If we created a word cloud for this blog since 2005, the big and bold words would be down and out. I think “nadir” and “darkness” and most of the lyrics to the Edmund Fitzgerald would be there, along with a photo of a young, beautiful and sad eyed Bonnie Raitt. Sometimes in life you spend so much time doing one thing, people tend to typecast you. Can this blog shake the blues? There’s never been a need to find out. Perhaps that will change.
THE ATHLETIC!
The Athletic Edmonton is going to bring it all season long. Proud to be part of a lineup that is ready to cover the coming year. Outstanding coverage from a large group, including Daniel Nugent-Bowman and Jonathan Willis, Lowetide, Minnia Feng and Pat McLean. If you haven’t subscribed yet, now’s your chance. Special offer is here, less than $3.50 a month!
- New Lowetide: Everything’s coming up Oilers as young AHL hopefuls in Bakersfield hammer Flames’ farmhands.
- New Dan Robson: Bringing a commitment to telling untold stories to The Athletic.
- Lowetide: Jesse Puljujarvi gets scratched, so what’s next for Edmonton’s lottery winger?
- Tyler Dellow: Oilers treading water despite tough schedule, but still struggle to score without Connor McDavid.
- Jonathan Willis: Connor McDavid finds another gear, but Oilers still lack scoring on the wing.
- Cat Silverman: How Laurent Brossoit found his way back to NHL form.
- Lowetide: Todd McLellan finds a suitable spot in the order for Milan Lucic.
- Jonathan Willis: Four reasons why the Oilers should return Evan Bouchard to junior.
- Lowetide: Drake Caggiula might be hearing footsteps as the Oilers look for offence to replace injured Ty Rattie.
- Lowetide: Kirill Maksimov is tearing up the OHL, three Condors fly high.
- Lowetide: Peter Chiarelli’s race against time.
- Daniel Nugent-Hopkins: Asking McDavid to take on Bergeron line at home shows what Oilers are missing.
- New Daniel Nugent-Hopkins: Remembering Ron Chipperfield’s brief and hellish time as captain of the Edmonton Oilers.
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: Q&A: Grant Fuhr talks about his journey, drug use and the state of goaltending.
- Lowetide: Math offers a surprising option for Leon Draisaitl’s struggling No. 2 line
OILERS IN OCTOBER
- Oilers in October 2015: 3-7-0, six points; goal differential -7
- Oilers in October 2016: 7-2-1, 15 points; goal differential +9
- Oilers in October 2017: 3-6-1, seven points; goal differential -11
- Oilers in October 2018: 6-3-1, 13 points; goal differential -1
I picked the Oilers to finish with 90-94 points, that would mean 11 points in the first 10 games. This year’s team has 13 points and stand secord in the Pacific Division (one point behind the Sharks with a game in hand). The early panic of the two opening games is a seemingly distant bell, the gnashing of teeth over youngsters in the pressbox is an conversation most fans are less angry about this morning. If you’re a glass half empty sort, it’s probably easy to overcome these last eight games and find a downbeat. Breathe deep, the gathering gloom. If you’re a glass half full type, here comes the sun. Seems like years since it’s been here.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN OCTOBER
- On the road to: Sweden to play NJD (Expected: 0-0-1) (Actual: 0-1-0)
- On the road to: Boston, NYR, Winnipeg (Expected 1-2-0) (Actual 2-1-0)
- At home to: Boston, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Washington (Expected 1-3-0) (Actual 2-1-1)
- On the road to: Nashville, Chicago (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 2-0-0)
- At home to: Minnesota (Expected 0-0-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected result: 3-6-2, 8 points in 11 games
- Current results: 6-3-1, 13 points after 10 games
One game left in a month we discussed at length over the summer. In my wildest dreams it never occurred to me this Oilers team would drill this level of competition this badly. Music! The final game of the month is against the Wild, who are 6-2-2 on the year. There are hits and there are misses, I was nowhere near actual factual.
DEFENSE, LAST NIGHT
- Nurse-Russell went 16-14 in 15:42, 8-8 and 1-0 in goals. The duo was 3-1 in scoring chances, Russell was sending strong outlet passes and Nurse skated the puck to safety several times. Duo got caught out of position briefly a few times due to good sticks by Chicago forechecking, but recovered well. Both men lack offensive flair, but as Adam Larsson has shown, passing the puck up smartly can gather assists. Were 5-6 in 6:40 against Ladd-Anisimov-Kane. Went 5-8 in 6:58 with McDavid, you’d like a more creative pairing out there with the captain but this duo has settled down a problem area from early in the season.
