The Edmonton Oilers had a strong road game against a bona fide opponent and found a way to win. That’s a very good sign. The team needs to keep this winning streak going as long as possible, need the kind of sustain heard on Lizard. That’s some sustain.
THE ATHLETIC!
- New Lowetide: Where do the Oilers need to improve depth before the NHL trade deadline?
- New DNB: Oilers are back as a Western Conference power
- Lowetide: Could this be the ultimate Edmonton Oilers season?
- DNB: Projecting the Oilers’ 2025-26 salary-cap situation with a Leon Draisaitl extension
- Lowetide: Ranking Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland’s 10 biggest moves
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers complete 2023-24 prospects update
- Lowetide: Why NHL’s goalie trade market a strange brew for Oilers
- Lowetide: Stuart Skinner, Ryan McLeod and the Oilers’ development system
- Lowetide: Oilers close NHL standings gap during a brilliant December run
- DNB: Connor McDavid marks 600th NHL game by coming to the rescue in pivotal Oilers win
- Lowetide: Evander Kane’s concerning season and what it means to the Oilers.
- Lowetide: How the Oilers measure up to ‘reasonable expectations’ after 31 games
- Lowetide: Did the Oilers solve Leon Draisaitl’s winger issues in New Jersey?
- Lowetide: What can Dylan Holloway bring the Oilers when he returns?
- DNB: Evan Bouchard is unlocking his potential on the Edmonton Oilers blue line
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers top 20 prospects ranking, winter 2023
WHAT TO EXPECT IN JANUARY
- At home to: PHI, OTT (Expected 2-0-0) (Actual 2-0-0)
- On the road to: CHI, DET, MTL (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 2-0-0)
- At home to: TOR, SEA (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: CAL (Expected 0-0-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: CBJ, CHI, NAS (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected result: 7-3-1, 15 points in 11 games
- Actual January results: 4-0-0, 8 points in 4 games
- Oilers in 2023-24: 22-15-1, 45 points in 38 games
The Oilers are hammering now. Sweet Jesus this team is doing a lot of things right. Since November 25, Edmonton owns a 62 percent goal share at five-on-five. That’s 19 games of offensive brilliance. Edmonton’s record in those games? 16-3-0. It’s music, plus the power and the glory.
THE NUMBERS
The No. 1 line was on fire and scored twice, while he No. 2 line was just a little off in timing (and made a couple of risky business passes). I don’t think the third line is going to last but Connor Brown had a couple of chances and that’s a good thing. Mattias Janmark had an effective game.
Defensively, all three pairings had good things going on, and of course Nurse scored and Ekholm had an assist. I like this group and do think we’ll see a righty blue added for depth at the deadline.
Calvin Pickard made a couple of great stops, you’d like one of the goals back. That’s acceptable for a backup, I don’t think he hurt his cause last night.
JOHN AND ROBIN
I met John Short when I was 24, and he influenced me in a big way. I didn’t work for him, was only his producer a few times, but was around him a lot in the four years we worked together. John was a delight, told wonderful stories and laughed as he told them. It was impossible to dislike him, and he had a way of telling you honest truths without being offensive. It’s a skill too many of us do not have, and it was an endearing quality. John was a gentle giant, stood up for things he felt were right, and would challenge you to be better. Loyal and wicked smart, he knew words and their power in both print and on radio. If John Short chose another career path, I’m sure there would be sports radio in Edmonton. The quality of sports radio in this city is directly linked to him. That’s a fact.
Robin Brownlee had an edge about him, he could be guarded and come off as aggressive. It took me several years to find my way with him, Robin and I both liked our distance in professional relationships. One day, up in the living room in the house I’m in right now, I called him to ask a favour. He was gracious, agreed, and we got reminiscing about his career. I would always tell him I loved his draft weekend articles (Robin would suggest five names Edmonton might choose, and damned if one of them would be the actual choice). Robin was a helluva reporter and an even better writer. I don’t think anyone would disagree when I say in terms of writing skill and power, Brownlee was the best this city enjoyed after Cam Cole left for the coast.
