I drank too much coffee late yesterday and then the Edmonton Oilers played one of those damnable games that gets me to twitching late into the night. I’ve never been able to overcome what could safely be called “adrenaline anger” over various things I believe to be unfair.
Last night had it all. The McDavid hack, the wobbly goaltending and blue, the obvious dive that rewarded the normally respectable Winnipeg Jets, the knock of Stuart Skinner, the final result.
After twitching for several hours, with the game running all around my brain, grace eased me into the good things. Jeff Skinner has come alive on the McDavid line in recent days, the trio (with Zach Hyman). In 19:30 five-on-five minutes, the line is 4-0 goals and 67 percent expected goals.
Darnell Nurse and Jake Walman have played 55 minutes (five-on-five) together and are 5-2 goals, with a 66 percent expected goal share. That’s a little high in GA-60 but I like the pairing. Walman made it to his third week in Edmonton before showing some chaos last night. I have an article out today at The Athletic about what he could mean to this team over the rest of the spring.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN MARCH
- On the road to: CAR (Expected 0-0-1) (Actual 1-0-0)
- At home to: ANA, MTL, DAL (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 2-1-0)
- On the road to: BUF, NJD, NYI, NYR (Expected 2-2-0) (Actual 2-2-0)
- At home to: UTA, WPG, SEA, DAL (Expected 2-2-0) (Actual 1-0-1)
- On the road to: SEA (Expected 0-0-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: CGY (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected results: 7-5-2, 16 points in 14 games
- March result: 6-3-1
- Oilers in 2024-25: 40-24-5, 85 points in 69 games
Last night was a victory based on expectations. I know it’s difficult to view it that way, what with the Glimmer Twins facing some health issues. However, that was a nasty game against a nasty team, and the Oilers grabbed a point against the outstanding Winnipeg side when McDavid and Draisaitl were unavailable. That’s impressive to me.
THE NUMBERS
Some quick impressions. Jeff Skinner is playing extremely well and it’s nice to see him rewarded. The ghastly results of McDavid-Skinner early in the season meant Kris Knoblauch faded the idea for much of the year. Many believed the idea needed to be revisited, and that has turned out to be the case. The McDavid injury is bad timing for Skinner, but he’ll need to score several goals in the days to come no matter his center. It looks like the veteran is saving his season. I love redemption stories, whether the sins are real or imagined.
Stuart Skinner may be playing his final games as an Oilers starter, and I wish he was able to corral more rebounds. I’m a stubborn kind of fellow, so remain on team Skinner, but this feels exactly like the Devan Dubnyk situation. The previous management (Ken Holland) used the bargain goaltenders to create cap space, but Stan Bowman isn’t bound by that decision with the new cap ceiling this summer. I expect a trade, the free agent market isn’t strong in net. I am hopeful he aims higher than John Gibson, but in truth Bowman’s choice for defenseman at the deadline (Jake Walman) came out of nowhere so perhaps we’ll see similar in goal. I’m going to hold out hope Skinner plays the hero in a run to Stanley, but I believe today the heart of his career will be played in another NHL city. I so wish this wasn’t the case. Value contracts are so very important, and Skinner’s age makes him a big part of Edmonton’s possible future. He should have trade value, $2.6 million is a very good cap hit for a player of his experience.
A busy day on the Lowdown, featuring guests Steve Lansky and Tyler Yaremchuk. We’ll talk about both Skinners, the officiating, and have a first blush look at Stan Bowman’s summer. I’m at Lowetide on twitter, in the comments section here and on the Sports 1440 text line at 1.833.401.1440 directly. We can be heard at sports1440.ca; iHeartRadio, Radioplayer Canada, it’s available post-show on apple and spotify, and we tweet it out on X.
Summarizing!
O’Reilly procured two apples.
Berry earned an assist and was named 3rd star.
Stonehouse and Nicholl were forbidden soup.
Day got the night off.
Clattenburg did not dress.
Looking at Vegas, Oilers and LA finishing top 3 in the Pacific… LA’s home record is scary and their remaining schedule is mostly at home.
Vegas, Edmonton first round?
