There’s something happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear. I’ve watched the Oilers for so long it’s possible to see patterns forming. This year’s pattern was win an extra game a month, with an additional overtime loss every second month, and get about 12 points for every 10 games.
On the weekend, Edmonton did something unusual, defeating the Calgary Flames home and away in two different fashions. The Friday night game was especially interesting, as the club played a button-down style. That’s a great game if your team can manage it. Next night, freewheelin’ Connor McDavid blew the doors off. There was a time, not so long ago, when the McDavid method was the only bullet in the chamber for the Oilers.
Last night? Dig a hole, climb out with 45 minutes of desperate hockey, win late running four lines. Edmonton is finding more ways to win than in the past. Good sign.
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: Revisiting our preseason predictions for the Oilers after 20 games
- New Lowetide: Oilers begin to separate from prairie teams in Scotia North
- New Lowetide: If Dylan Holloway turns pro this spring, will it be with the Oilers?
- Jonathan Willis: Could an Ethan Bear trade improve the Oilers?
- Lowetide: Is Oilers centre Kyle Turris playing himself out of the NHL?
- Lowetide: Tinkering with the Oilers’ top six — what are the best line combinations?
- Lowetide: Philip Broberg and the Oilers’ Leftorium
- Lowetide: Jujhar Khaira, a waiver reset and the Oilers’ future at No. 3 centre
- Lowetide: What to do with the Oilers defence now that the rookies have arrived
- Lowetide: Mike Smith’s return calms the Oilers goalie hysteria — for now
- Lowetide: Bakersfield Condors are back, but true NHL prospects a roster rarity
- Lowetide: Dylan Holloway caps strong NCAA season with Hobey Baker nomination
- Lowetide: Oilers rookie Evan Bouchard’s 2021 NHL debut — a shift-by-shift review
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers report card for January
- Lowetide: Some of the Oilers’ Russian prospects less than a year from the NHL
- Jonathan Willis: Oilers need misfiring elements to come together — and fast
- Lowetide: 3 auditioning Oilers who should be given time to find their groove
- Lowetide: Oilers Kailer Yamamoto is the real deal.
- Lowetide: Is this peak Connor McDavid?
OILERS AFTER 21 GAMES
- Oilers in 2015-16: 7-13-1, 15 points; goal differential -9
- Oilers in 2016-17: 12-8-1, 25 points; goal differential +10
- Oilers in 2017-18: 7-12-2, 16 points; goal differential -18
- Oilers in 2018-19: 10-10-1, 21 points; goal differential -8
- Oilers in 2019-20: 13-6-2, 28 points; goal differential +13
- Oilers in 2020-21: 13-8-0, 26 points; goal differential +11
This team overcame a 3-6-0 start and is on a 10-2-0 heater. We’re coming up on the halfway point of the season, it’s seven games away. I think 66 points gets a team in the postseason. If that’s true, Edmonton would need 40 points from the final 35 games. That seems possible, as the team is well ahead of that pace currently.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM FEBRUARY
- At home to: Ottawa (Expected: 1-0-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
- On the road to: Calgary, Ottawa, Ottawa, Montreal (Expected: 2-1-1) (Actual 3-1-0)
- At home to: Winnipeg, Winnipeg (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 1-1-0)
- On the road to: Calgary (Expected 0-1-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
- At home to: Calgary (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
- On the road to: Vancouver, Vancouver (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
- At home to: Toronto (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected result: 7-4-1, 15 points in 12 games
- Current results: 8-2-0, 16 points in 10 games
Edmonton has recovered from the January start and are now pushing past what would have been a productive month (my prediction was aggressive). Two more games to play, this team could grab 20 points in 12 games, a pace that would result in 93 points in 56 games. That trajectory is extreme, but it does show how much the team is getting done in February that will benefit in later months.
LINES, LAST NIGHT
- Nuge-McDavid-Puljujarvi played 13:42, 9-11 shots, 0-1 goals, 5-4 HDSC and 19-17 Corsi five on five. The line played well, although the goals came from other trios or in different game states. Nuge had an effective night as a two-way winger (2 HDSC), plus came to JP’s rescue when Antoine Rousel lost his head. McDavid was incredible all night (his goal came after some fantastic passing), one HD chance and about one dozen out of this world passes for chances. Jesse Puljujarvi was on the receiving end of a few of those passes, two HDSC , 7 shot attempts, five hits and a live witness video of Roussel’s rage and lack of hockey.
- Kahun-Draisaitl-Yamamoto played 11:31, 7-8 shots, 2-1 goals, 5-2 HDSC and 12-13 Corsi five on five. A strong night for this line, best one in some time. Kahun scored twice, including the enormous goal early in the third that put a charge in the Oilers, and led the team with three HDSC chances. Draisaitl had three assists, his giant paddle the world’s largest magic wand. Yamamoto picked up an assist, blocked a couple shots, drew a penalty and was around the puck all night. Three quality performances.
- Ennis-Khaira-Archibald played 9:13, 4-4 shots, 1-1 goals, 2-2 HDSC and 10-8 Corsi five on five. Another solid game by this line, Ennis scored the GWG (making up for his earlier tip that helped a GA), Khaira had an assist and played a physical game and Archibald was most visible on the PK. This is a useful line.
