The early season Saturday night games were always fun, because a new crop of rookies created a great deal of hope for each NHL franchise. In those days, the original six teams would have monster crops, like the Montreal Canadiens in 1970-71 (Guy Lapointe, Marc Tardif, Rejean Houle, Phil Roberto) but as time went on the expansion teams learned about the value of the draft. One of the earliest home runs by new teams: The 1973-74 New York Islanders (Denis Potvin, Bob Nystrom, Garry Howatt, Dave Lewis).
The Oilers best rookie crops over the last decade (2014-15, Leon Draisaitl and Oscar Klefbom, plus 2015-16 Connor McDavid, Darnell Nurse) are long past entry deals and making monster do-re-mi. Edmonton needs the pipeline of inexpensive quality rookies to continue, and this year’s crop (currently Ryan McLeod, Stuart Skinner and Tyler Benson) is about to get another name in recall Philip Broberg.
What this Oilers team needs is a rookie crop like 2010-11: Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Jeff Petry, Devan Dubnyk, Magnus Paajarvi. That’s impossible, but Broberg could be a key piece for the organization and his arrival is cause for hope and excitement.
THE ATHLETIC!
- New Lowetide: Philip Broberg is ready for his NHL audition
- Lowetide: Why Kailer Yamamoto is still on the Oilers’ No. 2 line
- Lowetide: Three auditioning Oilers who are finding their groove and hope to find their place
- Lowetide: Should the Oilers move Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to the 3rd line?
- DNB and Max Bultman: How Hockey Hall of Famer Ken Holland helped create ‘the Harvard of hockey management’
- Lowetide: How good is Matvey Petrov and is he on an NHL trajectory?
- Lowetide: Will Ken Holland make an early-season trade to bolster the Oilers?
- DNB: Oilers lament Connor McDavid not drawing penalties
- Jonathan Willis: How the Decade of Darkness did — and didn’t — set up the current success
- Lowetide: Why can’t the Oilers put together an effective third line?
- DNB: Oilers’ Stuart Skinner on the right track after second NHL start
- DNB: What I believe and what I know about the Oilers after 10 games
- Lowetide: How close to balanced are the 2021-22 Oilers?
- DNB: Connor McDavid’s otherworldly goal
- DNB: Kevin Lowe Q&A
- Lowetide: Is this Connor McDavid’s peak season, and how good could it be?
- Lowetide: Who is the Oilers’ top prospect now that Evan Bouchard has graduated?
- DNB: Oilers’ Tyson Barrie says what needs to be said as NHL faces reckoning
- DNB: The Duncan Keith-Cody Ceci pair have helped to overcome a notable loss
- Jonathan Willis: Seven Oilers surprises so far in 2021-22
WHAT TO EXPECT IN NOVEMBER
- At home to: SEA, NAS, NYR (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 3-0-0)
- On the road to: DET, BOS, BUF, STL, WPG (Expected 3-2-0) (Actual 2-3-0)
- At home to: WPG, CHI (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
- On the road to: DAL, ARI, VEG (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected result: 8-5-0, 16 points in 13 games
- Actual November results: 6-3-0, 12 points in nine games
- Oilers in 2021-22: 12-4-0, 24 points in 16 games
The projection assumed the heart of the order remained intact, and the last four games of this month are going to be an uneasy trip. I think tonight is one of two possible wins (Arizona) for the team over the last four games of November. Oilers could surprise, but this is going to be a climb for Edmonton’s blue.
THE DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
I don’t think there’s an ‘ideal’ set of three pairings for tonight, but would like to see Philip Broberg in the lineup. As my preference has no chance to be the winning formula, I’ll list it for giggles:
- Duncan Keith-Evan Bouchard: 19 mins, 50 percent goals, 70 percent expected goals
- Kris Russell-Tyson Barrie: 44 mins, 60 percent goals, 28 percent expected goals
- Philip Broberg-Cody Ceci: To be determined
I think Dave Tippett will dress seven defensemen so the final combinations will look like blood pie (traditional Klingon dish). The most likely trad pairings are Keith-Ceci, Russell-Barrie and Broberg-Bouchard, although that’s a ton of inexperience on the third pair. In a way, it’ll be fun. In another way, it’ll be nerve city, like watching my Dad negotiate the Fraser Canyon roads in our 1955 Flathead Ford. You could SEE all the way down!
