This is me, summer 1971. My heart had recently been broken by Jean Beliveau and the Montreal Canadiens. That’s Billy the goat staring at me, I may be telling him that Ken Dryden was unbeatable. This photo was taken 17 miles north of Maidstone, turn left at the Allan Store instead of going all the way to Turtleford. To my right were the other goats, to my left the gigantic school with 12-foot ceilings in a ridiculous living space my poor Mom tried to keep clean. We burned coal, plaster fell from the ceiling on the regular, we didn’t have a pot to piss in but learned how to make do in those years.
I honestly didn’t know I was poor. In Canada during those years, it was kind of hard to tell. We got our clothes from Sears same as everyone else, and everyone had a car with a dent or two that I recall. Sports, specifically hockey and baseball, and music, specifically Tom Jones (I hadn’t developed any musical taste and my brother loved Tom Jones) and Charlie Rich would have been the most popular LP’s in the house. We watched All in The Family, Laugh-In, The Carol Burnett Show and Mary Tyler Moore. I watched Night Gallery when possible but that was tricky and depended on the rest of the house doing something and not noticing me. Otherwise, it was bed, or the dreaded “that show is awful it’ll give you nightmares” and it sure as hell did.
It’s Game 2 of the final. I think the Oilers have got this. We’ll see. Tonight is a big one. Solve Bob, and the world is your oyster. Don’t solve Bob? Miles and miles of miles and miles for the bitterness of losing a SCF enters the chat. Big day. Big day.
PHILIP BROBERG
A buddy mentioned to me on the weekend that I was right about Philip Broberg, and said I had bragging rights. I love hearing that, but don’t deserve any credit at all.
I didn’t ever say Broberg was a sure thing. In fact, on my draft board in 2019, I ranked him No. 16, saying “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 never said Broberg would emerge as a brilliant pick (and he isn’t there yet). I said, as I always do, we should allow Broberg to tell us what he is. I’ve been tracking him since draft day and he resembles Oscar Klefbom most closely among players we are familiar with from the past.
I have an article up today at The Athletic that tracks his AHL and NHL progress, and it’s impressive. If you doubted him, and I know many did, it’s a good idea to let these young prospects show you what they can do over their entry deals. Sometimes it takes a little longer, but you should know by the time entry contracts expire.
Here, let’s do a quick run on one prospect to see what kind of progress is being made. I’m very worried about Xavier Bourgault, his offence is going the wrong way, and he is less impressive as an AHL outscorer now than in his rookie season. Here are his splits from the 2023-24 campaign with the Bakersfield Condors.
As a rookie, Bourgault boasted a .55 pts-game average and an even-strength goal share of 60 percent. He should have been pushing beyond those totals, it hasn’t happened. We’ll have a long look later, but I want to say that even now, with his second season in the books, we should wait for Bourgault to tell us what he is. There’s one more year of entry and maybe he’ll need a little more. Perhaps it will take a second organization. Not sure. I can say we need to watch this play out, prospects don’t develop in a straight line.
TONIGHT
I would run McDavid-Draisaitl on separate lines, play Darnell Nurse with someone other than Cody Ceci and play the living hell out of Philip Broberg. I believe the Oilers win tonight and win the series in seven. If the team loses this evening, I’ll still believe Oilers in seven is the right call, but will be stone alone or close. That’s fine. The numbers tell me this series is too close to be a quick one, and the longer it rolls out the more likely the Glimmer Twins and Mick Taylor find a way.
We have a rocking show on the Lowdown today! Sports 1440 noon to 2pm. Legendary Edmonton Oilers defenseman Charlie Huddy will talk to us about the SCF and playing defense on your offside. Rachel Doerrie from Staff & Graph Podcast will tell us is Philip Broberg is like Coca-Cola (the real thing) and how to stop from being goalied. Jason Gregor will pop in with his take on Game 1 and changes for Game 2. 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. Question: Would you like to see an updated 2024 Lowetide draft list later this week?
Love the leadership shown by Connor and Leon in the postgame interviews.
