The Edmonton Oilers pushed the preseason record to 3-1-1 on Saturday night with a performance that was both brilliant and reckless. The coach, Dave Tippett, was predictably a grumbly man after the game, pointing out that Mikko Koskinen played well and the Oilers played “rotten” in front of him.
This is the time of year where the coach either wants to get everyone’s attention, and that’s likely part of it, or he’s genuinely unimpressed with some of the men he’ll be counting on this season. Tippett mentioned Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard, two important players this season.
I expect the coach believes it’s time to make like Archie Bell and the Drells and tighten up.
THE ATHLETIC!
- New Lowetide: Is this Jay Woodcroft’s final year coaching the Bakersfield Condors?
- Lowetide: How could waivers impact Oilers’ roster decisions?
- New DNB: Duncan Keith’s decline, by the numbers and video
- Lowetide: 9 bold predictions for the 2021-22 Edmonton Oilers
- Lowetide: Connor McDavid, Zach Hyman and line chemistry
- New DNB: Oilers training camp invitees tell us what it’s like to face McDavid in practice
- Lowetide: Why Tyler Tullio’s skill set is a good match for the Oilers
- DNB: Oilers training camp observations
- Lowetide: Why Colton Sceviour could be an important addition for the Oilers
- DNB: Derek Ryan Q&A
- Jonathan Willis: How can the Oilers find a long-term solution in net?
- Lowetide: What will three outscoring lines do for the Oilers and Connor McDavid?
- DNB: Oilers training camp questions
- Jonathan Willis: Darnell Nurse, in context
- DNB: The Oilers’ plan for prospect Philip Broberg
- Lowetide: Filip Berglund, sleeper option for Edmonton’s defense
- DNB: Cooper Marody Q&A
- Lowetide: The Oilers and the Cooper Marody experiment are at a crossroads
- DNB: Warren Foegele Q&A
- Lowetide: Oilers reasonable expectations for 2021-22: Goal differential
- Lowetide: Oilers’ reasonable expectations for 2021-22: Goal scoring
- Lowetide: What should the Oilers expect from Cody Ceci in his first season?
- Lowetide: Projecting the 2021-22 Edmonton Oilers opening night lineup
- Lowetide: What should Oilers expect from Duncan Keith in his first season?
- Jonathan Willis: Tyler Benson, Devin Shore and the 4-year difference between a prospect and a has-been
THE STORY
Mikko Koskinen stopped 31 of 34, .912. He also stopped many high-danger chances (11 of 14 according to NST) and was the key to Edmonton’s 4-3 win. If he can bring that kind of effort consistently, meaning he plays enough but not too much, the Oilers should do well with Koskinen in net this year.
Nurse-Bouchard played 16:22, going 11-12 shots and 1-1 goals. Nurse played 17:45, had an assist, two shots on goal and two takeaways (all at five on five). He also played a ton on the power play, and 1:19 on the penalty kill. Bouchard played a high event game (3-2 takeaway-giveaway at five on five), including over five minutes on the PP and just under one on the PK. Bouchard was passive against Toninato on the first goal, allowing a clear lane to the net, and then drifted to nowhere when Connor drilled it. I maintain the young defender’s biggest issue is he doesn’t look urgent in any endeavor, but he was clearly out of the conversation on the Connor goal. Bouchard was also on the ice (and doing good things) on the Shore goal, Nurse getting his assist there.
Lagesson-Ceci played 11:36, going 6-14 shots and 1-2 goals. Far too high event on the evening, Lagesson blocked a couple of shots and Ceci had three shots on net at five on five, both men saw PK action. Ceci made a nice outlet pass that began the journey for the Puljujarvi even-strength goal, that was a nice play. Ceci went walkabout on the Schiefele goal, leaving the Winnipeg center all alone in front of the net. Lagesson and Ceci were so far out of position on the Morrissey goal they could have been court marshalled for desertion. I will predict a series of mad shuffles next week on the three defensive pairings, only one blue can play with Nurse.
Broberg-Berglund played 9:40, going 5-4 shots and no goals. Broberg had three shots five on five, one lovely outlet pass, a giveaway, and got cranked again (just once this time). Berglund had a takeaway and a couple of blocked shots, he’s a safe player and probably lands as Broberg’s partner in Bakersfield.
Nuge-Draisaitl-Kassian played 11:10, going 6-12 shots and no goals. Leon’s back pass to RNH on the winner was pure gold, what a fantastic play. The line gave up seven HDSC, Tippett was all about LD’s back passes in the post-game. The line has been quiet so far this year. Kassian had two HDSC’s at five on five and took a penalty. Nuge had the winner, two HDSC’s, a takeaway and played well. Draisaitl was charged with two giveaways at five on five, and he was quality on the power play.
Foegele-McDavid-Puljujarvi played 9:21, going 2-3 shots and 1-1 goals. Foegele had an assist, a HDSC and drew a penalty. He’s a good player. McDavid had two assists, one at five on five, plus a takeaway. Puljujarvi was fantastic, aggressive forechecking, hammered some poor guy senseless, scored a power-play goal and a pure sniper’s five on five marker with terrific shot. He is 3-1-4 in two preseason games. Scouts compared him to Blake Wheeler on his draft day, you can see that player coming into view. Man he punishes when he hits.
Perlini-Shore-Turris played 8:28, going 5-10 shots and 1-0 goals. That damned Perlini got another point, would have been a goal but apparently went off Shore. Turris played center and won eight of nine faceoffs, Perlini had two giveaways and a HDSC. These three men could make the team and you’d have to give them the edge over a few prospects currently.
Griffith-McLeod-Sceviour played 6:46, going 5-3- shots and 0-1 goals. This line was part of the magical mystery tour in the Edmonton zone that ended when Josh Morrissey scored the third Winnipeg goal. The trio were closer to the net than the defenders, but I’m not sure that’s going to be enough when these men talk to the coach. Doing something while there would have been preferrable. Sceviour had a couple of good looks, Griffith had two takeaways and McLeod was on the PK for one minute. That Morrissey goal, would love to see a photo of the positioning when the puck went in. Wow. McLeod was down low, then committed to the corner man and not one soul in the asylum was watching Morrissey and close enough to do one damn thing. Head. Swivel. You. That’s hockey.