EXPANSION TEAMS
I saw someone on twitter last night call the Seattle Kraken one of the worst expansion teams and it started me thinking about how knowledge doesn’t get passed from generation to generation about these things. I understand hockey history being passed along is less important than “wash your hands, don’t you know that’s how the plague got going!” but history is a delight and has value.
So here are the leading scorers, by team (one for each club) via the Hockey News January 21, 1972 edition.
- Jean Ratelle, New York Rangers: 39 games, 26-45-71
- Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins: 39 games, 34-36-70
- Bobby Hull, Chicago Blackhawks: 40 games, 28-25-53
- Rick Martin, Buffalo Sabres: 42 games, 29-20-49
- Frank Mahovlich, Montreal Canadiens: 38 games, 21-24-45
- Norm Ullman, Toronto Maple Leafs: 41 games, 16-27-43
- Garry Unger, St. Louis Blues: 41 games, 24-16-40
- Mickey Redmond, Detroit Red Wings: 41 games, 22-17-39
- Gerry Pinder, California Seals: 39 games, 16-19-35
- Bill Goldsworthy, Minnesota North Stars: 39 games, 17-16-33
- Andre Boudrias, Vancouver Canucks: 38 games, 12-18-30
- Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers: 39 games, 10-20-30
- Greg Polis, Pittsburgh Penguins: 40 games, 14-15-29
- Juha Widing, Los Angeles Kings: 42 games, 14-12-26
So much happened in the calendar year 1972 you could write a book. Example: Bobby Hull, who had been hammered and humiliated for years over money by the ‘Hawks, jumped to the WHA Winnipeg Jets and instantly gave the upstart league enough credibility to sustain itself for seven years before the merger.
Several teams (Toronto, California, Chicago) were ravaged by the new league, Montreal having so much depth their losses (J.C. Tremblay the chief one in 1972) weren’t able to derail them.
Boston lost a lot, it basically ended the team’s Stanley Cup run. Goalie Gerry Cheevers, center Derek Sanderson, right wing Johnny McKenzie and defenseman Teddy Green all bolted, and the 1970 and 1972 Stanley teams were never the same. The Philadelphia Flyers were the big winners through this period, some fantastic moves brought them glory in 1974 and 1975.
PHILIP BROBERG
Broberg is viewed by many Oilers fans as “not Trevor Zegras” and while I understand why discerning fans would have been disappointed, there was (and is) enough we don’t know for us to reasonably see how this plays out. Going back to my “Here Comes the Sun” 2019, here are three names who were still available when Edmonton made its pick. Note what I wrote about each man.
- 5 LW Arthur Kaliyev, Hamilton (OHL). He scored 51-51-102 in 67 OHL games, age 17. I’ve read about skating, hockey sense and playing on the perimeter. I can’t ignore the math. A June 2001.
- 8 LC Trevor Zegras, U.S. National Development Team (USHL). Undersized and highly skilled, elusive and aggressive with very good speed. I think he’s a Ken Holland type.
- 16 LD Philip Broberg, AIK (Allsvenskan). He’s big and can skate like the wind, while also displaying puck moving ability. Offense may be shy, but Swedish blue can fool you.
I was a big believer (and remain so) in Kaliyev, he has four goals and six points in 16 games so far in his NHL career. Zegras has posted 9-14-23 in 40 NHL games and all the cool kids love him. I do too, he’s a fun player to watch.
I don’t believe Zegras’ success automatically makes the Broberg pick a poor one. It is not the choice I would have made, but once a team commits to a player by drafting him, it’s important to give that player time to show you what he can bring. I wrote “offense may be shy, but Swedish blue can fool you” and had Oscar Klefbom in mind when writing it.