- Patrick Russell-Haas-Chiasson played 6:01, 4-2 shots, no goals, no HDSC and 6-5 Corsi five on five. Russell is exactly as I remember, never out of position and always working. Haas had a solid game even if he wasn’t rewarded with a point, he’s going to take minutes away from veteran NHL players this year. Chiasson picked up an assist and had another great chance.
PAIRINGS AND GOALIE
- Russell-Larsson played 17:28, going 2-9 shots, 1-2 goals, 1-2 HDSC and 13-19 HDSC. Russell had a takeaway and three blocked shots, Larsson had an assist on the GWG after hammering the puck at the net. He also blocked 8 shots and played 3 minutes on the PK with no GA. I chuckled at how much this pairing played, I think it shows how Tippett wanted to play the game (in terms of style).
- Nurse-Barrie played 15:48, going 11-12 shots, 2-1 goals, 7-3 HDSC and 20-21 Corsi five on five. Nurse played a strong, physical game and didn’t take the bait when Roussel started running around. Effective coverage. Barrie had an assist, three good looks and eluded forecheckers like walking in the park.
- Jones-Bouchard played 10:28, 7-2 shots, 0-0 goals, 2-1 HDSC and 12-2 Corsi five on five. Jones was calm, didn’t wander out of position and played it safe. Bouchard had four shots on goal and passed well, showed good mobility. The Oilers have two quality defensemen here, who could sustain the team with fine play for a decade.
- Mike Smith stopped 30 of 33, .909. He won that game after a start that was three days past miserable. The ref looked like he interfered in the first GA (I think it was an illusion but it didn’t help) and then Tyler Ennis raced to the blue line to get his stick down in time to create a perfect arc on a Tyler Myers deflection. Finally, Elias Pettersson showed superhuman hand-eye on the third goal. But Smith stoned Vancouver from that moment forward. Impressive.
CLAUDE JULIEN
Julien had a fairly significant role in the Oilers organization around the turn of the century. He graduated Jason Chimera, Jarret Stoll, Fernando Pisani and others to the NHL before going on to coach the Habs, Bruins (Stanley) and then Montreal again. Habs fired him this morning. I don’t believe this was a wise move, although teams changing out coaches during a season get a lift often.
OILERS ROSTER FIVE ON FIVE PER 60
This is a impressive scoring team at five on five, and not just the top two lines. Kahun got healthy in a hurry and the two young skill RW’s are hanging around in the 1.60-1.90 range. Lots of offense from the defense. Goalie numbers are five on five save percentage. Mike Smith has made a difference, don’t let anyone tell you different.
LOWDOWN WITH LOWETIDE
At 10 this morning, TSN 1260, we have a busy and fun show for you. Bruce McCurdy from the Cult of Hockey at the Edmonton Journal will break down last night’s game. I have a feeling that Antoine Rousel is in for a real dressing down. Joe Oborne from OddsShark talks NHL value bets, NBA teams that offer value and an early look at the MLB season. Joey Alfieri from TSN 690 in Montreal pops in at 11:25 to help us make sense of the Claude Julien firing in Montreal. Plus details of a brand new contest you’ll want to win! 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. Talk soon!
Testing. Testing. 1. 2. 3.
This is not a drill. I repeat. This. Is. Not. A. Drill.
I lied, it was a drill. I’m not a bot anymore! Woohoo!
i couldn’t post yesterday, got that red fading message thingy that others got.
have to refresh after posting now
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NEW for The Athletic: When he arrived back in Edmonton for 2020-21, there will still some questions about Jesse Puljujarvi. They are now asked and answered. He’s earned a spot on Edmonton’s protected list for the expansion draft.
https://theathletic.com/2407094/2021/02/25/lowetide-jesse-puljujarvi-must-be-on-the-kraken-protected-list-after-breakout/
Would be nice to sweep nucks.
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Ryan
I haven’t had any problems logging in or getting logged out, but I post infrequently so take that for what it’s worth
I can always get to the most recent post, and for the most part I can usually see the comments, although in the last couple of weeks I have had to log in once or twice before I could see the comments
Munny mentioned an odd little quirk that appears during the game day threads, usually as the daily post count climbs into the 100’s
I navigate the game day threads by clicking refresh, THEN the comment bubble, and then the page lands at the comment box, with the most recent post just below the comment box
I then scroll down to read the most recent comments. Rinse, repeat frequently during the game
During the game day threads, usually DURING the game, a single post AND the replies seem to get “trapped” just below the comment box, but on top of the most recent post. This “trapped” post is the last thing to load during the refresh…it just kind of appears after everything else loads.The trapped post is random, and the original post (and subsequent replies) may have been posted hours before
During last night’s game, it was LT’s 2 intermission recap that was the trapped post, and because nobody replied to the post, it wasn’t that big of a deal. When the trapped post has multiple replies it’s a little more obtrusive
Other than that, the site is fine. I miss the old site with the comments at the bottom, and a reply and quote comment buttons, but I understand the limitations of WordPress and goDaddy
Surface Pro 7 with WIN10, Chrome browser
Android mobile with Chrome
ps-thanks again for the effort, the community does appreciate it
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I’m still absolutely amazed at the point production from the bottom six and the d-men since the 9 game mark. What a change and what a team they currently are.
