Hockey news in my town when I was a kid was like a dog chasing a rabbit: You were always a step or two behind the story. The Hockey News would arrive on Wednesday (Greyhound) and Mrs. Stenmark would save a copy at the Rexall Drugs if you asked. All the news in there was at least several days old.
The daily newspaper (Saskatoon Star-Phoenix) came around supper (my friend Terry Cole delivered it) and it would have the scores and three or four sentence summaries on each game from last night (maybe the west coast games from two nights ago).
You didn’t get all the information from one source. You had to look man, like Jim Rockford looked for the money his dumbass friend Angel stole from the mob, like a desperate man working against the clock (because Angel told them Jim had the money!) and tracking down leads.
Ernie Ford would give the scores at around 8am on CKSA Lloydminster and if there was a major trade (Frank Mahovlich to Montreal, January 13, 1971, made my Dad grunt) he’d have a couple of lines on the deal. This would be January 14 (Thursday) by the time Ford mentioned the trade.
That was it. At 8am you were eating puffed wheat with powdered milk (don’t ask, it was a sad combination) and the news would come on. The news cloud in 1971 January would have been about Trudeau, Robert Stanfield, oil, bombs, Nixon, China. I think that covers the news. Weather: Cold, with more cold and that’s right in front of a cold front.
When Ford reached the Mahovlich trade, he wouldn’t give you the whole deal. They never did back then. It would be “The Montreal Canadiens acquired Frank Mahovlich from the Detroit Red Wings for three players, one of them Mickey Redmond.”
The rest of your day, would be trying to catch the radio or television news to get the whole deal. The Hockey News would have the trade one week later (January 20) and the Star-Phoenix would have the deal on Thursday.
Wednesday? Shiza outta luck unless you caught the whole deal on the 5pm local news and sports, and even then it was hit and miss. The 1970’s were great for the imagination, not so much on the instant news.
THE ATHLETIC!
I’m proud to be writing for The Athletic, and pleased to be part of a great team with Daniel Nugent-Bowman and Jonathan Willis. Here is our recent work.
- New Lowetide: Tyler Tullio is the latest Oilers draft pick to make an impression
- Lowetide: What if Ryan Nugent-Hopkins doesn’t sign with the Oilers?
- Jonathan Willis: Left-side logjam will force the Oilers to make a choice, and perhaps a sacrifice
- Lowetide: Ken Holland’s 2020 Oilers offseason report card
- Lowetide: Theodor Lennstrom is the Oilers’ latest European bet on defence
- Lowetide: Why Anton Forsberg could win the Oilers’ backup job in 2020-21
- Lowetide: The 2020-21 Oilers finally deploying elite talent in the right places
- Jonathan Willis: Team Draft vs. Team Trade: Which collection of all-time Oilers is better?
- Lowetide: Seattle Kraken expansion mock draft 5.0: Who could the Oilers lose?
- Lowetide: Oilers prospects off to impressive starts worldwide
- Lowetide: Why McDavid and Nuge together could be key to Oilers’ playoff success
- Lowetide: Projected training camp roster for the 2020-21 Oilers.
- Jonathan Willis: Will the Oilers repeat their power play magic in 2021?
- Lowetide: How many ‘peak seasons’ can Oilers fans expect from Connor McDavid?
- Lowetide: Oilers’ increased focus on drafting skill is key to future success
- Lowetide: Why Dave Tippett’s training camp with Oilers will be so compelling
- Lowetide: Oilers’ reasonable expectations for 2020-21: The results
- Lowetide: Oilers’ reasonable expectations for 2020-21: Goals against
- Lowetide: Oilers’ reasonable expectations for 2020-21: The Goals
- Lowetide: Oilers Top 20 prospects, post-draft edition.
THE OILERS 2020-21 (26)
We don’t know the Oilers training camp roster yet and there could be opt outs, but as things stand this is a strong group of players compared to Edmonton’s own past. Here are the men who spent time in the NHL last season, by position and sorted by either games or points:
- Goal: Mike Smith [39, 2.95, .902; Mikko Koskinen [38, 2.75 .917]; Anton Forsberg [3, 3.35 .897].
- Left Defense: Darnell Nurse [71, 5-28-33]; Caleb Jones [43, 4-5-9]; Kris Russell [55, 0-9-9]; William Lagesson [8, 0-0-0].
- Right Defense: Tyson Barrie [70, 5-34-39]; Ethan Bear [71, 5-16-21]; Adam Larsson [49, 1-5-6].
- Center: Leon Draisaitl [71, 43-67-100]; Connor McDavid [64, 34-63-97]; Kyle Turris [62, 9-22-31]; Gaetan Haas [58, 5-5-10]; Jujhar Khaira [64, 6-4-10]; Alan Quine [9, 1-0-1].
- Left Wing: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins [65, 22-39-61]; Tyler Ennis [70, 16-21-37]; Dominik Kahun [56, 12-19-31]; James Neal [55, 19-12-31]; Joakim Nygard [33, 3-6-9]; Tyler Benson [7, 0-1-1].