I’d rather see Nuge and Co. carry this team for the next week or so and top spot is still open. Then playing the Wild?
Or just LA, agaaaain. Ugh.
Bokondji Imama now with an NHL goal tonight for Pittsburgh.
Kyle Dubas has been able to surround Sidney Crosby with elite talent.
Awesome, saw that guy play a lot of games against the Condors on AHL.TV. Most memorably that time he fought (& pounded) Brandon Manning in response to a racial slur that had earned Manning a big suspension. Not often i root against a guy wearing blue & orange in a tilt, but I sure did that night.
tonight’s goal was actually Imama’s 2nd in the NHL, he scored for Arizona 3 years ago. 334 AHL games, 29 in NHL, easy to root for guys like that.
I am headed out tomorrow on a golf trip to Palm Springs. Hoping someone can provide a site where I can stream the Oiler games while I am gone. Thank you in advance.
onhockey (dot) tv
nhlwebcast (dot) com
nhl66 (dot) ir
I really like then LT puts up the picture of his coffee cup on a Friday. A first glance it always looks like a pin of Guiness! So, problem solved in 3 hours and 10 minutes.
29 and 97 should have a couple as Guiness has amazing healing powers!
Saying Skinner kept pace with Hellebyuck when Hellebyuck had a rare off night is not saying much. It only means that Skinner is only like 40 goals behind.
https://www.naturalstattrick.com/playerteams.php?fromseason=20242025&thruseason=20242025&stype=2&sit=all&score=all&stdoi=g&rate=n&team=ALL&pos=S&loc=B&toi=600&gpfilt=none&fd=&td=&tgp=410&lines=single&draftteam=ALL
Given the team isn’t bad defensively, I don’t see how Bowman doesn’t look for help in the nets, which doesn’t have to mean moving Skinner, but it might if they like Pick and his contract
600 MIN
All Strengths
Skinner
41st – .897 SV% 40th 2.82 GAA 16th TOI
Pickard
29th .905 SV% 18th 2.50 GAA 45th TOI
5v5
Skinner
54th .901 SV% 45th 2.57 GAA 13th TOI
Pickard
18th .920 SV% 16th 2.13 GAA 44th TOI
Stu is in back up territory with his rankings other than TOI. Pick is in starter territory but of course may not stay there with more games. 10-15 goals less is a fair few wins
It’s unfortunate that Skinner never got an opportunity to be mentored, instead being thrust right into the #1 position. Or close enough to it ..
I think this is often overlooked, as well as Skinner’s age. Most goalies have down years at some point and often respond with better years, so I hope given his age, the Oilers remain supportive at least until the end of his current contract.
There’s a neat site that gives stats for all players by age. NHL Age Metrics I ran the cumulative numbers for 26-year old goalies and it pulls up all of them since the dawn of NHL time, so I went down that rabbit hole, exported the list to Excel and filtered to come up with a list of those who played in the last 10 seasons. Out of those 89 goalies, Stu has the 18th most games played. He’s had to figure a lot out on his own.
What I find very impressive, is when you run the cumulative playoff stats for 25 year old goalies (because he has not yet played as a 26 year old in the playoffs), and look at the last 10 seasons, out of 28 goalies, Stu has played the 4th most playoff games (35) and has the 4th most playoff wins (19). When you look at all time stats, Stu is 16th out of 133 goalies in playoff games played and playoff wins as a 25 year old. Fuhr is first btw with 87 games played and 63 wins.
My point is, Stu has quite a bit of experience for a young goalie to draw upon. Sure would be nice for the Oilers to benefit from that experience.
Pickard doesn’t get the QoC Skinner does, and that will have a huge impact on the numbers.
I like Pickard, quite a bit actually, but goalies like him are available every off season.
I give credit to Skinner for battling its obvious to me he’s fighting the puck every save is a adventure. Skinner needs a reset, he looks tired and slow, he’s tracking the puck like Spicoli, go with Pickard for a handful of games.
Comparing Hellebyuck and Skinner is like comparing McDavid to Philip Tomasino
Glass half full the court mandated rest 97 will get will be a blessing in disguise assuming nothing lingers.
