely more grizzly than black bear today my furry friend! 🙂

The Oilers have been so burned by injuries that I’m surprised they don’t sign or pick up as many depth NHL players with 1 year contracts as possible.

Figuring at least one of Caggiula and Puljujarvi is probable to be sent to Bakerfield, at least one spot will open up at RW, either from Puljujarvi going down or Draisaitl having to move back to C to cover for Caggiula being sent down. This would leave only Eberle, Kassian as surefire NHL RWs, so there’s going to be a hole to be filled before we even start thinking about injuries.

One of Versteeg/Parenteau is a must pickup/sign.

Pouzar: They’re ruining him.

Ruining a failed prospect… is that a good thing?

Anyone else remember the last time the Oilers sent a Russian player to a US team? Niki had to wait weeks for a visa.

Is there a difference with Yak, or had the Oilers sorted all of that out in advance?

WG:
Ps: I still use you as a first reference paired with corsica combo/pairings to see what i have to further look at.
To get the real answer.

Cause you are often correct from trusting a Dbase with a 2 nd reference point of view.

I nice purge
Like fiber 95 % of the time.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Also, I would be fine with Pulkinnen but would prefer Parenteau, even with a Versteeg signing.

I’d send Caggiula and Puljujarvi down. Depending on how much Versteeg signs for, that would actually be a cap savings since you’d save on the ELC bonus money you’d have to pay them. I think both rookies will end up spending the majority of the year in the NHL due to injuries anyways. Assuming a one year deal for Versteeg, neither he nor Parenteau would be blocking a spot long-term for the rookies.

Lucic – McDavid – Parenteau
Pouliot – RNH – Eberle
Maroon – Drai – Versteeg
Hendricks – Letestu – Kassian

Pray for the defence… but damn that’s a solid forward group with legitimate depth in the minors for injury call-up.

Centre of attention: That was the joke lol.

On another sad note:

Jeremy RutherfordVerified account
‏@jprutherford
Yakupov not practicing with PP units. He is on PK unit that is working against No. 2 PP.

Hitchcock is going in dry

They’re ruining him.

****SPAM****
My spam is not as cool as Woodguy’s spam, but I thought I’d share regardless. I’m working on a retrospective of Nail Yakupov’s Edmonton career. Some things can become clearer in hindsight.

Part 1 is his time before Edmonton. http://www.theoilersrig.com/2016/10/just-nail-yakupov-part-1/

Part 2 is his rookie season under Ralph Krueger. http://www.theoilersrig.com/2016/10/just-who-was-nail-yakupov-part-2/

Part 3 will be his years under Dallas Eakins and Todd Nelson, which I’m working on now. It is long and unwieldy though, so I’m trying to strike a balance between thorough and being readable.

Part 4 will be this last year under McLellan.

****END SPAM****

Lowetide: What an hour. Part of my job on Thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter is to peel about 15 apples for pies. So, I did that, and took the dog out to do her business, and she came into the house and bum scooted across the carpet. Lordy. Settle down??

Sounds like she needs her anal glands squeezed.. I would recommend hiring someone to do it. 🙂