- Klefbom-Larsson were 18-17 in 18:06, 8-12 shots and no goals, 2-1 in HDSC. Went 7-13 against Kohun-Toews-Debrincat who were a handful. Shots were even more severe (3-9) but the Toews line was effective all night long. Larsson made some impressive outlet passes, Yawney is having success. All six defensemen looked a little ragged from so much hockey in 24 hours but managed to win the day. If I had a vote, Oscar Klefbom would be going to the All-Star game. Seriously.
- Garrison-Benning were 8-18 in 9:40, 5-9 shots, no goals and 2-2 HDSC. Duo played the most minutes for a third pairing in a few games, mostly because of the back-to-back. Were 4-6 against the Kane line and I would say this was the best effort by Benning this year. Not a difficult bar, but he seems to be coming out of it.
- Cam Talbot was the Oilers best player, stopping 31 of 32, .969.
- NaturalStatTrick and NHL.com.
FORWARDS, LAST NIGHT
- Khaira-Brodziak-Kassian were the No. 1 line according to the captain, scoring a massive goal in regulation and winning the possession battle. Were 11-6 in 8:07, 6-6 shots and 1-0 in goals. There’s an old saw about winning if your fourth line scores and it held true for Edmonton last night. 3-1 HDSC. Were 6-3 in 3:49 against Gustafsson.
- Lucic-Strome-Caggiula went 12-9 in 10:45, 5-4 shots, no goals and 2-1 HDSC. I like the line but they have to score at some point or they’re headed for the glue factory as a trio. Went 11-7 against Manning-Davidson, it felt like the line could easily grab possession at times. Strome had a nice look in front, Lucic has been goalmouth several times lately but can’t seem to get his fingers on the frets.
- Rieder-Draisaitl-Chiasson posted 6-8 in 7:15, 3-4 shots, no goals and 0-1 HDSC. Leon set up Rieder on a slow developing two-on-one, just couldn’t get it done. It was a Doug Weight style dish though and then LD did it again in overtime. I would give my left nut to be able to pass as beautifully. It’s an art form.
- Nuge-McDavid-Yamamoto delivered 11-17 in 14:21, the entire line looked tired most of the game. 97 went 6-8 shots and 2-0 HDSC with 97, McLellan dropped Yamamoto at times (Leon 1-4 with the captain in less than three minutes) and of course McDavid drilled the puck home in overtime on the only chance he’d need to make a difference. Ty Rattie is missed, pretty clear. McDavid went 9-20 against Jokiharju, 11-17 against Keith and 4-5 against Seabrook. He and Jokiharju appear to have flipped at some point.
IMPORTANT WINS
I used to love reading Rolling Stone album reviews, partly because they took country albums seriously and partly because there were no others doing it. I kind of gave up when Dave Marsh started changing Beach Boys lyrics to make Brian Wilson look like a genius (he didn’t need to) but the magazine gave fabulous album reviews from 1974 to 1984. I kind of drifted away when the phrase “important album” became a common term.
I think it’s fair to call these recent victories important to the Oilers organization, and to Todd McLellan. I have always felt the head coach is only as strong as his roster and 3+ years in there’s nothing close to balance for your Edmonton Oilers. That’s not to gloss over several curios, but you can’t (in my opinion) fire the coach for failing to win with mad dogs and Englishmen.
Anyway, these recent wins were massive for McLellan, any fool can see it. An October record such as the one I projected could have been the final weeks of his coaching career in Edmonton. Now? I expect we may see a roster tweak here or there, but as long as this team is in contention for a playoff spot, the coach and general manager will survive.
Are there any pressure points? Yes. Peter Chiarelli is going to have to send Jesse Puljujarvi to Bakersfield, that might happen this week. I don’t believe they’ll trade the young man, and I don’t think he’s been poor, but circumstances have conspired against him. Send him to California, let him hammer goalies and score goals, give him a feel for success.
The other issue is Kailer Yamamoto. In my opinion he earned the NHL job but hasn’t been able to click with 97 and 93. Moving him down when Rattie returns will hopefully solve it, but sending both young wingers down is an option. I wonder if we see the general manager reach out and acquire a veteran.