If its more than a week 29 could lose his MVP bid but i doubt he cares once R1 starts.
I don’t think things are super dire on this injury front – and I am with the majority in saying – do not rush back. Even if we sunk to third in the Pacific, starting on the road in LA, I don’t think that is the end of the world. We have won many games there in April over the past few years, you can live with that. And catching Vegas would be cool – but I just don’t find myself getting super excited to face a Wild team that is a scorcher on the road and who the Oilers have historically struggled against. Let Vegas deal with them.
Worst case Ontario is you slip to the second wild card – but I don’t really think this team is so bad without those two that they would fatally collapse into that spot.
So rest up, heal up and come back ready to friggin rock! Nuge and the boys will hold court until then, with Kane and Frederic joining the cause in the coming weeks as well.
Agreed. Assuming they can fully heal, a wee siesta before the playoff grind would be most welcome.
And props for the TPB reference.
I agree. But just a nitpick – moving into the second wild card spot would involve Calgary or Vancouver catching us. If one of them catches us, then worst case is that the other or St. Louis also catches us. So if the worst case is slipping into a wildcard, then I fear the worst case is actually missing playoffs.
At least another two weeks for Frederick.
That is really disappointing…
The intangibles of goaltending elude most of us. For anyone who’s stood between the pipes, what’s required is almost impossible to articulate. Nevertheless we, as fans, demand more from goalies than any other position on ice. McDavid and Draisaitl, and all the lesser mortals, are given a shrug or a tongue lashing when they puck watch or take a skate. But goalies? It’s all on them.
Last night’s game was neither won nor lost by the goalies. To quote the esteemed hockey sage Jason Strudwick, “You can’t trust a forward.” You can, however, trust your goalies. They are centre stage, with footlights, for every goal against. Meanwhile, Hyman can cruise through the scene, ignoring the “danger man” (as the hockey cultists call him), he who picks up the rebound and scores. The blame is laid on the goalie. And here I read about Skinner’s rebound control. True. This season his numbers have dropped from 0.052 rebounds per save to 0.062. This is a tiny number rebounds difference. About three more every 10 games. Helleybuck, a goalie of unarguable greatness, boasts a number of 0.059. Almost exactly the same as Skinner.
I would say, after reviewing the goals, that Skinner did a marginally better job last night than the greatest goaltender in the NHL this season.
There is good reason for coach and GM standing with Skinner. Fans, and especially fans who’ve never played goal, even in road hockey, will pull their hair and gnash their teeth and call for trades etc.
The goalie is not the problem. Yes, there’s a great adrenaline kick out of winding yourself up over the goalie’s flaws. I suggest you turn your attention to the forwards who aren’t picking up their man, the D-men who aren’t clearing the crease of hostiles.
ps. There is no goalie “saviour” out there. No Dryden waiting in the AHL wings. Certainly no goalie available for trades. Skinner and Pickard are doing fine. Tighten up team in front of your G. It’s on you, at least for this fan.
https://www.naturalstattrick.com/playerteams.php?fromseason=20242025&thruseason=20242025&stype=2&sit=all&score=all&stdoi=g&rate=n&team=ALL&pos=S&loc=B&toi=600&gpfilt=none&fd=&td=&tgp=410&lines=single&draftteam=ALL
Actually Skinner is a problem and drowning while Pickard is treading water. “He’s not an Improvement” John Gibson is actually doing much better than any Oilers goalie
Ugh. Can’t edit my misspelling of Hellebuyck.
No idea how serious the injuries are to the terrible two…
But am very happy they’re occurring now and not in April.
Cracked ribs take about 2-3 weeks to sort themselves out. Or at least those are the cracked ribs that I used to come home with back in the day when I was attending a fight club.
Re that fight club/martial arts class: eventually I realized that I was not interested in any more cracked bones and so retired, to put it mildly lol
ps: There’s never been anything particularly tough about me. I’m the equivalent of an alcoholic French chef.
Just finally saw something about what have heard about Mcdavid and his allegedly “broken” ribs that understand personally.
