The prospects who linger in the AHL are unlikely to unlock careers at the top of an NHL roster for any significant amount of time during their careers. The American league is a great place for players to smooth out the edges, streamline their game, spend the winter months in a wind tunnel to figure out how to make themselves more effective aerodynamic forces. What does that mean for the current Condors.
THE ATHLETIC!
- Lowetide: Why the Oilers beat the Kings — and can beat the Golden Knights
- Lowetide: 6 biggest AHL Bakersfield Condors stories from 2022-23 season
- DNB: Oilers move on to Round 2 after Kailer Yamamoto’s goal rescues them from Stuart Skinner’s blooper
- Lowetide: What’s Oilers prospect Dylan Holloway’s future NHL role?
- Lowetide: Is Oilers’ Kailer Yamamoto playing his final games for Edmonton?
- DNB: Oilers’ Game 5 win had Jay Woodcroft’s coaching instincts all over it
- Lowetide: Oilers should stay the course no matter what happens against Kings
- DNB: How Zach Hyman capped Oilers’ season-saving comeback
- Lowetide: Oilers’ forward-heavy pipeline suggests defence-driven 2023 NHL Draft
- DNB: Oilers need secondary scoring to get back into series
- Lowetide: Key early Oilers vs. Kings matchups that are impacting the series
- DNB: Oilers’ playoff excitement, expectations have already given way to Game 1 pain again
- Lowetide: How winning the Stanley Cup would change the Oilers organization
- DNB: Connor McDavid, the NHL’s best player, has ‘freed his mind’: Will an Oilers Stanley Cup follow?
- Lowetide: Stock up or down for every Oilers prospect in the system
- Lowetide: Oilers top 20 prospects, winter 2022
GRADUATIONS 2022-23
- LW Dylan Holloway 51 games, 3-6-9
- G Stuart Skinner 50 games, 2.73 .914
- LD Philip Broberg 46 games, 1-6-7
- RD Vincent Desharnais 36 games, 0-5-5
- LD Markus Niemelainein 23 games, 0-0-0
- LW James Hamblin 10 games, 0-0-0
- G Matthew Berlin 1 game, 0.00 GAA, 1 SP
It’s reasonable to project the first three names as legit contributors for multiple seasons, and that’s a win. Added to those three, Vincent Desharnais is a unique player in a very specific role. Evan Bouchard and Ryan McLeod are recent graduates, with Ethan Bear plus Caleb Jones traded but still part of the pipeline over the past four seasons.
If a prospect can establish himself as an AHL regular at 20, it bodes well for an NHL career, but does not guarantee it.
Two men turned the trick this season, Xavier Bourgault and Tyler Tullio. That makes 20 men since 2010 who played successfully as AHL regulars age 20. Carter Savoie did not reach the threshold, due mostly to injury. He did show a great deal of potential.
Aside from Bourgault and Tullio, others who established themselves as regulars in the AHL since 2010: Teemu Hartikainen, Tyler Pitlick, Magnus Paajarvi, Martin Marincin, Martin Gernat, Bogdan Yakimov, Jujhar Khaira, Ethan Bear, Caleb Jones, Tyler Benson, Evan Bouchard, Ryan McLeod, Kailer Yamamoto, Dmitri Samorukov, Raphael Lavoie, Mike Kesselring, Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway.
Of those 20 names, only Paajarvi (briefly, as a rookie), Bear (effectively, with Darnell Nurse), Bouchard (full blown success) and Yamamoto (most of four seasons) reached the NHL and played in a feature role. That’s an important item to remember when projecting the current group.
The shocking number: 10 of the 20 have come in the last four seasons. I think the Oilers are drafting better but also believe the organization is giving these men more minor-league at-bats and roles in which they can succeed. One final note: AHL points are important, but not a guarantee. Benson was just shy of a point-per-game at age 20, but was not able to establish himself as an NHL player.
What do the last four minor-league seasons have in common? Ken Holland.
Pretty much everyone who is in the AHL past 21 is having some issues and may spend time meandering.
It’s pretty much universally true, even for players who eventually find success like Stuart Skinner. He turned the corner in 2020-21, age 22 by the time his season began that year.
Names like Raphael Lavoie, Mike Kesselring, Dmitri Samorukov, Phil Kemp and Olivier Rodrigue would quality in this category. It doesn’t mean they won’t make it, but it does mean NHL debuts will occur later in entry contracts, and in some cases, once the second contract is in place. All turned some kind of corner this season in a positive way, so I think it’s possible one or more will have an NHL career.
Cooper Marody and Tyler Benson could never get out of the meandering zone.
If you haven’t established yourself as a prospect by age 22, you’re in trouble. The players who will be successful have played at least some games in the NHL during entry deals.