LOWDOWN WITH LOWETIDE
We’re back with a fun and busy Monday, trying to catch up to the happy train known as Oilers nation. At 10 this morning, TSN1260. Scheduled to appear:
- Gabe Lacques, USA Today. The Boston Red Sox might be the best baseball team of this century, and possibly a few decades before. We’ll chat with Gabe.
- Andy McNamara, TSN4Downs. A crazy NFL weekend makes some things clearer, leaves others in a London fog.
- Jason Gregor, TSN1260. The Eskimos are out, how deep will the changes be? Despite that fact, the Grey Cup is coming to Edmonton and will be a blast! We’ll also chat Oilers.
10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. Talk soon!
Good teams will find different ways to win during winning stretches.
Of course Connor has been the biggest difference maker, but he is not the only one pulling the team to victory.
Klefbom is logging huge minutes. He is better than 2 years ago.
Talbot ( and Mikko) have had games in which we needed them to be strong in order to win
Special teams have won us a couple of games. ( Drai has 6 of his 11 points on the PP)
3 on 3 has been good to us. ( 3 wins, 1 loss there)
I think you have that veteran in Chiasson. Jp and Ky can both go down until they improve and Marody can step in for now.
As far as we know Jesse Puljujarvi is struggling to fit into the system the Oilers play.
Send him to Bakersfield and it is very likely he will struggle to fit into the Condors system.
In other words sending him down just makes it Jay Woodcroft’s problem.
Bettman 500 West Leaderboard
+5 Nashville
+4 Minnesota, Colorado
+3 EDMONTON, SAN JOSE, Chicago, Winnipeg
.500 ANAHEIM, ARIZONA, CALGARY, Dallas, VANCOUVER, VEGAS
-1 St. Louis
-4 LOS ANGELES
Pace Board
119 Nashville
115 Minnesota
109 Colorado
107 EDMONTON
104 SAN JOSE
103 Chicago, Winnipeg
82 ANAHEIM, ARIZONA, CALGARY, Dallas, VANCOUVER, VEGAS
74 St. Louis
52 LOS ANGELES
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I’d see Kris Russell transition the puck up the ice via pass as well as I’m seeing – nope, not every time but lots of plus passes – and from the right side in the 2nd pair?
Kudos to this player for filling in at 2RD and doing a solid job so far.
Although I’m still not sure how Jason Garrison is on the team and in the lineup over Kevin Gravel, it was very good to see the third pairing get normal 3rd pairing minutes, apx 14 minutes, and do OK. When the third pairing can’t be trusted and is playing extremely sheltered minutes (10 min or below) it puts too much pressure on the top 4 that, in my opinion, is not sustainable.
To me, its not sustainable for Oscar Klefbom to log the second highest amount of ice in the NHL (currently only behind Doughty). 25 plus last night is still high but much more sustainable that 30 plus he’s done 3 times already this year.
Go Bionic Shoulder!
Yep, they seem to have mostly got the Rusty Reset out of him.
They’re next job is to teach him to hold the blue line to shake the puck loose instead of letting the opposition shoot because you’re a good shot-blocker.
It is important to remember that Chicago was also on the back half of a back-to-back where they flew in the night before. That is exactly the type of game where you need your goaltender to steal you a couple of points, and Talbot delivered with some five bell saves. The ingredients over the last handful of games:
Goaltending has been solid with no softies (maybe one or two against Pitt)
Special teams have been above average, which might be all we need
Team defense has greatly improved
Secondary scoring is producing “just enough”
I’ll have what she’s having.
Once Rattie comes back and if Kassian is not traded, they cant have JP sitting in the press box. he needs to play
Last night’s game was a scheduled ‘dud’.
That said, it’s two more points in the bank.
Excellent.
“Breath deep the gathering gloom…”
We llived in Saskatoon then Regina until 1975’s move to Red Deer. Around ’72 my cousin David came to stay with us while he was in RCMP training. Obviously I llooked up to him: my cousin the mountie! When he moved out he lleft me a stack of records including Cat Stevens, Emerson, Llake, and Palmer, and every Moody Blues album up to Seventh Sojourn. Corny, pretentious, goofy “word-of-God” spoken passages for the segues between songs. But they could really play and had a feel for melody. The zeitgeist passed them by soon enough but their earnestness charms to this day. Hope they play Bonnaroo.
