Pre-Game Talk: 11/17 @ Calgary

[nabob]

Oh yeah, you’re right, paying 4 million dollars per year with an NMC for an undersized defenseman that is 77th in league scoring for Dmen (while earning more than 27 of the players ahead of him) is a really astute signing. Yeah he blocks lots of shots because he is continually beaten in puck battles and is a negative player in regards to
Corsi and Fenwick. Great signing by Chiarelli.

I was mistaken on how much Rieder and Brodziak made so I will admit I was wrong there, but where else was I mistaken? Hall deal? Eberle deal? Lucic deal? Reinhart deal? Kassian deal? Handling of Puljujarvi? And you’re right, he can’t even take credit for Nurse. What a great GM.

I never said anything about Nurse. Never said he was a great GM. Simply said how wrong you are about Russell, Rieder and Brodziak. NMC doesn’t really matter when a player has been worth every penny of his contract since he signed it, and it isn’t a full NMC all throughout his contract. Keep being mad though if you want, but maybe do it in one of the many Chia threads where everything you’re saying has already been said thousands of times.

Also him being 77th in scoring for all Dmen while playing on a team that is near the bottom of the league in scoring isn’t really that bad. His salary is what you would expect to pay a 2nd pairing UFA and so far he is producing as a 2nd pairing player, especially considering he is a defense first Dman. You can complain all you want about him being too small, but that only makes you sound like an unsatisfied woman.

 

[North]

Oh yeah, you’re right, paying 4 million dollars per year with an NMC for an undersized defenseman that is 77th in league scoring for Dmen (while earning more than 27 of the players ahead of him) is a really astute signing. Yeah he blocks lots of shots because he is continually beaten in puck battles and is a negative player in regards to
Corsi and Fenwick. Great signing by Chiarelli.

I was mistaken on how much Rieder and Brodziak made so I will admit I was wrong there, but where else was I mistaken? Hall deal? Eberle deal? Lucic deal? Reinhart deal? Kassian deal? Handling of Puljujarvi? And you’re right, he can’t even take credit for Nurse. What a great GM.

This is not the fire Chia thread.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

I never said anything about Nurse. Never said he was a great GM. Simply said how wrong you are about Russell, Rieder and Brodziak. NMC doesn’t really matter when a player has been worth every penny of his contract since he signed it, and it isn’t a full NMC all throughout his contract. Keep being mad though if you want, but maybe do it in one of the many Chia threads where everything you’re saying has already been said thousands of times.

Soundwave burner account spotted.

 

[LTIR]

Oh yeah, you’re right, paying 4 million dollars per year with an NMC for an undersized defenseman that is 77th in league scoring for Dmen (while earning more than 27 of the players ahead of him) is a really astute signing. Yeah he blocks lots of shots because he is continually beaten in puck battles and is a negative player in regards to
Corsi and Fenwick. Great signing by Chiarelli.

I was mistaken on how much Rieder and Brodziak made so I will admit I was wrong there, but where else was I mistaken? Hall deal? Eberle deal? Lucic deal? Reinhart deal? Kassian deal? Handling of Puljujarvi? And you’re right, he can’t even take credit for Nurse. What a great GM.

Yes because Dmen are all about putting up points.
Russell has been the most consistent Dman we have had since he got his new contract. Larsson,Nurse,Sekera and Klefbom all have had brutal stretches these past couple years. Russell being undersized means jack all since his defensive play has been better than "bigger" Dmen.
Even offensively he got 20 pts last year despite getting no PP time

 

[Llamamoto]

I don’t think the comparison is even close, rightly so or not. There are no rumblings about Treliving’s job in jeopardy and almost daily rumors of Chiarelli’s. Treliving is 0/3 in finding a competent goaltender and the Neal/Ryan/Brouwer deals look terrible but he has a lot more goodwill banked than Chiarelli. Hamilton trade was good his re-signings are always A+, he seems to have found a good coach, Frolik deal is good, Rittich seems like a good find, Tkachuk/Valimaki/Andersson drafts were good. Now look at Chiarelli. Acquiring Maroon was good, Nurse was a good draft pick, Bear/Yamamoto/Bouchard look like good picks and that’s about where the good stuff ends. Hall deal, Eberle deal, Lucic signing, Reinhart deal, coaching hire, all fricken abysmal. Talbot seems to be a one and done goaltender so even that deal doesn’t look so good now. Kassian deal sucks, Rieder/Brodziak deals are an overpayment, Russell deal is a huge overpayment, drafting Puljujarvi was a huge mistake. How any GM can be gifted a player like Connor and build absolutely nothing around him is criminal. I cannot wait until Chiarelli’s is out.