Raphael Lavoie was dangerously close to going over this line, but recovered and then flourished during the 2022-23 season. He’s an important player to discuss at this point in his career. I think there’s a sense he will land on a skill line this fall, and history suggests that is unlikely. He has emerged as a player who uses his size well, shoots even more than when he arrived in the leauge, and keeps his feet moving.
Expect him to start on a depth line and his rise may never come. A Kailer Yamamoto level first four seasons in the NHL is likely for Lavoie. His career progress more closely resembles Tyler Pitlick through three minor-league seasons.
Here’s the counter to that idea: His dominant skill is his shot. Quick release, heavy, accurate, he often changes the angle slightly before release. He can beat goalies clean from range. That’s a very specific and valuable skill. He shouldn’t be projected for a ‘Yamamoto in 2019-20’ arrival, but there are elements to his story that invite comparisons for that exceptional 10-week run by No. 56.
Exceptions are college men, who often turn pro at 22.
That list of 20 men who established themselves as AHL regulars (age 20) included several college men (Tyler Pitlick, Jujhar Khaira, Mike Kesselring, Dylan Holloway) but most land in the minors two years later.
This year’s team has several men who arrived age 22 or later. Noah Philp delivered such a strong season it’s reasonable to believe he will get a full shot at a roster spot in the fall. He turned a corner mid-season and passed several veteran centers ont he roster. Impressive first pro season. Phil Kemp played his first full AHL season at 22, and I think he has a chance to play NHL games. Ryan Fanti didn’t have a strong pro debut, but will get another chance next season. Carl Berglund is just getting started.
Yanni Kaldis and Luke Esposito are on AHL contracts but have played key roles for Bakersfield in recent seasons. Alex Peters, also on an AHL deal, has played so well out of college I can see him getting an NHL deal someday (AHL for the season to come).
No matter what you and I think about a specific AHL player, the largest category of player in the minors is ‘tweener’.
The truth is that ‘tweeners’ are the biggest AHL category and point totals can fool you. Rob Schremp was a tweener, he scored 53 points in 69 AHL games at age 20 (not quite Benson levels). Anton Lander was a tweener, Ty Rattie a tweener. Tyler Benson? Tweener. Marc Pouliot, Teemu Hartikainen and Linus Omark land as tweeners despite my belief they had more in them. There’s luck, good and bad, in making it from the tweener division. Part of luck is injury, and part of luck is management changes.
Current players who appear to be tweeners include James Hamblin (Philp is going to eat his lunch) and Benson. Holland’s 50-man has fewer tweeners on it, the first time the total numbers have been reduced since the Sather era. Sather’s minor league teams always had guys like Dan Currie on them, guys who clearly had NHL skill but couldn’t break through a deep depth chart at the NHL level. Edmonton is matriculating back to that kind of situation, still miles to go.
If we make a list of rfa’s each summer, we can probably pick the cuts and be pretty close.
It’s usually so obvious. One year ago, when doing to Farm Workers post, I wrote “it’s like shooting fish in a barrel this summer. Ryan McLeod will get a full NHL deal, but the minor league RFA’s (Brendan Perlini, Benson, Safin, Filip Berglund) could all go. I’m not sure about Perlini and perhaps someone in the organization believes Benson could be a depth player but Holland runs a tight ship.” Perlini left, Benson stayed, but it didn’t matter.
On this year’s team, NHL RFA’s Evan Bouchard, Klim Kostin and Ryan McLeod will all get signed, and Stuart Skinner was such a priority he’s signed already. Among the Bakersfield RFA’s, count on the return of Olivier Rodrigue, Raphael Lavoie, Noah Philp and probably Phil Kemp. Holland’s 50-man list is tight tight tight compared to Peter Chiarelli’s, or need I remind you of Nolan Vesey.
Dan Cleary, Fernando Pisani and Jason Chimera are the success stories in this study.
It’s the key takeaway. The skill forwards, the ones who make it as top-six NHL forwards, spent little or no time in the minors. It isn’t a stop that is required. Raphael Lavoie’s stay is a tell, it just is. This fact may also offer us some advice on a player like Holloway, although he touches the puck so much and did deliver impressive offense in his 12 games with the Condors this season.
My top candidates for the new Cleary-Pisani-Chimera are Lavoie, Bourgault, Philp and Tullio. I would have included Kesselring but they traded him. Olivier Rodrigue belongs in this category, too.
FUTURE NHLERS VIA THE MINORS, BY YEAR
Here is a list of men who played in the minors, the season they arrived in the NHL, and their career games.
- 2009-10: Devan Dubnyk (542); Taylor Chorney (166); Jeff Deslauriers (62).
- 2010-11: Jeff Petry (864); Linus Omark (79); Teemu Hartikainen (52).
- 2011-12: Magnus Paajarvi (467).
- 2012-13: Chris VandeVelde (278).