McDavid
Klefbom
Yawney
Russell
Dare we say – it is not glamorous – but if we don’t have Kris Russell to step into the 2RD role
this season looks a lot different.
Jesse Puljujarvi was scoring in the AHL with no help inside of a very ineffective offensive ecosystem at a young 18 years.
He’ll get to play with consistent linemates, Jay Woodcroft literally just goes 1-2-3-4, except for after Callahan got head-shotted and other various businesses.
You can send him right back out there after every mistake and give him the practice of righting the wrongs, whereas up here he doesn’t see that chance.
I think it’d be a good idea to get him carrying the puck up the ice with the intent to score every shift, and then have him bring that exact game and energy when he comes up to the Strome line’s soft parade.
Or at least, that’s the best way I can put it without being vicious about the coach.
You’re doing fine work, sir. Keep on, keeping on.
Klefbom is playing like he played at the World Juniors, where he was the best defensemen in the tournament on the only Swedish team that ever won it all.
It is good to see Edmonton’s coaching staff reaquire their “Charlie Huddy” to unlock the ability of the D. I give the majority of the credit to their overperformance to the D and how well it has played. And I have been as unfavorable to Russel as anyone, but Yawney seems to have helped him find the confidence to work past his limitations and rely on his strengths. Good on him.
I hope this run continues, and if they trade a Kassian (or Strome??) to find a useful vet for the lower lines, so much the better.
Good days.
“If we created a word cloud for this blog since 2005, the big and bold words would be down and out. I think “nadir” and “darkness” and most of the lyrics to the Edmund Fitzgerald would be there, along with a photo of a young, beautiful and sad eyed Bonnie Raitt.”
Outstanding (very lyrical) line, but I think youre being too kind/polite………the word cloud would definitely look something like
STUPID coach old FIRE club IDIOT boys MORONS incompentent CHIARELLI material HORCOFF
(Through that last one in to counter the obvious recency bias.)
Oiler Goal Share after 10 games (6-3-1)
Even strength (5v5, 4v4, 3v3):
McDavid On Ice 8-5 (62%)
McDavid Off Ice 9-13 (41%)
Net EV -1
Special Teams (PP+shorties for – PK + shorties against):
10-9
Net ST +1
Empty Net Situations: 2-3
Net EN -1
Net Goal Differential -1
Analysis: If you had told me 4 weeks ago that the Oilers would be 6-3-1 after the schedule they’ve had, I would’ve said you were crazy. Now let’s throw this giant ball of oil out the window.
Source: https://twitter.com/IAmByks/status/1056710869160087552
VOR,
I mentioned this during the pre-season when the shots were going in and there was talk of moving Jesse to the 1st or 2nd line. He doesn’t play with structure. His natural skill is enough for him to be successful against lesser opponents but his free lancing is not going to cut it in the upper echelons of the NHL.
I hesitate to make this comparison because of the divide on THE TRADE but in some ways I see Jesse going through the same thing that Hall did when he arrived. Relying on junior talent and skills that just don’t translate exactly across leagues.
In Hall’s case he was the saviour and the team let him play the way he wanted for whatever reason – that is a long discussion few agree on – and in the end it took a better and more patient coach in another city before Hall was able to overcome the doubters on his overall game.
I am hoping the brain trust in Edmonton have learned from that because imo Jesse has tremendous potential as a Hossa type player – they just have to show him how to realize it. I would keep him in Edmonton where the best coaches are and see if they can make the penny drop even if it means slow playing him.
As an aside… ‘Who Loves the Sun’ reminds me of ‘Here Comes the Sun’ in the same way that ‘Here Comes Your Man’ reminds of ‘I’m Waiting for My Man’. Maybe it’s just me…
So old Hank got a little spittle of negativity early in the season and predicted the Oilers would be 2-8 by the time they faced Minnesota on Tuesday. He got so wound up in the predictive garbage spewing forth on this blog, that he believed it holus-bolus. Thank heaven, they have to play the games.
Anyway, I am happy to eat crow this morning, luxuriating in my being so wrong. Just maybe we have a coach, a backup goalie and a second centre we can rely on. Certainly we have an interesting farm team for a change. Maybe we have a GM who is actually doing something right.
Oh ya, but it’s only 10 games. True, but we didn’t go 2-8, we went 6-3-1. On to the next 10 with just the hope that the Oiler highlights continue to be as exciting as up to now. Can we get up for the lesser opponents like we got up for the big boys? I hope it is not too soon to just sit back and enjoy.