Has there been any info on S Skinner? Can we assume he is good to go? Who do you start tomorrow night? Assuming Picks?
Coach confirmed Stu is healthy and available for tomorrow’s game, but didn’t disclose the starter vs Seattle.
Dearest Nugent of The Hopkins, please lead us to victory against the pesky Seattle SuperSonics on Ice.
He finally gets to audition as the number 1 centre.
Daniel Nugent-Bowman
@DNBsports
·
3m
Thank god, I’ll take it.
Bob Stauffer
@Bob_Stauffer
If Skinner was playing under the Eakins swarm he would have a 5.43gaa with a 700 save%.
Oilers should bring in another tender with a new goalie coach and let the chips fall where they may.
We wish we had Dubnyk. It’s Cup or bust for Skinner on the trade market. Either way we need to go in a different direction and Bowman knows this.
Jaxson Stauber is going to be a free agent and he could be a good #3. I imagine Utah will try and get him signed but if not I like him in the Delia role.
I’d be very interested to hear what Kevin Woodley has to say this summer. He’s been really good at pointing out guys that are due for a breakout. Last summer it was Lankinen and look how that turned out.
In fact, maybe Edmonton should just hire Woodley! Guy knows his stuff.
Really great character point to get a late goal against the best defensive team in the league against the best goalie in the world to push it to OT.
Kyle Connor is a sniper and a disconnect with Picks is all she wrote. Unfortunate, but a solid OT with the Hyman 1 timer.
Nuge looks like a man reborn. Winnipeg is a damn good team and the cleanest angels every time they play us somehow. That Morrissey is a rat fink.
I was thinking how his world might change with Frederic around, and hopefully Kane
Someone should have lined him up, little punk. Touch Connor and you should be in a lot of trouble
I don’t live in Edmonton anymore … but I hope this is not the mood around town, because crazy bad stuff happens to this club when a small group of influences start talking analytics and value for contract. The hot take factor in Edmonton (and few other hockey cities) is problem for the professionals that run this club.
Mistakes happen on all team – Tulsky traded for a guy that didn’t want live in Raleigh.
Bowman in October said he was looking for flexibility – Kane, Fredric are being added.
To my eye, Hellybuck (.875) was about the same as Stew (.812).
Our depth and combinations this play-offs will mean 3-5 legit NHL players will sit out each play-off game
Hear hear!
Save the gnashing of teeth & tearing of hair. That was a tough game. Perhaps a preview of what the Western Conference Final might look like.
Could someone shed some light on why we keep trading for or claiming off waivers injured players that are supposed to play for us imminently and then are either shut down for the season or are delayed .Is this just circumstance or is our medical team not getting Bowman accurate information when the decision making process on the claims or trades is being considered ..Three and counting by my count Jarventte .Frederick and that defence man whose name escapes me.
The org liked Jarventie at his draft and took a gamble, Bowman likes Regula from way back who’s a stud at the AHL level, wanted Frederic for his style, was affordable, but had a sprain
Part building for later and the right fit for playoffs. Although Jarventie seems like done
Jarventie was healthy then lied to his training staff and exacerbated it. Frederic was hurt just before the trade which I imagine was in the works long before. Regula I’m sure OP would know.
They added Skinner, Podz, Kapanen, Savoie (if we’re going Jarventie far). All have played or been available all year long. These aren’t in a row. Vegas traded for Eichel in a much bigger gamble. They hit the jackpot, we lost a couple chips in Jarv.
It’s the same strategy as the Blue Jays front office. You get discounts when you’re acquiring players with current and or past injury worries. High risk, sometimes high reward, but often they get what they paid for
How’s that worked out for the BJs ….
Lots of swing and misses
They didn’t get Frederic at a discount, they paid a premium for him. He’s bottom-6 winger who doesn’t impact offensively and doesn’t PK, they gave up too much for him even without consideration for his injury status.
Accurate words on Skinner LT… his rebound control is killing us. This has been part of his game and candles are lit that he can get this under control like last years playoff run, and most obviously the news of McDavid and Draisaitl getting imaging done.