Klefbom played in the AHL age 20, scoring 1-9-10 in 48 games. Broberg played in the AHL age 20, scoring 0-10-10 in 13 games.
Klefbom played his first NHL game March 11, 2014. He was four months and 10 days from turning 21.
Broberg will reportedly play his first NHL game November 20, 2021. He is seven months and five days from turning 21.
Perhaps we should give him some time before making a decision on him as a player. Fair?
Looking at Sportsnet you realise that there is no need to watch any other highlights except Oilers ones.
Most other teams and even their highlights compared to Oilers ones seem slow and dull by comparison.
HH thank you for taking the time to watch the rest of the league.
The last time Edmonton scored 2 shorties in one game was back on February 10, 2010 against the Ducks. Moreau scored one and assisted on the other. Sadly, those were the teams only 2 goals and they fell 3-2 with Todd Marchant scoring the winner against his old team midway through the third.
That was the last time in the regular season – they did it in the 2017 playoffs as well.
Jack Michaels and Louie DeBrusk with a nice call tonight too. Jack might not be everyone’s cup of tea but he loves the game and it shows.
I love Jack. Don’t understand the dislike.
Kassian is playing extremely well.
Waiting for Godot…..
Low hanging fruit but someone had to.
Benson with a team low 5:14, but I love what he brings to the fourth line. Clearly, he’s willing to do anything to stay in the bigs. Fourth line of Benson-Ryan-Archibald could be very fun to watch.
Agreed.
And as fishman mentioned below; Sceviour is doing a decent Archibald impression lately.
It’s interesting that Tippett had Benson and Sceviour together though most of TC (with Perlini and Turris as the other pair). I was a little annoyed at the time with the lack of different looks for Benson. But it seems like Tippett saw something, and the tides may be turning.
Hahahaha😄
Why?
Low bar. Pariente?😉
But why do you enjoy it so much?
Honestly, your focus on him is much stranger than fans looking for positives in a 2nd round picks game.
When can we start raving mindlessly about the penalty kill?
Three shorties. They’re minus three on the season. Pressed into service.
w Drai only 5th F in PK TOI, major win
Thought tonight was easily their best game of the year. Skinner made some huge saves early, and solid goaltending through the whole game. Some goalies have a early “burst” in their career – maybe Skinner will ride some adrenaline this season. He definitely gets another start, IMO.
Oilers could have had 8 tonight. Some lack of execution in the 2nd and 3rd, but sometimes hockey goes that way. Broberg looked like a seasoned vet out there. Best games from multiple Oilers, McLeod, Sceviour, Foegele, and I really liked Kassian tonight too. Easily the best game from the bottom 6.
Smith, Koskinen and now Skinner all have at least two wins thus far this season.
Tipp wanted to see how Skinner dealt with the emotion of the last game and performed. It was a test, iow, and he passed with flying colours.
Good coaching.
Why not stick with the hot hand? The sooner Skinner is deemed either starter or idk what the better.
So far he looks like a crazy great Oilers goalie to build a dynasty with lol
Tippett pretty glowing about Broberg. Loved the 3rd line, thought it showed glimpses the game before. McLeod’s best game as an NHLer. Maybe Yamo’s best too.
Ryan McLeod should sleep well tonight. He plays like that he never sees rural California again.
The key to the game may have been Skinner’s save on Kane like a minute in.
Entirely different game if that goes in.
There was two saves on Kane in the first, both right in the slot. (Second one off a JP block)
Should this be the Oilers theme song this year?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XynqSMiSrQ
They seemed like they were playing a stiff breeze tonight. Black sparrows.
Oilers back in the high rent district of the NHL leading the west.
fave quote of the year by Boston play by play guy: “Their cup window is wide open”.
Calgary’s brilliant road record foreshadowed by their shame at having a mediocre home record to return to. At this rate their semi-annual hot start will begin to fade bigtime in about 5-6 games…watch this space.
The ‘money on the board’ placed by Duncan Keith.
Who gets it?
Anyone know or care to take a stab?