Robin’s passing hits harder for me, not because John was less a friend (John was a friend, Robin someone I respected and knew well enough to call a colleague) but because his passing was not expected and he leaves a family behind with children who have not yet established themselves in the world, not yet found their people.
I know loss, am very familiar with it in fact, and shed some tears yesterday thinking about that little family unit who won’t be getting much sleep in the days to come. The nature of life is that we look after our own. I know the only thing my wife would ever ask me (if she could) is to look after the kids and look after myself. I can tell you that one of the reasons I was able to recover from losing Jo-Anne was the kindness of people. If you know Robin’s family, please reach out. I know it’s difficult, I know it isn’t a natural thing for most of us to do. Any kindness can mean a lot.
You know, my industry is a competitive one, but days like yesterday remind me of just how small the media and hockey industries are in real life. When Jo-Anne passed, a stunning number of hockey and media people reached out, people I knew from brief interactions or from exchanging pleasantries online. There’s a shared spirit and yesterday our spirit broke over two of us sailing on. I thought of Michael Short, a good man who followed in his Dad’s footsteps and then carved his own fine career. I thought of Robin’s wife, brave and true on the most difficult day of her life. I thought of Jo-Anne, whose passing was similar to John’s, and that brought back a flood of memories and another river of tears. If crying were a skill, I’d be Gretzky after the last 14 months.
It was a difficult day. Jason didn’t tell me about Robin until after my show was done. I’m eternally grateful for it. He was so fucking brave going on-air yesterday, I knew from our conversation about John and Robin he was going to have a difficult time. In a world that is increasingly complicated, events like yesterday remind us of what’s important. Family. You look after yours, I’ll after mine, and if either of us can lift up the Short or Brownlee family today, let’s do that, too. Be well. Love deeply. Understand forever doesn’t mean forever and hug your people. God bless you.
CONDORS
The Bakersfield Condors play tonight, and then every few nights over the next several weeks. I’ll be paying special attention to the team in these games, partly because the deadline surely will see one of the players sent away and partially because my computer tells me it’s minus 38 right now. Don’t tell any free agents! Expect some verbal on the Bakersfield kids in the days to come.
Lowdown hits at noon today, Sports 1440. Tyler Yaremhcuk, Steve Lansky, Declanations and a complete review of last night’s Oilers game plus a look ahead to the NFL weekend. You can reach me at Lowetide on twitter, in the comments section or on the Sports 1440 text line at 1.833.401.1440 directly.
Folks, a valued member of our community lost public posting access this morning. I can’t stress this enough: DO NOT post things about individuals that is not related to hockey. NO ONE is allowed to do it. The individual involved today is someone I enjoy reading, but rules are rules. We will see his posts some time in the next year or so. However, the key thing is to avoid posting things that are personal and targeted about individuals. It’s a hockey site. Please respect it.
Just in the interest of clarity, LT – was this a personal attack against another poster here, or posting gossip or what?
The hockey talk is always the focus, but sometimes I get the most enjoyment when the comment section veers into farce or discussion of music or the best way to make an espresso, etc.
I was curious as well about which post LT was referring too and I remembered. I know LT is a busy guy, and he can delete my post if he likes, but I think to give a bit of clarity, the post that has been deleted and put a poster in timeout was made about someone who had an off ice relationship with a current NHL player.
I assume LT is okay with offtopic posts (my feeling is he prefers they be on non-game day threads though) as long as they don’t negatively target and call out non-hockey people in a gossipy way.
Three big dudes.
Kane, Holloway, and Lavoie.
I think Evander could have some fun with those two, and not even miss playing with McDavid or Draisaitl.
It behooves the OIlers to take a look.
Just like Broberg with Nurse.
Attended tonight’s game @TechCreditUnion arena. Caught warm-up and was impressed by Holloway’s everything and surprised by Broberg’s multiple one-timers.
Broberg is an NHL defenseman as his play was head and shoulders above everyone else.
I enjoyed watching the camaderie btwn Holloway and Lavoie. They played together and sat together on the bench discussing every shift. Both Holloway and Lavoie are NHLers.