His shooting % is down to 75% now – 3G on 4Sh in 5 games. IMO that shot rate is a better indicator of what to expect going forward than the goals.
He put up 35 points 5 seasons ago but has averaged 20.5Pts per season since. He’s playing OK, but I highly doubt he’s an answer on a scoring line longer term.
LT, I’m glad you touched on the coaches today… for anyone who has watched the “nadir” and “darkness” over the last decade should obviously be able to see the massive change in defense. Yawney is unlocking our D in real time… in my opinion, Larsson has never looked so good with his offensive timing and pinching, and those outlet passes by others are just awesome, get it to the forwards, that’s the message.
Most MSM wrote about how the team looked to transition quicker and be on the forecheck prior to the start of the season… it looks like the players are buying into the systems and for what its worth maybe this team is more what was projected last year by the GM before the thousand cuts started piling up.
Or, maybe it’s just as simple as McDavid’s promise to Oilers fans at the awards ceremony.
As for the Nashville game, I have never been so mad and happy in the same shift as I was with Caggiula… glad he made the best of it, both times! Well maybe watching Rieder score on us twice on the PK made me that mad, but he wasn’t an Oiler then.
Oh yeah, the commentators talked about it during one of the games this weekend… we have won every game we have won the special teams battle… that’s again thanks to the PP/PK coaches and players buying into those systems. Go Oilers!
If we created a word cloud for this blog since 2005, the big and bold words would be down and out. I think “nadir” and “darkness” and most of the lyrics to the Edmund Fitzgerald would be there, along with a photo of a young, beautiful
and sad eyed Bonnie Raittgirl in an Oklahoma t shirtI fixed that for you
Greenberg,
I’m happy to be eating crow also. Wanna pull the wishbone?
Woodguy v2.0,
Brantford Boy,
– This was one of my favourite posts, which I am unshamefully re-posting: glad that people are hoping back on the bandwagon. And WG, I know you think I’m crazy!
– I did say I wasn’t going to post for the month, but I lied…:
– Would there be any result that might change consensus on Chia and/or coach, or are any results despite them, and any future cups should have been more?
– Funny thing about this post: everyone took offence to my caracterization of LT’s post, and the vitriol, not discussion about the merits
– Questioning conventional wisdom has served many well: how do like dem apples?
– It will be back next time we lose 4 games…
KINGER_OIL.REDUX says:
October 17, 2018 at 12:42 pm
– I’m just going to share this just because I love this blog. I have found it not very enjoyable in terms of the posters and, the comments generally really negative: our host clamouring for a whole bunch of trades and firings, and this is the strong vocal majority of most posters
– I think this home-stead (and through end of October), the consensus is we are playing a whole bunch of elite teams: I think we are going to make hay.as the spend the next 11 nights at home
– Boston is playing us on 2nd of B2B
.
.
.
– We had a great pre-season. We’ve travelled more in 4 games than any hockey team in the history of the NHL to start a season.
– Team has had an awesome opportunity to build together, and had heart foundation and is 2-2
– That we don’t have any secondary scoring: I think our secondary scoring is much better than the current 4 games would indicate,
– I think the way the team has responded to the road trip, the wins, and the challenges during the Month of October have the team in synch, and they have momentum and most importantly belief
– I think the organization knew what they were doing by having the road trip after Europe rather than coming home: it was well-thought out
.
.
.
– Yet none of these crazy projections are mentioned: its all doom and gloom, and yeah buts
– The sky is not falling. They aren’t firing the coach, they aren’t firing the GM, they aren’t doing a massive trade. The systems don’t suck, they don’t have a coach who has no clue, the players haven’t checked out, we aren’t behind the 8-ball
– If this team gets out of October a few games above .500: you are all allowed on my bandwagon, I will forgive and forget.
In the category of so far so good,
Klefbom check
Lucic check
Nurse check
Seconday Scoring check
Koskinen check
PP check
Draisaitl check
Health check
Nuge check
PK check
Russell check
TMac check
Yawny check
Bouchard check
Woodcroft check
Marody check
Chaisson check
Reider check
Overtime check
Road Record check
Win Percentage check
Team Chemistry check
Benson/Mcleod check
All 2019 Draft picks still in place check
Yammo check
Ahead of Lames in standings check
Hart Trophy check
Talbot check
Pacific Division floundering check
Pretty good report card.