I had one of my photos pop up on the screen saver reading today of Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre Italy. I’m just going to take a mental break from the “adrenaline anger” that we both appear to suffer from and take a walk down Via dell’Amore (Lovers’ lane)… absolutely beautiful… serenity now!
He’s just not under control after making the initial save on the above average difficulty of saves. He’s not able to plan ahead of where that rebound is going and how he will be in position to save the rebound. The hockey business calls these guys good first shot goalies. This is code for they are prone to the ugly rebounds and they can’t retain their form after making the 1st save.
The Haseks of the world could recover from anything due to extreme athleticism, but they don’t make many goalies like that anymore. I’d put Dostal in that category – extremely quick recovery ability.
Italy has some stunning coastal towns. Positano on the Amalfi Coast took my breath away – it’s just impossibly picturesque. I knew Italy would have great history and cuisine, but I wasn’t expecting stunning geography too.
Maybe that’s why Jari Kurri played there.
Italy is hands down the most beautiful country in the world.
The place is like a giant art museum.
It hasn’t been the President’s Trophy season we were looking forward to at the end of September, but the Oilers are a playoff team all set to face the LA Kings for the fourth consecutive season.
Rest Draisaitl. Rest McDavid. Let Skinner, Arvidsson, Nuge, Hyman, Henrique, etc find roles as key contributors down the stretch.
It doesn’t matter if we go 10-3 or 3-10. What matters are the 16 games we need to win come mid-April.
Matters more than a slight bit if they slide into wildcard spot that becomes central division 1st round vs likely Jets followed by the winner of the likely dallas/colorado 1st round.
While potential home ice in conference finals and stanley would inarguably beneficial, i’m alright if they slide in at 3rd in pacific.
My god i hate this playoff format. Just so repetitive
What an effort in the third period. They controlled the flow of play (generally) without the big two and scrapped for a tying goal.
That should be huge for the confidence of the players to produce outside of the big two.
PK: Exceptional!
They dominated game flow big time in period three -yes!
Without McDavid. Without Draisaitl.
There are some things to not like about the game, but that dominance against arguably the best team in the league right now…That looks very good to these eyes.
Per Seravelli, both McDavid and Drai going for imaging today.
To state the obvious, this is not a positive development. It could turn out to be less serious than it looks however the fact that they need imaging to confirm is gut punch. Especially being in the stretch drive to the playoffs. Why can we not have nice things?
looking for broken rib for Mcdavid. And high ankle sprain for Drai
They probably miss Saturdays game and have a few days off before the next game on Wednesday
Ugh… I hear you… light candles!
Left hamstring injury for Draisaitl is my guess. Ribs for McDavid.
— So I’m at dinner at our club in Toronto last night with oldest son who got his braces taken off to celebrate just the two of us.
— Our waiter Elliot starts chatting with us nice guy grew up in Minnesota and we chat
— Then he goes to the only other table that was occupied and a lovely older couple is there right beside us. The husband says “i heard you say your from Minnesota, let me tell you I scored a lot of goals in Minnesota”
— Hmmm I say to myself I wonder who that guy is. He’s got a Cup ring on. Can’t figure out who it o though. So as they clear our plates I ask “excuse me I overheard you talking about Minnesota and scoring goals.”
— He deflects a bit asks about us as does his wife I tell him I went to school at Laval his wife chimes in so did I. I tell him : “I was lucky I saw Guy Lafleur play for the Nordiques when he came out of retirement”
— So the man’s wife says :” well my husband can do better than that, they were teammates!”
— THE BIG M: I realize. My 15 year old didn’t know who he was but goes to the washroom and googles him and comes back all excited ; Mr Mahovlich you were a senator” my son exclaimed! (My son is a big politics guy even at 14)
— Anyway what a treat. They regaled us with stories of having state dinner with Putin, fall Chretien on his birthday last week, Franks dad being the skate sharpener at the Leaside arena for 25 years and sharpening John Candy’s skates. Their daughter marrying Steve Jobs colleague an “inventor” who filed patents on 5 products for Apple. Our commonality with mining parents and grandparents…Just a first class couple far too generous with their time …
— I looked him up last night afterward and probably didn’t realize/forgot how big time he was. What a lovely couple and experience. Going strong at close to 90
That’s all I got for today.