Next to Broberg, Oly played the most like a NHLer. He was always a step or two ahead anticipating the play – very impressive. I would sign him to be Skinner’s 2024-25 backup. Both Petrov and Wanner also impressed.
Xavier’s penalty followed a frustrating rush where he tried to orchestrate a scoring. I don’t see him as an NHL player. That goes for Gleason too. Although he scored, there’s not much in his game that translates to an NHL third pairing role.
Despite Los Tigres Del Mar repeatedly targeting Broberg with body checks, the Oiler defenseman always came out on top. He either had the puck or made a great play. I’m with it. What are the chances Bouchard could teach him how to fire pucks?
Thanks for the review, sounds like you had an enjoyable evening.
What about Wanner and Petrov impressed, and so to disappointed you with XB?
Baracuda get one late with the goalie pulled – a jam play and the rebound sneaks out far side where the extra attacker is for the empty netter.
Rodrigue with 36 saves on 38 shots in the 3-2 win.
Holy hell what a zone entry by Holloway – lightning speed through the neutral zone, takes on 4 defenders, beats one wide but does need to circles back, finds Broberg at the point, great shot on net, rebound jammed in by Lavoie but its ruled he interfered to the goalie (but he didn’t).
https://x.com/bcurlock/status/1746040626695844346?s=46
Pretty hard to interfere with the goalie while outside (behind) the crease on a follow through motion/shot.
Learning to put up with phantom calls seems to be a part of apprenticing to be an Oiler.
Condors with a PP right after the go-ahead goal.
Broberg gets the puck at the point, start to move forward and draws the PK guy out, passes by him to Griffith at the bottom of the circles who finds Holloway at the far post for the 3-1 goal – strong play by all three.
Broberg with a fantastic play on the PK to step up, intercept a pass in the slot and skate the puck out to center, dump it in and change.
Condors, still SH, get on the forecheck, Pederson wins a battle on the half wall, and finds Gleason sliding down who rips home the 2-1 goal from the top of the circles.
First shortie of the season.
A couple of weeks ago I posted, for sh**s and giggles, my fearless predictions for where several teams would be sitting at 41 games played each! Here are my predictions and current results…
Team prediction (actual)
Arizona 46 (42) 40 games played, faded a little but could finish close
Nashville 45 (47) slightly better than expected
Calgary 41 (41) dead on
Edmonton 49 (45) 38 games played so still very possible
LA 53 (48) 38 games played might get close, or might miss by a bunch
Seattle 41 (45) exceeded expectations
Vancouver 55 (57) slightly better than expected
Vegas 53 (51) slightly less than expected.
That was fun!
Now, time to roll my fuzzy dice and come up with projected point totals leading into the All Star Break.
Arizona 50 (+2 against Bettmen .500)
Nashville 59 ( +8)
Calgary 49 (even)
Edmonton 56 ( +11)
LA 56 ( +8)
Seattle 55 (+5)
Vancouver 67 (+18)
Vegas 59 (+9)
By Bettman .500 that puts us edging into 2nd in the Pacific. Darn Nucks have a relatively meh schedule in the next 7 games before the break — I find it tough to see them losing more than 3 games until then, but I hope I am surprised.
If this one goes well, I will do the trade deadline after the All Star Break, if anyone is interested…
Holloway wins the PP draw, get the puck to the net but no goal, Holloway and Lavoie combine for the puck retrieval, Lavoie finds space and an A+ pass to the slot to Griffith who walks in and snaps one to tie the game.
1-1 8 minutes in to the second.
Canucks are 1st, and well deserved this far in to the season, but The Athletic have the Oilers up to 7th in their Power Rankings:
https://theathletic.com/5197687/2024/01/12/nhl-power-rankings-we-went-on-a-holiday-break-and-everything-changed/
Summarizing!
Day had a strong outing, making 30 stops in a 5-2 victory.
Copponi scored the opening goal for Merrimack, an ES marker.
Münzenberger, Mazura and Stonehouse (despite a team-high 6 SOG) went without soup. Curiously, in a six-round shootout, Stonehouse did not get an opportunity.