- 2013-14: Oscar Klefbom (378); Martin Marincin (227); Mark Arcobello (139).
- 2014-15: Tyler Pitlick (386); Jordan Oesterle (349), Brad Hunt (288); Iiro Pakarinen (134).
- 2015-16: Jujhar Khaira (336); Brandon Davidson (180); Anton Slepyshev (102), Griffin Reinhart (37).
- 2016-17: Jesse Puljujarvi (334); Laurent Brossoit (122).
- 2017-18: Ethan Bear (251).
- 2018-19: Kailer Yamamoto (244); Caleb Jones (217); Cooper Marody (7).
- 2019-20: William Lagesson (60); Tyler Benson (38).
- 2020-21: Evan Bouchard (184).
- 2021-22: Ryan McLeod (183); Markus Niemelainen (43)
- 2022-23: Philip Broberg (69); Stuart Skinner (64); Dylan Holloway (51); Vincent Desharnais (36)
I have an Uncle, we’ll call him Bill but that isn’t his real name. He was his father’s son and I mine, so we didn’t see the world the same way. No worries, he is a good and reasonable man. He gave me my first drink of alcohol, straight rye, age 11. Don’t be mad, I begged him and he asked my Dad before giving it to me. Bill and me never saw eye to eye on pretty much everything, and there was a moment in each of our lives that I’ll never forget. I had to give him some family news he didn’t like (and I don’t blame him) and he didn’t like it came from me (Bill didn’t see me as a person able to handle the responsibility of the moment, and that’s fine too).
The only thing Bill and I agreed on? Gordon Lightfoot. He spent about one hour during a long ago afternoon telling me what Don Quixote (the album) meant to him. It was heartfelt and it was real. My album is Sit Down, Young Stranger by the way. The power of Gordon Lightfoot is in that conversation. Simple words to describe complicated things. “If you could read my mind, what a tale my thoughts would tell” is 12 words, common words, but in the mind of Gordon Lightfoot they became the story of a love gained and lost, and a complicated moment conveyed simply to millions, with a lovely melody subtly building to the chorus. I don’t know where that gift came from, but Gordon Lightfoot could tell us about ourselves in a way no one has been able to, before or since. He was a great artist, great Canadian. He will be missed greatly by all of us.
LOWETIDE AND JAMIESON
Huge day today, 10-2 TSN 1260. We’ll preview the second round of the NHL playoffs and talk CFL draft. 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. See you on the radio!
Kraken 5 Pavelski 4
Anyone remember when JP was telling me that Vince Dunn is not a #1 defenseman?
Dunn played 32:18 [!] 58.7 Fenwick for %
Second on the team at five-on-five ice team (21:04) to Adam Larsson, his Corsi Rel is exceptional, his regular season numbers much the same. Puck IQ has him playing third most minutes versus elites, he’s a little shy (DFF Pct: 47.1) and Jamie Oleksiak shines in that metric while playing more (as a percentage of his own minutes) versus elites.
I think you may be right, but Oleksiak and Larsson have a tale to tell.
There’s no question that Dunn has been a 1D this season.
IIRC my question when we were discussing it was whether he’d be able keep up his early season play for the full year.
It would be like if someone said to you in November: Nuge is a top 10 scorer, 100 point player. I imagine you’d say, well he’s never been that before, are you sure he can keep it up?
Turns out that Dunn, like Nuge, was able to do it for a full season.
And the best part is we now know this is who Nuge is, and we can be confident that he’ll score 100 again next year 😉
Hockey Gords give it to Gourde
Pavelski 4: Kraken 4
That missed wide open net chance for Beniers is looming large. Would have made it 5-2.
Just not getting that 5th goal looms huge (much like the Oil struggling to get a three goal lead on LA). Krak could’ve really stuck a dagger in Oettinger’s playoff plot armor and failed. They get the win in the end but miss out on a bigger opportunity.
I like the camera sight lines in Dallas.
think we will be seeing at least two games with the good camerawork in the WCF
I am currently framing it as: The Toronto Maple Leafs have not won a game beyond the first round since 2004.
HNIC with the scoop on Stone leaving practice early – looking like a back issue from the way he moved.
Just a flesh wound.
He’ll be a hard target for Bjugstad, Kane and Kostin. It’s OK if he’s out, though, just evens up the cap situation!
I’ve ‘ad worse!
Summarizing!
Petrov potted his 3nd goal of the playoffs and had a team-high 7 SOG but the Battalion dropped Game 3 and now trail the series 2-1.
Chiasson was held soupless as the Blades lost 5-1 and are now down 3-0 in their series. Winnipeg has no idea of the predicament they are in.
Wish I had been able to catch that one. Be nice to see a Petrov match with 7 shots on net. Sounds like he’s fully out of hibernation now. The chips were down in that series and sounds like he was asserting himself.