When someone scores two no look sniper beauties from the Gords on you, that man officially owns you.
Connor Mcdavid owns David Rittich, this is not up for debate.
Doesn’t matter that one team has 26 points while the other has 20.
Doesn’t matter one team is +11, while the other is – 5.
All that matters is that David Rittich checks in with his owner Connor Mcdavid.
So now the rubber hit the road.
The Leafs next 5 games are against the Oilers (3) and the Canucks (2).
The Oilers next 5 games are Leafs (3) Flames (1) Ottawa (1)
Flames next 5 games against Ottawa (4) Oilers (1)
The Flames should be able to make up ground (and they play Ottawa again in game 6).
I recall each of the future standings predictions from last year based off schedule, kept calling for the Oilers to fall, fall, fall – they never fell out of 2nd.
I recall apx 10 days ago, the future standings predictions based off schedule, called for the Oilers to slide…. down to fifth. All the Oilers did was gain points on every other team in the division.
Just wait…here it comes.
The Oilers missed the playoffs last season.
What part of this don’t you understand?
The NHL and the rest of the world recognize that participating in the play in counts as making the playoffs. That is why the NHL lists the Pittsburgh Penguins streak of consecutive post-season or playoff appearances as still active despite them losing to Montreal. What part of that don’t you understand?
Why were play in stats counted as playoff stats then?
Tell us again how Brogar Raffleteen is going to leave Bouchard in the dust. lol
So flames probably looking at a split against Ottawa and a loss against Oil
Yeayyy??
You are underestimating the Sens. They have a record than the nucks and equal to the phlegms over the last 10 games.
Yeah, yawn, points will be had, maybe more than 2 a game and some teams will rise slightly, some will fall slightly, but the season is sorting itself out – playoffs = To, Edm, Wpg… the only suspense here is who gets the 4th spot as cannon fodder in the first round.
Man, the worst possible outcome. Three point games suck unless regulation wins are worth three points.
At least the Leafs didn’t get a regulation win – that may matter.
Nylander in on all 3 goals tonight. In photo on Calgary’s and then he pots 2.
Maybe we can at least get a goaltending controversy in Calgary out of this.
Having two goaltenders above .910 is a blessing not a curse.
Try and play along. 😉
It does point to how difficult it is to predict what you are going to get from your goalie one year to the next though.
And, yeah, lucky for the Flames Rittich has come out strong after Ward played Markstrom into the ice to start the season.
Markstrom has always had issues when he’s overworked.
That Rittich has stepped up for a bit bodes well for the Flames.
I blame Ward for throwing him out there night after night without enough rest. Tippett didn’t have much choice when Smith went down but Ward overplaying Markstrom smacks of desperation which seeps into the player’s psyches imo.
the flames do not have that.
Oh sorry..please forgive me.
Yes, .909 is not .910.
You win…here’s a cookie.
Don’t eat it OP it’s an ‘island’ cookie
When one has a history of posting false “facts”…..
#toobin
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Everything working?
In browser on Windows laptops:
Can’t post. Get stupid message that promptly fades before you can respond.
in Safari on iPhone:
Try to post
Looks like it hasn’t loaded
When I hit post again that disappearing prompt comes up
When I refresh page can see the comment stuck.
At present can only comment using iphone.
Big save Dave looking pretty good against the Leafs tonight. Conflicted on who I want to win this one!
Are we allowed to hope they both lose? 😉
I’m good with any result but OT.
Dom’s model has Connor as the leading contender for the Hart and Nurse 4th for the Norris (Petry, Faulk, Makar).
Wait, wait, wait.
Justin Faulk as a Norris candidate?
I’ve liked him more than most here over the years, but that’s a bit much.
abcd
That should be ACDC
BTO or ELO are much better.
I would not disagree
GFY is a very underrated punk band
MGMT
I hate the interwebs today. Between the plumbing of this blog going haywire today, and trying to schedule my dad for a vaccine on the AHS website, it has been hell
Keep trying – just got my dad’s appt this evening, after trying all day.
ELP.
That is all.
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KMFDM
They suck
The Condors’ game tomorrow night has been canceled due to Covid-Protocols in San Jose. That sucks but even more because it was the only game in a LONG stretch. They last played this past weekend and their next game is March 3.
Heck, Maksimov may be on the team by then (unless he is called up to CSKA after Zveda Moscow is out of the playoffs shortly).
Can’t argue with practice time though.
Lots of new player personnel in BAK this year.
Bouchard has 31 shots on net in 10 games.
The only D-men to average over 3 shots per game last season were Josi, Pietrangelo, Burns, and Theodore.
Crazy that Bouchard is doing it in 15 minutes with little to no PP gravy.
Tip mentioned today that Zack has NOT had surgery on his injury (whatever it is – hand, finger, etc.).
Mike Smith is 5 wins away from usurping Kelly Hrudey and Bernie Parent for 50th place on the all-time goaltender wins list….9 more wines and he slides past his old crease partner Marty Turco in 48th place.