What a terrific story, thanks for sharing.
Awesome
Thanks. One of my favourites from that 70s Habs team.
When I see Draisaitl skate up the ice I always think of the Big M.
Glad to hear he’s doing well.
Thank you.
I have had moments where I made yhat exact same comp, Draisaitl to Mahovlich. Which coming from me is a Huge compliment to both. 2 wonderful hockeyists.
there was one recent scoring play in which Draisaitl reminded me of first Mahovlich, then his 1971 teammate Jean Beliveau. Leon was the Big M charging down the wing, then Le Gros Bill with the silky mitts & backhand dish. I’m thinking it was the lone goal in the 1-0 win over the Kings, coincidentally the last game I attended live.
Frank Mahovlich was my favourite player from the day I started watching hcokey in 1962 right through his retirement. Saw him & the reigning Stanley Cup champion Maple Leafs at my first ever live hockey game at Edmonton Gardens, in the fall of ‘63 when they were playing their way into shape with a barnstorming tour of western Canada. (Opponent was the reigning champion of the Western Hockey League, the San Francisco Seals). 7 years old, still have memories from that game. Future Hall of Famers Mahovlich, Dave Keon, Red Kelly, George Armstrong, Dick Duff, Bob Pulford, Tim Horton, Allan Stanley, Johnny Bower among the A-listers who played that night.
Way back then Frank’s #27 was the highest number in the entire NHL. Times changed quickly thereafter!
11 years later the Big M was also the feature attraction fo my first live game at the Edmonton Coliseum, third game of the first home stand of the new barn. Toronto Toros the visitors, with the Big M, Big Ned (Vaclav Nedomansky) & Paul Henderson all trying to solve Jacques Plante in the Oilers net.
Just a wonderful player, very dynamic, great shot, underrated playmaker, would drop the mitts when the situation called for it or sometimes even when it didn’t. Very sensitive man, was twice sidelined by what were termed “nervous breakdowns” during his time in Toronto, triggered by Punch Imlach & his callous treatment (among other issues, Punch couldn’t even be bothered to pronounce Frank’s name correctly, always referring to him as “Mahallovitch”).Was traded to Detroit after the second one where he scored 49 goals on a line with Gordie Howe & Alex Delvecchio, & soon therafter showed up in Montreal where he did indeed play with Guy Lafleur among many other superstars too numerous to name here.
He was 1 of just 3 players (also: Henderson, Pat Stapleton) who played in both Summit Series of 1972 & 1974.
Never got the opportunity to meet him though, & envy (in a good way) your experience. Thanks for sharing, sounds awesome.
— Thanks for this background: just looking at his stats it’s impressive but your stories fill in the blanks.
— I can’t think of another “legend” I’ve met that seemed as well rounded grounded as he was. He definitely doesn’t give the vibe of “retired former great jock that is lost in life”
— he was like how you’d hope more great former athletes end up. Just first class the two of them full of interesting stories
— PS I asked him if he ever skates and he said his legs were shot and he hadn’t since he tried to come out of retirement
I echo everything you said here. LOVED Frank Mahovlich. Completely envy (in a good way) that moment. Glorious that the Big M was gracious and is living his best life.
Frank Mahovlich is one of the coolest, most talented players ever and Toronto must rue the day they traded him to Detroit – soon after he ends up on Montreal on their first line leading them to more cup wins.
Yep, 4 Cups in Toronto & 2 in Montreal, all between 1962 & 1973.
His teammate & fellow LW on that Leaf team I saw in ‘63, Dick Duff, did similar, winning 2 Cuos in Toronto, then 4 in Montreal, in an even shorterbspan (1962-69).
Neither was traded directly from Toronto to Montreal, you may be sure. Each spent s ahort time in the States before being flipped back to the ever vigilant Sam Pollock north of the border. Smart man. (Eh, Lowetide?
)
Sending out 2 D in OT was a mistake. You could see them having to point at an direct each other rather than just playing.
