G69 2017-18: Oilers at Flames
I get emails and dm’s 10 at a time these days, mostly about changes in management or coaching. “You’re always on McLellan’s side, why can’t you see he’s the one who is going to be fired?” and “your buddy Chiarelli ruined the Bruins and now he’s ruined the Oilers. Thanks!” are just two of many lovely notes passed along recently. I think there’s a chance both men end up out of work, or in the case of Peter Chiarelli bumped into a new role like “Vice President of Procurement, Chancellor of the Exchequer.” Either way, first 15 days of April, don’t venture far from the Al Gore.
THE ATHLETIC!
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- New Lowetide: Jujhar Khaira, Ethan Bear and why prospects fail.
- Lowetide: How the Oilers can win summer without breaking the bank.
- Lowetide: Hard Target Search for power-play quarterback
- Lowetide: Bob Nicholson speaks, Oilers’ fans burn.
- Lowetide: Draft 2018: The Oilers and Sweden.
- Lowetide: Draft 2018: The Oilers and the QMJHL.
- Lowetide: Draft 2018: Oilers and the WHL.
- Lowetide: Draft 2018: Oilers draft history and the OHL
- Lowetide: Draft 2018: The Oilers and the NCAA.
THE LAST SPIKE, YEAR OVER YEAR
- March 2016: 3-2-0, goal differential 0 (6 points)
- March 2017: 3-1-1, goal differential +7 (7 points)
- March 2018: 3-2-0, goal differential +1 (6 points)
- March 10, 2016: Edmonton 2, Minnesota 1 (Source)
- March 16, 2017: Edmonton 7, Boston 4 (Source)
Todd McLellan’s Oilers enjoy March, they are a combined 11-5-1 entering tonight’s contest over three seasons. The team has had an ongoing victory train over the Calgary Flames (7-0) and we’ll see about that tonight, too.
AFTER 68, YEAR OVER YEAR
- Oilers 15-16: 26-35-7, goal differential -42 (59 points)
- Oilers 16-17: 35-24-9, goal differential +18 (79 points)
- Oilers 17-18: 30-34-4, goal differential -31 (64 points)
- March 8, 2016: San Jose 3, Edmonton 0 (Source)
- March 14, 2017: Edmonton 7, Dallas 1 (Source)
This little March run has Edmonton getting some separation from the 2015-16 crew. Not even a long losing streak gets anyone fired before the end of the season now, Oilers still have a chance at 80 points on the season.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM MARCH
- At home to: Nashville, NY Rangers, Arizona, NY Islanders, Minnesota (Expected 2-3-0) (Actual 3-2-0)
- On the road to: Calgary (Expected 0-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: San Jose (Expected 0-0-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: Florida, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Ottawa (Expected 1-2-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: Los Angeles, Anaheim, Columbus (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: Vancouver, Calgary (Expected 1-0-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected result: 6-7-3, 15 points in 16 games
- Current results: 3-2-0, 6 points in five games
HERE COMES SUMMER!
Lots of churn out there in regard to the Oilers shortcomings, par for the course when a team is so far from expectation (they are about 20 points behind where they should be). As mentioned above, the season has been so severe that both coach and general manager are vulnerable.
A typical Oilers solution would be firing an assistant coach, at least one guy in Bakersfield and someone in the front office who is well down the list. Possibly followed by the signing of Darnell Nurse and we’re off and running.
The presence of Paul Coffey, hired during the season, and Wayne Gretzky, who has taken on a more public role (if not specifically in hockey ops) suggest there could be a shadow cabinet walking the same halls as Todd McLellan and Peter Chiarelli.
It’s important to make a distinction between the need for change and what the change could be for these Oilers. Two points:
- The Oilers have to do something, bleeding more young talent via June trades is not an option.
- The tea leaves are delivering an unsettling cast of characters in possible feature roles.
There’s a tendency to regard what is in front of us as the low point, the nadir. The seasoned Oilers fan will allow for the possibility we ain’t seen nothing yet.