Gotta stick with the boys. Hopefully they can beat the odds.
If they don’t, their best shot to win next year is Nurse on LTIR at the trade deadline ala Mark Stone.
This is just gladiator tennis. Time now to hold serve.
is it possible the very long break is putting the oilers out of sync, like it has in the past? Here’s hoping for better outcome for the next home games.
Doesn’t seem like Bouchard is catching as much flak for that horrendous giveaway as I was expecting. He giveth more than he taketh but when you’re in the SCF that’s simply not good enough. Not good enough to win by a mile. Timing. Bad. Too many times a simple and effective play wasn’t made due to the Panther forecheck but Bouch had air and time and it was another brain fart. October shit.
But regardless of that play they had no business winning that game. I am going to choose to remain positive and hopeful however not out if some pollyannaish delusion, but because it’s been a successful method all year and I find it completely “to script” that this particular squad would hit their kink and make it absolutely as hard on themselves as need be. I am not saying they will win, I’m saying giving up on them in similar scenarios has been a losing wager all season.
2 at home, one at a time. Things change fast in the playoffs. Edmonton to my eye is a second off the play, all over the ice. No more second guessing, no more deferring. Desperado mode engaged. There’s more story to tell here.
I think Bouchard is avoiding flak because 1) the Oilers wouldn’t be here without Bouchard, and 2) the Oilers didn’t deserve to win that game anyways.
Coffey “unlocking” Bouchard means that with the amazing good you also get the occasional bad. The same was very true of Coffey himself. In 1983-84, he scored 40 goals and 126 points, and still lost the Norris to Rod Langway, whom he had outscored by 96 points.
He played 30 minutes in regulation. He picked up Nurse’s minutes and got tired. It happens.
Final thing
That was one mighty curious game from the stripes. The differences between the Bennett and Foegele calls was eyebrow raising. And the vitriol here from some was bizarre.
Forsling, all over Hyman as he blows by him. Nada.
Then the two on Bouchard of the soft variety to put it nicely… the makeup call on Turtle which was very weak, the non call on Turtle’s between McDavids legs tap on the hands on a breakaway.
The totally blown puck over glass on a 5v4.
A high hit on Broberg is nothing, but Barkov goes down and a ref huddle after both refs starred right at it and didn’t raise their arms, results 60 seconds later in… roughing?
Fugly night for Hebert and Rooney. Bizarre calls all night long.
On the 3rd goal Kulak really takes himself out of the play going after Bouchard’s missed check. Sure you don’t want Bouchard to miss that guy but there’s no danger right away. Kulak has the pass to Rodrigues covered and Jamark has back pressure, why does Kulak cut over and try to tie up Bouchard’s check? There’s no danger there? He’s got the angle right and everything to start but checked down so aggressively.
Earlier in the 2nd there was a similar play on another kill. Ekholm loses a board battle and Vinny dives right into the corner to try and pickup the check and leaves Bennett all alone in front.
They weren’t being this aggressive against Dallas or Vancouver but it’s been a thing the first two games in this series.
Rocking chair defense gents. Let them come to you. Don’t go chasing. Don’t make
it easy.
I had the Oilers odds to win at about 15% …
TSN said teams down 2-0 in the final have a 9% chance ….
It’ll be fun to watch Sportsnet ask Bieksa what it’s like to blow 92% odds eh?
One of the reasons teams down 0-2 rarely win is because the better team is more likely to be the team up by two.
I don’t think that holds here — I still think we’re the better team. This team has some Pitt/Bos in them.
Game 1 was all downhill. Game 2 Florida played the better game, but we were down two players early, including a d-man.
Still a big hill to climb. But it’s far from over either.
you can post after game 5
2011 Canuck won two straight away,
They were celebrating like they won the cup.
So was the entire city of Vancouver.
I was lucky enough to be there for a conference.
Beautiful place to be in June.
Went to Game 7 and we all know who won that year.