The coach also needed to have wargamed more OT possibilities than he has. 97-29 is a luxury, but the laziness otherwise is not okay.
That, and 93-53 should have been the starting two forwards.
They seemed a bit lost without Connor & Leon. But putting out 2 Dmen is a common tactic that other teams do often in OT to better defend if they aren’t confident in gaining puck possession off the draw.
Hyman & Nuge have more chemistry together & Jeff Skinner’s lack of speed might be an issue in 3vs3 OT.
Maybe, although Nuge set up Hyman for a great chance 20 seconds in. Don’t know if Skinner gets there.
The only forward on the Oilers slower than Jeff Skinner is Corey Perry. The only defenseman on the team slower than Skinner are Ekholm and Stecher. Even Buffalo didn’t use Skinner as a regular on their 3-3 OT very much including the seasons when he was one of their better scorers. Hyman is faster, generally more responsible and just as prolific a goal scorer as Skinner the past 5 seasons. Add in Hopkins/Hyman have played together 3-3 for the past 2 seasons, it is easy to understand why he went this route.
And calling Knoblauch lazy is ridiculous. Even if he didn’t spend as much time on a particular aspect of the game, it is because he is working on or focusing on other priorities. If you disagree with his priorities fine, but you seem to try and find character flaws with people who see things differently than you do.
Laziness is an action/lack of action, not a character flaw.
Laziness is actually a noun . Nouns are described as referring to persons, place, things, states, or qualities , such as a character flaw.
Unfortunate ending to the game. Nurse backs up too far into Pickard and pulls his stick so that he couldn’t move his blocker to make the save. Overall, a shift that Nurse probably wants back.
i feel there were a few times last game that Nurse backed off a bit too far.
He did have a good game tho.
I thought the puck clipped Nurses stick. It after all was a damn good shot by a guy that scores goals for a living.
I thought shin pad. But either way, he was in a bad spot.
Same shot to the same spot that the same guy put past Mike Smith in triple OT to end Oilers’ season iin 2021. No Bettman Point that time.
Yup. Puck was going wide, deflects off his stick or leg. Pickard had no hope on that. He’d covered everything except friendly fire. Poor Nurse. Not his shift. Not his night.
Have you ever thought about changing your username to Eyeore?
If Skinner could get his rebound Control actually under control he would be a great goalie. You would think they would be working on that constantly. That is his Achilles for sure.
No clue what goalie option they would look at this summer if it comes to that.
Binnington? Gibson will come up for sure, someone mentioned Sorokin on the Island.
I am with you LT and hope Skinner is lights out in the playoffs.
I don’t see Blues moving Binni. They have the cap space for him.
Hofer is a RFA at the end of the season. We’ll see what happens to him, but a backup is easier to replace if needed
Kevin Woodley talks to Gregor a lot about Skinner. Stu has some technique issues related to the reverse VH where if he’s not tracking the puck well you can’t push across if necessary I believe is the story
So when he’s on saves look easy, when not he’s not in position too often. He also slides too far at times as does Pick
It’s too bad the team seems to deflate if the goalies let in a weak one. Maybe the Oiler goalies do it more often than top goalies do, but they all let them in. If they scored more (as I think they should be able to) it wouldn’t be an issue as much
Binnington was beaten on 3 outside shots in the 3rd perood last night as the Blues blew multiple leads. Somehow, rather than crumbling, they rebounded to win it in overtime.
Skinner battles, but he has his limitations. Rebound control is just one item that was on display last night. He’s a weak and indecisive puck handler, and last night he was having difficulty staying between his posts, which is a problem of not tracking the play in front well, and then having to scramble.
He does have one very important quality, and that is a perpetual calmness and an ability to put the last game behind him. He doesn’t get rattled easily, and he usually bounces back from a bad game, with a better performance.
I doubt the Oilers move on from Skinner, but I can see them wanting to get a 1B to pair up with him. A trade seems unlikely though, as they don’t have many assets to move, so a reclamation project like Georgiev, Samsonov or Vanacek is probably what we’ll see in the off season.
Are those reclamation projects better than Pickard? I’d say definitely not.