9 more wines and you’d slide too
Tip was asked about lineup for tomorrow:
Lagesson won’t be ready for tomorrow.
We’ll see where Bear is.
Turris, if he gets through practice today, he could be an option for tomorrow.
Also monitoring some injury issues from last night – some guys didn’t skate today.
Question…
Are the comments now back working as per usual (with the new system)… OP? Munny? Sierra?
Vote + for yes
Vote – for no
I can post my comments, but still after I hit the Post Comment button, the grey entry box remains with the text in it instead of disappearing once the comment is posted. I just refresh the page so it disappears and my comment is posted. I haven’t tested the edit feature recently.
Browser? Tablet, phone or computer?
Chrome Browser on my laptop. I rebooted by laptop, which logged me out of Lowetide.ca. Like OP, got the spam alert a few times when I tried to log back in. Later this evening, I was able to log back in, and now everything seems to be working well for me.
They were working for me – slowly – but now they work but I can’t see that they worked until I refresh.
BTW just want to mention that I really appreciate the work you do on this site to keep it working. The old site was as inconsistent as Smith’s goal tending. 😉
Thanks!
It sounds like this could be an issue with the WPDiscuz plugin. There have been a lot of updates for this plugin over the past few weeks. Hopefully, this resolves with a future update.
I am using Firefox at work right now on Windows 10 and I am not experiencing this issue. I’ll check at home as well.
As I mentioned earlier, since apx 2pm, everything on my end was fixed (and is better/faster than ever – its been slow for a few weeks now on my end).
It was something to do with WordPress.
Thanks for feedback, OP.
I can’t seem to replicate the comment box issues that some are having.
I’m using my IPad now. Everything seems okay.
I doubt you will get this, but below I made a joke about feeling left out because I wasn’t getting blocked. I tempted fate. This afternoon I started getting the big red box of ‘you are blocked’ popping up (never happened before). Now it doesn’t do that – but my comment doesn’t seem to be added, pressing ‘Post Comment’ has no effect. I’m on Mac, and have tried on both Chrome and Safari. Redbird above mentioned pressing post and then refreshing the browser, so I’m about to try that… fingers crossed. (and this is only happening today – things have been fine since the rebuild)
Evidently Redbird’s method of pressing refresh worked … a bit of a pain though. Let’s hope the WPDiscuz plugin glitch resolves itself.
When I post a reply on either iPad or iMac…it posts but I have to refresh the page to see it appear.
I was having trouble but if you get this we’re good.?
Sorry I couldn’t post or do anything and eventually had to leave the house. I don’t really know yet, but if you’re seeing this… then I can post!
I am however having the same problems as everyone else still
LT, Can you comment about faceoff success?
It seems to me that this is an area the team is getting beat.
Last night it contributed to 2GA; the vs WPG they were getting crushed I thought.
The home commentators mentioned that Dougie Gilmour would purposefully loose a few in neutral zone to lift the opponents eagerness just to crush them in the zone.
Apparently, the top faceoff guy in the league right now is a subject of trade interest. And wouldn’t you know it, he’s from Holland’s old team.
the FO win percentage I find to be very flawed as every face off is treated the same
You are not going to try as hard on a center ice face off with a 4 goal lead vs a face off in your own zone protecting a 1 goal lead with 1 min left.
to start I would throw out face offs in the neutral zone
I can see Holland looking at a guy like Sheahan out of Buffalo as a cheap center depth acquisition.
I’d prefer Staal or Haula out of Nashville if they end up selling.
What prospect/pick acquisition cost would Haula cost if they retain half of his $1.75M (as the Oilers have no cap space)?
I’m starting to believe (and Bruce mentioned this on the show this morning, or on the post-game CoH pod, can’t remember where) that maybe Mike Smith “is more” than his save percentage – his normal save percentage these days, not his current heater.
Maybe there is something to this “swagger” he gives the team, maybe there is something in the dressing room he provides, maybe his help on the breakout (when he’s not being overly aggressive) helps more than we/I think, maybe he provides a confidence with the team….
Am I being fooled by a heater?
Since the turnaround after Christmas of 2019, in the regular season, Mike Smith is now 17 wins, 3 losses and 4 OT, sporting a .916 save percentage and a 2.62 GAA. While technically not a loss, because Koskinen gave up the winner after the Jet’s game was tied, I think he is as much responsible for that loss, but he’d still be 17-4-4. We’ll never know if he would have bounced back in play-ins given he was pulled (appropriately) after 26 minutes and never got a second chance. The team does seem to play differently in front of him.
He may still have some of that inconsistency show up, but when he is on, he is full marks for his performance. I don’t get the sense he is just getting lucky with the puck hitting him or the opposing shooters having an unlucky stretch. Perhaps he is one of the lucky few athletes who age a little slower than their peers and can play near their peak capabilities for longer. I admire his drive and I think that rubs off on the rest of the team.
I believe this was the point I tried to make at the time he was re-signed. Not my first choice (or Holland’s apparently) but not the tire fire most were claiming.
I said I think after Smith’s first outstanding start I never bet against the willpower of an elite athlete in the short term. The fewer number of games this season and the extra time off might have actually helped him. Still a long-term problem. Looks so far like Holland’s 1 year gamble paid off.