Wonder if any team has done the reverse sweep two series in a row? And they were down 2-0 in the series against the Pats too.
Have been really impressed with the play of Tkachuk in these playoffs. He was a ghost in the series against the Oilers last year, but he’s really come to play this year.
Breaking news that will shock all of Oiler Nation – Adam Larsson gets 2 for cross checking. 🏒😂
The bracket Busters good so far
Fla 4-2 after 3
Seattle 4-2:after 1
That .636 Oettinger sure is looking scary alright.
I’ll take him for the Oilers in a second
Stars would take Soup for this second
Not that it’s likely to happen, but a Panthers Kraken SCF would have little bit of an Oilers vs Flames SCF feel to it.
Surprising to see the Kraken up on Dallas. 4 goals against Dallas in the first, wow.
It is surprising. And my comment wasn’t meant to imply Oettinger is bad, but if the Oilers do face the Stars, they will go into the series knowing that if the Kraken can pump 4 past Oettinger in 1 period, they can do it too.
Thought Oilers were playing Vegas
I’m aware Rondo. I like to watch other teams to see how they are performing on the chance that they have to face the Oilers.
As you can probably guess, I don’t play for the Oilers, so I don’t have to focus on Vegas only.
Nope. The league has changed it. Oilers are now playing the Stars and Kraken simultaneously. The Krakars.
Would be something else if we had to beat LA, Vegas, then Seattle from what everyone was calling the “weak” division just a few months ago
Schultz and Eberle contributing to the 4-2 lead
So if Otter is so good, he sure came across and wasn’t square
And then another blocker side
This Otter’s being ‘pelted’
Hope y’all picked the over on Stars/Kraken tonight
The pacing of this game is incredible so far.
Leafs spent too much time celebrating their 1st round championship trophy
Imagine, they win their first 1st Round series in almost 20 years only to get swept in Round 2.
Panthers have been in full Playoff mode for a month. Leaf’s acted like they won the Cup beating Tampa.
I get there is 0:37 but… it’s an obvious penalty.
Maurice flashing gang signs? Lol
Giver Bob
This is why you don’t give up on Campbell.
Wow.
97% if Samsonov was outside of the paint, how could that have been goaltender interference?
strange play – he just pushed off into the florida player (who was a good foot out of the blue paint), leaving the right side of the net open.
And the Leaves fans I know were giddy to be facing Florida instead of Bruins.
Florida’s a tough out. They had a rough adjustment without Weegar and goalie Bob’s save percentage drop during the season. Duclair’s also back from injury.
It’s easy to forget that they had 122 points and won the president’s trophy the year prior. Since that year, they traded Weegar and
DrouinHuberdeau for Chuckie.Adding. Tkachuk is huge.
Hope they add Gavrikov during the summer! -).
And they lost Huberdeau also – I get it that it’s taken them a while to refind their mojo. Bobrosky’s re-re-re-emergence is the key though – he made some massive saves.
My bad. I wrote Drouin instead of Huberdeau. D’oh!
Both 3rd overall selections by Florida based teams who’re in their late 20’s who played in the Q, so at least some similarities… Both Jonathans. Both left wingers.
Turtle got flattened. You love to see it.
And Knies got caught with his head down moments later.
The Leafs got suckered in trying to lay Tkachuk out. Tkachuk loves the contact and attention.
Evander chased him out of Alberta. How can I get furthest away? That’s where he went.
If Dallas Eakins coaches the way he comments/analyzes games, I can see why he isn’t that successful.
Dry as toast.
Toast? Too many carbs.
Dry as protein powder.
Thank you. I stand corrected.
Eakins also claimed that the draft lottery odds are the same as the 6/49…something about better off being thought a fool than opening your mouth and proving it comes to mind
Dallas Eakins knows a thing or two about winning… draft lotteries.
lol well I am glad eakins won the lottery giving us McDavid
To me he epitomizes the smug episode of South Park where they smell their own farts
But the hair product and the expensive suit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wRHBLwpASw
Why is Eakins on a panel?
Fantastic playoff win record?
0-0 is .500 I suppose though dividing by zero is an issue
He’s never lost a playoff game. Impressive.
Hair’s still got flow?
They’re trying to limit their donut intake.
Usually the NHL playoffs have way more parity than the NBA,
But this year the NBA first round had perfect parity with half of the one seeds surviving, half the twos, etc. and so on all the way down to half the rights
Doubt that perfect parity has ever happened before in the the modern Noparity Basketball Association.
The league of super teams.
Exactly the last place to expect pitch perfect parity in Round 1. Normal programming should resume shortly.
Is Eakins A-I?
Chat D-men-T?
For me, Gord’s Gold is the ultimate road trip music. We didn’t go on a single family vacation that didn’t involve Gord’s Gold.