LOWDOWN WITH LOWETIDE
A busy show on the way, TSN1260 at 10 this morning. Scheduled to appear:
- Jonathan Willis, The Athletic. Parsing word and deed, we’ll project the Oilers shuffle that is less than one month away.
- Kent Wilson, The Athletic. Tough times for the Flames but a win tonight will improve the forecast.
- Scott Cullen, TSN. Is Alex Ovechkin the best scorer of all time?
10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. See you on the radio!
I hated him 40 minutes ago if that counts for anything
And then play him at 2RD..!
That Gaudreau bobblehead is life size
Padre, this is quite a personal revelation.
…was this while you were wearing Pouzar’s pants?
Looch watching
Tough save for Talbot on Lazar
Bobblehead scores
Where were the D?
That play alone makes Harmonic worth a 1st round pick.
Nawt! Haha eat shit Flames.
(Ofc as I type this they score…)
Can’t believe that Tmac doesn’t account for Gaudreau alone in front of the net in his defensive scheme.
#allthethouroughlymediocrecoachesfault
Tough assignment for Drai tonight.
What exactly is the trapezoid for again?
That was a nice goal by Gaudreau.
No! No! No!
You say.
“ We’re are the Waldo’s”
Caggiula is damn near useless
near?
Not a good sequence for DC there.
Crafty one by Gaudreau. Draisatl has some lessons to learn at center, it seems.
Like Ricki says its not the D
It’s the coaches chase the puck in you own zone.
Swarm,
Ugh
Detrimental is pretty near useless.
Nuge with a perfect opportunity to snow Smith but declines
Well, he has a university degree… surely there’s something he can offer to society?
*************long fart noise****************
Indeed
Klefbom cannot be fixed.
Nurse playing like he did at WJC can be an anchor.
Drai has to recognize that in-the-zone trap setting up.
That’s two undisciplined penalties. Sigh.
Thx Cammy.
And there’s been some panic and solo play since the goal was scored. Need to pull heads out of asses.
Hrudey can barely contain his glee describing the Oiler penalty
#13 on the ice with McDavid. Okay. Tank is on.
#13 getting honoured by the msm crew for playing 900 games in the NHL. Not scoring or being effective at all for the Oilers since he joined, or anything lol
Use this.
Three Flames mug #97 lol
Eat shit Gio
Oops, was doing commentary on the game for sports net. Didnt mean to put this here
Oh dear Gord
He already has it all over his face.
– just got to hotel room in Vancouver. So civilized to watch game at 7:30 local time
– train from airport always awesome. Train fro downtown Toronto to airport then same here. Transportation is getting better in the major Canadian cities.
Goilers
Another useless PP attempt…
Aberg does not have the discipline to play PP. Shooting loosely when there’s zero traffic
Actually Kelly, every time Mike Smith goes down, I hope he’s not okay
Amazing isn’t it?
Yeah let’s bring em all back.
Nice to see Khaira get some CMD time.
If this is Smith for the rest of the season Calgary gets in for sure.
Larsson really didn’t want to pass to Pujo there
If 97 doesn’t score tonight nobody will….
Bear made an incredible play there moving the puck to McDavid.
He’s getting better pretty quickly.
The day this team learns to plant themselves in front of the net and wait to pounce on juicy rebounds instead of doing fly-by’s after every shot… watch out. Puljujarvi WAS doing that but suddenly stopped. Wonder why?
All HD dman should be able to make a pass.
HD bear stands for hellish defence bear.
Oh! Oh! Oh!
Horse Shack?
Coaching!
There’s no personnel reason why Colorado should be ahead of the oilers.
Fuck this season.
Big period for Calgary, nasty and desperate as they should be.
1-0 Calgary (1-0 in the second)
22-20 Shots for Calgary (12-9 Calgary in the second)
36-30 Corsi for 5×5 for Calgary (impressive 14-8 Calgary in the second)
– holy shit is this 2nd period break coverage brutal. It’s like a sctv skit.