I’m gonna say Foegele. Best game as an Oilers and when three lines are rolling it makes the Oilers hard to handle?
Maybe McLeod.
What’s this? Sounds interesting.
Great game!
Keith played very well on the top pairing. Lots of minutes and he was solid back there. He can for sure still make plays with the puck, fun to watch. He had a neat fake out move with the delayed penalty call drawn by McDavid. Puck ended up in the corner, but he totally fooled the opposing Hawks player. Smart!
McLeod is a no-doubter NHLer. Happy he’s making the most of his shot. His zone entries are something else, could very well be third best forward on the team in that department. He is now forechecking like a demon and attacking the net. Anyone notice that Foegele’s game has re-awakened with McLeod’s emergence? Foegele was excellent.
Yamamoto was a buzz saw, extremely annoying (for the Hawks) all night.
I really liked Broberg’s game. I’m always biased towards these young guys 🙂 but I think he should stay as third pair LHD. He may be top 4 quality very soon. OP likened him to a young Nurse, and PB definitely has the physical tools, but what surprised me were how quiet his feet are. Very smooth and very little scramble out there. Very cool.
LT likened him to Klefbom. Cue the men at work song,
”who can he be now, knocking at the door”
He was an Iceberg.
Take Russell out, put Nurse with Barrie, and leave the other two pairs the same.
McLeod looks like a completely different player these last few games.
Something has to get the fire going to burn the junk out of the head for the guys lacking top skill.
Maybe the last trip down did it. Glad to see, he has what the NHL wants, just has to use it and play with no fear and NHL drive. Mr B as well.
Wingers like Foegele need a centre playing well. Centres like Ryan need wingers playing well. I hope they can find the right combos and get the lot going game to game
Wow who would of thought the media complaining about the non calls on McDavid would aide in the Refs decision making.
It’s about time.
Dominant game by the Oilers. Are the Hawks that bad, or were the Oilers that good?
It’s just 1 game, but that effort put a few of my fears to rest. Thought Russell and Keith both looked good tonight, which eases the pain of Nurses absence.
Loved the 3rd line. Great game by Foegele and McLeod. Benson is growing on me as well. Actually it’s hard to single out an Oiler who played poorly tonight.
They need to replace Turris with fast feet that can take and make a pass. See what happens.
Josh Archibald would be a massive upgrade at 4RW.
cogs?
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Turris’s hands.
His feet are another matter.
Benson and Sceviour sure looked like 2/3 of a good 4th line this evening.
Turris did make a few decent plays later (I think I missed the early take/make a pass struggles), but Ryan ought to be an upgrade.
I can imagine a Hawks locker-room conversation, where you could hear quietly spoken … “I remember when we were that good”.
The oilers were really good tonight, but the Hawks were awful. Continually coughing up the puck.
I think Yamamoto’s mustache made a pass at RNH’s mom
That was his dad.
Great work by the Oilers and a deserved win. Hat tips in particular to a rock solid Stuart Skinner (saved 28 of 30), the third line, the PK unit, and Yamo. (It appeared to me Chicago allowed much more space in centre ice, and Yamo was not manhandled so much in the tight). Duncan Keith shocks everyone by playing 25.06 (+1); Philip Broberg played 14.24 (+1), and was hardly noticeable, which is a good thing; Colton Sceviour played well and was 3-0 face offs.
Chicago score on their two-on-one, we continue to miss on ours. It’s becoming a thing. Tarkus ripping quality one liners at will – a first star performance!
Overtook the Flames. Good. Well done Bettman, you’ve invented a league where a team can win more and lose less and still be in second place. SMH.
Liked a lot of what I saw tonight. That puck didn’t stay in our zone long.
Calgary are the Leicester City of the NHL. Rarely heard from, and even that is in tiny increments.
Leicester only loss 3 times when they won in 2017; much too high of praise. I’d go w Everton (who no one cares about but are always around), leaving the oilers as LFC naturally 🙂
Everton have this mo of coming out of nowhere and winning big trophies so I’ll stick with the one hit wonder.