Määttä was not in St. Lawrence’s lineup. That’s because he plays for Vermont. He was not in their lineup either.
1st line has been all over the Baracuda every shift this first period.
Some aggressive forechecking, culminates with Holloway with a bash on the half boards to cause the turnover, he heads to the net, takes the pass from Pederson and cuts in alone but can’t cash.
Chasing bees in the AHL means very little right now. Holloway will more likely be used as a trade chip in the next 6 weeks.
Are you employed as a medical practitioner..?
I’m not sure this comments half way through his first period back has much substance vis-a-vis what he’s currently doing in the AHL.
Can’t Cash is the worry with Holloway.
This is true – he’s cashed now.
Nice goal, too. Hopefully he can cash some more, even strength goals would be welcome. He has nine EV goals in 46 AHL games, Yamamoto had eight in 50 GP. Jesse Puljujarvi had nine EV goals in 56GP, mostly as a teenager. Ryan McLeod had 18 goals in 91 games. All four men scoring at about the same rate.
Malone doesn’t get the puck deep, it comes back the other way but its a slow developing play behind the Condors’ net, a quick pass in front and the ECHL call-up loses his man and he buries one.
Truth be told, Rodrigue made himself VERY small in the net – it wasn’t a great goal over his shoulder in to the middle of the net.
Ryan Holt says they may get Niemo back next week.
If the fan didn’t know that Alex Peters was on an AHL contract, such fan might think he was a top prospect.
Wanner with a fantastic stick to break up a 2 on 1.
Chaulk skips line 4 and puts the top line right back out there (with the prospect pair) and another shot offensive zone shift culminating in a slot shot by Holloway.
Now the Savoie/Grubbe/Petrov line gets a shift – and they are all over the offensive zone for 45 seconds
Lavoie an absolute beast on the 1st shift of the game as the new 1st line, with the “real prospect d-pairing”, all over the offensive zone and Lavoie with 3 looks towards the net.
LT, do you mean Robert Fripp on Prince Rupert’s Lament, on Lizard by King Crimson?
Because if you do, then I love you even more than I already do.
Yes.
Merzlikins is a fine goalie – he can be inconsistent but there are only 5-7 “elite” goalies that are really consistent at a high level.
He would be a nice add the Oilers but I just don’t see it working with his contract and with his now clear desire to a “#1 goalie).
Even taking away his cap hit, he would be in a tandem with Skinner and would not be a true #1 – that would be quite the tandem but not what he is expressing he wants and, at $5.4MM for 3 more years, fitting that in the cap structure of the Oilers doesn’t really work – even if Campbell is removed – not for a tandem goalie.
Interesting Oilers themed grid on puckdoku today, with only one square devoted to a hockey team.
One of the things Holland should be doing is looking at how to stash Kane and Soupy on LTIR until playoffs for Kane and rest of contract for Soupy.
I mean that’s what Vegas would do
Well I guess you could see if Tonya Harding was still in business?????
sure. But Lehner had surgery 18 months ago and has been conveniently not returning to play and this is after Stone was injured for a long time and then magically became 100% on day 1 of the playoffs
The way they portrayed Stone before the playoffs that if you touched his back he would collapse – that, certainly, wasn’t the case.
Of all the teams in the NHL Oilers would be the last one to get away with any shenanigans! Not exactly sure but it’s been that way a long time. If we tried to put Campbell on LITR we would likely have to give Flames a draft pick!!
Hip surgery and back surgery. Campbell has ____?
100% the Knights played the LTIR rules – by having Stone not activated during the regular season, which is required once he’s deemed healthy.
A player that ends the season on LTIR should not be eligible to play in the first round of the playoffs – end stop.
With that said, delaying activation after a major injury with months of recovery time is not in the same ballpark as faking injuries and having a doctor sign off on LTIR eligibility.
So what’s Lehners malady? It’s been 18 months and doesn’t sound like he’s even trying to come back
No, they would not be permitted to stash Campbell on LTIR unless he has an injury.
