Series Talk: WCSF Vancouver Canucks vs Edmonton Oilers. (VAN leads 3-2)

[Leonardo87]

Vancouver Canucks vs Edmonton Oilers
WCSF

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[Duder54]

Man, judging by this pre-series thread, I think there's more than a few posters who should probably step back from the keyboard and take a few moments to re-evaluate their priorities in life. Yeesh.

 

[HolyGhost]

Why do 30 fanbases dislike the Oilers any theories?

No idea why. has to do with stuff from like 8 years ago. But judging by the numerous negative threads on this board and clear lopsided opinions from nearly every fan base, the oilers clearly did something to make the other fan bases lose their shit on a regular basis

 

[Fourier]

I expect a long series (six or seven games), but I think the Oilers will win out. (And no, I won't be changing my mind if the Oil lose game one.)

Even if we call their top-end scorers about even, I think the Oilers have more gritty, veteran-type guys (Kane, Ekholm, Perry, Ryan... if he plays) than Vancouver, and I think the experience and grit will be a factor in a series like this with such high-pressure on the teams.

The Oilers' top guys are also really, really hungry and desperate for another crack at getting through the final 4. I think the Canucks' mentality is more like, 'Thank God we got through the first round with our back-up goalies'.

I also think that the series goes longer. But I suspect you realize that the bolded assumption is being quite generous to the Canucks. Looking at their players with 50+ points this year and go only by production you get the following:

Miller 37 66 103 <-> Draisaitl 41-65-106
Hughes 17-75-92 <-> Bouchard 18-64-82
Pettersson 34-55-89 <-> Hyman 54-23-77
Boeser 40-33-73 <-> Nuge 18-49-67

does give a small edge to Vancouver. If you go by numbers over two years it looks like

Miller 69-116-185 <-> Draisaitl 93-141-234
Hughes 24-144-168 <-> Bouchard 26-96-122
Pettersson 73-118-191<-> Hyman 90-70-160
Boeser 58-70-128 <-> Nuge 55-116-171

so advantage slightly to the Oilers. The elephant in the room though is the guy missing from the Oiler's list above.

In a 7 game series of course things can be different. Bt from a historical perspective top end talent is definitely on the Oiler's side. Especially as you say given the way 97/29 tend to elevate their games in the playoffs.

 

[Duder54]

No idea why. has to do with stuff from like 8 years ago. But judging by the numerous negative threads on this board and clear lopsided opinions from nearly every fan base, the oilers clearly did something to make the other fan bases lose their shit on a regular basis

Justified or not, I think a lot of it is probably just jealousy that the Oilers ended up with the best hockey player in the world and their teams didn't.

As an Oilers fan, I've always been jealous of organizations that have consistently competent GMs and management, so I guess I kind of get it.

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

Stud. Very happy for my fellow Latvians. Wrong thread lol. Did I jinxed it.

 

[Fourier]

Oilers didn't ride one crazy win streak though. They rode the best record for 85% of the season after a coaching and systems change.

You can also go back to Feb 28th 2022, the day the Oilers traded for Ekholm. That was a team altering move. Since then the record has been 67-29-7. The only teams with a higher winning percentage over that period are Boston, Dallas and the Rangers.

It is no coincidence that during the team's abysmal 2-9-1 start that not only was McDavid hurt but Ekholm was playing through a hip flexor injury that kept him out of the entire preseason.

 

[Tralfamadore]

Two really great and respectable fanbases. Don't know who to cheer for honestly.

 

[thegazelle]

I picked Oilers in 6. Vancouver will be stiffer competition than LA but I think losing their goaltender is a factor. I expected them to bounce Nashville in 5 with a bigger overall goal differential than what ended up being the case. Edmonton has many intangibles aside from the obvious scoring threat. And long as Skinner remains steady I expect them to prevail. Nice to see an all Canadian match up regardless

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

Two really great and respectable fanbases. Don't know who to cheer for honestly.