- Right Wing: Zack Kassian [59, 15-19-34]; Kailer Yamamoto [27, 11-15-26]; Alex Chiasson [65, 11-13-24]; Josh Archibald [62, 12-9-21]; Patrick Russell [45, 0-5-5].
2020-21 HOPEFULS FROM OUTSIDE THE NHL (11)
- Goalies: Stuart Skinner [41, 3.31 .892]; Dylan Wells [7, 3.77 .878]
- Left Defense: Theodor Lennstrom [31, 3-12-15, SHL]; Markus Niemelainen [55, 1-6-7, Liiga]
- Right Defense: Evan Bouchard [54, 7-29-36]
- Center: Adam Cracknell [52, 10-14-24, KHL]; Ryan McLeod [56, 5-18-23]; Cooper Marody [30, 5-12-17].
- Left Wing: Joe Gambardella [50, 14-14-28]
- Right Wing: Jesse Puljujarvi [56, 24-29-53, Liiga]; Seth Griffith [58, 21-20-41]
I think Puljujarvi and Bouchard have the best chance in the group to make the opening night roster, but we’ll see. Miles to go.
LOWDOWN WITH LOWETIDE
Hockey is coming back baby, and we celebrate with an all-star cast on today’s show. We start at 10, TSN1260 and welcome Murat Ates from The Athletic Winnipeg at 10:20. Hart Levine from PuckPedia explains how much Edmonton could spend on a free agent in the coming days at 10:40 and Jason Gregor pops in at 11 to talk the latest on the Oil. 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. See you on the radio!
New for The Athletic: 7 big questions facing the Oilers heading into next season
https://theathletic.com/2222767/2020/12/22/lowetide-biggest-questions-facing-oilers/
Without clicking the link:
1) Caleb Jones (player that steps up)
2) 65% of the starts
3) Nuge (starts at 1LW)
4) 22 games (Bouchard)
5) 49 points (Yamamoto)
6) 48 games (Larsson)
7) 81 points (McDavid)
I was pretty spoiled I enjoyed almost all of the Oiler and Esk runs. I just want to see 1 more Stanley here with Connor and Drai and whomever else tags along and givers heck
Thanks for the great run down memory lane, I remember delivering the Edmonton Sun back in 83,84 and it was my morning read before school afterwards at 8,9 years old. then I found John Short what a treat he was listen to him till midnight every night.
I wonder if waiver rules for goalies are going to be tweaked. A team has to have 3 goalies between their roster and taxi squad. If the Oilers only have Koskinen, Smith and Forsberg, and they send down Forsberg, what happens if a team claims him? With a team needing to have 3 goalies, will there be an unwritten rule between GMs that they won’t be claiming other teams goalies? Or, would a team claim Forsberg to screw the Oilers and make them have to trade for a goalie, or go with an inexperienced goalie like Skinner?
I was wondering that myself but it doesn’t seem like there is any sort of real change and the goalies will be subject to waivers (unless exempt) just like in the normal course. The only difference is the ability to activate a goalie off the taxi squad with relaxed time frames.
If Forsberg is claimed, the Oilers would be forced to claim or sign a goalie or put Skinner on the taxi squad.
I was posting yesterday about claiming Hill when he’s put on waivers.
Some teams may carry 3 goalies on their active roster because of this – The Leafs for example probably don’t want to waive Dell.
If a goaltender is injured or on a Covid list, the goaltender called up will be an emergency recall, which extends the time the goaltender can spend in the NHL and be sent back down without clearing waivers.
I think emergency recall is 9 games, and regular recall is 9 games or 30 days before having to be waived being sent back down. So on emergency recall, a goaltender has 18 games before having to reclear waivers.
I am not an expert on this.
With Washington needing a goaltender, it will be interesting watching waivers in the pre-season. Somebody could lose a goaltender.
That doesn’t change the fact the tender would need to clear waivers in the first instance in order to be assigned off the NHL roster (unless exempt, of course).
If Forsberg is claimed in pre-season, that means he is going to be a #2 somewhere, or else you just claim him right back.
With Washington needing a goaltender, I can see Phoenix and Winnipeg having a pre-season issue.
I do think there will be teams keeping 3 goalies in the active roster – The Leafs, maybe even the Yotes.
Team with a waivers exempt 3rd string goaltender will have an advantage.
Which team has a viable, NHL alternative, #3 goalie that isn’t waiver eligible?
I think we’re going to see a GM unwritten rule, don’t claim anyone else’s #3 goalie.
I expect there are a few.
Vancouver has Michael DiPietro slated as their #3 goaltender.
It would make some sense for teams with a good young goaltending prospect to make him the #3 if they’re confident he can hold the first in case of minor injury.
I don’t imagine that you are implying that Canucks would have that confidence in Michael DiPietro given he has two NHL starts (both not good) and we meh in the AHL last year.
They have already made that decision.
DiPietro will be their #3.