Also, i am highly confidant that neither Kane, his teammates nor his coaches would be in favor of that – even if it was an option, which it isn’t.
I’m sure they would be quite ok with doing whatever it takes to win
I’m sure they would – does mean they would be permitted to do it.
Lehner had, from accounts, a number of issues including requiring hip surgery. Now, of course, I’m not “in the know” regarding his recovery but I would think hip health is important for goaltending.
I’m not quite sure Kane and Campbell are there.
It’s been 18 months
Landeskog had a cartilage transplant and he’s trying to skate
Lehner got the wink wink LTIR agreement
and Landeskog has been out just as long as Lehner and not expected back this season.
This is great – if you have the knowledge to compare and analyze injuries across the league, as great as a poster as you have been, you have so much more to offer this forum – look forward to it!
Confirmed:
Holloway centres Lavoie and Pederson
Rodrigue starts
Broberg and Wanner a pair.
The Niemo situation still out there as he’s not on the lineup again.
We could really use an article from someone who covers the organization on what’s going on with Niemo. He looked promising and real close 2 seasons ago and then has disappeared into the phantom zone.
The current situation is very very iffy.
On air, Ryan Holt has been talking about him being sick but, after missing 3 games for “being sick”, Keith Gretzky was on Oilers Now and mentioned that Niemo wasn’t hurt but he’s “away taking care of some stuff” – its been close to a month now.
I don’t want to speculate but I have some thoughts on what is going on with Niemo – at this point I’m not expecting him back with the team (pure personal speculation based on nothing more than what I’ve posted here).
Thanks for the beautiful post LT.
The cadence, sincerity, and simplicity that you write with is a rare talent. The Oilogosphere is lucky to have you. Rest in peace Robin and John.
It was instructive to watch Alex Lyon play for the Wings last night. I’ve been intrigued by the goalie as a potential trade target, and last night he demonstrated why he’d be a quality backup at a dream salary (900k this year and next).
Pickard’s been okay too, and to his credit he’s now 4-2 and .902.
What’s the gap between Pickard and Lyon? Or Kahkonen? Or Jake Allen? Or Mrazek? Do the Oilers even need to upgrade?
We’ve been looking at this Rubik’s cube since October, however now that the Oilers can’t stop winning, the answer appears to be to trust our goalie tandem.
I’ve seen you swim in a Parisian hedge.
Tough thing is we don’t know how he’d do in the playoffs. I don’t think there’s much to argue between JP and Allen during the regular season (coarsely results based, I’m not a technical goalie expert), but I know I’d prefer Allen’s experience for the playoffs.
Apparently Canadien’s Monahan is on the outs…pretty cheap contract, any chance we’re in on him?
The market for Centres is pretty thin and the Oilers definitely need one. Preferably right-handed, but your options (and estimated acquisition costs) appear to be:
Elias Lindholm – R – UFA – $4.9M – will cost a 1st + A prospect
Sean Monahan – L – UFA – 1.9M – will cost a 2nd & B prospect
Jason Dickinson – L – UFA – $2.75M – will cost a 2nd
Jack Roslovic – R – UFA – $4M – will cost a 2nd or 3rd
Adam Henrique – L – UFA – $5.75M – will cost a depth pick
IMO Monahan is probably the best value assuming the player is only a rental.
Can you imagine adding Lindholm?
RNH – McD – Hyman
Mcleod – Drai – Foggy
Kane – Lindholm – Perry
Holloway – Ryan – Gagner
Omg.
Oh goodness. I’ll have a big order of Roslovic please! I can’t believe he’s earning $4 tho.
He plays RW, no? Doesn’t take many faceoffs and when he does, is pretty terrible. Maybe a fit for Draisaitl’s wing?
He’s also an American playing for his hometown. Would he be happy with a trade to Edmonton?
Can someone shed some light on what happened to Monahan’s career? Just injuries? His falloff has been pretty steep for a guy his age.
Injuries. So many injuries.
Injuries galore
The title of this post is not just a Stones song, it is also the name of the album from which that song originates. Side A’s closing song is “Time Waits For No One“, a great song as well as a lesson we would all do well to heed.