Go Oilers Go
I lived in Van and loved every min of that game 7, if only to stick it to Canuck’s fans. They’re worse than a thousand Marchands. Gazdic hit the nail on the head when he was on ON.
Pain. Florida’s 5v5 defence is absolutely perfect, I hate it. All of their top players and depth players don’t make any mistakes.
Disappointed.
But some of the knee jerk reactions from fans are surprizing to me.
Yes. Odds are agaisnt us. But this whole “skinner isnt good enough”???
He stole game 6 agaisnt dallas. Just 2 games ago. He was fine both of these games.
The Florida net has harsh dings in the posts…
My take. Stick to the plan. Maybe we can’t climb back. But maybe we can?
Ive been telling myself to enjoy the ride. Thats my mentality. Win or lose. If we lose. Its still a great ride. Obviously i want to see the win, but I’m not sure the harshness on our boys is warranted.
Maybe its an Oilers fan thing. But do we never give credit to the opposition? There was a ton of plays tonight that i just said… “wow. That is a great play by ____”. Ekblads stick twice on one shift. Is Draisaitl trash? Or did Aaron make a fantastic read and play?
I believe we have a hard time against Maurice systems… wpg years back. And feels similar. Elite tender and solid system. Need KK to find some ways to beat it.
And the boys might have Bobrovski in their head. Trying to shoot too hard for corners so missing and hitting iron..
That was a ramble …… Playing a team in the Final, exposes any weaknesses. Edm is being exposed. and that is zero disrespect to Edm. Fla is ready to roll, has experience, great coach and Elite goalie…
25% chance now
Keep pitching that towel in lol.
Been doing it since November. No
point changing now.
Must be rough being so negative
But as long as it works for you!
Let’s make it a homer series.
That’s good until it isn’t.
there was 1 Oiler who was a plus. McDavid.
As always he needs help. Challenge is we are not playing the Ducks in Feb. Someone other than McD needs to hit the scoreboard. Janmark. Holloway. Drai. Somebody
Ducks in Feb. come on. How about Stars in June. Or Canucks in May….
It’s hard to understand why Leon is so frustratingly stubborn… with the puck on his stick, under heavy or mounting pressure, easy outs available, and he refuses to pass the puck to get out of trouble, inevitably resulting in lost possession.
Don’t fuss anyone
Just sit back and enjoy this moment. After all it may not come again
This. All day long. It’s wonderful seeing my team on hockey’s biggest stage.
Totally.
Being a sports fan and critiqueing is part of the enjoyment.
I have no idea what happened to our best forwards tonight…but the *reality* is they were terrible and we are down 0-2 as a result.
Labeling posters as defeatists or doomers misses the objective reality of our situation and why we are here.
It seemed the whole team was nervous,out of sorts never got level.
They’re not out there against pylons. And they’re not perfect. I get that it’s frustrating they’re down 2-0, but they aren’t terrible.
Reality is the series is not over. Big hill, but not over.
This is a resilient team that has the Wayne Gretzky of hockey plus the Scottie Pippen of hockey. Far from over!
I am not being doom and gloom but reality is it’s near impossible to come back from 2-0 in the finals, especially with key injuries.
Obviously never bet against McDavid but this is a mountain. Can the Oilers climb two in one season?
It’s reality…..surprising who is objecting to this harsh truth.
It is what it is….
Gully and the boys will come up with some plays to counter-act what the Panthers are doing on the PK
What would he have learned tonight that he didn’t learn game 1?
I think coming home will help as the ice is much better and allows for some of the cross seem passes to get thru (and move faster to it’s intended destination).
Um, Oiler PP was dangerous in game 1. Lots of scoring chances and shots generated. Obviously didn’t score, but if was dangerous. Zero PP awarded in the 3rd in game 1
Florida adjusted for game 2. Oilers will adjust for game 3.
The last Oiler PP was dynamite. It was a relief to see, and hopefully a sign of things to come.
Hopefully the PK finally having the dam burst isn’t a sign of things to come.
Does Pickard get next game?