– who are these guys on sportsnet
When was the last time Lucic even looked at a guy sideways?
Kinger_Oil.redux,
I also just landed in Vancouver and got to my hotel. Just in time to catch the 3rd. Will be nice to get to bed at a reasonable time after the game for a change!
I truly believe he is playing hurt.
I rarely watch the intermissions on Sportsnet. They are beyond awful.
Like I said Smith is dialed….
Nuge needs to be the passer. He has no finish.
Connor deliberately stirring the pot in the crease.
holy Nuge….robbed
Kinda makes a guy appreciate the Oilers crew a bit more. They probably don’t get the credit they are due.
Those fuckers put their hands on McDavid.
McDavid is fucking fearless.
I don’t know what they shot Smith up with before the game but clearly it’s the good stuff.
You know who should put someone though the boards?
Yeah me neither.
Flames announcers agree there should be no penalty on the Flames players
27 with less than enthusiastic engagement into that scrum. Send him to Hawaii for a couple of weeks or something. He is approaching useless.
Targeting Gaudreau isn’t a bad idea
Mcdavid getting mugged at every oppurtunity
theyre not even hiding it anymore, held his arm from the blueline in jesus
Benning doesn’t belong in the NHL.
Waive Benning, and let him be a superstar in the AHL. Help develop prospects, instead of being a lousy NHLer.
Any time that .896 save percentage for the Flames wants to show up is fine with me.
I would rather see Pakarinen playing tonight than Cammalleri.
Any Oiler blue been better tonight? Sek maybe
Amazing how the flames cover open areas in the d zone by not chasing all over the place….
FIR THE MALL
Sack TMac for allowing McDavid to get mugged like this.
Finally a hold on CMD called.
Benning isn’t good enough.
Holy shit, he did it
Nuge – Drai – McDavid
Haha why not
Make this one count….
I can come up with $6 million people.who should be doing it.
Heh.
a late PP for the Oilers
I’m not sure if that’s good or bad
TMac plays 6 million dollar Lucic in crucial must score situations, and Lucic is snakebit wtf sack him asap.
Fuck you TMac for putting Lucic out there with a minute left on a PP.
Seriously. Wtf?
Damn, so close…..
That’s all.
Key play by Lucic.ugh
Aww fuck. Well 7-1 in the last eight against the dumbasses.
fuck me
Fuck this game in particular
Lucic is a special kind of shitty.
He’s like Dijon Shit™.
I am in awe of the lack of urgency to shoot the puck on the PP. You’re down by one with ~1 minute left!
Lucic, not NHL player. At least 3 gaffes on that PP.
Fire Lucic into the sun.
Fire the PP coaches. Insane , 2 men up and they don’t crowd the net always looking for a highlight reel goal never looking for a gritty dirty goal. This is where we miss Maroon cause Looch doesn’t do it …
OmJo,
He fought the puck the whole time he was out there. It just doesn’t make sense anymore what TMac is doing.
It is just simply sad to see him play…..
Blame TMac, not Lucic.
I don’t he’s saying “put me out in crucial moments, coach” every game.
Trying to get himself fired?
THE GOOD:
McDavid was amazing and downright fearless. Attacked the high danger areas every single shift. Drai also looked good. Mike C with some nice things as well. I liked Bear’s game.
Talbot was excellent.
THE BAD:
Too many poor breakouts, and no real sustain in the offensive zone. Too many forwards did not so much. There were a lot of forwards who were happy to just hold the puck in the corner without making any sort of move to the danger areas.
Lucic and Kassian should be ashamed. Just brutal efforts. Lucic may as well have been on Mars for how often he was involved. Kassian made a lot of swoopy plays to the perimeter instead of driving to the net. How may times did he have the puck in a danger area and then go behind the net? Where was he when McDavid and Nuge got mugged?