When I was about 17 my dad gave me The United Artists Collection. 4 CDs with every track he had recorded with while signed to United Artists. Had no idea up until then he had rerecorded all those UA songs for Gord’s Gold. Felt like I got to discover Gord all over again. The UA versions are so different. The UA versions (mostly) run faster and have a raw sound. Gord sounds full of fire and ready to change the world on those UA tracks.
Awwww… shit.
Sometimes I think it’s a sin
When I feel like I’m winning when I’m losing again
——————————————————————
So many gone, yet I’m still dreamin’…
So to summarize:
I know this doesn’t affect the fan at home but to be honest I don’t see who this helps. Gary Bettman NHL, nobody’s happy must mean it’s a good deal.
*Side note, if you can’t get 18k fans after being somewhere for 30 years that’s on you imo. It’s self inflicted with their ban on Canadian buyers (which won’t work because resale).
Sportsnet wanted a Saturday game with involving a Canadian team….simple as that.
Take a look at the following Saturday.
Toronto is in Canada
Fla and Vegas both wanted Sunday. Vegas lost.
Source?
I meant Vegas wanted to keep Friday for game 2 playing game 3 in Edmonton as early as Sunday
The NHL had 2 options without touching SOLD tickets: Schedule G3 Sat in Fla. or tell Sportsnet no Caniadian teams for Sat.
Messing with SOLD tickets was obviously not a win for Vegas
The speculation was that the race in town all weekend and the Heat road game were just too much for Fla.
Yes…and they will be in prime time on Sunday night.
It’s about available audience and Sunday works just as well.
yes, the famed HNIC on sunday nights
Oiler fans complaining about having the team being featured on a Saturday night on a national broadcast is all kinds of hilarious.
Sunday viewers are just as valuable as Saturday viewers.
Well, yeah I agree with the complaining from Edmonton fans. Other ownerships being displeased I understand.
Vegas ticket buyerss were shafted (and travelling buyers from Edmonton). All to keep Fla and Sportsnet happy At least Vegas does not have to send a third round pick to Calgary.
How exactly were Vegas ticket buyers shafted?
take a peek at the G6 Sundays for Tor and EDM.
It doesn’t, you know it doesn’t.
Dallas Eakins of all people this guy must have Epstein black book to land all these gravy jobs. The man has no sense of humour.
Dallas has resting “soaring 10 000 feet in the air scanning for a tasty rabbit” face.
Barkov is a poor man’s Draisaitl- Kopitar. I knew Tkachuk would bail as soon as the team didn’t back him on the flipped puck incident. Anyhow Tkachuk is a beast so far and Bennett isn’t far behind.
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/troubas-hit-on-meier-may-have-been-legal-by-the-book-but-should-we-modify-the-rules/
I agree with Amber’s closing point on this. How does the NHL legislate out that hit and still remain a contact sport?
Should the NHL just become a ‘no contact’ league because if the argument is that you have to legislate out any conceivable possibility of an accidental head shot, then realistically becoming a non contact sport is the only viable path to guarantee that aim.
I can somewhat understand the motivations behind this nanny state, helicopter parent, bubble wrap, peanut allergy mindset when it’s being applied to children. But how did this self appointed safety at all costs contingent decide that they are the only ones qualified to decide for their fellow adults what constitutes acceptable risk? Should we ban automobiles until we can eliminate any possibility of a collision? Should we ban vices because they’re empirically harmful for adults? These examples undoubtedly sound ludicrous because these are liberties that we’ve come to take for granted. But so is hockey as a contact sport for those who wish to continue to play it and watch it as such.
Honestly, if someone simply can’t tolerate the slim possibility of a hockey player accidentally getting hit in the head, I would recommend A) don’t let your children play competitive hockey, and B) don’t watch the sport.
Meier skated through the Rangers zone in game 7 with his head down like it was public skating on Sunday afternoon at the local rink. Ask the players not involved around the league 95% will say the same thing you have to keep your head up if your going to dipsy doodle in the opposition end.
The only silver lining in regards to this element of society that is seeking to eliminate any semblance of risk in all human endeavours is they’ll be the first to die when the shit hits the fan. Humans feel most ALIVE when we’re skydiving or downhill skiing or running the bulls. Risk is the spice of life.
When you were a younger did you hide in your parents basement looking for imaginary likes. Of course this did not happen life was to fun compare our lifestyle’s 40 years ago to the nanny state it is now, the part I don’t get is they welcome it.
The nanny state was originally driven by corporations wanting to avoid legal liability. The threat of lawsuits is also the teeth behind today’s cancel culture. Too easy to blame the lawyers alone I’m afraid as there is certainly a slice of society driving this safety at all costs agenda now. Cowards drinking the koolaid.
Or maybe seeing your favorite athletes after repeated head trauma struggle with substance abuse,horrible mental health issues before they ended up with a self inflicted bullet in their head had something to do with it.