Why not? It wouldn’t bother me. He’s a .910 goalie. That will win game 3
Agree. Feels like Skinner is unable to steal us a game in the finals.
Yeah, if only he had held Florida to -1 goal in the opener, Oilers woulda won.
Different Sport but in my recent memory there has been a series with similar stakes that I hope this series resembles. And that is the 2021 nba championship. Phoenix suns the more balanced team take a 2-0 series lead at home. Then the Milwaukee bucks led by arguably the best player in the world storm back and win the series 4-2 cementing Giannis as one of the best ever.
I’m still quite confused on the process that went into the Leon penalty. There was contact, Barkov went down and no penalty was caused. We the had the puck for a few moments. And the pin the whistle blew. Is that whistle for an injury? There was again no penalty called in the moment. So then they talk about it and call a roughing.
I’m not saying it’s a bad call technically. But since when have you been able to go talk to your friends 10 seconds after a whistle about a random roughing penalty ? Obviously it happens for high sticks or puck over glass. Can you let the play run for 30 seconds and the go talk about a trip you might have missed?
you can let play run for 2 minutes then review an offside
The linesmen cannot give input to the referees until the next stoppage in play.
I’ve literally never seen a minor penalty called after the whistle. Major yes. Minor never
My understanding is that other than technical fouls like too many men or puck over glass, the linesmen only have input on 4- or 5-minute calls, not minor penalties. Would be interested to hear an explanation of that call, but the chances of that happening are pretty much mathematical zero.
My only reasoning is that his skates left the ice and there was contact to the head.
It was a weak call, but then again, the Bouchard love tap was worse
Next game I think Kane sits, Hollywood and Foegle with Leon, Henrique, McLeod, Perry.
If Nurse can’t go, he can’t go. who’s next up? Ceci? At least he’s an NHL dman. You’ve got 3 RD and 3 LD there. Stu had a good half game. Not sure how much I fault him on any of them but Bob makes those stops.
They sure didn’t get much a sniff tonight outside of a hacked and slashed breakaway chance. Their Dmen aren’t elite. Their Fwds aren’t elite outside of Barkov. This is a system. Systems can be analyzed and beaten. KK has his work cut out for him.
Is Fla just that much better than the Oilers? I doubt it.
I am old enough to have watched 2006. Edm blew a 3-0 lead in game 1. They played better as the series went on, but many of the players have said that was the critical loss.
I think Game 1 was a critical loss. Had to have that game.
Hope they win game 3 to make it a series. REALITY is it will be very very difficult to beat the Panthers 4 of next 5.
Game 1 in ‘06 was critical because they lost Roloson. This team can come back.
Won’t be easy, but it’s one game at a time. Oilers of the 90s came back twice from 3-1 series deficits, against superior opponents (Dallas and Colorado). If those Oilers teams were capable, this Oilers team can win the next and go from there.
they can always win. I am a fan. but the odds now are prob 15% at best??
Your arm must be tired from tossing in those towels all year lol. Like seriously how many times have you given up this season?
Go for a walk, have a shot and then watch some McDavid playoff clips. You’ll feel better.
9% according to ESPN+ broadcast in SCF history
Yep….played with a bit of fire in the previous series or two.
LT said 7
I put my brain there
But my hockey sense says it’s over now. I don’t like the player mix
Breaks my heart
Yes,after watching hockey for 50 years,when you see a team dominate and get nothing,game 1, you know they are in trouble later.Momentum is so important and we never have had any after that,hopefully we can somehow regain it.
between the two games I thought the Oilers deserved one. Sucks but this is far from over. This is where the great players separate themselves. Going to be hard but is possible. McDavid is going have to take over a game.
that’s the problem. I think Edm needs something from their depth. 1 or 2 goals. and when I day depth, I mean Leon’s line when he is not with McD.
They need something from someone other than 97
I agree but unfortunately this is how our team is built. Top end players get all the offensive opportunities and rest of the roster is tasked with PKing and not getting scored on.