Interestingly enough, there’s also an Ambrosia song of that same name recorded the following year. It’s a fine piece of progressive/AOR rock indeed.
Since Dec 13th (arbitrary) Brown is tied for 7th in Oiler forward scoring. Or you could say tied for top in bottom 6 scoring. Seems he’s not the only one bitten by snakes
I saw a rumor online that said the price of dumping Soupys contract is two first rounders
Which somehow seems very cheap and very expensive at the same time so must be pretty spot on
I think he’s probably done, but wouldn’t it be nice if Soupy finished the season in Edmonton and they could make a hockey trade, even if they only got a 5th rounder for him
They will probably buy him out, I’d rather give up picks and or certain prospects. Buyouts are depth and quality killing when cap room is strained and expectations are for now
Buyout doesn’t help the cap this season unfortunately. But two first round picks is most of our tradeable futures so if we have the cap space from dumping Soupy we don’t have much we can use to acquire a useful player.
we need to find a way to get soupy to LTIR
“we need to find a way to get soupy to LTIR”
You’re going to end up on a police watch list with that kind of “we” talk
I lol’d. 🙂
I’m picturing Parros screaming at Holland, “DID YOU ORDER THE CODE RED”
Terrible remake, imo.
Is it me or has McLeod suddenly decided to do his own Hyman impression and start to rise up the batting order as a NHLer?
Asking for a friend.
Dear HH – it’s time for you to stop hiding and come out to face the Oilers fans who you like to harass with 31 other NHL teams.
After all, Winnipeg, Florida and Seattle are all rocking a similar current trajectory as the Oilers. Sp there are those for you to start with.
There’s no point poking him with a stick over this. You’ll never convince him of anything, but you need to know that he knows in his heart of hearts the Oilers are inevitable.
Every season has ebbs and flows.
You forgot to mention Moneypuck now has the Canucks as favourites to win the cup.
Mmmok let’s see…Oilers now 19-6 during the Coffey KK era…this pro rates over 82 games to a 124.7 point season.
Not too bad for coaches who got crucified after fan fave Woody quite rightfully got himself the sack.
Montreal will play like starving rats tomorrow. Starving rats!
Just posted something, had to make one tiny, tiny edit so went in and edited
The edited bit got tagged as spam and now is nowhere to be seen
Is that normal? and Did I just lose my post?
Lmk if you know
Nice writeup over at barstool sports re: McD’s goal last night and the incredible prescience he has to adapt to NHL’s interpretations of offside.
His physical gifts are undeniable but his hockey brain is on par with 99
Must be something about Edmonton
Going to tonight’s Condors match with the Barracuda to watch Holloway and Oly. I would appreciate the Lowetide community’s advice on who and what other prospects to keep an eye on.
Those are the two big ones for me personally, along with Broberg and Bourgault. Looking forward to your thoughts!
Personally I’d be watching Lavoie and Gleason (chances to play some NHL games this year) and Petrov (intrigues me).
In addition to the two you mentioned, try to keep an eye out for these guys (top prospects mentioned round these here parts):
I wonder how many of us are actually here in this place because we learned about “talking hockey” from John Short. It is probably a whole bunch.
If playoffs started today, who would the Oilers prefer to face in round 1, Van, Vegas or LA ?
How about come April time ?
LA is sputtering now but will likely recover.
Van will regress a bit as teams will play them harder.
Vegas likely would be the Oilers toughest competition in the division and of all the Western conference teams
Vancouver
Nashville!?!
Anyone.
Gotta beat everyone to win the Cup.
False. This is a popular misconception. In fact, you do not need to beat everyone to win the cup.
Everyone you match up against in the playoffs. Clearly.
Robin Brownlee & I were classmates in the nineth grade at a school on Vancouver Island. Back then he was just Rob, I laughed when all of a sudden, he was Robin.