I know they have – that’s not the same as being confident he can hold the fort in case of injury – he has failed in 2 NHL appearances and was dithering away with a meh season in the AHL.
Last season in the AHL:
DiPietro 21-11-2 .908 2.29 GAA
Forsberg 15-9-2 .905 2.95 GAA
DiPietro is a better bet than Forsberg and he is waiver exempt.
Its a bit surprising (and concerning) that the league isn’t scheduling in a bit of a buffer between the end of the regular season and the playoffs, in case there are postponed games that need to be made up. I believe the playoffs start 3 days after the regular season ends.
Yeah, I think when we see the schedule it might be clearer. If, as rumoured, teams will play each other two and even three times in a row to cut down on travel I can see how they think they can slide make up games in during the season.
Still, the season is slated to be 116 days to play 56 games so every 2nd day is pretty much already spoken for.
Gonna be tight and need a lot of luck or they will end up going by win % rather than points again this season.
Ya, not really alot (or any) time to make up for games that may have to be postponed. I think Holland said the draft schedule he was provided has a stretch of 16 or 17 games in 30 days.
I don’t know what the protocols will be and the trigger for games to be postponed but we know what we saw in the NFL.
I don’t imagine the NHL won’t have lots of positive tests given travel and what not – nor will they have the flexibility of re-scheduling that a league that only plays once per week does.
A complete breakdown of the transition rules.
https://puckpedia.com/news/21TransitionPP
Does that “OR” mean what I think it means as to Klef being exempt from selection?
I had this exact conversation with Hart from Puckpedia last night.
At the end of the day, there is still league discretion to exempt the player from the draft and, current verbal is that Klef is aiming to be ready for camp for the 2021/22 season – if that remains come July, I don’t imagine the league deems it career-threatening and uses their discretion to exempt Klef.
PuckPedia
@PuckPedia
·
Dec 20
Replying to @coopsie39
If a player misses more than 41 games, they’re potentially exempt from meeting exposure requirements and potentially exempt from being eligible to be selected, all subject to NHL’s approval.
I think it’s very safe to assume that if the league has any subjective decisions to make regarding the Oilers they will not be going in our favour
This will definitely help teams like the NYR who have a lot of bonus laden contracts.
Vancouver too.
Yup. I didn’t mention them because I figured you would take care of that. 😉
Could help the Oilers as well if Bouchard gets material games – Bouchard, Yamamoto and Smith are the one’s that have performance bonuses (well, McLeod as well but I wouldn’t think he’d play NHL games this season and, even if he does, not enough to vest his bonus (and its only $55K to start with).
I’ve never been a breakfast eater. maybe because of the puffed wheat and powdered milk. Yuk.
Dim Sum is a serious upgrade.
Finally found a local Dim Sum supplier and he’s a wholesaler!
Very positive update from the IIHF – no new positive tests among players – just one among the German coaches who will stay in Quarantine until the 30th.
Looks like the bubble should be Covid-free from now on and the tourney shouldn’t have any additional hitches.
Wed – CAN/RUS – the one and only Canadian pre-tourney game.
Late in the day and I regret not getting here sooner. Any time LT breaks out the old timey hockey talk it is a good day. Thanks for the early Xmas gift, you are the poet laureate of hockey blogging.
Some quotes from Holland on Bear (per Brownlee) – I’m still miffed the zoom call with the media wasn’t made available live:
“I’m always concerned until you get a deal done,” Holland said of negotiations. “We’ve had talks. (Assistant GM) Bill Scott has a real relationship with Ethan’s agent (Jason Davidson), so I’ve got Bill Scott really being the point person. We’ve had a number of talks. We’ve got to get at it now, we’ve got to get at it . . .
“I would like him at camp. I’d like him signed. I’m sure the player and the agent want the same thing. We’ve got to find something that works for the player and works for the club. I’m prepared to do, whether it’s one-year, two-year, three-year – we haven’t talked anything other than one or two or three years. Hopefully, we can find a solution and get him into camp. He’s an important part of our team.”
https://oilersnation.com/2020/12/21/from-the-top-edmonton-oilers-gm-ken-holland/
—————
Bear will get done in the next week or so – I’m confident. As I alluded to the other day (yesterday), I figured, given where the team is cap wise and how much has been in flux, now that the GM is fully in the know about the parameters of roster, taxi squads, how bonuses will work and has a full idea of the cap parameters, he’ll hammer it out with Bear.
Of course, I was told those things didn’t matter but then, of course, on Oilers Now today, Holland expressly mentioned that he’s now in the know and will work to get the deal done.
Another Gzowski-esque classic from LT on this darkest of days (astronomically).
Edmonton in the late 70’s for us was evaporated milk, mixed with powdered and water (Calcium overload?!?) over the aforementioned puffed whatnots.
My best memory of the puffed cereals wasn’t the taste but the fricking size of the bags, like pillows and so light that my bro and I would fight over who’d bring them in from the car (leaving the other to carry the ‘real’ groceries). A few puffs were definitely spilled in the process.