I understand the idea of reuniting McDavid and Drai but I wonder if doing it so often leads to the “regular lines” not being able to establish a rhythm. I haven’t checked the stats yet but I wonder how the super line did versus the “regular lines”
I also get, the coach is more likely to do it when their trailing or late in the game.
Curtains.
hope we win Game 3 to make it interesting.
Skinner .889. Not why we lost but we will never win with those numbers.
You’re a broken record. No matter what happens in the game, it’s always Skinner’s fault.
You’re right. .800’s will never ever win a cup.
It is true that if Skinner is >.890 these playoffs the Oilers have lost just once. That isn’t hard to ask for. That being said, that wouldn’t have cut it for game 1 or 2
Im sure this place will be nice and balanced lol.
Im sure the same posters who got off doom posting in the last three series won’t do that again tonight and tomorrow.
Two thoyghts
1) more shots on them first period PPs. Too much passing not enough shots.
2) not sure where the super aggressive help option is coming from with the defense. Why the did Kulak abandon the front of the net to chase that Cat into the corner on the 3rd? Weird play from a very calm Dman.
They’re definitely rattled. The shift to Etown will be a needed reset. Definitely trying to pass the puck into the net here and then getting frustrated when they get a stick in the way.
They had a lot of trouble with the general chaos with which Fla plays with. They looked completely sandbagged by a dman jumping into the rush, all the penalties not getting called, and the lack of space. That, to me, is a coaching affaire. KK needs to get on the video and adjust. It’s not over.
Meh one game. Shake it off.
The idiotic call on Foegele kicked off a crap storm. Injury to Nurse didn’t help and Vinny isn’t good enough to pick up that kind of slack. Shake it off
The hockey gods punished Coach K for benching Ceci. Prove me wrong 😉
Knob needs to put in some work. I think he will.
…..
…& then when he got to that guy he hesitated & didn’t disrupt the pass. It’s like he realized hed screwed up & froze.
i
We forget how good this team is when they have a bad game. Game 3 will be a different team. Against the Dys game 6 and 7 saw a desperate team slap around the Canucks which won all 4 in the regular season. The sky isn’t falling.
Kane gotta sit 💯.
We that forecheck working and he’s incapable due to injury.
You gotta think Samwise would give his all.
Why not put him in?
It feels weird to say it, but Foegle exiting actually really affected McLeod’s line. They needed that forecheck speed. The middle 6 just looked lost out there.
Refs were terrible.
But that’s not why we lost the game.
But it may be why we didn’t win. I would bet Connor’s wrists and thighs are hurting tonight, after all the hacks & whacks he took. The missed over the glass call would’ve put us on a 5 vs 3 PP… on and on…
Definitely an uphill battle now but the Oilers can certainly win two games at home.
The Oilers lost two in a row against Dallas. The Oilers won 4 out 5 against Dallas (and LA).
Going to take an incredible effort with some key men down to pull this off. 2 stinkers out of the last 3 leads me to think fatigue is catching up to the team.
Bouchard is usually good with pressure, but Florida is providing just enough to trigger him. Suspect he’ll figure it out and G3 will be a Bouchard classic.
Oilers are dealing with the same fatigue as Florida. Nothing about either game suggests that this series isn’t winnable.
No. Bouichard is not good under pressure.
I don’t think there is cumulative fatigue tonight, it was the second game after a week break but down a forward and a d-man and most of another forward (Kane) – well there were fumes at the end of this game I think.
It was a weird game. Florida is the first team that’s caused Edmonton to lose composure, in a long, long time.
Maybe home ice helps
A shame because they should be able to win this
Connor and Leon have played like shit. That can’t change that much given the help they have. Only a mindset change but they prefer Hero mode
Also Pick next game. Stu is off again
Such a shame, so many wasted years
We will see
I thought Connor was one of the only ones who could gain the zone.
Leon, on the other hand…yeah. You wouldn’t know that this is a power forward voted by his peers as best passer in the league.
I guess you never know about injuries this time of year. They might both be playing injured.