Sorry your guilt doesn’t work on me. That’s the dual edge of freedom. It can be constructive or self destructive. The individual decides. Everyone has the right to decide what level of risk they’re willing to accept.
You can buy a gun at Walmart but not lawn darts.
Scott Stevens delivered that kind of hit 2-3 times a game every night.
I can watch the Trouba hit on Kadri all day long. I wish Nurse had this in his repertoire but sadly he doesn’t. I believe Ekholm will deliver a huge hit in the Vegas series.
Vegas has three D who might.
One on each pairing.
Oh boy – here we go. Like the LA Kings your 6 minutes ago favourite Oiler killers never existed right? Now it’s all about how awesome Las Vegas D are and how amazing their forwards are, their stunning goalies, amazing prospects….. and on and on and on.
Pieterangelo 6’3″ 210
McNabb 6’4″ 215
Hague 6’6 221
Yeah…nothing to see here.
is that the oilers 3rd line?
Right – good point. Those are three large individuals. Here are three other large individuals – Sim Bhullar – 7’5″, Boban Marjanović – 7’4″, Kristaps Porzingis – 7’3″. You can see they are very tall – sorry don’t have there corresponded weights. They all play in the NBA as it happens. Anyway yes large individuals do exist so thank you for reaffirming that.
In terms of hockey players we could also list Evan Bouchard 6’3″, Vincent Desharnais 6’6″, Mattias Ekholm 6’4″.
We could go on and on listing various individual’s heights etc. For example Max Verstappen – Formula One driver is surprising 5’11”! He is very good at F1 driving!
This is fun!
Then the league can’t pretend to care about concussions and embrace it as a gladiator sport
You can care about concussions while remaining a conflict, not contact, sport. Hits to the head will remain as long as hits remain in the game. A head is a part of the body not some separate entity. The Trouba hit was akin to a suicide pass in the NFL. Players need to remain vigilant about carrying the puck across the zone, while moving laterally, 4 on 1, with their head down.
If the NHL is going to lose “future fans” because of the nature of the sport, while the NFL thrives at the same time; I am not sure that is the NHL’s fault as much as the narrative and money.
I would lose interest in Hockey as the prime sport for my viewing because of “new fans” hating the violence in the sport, Hockey has “for whatever reason” is the only sport that allows participants to fight each other, that reason is what makes the sport watchable. Soccer is a better sport if you want to watch speed and tactics.
You brought up NFL.
Hit on a defenseless receiver is in fact not allowed and gets you kicked out. At the very least Troubas hit would be considered a hit on a player in a vulnerable position
I don’t have a problem with big hits.
Troubas hit was a guaranteed concussion
and most people don’t enjoy watching a player “Tua” flop around with a seizure
But why not just get rid of boarding penalties and watch guys break their necks
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!!!
Nobody’s forcing you to watch.
Meier wasn’t defenseless though
He has possession and full control of what he was trying to accomplish. An NFL receiver really has no control of their choices, as if they do not go for a suicide ball, they will not last long in the league.
Meier made his choice, fared an unfavourable outcome, suffered the consequence.
Boarding has nothing to do with what occurred. Boarding is an issue as the aggressor is using an unmovable object to amplify their force impact.
There’s always Cricket fastest growing sport in the country especially Ontario. I love watching Curling it’s such a tactical sport which has no contact or violence.
Synchronized swimming. Pickelball. Tai chi. The options are endless…
Woah there, pickleball can get pretty cut-throat.
Brutal. Total bloodsport.
What a cliffhanger.
What news 📰 did you have to break to your Uncle?
And could you handle the responsibility of the moment?
Was he right?
Ah the suspense!!!
It’s official.
Jason Gregor
@JasonGregor
·
42s
Oilers/Vegas game #2 will be switched.
Game one tomorrow 7:30 MT
Game two is Saturday at 5:00 MT
Game three Monday, May 8th at 6:30 MT
Game four is Wednesday, May 10th 8:00 MT
Game 5 is Friday, May 12th start TDB
Game 6 is Sunday, May 14th TBD
Game 7 is Tuesday, May 16th, TBD
Ok correct me if I’m wrong but this means Edmonton could go two rounds without a single weekend (Fri/Sat) home date?
The building is full home or away!
If round 1 had started on Wednesday (when it traditionally starts) the Oilers would have gotten those home weekend dates. But for some inexplicable reason they started early and then gave the Oilers a long in series break.
Now they don’t have home ice and R2 is starting on a more traditional cadence.
I know they wanted the Saturday night game but also wondering if they needed(wanted) extra time to pull down the Shania concert and get Rogers back to hockey mode. They have a full day now.