OILERS PROSPECTS PLAYING
I’ll be spending a little more time on the AHL, CHL and prospects this week, feel a story but it hasn’t landed yet. In the meantime, here are the numbers so far from Oilers prospects across the hockey world for 2021-22:
- LC Maxim Denezhkin, Lada (VHL) 9, 1-5-6
- LW Patrik Siikanen, JyP (Liiga) 8, 2-2-4
- LW Maxim Berezkin, Lokomotiv (MHL) 1, 1-1-2
- RD Max Wanner, Moose Jaw (WHL) 2, 0-2-2
- LW Maxim Berezkin, Lokomotiv (KHL) 10, 0-0-0
- LW Shane Lachance, Youngstown (USHL) 4, 0-0-0
- LW Jeremias Lindewall, MoDo (Allsvenskan) 2, 0-0-0
- RC Xavier Bourgault, Shawinigan (QMJHL) 1, 0-0-0
- LD Luca Munzenberger, Vermont (Hockey East) 1, 0-0-0
- RC Tomas Mazura, Providence (Hockey East) 1, 0-0-0
LT will give us the news at 10 if Marody has cleared or if we are sailing on…..oh, wait……
Did anyone notice the way Nurse coughed the puck up in his zone then skated right back BEHIND the Oilers goalie!?
Draisaitl must be showing him videos of German soccer star Franz Beckenbauer
: p
Rising Star Podkolzin, with no shots and -2 in a 3-2 win.
Just awful through 3 games.
I hope he makes the team.
Oh my…a 20 year old Russian rookie trying to find his way….who woulda thunk it.
Remember last night when you were pissing all over Jack Rathbone?
https://hockeystatcards.com/single-game-impact-card/12077
And, by the way…OEL had 4 shots on goal and hit the post twice.
Rising Star!
It’s a little funny that the Canucks are going to sign Alex Chiasson.
Still up in the air I think.
Both Sutter and Motte have not been available during training camp due to health issues linked to long Covid so their bottom line is very much in flux until those issues are resolved.
Boeser has also been ruled out for the rest of the exhibition season so they may sign Chiasson as insurance on a league minimum contract and send him to Abbotsford when things clear up.
This got caught up in the web because I included the word Covid in the outlaw words, with Francis and titillating. So, it’s back, because normal content like this shouldn’t be held back.
I noticed he played more than 8 minutes on PP1, so assume he’s in a good spot to make the team.
It’s not like the Canucks are overflowing with quality forwards, and. Chiasson has this annoying way of making himself useful.
JP = Happy face Gordie Howe
Drai = Jean Beliveau 2.0
McDavid = Bobby Orr playing centre(discussed at length back when he played)
Nurse = Up and coming defensive star
Smith = Grizzled veteran stay healthy
RNH = New contract returns a new player and astonishes everyone
Broberg = Can learn how to play at winning level fast
Bouchard = Will become a star player immediately
Hyman = Glenn Anderson 2.0 without the attitude
Keith = More concerned with his team verbals than his on ice play(better than fretting lol)
Perlini = Patrick Maroon 1.8 can become a valuable NHLer if stays healthy.
Tippett = Unless the team progresses next spring he’s probably history
Holland = Doing a better job than many give credit for. Has brought in and up many strong players to improve on last year’s 0-4 disaster.
Thanks, I’ll give it a read.
This is a hockey blog. We don’t post about Covid and vaccines because, as a group, we can’t handle it.
We can post about hockey, and women, and booze and fast cars and money. Pretty good at it as a group.
Vaccines? Covid? Can’t be done. And there are smart people here, way smarter than me. BUT it’s never going to be a reasonable conversation because it’s too big and people are getting their news from two different places.
I’m not disagreeing with you, I’m just not interested in getting my information about staying alive from people on a hockey blog.
Stop. please. I’m begging you.
Do you think a Flames vaccine or a Maple leafs vaccine would possibly be of use to their collective fanbase’s long term mental health?
But if you can’t get trustworthy medical information from anonymous posters on a hockey blog, where CAN you get it?! Where am I supposed to go, LT? A football blog?!
Honestly, it’s insane. This blog is the Tower of Babel sometimes. I imagine the day the Oilers win Stanley will be filled with thousands of posts claiming credit for the decisions, thousands more talking about whatever the hell pandemic is happening at that time with sixteen different views, and then thousands more about Brogan Rafferty Junior! 🙂
There will only ever be ONE Brogan Rafferty.
Have you ever heard of Paul Bunyan Jr.?
No, I didn’t think so.
I liked him, thus dooming him to failure.
Well, if there is a Brogan Rafferty Jr, you may as well rename this blog to be Brotide because that’s all anyone will ever want to talk about.
A thousand apologies, LT. If I ever pull that stunt again, kick me out!
In regards to your preferred topics:
go Oilers,
Shania’s still hot,
beer is good,
anything with a Hemi,
and wish I had more
Amen, brother!!
I apologize if my comment earlier stoked any flames, so to speak (didn’t see if it received any responses before it was removed). Wasn’t my intention. But that will be the first and last time I discuss those topics here again.
What do we post about if we don’t have any hockey, women, booze, fast cars, or money? Uh, asking for a friend.
Growing plants and gardens, rocks, movies, comedy, Lego, technology, bad sweaters.
So I Guess sharing the music is a given?
Musical discussion? Sure.
On the topic of lego, and beer, I was in Copenhagen this weekend. Great city. No Patrick Russell statue raised yet which surprised me.
getting my news from two different sources?
LT. I want a one stop shop for all my news ….in a hockey blog . (:-)’
kidding kidding
Yes I read that part. Godot’s link can take you to the site where you can do a VAERS Data Search.
I wonder if Skinner will get another game…
I doubt it unless Smith is out for any period of time.