I can't believe we signed Brodziak to a whopping 1 million deal.

I'm sure you wanted to take Pulju when he fell to us at 4th.

 

[Oilfan2]

Oh yeah, you’re right, paying 4 million dollars per year with an NMC for an undersized defenseman that is 77th in league scoring for Dmen (while earning more than 27 of the players ahead of him) is a really astute signing. Yeah he blocks lots of shots because he is continually beaten in puck battles and is a negative player in regards to
Corsi and Fenwick. Great signing by Chiarelli.

I was mistaken on how much Rieder and Brodziak made so I will admit I was wrong there, but where else was I mistaken? Hall deal? Eberle deal? Lucic deal? Reinhart deal? Kassian deal? Handling of Puljujarvi? And you’re right, he can’t even take credit for Nurse. What a great GM.

You may have been right about Russell a year or so ago. Now he's definitely earning his money.

You're out to lunch on this one.

 

[Todd from Leduc]

Calgary is overrated, who do they have that is generational or even a superstar? They’ve got a few good players but just good or even pretty good players don’t win you cups. Also Calgary is licking their chops wishing they had Koskinen with their lack of an NHL goalie. Looking forward to seeing McDavid walk their overrated D and score on whatever ECHL goalie they decide to play... multiple times. GOILERS

 

[Gord]

I like Russell, and if he was getting paid 3.5m I'd love him.

but he's really helped the team this year and I'm not going to complain about him.

with decent goaltending, even average goaltending, and the oilers play with the effort they're capable of, they'll win.

If Talbot is in net, they'll lose not matter what. I think they'll be so worried about Talbots ability to stop an early shot, it will mess with them too much. If you can't trust your goalie, you're screwed.

 

[Gord]

Calgary is overrated, who do they have that is generational or even a superstar? They’ve got a few good players but just good or even pretty good players don’t win you cups. Also Calgary is licking their chops wishing they had Koskinen with their lack of an NHL goalie. Looking forward to seeing McDavid walk their overrated D and score on whatever ECHL goalie they decide to play... multiple times. GOILERS

lol. you're hilarious. you do know you can be positive and still be objective? unless being over the top wrong is your schtick.

David Rittich. 5-1, 1.91 gaa, .935 sv%

 

[ohheyhemsky]

Serious question:

Should I go to this game? I'm sick of the PB area seating, as the last two times I've had popcorn thrown at me and the other time three "tough boys" were threatening to fight me(while I was with my girlfriend, quietly enjoying the game), in a loss to Calgary because my jersey didn't belong there - so I'll be spending some cash for some decent seats if I do go.

But I'm going to base this off of the responses here as I'm genuinely on the fence. A plebiscite. Go or not go? Will we win? Is it worth it!?!

 

[nabob]

lol. you're hilarious. you do know you can be positive and still be objective? unless being over the top wrong is your schtick.

David Rittich. 5-1, 1.91 gaa, .935 sv%

LB posted similar numbers as a backup in 16/17 in a small sample size. Lots of goalies start out hot in the league and then struggle once teams know the book on them. He can’t hold up Calgary’s poor defense group forever.

 

[McBigYak]

Serious question:

Should I go to this game? I'm sick of the PB area seating, as the last two times I've had popcorn thrown at me and the other time three "tough boys" were threatening to fight me(while I was with my girlfriend, quietly enjoying the game), in a loss to Calgary because my jersey didn't belong there - so I'll be spending some cash for some decent seats if I do go.

But I'm going to base this off of the responses here as I'm genuinely on the fence. A plebiscite. Go or not go? Will we win? Is it worth it!?!