I think when he isn’t over playing pucks – he is a huge boost to possession.
I’m seriously wondering if they spent a solid amount of time reviewing this aspect of his game in the downtime…I swear I’ve seen more than a few times where it feels like he mentally checks his impulse and lays off in situations that were absolutely tire fire inducing last year.
He becomes a material determent when he’s “aggressively looking to make an impact” – that’s when he (a) wanders too far (and gets caught for empty net goals), (b) tries stretch passes that given up possession or go for icing and/or (c) forgets about the primary job of stopping the puck.
He came close once last night with a pass across his own crease that was maybe a foot from a defender who would have had a tap in.
Hmmmmm, so maybe there is something to his consistent winning record as an Oiler.
As long as we can “rest him” when he goes all “December 2019” on us.
A pile of valued posters have been getting blocked since early January, sincere apologies and thanks to OP for letting me know this was happening. I’ve gone back to Jan 1, so if you’re still blocked please email me and I’ll fix it. Thanks! And Sorry!
If we weren’t getting blocked, does that mean we weren’t valued?
Yes, absolutely. You should be offended. 🙂
Elite posters put in the work instead of pout when things don’t go their way.
FYI, If I don’t respond to any of you please don’t be offended. In this new comments area I feel like Michael Scott wandering the streets of Scranton in that Season 7 episode.
Jim is such a douche!
Flames/Leafs tonight – I’m not sure what to desire other than the two point game.
I think the Oilers can catch the Leafs but, at the same time, 4 against Ottawa helped turn the Oilers season around and 5 against Ottawa could do the same for the flames.
Of course, as I’ve stated many times, the Sens are not an easy out and the Oilers shoudl get full credit for those 4 straight wins (other teams aren’t doing that to the Sens). The flames need to earn those wins but, ultimately, they are a better team than the Sens so they could make it happen.
I’m a huge Sens fans these days.
It would be nice if the Sens can get 2 coach’s fired in a 12 day period.
Easy: Keep Calgary down
Khaira and Ennis – valuable players in the Oilers recent stretch of success.
Both available on waivers recently for $1.6M and $1.0M.
Both are currently providing value for the Oilers at their cap hits
Hughes is clearly a fine offensive talent, but he has a long way to go in defensive awareness before he can hope to be considered a legitimate first pairing D. He had a great view of both of Kahun’s goals providing no meaningful defensive support whatsoever in either case. Even missing Klefbom, and with Bear out for the last 10 games, the Oilers blue line is vastly outplaying the Canucks blue line. And Nate Schmidt looks far more average playing with the Canucks than he did with Vegas.
Also – why is he playing with a third line plug defender in Benn?! Benn is alright but Hughes needs a better partner to back him up.
He was supposed to play with Hamonic, but Travis got injured early in the season. He is expected back soon. The Canucks thought their defensive pairings were doing okay recently (based on xGF/GA), but the game is won and lost on actual goals. Neither of those two goals Kahun were as much Benn’s shortcomings as they were Hughes.
Hamonic taking line rushes today but he has played so few games in the past year it’s very hard to know what he will provide.
Hamonic was supposed to be the Tanev replacement and Benn was slated to be the #7D but Hamonic’s injury upset the applecart.
Hughes has been far from stellar defensively but much of the blame being sent his way is actually a function of the team being too fragile at critical parts of the game.
As we saw last night, when the opposition amps up the pressure, their structure falls apart and they quit making the simple plays that would allow them to hang on to a lead.
Watching last night’s game, you could see them wilt when the 3-1 goal was scored and then it snowballed as it has more than a few times this season.
With the playoffs now a moot point, the team’s goal for the rest of the season should likely be playing their younger players to see what they have in each case.
One bright spot has been the play of Juolevi who has been very solid in a quiet kind of way.
Juolevi, the guy who is 18 month older than Evan Bouchard, and drafted 2 years ahead of Evan Bouchard and who Evan Bouchard outplayed on the London Knights at the age of 16 in Juoveli’s draft +1 season. I guess compared to the rest of the tire fire the Canucks are right now he would look decent. But Bouchard is already clearly outplaying your snide predictions for him and looked pretty decent in his 14 + minutes per game as well compared to Olli’s 13 per game.
Joulevi lost most of two development years to injury.
Way too early to call.
Go watch Hughes’ puck watching on Kahun’s 2nd goal…he’s in no man’s land, not covering anyone, doesn’t even “Jultz” at the cross ice pass….If the puck is not on his stick does he provide any value in the dzone?
Yeah..I saw that…just one of a few Canucks who looked paralyzed.
Hamonic is “better than Benn” but he’s not even close to Tanev as far as covering for an offensive-minded, defensively deficient d-man. He’ll help but not to the level Tanev did last season.
test,
Am I the only one not having problems posting?
No issues here.
Unless you’re talking about restraint 😉
I’m not a prolific poster by any means but the few times I’ve posted on the new site, it’s been fine for me. But I get that thing where I sometimes can’t see comments until I sign in. But other times, I can see all comments without having to sign in. It seems random. But posting has been fine.
Whenever I see people write “test”, I assumed they were getting ready to do something grand, like insert a fancy GIF or something and I wait with bated breath. To no avail.