Smith was scheduled to start tomorrow – if that holds, they probably rotate for the last 3 games.
I believe 3 days off after the last exhibition game prior to the season opener.
OK, so it’s not broken, just quiet.
Sunday nights are very quiet. Long weekends especially.
Me? I’ve got nothing.
I’ve never had such a paucity of things to say or opine about in regards to the Oilers.
This reminds of a trip to Vegas a few years ago.
So I’m at the final table of a poker tournament.
When I get to the final table, I’m in the middle range, but at this point, the blinds are so big and whipping around so fast that they punish inactivity.
The under the gun position pushes his stack and everyone folds to me.
I’m on the small blind looking at AQ off suit, the first decent hand I have seen in ages. I have him covered like 2:1 in chips.
The big blind has me covered 3:2 in chips and is very loose aggressive.
It’s either fold or all in at this point.
I can’t recall how many blinds I had left, but it might have been 4.
I shove my stack all in. The BB calls.
UTG turns over AQ off suit and the BB turns over pocket 3’s.
With the mirror hand, I know I’m almost 2:1 odds of getting knocked out.
What’s most probable occurs and I go home in 8th.
Folks, we’re all in on AQ off suit and waiting to see what happens.
We have a near balance worthy group of forwards… a d corps with some serious issues (Keith and Ceci), and a goalie tandem with lots of wobble.
Short of retirement or LTIR, there are almost no outs on the Keith contract.
We’re all collectively holding our breath waiting to see how things shake out.
A story so nice you have to read it twice.
EDIT: Ryan edited his post so now my comment seems like a compliment when originally it was poking fun at the fact that he posted the comment twice in the same post. Damnit, Ryan!
Well put. Oilers need 22-year-old Charlie Huddy rfn.
For now they’ll have to settle for plan B: play Darnell Nurse for 60 minutes every night.
Maybe but this is catastrophizing the worst case for all.
We don’t know that Keith/Ceci will have serious issues as the 2nd pairing – Ceci played there for half of last year and the playoffs with good results – his GA/60 essentially matched Larssons, albeit it with 4% less TOI vs. elites. With that said, his GA/60 was better than Larsson’s the year before (and best on Toronto) with similar TOI vs. elites. He can defend at a 2nd pairing level and has more 2-way ability. Keith’s numbers relative to his team are not bad over the last few years. There are many different numbers that show many different things. What they don’t show is how he will play when not the “go to guy” – at evens, on the PP or on the PK.
Maybe there are serious issues. Maybe they are much better than revolving door or tweeners/Larsson from last season.
Almost no wobble in Smith’s game last year and Mikko likely to bounce back at least somewhat from last year.
There are many different ways to look at and project the defence and tending.
The worst case scenario is actually much worse.
Injuries to McDavid and/or Nurse would be a huge calamity.
But you didn’t tell us how the Oilers season ended.. 🙂
I assumed he meant that they would finish 8th overall in the regular season, then hit the buffet and cheap slot machines.
Haha, could be. But my bad, I misread Ryan’s post.
I don’t play enough poker, and I’m too optimistic about the Oilers season (also, I can’t read).
Assuming I’m all caught up now, Ryan Graves is a Queen. Have I got that right?
When your season hinges on 2 soon to be 40 year old players, you may have some issues.
Kind of like going all in before the flop with a pair of 8s.
1:144
The Athletic about to enter the top 10 in projected standings finish – Oilers still yet to be seen.
Seems about right.
Unfortunately finishing 2nd in the Pacific doesn’t get you any more than it did last season when you have at least 3 powerhouses standing in the way of playoff success.
You mean Aces and Eights.
Draisaitl McDavid
Keith Ceci
1:4
I’m a bit of zealous gambler but I’ll take me some A Q off against pocket 3s all day. I like possibilities and it’s got possibilities. If I have 4 x BB and it’s been this long I’ll sit back and enjoy the ride.
It’s broken again.
What’s broken?
Test.
Do you have Elmer’s glue?
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Did anyone else last night notice how RNH saw Draisaitl with the puck then quickened his pace to receive the crazy outstanding pass for the goal?
RNH is a player I have very high hopes for this season. Something about a new contract and now he’s feeling like he really wants to play his best hockey.
Yes, Nuge drove to the net and the open space as he should.
Of course, Ehlers just stood there and let him, something I’m sure he wouldn’t have done with two minutes left in a tie game in the regular season (or playoffs) – full exhibition level effort from many veterans in this game (both teams).
Damn Yankees – Come on Nats!
top of 9th 5-5. craziest AL afternoon since 67.
In other news…go Boston
bwahahahahahahaha
Nugent-Bowman asked Tip if there is a chance he starts the season with 13F/8D and Tip’s response: “That’ll work out as the week goes on”.
For me, Tip (and Holland) are pretty traditional so I expect they want to go with 14F/7D. I think Russell’s status might play in to this. With Stalock and Archie going on LTIR, they will have room to have a 23 man roster plus Russell on regular IR to start the year – if Russell is indeed not quite ready.
Listening to Tip, one piece of info that wasn’t in the tweets from the media – he was dealing with a viral infection as he was coming out of quarantine – that’s in addition to having had Covid this summer (tested positive for the anti-bodies) and, now, myocarditis.
Not sure what, if anything, the viral infection has to do with anything but thought I’d mention it as Tip did.
Ty Tulio’s day is over as he takes a major and a game misconduct for kneeing near the end of the 2nd period.
He’ll finish with an assist, plus 2 and a couple of shots as Oshawa is up 5-1.
Exhibition still for the OHL.
Springer with a grand slam…. 9-1 Jays.
Looks like Jays doing their part. Need either Sox or Yankees to lose to force a playoff.
Too bad the Jays couldn’t donate some of their now-11 runs to WSH and / or TB.
Washington up 5-1 on Boston in the 5th.
Boston now tied. Yanks 0-0 in bottom of 9th with winning run on 3rd. 1 out. Jays on life support.Need one of them to lose.