Fair, not sure merseyside derby compares to BOA anyhow 😤hehe
Very well actually
def, just being facetious hence my og point I like it
So what’s the consensus on Brobergs debut???
Didn’t notice him a whole lot, didn’t look out of place, which is an outstanding debut in my eyes. There’s a player there.
I noticed his willingness to put the puck towards the net and think he ended up with 5 or 6 shot attemps.
He was fine.
Tough to really tell until you see him against a heavy forecheck.
I didn’t see any mistakes tonight. Looked like he was going to wind it up a couple of times, but he got tripped the 1st time and deferred to Draisaitl late in the game.
ppg enuf said
: p
Small sample size, but there’s a chance we have a homegrown goaltender. Let’s not fuck this up.
To quote Neil Young:
Homegrown’s alright with me
Homegrown is the way it should be
Start Skinner Tuesday and mikko can have mop up detail against the Coyotes.
I’m down for that
Another strong game for Seymour.
I’m not sure I can single out a single player for a bad performance.
It was just the Hawks (5-9-2 entering the game), but that was a nice game.
Hawks also won their last 4 and were hot. Dead cat bounce?
Probably. Sounds like Fleury has been lights out lately as well.
The Oilers did play well but the Hawks are a loose team. I feel like their overall record rather than their last 4 is more representative.
naturally, I’d short them ROS
ROUS?
Weird game for me as Chicago scored 2 goals and only Leon Beliveau scored for the Oilers.
leon = Jean Beliveau
connor = Rocket Richard
Skinner am cheering for like mad because so many new goalies catch fire in this situation and so far he’s looking the part.
have never watched the rocket, I’ve considered Mcdavid as the love child of mario and pavel
That’s a nice win
A lot of guys should feel good about themselves tonight
Hawks certainly played the role of confidence-builders tonight.
We don’t get that game from many teams, so nice to see a team not up for us for a change.
Yes, I’d like to thank them personally for being so accommodating LoL
I feel great.
Sportsnet Stats
@SNstats
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6m
Oilers Connor McDavid draws 3 penalties in a game for the first time since Feb 5, 2017 vs Montreal
I hope it is a start of a trend.
Lines 3 and 4 have gotten more ice time this game and both been really good.
So our PK has outscored our PP tonight. Didn’t see that coming!
Our PK tied the Hawks at all strengths.
When’s the last game we scored 2 shorties?
It’s our own damn fault we don’t have ten tonight.
I don’t know how to take this game. The Hawks aren’t even really there.
This is correct.
But they got the win and didn’t need crazy good goaltending. Good enough. On to the next.
No team can play 100% for 60 minutes times 82 games.
Agreed the Hawks aren’t there, but it was a 5-2 win and the team is 13-4 on the year.
Not sure there’s a bad way to take the game, is there?
He’s part assassin
Leon looked like he was 8 ft tall coming down the ice.
He is a large human being
Speaking of 8ft tall, here’s the meaningless stat of the night: McDavid just caught Chara in career goals. Only ~1200 fewer games to get there. Chara had a head start, he was drafted before McDavid was born.
Jesus muthafuggin Christ
How many of those beers did you have?
Damn, wonderful pass by Bouchard, didn’t notice that initially.
There is the (Chelsea) dagger
Leon!
#18 for 29!!!! Two shorties tonight!
HOLY SHIT!!
when was the last time the Oilers got 2 Shorties in one game???
This game should have been packed up and put away awhile ago.
Edit: As I post this…
Yea should have been done in the 2nd period. Oilers were just dominant but didn’t score.
Drai is Money
Salty.
Ladies and Gentlemen: Colton Scevior.
Oh, and Leon Draisaitl.
Johnson is also moving into him. I think Hyman held his spot better. That said tough call to make at speed.
This is where the oilers will miss nurse big time
Boo
That was WAY too obvious – silly play – two by Hyman tonight.
PP doesn’t seem as lethal when McDavid is in Draisaitls office
Toews needs to shut up and play through it.
A PP goal here will put this thing to bed
C’mon boys