I stopped going there. Being from just outside Calgary, I've probably seen 15 or 20 Oiler games at the Saddledome. I would say in 12 of them, regardless of the game result, I have been relentlessly heckled. It's a little calmer when I am with my girlfriend, but when I used to go with my buddies it was honestly annoying. Got the the point where I would just take my jersey off at the end of the game and shove it inside my jacket out of fear of staining it from the stuff thrown at me or get the shit kicked out of me. Weekday games weren't as bad, but weekend games were horrendous. To me, it doesn't matter what seats you're sitting in. I've been all over that arena, and have taken shit everywhere.

We went to a game last year (which, will be the last one I ever go to at the Saddledome) that the Oilers won, brought their record to 6-0 against Calgary. Walking outside, my buddy is having a smoke and a group of probably 10 or 11 dudes walk by and proceed to call him a Homophobic Slur for being an Oilers fan. I kid you not, all he did was look up at them and say "6 and 0 baby!". One of the dudes came over probably a minute later and sucker punched him in the face while he was looking down at his phone. I proceeded with the usual "what the f*** is your problem man!" and took a right hook to the jaw as well. If our girlfriends weren't there, I would imagine we would have got the absolute shit kicked out of us by this group of guys.

I've seen fights in probably 70 percent of the games I've went to at the dome. That was the first physical altercation I've been involved in there, even though I never threw a punch, but I will never go back. The place is just f***ing toxic, not to mention the arena is a complete dump. We drive up to Edmonton 3-4 times a year now to watch games rather than go to dome. The price of gas and a hotel far outweighs having to deal with the morons in this city. And trust me, there is a lot of them.

 

[ohheyhemsky]

I stopped going there. Being from just outside Calgary, I've probably seen 15 or 20 Oiler games at the Saddledome. I would say in 12 of them, regardless of the game result, I have been relentlessly heckled. It's a little calmer when I am with my girlfriend, but when I used to go with my buddies it was honestly annoying. Got the the point where I would just take my jersey off at the end of the game and shove it inside my jacket out of fear of staining it from the stuff thrown at me or get the **** kicked out of me. Weekday games weren't as bad, but weekend games were horrendous. To me, it doesn't matter what seats you're sitting in. I've been all over that arena, and have taken **** everywhere.

We went to a game last year (which, will be the last one I ever go to at the Saddledome) that the Oilers won, brought their record to 6-0 against Calgary. Walking outside, my buddy is having a smoke and a group of probably 10 or 11 dudes walk by and proceed to call him a ****** for being an Oilers fan. I kid you not, all he did was look up at them and say "6 and 0 baby!". One of the dudes came over probably a minute later and sucker punched him in the face while he was looking down at his phone. I proceeded with the usual "what the **** is your problem man!" and took a right hook to the jaw as well. If our girlfriends weren't there, I would imagine we would have got the absolute **** kicked out of us by this group of guys.

I've seen fights in probably 70 percent of the games I've went to at the dome. That was the first physical altercation I've been involved in there, even though I never threw a punch, but I will never go back. The place is just ****ing toxic, not to mention the arena is a complete dump. We drive up to Edmonton 3-4 times a year now to watch games rather than go to dome. The price of gas and a hotel far outweighs having to deal with the morons in this city. And trust me, there is a lot of them.

See this is exactly why I'm on the fence of just no longer going. I live very close to the Saddledome, and haven't missed a game in 5 years, including pre-season games. I like keeping the record clean and going, especially after last season, but considering the last few times I've gone and the heckling, it's just not a fun situation on a cost benefit analysis.

I was with my Dad, who was in later stages of Cancer and had to use a walking aid for assistance and it didn't stop Flames fans from calling both of us (it'll get ***) so a word that's also used for cats. Screamed in our face as we were leaving the game after that 7-6 (the one where they almost came back and Nuge put it away at the end, I can't remember the score) win.

Flames fans are absolute bottom of the barrel in my book. The amount of Oiler fans that are there makes it enjoyable when we do win, but again, just trying to see if the record is worth keeping. Also, winning feels so much better after all of the altercations.

Alright, 0(yes)-1(no) for votes.

 

[McBigYak]

See this is exactly why I'm on the fence of just no longer going. I live very close to the Saddledome, and haven't missed a game in 5 years, including pre-season games. I like keeping the record clean and going, especially after last season, but considering the last few times I've gone and the heckling, it's just not a fun situation on a cost benefit analysis.