LeBrun with an update on the status of coach’s on expiring contract.
Nothing we didn’t already know with respect to Tip mind you:
https://theathletic.com/2862064/2021/10/03/lebrun-whats-the-status-of-these-six-nhl-coaches-on-expiring-contracts/
Wow, amazing start to the day for the Jays:
Jays up 3-0 – bottom 2
Mariners down 4-0 – top 2
RedSox down 1-0 – top 3
Yankees – still scoreless.
Mike Smith left practice “feeling unwell” – he was scheduled to start tomorrow but we’ll see.
Better unwell than groin pulled. We pray.
I hope Josh fully recovers and has no permanant health issues.
On a hockey note, this will place him on LTIR (with Stalock) – lots of LTIR reserves being opened up presuming these two are on LTIR for the entire season:
Mark Spector
@SportsnetSpec
·
12m
BREAKING: Edmonton Oilers winger Josh Archibald done for the foreseeable future after tests show a summertime bout with Covid 19 had led to heart condition myocarditis. Destined for LTIR, buying Oilers $1.5 M in cap space.
Guess this explains a lot. Assuming his career is likely over. Hope he recovers. Oilers will miss his speed and aggression. Oilers are not a physical team and will be even less so now.
I wish Josh Archibald a full and speedy recovery. I also wish that for the health of other unvaccinated individuals that they open their eyes to see healthy young athletes are being impacted by Covid and that none of us are ‘immune’ to its effects.
My son (9yo) had a bunch of tests last year. They thought it was Kawasaki’s syndrome or myocarditis, as they are seeing it in a lot of kids who had Covid.
Turns out he just had “juicy arteries”, the internal diameter being normal, the outside being thicker than normal. Where as Kawasaki’s is like bulging the Seldom-Break hose of Wiley Coyote’s contraptions.
He still caught Covid a month ago!
Wishing Josh all the best.
Wishing your son all the best as well. I am a teacher and am most worried about our kids who are not yet able to get vaccinated.. my son also had Covid but has recovered fully, thankfully, and is now vaccinated as well.
Thanks! Both my youngest sons had Covid, lasted two days! But the effects and after effects vary so widely in people.
Sorry to hear, hope your your man is okay.
Thanks LT, he’s right as a prairie rain and twice as welcome.
As I said, he’s perfectly normal where it matters. The stress of the tests…that was a little more stressful for us.
After some other things, it kinda seemed like small potatoes.
His unease taking vaccine makes a lot more sense with this fact. It definitely is far from clear on that segment of population.
Brogan Rafferty is on waivers. No word on what it will do to the economy.
Rafferty may be washed out of the league, but the meme will live on.
NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
Poor guy never had a chance. Was marked for greatness by HH. Kiss of death!
I heard he’s the next Podkolzin. Look out AHL!
Anaheim’s loss is Austria’s gain.
And hey…whatever happened to former Oilers top 6 winger Dominik Kahun?
At least we realized Kahun was never going to win a Norris.
Did you also recognize he isn’t an NHL player?
Who? Kahun or Rafferty? Both in my eyes. Not to say they ever won’t be.
What’s the Great HH’s definition of an NHL player?
This is weak.
Joe Colborne got him a job bartending at Chilis.
Wins the thread.
Whataboutism at it’s finest.
I wonder what this means for inferior prospects Evan Bouchard and Ethan Bear????
Brogan had his lunch stolen by Jazz Ruthless.
Jazz Ruthless confirmed as next Bond baddie.
That must mean it’s only a matter of time before bouchard ends up getting sent unprotected through…I mean they were irrefutably on the same level as propsects with the condecesuous edge going to briebart brapperty
Jays up 1-0 on Springer home run!!!!
Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!
Per Nugent-Bowman:
Lines and pairing from Oilers practice:
Hyman-McDavid-Puljujarvi
RNH-Draisaitl-Yamamoto
Foegele-Ryan-Kassian
Perlini-Shore-Turris
Benson-McLeod-Sceviour
Nurse-Barrie
Keith-Ceci
Koekkoek-Bouchard
Lagesson-Russell
Confirmed Benson is on the ice which is very good considering his groin issue. Can’t be too serious.
Elliotte Friedman
@FriedgeHNIC
Waivers today include: DeSimone, Gravel, Phillips, Welinski (CAL); Griffith, Marody (EDM); Baddock, Dauphin, Dea, McNiven (MON); Aberg, Heatherington, Sherwood (OTT).
Not Pontus!
Noooo, that’s a mistake by OTT
Will Marody get claimed?
No.
I hope for his sake he does. Guessing Oilers have closed the book on him as far as making the big club. If he doesn’t get claimed he probably ends up in Europe next year.
If Marody gets cleared and continues to be a play drive and PPG guy in the AHL, he could be an in-season recall option. The door closing on him is because he simply didn’t do enough to keep that door open. He was outperformed by every single other tweener competing for 4-5 spots.
Who could possibly have seen that coming?
The Fat Lady just exited stage left.
You don’t have to share when your wife leaves the room!
By Canucks.
That would be the best possible thing to happen because then we’d get to see bizarro hype machine reversal about his AHL numbers.
LT – not sure if you were being funny regarding your comment on Perlini would have got a goal if not for Shore, but I highly doubt that goes in if Shore doesn’t deflect it. Perlini made a good decision to shoot but Shore also did his job and deserves full credit for the goal. No different than Puljujarvi scoring off Drai’s shot on the PP.
we need more goals like this especially with our offensively minded D get the shot through and good things can happen.
Especially from our 3rd and 4th lines, since they won’t get nearly as many goals off the rush or tic tac toe passing plays. It helped than even Turris was in frame in front of the net helping with the screen and chaos in front. Forecheck, cycle, get bodies in front, take the shot, go for the rebound, rinse repeat. Not as easy as it sounds, but I think the Oilers have the personnel to improve upon this compared to past seasons. Neal, Kassian and Khaira had spurts of making this style work and possessed many of the necessary skills, but all three had injuries or illness issues at various times last season.