We all thought he was just a big goof. He seemed to always be trying to pick a fight with me for some reason. I guess because we were the two biggest guys in the class. I always figured his bark was bigger than his bite. He was only there for the one year, so I didn’t get the chance to find out. I remember in English class, to our surprise, he would get high praise from the teacher for his skill in writing essays. So, I wasn’t surprised to see his articles in print about my favorite sports team that I enjoyed reading so much. I will miss those articles immensely. I’m sure his spirit is soaring wherever he is now. RIP Rob.
Cool story.
Shawnigan or Brentwood? What grad class were you?
I’m a SLOB, 76 grad.
I’m so sorry to hear about the loss of John Short and Robin Brownlee, with Mr. Short being the one that hurts the most.
John Short taught me so much about how to be a thoughtful and considered sports fan and was always polite and respectful to me when I called in, even though I was just a teenager. He came across as a wonderful person, and a lot of people will feel his loss.
For what it’s worth, I think that our host on this site has a similar following and level of respect. I don’t wish to come across as kissing LT’s ass, but that’s how I’ve long seen him, even though my time here has 99%+ been in the form of lurking.
Very much so.
Don’t look now, but with his assist last night baby Nuge now sits alone in 7th place on the Oilers all-time scoring list, with 670.
What a career. And he’s just hitting his stride.
I, presumably like you, believe he will age gracefully. Excellent edegwork but not a player that relies on elite speed. Extremely intelligent and crafty.
He’s been making some wonderful passes these past couple seasons in particular. That one to Hyman last night was extraordinary.
Aging like fine Scotch.
And he will be able to grow a playoff beard in just a few years – Grandpa Bouch will show him how (or better yet the Viking).
And I age like bad cheese… according to my ex.
Who would have thought, at age 29-30 RNH would turn into a top-10 LW in the league.
Just wanted to pop in and say that as always, wonderfully written Allan; listening to Gregor yesterday was heart-wrenching; you encapsulated it perfectly. So incredibly sad.
I am a one team person, I don’t care much about how other teams are doing unless it relates to the Good Guys. Or if it’s fun, like when the Leafs lose to bad teams. But now I am rooting for an awful lot of teams to win. Against anyone ahead in the western conference
Short.
Home games we’d have the TV for video and CHED for audio during play. No lag in those pre-digital or semi-digital days of direct local broadcast. Short was always spot on, right on top of the play, and more emotion and excitement than they could fit into the boob tube. Absolutely stellar. On another level entirely.
In the days of ITV and other local stations, and before 90% of Oil games were televised, news panels sometimes had monitors running in the background of their newscasts or newsrooms, and we’d surf the channels to find one running an Oilers game not otherwise broadcast – a tiny screen on a tiny screen w terrible res that we’d also sync up to CHED and Short. For as long as it lasted.
I was at Short’s one thousandth Oiler broadcast and saw him presented with the silver stick. It was a privilege to see him being honoured. A twig of pure platinum would not have been too much.
Phillips?
Yeah super embarrassed but I listened to both the whole of their careers covering the Oilers, and I have ALWAYS swapped their names in conversation – something I must get from my Mom, as she can never keep me and my brother’s names straight.
Rather than delete this snafu just gonna own it. John Short was a thoughtful, respectful man I never got tired of hearing talk hockey. Sorry All for the crossed wires.
Oldtimers disease kicks in occasionally. Hell, I have been listening to Oiler broadcasts since WHA Day One. I remember Bryan Hall doing play-by-play for (I think) one season.
Anyway, it took me a minute to recall the name “Phillips,” so I feel your pain. : )
My thoughts are with both their families right now. In the case of Mr Short whether it’s maybe “expected” as he was older, it’s still a terrible shock.
With the Brownlees, I can’t imagine what they’re feeling right now. It’s heartbreaking.
Maybe call your dads and mums, grandmas and grandpas today and let them know you love them.
Per Ryan Holt, Condors start a stretch of 46 games in 100 days starting tonight.
Go Oly (and the rest of the “real prospects”).
To the L.A. KINGS:
KNOCK KNOCK.
WHO’S THERE?
I’ve not been paying attention, but have they fallen into the trap of running Talbot into the ground?
Flattop has played him in 28 or 38 games – so it’s a pace of near 60 games. Talbot has been supported well by their d-system, cutting down on high danger chances.
