Post-Game Talk: I have no theme for this PGT

[Raoul Duke]

I saw a couple in the other thread..

I mean, who would complain?

 

[Drivesaitl]

I mean, who would complain?

Medical science should be good for this kind of thing.

Would make nice presents for any boy. They should sell these pairs at best buy.

In addition to being attractively packaged they make great ear warmers..

It would be a hard gift to look away from. You wouldn't return these.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Just got into bed. Thanks for the nightmares.

 

[Del Preston]

 

[The Nuge]

I wanna believe it's true but I'm not drinking the cool-aid for another 20 games.

That’s fair. We’ve certainly been fooled before. But it’s not like he’s ever not been this player, aside from in Philly where the most insane coach in the league tried to bury him (seriously, Hakstol’s useage was bonkers. CVV was a bottom 6 AHLer suddenly playing top 9). He had 41 points in Arizona, 50 in Columbus, and he even had 34 in 81 games for Vancouver despite them not being happy with him for whatever reason.

My guess is the Marlies as I see no reason why Van would not have had him playing.

He always had hustle though. And why a team would play Motte/Schaller/etc over Gags is certainly beyond me.

Gagner was sound under Krueger and had himself an exceptional year that year. People tend to forget it because it was a lockout year. Gagner was also solid the year before that and was also +10 in Columbus on his 50pt season.

The only time Gagner cratered is when he was carrying fools like Omark and Paajarvi on his back. No young Center could withstand that type of abuse.

Players mature and Gagner is also much stronger than when he was younger. he forechecked well tonight and bounced off hits around 3 times.

Yep. The other thing people tend to forget was that Krueger had him killing penalties that year, and he actually was doing well at it. People liked to make fun of him for getting outmuscled, but he always played with a ton of heart.

Something you bring up a lot is the adrenaline bumps that players get when they are introduced into new surroundings or come up from the minors. I think now is a prime time to put Gagner with some offensive players who can feed off that energy.

I think it was easy to see how he views Edmonton just through his posts through social media. He seems really, really happy to be back.

It certainly wouldn’t hurt. He looked good with Connor. We’ve got 4 offensive players now. May as well try 2 on each line, and see if we can be a 2 line team instead of a 1 line team

 

[Cloned]

I’m not sure what’s worse:

That a guy who was almost out of the league and a guy who was coming back from two major leg injuries and hadn’t played a game in a year has made this team look 100% better because of how poor the roster was before ...

... or that the people in charge of the roster couldn’t have realized and acquired these types of skill players at any point beforehand in the last year.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

I’m not sure what’s worse:

That a guy who was almost out of the league and a guy who was coming back from two major leg injuries and hadn’t played a game in a year has made this team look 100% better because of how poor the roster was before ...

... or that the people in charge of the roster couldn’t have realized and acquired these types of skill players at any point beforehand in the last year.

Well PC sucked. Keith nabbed Gagner pretty quickly.

 

[Cloned]

I wanna believe it's true but I'm not drinking the cool-aid for another 20 games.

He’s already better than Strome or Spooner ever were here.

Third time’s a charm I guess.

 

[Raoul Duke]

So... a couple of the big factors in this game were Gagner and RNH/Drai playing away from McDavid.

Both of which were brought up here long before actually happening.
Consider that the next time someone says “So you think you know better than an NHL GM/coach?”

 

[Raoul Duke]

Seems kind of like a fun good nature tonic that Gagner brings that the team has been missing. He's been like this from the start, and always was like that here. Gagner is never happier, than when he's playing for the Edmonton Oilers. Easy to embrace that.

He's like a small version of Patrick Maroon personality wise. Everybody loves him, you can just see that again, for the 2nd time, he was well loved by the team the first time around as well. I hope he's back with us for a season.

Is Sammy the answer to the culture problem????

 

[Cloned]

Amazing what Drai can do when he has at least 1 skilled player with him not named McDavid. He's been a horse.

RNH is dragging Drai down if anything right now. He’s literally a one man show on his line. I think what happened is when McDavid was out last game, Drai finally had his “I’m pretty damn good myself” moment.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Is Sammy the answer to the culture problem????

Some positivity helps and not only the good will that oozes off of Sammy but that the Oilers for once won a trade.

I have to say as well, but I'm biased, that Sam Gagner is probably even better player than Eberle now because he has had to work much harder to stay in the league. Adversity can really make you improve.

 

[Drivesaitl]

RNH is dragging Drai down if anything right now. He’s literally a one man show on his line. I think what happened is when McDavid was out last game, Drai finally had his “I’m pretty damn good myself” moment.

it seems to me that Drai has been having those moments since he played with Hall years ago. In most other teams, all but about a dozen teams in the league, Draisaitl would be the teams superstar player.

He's far better than Malkin, he's better than Kopitar now.

Its a somewhat unique situation for a player this good to be overshadowed but Connor casts a lot of shade.

 

[Tw0Shoes]

>RNH is dragging Drai down if anything right now.

Except that RNH does the heavy lifting in the defensive end so that Drai can take care of business offensively.

 

[Cloned]

it seems to me that Drai has been having those moments since he played with Hall years ago. In amost any other team, all but about ten teams in the league, Draisaitl would be the teams superstar player.