Berglund, Broberg and Konovalov assigned to the AHL. No surprises there and great camps from Berglund and Konovalov – either could potentially play NHL games this season – in particular Berglund. Broberg got better as camp went on.
Griffith and Marody on waivers. No surprise there but a disappointing camp for Marody.
One point of note, a number of the bottom of the roster players were playing their second game in 21 hours with travel – Griffith, Shore, Perlini, Sceviour.
I think that was also 5 in 7 for 3 or 4 players – that is alot of hockey for those guys.
I think that’s also Bouch’s 4th game in 7 nights, if I’m not mistaken.
Fatigue might have been a factor in their play last night.
4 games in 7 nights is a frequent occurrence in the regular season.
Are you suggesting that player’s conditioning for games one week into pre-season is comparable to mid season?
Training camp is no longer a vehicle for getting into shape.
And, in fact, many players actually lose conditioning during the season as their bodies wear down.
This is correct. Players strength and conditioning levels will fluctuate throughout the season. At the same time it is also correct that a player will suffer from fatigue after playing 4 games in 7nights. How fast players recover from their exposures to physical activity is paramount to continued excellence.
https://www.hockeytraining.com/why-train-during-season/
You must have missed this article, from the same site:
https://www.hockeytraining.com/why-train-in-season/
Or you hoped no one would notice it and make you look absolutely foolish by linking it.
So your source for your claim is an advertisement selling hockey training programs which actually provides no evidence to support the idea that players’ game stamina is reduced as the season goes on.
He missed the article from the same site that says NHL players train during the in-season to avoid this and also why NHL teams hire strength and conditioning coaches.
In HH’s world, NHL players don’t train during the in-season and teams don’t have these conditioning experts on hand.
He probably didn’t “miss” it…
Its not all that frequest and its never with 21 hours between game starts with travel on the road – in fact, I think that 21 hours is against league regulations for the regular season.
Also, guess what, when teams play 3 in 4 with travel and 5 in 7 (like some of the players) fatigue is a real storyline – as it can be right now.
You may want to check the Oilers October schedule.
Never with 21 hours between start time – as mentioned.
In any event, what are you trying to prove here? That player fatigue during a heavy schedule with travel isn’t real and hence couldn’t have been a factor with certain Oilers last night (or they aren’t at “in shape”)?
Even you don’t believe that.
Which is why they get circled as scheduled losses
Quite a few are on Tip for singling out Bouchard and Drai in the post-game but that’s not really what happened.
Tip was basically saying the entire team (save Mikko and Jesse) were awful. He only “singled out” Bouchard and Drai when he was specifically asked about them.
Rishaug asked about Bouchard’s game and being out there in the last minute, etc. and Tip responded with he didn’t think Bouch had a good game – said he’s had a good camp but there are somethings he needs to work on such as being strong on the puck.
Someone asked about Leon’s backhand pass to Nuge and Tip responded with the fact that Leon also made a number of giveaways on those types of plays and that hurts the team when it matters.
He was hard on those two but he didn’t single them out but responded to direct questions about their games and specific plays.
The reporter wanted a comment on the beautiful pass that helped win the game and Tippett brought up a couple of less significant giveaways. That was very strange given the fact that Draisaitl has played two preseason games and Tippett seemed to be expecting playoff-level performance.
The coach is simply trying to change his tone, so that the players begin to recognize that training camp is now moving from the fun and experimental phase, to the serious phase. Time to start doing all of the little things right.
Draisailt and Nuge were on the ice for 7 HDCA 5 on 5 (and only 3 for). They were less significant giveaways because Mikko made lots of great saves. Right now, Tippett is focused on process more than results which is why he was more upbeat in the loss against Seattle than in the win against Winnipeg. And unlike some coaches, I am pretty sure Tippett doesn’t say things in the media that he hasn’t already addressed directly with his players.
Most of what you say seems reasonable. I just don’t see how those public comments would serve as extra motivation or prevent those types of mistakes from occurring, especially this early in the year. There are a lot of games to be played and Draisaitl isn’t going to be amazing in all 82. He’s going to make those giveaway plays several times throughout the year. Is Tippett planning on bringing up playoff hockey references all season when he has an off night (never mind one where he sets up the winning goal)? Draisaitl strikes me as an intelligent guy who realizes that backhand giveaway passes are not the desired outcome. It just doesn’t seem like a good motivational tactic, imo.
I think the comment should be viewed on the overall context of the media avail and the question asked.
The team won on the scoreboard but they played, as a team, and almost to a man, individually, terribly – poor effort, poor structure, poor execution, poor awareness, etc.
Drai had a generally meh game with multiple turnovers – yes, he made a brilliant play to win the game (one that would’t have been there in the regular season given the “exhibition efforts” of Pionk and Ehlers on the play) but, overall, Drai was meh and the team was bad.
Tippett was clearly more concerned by the overall team structure, effort and performance and how they were nowhere near regular season form and, when asked about certain players, he was honest about their games.
I don’t think Drai is going to be concerned about the comments at all and I don’t think Tip is going to be “reigning in” Drai during the course of the season.
Maybe Tippett, like me, is sick to the back teeth of Playoff Palooka shows.
Personally I think Leon has turned up with his head semi-out of order. That said there is also a swagger to his game I haven’t noticed before. Its nothing to worry about, thats for certain.
That was indeed an ugly performance by the team, in particular in the defensive zone – not just the d-men but the forwards as well. Tip’s use of the phrase “right-rotten” seems accurate to me – the defensive structure, positioning and awareness was just terrible.
At the same time, its not like the Jets were locking it down – the effort by Pionk and then Ehlers on the Nuge winning goal was just awful, awful, awful – full exhibition season effort from those two. Imagine if that was Ceci and Kassian making that type of play late? We’d be all over them.
I guess my point is, I’m not going to put too much stock in the games of Bouchard (playing top pairing minutes against a solid Jets team) and Ceci (playing with a struggling Lagesson) and the rest of the boys. Its somewhat par for the course in these middle of the exhibition season games – we saw the same from important Jets veterans as well.