C’mon hockey!
John Gambadoro
@Gambo987
· 3h
Coyotes are close to signing former Oiler and Blackhawk center Drake Caggiula to a one year deal.
Elliotte Friedman
@FriedgeHNIC
·
25m
Sounds like $700K on this deal for Caggiula
Ken Holland un-doing the Caggiula-Manning trade.
Just kidding. You can’t undo that.
Feels like covid cover. Don’t think he’d make the roster opening night but I don’t mind him being back.
Edit- Just realised it’s Coyotes, not Oilers…
I really don’t want to play any team 9 or 10 times out of 56 games but it is what it is.
Could end up playing the same team 17 out of 63 games.
The original six was 5 x 14 = 70 games.
Back then you were allowed to hate the opposition players now it’s usually one big love fest.
I’m pretty happy to see it for just this year. It should make for some really exciting and heated games.
The Kassian beating tachuk and also Kassian fighting 3 Phoenix players are some of my favorite hockey moments.
I still remember the reffs being awful in that Phoenix game.
Was joking with a flames fan that the EDM and Winnipeg games would be brutal for them.
You are showing your age OP. 😉
Up until the late 60’s they played 70 games with 6 teams. It was great hockey to watch. You could know something relevant about every player on the ice for the whole season which is pretty difficult with 31 teams. Different dynamic but I wouldn’t say it was inferior from a fan’s perspective.
And, in a 56 game season, every game takes on added significance within a division.
It will be interesting to see the intensity level and which teams can maintain it through the entire season without burning out.
That is a test that usually only comes with playoff hockey in an 82 game schedule with lots of teams in rebuild mode. I don’t see any really weak or dominant teams in the Canadian division and any team that thinks Ottawa will be easy will probably regret that. I think the games are going to be old school intense.
Yep. It really will resemble season long playoff hockey.
Really looking forward to it.
I’m sure in the Calgary games, Tippett will be glad he can throw a Neal/Khaira/Chiasson line out there. Wonder how many of the 10 vs Calgary Smith plays?
I guess it depends on how long his play keeps him on the roster. 😉
He might only be on the roster for those 10 games. Can’t beat having an enforcer on the ice at all times in those games
No problem with Klefbom taking the season off to get healthy. But how long does it take to *decide* to have surgery?
We are days away from 2021 and he is still deciding?
Oilers last game was in August.
It’s possible he is working through some rehabilitation therapy to see if that can provide a long term solution for his shoulder and that would take time to see if it is effective. If that is the case only if it doesn’t work or at least isn’t showing enough improvement, would he then decide to undergo corrective surgery which as I understand it in his case comes with more risk than typical for shoulder surgery with potential long term ramifications.
So many afternoons lying on the living room floor staring at the newspaper boxscores. Trying somehow to make it last longer, imagining the plays they represented. Looking for the Perreault – Martin – Robert combination. Knowing the attendance in Buffalo would always be 16,433.
Not a big surprise given the hints last week that Ontario would replicate Quebec’s Boxing
Day lockdown launch, but NHL is going to have to stay flexible. Ford has confirmed they’re not yet ready to sign off on the proposals they’ve been working on:
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/doug-ford-ontario-nhl-arenas-season-1.5850432
I still think the Leafs and Sens will be able to home games in February or even at start of season. But it was fairly obvious that some provinces want to see how bad of a Christmas bump they get. As for earlier comments here that the provinces have a deal to keep, everyone including Gary knew it was too early to sign off and you can see a lot of sensible flexibility in the NHL’s announcement yesterday.
Interesting that some American teams will have fans in the stands.
The Dallas Stars will have 5000.
~ Why so weamish? Current limit there is 50% of capacity ~
Apparently they had to reduce numbers to allow for social distancing.
Reid Wilkins (@ReidWilkins) Tweeted:
Holland says he got a draft of the schedule about an hour ago. Expects travel will be about the same for everyone in the North.
Confirms the Oilers will play Calgary and Vancouver ten times each.
https://twitter.com/ReidWilkins/status/1341117463895756802?s=20
@reporterchris
· 1h
NHL teams have started receiving drafts of their 2021 regular-season schedule: It sounds like they’re generally grouped in two-game segments against the same opponent, although there’s also some three-gamers and I’ve heard of at least one instance of a four-gamer (!)
That should make for some really fun series. Looking forward to this season
Gene Principe (@GenePrincipe) Tweeted:
From @EdmontonOilers GM Ken Holland on @ryannugent93 contract “basically our conversations have ended but hopefully we can find a solution to keep Nuge in an @EdmontonOilers uniform but the deal has to work for both sides”
https://twitter.com/GenePrincipe/status/1341114558119698432?s=20
Looks like Nuge is headed to the market.
Elias Pettersson is a free agent at the same time as Nuge.
I guess he’s heading to market as well – free to sign an offer sheet with any team.
Thankfully for Benning Quinn Hughes isn’t able to be tendered an offer sheet – he hasn’t re-signed yet either so its clear his preference is to go to market.