Uptick in the competitiveness of their schedule seems to be the big reason for whey they are coming back to earth.
Todd should know better from 2017, although Copley has gotten injured. Couldn’t a happened to a nicer franchise
Yes and I’m sure they were hoping for more out of their newly acquired 8.5m x 8 C who was demoted to the 4th line these last few games. That PLD contract looks like it could be worse than Uberdough’s contract.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWmQbk5h86w
EDM, SEA, WPG & FLA have all won 8+ games in a row currently.
First time in League History 4 teams have been on 8+ game winning streaks at the same time (Courtesy NHL Sirius XM)
That is all.
I hear it happened sometimes during the 6 team era.
swap Seattle and NYR and there’s your final four
Beautiful words about John and Robin today. Thanks for sharing them with all of us.
I’ll never forget John Short. To the surprise of nobody, I was a pretty precocious and curious child… loved sports and wanted to talk about sports with any adult who would let me. Listened to the radio all the time and John Short was my absolute favourite in an era full of amazing personalities on the radio in Edmonton.
I used to call into his show when I was like 9 or 10. The producer always seemed surprised to hear my little voice on the other end of the phone and made sure I had the chance to get on the air. John took the time, indulged my curiosity and made it seem like he actually remembered me, which at the age I was at was really important (kids need validation from their heroes, he was certainly one of mine). I’m forever grateful.
That was beautiful.
Thanks for that.
Nice words LT, thanks. Robin’s passing hit me pretty hard for a fellow I didn’t know, for the same reason as you, his kids. So sad
I met John Short once, when I was a teen working at IGA. We were a drop off for Tiger’s Kids, and John did a show from the store one evening. They shot a commercial for Tiger’s Kids that evening and I got to be the store palooka in it, big thrills!
Mr. Short was unassuming, and my main memory from the evening was at least one woman coming in to give him a card, and leave. Which he read and nonchalantly dropped in the garbage bin. I don’t recall trying to read it later, always wondered what it said!
In the 80’s most of us listened to John every night from 9-12 on CFRN. This is before internet so he was our source of live information and interaction.
My favourite saying of his is “You have a democratic right to be wrong.” That said he most always gave everyone there say and heard them out. He was a definite beauty.
The Smile on K.K face was priceless this man along with Coffey walked into a hornets nest both have saved the season and possibly the next 8 years of franchise success. Hooray! Hooray! It’s a Holi-Holiday.
I agree they have done an amazing job. I also think you are overstating it, with a healthy McDavid, Ekholm and McLeod I believe Woodcroft would have this team close to a playoff spot by now, they are just too talented. I also believe that the defensive structure would not look nearly as good as it does now. Then again we will never know what would have been!
You could say the same thing for Tippett and Todd they all had their chance and failed. Like K.K Woody was lucky he got the job to begin with I don’t get this cult following for Woody. This team looks different over any previous coach since Mac.T our D is more unified Nurse and Bouchard look like and play like the weight of the world has been lifted off their shoulders by Mr.Coffey.
The McDavid change of pace on his goal was ridiculous. My buddy and I were watching the game and McD did that a few different times – and my friend looked at me and said “it’s kind of like a video game for McDavid”. I said, “it is and we get to watch it every night”.
I explained to my friend that given good health, McDavid has a legitimate shot to be the 2nd All Time Scorer in NHL history (I don’t think anyone will catch Gretzky).
Anyway. Grateful we get to watch McDavid’s magic every game. What a treat.
Did you see Hyman’s comments on the goal after the game? He mentions how him and McDavid caught eye contact and McDavid was watching for him to clear the zone. That is next level processing going on there and amazing non verbal communication, just lying in wait to pounce on that puck. Watch the replay you can see McDavid eying Hyman to ensure there would be no offside. Detroit looked at it too afterwards. also said Wahlman stopped playing.
Around the 2:30 mark
https://youtu.be/aFcKbhZVW2s
This is why I watch all of every game no matter how the Oil are playing, I just don’t want to miss seeing something amazing. I call it McDavid pulling a McDavid!!!!