Most hilarious post of the thread

 

[Fourier]

A lot of people voting did not watch these two teams play each other this year.

Results:

Canucks 8 - Oilers 1
Canucks 4 - Oilers 3
Canucks 6 - Oilers 2
Canucks 3 - Oilers 1

There's this thing with match-ups. I was praying the Nucks wouldn't play the Knights or Kings because both have caused havoc for the Canucks. The Oilers are literally the opposite. No team played worse against the Canucks this year.

Meanwhile, the Oilers owned the Kings all year and again in the playoffs.

The Oilers can certainly win and probably should if the Canucks don't have Demko for most of the series but so far this season the Oilers have massively struggled against the way the Canucks play.

The Oilers do tend to have more of an issue vs fast teams but the season series needs context. The first three games happened during the Oilers 2-9-1 start where they were playing horrific hockey comparable with the Decade of Darkness. McDavid and Ekholm were both playing hurt. The latter injury, a hip flexor issue, was quite obvious as he simply struggled to get anything done. He was a -4 over that stretch. In contrast, in the other 88 games Ekholm has played as an Oiler he has been a +76 player. With all the flaws associated with +/- the stark contrast does illustrate how important a healthy Ekholm is to the Oilers defensive game.

The last game of the year was also without McDavid.

The bottom line is that this could be a very interesting series. But the regular season results probably don't tell you a lot about how it will play out,.

 

[Seachd]

Mccry baby will get smashed by Zaddy

I think the Oilers are looking forward to, once again, turning Zadorov into mulch in the second round.

 

[Peasy]

This thread is already at 1k posts

I will enjoy being a bystander for this one.

 

[NugeDraiMoto]

Not an easy series either way. Two great teams, two offensive juggernauts. That being said I picked Oilers in 7!

 

[NyQuil]

Over one thousand posts of quality and informative discussion already.

Well done everyone!

 

[ThePhoenixx]

One thousand replies in less than 12 hours.

Will be an interesting series.

 

[Pucklington]

Why do 30 fanbases dislike the Oilers any theories?

It's actually entertaining, because 29 fan bases had similar attitude towards Canucks in the 2010s.

 

[Despote]

You're a stat checker who doesn't watch the games. If it wasn't for Saros Vancouver wins this in 4, 5 at most. They dominated all but 2 periods the entire series.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

I dunno who I want to win more here, I like VAN more but Ill potentially make more money if EDM wins

goodluck to both of you

 

[NyQuil]

I don’t really care who wins, I just want to see chaos and carnage.

 

[ToDavid]

Cheering for Van, but unfortunately I think Edmonton is going to steamroll them.

 

[Eyeseeing]

They will beat each other up bad and the winner won’t be able to get past the Central champs

 

[White Out 902]

Why do 30 fanbases dislike the Oilers any theories?

Unlikable players, unlikable management. And people remember the fans tossing shit on the ice like babies after playoff losses in the last few years

 

[olafsson]

Edmonton is nowhere near as defensive as Nashville. The Preds literally blocked everything and the kitchen sink, and what did make it to the net, Saros stopped. I expect this series Vancouver’s offence comes back to life like it usually does vs offence minded teams. Nurse/Ceci pairing better be prepared, and skinner needs to bring his A game or this will be a closer series than a lot want to admit

 

[Nuck Bonino]

Unlikable players, unlikable management. And people remember the fans tossing shit on the ice like babies after playoff losses in the last few years

+ deliberately tanked for a decade and were gifted multiple 1st overalls and ruined half of those picks

 

[VanOriginal]

This will be a fun series, can't wait for it to start. 5v5 I think the teams are equal. It's the PP and PK for Van that is the biggest issue. It will be hard to contain Edmontons PP, more so without Demko, they will get their goals and most of them will be on their PP. If Van can't get their PP going Edmonton wins in 5. If they can get their PP going Van will take it in 7. This will be a hard fought, bone crunching, fan crazed, entertaining as hell series. Whoever wins will be tired and be in tough against Colorado, whom I think wins against either team.