Pettersson will be a RFA under team control.
He’s not going anywhere.
At liberty to sign a contract with any other team.
He is at liberty to test the market at the exact same time as Nuge, on June 28, 2020.
If Nuge not re-signing now means he will be testing the market, then Pettersson not signing by now means he will be testing the market.
Of course Pettersson isn’t going anywhere and today’s quotes on Nuge doesn’t mean he’s going anywhere either. The follow up quote is that he hopes to resume talks soon – he’s simply got more pressing things right now with a training camp in two weeks.
That’s just nonsense and you know it.
Its nonesense just as it is to state that Nugent-Hopkins will be testing the market.
The point.
Hahaha…you just can’t seem to grasp that talks between the Oilers and Nuge have broken down…from the lips of the GM.
Yes, things can change but there will be several teams that will have the cap space to offer more than the Oilers especially Seattle.
It will depend on whether or not Nuge is willing to take a haircut to stay in Edmonton…Holland has already said the deal will have to work for the Oilers.
As for Pettersson, there has been no breakdown in talks and the only way he leaves is if he signs an offer sheet which would have to be in the range which would return four first round draft choices and, even, then the Canucks could match it.
If Nuge leaves, the Oilers get bupkis.
Trying desperately to equate the two situations is ludicrous.
Talks have broken down? Sounds make up given the information.
The Canucks absolutely need to sign both Pettersson and Hughes. Both players know it and have all the leverage, Look for them both to get term and max money
That’s after he has a career year.
And that’s how you won asshole of the year!
Video of Holland on the Nuge situation.
Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) Tweeted:
“My hope is to find a solution to keep Nugent in Oiler uniform. Certainly that’s my goal, but the deal’s got to work for Ryan and the deal’s got to work for the Oilers.”
@EdmontonOilers GM Ken Holland gives an update on contract talks with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ camp. ⤵️ https://t.co/fgg2QPhv6T
https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1341130649248403459?s=20
That doesn’t sound like it’s broken down at all. It sounds like they’re both waiting to see what happens once the season gets going. There’s so much in play for the next few years in terms of when fans can get back in buildings, Seattle entering the league etc. I can imagine Nuge not wanting to rush to sign a long term deal when there’s a chance that he might take something less than he’s worth – right now there’s no need to sign right away for either side – look at Gallagher in Montreal this past season, there were rumours he was looking at moving right up to the day he signed the contract, turned out they were all garbage.
This is a non story until next summer.
The lack of the Bear contract is another matter.
Its pretty clear from watching the video that they had some discussion around free agency opening (the week before and after) but the market is in so much flux right now that they should stop negotiating now and wait until the market settles and they have a better idea of it.
A non-issue and one that makes sense.
It feels like whenever the Oilers need to sign/resign anybody. You comment about how the player wants out of Edmonton for reasons x,y and z…
Looking forward to your posts on Yamamoto, Nurse, JP, McD and Drai…
Sadly I agree Nurse could be gone.
No way Nuge goes, imo. Fans love him and he’s the 3rd most important player on the team.
Plus Edmonton has enough cap space next year
Holland on with Stauff:
Canadian Division should be very competitive
Ottawa and Montreal both made some good moves.
Bob asked about a PTO or a signing – Holland said he wants as close to 36 skaters as possible for camp so there can be some internal pre-season games. Likely won’t bring in any forwards to camp, maybe an AHL player. He is exploring options for d-men
Klefbom is officially not playing for 2020/21 but is aiming for 2021 camp. Still exploring options for surgery or not but is aiming for September 2021 and camp.
Just had a GM call yesterday – had lots of conversations with Tipp and Bill Scott and Gretzky and need to get invites out to players today or tomorrow – there is an NHL quarantine period. If fly in to Edmonton, even if coming from inside Canada there is NHL protocol for a number of negative tests, etc.
Nobody has indicated they won’t be at camp other than Klefbom. There are a couple of players that have been in close contact with Covid or have Covid they will need to deal with. For example, Haas was recently in close contact so he can’t get on a plane until the 29th and, once he returns to Edmonton, will need to quarantine and take 4 negative tests so he won’t be on the ice on the first day.
Nobody has indicated they are opting out but there could be a couple of situations similar to the Hass above.
They will have meetings and presentations with players to ensure they are on board with protocols and limiting behaviors to ensure they stay safe (to the extent possible).
Holland believes players will be tested daily.
Talking about depth – Sees Turris as 3C (can go up if he needs to go up but he knows his role is 3C). Anticipating good competition in the bottom six.
Got a draft of the schedule. Should be released in next 4-5 days. We play a lot of games. There is a stretch of 16-17 games in 30 nights – going to need lots of bodies and we don’t know the impact of Covid on the team – hope to have good fortune. Got really good depth up front.
Is there concern that Bear won’t be signed for camp. Holland says, as of now, no concern but now start to get at it – now that we know the rules and there are deadlines, its time to get at it. We’ll got to work and find a solution in the next week or so.