In any event, Tip was pissed – as he should be – and he was clear they were going back to “normal lines” starting today – play time is over – three games left and they’ll be used to get the top 3 lines up an running and the final battles for the bottom 5 spots up front.
The reason why we’re not all over the Jet’s poor defense is because we cheer for the good guys.
Awful play by guys we watch for 82 games is and ever shall be subject to criticism.
We are funny as Oilers fans. When our goaltending does what it is supposed to do, we say the team leaned too much and Koski won the game, like it’s a bad thing. When our goaltending doesn’t play better than the other team’s (which seems more consistently our issue) we totally crap on the goalies.
I bet Winnipeg wasn’t sh__tting on their team first round last year when Hellebyuck outplayed our goalie and was a significant reason they won that series.
A goalie is a part of a team, and a big part. They can sometimes be to blame and sometimes claim a significant part of the win. There are nights like last night that a goalie is a large part of the win, but the rest of the team scored enough to make up for the defensive lapses.. and it’s preseason.
I wasn’t a fan of Tippett singling out Drai’s backhand in the way he did because the risk our top players take that sometimes go the other way, more often than not, go our way, as it did to win the game last night.
I agree It’s a exhibition game it was nice to see and I’m sure it helped Mikko’s confidence to finally outright win a game for us. The backhand pass on the tape in full flight by Leon to Nuge was worth the price of admission.
Good for Robin Lehner for speaking out. I personally would have preferred him to speak up after Game 82 as he was my first goalie picked in our draft ?
Will be interesting to see what happens.
He is showing true leadership, protecting others.
The media has known about NHL teams’ dysfunctions for many decades now, and they have chosen to ignore it. The league office, teams’ management, and all coaching staffs have been taking part in this ‘anything goes’ working environment for as long as I can recall. It’s a worry how it has taken so long for players to start complaining publicly.
Huh?
Where is the story you are referring too?
Thanks.
Lehner Twitter acquisitions of off book drug distribution by teams, already proven by press following up – in Philly
Out of all the sports I believe Hockey but I’m not sure is the only one that pays your full salary for the lifetime of your contract. Using Kelfbom as a example if his wages were only covered for the year he was hurt could his thought process be different where he takes a half mouthful of painkillers everyday so he can play and essentially feed his family.
Most of the major sports leagues have buyout clauses in their contract but not for injury. In MLB, the NBA, the NFL and NHL they receive the entirety of their guaranteed salary if the reason they can’t play is that they are injured. Most NHL, MLB, and NBA contracts are fully guaranteed, though all 3 leagues have incentives and/or option clauses for small groups of players that could result in the player not getting the full value of their contract if permanently injured (eg. over 35 contracts in the NHL can have games played incentives).
Could Lehner by opening up a huge can of worms be hurting more players in the long run than helping. When did Lehrer become a spokesperson for Eichel or a business agent for the NHL PA. If I was Vegas I would of kept Fleury over the drama queen of twitter.
Not everything is Black or White Reja.
Or so I have heard.
Lehner should of went through the chain of command he’s pissing off a lot of folks right now.
Who are all of these folks he is pissing off right now?
If you don’t know you’ll never know.
I take it this is your way of saying you don’t know but you imagine it’s a lot. Good to know.
I already posted who’s toes he might be stepping on. Put your big boy pants on and figure it out, I know you can do it.
“Toes he might be stepping on”
Key word is “might be”
And that equals
Pissing off “A lot of people right now”
Hmm
The ONLY thing that motivates the league is bad PR that they can’t just ignore until it goes away, with the nitrus oxide of big juicy class action law suits to follow.
The concussions only got serious action when guys were widely noticed dying because of the media explosion, and the attempts at law suits by players. As that gained steam to be a real threat they moved on it. Only reason IMO.
Now that this cat is out of the bag, it won’t necessarily be easy to stuff back in. There is no way they take it seriously otherwise, a hundred years of track record shows us that.
It’s a shame they can’t get in front of the old boy mickey mouse crap, and make a decision to modernize the game and take the opportunity in doing that to make it still really good and safe, and perhaps even better.
Let the skill shine.
I think they will delay a true decision, and make the easy choice that doesn’t expose anyone they are worried about.
IR: Archibald, Russell
Minors: McLeod, Marody
Hyman-Mcdavid-Puljujarvi
Nuge-Draisatl-Yamamoto
Foegele-Ryan-Kassian
Perlini-Shore-Turris
Benson-Sceviour
Nurse-Barrie
Keith-Ceci
Koekkoek-Bouchard
Lagesson
Gives them 10 days to figure out Lagesson, and if Turris, Perlini or Benson can sustain their improvement. Unless they try to sneak one of Lagesson down (and activate Russell) I expect them to send McLeod down since it delays their decision and Shore has played decently as a 4C. Or they could waive Sceviour as he probably makes it through waivers.
I believe Sceviour is on a PTO? Would they have to sign him to a 2 way contract before putting him on waivers?
yep he would need to sign a deal before they could assign him
Agree. This is a logical plan. Will we see logic from the organization?
That line up plan only seems to work if one of Russell or Archibald could go on LTIR not just IR. On IR they still count against the cap, and even if Sceviour signs for the league minimum, the Oilers would be over the cap by around $200,000 more than Klefbom’s salary (who would also going on LTIR prior to the start of the season).
Russell is almost certainly not going on to LTIR unless he gets more seriously injured than he seems to be now, since Tippett/Holland wouldn’t want to risk being without him as an option for over 3 weeks if he is healthy enough to play (the noted coverage deficiencies in Edmonton’s end last night almost never happen on his watch – even when it seems more of the play is occurring in the Oilers end while he is on the ice). There is not enough public info out yet in regards to whether Archibald’s problems would warrant LTIR. He would then also become unavailable for at least 3 weeks, and create a cap problem once he is healthy enough to return.