Lowetide said:
“A typical Oilers solution would be firing an assistant coach, at least one guy in Bakersfield and someone in the front office who is well down the list. Possibly followed by the signing of Darnell Nurse and we’re off and running.”
This is it exactly.
Peter and Todd are safe for another half season at least. Some anonymous henchmen will be eliminated.
Darnell will be signed for too much. (I think he is Chia’s best chance to win a trade.)
Lucic will change his off-season training regime and all the talk will be about how he is “in the best shape of his career” but the results will be the same. The game has passed him by.
Caggiula will be back. Yuck.
Cammalleri will be offered a contract. Gross.
When the playoffs begin to slip away in early December RNH trade talks will heat up again.
But, hey, five year plan!
Also drysaddle was a non factor tonight. Not good enough.
The only thing harder than watching the Oilers play this game was listening to Kelly Hrudley do the color. He is brutal. 20 years of doing this and he still can’t put a sentence together.
Very dissapointed in the play of our young wingers who are supposedly fighting for next year’s jobs.
Aberg- still looks like a fourth liner to me.
Caggulia – keeps trying but keeps doing dumb things.
Slepeshev – invisible
JP- looked better when moved to right wing. Imagine that.
I kinda of understand the guys with guaranteed contracts checking out but if you’re fighting for a job you would think there would be some desperation.
If this happens I’m done as an oilers fan. Enough is fucking enough.
Can we see now why Nuge and McDavid don’t work?
Both are passers, McDavid is the better one since he can get to areas of the ice nobody else can.
He needs a shooter not a skater who can pass.
That’s fair.
Wouldn’t want your six million dollar man to be any more useful than a concrete median on a last-minute 6 on 4.
Fire the mall?
JJ played with McDavid and RNH for a shift at the end of the second. I thought he looked great there. Surprised and disappointed that Tmac didn’t reunite them in the third. Aberg does nothing on that first line.
Agreed, Khaira looked very good on the big line on that shift.
I find that he looks much better on the wing compared to centre.
I find myself almost getting angry at Talbot for playing so well. If he only did this at the beginning of the year we would be in a different place.
Surprised and disappointed that Tmac…
This could begin a Master’s thesis.
Did you see Klefbom at his World Junior Championship where Sweden won, and Klefbom was named the best defensemen in the tournament? He played like Nurse did at his WJC.
Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt. Still six stages to go, but he seems stuck here.
Reason: Two geezers well past their best before date in Lucic and Cammalleri.
It may not work, but you have to give it more than two games.
What’s your thoughts on trading down in the first round?
Good to see you back OP.
He needs a shooter who can skate and is agile. Someone that can quickly get into pockets and setup. Maroon was not that bad but still too slow to jump into ideal shooting positions. Lucic is basically the NHL 94 cpu player at the end of the period that stops moving and just coasts into the boards.
Cammalleri a special kind of slow tonight. Don’t think he’s back for that reason. Hope Aberg unlocks something in himself, looks to impact the game about as much as Pakarinen.
My ideal off-season: RNH turned into Skinner/Saad, better winger for 29, 4C to push Khaira to Strome’s wing, shoot Russell into the sun and bring in a Demers, capable back-up
maybe fire the assistant coaches, if not TMac
Yes let’s not give our 30 goal scorer a skater who can pass him the puck. I thought RNH hit McDavid in stride time and time again tonight.
McDavid needs players who can skate and move the puck. RNH and McDavid looked lethal when transitioning the puck up ice.
Just an honest question, aside from the many good points already made: is Kris Russell capable of making a pass? He turns down easy opportunities to move the puck and instead goes backhand/off the glass and out almost every time.
It’s sad that a rookie as green as grass seems so much better at this.
Shooting is a weak point of Connor’s game, he’s a better passer. Wouldn’t it be better if Connor got his 30 goals and then also got 35-40 assists passing to a goal scorer?
Or is it just that fans want to see Nuge on the rush at all costs?
What does that even mean, fans just want to see Nuge on the rush? Did Nuge fuck your wife or something