If they didn’t go to Picks against Dallas they’re not going to him now. I don’t think Skinner let in any bad goals. You’d like a big save on some of those…but then, Skinner did make some pretty big saves.
Skinner kept them in the game for 2 periods. The team in front of him played awful tonight.
They were both awful tonight.
Connor had his legs going but he decisions and puck play were both well short of established levels.
Leon was peak December Leon.
The entertainment value in this series is sure lacking. Same was true for the Canucks series
06’down 3-1. We almost did it too! Hope.
Not sure who was more garbage tonight. The refs or Oilers?
Cup or Bust? Wow what a disappointing game. Thursday will be do or die.
Well maybe try and win 2 at home??? That’s all we can ask…….
Need more dogs in the fight
Truth bomb alert…..
Barkov
CF% 68
SF% 73
GF 1 / GA 0
Also day to day with hurt feelings because Leon is a big meanie.
It’s crazy how teams like Vancouver just keep attacking in waves over and over again and the Oilers just kindve give up if things aren’t going their way.
Damn shame really.
I hope K.K sounds of on these refs. We get a 5-3 PP at 1-1 we probably win this game.
If it’s a game of inches… and the tiniest margins, referee errors sure do matter.
How many more PP’s would you want?
The ones deserved for sure
Puck over from D-zone is automatic penalty. Call it then, like they did the other times Florida flipped it out. But they talked themselves out of a 5-3.
Little consolation it’ll be reviewable next year.
The rules are quite clear that you can’t review for a penalty until a player has been lying on the ice for at least 20 seconds
Up there with the worst games we’ve watched all year. Barf.
Yup. Gross game. Pathetic effort.
Very disappointing game. Oilers talked the talk, well you know the rest. Perry not an option any more and Kane looks about 50%. Nurse obviously hurt. If he can’t go next game Ceci back in and Bro to left side? Have to win next two at home and tonight’s performance a downer.
They might as well play Gagner. He can’t be any less effective than Kane at this point, who’s done nothing worth writing home about for weeks now.
Thankfully, as we know, how one game is played has zero impact on how the next game is played – we just witnessed that (and have multiple times in the playoffs, almost every game0.
They went down 2-0 to Carolina and we thought we had no chance. Maybe that will be true. Shitty luck in the third when they actually played better and some saves that had to be made
You remember we lost that Cup, right?
Game 7 was anyone’s match. Go down 3-0 and it’s over. 2-1 and we have a chance
But that was because they didn’t win the next 2 at home. They win the series without the brutal game 4 loss.
Ya. Shitty luck that Bouchard had two brainfarts.
Many reasons why we lost. Skinner wasn’t good enough in the 3rd. Nurse down early. Losing the special teams for the first time in forever. And top 2 lines getting outscored by Evan Rodrigues, to name a few.
I’m pretty sure we need to score more than one goal every two games. I still believe.
yep, need to score goals, just ask Stephane Rodrigues
That 5 minute major coupled with the Nurse injury was a big part of the storyline. They’re clearly gassed
Deserve to lose that one.
Come home and rewrite the narrative on this series. Not over till you lose at home.
I agree. They didn’t deserve that one but if they can recapture their game 1 play at home, they can win. What’s the cliche about holding serve at home again.
The non-call on the puck over glass that would have led to a 5 on 3 was a key point in the game.
Who’s downvoting this one?
Probably one of the posters that downvoted me when I said the season wasn’t toast at 2-9-1. Those days were mainly downvotes. What did I learn? Not much point giving up on this team.
I didn’t downvote but its also not true given, you know, the Oilers could win all their home games and lose the series………
He’s not saying its a “true given”. He’s referring to the next two home games. Since he follows that up with “re-writing the narrative”, which would presumably occur, if the series ends up being tied up at 2-2…
Yeah just don’t lose at home and you’ll find yourself in game 7.
Predictable
They really needed Ekblad to stay injured
So many of their guys walked down the track to the dressing room only to not miss a shift. Is that just for the theatre? Bizarre…. Perhaps the Oilers should just stay on the ice and truly sell it.