I agree with the premise of the original post and, given Russell isn’t even playing an exhibition game until Thursday at the earliest, I can see him on IR to provide more time on Lagesson.
McLeod is easy to send down given his play during the 5 games hasn’t forced himself on to the roster and, frankly, he’s being outplayed by Devin Shore despite McLeod being an excellent clean zone exit and zone entry player. McLeod with a bit of an AHL re-set might be good for him. Doesn’t have to be long.
Redbird with a very good point. IR opens up roster spots but doesn’t help on the cap. The Oilers don’t have the cap room to have 2-3 guys on IR plus a full 23 man roster.
Tip said he’d update us on Archie today but I’m presuming he goes on LTIR opening up additional LTIR reserves.
I haven’t crunched the numbers but I anticipate there is room to have Russell on regular IR and Archie on LTIR and keep Lagesson on a 23 man active roster (24-man cap roster with Russell).
If the OIlers are thinking that Russell will start on IR, I don’t think they’d play him Thursday. If he is not healthy enough to play the season opener, he shouldn’t be playing in an exhibition game.
Sure, of course, teams often play a little high and loose with IR placements vis-a-vis roster and and cap structuring purposes.
Problem with when you keep blaming the players is when the GM gives you a whole new bunch of players and they look exactly like the old ones.
While I appreciate the Tipp doesn’t sign the players, it would be naive to suppose Ken doesn’t give him a chance to voice his opinion on them.
One or two games, maybe the players are all playing poorly. But the majority of games over multiple turn over of personnel?
It looked to me as once again, the Jets seem to exploit gaps in coverage.
Yup. The Jets have us figured out.
We feel like the Oilers were a tirefire and the Jets exploited them and, yes, that is true but, at the same time, it went both ways.
We can pick out plays when, say, Lagesson and Ceci looked bad but, my goodness, how bad did Pionk and Ehlers look on the Nuge goal? Just awful
Veteran play in mid-exhibition season games on display last night all around.
Yup, it was “we’d better get on Dri in case he does something spectacular!” And he does anyway, with Ninja-Hopkins in stealth mode.
Maurice has Tippets number…most times that these teams get together. The Jets under Maurice (as usual) will be a good team to be reckoned with. It would not surprise me if they win their division. Excellent coaching can definitely exploit other teams weakness. Maurice does it often. He is the 6th most winningest coach in the history of the game. (762 w’s) You don’t get to where he is by fluke. That he out thinks Tippet some days, should not be surprising. His coaching abilities are underrated in my opinion…perhaps because he has no cups.
Early season prediction:
Holland has to trade for a goalie (I agree with LT, no way the Oilers go into the playoffs with the same tandem, again) and a Dman midseason.
Kassian’s coverage (3 times!) on the Connor goal made me shudder. Had he eaten just 3 more wheaties…
On a brighter note, man does Puljujarvi give me Mats Sundin vibes!
Big time. Mannish Boy almost grown.
Roster is rounding into form now, and the veterans are pushing to the forefront for the 4th line roles. Based on what I’ve seen so far it should be Perlini-Shore-Turris on merit, but we know Tippett usually plans for PKers in those spots and I only see one there.
I’m feeling more and more comfortable with McLeod returning to the AHL due to his contract status, especially with Turris’ performance yesterday in the faceoff dot fresh in my mind. I think he can do fine as a fill in 4RW/5C for a game here and there.
I refuse to analyze the D-corps until we have everyone playing their proper minutes and roles. It’s impossible to critique Ceci’s decisions and coverages while he’s having to carry around Lagesson as a boat anchor. Similarly, Bouchard has been thrust into top-pair minutes in at least two of his outings so far, which is still a reach at this point even with Nurse as his partner. Maybe 30-40 games into the season if he shows the rapid growth that he did during his AHL season, but until then Nurse-Barrie is of known quality and that’s your top pair.
This is now a veteran team in win-now mode. Holland and Tippett really need to be on the same page with what is the best roster. There’s no time to argue about personnel decisions, you play the best roster you have, and can’t be worrying about pet decisions like Jason Chimera all those years ago. If Holland mandates that kids like McLeod and Benson have to stay on the 23-man and Tippett doesn’t trust them, it hurts the team as a whole.
Agree with most of this. It doesnt hurt McLeod to go back to the AHL and play big minutes as a reset, and then perhaps return later in the year. Too often in the past we have gifted spots to young players. I think we are getting too optimistic with Holloway too. He is going to miss time but when he is healthy he should spend the rest of the season in the A unless he absolutely blows the doors off. Same with Broberg and Sammy.
I agree, we are in win now mode. Play the best lineup.
For most of their time here, it does seem from the outside that Tippett and Dutch are on the same page – which as you rightly point out is very positive. Bouch has played a ton in pre-season which makes sense as he needs to get settled as fast as he can. Getting the rolled up magazine on the nose from Tipp was warranted, so we’ll see what kind of response he makes after it.
Who had Russell to start on IR, Willy on waivers and Berglund as the 7th D to start the season? Coaches love 15 minutes of boring hockey from a D
Except Berglund could benefit initially with playing time in the A getting used to North American ice rather than sitting in the press box.
Agree with most of the posts in this thread, in particular the original post as it relates to analyzing the defence and the likes of Ceci (paired with Lagesson and playing top pairing in his first game) and the likes of Bouchard playing top comp and top PK minutes, even with Nurse).
There are 3 more games to go but, as of now, McLeod is simply getting beat out for 4C and he may be best served with a re-start in Bakersfield. For me, the biggest issue/concern is seemingly (to my eye), no development in the areas that he needed to work on this off-season (at least in my civilian mind) – no uptick in willingness to engage and battle in the offensive zone. He can get there, I have hope.
As far as Holloway and potentially spending the entire year in Bakersfield – that may very well be the case and that could very well have been the case even if he was fully healed and was a participant in camp. He very well could have been ready for the Oilers, or he could have needed 2-4 months of AHL time and then been ready or he could have needed the entire year in the AHL (if not more). We just don’t know. We do know that he had a very very strong draft plus 1 year but, at the same time, turned 20 like 10 days ago and, to this moment, hasn’t played a pro game, heck, hasn’t even participated in a pro training camp. Where Holloway would have been in his development, and where he will be when he hits the ice, is simply unkown.