I was having major problems for a few hours earlier today. I kept getting some “prove your not a spammer” page – similar to the page from a few months ago that needed an addition equation added. Nothing worked though.
Eventually, I got like 7 e-mails from Word Press stating that my request had been approved and its working better than even now. This was at apx 2pm.
Aside from today’s issue, the site had been pretty slow for me over the last 3-4 weeks but, since 2pm today, better than ever.
I’ve been availed! Not exactly what I was expecting, I guess, but thanks!
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So Roussel has always been a punk and deserved a more severe punishment than a minor and a $5k fine. The look on Jesse’s face was priceless after he got popped. Hopefully somebody takes him aside and gives him a few tips on how to protect himself next time someone goes Ninja on him! NHL is still a man’s league!
So Roussel has always been a punk and deserved a more severe punishment than a minor and a $5 fine. The look on Jesse’s face was priceless after he got popped. Hopefully somebody takes him aside and gives him a few tips on how to protect himself next time someone goes Ninja on him! NHL is still a man’s league!
It’ll be interesting to see the first player Jesse goes ballistic on. He’s does seem to have a little Esa in him on some of his reactions.
Like I said last night, so far our boy is more golden retriever than junkyard dog. If he figures out how big and strong he is and gets a taste for a mean streak, he could turn into an absolute beast.
I thought Yamamoto had his best game since early in the season – he had that motor going last night and was effective in battle, drawing penalties and on the attack – great game.
Jesse Puljujarvi is a physical specimen and his passing is starting to become high end – if only his center could cash……
The Jones/Bouchard pairing looked very good last night and the numbers back that up – what I haven’t dug in to, and don’t know, is how they were deployed as far as sheltering, etc.
————
I was dead wrong on Mike Smith and my statement that “when he doesn’t have it early, he rarely finds it” – he found it and was massive on that PK in the 2nd and on the SH breakaway and solid in the 3rd.
Great job!
A superb profile of the Habs new Head Coach.
https://theathletic.com/346597/2018/05/08/dominique-ducharmes-long-road-to-the-canadiens-bench-followed-a-well-executed-plan/?amp#click=https://t.co/LxHfHcjxeT
Is the blog loading really slow/not at all for anybody else or is this an issue on my end?
Since LT and Ryan overhauled the site I still get weird issues now and then where:
-i get logged out randomly from the site
-the daily articles sometimes don’t load at all
-sometimes the daily articles do load, but with no comments
The other day I visited LT on a desktop. Saw the daily article with zero comments
I went to the site on my phone where I was not signed in and the article was there with all of the comments.
Oddly, this is the only site I visit that has these kinds of issues.
I’ve experienced all of those things too, but also on the old version. One that would always happen was I wouldn’t be able to see the new article at all if I wasn’t already logged in.
Some of the issues have carried over. The GoDaddy hosting has a cache that needs to be setup to flush at certain intervals or done manually after a post is live.
I don’t have access to the Godaddy account.
Caching for websites speeds things up while reducing server load, but if you’re not logged in the caching will prevent you from seeing the current comments or sometimes even the current post if it hasn’t been flushed.
Ahh, thanks Ryan. Good to know. My issues aren’t as persistent as they were before the overhaul so I appreciate your work on this and replying.
Its been fine since you upgraded, for me.
I’m sure maybe I’ve been logged out or whatever but taking two seconds to recognize in if I want to reply is a non issue to me.
I have the same issues, plus the random log outs midday, mid-post, mid-refresh. In fact i had to log back in to post this reply.
I also can’t log in from my phone any more.
And when I use the Comment Box button it invariably picks random posts from earlier in the day and stacks them on top of the more recent ones. Snce it usually picks ones with multiple responses, this is quite annoying, especially during a game.
And then there is the Refresh seemingly picking random spots for one to go to in the thread, every refresh. Really kinda bizarre.
I’m using Firefox, you?
Can’t say I’ve experienced those. I also use Firefox. When I refresh the only thing weird that happens is sometimes I end up at the bottom of the page. I do get the random log outs, but I assumed that had to do with me logging in back and forth from my laptop and phone (both using Firefox). But now I’m logged in on both at the same time, so I that wasn’t the case after all.
Now I’m wondering if it’s Firefox and WordPress not playing nice with each other.
I use Chrome. No problems. Try it out.
Also, it’s only been a few minutes, but I can no longer edit this post above.
Which might be related to a problem I had a few seconds ago, where one hits the Add Comment button and nothing seems to happen. You hit it again and it says duplicate content. I then try to Edit, but it doesn’t let me (likely because the other comment, which allegedly has already been posted is sitting there in Edit mode). So then you hit refresh, and of course the system asks, “Are you sure, because you have a comment unsubmittted on this page” (paraphrased), which of course it told me earlier I couldn’t submit because I had already submitted it.
This happens a couple or three times a day.
Have you tried turning it off and on again?
I use Firefox at work. Safari for Mac at home… Ipad and IPhone without any issues.
I have a terrible habit of updating plugins around lunchtime which is probably why everyone gets kicked out around now.
I’m not going to wake up at 2 am to update plugins though.
Oddly enough, since the refresh I’ve only had to log back in once.