I was with my Dad, who was in later stages of Cancer and had to use a walking aid for assistance and it didn't stop Flames fans from calling both of us (it'll get ***) so a word that's also used for cats. Screamed in our face as we were leaving the game after that 7-6 (the one where they almost came back and Nuge put it away at the end, I can't remember the score) win.

Flames fans are absolute bottom of the barrel in my book. The amount of Oiler fans that are there makes it enjoyable when we do win, but again, just trying to see if the record is worth keeping. Also, winning feels so much better after all of the altercations.

Alright, 0(yes)-1(no) for votes.

Best thing to do in my opinion if you really wanted to go, is just head to Co-Op and see if they have tickets left for the press level seating, and don't wear your jersey. I think we got PL seats from Co-Op for like 40 dollars a ticket on game day very early in the morning. And I actually like it up there better. Very little lines for the bathrooms, the view isn't that bad if you get in the lower rows, and if you want a drink the lines aren't horrendous.

But, in my opinion, if you have to head to a game and are unable to even wear a jersey to it out of fear of getting shit thrown at you, dumped on you, heckled or even punched, it's just better to watch on the TV. Which is pretty much why I will never go again.

 

[bone]

But the trend late last year started going the other way. After starting 10-2 vs. the Pacific last year, they went 6-9-2 after the all-star break.

Granted 5 of those losses were in the midst of the 6 game losing streak immediately post-break.

That streak officially ended the Oilers season as I think they were only 6 points or so out of the playoffs at the time, then plummeted to the bottom never to return.

The Oilers need to play strong in this divisional run or the may face the same fate.

 

[elmeroil]

Serious question:

Should I go to this game? I'm sick of the PB area seating, as the last two times I've had popcorn thrown at me and the other time three "tough boys" were threatening to fight me(while I was with my girlfriend, quietly enjoying the game), in a loss to Calgary because my jersey didn't belong there - so I'll be spending some cash for some decent seats if I do go.

But I'm going to base this off of the responses here as I'm genuinely on the fence. A plebiscite. Go or not go? Will we win? Is it worth it!?!

Would it be less enjoyable for you if you didn't wear your jersey? What about just blending in and watching the game? I stopped going to those games for the same reasons. The Calgary fans are horrendous.

Three of us just went to the oiler game in Detroit and we all wore Oilers gear. That was one of the best road games I've ever been to as far as the fans go. We met so many great Detroit fans there and had nothing negative sent our way the entire night. At this point if I wanted to go to a game in Calgary I would just not wear my jersey sit there and enjoy the game.

 

[rickysusedsht]

Serious question:

Should I go to this game? I'm sick of the PB area seating, as the last two times I've had popcorn thrown at me and the other time three "tough boys" were threatening to fight me(while I was with my girlfriend, quietly enjoying the game), in a loss to Calgary because my jersey didn't belong there - so I'll be spending some cash for some decent seats if I do go.

But I'm going to base this off of the responses here as I'm genuinely on the fence. A plebiscite. Go or not go? Will we win? Is it worth it!?!

really... that sucks should be able to go to any game anywhere and wear what jersey you want. clowns . i would go ,maybe youll get seated by other oiler fans

 

[snipes]

See this is exactly why I'm on the fence of just no longer going. I live very close to the Saddledome, and haven't missed a game in 5 years, including pre-season games. I like keeping the record clean and going, especially after last season, but considering the last few times I've gone and the heckling, it's just not a fun situation on a cost benefit analysis.

I was with my Dad, who was in later stages of Cancer and had to use a walking aid for assistance and it didn't stop Flames fans from calling both of us (it'll get ***) so a word that's also used for cats. Screamed in our face as we were leaving the game after that 7-6 (the one where they almost came back and Nuge put it away at the end, I can't remember the score) win.

Flames fans are absolute bottom of the barrel in my book. The amount of Oiler fans that are there makes it enjoyable when we do win, but again, just trying to see if the record is worth keeping. Also, winning feels so much better after all of the altercations.

Alright, 0(yes)-1(no) for votes.

Just don’t take any **** from anyone.

I just chirp back and most of the time end up having a beer or chatting hockey with the same guys who first heckle.

It’s sports, trash talking is an art and if you have fun with it it’s 99 percent of the time harmless and fun.