As far as Sammy, the injury is a set-back but I don’t think it leads to him requiring a full season in the AHL – he will almost assuredly be needed this season in the NHL unless they are super lucky with injuries again. I don’t think Broberg should be an option any time soon and Niemelainen is a stretch.
Assuming Berglund continues his strong 2-way play in to the start of the AHL season, it will be super interesting to see what Tip/Holland due if there is any injury on the right side……. do they go with Berglund as a recall or Koekkoek/Russell on their offside?
Is the answer to that question different on January 1 than it would be on November 1?
Berglund cannot be the D in the pressbox. If he is the REAL #7D, he should still be in Bakersfield playing, playing games on North American ice.
(He actually might be in the top six already. But the name guys will have to fall flat on their face first before he gets his shot in January..)
Ceci is an 8-year veteran. He is signed for 4 years. One of his jobs is going to be pairing with tweeners and prospects breaking into the NHL.
If he is like Barrie, and also has to be babysat by Nurse or another experience veteran, it is going to be a painful next couple of years.
That 3rd goal was some of the worst defending I have ever seen. And not recognizing who was on the ice for the other team makes it even worse.
the season depends a lot on how much Keith has left in the tank
Reminded me of the ‘swarm’ era
I watched like 3 times on replay and couldn’t figure which D were on the ice. So bad.
Early October Daydream:
Guy can dream.
It really really was some awful defending.
At the same time, the combination of Pionk and Ehlers on the wining goal was just as awful.
We are in mid-exhibition here – game 5 out of 8 – I’m not going to put too much stock in performances of veteran players in this type of game.
Given what I just posted, I guess I have to give Kass a break (although my concern there is that he knows he needs to be more engaged and his issues last night were identical to when he’s a detriment to the team).
Big bet on Keith playing a competent 2LD, which seems particularly ill-advised since he hasn’t played well for 3-4 years now.
The exaggeration of how bad Keith has been, and for how long, has become a significant pet peeve of mine.
He’s had two ‘bad’ seasons based on raw numbers, but his results mostly run lock step with the bad team he’s played for.
His two seasons prior to that were break even on shots, with PDO affecting goals in one direction or the other each year.
20-21
Hawks 45.6%SF 44.4%GF
Keith– 44.9%SF 43.5%GF 995PDO
19-20
Hawks 47.1%SF 50.0%GF
Keith– 46.9%SF 47.8%GF 1003PDO
18-19
Hawks 48.5%SF 49.9%GF
Keith– 50.3%SF 56.5%GF 1021PDO
17-18
Hawks 51.0%SF 47.4%GF
Keith– 49.9%SF 39.5%GF 970PDO
If you take his last 3 seasons as a whole (what you can access from Natural Stat Trick) Keith has a positive SF% and GF% relative to team.
You can fairly say a lot of things about Keith, but that he hasn’t played well for 3 or 4 years is not one of them, IMO.
I can’t wait to actually see Duncan Keith play as a 2nd pairing d-man on the Edmonton Oilers. So many strong strong views on how terrible his is and is going to be – seemingly based off of incomplete information without real context (mainly).
First viewing should be tomorrow night!
Yes, I’m excited too.
I should be clear though, I’m not trying to say he’s guaranteed to be a good 2LD, or that there isn’t risk. But I am very optimistic, and I think a lot of the verbal is overblown.
This D is going to be a tire fire some nights this year. Last night was just a small sample of what to expect. Granted some of them will be in The Bake but it doesn’t seem to matter who is out there most nights. Your description of Bouchard as “passive” is just who he is. We just have to hope his offense offsets his passiveness on D.
IMHO, Tipp has every right to be calling the team and guys out right now. The D game last night was BRUTAL – across the board. Brutal. MK won that game for the team, which is what all teams need once in a while. Good for his confidence too right now and hopefully the first significant step in confronting his critics (agreed criticism has been warranted).
There is much talk about the 4th line. Much concern about goaltending. At this point, I am most concerned about the “top 4 D” not named Nurse. To my eye, the most consistent RHS defensemen this training camp has been Berglund. Sure he may be sheltered a bit, but he has been quiet and steady…and playing defense. Need that from the D once in a while. Ceci has been rather disappointing so far. There is a clear need for he and Keith to be able to gel in the next 3 games and be ready to play the 2nd pairing for the first few months at least. This is what the team needs from them. Steady play. Capable play. Leadership. Reeeeeaaaally hoping Keith can survive at 2 LD and he and Ceci can cover the bet as the 2nd pair, at least for the first half of the season.
Totally agree! Keith missing first week of camp leaves us guessing on 2 nd pair. If they can’t hold their own this will be a problem!
I agree 100% on the overall team defense last night and individual poor performances including from the likes of Ceci, Bouchard and Nurse.
With that said, I thought Ceci was actually quite good in the first game – yes, he made the one bad play stepping up defending the rush and getting walked for the goal but, overall, he played top pairing that game, against a good team and finished even in a blow out loss and didn’t get caved. Overall, he played quite well but, of course, the lasting memory is the high event mistake.
Ceci was indeed “not good” last night to my eye but he was playing with a tweener 7D/4LD and we are talking about mid-exhibition season games.
Not that is excuses Oiler bad play but look at the effort of Pionk and Ehlers on the Oilers’ wining goal – just brutal.
We need to remind ourselves not to get too high with performances like Perlini’s production but it also goes both ways with “effort level” and related issues for veteran players.
Yes, Keith being “better” than Lagesson has performed in his two games with Ceci is important and I’m fairly confident that Keith will settle in to 2LD with Ceci much better than what we’ve seen from Lagesson.
BroBerglund may arrive in the NHL in January. Samorukov by the trade deadline. Not much in front of them blocking the way.
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