Just getting going this morning. The title of your article brought this speedy creek troubadour’s tune to mind. Good way to start a day!
https://youtu.be/2ARKI_ycC6U?si=rHYlO0jazWBPHLZy
Been saying this is the last season of the Skinner experiment all season. I see a trade for Saros in the offseason with retention for 6 mil cap hit as Nashville embraces a rebuild.
Not sure they move him as they traded off Askarov.
Not farfetched. Trotz has some big decisions coming this summer. Does he keep the coach with a short leash and if they get off to another slow start, do they do a full tear down.
If I were Skinner and were going to be traded, Nashville is the place to go. Vanderklok and Korn are well respected as goalie coaches.
I find it highly unbelievable that Nashville would retain 1.8 on Saros for 8 years.
Retaining for 8 years?
Stauffer is saying a goalie to challenge Pickard, so Skinner as well by default. I expect a 1A 1B and three goalies in the org because right now they have two NHL goalies and that isn’t enough
or maybe they figure out that Pickard is the more reliable goalie
Pick for me isn’t a starter, he gets pretty loose pretty easy. Glad he’s having a good season though
You mean a goalie to challenge Pickard & Skinner, not just Pickard.
Or maybe they should go the same route as Colorado and get two new goaltenders ASAP.
Where might Samuel Jonsson factor into all this? He still needs to sign a contract, etc, yes?
They have a couple young goaltenders, Samuel Jonsson & Vinni Eemil they should definitely sign and have a close look at.
I imagine if he comes over it’s to Bako. He’s 21 and in their 2nd tier league so I doubt he’s NHL ready. Vinni is in the Finn top league but he’s 19
Probably Fort Wayne.
There is also Nathanial Day – that they will need to sign this spring. He may play an over-age season in the OHL though.
Possibly, although he and his agent might not like that option given it’s a drop in comp for him. Might as well stay in Sweden and try to break into the SHL
I’m not sure its a drop in comp from Allsvenskan – maybe.
There have also been many prominent NHL goalies that have spent time in the ECHL – its not an uncommon place for goalies to start their pro careers in North America.
He very well may prefer to play in the SHL but, of course, likely depends on if his “dream” is the NHL – the ECHL is one NHL/AHL injury from being called up to the AHL.
Prospectolysis!
Two-thirds of the nine remaining NAmateurs shall hockey today as we head into the final weekend of the OHL regular season.
London punched their playoff ticket forever ago and will begin defending their OHL title one week hence. O’Reilly’s point streak continues (interrupted by a three-game injury absence) with 10 goals and 6 apples his last 8 GP. Nicholl had his four-game assist streak snapped yestergame though.
Thanks to a loss by the Sarnia Yakupovs last night, Flint finally secured a playoff spot. The Birds of Fire have been slumping, which is why 6th place is not yet assured. A win against that very Sarnia squadron tonight will do the trick.
The House of Stone gathered a pair of aPPles last night and readies for his penultimate NAmateur match this evening.
Meanwhile, Muskegon has clinched a playoff spot with ten games remaining, all but one at home. They begin a 3-in-3 weekend.
Muskegon (Berry) @ 5 p.m.
London (O’Reilly, Nicholl) @ 5 p.m.
Flint (Day, Clattenburg) @ 5 p.m.
Peterborough (Stonehouse) @ 5 p.m.
All times are the same time and are also Long Lake time.
Skinner’s biggest problem, imo, comes down to the fact that despite sometimes respectable numbers he too often costs them the game. The Oilers don’t need a goalie that steals them a bunch of games they need a goalie that isn’t costing them games regularly like Skinner does.
I think Bowman probably gets it done in summer. What he needs is a strong spring from Evander Kane, in order to get his trade value up. Nothing against Kane, but the Oilers can’t trade the other expensive guys because of NMC’s.
I imagine they want Frederic to stay. Could also be Arvi that’s dealt, Bowman doesn’t seem to see NMCs as a problem. It would be a mistake to bridge Bouch, they will need the cap space and Bowman likes a buffer to accrue cap through the season
They also have two cheaper forwards in Savoie and Philp that are ready to go. Ryan Skinner Brown out