————–
Its interesting – doesn’t sound like the org and Bear have done much work on the contract and that will heat up now.
Thank you for this.
Thanks OP. I see I was wrong about bringing in that many for TC and now that Holland has talked about having enough bodies for scrimmages it makes sense. I don’t know what they are going to do with the guys they cut but I have to assume they have a plan.
I’m not sure where guys like Niemelainen will end up going. He’ll technically get assigned to the Condors but my guess is he’ll stick around Edmonton until official word on the Condors and a start date for their camp – if they do plan on the early Feb start, their camp should start near the end of the Oilers camp, as per usual.
Not going to put too much stock in this upcoming season. The divisional alignments are interesting, but I think it’s a bit of a crapshoot who comes out of it. The Canadian teams aside from Ottawa are all pretty good, and I really think it’s up in the air who makes it. I think whoever hits the ground running (without preseason games) will have the best shot of making the “playoffs”. Lots of change on the Oilers so I’m not super confident they will be able to do that. Fingers crossed. It’s another asterisk year though, regardless of whether teams do well or poorly.
All the Canadian teams have numerous changes. I like to think it makes everything more exciting! I do think that a large number of people are underestimating Winnipeg. I am a die hard Oiler fan!
Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) Tweeted:
Oilers GM Ken Holland says that Oscar Klefbom is out for the 2020-21 season.
https://twitter.com/Bob_Stauffer/status/1341100387529453568?s=20
Reid Wilkins (@ReidWilkins) Tweeted:
Holland says no one has indicated they won’t come to camp, but adds a couple of players have been in close contact with people who had COVID-19. One of them is Gaetan Haas, who likely won’t be able to be on the ice at start of camp.
https://twitter.com/ReidWilkins/status/1341101061348622336?s=20
he‘ll be on the waiver wire to start the season.
I anticipate Nygard is currently 15F with a healthy roster and ahead of Nygard on the depth chart.
I’m guessing Benson?
I’ve got Benson as 16F and on the taxi squad (along with Nygard, Bouchard, Lennstrom, P. Russell, Quine and Forsberg) – maybe Cracknell over Quine – maybe Marody if he’s healthy.
Just teasing you about your post above where you have Nygard ahead of Nygard on your depth chart.
Oh, i missed that – whoosh!
No surprise but I guess it will end all speculation.
I say it’s 50/50 Kelfbom ever plays another game. Pro athletes just don’t take basically a year and a half off in their primes for chonic pain just ask Brett Farve and the many others that masked their pain to continue to play.
What do you mean we don’t know the training camp roster, I posted it just yesterday – just kidding, of course, just my opinion:
My 36 skater training camp roster:
McDavid, Drai, Turris, Khaira, Haas, Marody (if healthy), McLeod, Quine
Nuge, Kahuan, Ennis, Neal, Nygard, Benson, Gambradell, Griffith
Yamamoto, Kassian, Puljujarvi, Archibald, Chiasson, Russell, Cracknell
Nurse, Jones, Russell, Lagesson, Lennstrom, Niemelainan
Bear, Larsson, Barrie, Bouchard
Room for a PTO
Koskinen, Smith, Forsberg, Skinner, Wells
Hardly likely there will be PTOs unless the player is already in Canada.
The General Manager seems interested in bringing in another d-man or two to camp.
I wonder if there are any professional hockey players in Canada?
Definitely no hockey players sitting around in Canada, lol.
I wonder if that might favour the Canadian teams a little since more of the unsigned players could easily attend camps in Canadian cities. Basically a larger PTO pool than normal (and smaller for the US).
Holland is on with Stauffer at 12:10 and then he has the media zoom call at 1.
Will be interesting to hear if any substantive comes out of it.
A Canadian Division All Star team.
https://www.tsn.ca/yost-assembling-a-stellar-lineup-from-the-all-canadian-division-1.1567043?tsn-amp
Yeah. Puff piece.
What would your six player the am look like?
It’s a ridiculous exercise because of the parameters he set. Not sure if you read them or not but one guy has to be from every team and a different position – so automatically a puff piece. That isn’t how you construct a team.
You had your chance to offer your opinion when the thread on the top 13 core pieces from each of the Canadian teams was being discussed. As far as I know you said you would list yours but never did.
……or a “puffed wheat” piece…
Remember, Jupiter and Saturn in conjunction tonight, around 6:30 PM in the southwestern sky, supposedly just above the horizon (last one visible was nearly a millenium ago). Last year in the Mayan calendar (by some counts) begins today.
Have been eagerly anticipating that event but woke up this morning to the heavy wet snow that occasionally gets dumped on Vancouver Island.
Last time this happened we got three feet overnight and life was paralyzed.
Did you spend the day trolling the snow removal guys?
What are snow removal guys?
No snow here, just non-stop heavy rain.
Good thing because I think there’s only one snow removal truck on the Island.
You should know they are hard working northern people and probably related to you!
Mrs. HH?