Prior, I used to experience plenty of the issues described by Side and Munny.
I’ve recently switched from Firefox (been an avid fan since the Netscape days) to Brave which I believe has helped my browsing experience exponentially.
YMMV.
Brave was caught auto-completing affiliate links to its own affiliates. I don’t think I will ever be using Brave.
That’s news to me, do you happen to have a link so I may learn more?
I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the experience with Brave compared to Firefox because it doesn’t seem to consume resources so intensively on my ancient MBP.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/brave-browser-caught-redirecting-users-through-affiliate-links
To follow up for anyone who’s interested.
Something to keep in mind and be aware of going forward, but as I’m unaffected and much prefer the experience of Brave vs Firefox et al I will continue using Brave.
For now.
Thanks for your perspective.
Nothing like getting blamed for wrecking the website when I drop by today! 🙂
Some posters have terminally short memories, unfortunately.
Before I updated the site, the only way I could find the current post was to click a link from Lowetide’s Twitter feed…
So I would find his Twitter post with a link to the current article. I’d have to click that link just to find the current post. I would write a comment and get kicked out. Then I’d have to log in every time to post again or refresh the comment thread. On occasion, I’d have to go back to the Twitter link to find the current thread.
Overall, it was so frustrating that it drove me to harassing LT into allowing me to update the website. It took a fair bit of persistence on my end which is understandable when you’re a random person on the Internet asking for the keys to the blog. He probably thought I was running a phishing scam.
I had to lead in with my best shot to get his trust, “Hey LT, I know Woodguy. I like met him once.” Then, “hey, I’m ‘Ryan’ but not really Ryan…”
For me personally, things have been working quite well, in comparison, since the website was updated.
There are limitations inherent in the current GoDaddy hosting setup. LT has a pretty fair hosting package with them which is the understatement of the year.
When I last looked into it, it would cost an exorbitant amount of money to potentially improve the website hosting, with no guarantees that there wouldn’t still be issues with server load spikes.
In short, there’s nothing more that I can really do unless LT changes hosts or adds a CDN.
It works a lot better for me and a lot more consistently since you updated compared to the last couple of years. It’s still not perfect but I’ve noticed an improvement. Thanks.
The only issue I had with the old site was not seeing comments till I logged in, no big deal. I experienced nothing else you described above. For me this has been the exact opposite journey to yours… from an enjoyable experience to a very frustrating one.
This is five posts in a row now, that don’t appear to submit when I hit Add Comment, nor can be edited after.
I am sorry that you’re having issues, but I don’t have an explanation. Is anyone else having similar problems? I have never had that issue with any device. Also, there’s a time limit on how long you can edit comments.
When I have hit Post Comment it attempts to load, but the entry screen stays. Turns out my posts did upload, but I have a duplicate or two as do others. Also won’t allow me to edit even in the first 30 seconds. This problem has only been today. That I have to login in frequently even though I have not cleared my browser history in a while, is an ongoing problem.
I updated the comment plugin today. I just flushed the cache. Hopefully, that fixes any new issues from today.
The website was nearly completely broken, especially on the backend. I was even surprised at how bad things were when I was given access.
I talked my way into the job, but when I had a first look, I wasn’t even sure that I could fix things.
It was running an old and no longer secure version of WordPress since the theme was not compatible with the current version.
There were things I had never seen before. The widget.php file was broken and you couldn’t even move widgets around.
In short, the issues were nearly above my pay grade. I honestly suspect if things were left to linger, LT might have lost his entire site or it would have been a monumental repair job from a backup file on hand.
Yes, for a few weeks, but especially bad today. I use an iPad and have tried Firefox, Chrome and I’m now using Safari.
Roussel gets a $5K fine.
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/canucks-roussel-fined-5k-roughing-oilers-puljujarvi/sn-amp/
Why down vote this?
90% of the audience doesn’t give a damn about what the goal post abuser has to say about anything ?♂️
Test reply
Why did CFP get booed in every arena outside his home rink?
I’m boggled that there are comments daily regarding the “voting”.
It remains surprising to me that the mature adults in this community care, at all, lets alone so much, about the voting. I put zero credence in to “the votes” and don’t use them.
As far as why in relation to the above – it could be a “thumbs down” to the league’s decision as opposed to in relation to the post itself.
Give toddlers crayons and they’ll write on the walls.
Thanks…I am surprised the NHL did anything…
It’s a shame that’s the max allowable fine under the CBA.
Doubly so that he wasn’t suspended after the fact.
Department of player safety have handed out 87 rulings that cost money or games since September 23, 2017 to February 24, 2021. The dirties team?
Five rules against a player on there team –
Calgary, Philly, SJS,TBL, Ottawa, Boston, STL and Edmonton
Tom Wilson has 4 rulings against him
Add Klef + Holloway then move 2021 1st and Jones for Gibson.
Let Barrie walk in the offseason and resign Larsson to a 2-3 year deal. Buy out Neal.
Profit.
Great game last night. Nice recovery season by Jujhar. He seems to out GF his CF. He’s still poor by the CF numbers. But still great progress to be able to contribute offensively.
I read that as Klefbom, Holloway, Jones and a 1st for Gibson and nearly choked on my goldfish crackers.