No Oilers fan should ever under any circumstances be afraid to rock our colours. The Dome is our house.

 

[McBigYak]

Just don’t take any **** from anyone.

I just chirp back and most of the time end up having a beer or chatting hockey with the same guys who first heckle.

It’s sports, trash talking is an art and if you have fun with it it’s 99 percent of the time harmless and fun.

No Oilers fan should ever under any circumstances be afraid to rock our colours. The Dome is our house.

I beg to differ. I would argue that this may have been the case a while ago, and it's just my thoughts and not backed up by anything, but I think wayyyyy too many people walk around like their shit don't stink today. A chirp back from my buddy got us both a shot to the face, and although that's been the only altercation I've been involved in personally, I've seen a ton of them there, and it's all a result of some dude who loves talking but can't handle it when it comes back at him. Hell, nothing came of it, but I literally had a man who must have been 60 years old blackout drunk at the LRT station want to fight me because I had a Lucic jersey on haha.

That being said, this exists in every NHL arena I would imagine. But in the 10 years I have been going to the games at the dome, I just get that overall vibe from the fans there that "you're in our building, we can do whatever the f*** we want".

I'm not scared to rock my jersey in there, it's just not worth the hassle. So instead I just don't go anymore. Surprisingly, the press level seats seem to be the least confrontational out of all the ones I've sat in.

When there is booze, there is fights. I've seen them in the arena, outside of the arena, at the Cowboys casino right by the dome. Maybe I've just had bad luck there. Because I've probably been to the same amount of games at Rexall/Rogers, and haven't seen a single fight. That being said, it would be a little skewed as the Flames/Oilers games would obviously be a little more heated, and that's not all I have seen in Edmonton.

 

[ElysiumAB]

Hopefully Drai gets downright nasty in Cowtown again, would love to see him make Gaudreau his ***** again live on saturday night

Good lord I wish there was an option to watch the game with only in-rink audio (no commentary)... sounds so good.

 

[ElysiumAB]

I beg to differ. I would argue that this may have been the case a while ago, and it's just my thoughts and not backed up by anything, but I think wayyyyy too many people walk around like their **** don't stink today. A chirp back from my buddy got us both a shot to the face, and although that's been the only altercation I've been involved in personally, I've seen a ton of them there, and it's all a result of some dude who loves talking but can't handle it when it comes back at him. Hell, nothing came of it, but I literally had a man who must have been 60 years old blackout drunk at the LRT station want to fight me because I had a Lucic jersey on haha.

That being said, this exists in every NHL arena I would imagine. But in the 10 years I have been going to the games at the dome, I just get that overall vibe from the fans there that "you're in our building, we can do whatever the **** we want".

I'm not scared to rock my jersey in there, it's just not worth the hassle. So instead I just don't go anymore. Surprisingly, the press level seats seem to be the least confrontational out of all the ones I've sat in.

When there is booze, there is fights. I've seen them in the arena, outside of the arena, at the Cowboys casino right by the dome. Maybe I've just had bad luck there. Because I've probably been to the same amount of games at Rexall/Rogers, and haven't seen a single fight. That being said, it would be a little skewed as the Flames/Oilers games would obviously be a little more heated, and that's not all I have seen in Edmonton.

I can tell you from personal experience, come to a game in Detroit and wear whatever jersey you want, probably a Claude Lemiuex Avs jersey would be fine - and you won't have any problems.

I guess that's the upside of having a spoiled and disinterested fan base, no one here has enough passion/stupidity to start something based on a jersey... hell, we'll barely put forth the effort to combat a "Go Leafs Go" chant for more than a minute or two.

 

[backhandsauce]

 

[Yablo21]

Top teams in the pacific only have 10 wins,
The Oilers are in a good position to get some separation and we'll see what this team is made of.

 

[Yablo21]

That was the apex of the Oilers season last year

 

[ChaoticOrange]

Looks like Rieder will be out awhile, Patrick Russell has been recalled.

I’d imagine we see something like this vs Calgary:

Caggiula-McDavid-Drai
Lucic-RNH-Chiasson
Marody-Strome-Rattie
Khaira-Brodziak-Kassian

I actually think that 3rd line could be sneaky good. Poor Nuge.