Glass half full, OR My cup runneth over??
NHL unveils multi-year partnership with MGM to share sports betting data:
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/nhl-sports-gambling-partnerships-1.4882268
“Russell was sending strong outlet passes”
Yawney is a miracle worker, full stop.
Bar_Qu,
Strome – Kassian for Gudas – Weise.
In a ‘glass half full’ way, I would remark that there is still room for improvement here – Lucic and Strome could find the range 5v5 soon (they’re certainly generating possession and chances), Yamamoto could unlock offensively still, obviously JP could get back in the lineup and provide another big body / some skill, Rattie coming back, etc. Hugely positive arrows from the goalering, RNH/Connor, Leon/Rieder, and top pairing D.
I’d get Gravel back in there and pair him with Benning. Send Bouch down soon if they’re just going to sit him. Marody back down to the Bake, too, even though he’s played well in his two games.
Ah. Follow the money.
Dicky94,
Petrovic, Pysyk, and Gudas are my targets for 2RD.
I like that a lot
Woodguy v2.0,
And with Woodguy’s help, we’ll get that chicken.
Re: Oilers start – We hoped for the best. It turned out …. hey, pretty good so far !! Keep after it, boys. Go Oilers ** clap clap **
To expand my reply, if anything seems inexplicably held back or stalled, it’s usually because they haven’t figured out how to maximize profitability from it. So follow the money.
Case in point: LED lights. Cheaper, easier and more durable than incandescent, metal vapour or fluorescent. Mostly made in developing countries. Switch to leds and the manufacturers have a product that hardly ever dies and is insanely cheap to replace.
Factories close, jobs lost.
Jesse is lost out there. He needs to learn where to go and he needs to do that in a development league. Once again the Oilers put a player that was not ready to have NHL job and gave him an NHL job. Developing players in the AHL is the AHL coaches job so dont have any problems making JP Woodcrofts problem
How does Buffalo have the patience to keep sending Nylander back and we keep JP up. Its not like JP was too good for the competition in the AHL last year he only scored 1 goal and 0.5 ppg in his 10 games last year.
Send him down for 40 games. See where he’s at. Dont bring him up in 5 games
The difference is that Hall created offence and outscored the opposition even if he wasn’t always great defensively.
The problem for Jesse is that he’s not playing the system or creating scoring chances.
The hole is actually 1RD. A 1D whether left or right would do wonders as well.
Hopefully Doughty hates losing more than he loves LA.
LT said “I wonder if we see the general manager reach out and acquire a veteran.”
I think you have that veteran in Chiasson. Jp and Ky can both go down until they improve and Marody can step in for now.
Chiasson is a veteran, I see more good than bad when he is on the ice.
Something has to happen, too many bodies. Again, it is just for now. No need to acquire another contract.
Absolutely.
Sometimes good teams have their goalies steal games (and, although Talbot was the primary reason we won yesterday, I don’t even think I’ll go as far as to say he “stole” the game).
Connor McDavid is part of the team. Cam Talbot is part of the team – when they are primary factors in a win, that doesn’t diminish the value of such win – they are parts of the team.
I will say that I have seen Kris Russell defend the blueline aggressively and not give up controlled zone entries on numerous occasions – he’s still not great at it but its something I believe he is working on with the coaching staff.
Jesse makes some weird plays out there, but I don’t think he’s lost. I think the coach is just zeroing in on his mistakes in an extreme way that he is not doing with players.
He got like 8 mins against Pittsburgh and Todd benched him for the last half of the game and then has refused to give him another shot in three games.
That’s bullshit from the coach. He’s literally banishing this player. Kassian has been a lame duck for an entire calendar year and yet he sticks in the lineup like a cockroach.
That was a big trap game with the Hawk back-up playing.
While they barely escaped, they got the two points – and the “not sharp” part of the game wasn’t for lack of effort or over confidence but kudos to a Hawk team that played a solid team system, taking away time and space, and Duncan Keith stifling McDavid who seemed half human through regulation (cumulative fatigue I believe).
I thought we (as a group) have heard / reported largely positive things about Woodcroft in the AHL. Making JP Woodcroft’s problem may be not a bad thing?
All fantastic songs, you can’t lose!
Yes I was thinking of Bad Religion and “fuck Armageddon this is Hell” ja ja ja