He's far better than Malkin, he's better than Kopitar now.

Its a somewhat unique situation for a player this good to be overshadowed but Connor casts a lot of shade.

His game vs the Coyotes was the best I’ve ever seen him play. To me it seemed like he finally he had that Eureka moment.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

>RNH is dragging Drai down if anything right now.

Except that RNH does the heavy lifting in the defensive end so that Drai can take care of business offensively.

Please.. Drai was an animal on defence tonight.

 

[Cloned]

>RNH is dragging Drai down if anything right now.

Except that RNH does the heavy lifting in the defensive end so that Drai can take care of business offensively.

They have both had their good and not so good moments defensively while playing on the same line. I don’t buy this RNH heavy lifting stuff.

 

[Niten Ichi Ryu]

The excitement from Gags on his 1st goal back was magnificent. Loves being an Oiler, the city, and his teammates. Can't say the same for Ryan Spooner
Draisaitl owning Barzal a few times tonight was also magnificent. I have no idea how he wasn't top 3 stars of the game. He should've been #2 at least

 

[Drivesaitl]

>RNH is dragging Drai down if anything right now.

Except that RNH does the heavy lifting in the defensive end so that Drai can take care of business offensively.

No, just no. This is continued mythology. YOu couldn't possibly have watched any of this game and come away with that impression.

Drai made half a dozen very good defensive plays in own zone including 3 of them while shorthanded.

But a microcosm is the Islanders 5 on 3. Nuge out first pk shift, loses faceoff, Islanders throw puck around at will and Nuge has two chances to pressure puck out and doesn't make a play.

Drai out on next shift, wins faceoff, oilers dump puck down ice, then when Islanders return up ice Drai intercepts a pass, gets it out, and then gets the puck out a second time. However due to it being a 5 on 3 and no whistle, and no time to change the Islanders still score. But Drai had one of his many heroic shifts in the game.

Drai played D 3 times tonight so flawlessly covering back for a pinching D that people don't even notice it. He stymied the attack every time, unlike Nuge who loses 80% of puck battles he's in.

Did you also miss Drai hammering Barzal, walking away with the puck clean while Barzal was picking up his bones, and then regaining the puck again after a team mate lost it?

Drai is being better than Nuge at every single aspect of hockey.

Nuge does the heavy lifting my ass.

McD + Drai are one of the hottest pairs in the league always. McD +Nuge w/o Drai actually have been outscored this season by a considerable margin. Explain that.

 

[Cloned]

No, just no. This is continued mythology. Drai made half a dozen very good defensive plays in own zone including 3 of them while shorthanded.

But a microcosm is the Islanders 5 on 3. Nuge out first, loses faceoff, Islanders throw puck around at will and Nuge has two chances to pressure puck out and doesn't make a play.

Drai out on next shift, wins faceoff, then when Islanders return up ice he intercepts a pass, gets it out, and then gets the puck out a second time. However due to it being a 5 on 3 and no whistle, and no time to change the Islanders still score. But Drai had one of his many heroic shifts in the game.

Drai played D 3 times tonight so flawlessly covering back for a pinching D that people don't even notice it. He stymied the attack every time, unlike Nuge who loses 80% of puck battles he's in.

Did you also miss Drai hammering Barzal, walking away with the puck clean while Barzal was picking up his bones, and then regaining the puck again after a team mate lost it?

Drai is being better than Nuge at every single aspect of hockey.

Nuge does the heavy lifting my ass.

McD + Drai are one of the hottest pairs in the league always. McD +Nuge w/o Drai actually have been outscored this season by a considerable margin. Explain that.

RNH is weak as f*** on the boards, which is where 80% of the play in the modern game tends to be.

 

[Drivesaitl]

His game vs the Coyotes was the best I’ve ever seen him play. To me it seemed like he finally he had that Eureka moment.

Did you completely miss the Anaheim series where Draisaitl took the Oilers on his back and made Lucic and Slepychev look like a premium line? Or that Drai was the best Oiler in the playoffs.

 

[Drivesaitl]

RNH is weak as **** on the boards, which is where 80% of the play in the modern game tends to be.

Yeah, now that Nuge has production touch back people can forget about the 200ft hockey player nonsense that was used to prop him up the couple of years he was very ordinary. Nuge is back to contributing offense, which is good, and that's his strong suit given his lack of physicality. He's simply not strong enough to be any type of shutdown Center. He's smart, and has positioning all day, but he'll basically watch a guy walk right in and score while looking busy waving his stick around, because stick check is all he's got.

 

[Cloned]

Did you completely miss the Anaheim series where Draisaitl took the Oilers on his back and made Lucic and Slepychev look like a premium line? Or that Drai was the best Oiler in the playoffs.

Still didn’t look as good as he did in that game though. He was controlling the play without turning the puck over to a degree that I’ve never seen him do.

 

[The Batman]

I have been waiting a long time for this moment. This PGT poll finally gives me an excuse to share this image without sounding like a madman. Proof that Connor McDavid is the Batman.

 

[Cloned]

I have been waiting a long time for this moment. This PGT poll finally gives me an excuse to share this image without sounding like a madman. Proof that Connor McDavid is the Batman.

And here I thought you hated polls.

Also, you’re welcome.