A great visual here:
Canadian Space Agency (@csa_asc) Tweeted:
What do you get when you cross two gas giants? A cosmic kiss!
Jupiter and Saturn will meet in the southwestern sky after sunset on December 21. The two planets haven’t appeared to be this close since 1623.
Photo: Pete Lawrence https://t.co/44qgtTBIIP
https://twitter.com/csa_asc/status/1340733842873856000?s=20
Sad, but fairly nourishing. And I expect much better than the “soylent green” our neofeudal overloads will be feeding us in a few years.
Puffed wheat squares, as a desert, was a thing.
You have to tell them godot10, Soylent Green is people!
They’re already testing the market. I belong to the Angus Reid online survey group and was asked a host of questions about how happy I would be to give up meat in favour of a “plant based” diet even if it’s more expensive.
They’ll be taking the last tenderloin from my cold, dead hands.
“You will own nothing, and you will be happy.”…The Great Reset. Building back better.
After the video went viral, with that tagline, they had to disappear it.
It is still on Joe Biden’s twitter bio. ‘Build Back Better’
The world can’t agree on, literally, anything.
But dictators, to socialists to military juntas to Joe Biden. Governments around the world are going to ‘build back better’
Before 2020, I was not a conspiracy theorist.
I tend to view it differently. I always try to remember to thank my Jewish & Islamic acquaintances for helping to keep the price of bacon down.
The more vegans the better. Less demand for the good stuff.
I use the same thought process to tease my wife’s gay friends but not all of them think I’m funny. The ability to laugh at yourself seems to be an acquired skill not universally distributed. 😉
A self proclaimed comedian has to remind himself of the crowd he is playing to. One of the hardest things to learn in life is how to laugh at oneself!
At 8am you were eating puffed wheat with powdered milk (don’t ask, it was a sad combination)
Here is the Lowetide we all love and enjoy.
My step-mom used to mix powdered milk with real milk. It was so bad it made my Cap’n Crunch soggy.?
Didn’t everybody’s mom do that?
Meanwhile our government was sending powdered milk as aid to countries where everybody was pretty much lactose intolerant.
A simpler time.
Frosted Flakes were the worst for getting soggy. Loved my Cap n’Crunch and my Alpha-Bits. Once in a blue moon, my mom would buy Lucky Charms. They were magically delicious, you know.
My brother and I have been doing a hockey draft for ages now with some good friends, and as we get older and have kids and jobs we actually care about, it’s harder to find time to hang out.
We would rent a cabin for a weekend in September, pretend that we can still play football, crush some beers, and spend usually about 6-7 hours on the Saturday afternoon doing the draft. Rotisserie league, snake draft.
We knew that wouldn’t be an option this year but had hoped we could at least hang out by Christmas.
Ah well, looks like a draft over Zoom. Will still be fun but won’t be the same. Pretty much like the NHL season.
Belanger, Letestu, Brodziak, Sheahan, Turris feel like the same bet.
Turris was seen as a lower end 1st line centre earlier in his career. The others were considered 3rd/4th/5th line centres, depending on the year and their team’s depth.
Would you call JFJ and Hemsky the “same bet”? They were both first line wingers, true, but had an enormous difference in their actual ability to play hockey.
Turris is a much better bet – the only question is how his footspeed is and whether it’s a liability.
Excellent signing Turris and Tippett go way back first time in awhile Turris will have zero pressure contract wise and playing above his weight class. First time in forever we not only have a real 3C but he’s above average he’ll take minutes away from Connor and especially Leon who were gassed by the end of most games.
I don’t see how posters are suggesting any kind of chemistry between Turris and Tippett. Didn’t Turris demand a trade out of Arizona when Tippett was coaching?
Wasn’t Turris’ request for a trade based on a contract holdout?
Letestu was a utility knife that did his job.
Geez, I’m not sure I’d put even 3 of those guys in the same “bet category”.
I’d group Belanger and Letestu as “Not bets, serviceable vets”. Brodziak was “Maybe he still has something left in him”, Sheahan was “Maybe we can revive his career”, and Turris is “Maybe we can get a top-niner for the price of a fourth liner”.
I agree with the others – Turris is simply not in the same category as the other players mentioned. Even in his down years in Nashville he was a much better offensive producer than any of the guys (even when Letestu was scoring on the PP).
I was refreshing the site this morning waiting for the new post, wondering if others got antsy for the morning post. My thoughts drifted waiting, thinking we have it pretty good to have a daily forum with actual content I enjoy, that’s delivered on time. Then along came today’s title, and then a great story about the past with an opposing connection to my previous thoughts… awesome!
Just wanted to say, love this place you’ve created LT… thanks!
I hope BC approves the NHL’s plan, seems they might be the hold up from what I read. I do wonder which version of Kyle Turris we get for the season. Can he get 15 goals, or dish the biscuit to his wingers for 15? Will 12-12-12 (36) goals be acceptable for the 3rd lines contributions?