— This way there is a playoff game every day for the next two weeks: which is pretty smart IMO
I myself would love to see Oilers vs Devils Final. This would be a 60 minute track meet like never seen before. The Devils in my opinion play at the quickest pace in the league. This would also display the beauty of our game to the American viewer. So I’m sending out a personal memo to each Referee left calling games to please be honest and no betting on the games your Reffing in.
Agreed the Devils are a joy to watch, very very fast. They are always humming even when they aren’t playing well, as opposed to say Toronto who, when not on their game, are a bore.
Sure made Oil look slow at their first meeting this season.
Chris Johnston
@reporterchris
This is a first for me: It’s the morning of Game 1, and the #leafs and #FlaPanthers still don’t know for certain when Game 3 will be played.
It sounds like it’s going to be Sunday in Sunrise, but still not 100% confirmed by the NHL
Jesse Granger
@JesseGranger_
To corroborate with @SportsnetSpec and @JasonGregor reports, I’ve also heard that Game 2 for Golden Knights-Oilers is expected to move to Saturday at .
Creating a problem out of nothing. Screwing over 4 fanbases with paying fans all with 1 stroke of the pen.
— I think having playoff games every day and many days just one per night outweighs the inconvenience that the slow playing of schedule sorting out.
— For conference final presumably same, two teams one night the other two the other night. so you’ve got playoff hockey basically every night basically for a month. Cool.
Question for all the smart people here: why is Kostin not playing more minutes and higher in the order?
Yamamoto has his minutes and place in the batting order. Go figure.
Last game, Yamamoto and Kostin assisted on each other’s goals. Seen to be playing together.
Being put in a position to succeed does not always mean more minutes, which usually comes with stronger opposition.
I kinda trust Woody and it seems to be working for Kostin.
Kostin is the 11th forward as of today. Maybe the 12th when Janmark returns. There are not 10 forwards on this team better than Kostin. Period. Please fix this, Woody.
I would suggest swapping Yamamoto and Kostin. Kostin moves up with more minutes and Yams moves down with fewer minutes. Yams is not capable of playing possession hockey. It’s not for lack of effort but he is just too small and not fast enough to make up for his lack of size/strength. Not effective in the corners and too easily knocked off the puck or moved out from the goal front. This can sometimes be seen in the regular season but it’s glaring during playoff hockey when physicality increases. Yamamoto and Nuge should never be out together in the playoffs. No edge to that line. None at all.
Elastic band principle. Sitting on the bench is building tension and when he gets on the ice wheeeeeeeeee!
AKA the KLIM-A principle.
K-eeping
L-inemates
I-nvoluntarily
M-arinating-
A-ction!
(Apologies, as this was addressed to the smart people.)
KK has been terrific offensively in limited minutes – a real eye-opener. My guess is that Woody does not yet have confidence in him defensively, and to stay out of the penalty box. Just my guess. Hard not to have confidence in Woody’s judgment.
I recall he has a problem with taking untimely penalties, thus the reduced minutes. Together with his hard hitting offensive abilities and his having been better behaved recently, imo it’s likely his minutes will increase.
His results in the regular season seem to be disconnected from his play.
He had the lowest expected goals % on the Oilers but one of the highest goals for%. 11% on-ice shooting %. 20% personal shooting % at 5v5.
Combine that with a hot playoffs and he may be in a position to be overpaid.
He might be a guy you end up regretting giving $2+ million to.
In hindsight is Kulak and significant upgrade to Jones?
Yes and it is not close. They are about the same size but Kulak is a better skater and has 200 more games of NHL experience. In addition, Kulak has played 45 playoff games while CB has had none. Experience is a key in the playoffs (see Deharnais, Vincent).
The Kulak you see now is not the one back when he had no playoff experience. Someone gave him the opportunity to grow into today’s player. Same goes for Vinny. He needs the experience and the time to get it is now. After winning a few cups, we can thank Woody in the future for giving Vinnie the playoff experience he needs to become the player he will eventually be. Same for Broberg.
Not sure how well known this is, but the recorded version of Wreck is a live take, and the very first take the band played together. They tried but could not best that performance.
A moment of magic.
Any recommendations on most competitive priced apps/sites for oilers resale tickets? Looked at Gametime, Ticketmaster, Stubhub and fansfirst. Stubhub seems to be the best at first glance
AXS for Golden Knights is how the season ticket holders sell theirs.
For home games I’d go with fansfirst.ca
Baba’s perogies.
Stubby Lethbridge Pilsner bottles.
Kaiser and cribbage.
Hockey Night in Canada.
Gordon Lightfoot.
Beachcombers.
And grandma grabbing me to do a little Irish jig each time we passed each other. (i think the stubby Pils may have been involved.)
Bowl of potato chip, glass of orange pop (from the pop shoppe) and watching the Leafs and Blackhawks in a bench clearing mob at the 19:57 mark of the third period on a black and white tv.