I don’t think Jones and the 2021 first rounder comes close to getting Gibson. The draft is going to be mess this year and a late first rounder will have much less value. The discussion would start with Broberg and a first.
It would in all likelihood be Holloway/Broberg, a first, Koskinen and something else.
Problem is they’re actually over the 50 player limit right now so a move like that would be for the offseason unless they did a one for one. Maybe something like Price or a franchise player.
So was I really on to something when I said Mike Smith is part of the leadership of this team?
I mean, um… ofc I was right. Duh. Pfft. Obviously.
It’s been said so much in the media, it would be difficult for anyone to believe otherwise.
Imagine if he was too busy finalizing his new contract with the Flames to text him back.
Anybody think MTL will finally branch out from their prejudicial hiring practices requiring their head coach to be a francophone? Put winning ahead of politics and hire the best candidate?
Me either.
What’s Gerard Gallant up to these days?
Biding his time to join Stevie Y in DET, I’d assume.
Is he francophone? He’s from PEI, I think he’s French in name only. (Could be totally wrong about that though)
I believe that is correct.
Alex Burrows is a NHL coach. Please keep your fingers away from the Habs bench at all times.
What a time to be alive.
I will think twice when I see a puck “mistakenly” fired into their bench from now on…
Would you trade Mike Smith for Jacob Markstrom, 1 for 1?
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Holland was playing 4.5D chess last summer while the rest of us were playing checkers.
Oshawa Generals
@Oshawa_Generals
Congratulations to @TylerTullio
on being called up to the @EdmontonOilers
affiliate, the Bakersfield @Condors
!
Might as well, while they can.
My fav prospect.
Agreed, he is one of my faves as well. By being assigned does this mean he signed an ATO?
However it happened will be great to see him at that level!
All I know is they are able to play in the AHL until the Jr leagues start back up. *shrug*
Really. Is there some background to this man-love?
Nope. Just like his Tools (NPI)???
Looking more and more like there won’t be an OHL season.
https://london.ctvnews.ca/dreams-being-broken-right-now-province-shoots-down-latest-ohl-return-to-play-proposal-1.5320825
EDM Goal Share after 21 games (13-8-0)
Even strength (5v5,4v4,3v3)
97 w/o 29 (15-16)-48%
29 w/o 97 (16-7)-70%
97 & 29 On (7-0)-100%
Turris (6-13)-32%
Other (7-10)-41%
Net EV +5
Special Teams: 22-17
Net ST +5
Empty Net:3-2
Net EN +1
SO & PS 0-0
Net SO & PS 0
Net Goal Diff +11
Back when Woodguy lived in the ‘hood…
I think that’s the first I’ve ever seen or heard of the Dreamland Theatre. Nice to see they’re showing Jimmy Stewart on the big screen… in perhaps his worst all-time role.
I was raised in Edmonton in those years…allowed to roam and play throughout the day, but was told NEVER set foot in the Dreamland theatre…..my first golf driving range experience was at the foot of the hill behind the Dreamland..I think it was called the Grierson Hill range…(always had a tail wind ). Great Photo…thanks.
Look at that, you couldn’t find parking for the Shaw even before it existed!
McDavid’s line being minus last night is astonishgly bad luck. On for the garbage Smith goal and ringing more bells than the Morman Tabernacle Choir. I can’t wait until he bashes through that 50% glass ceiling on his way to 60%.
Got to also hand it to Dave (and Connor and Leon) for not getting sucked into that 7-0 97/29 number. They had another 2 minute offensive zone shift that lead to a drawn penalty. Other teams don’t even try to score when those two are out. I’d love to see the chances for/against for that duo this year. That number might finish the year better than some teams 5v4. This is why we laugh at chatter about Matthews or Pastrnak being in 97’s league. They could give 97 his Marner or Marchand (and the additional 25% points) but are choosing not to for the betterment of the team.
But the reality is, it seems to be most effective when it’s used as the changeup a couple times per game.
I can’t recall who the 3rd linemate was last night when they loaded McDavid/Drai together after that PK. Early in the season it had been Kailer but, in recent games, there had been some Jesse in that spot.
PDO pony kicking 97 in the head right now……while he leads the NHL in points.
Lordy.
It’s really something else.
McDavid-Draisaitl at 5v5:
40:46 TOI
6-0 GF
24-13 Shots (65%)
27-10 Scoring chances (73%)
9-2 HD Scoring chances (82%)
75% xGF
The W.W. Arcade NHL North Division standings February 24th using points percentage shown as points over/under fake Bettman .500
TOR +10
WPG +5
EDM +5
MTL +4
CGY 0
VAN -5
OTT -8
Use to shop at the downtown store. What a dump – but sure was inexpensive.
Yup, just a few blocks from the A&N Boutique
Mike’s News when you get a chance, fine sir.
I feel like the Edmonton Gardens should be involved here somehow some way.
Mike’s is certainly on the list.
As should the legendary Smoky Joe’s Smoke House on 156st- damn goof BBQ and his homemade BBQ sauce was to die for.
As should the legendary Smoky Joe’s Smoke House on 156st- damn good BBQ meats and his links and homemade BBQ sauce were to die for.