Hoping for a Leafs-Flames and Oilers-Jets playoff round. Then pick which team you hate more for the Oilers to stomp before making their way to the US for the final 4. Let’s Go Oilers!
‘Will 12-12-12 (36) goals be acceptable for the 3rd lines contributions?’
I’m just hoping the line can manage 45% goals for (well, i’m HOPING for even more than that).
But 45% would be a really big improvement over the 30-35% GF for last year’s 3rd line.
I think Turris and whoever else ends up there can manage it!
36 points in 56 games seems high for 3rd line expectations – isn’t that top 6 production?
Either way, yes, I do expect the 3rd line (and the 4th) to score more goals than it has in passed years. I don’t know if it will be able to cut back on goals against but I think the increase in goals for should push them close to 50%, if not over – certainly better than previous years.
The indirect effect of a bottom 6 that can contribute offensively should not be under-stated – if it comes to fruition, it takes mental and physical pressure off the top 6 – including decreasing minutes and increasing 2-way effectiveness (less mental and physical fatigue) – in theory!
Yes, forgot about the condensed schedule, weird I can still divide by zero with this calculator too… I think you and JP have this surrounded what to reasonably expect… I agree on all your theories regarding Turris, we just need that to turn into fact.
I was quoting Brantford Boy there. I thought (think) he meant goals scored by each member of the line, so 36 goals total by the line.
For sure 36 pts in 56 GP would be high for any 3rd line. I think we agree otherwise.
I think the hold-up currently is not just BC but Ontario and Quebec as well.
I think they will get there with the two eastern provinces, not sure about BC.
As of right now, all 7 teams are approved for training camp at home except for Montreal.
—————
On Turris, even as a massive disappointment in Nashville, his three years were apx 0.66, 0.5 and 0.5 P/G.
Even if he doesn’t rebound production wise, a 3rd liner producing on a 40 point pace is a huge uptick for the Oilers.
At the same time, I expect an uptick in production – fresh start, less pressure, likely easier match-ups and, from accounts, he just never got on the same page with Laviolette, from day 1. That won’t be an issue with Coach T. – they know each other well.
Beauty, my thoughts as well. Foil…
Beauty, my thoughts as well. Goil
coming from a family of nine growing up in the fifties/sixties our staple was also puffed wheat with the aforementioned powdered milk and porridge in the am…also the margarine that had the packet of yellow powder that made it look more like butter than lard…but the worst was puffed rice…that never made a great impression…Dad was a montreal fan and my mom till very late in her years would always make beans and bacon and brown bread every sat night and watch HNIC…simpler times…
First Lowetide’s post and then your comment raining memories from my own youth. Nobody misses the powdered milk or margarine with the disgusting die pack but the beans & salt pork with brown bread just out of the oven on Saturday night?
That was good stuff.
In a good week we got weiners chopped up in the beans. Not too bad if you added a bit of brown sugar and a squirt of mustard to the dish.
I will be honest – I loved it then. Have not had it in years…but love beans. Love wieners..
Haha. Mrs. Hair and I tried it last week for old times sake. Loved it.
The advantage of living on a farm was you always had fresh milk and home made butter. Edmonton Flyers were the farm team for the Red Wings, so Gordie was the MAN.
So is everybody on this site collecting OAS cheques? 😉
I am for sure!…was thinking about being out at the rinks all day ( one for pickup hockey and the other to skate with your squeeze until you froze your feet (pleasant view rinks)…then had to fight for a spot at home in front of the heat register to warm the toes…fun fact …we had natural gas furnaces but they were gravity furnaces (no one had thought of adding the fan yet!)….
Just a bunch of old farts are us! It is actually not a bad group to be part of as the alternative is a buried subject pardon the pun! To all of you old farts best of the season! Stay happy stay healthy and as Red Skelton used to say “ God Bless “!
ahh the Edmonton Flyers….so many memories..my buddy and I snuck in many times via a back door in the old Gardens…and sometimes at age 15 or so, we even were given the prestigious job of penalty box attendant….(open and close the box doors)…no pay of course, but we got to keep all the broken Northland sticks…took the home, glued and wrapped with fishing line they lasted for about 3 slapshots ! and Yes the Wings came through once a year to play an exhibition game….Gordie was the best.
Puffed wheat and powdered milk was a staple for me from the age of 10 to about 14. Puffed Rice was the next level below awful, with Puffed Wheat being just awful. However, powdered milk was simple terrible.
Sugar always made the worst of “meals” taste better.
But that dag blam onion belt, let me tell ya….
Dentists made a lot of money off those breakfasts. 😉
@PuckReportNHL Friedman: I think Canucks players have been warned about possibility they could be playing in Edmonton to start the year. Either a road trip or temporary home base is EDM. Also possibility of a hub. Only team that can’t start camp at home is MTL, don’t have approval at this point (h/t OP)
We can all relate to that. Guests come to town and no matter how hard you hint they just won’t leave.
Since nobody can be in the stands, I’ll just have to boo them playing on Edmonton ice from my couch anyway.