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man’s dreams
The islands and bays are for sportsmen
And farther below, Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered
I went to bed last night thinking about Gordon Lightfoot and wondering which of his songs would be referenced by our gracious host in the title of today’s post.
RIP, Mr. Lightfoot.
Oilers recall:
Forward James Hamblin
Forward Raphael Lavoie
Defenseman Philip Kemp
Cool to see Kemp get the call (the others too of course)!
Apparently the league is trying to move Game 2 to Saturday. Which would mean no Sunday game, which would mean everyone trying to buy Game 3 tickets who don’t know the date can’t plan at all.
Also, if change is made the flights i booked are useless and time taken off is negligible.
Hate this league. Extremely bush league if it comes to pass.
Where did you hear that? I was lining up Sunday (?) tickets too, but hadn’t heard this could get moved.
But yeah this scheduling has been bush league – no weekend games in round 1 as well and then the 8pm local start times.
Oh I see it down thread. /ignore
Hey LT, In your opinion how much does the NHL teams contending make a difference for prospects? I ask as right now I think several prospects would have already been given long looks 5 to 10 years ago. Right now any rookie coming in has to beat out a legitimate NHL player and that’s not easy.
The parallels between the Edmonton Oilers and the Toronto Maple Leafs seem so apparent to me as to begin to feel like destiny.
I think it would be historic so in that case the Leafs will find a way to blame a phantom high stick for going out in the semis.
That series would be so historic that it might actually get widespread media coverage in the US, even without an American team. If they could find the space, watch parties in both cities could possibly hit 100,000 people.
If the NHL can’t figure out how to market McDavid vs Matthews to Americans, that’s 100% on them.
We’re all emotionally invested in our teams, and look at things just a little bit askew from those who have not poured their heart into their team — but Leaf fans still angry Gretzky didn’t receive a penalty after Gilmore head-butted his stick that was centimetres off the ice still baffle me.
I’m a sucker for a melody.
When I was young I loved songs like Don Quixote, Minstrel of the Dawn, Wherefore and Why,.
And as I grew I would come to know the Ballads; Edmund Fitzgerald, Canadian Railroad Trilogy, etc.
And now I’m old and my favorite song is “The Circle Is Small”
And the beauty and gift of Gordon Lightfoot for me is that there is still a bevy of Lightfoot songs that I haven’t yet heard just waiting for me to mature my way into them.
Gord’s Gold Indeed.
Touch the Rain my friend, touch the rain.
I think that injuries has resulted in Holloway spending more time in the AHL than he would have had to otherwise. He’ll be a quality NHLer as soon as next season.
Lavoie has had to build up his game to even be in the conversation for NHL time. He could still make it, but the people clamouring for him to be on a scoring line in this year’s playoffs are not being realistic.
Bourgault needs some time to physically mature, but the skill and the hockey sense is there already.
Savoie and Tullio are from the Lavoie tree … they’ll need 2-3 more seasons of seasoning.
Mark Spector
Hearing Game 2 of EDM-VGK is possibly being moved to Saturday in Vegas.
Not 100% yet, but that’s the discussion and it’s close to being finalized.
The Golden Knights, understandably, aren’t huge supporters of the change
More practice time for the Oilers … hopefully they iron out the problems on the PK.
More rest time for Skinner.
Go 11-7 on Game 1 and let McDavid and Draisaitl play extra shifts with the donut line.
If they haven’t ironed out the PK after a full season and 1 round of playoffs what makes you think it will happen now with an extra day of practice?
I don’t follow. Why would they care so much about moving game from Fri. to Sat.?
— It’s not a good look that they don’t even have all the games assigned for round 2. Just game 1 and 2.
The NHL is so podunk. That would mean games 3&4 on Monday/Thursday and an even more stretched out series, as there’s an event at Rogers on Wednesday night. What a joke.
Game 4 on a Thursday would make game 5 on a Saturday too. Coincidence?
Two three day breaks within the first 4 games just so the precious hnic doubleheader can happen with both Canadian teams would be just the kind of utter nonsense I have come to expect and loathe from this league. I realize the economics, but at a certain point they are just messing with the flow of a series faaaaar more than it’s worth.
another set of series dates that screws the Oilers… WTF NHL?!?! That will cause games 3,4 to be Mon/Tues, Thurs, and Game 6 on Monday. No weekend games in Edmonton AGAIN!
I don’t think they’ll have any problem selling out Rexall or filling up the Moss Pit on a weekday.
Gordon Lightfoot. The best Canadian songwriter in my opinion. Keelor and Cuddy are close second but really it’s not close. So many Lightfoot memories as a kid. RIP.
Tough call. Young, Mitchell and Cohen aren’t too bad either.
Joni not Keith lol
Mr. Cohen wasn’t too bad either.
And there’s that other Gord in musician heaven
There have been many great Canadian songwriters.
For an old guy Paul Anka comes to mind.