Post-Game Talk: Matthews with a 4pt night and the Oiler win 7-1

[Spawn]

Reading a lot of the replies and it seems that many of the Yanks figure the North division is weak competition.

If we had 82 games last season, here is the average number of points that each teams divisions would have had:

East teams: 97 points
West teams: 90 points
Central teams: 89 points
North teams: 89 points

The East was definitely the strongest but the rest of the divisions are all right in line with each other. This was all pretty quick math on my part, so I could be making some mistake somewhere. But while the North division didn't have any top top teams they had a whole bunch of teams that were in the playoffs or right on the edge of the playoffs. Only Montreal and Ottawa were truly out of it when the shut down occurred.

The weakest division by my eye is certainly the West division. Who had 5 of the bottom 11 teams in the league last season.

 

[AM]

When I came back to Canada, it was the first year of the flames and I watched the games with my uncle. So, I don’t mind seeing the flames have an exciting team.

 

[McSuper]

Hopefully Zack Kassian pulls his head out of his ass and comprehends what he has to do next game against the Flames. I have little confidence Dave Tippett will give him the memo.

I don't like players being injured but I would make an exception for Tkachuk . Send Kassian out with the intent to hurt Tkachuk badly . Sorry I had to say . I just hate the guy . Slashing Yamamoto right from the drop of the puck . It obvious the league isn't going to do anything , It obvious the refs aren't going to make the calls that need to be made . Time to have the players old school these dirtbags .

 

[McFlyingV]

If we had 82 games last season, here is the average number of points that each teams divisions would have had:

East teams: 97 points
West teams: 90 points
Central teams: 89 points
North teams: 89 points

The East was definitely the strongest but the rest of the divisions are all right in line with each other. This was all pretty quick math on my part, so I could be making some mistake somewhere. But while the North division didn't have any top top teams they had a whole bunch of teams that were in the playoffs or right on the edge of the playoffs. Only Montreal and Ottawa were truly out of it when the shut down occurred.

The weakest division by my eye is certainly the West division. Who had 5 of the bottom 11 teams in the league last season.

Yeah the West has some good top end teams but overall there's just so much trash in that division. The only division that really stands out as above the rest is the East.

 

[stratedge]

If we had 82 games last season, here is the average number of points that each teams divisions would have had:

East teams: 97 points
West teams: 90 points
Central teams: 89 points
North teams: 89 points

The East was definitely the strongest but the rest of the divisions are all right in line with each other. This was all pretty quick math on my part, so I could be making some mistake somewhere. But while the North division didn't have any top top teams they had a whole bunch of teams that were in the playoffs or right on the edge of the playoffs. Only Montreal and Ottawa were truly out of it when the shut down occurred.

The weakest division by my eye is certainly the West division. Who had 5 of the bottom 11 teams in the league last season.

You'd have to take out Bettman points to make this a worthwhile statistic, especially if they're that close. Randomly handing out extra points throws off determining who is winning the most against each other.

 

[McFlyingV]

You'd have to take out Bettman points to make this a worthwhile statistic, especially if they're that close. Randomly handing out extra points throws off determining who is winning the most against each other.

If anything you should throw out any overtime or shootout result. 3 on 3 and the shootout is a crap shoot and doesn't tell you much about a team's overall play come playoff time. Look at RW's vs RL's and nothing more.

 

[Connor McConnor]

90% of these Boards had the Flames as the 2nd best team in the division so they should probably eat some crow. That team is baaaaaaad

 

[McSuper]

Yeah, I'm not sure what going on with him. Hard to complain after a win and a complete McDomination over the rat f***s, but it's hard not to notice that Draisaitl's not quite himself these days.

It seems that every year he goes through these prolonged periods where he seems tired, lazy, making bad passes, and reluctant to shoot. Inadequate linemates? Injury? Illness? Good thing he's slumping while we're winning, but we're going to need him to be a difference maker soon.

On the linemate note, I'm not sure why Tippett keeps trying to shove a round peg into a square hole with the Ennis (and Kahun) thing. I love Ennis as a depth player, but he's not top six material over the long term. I know that elite players should make any two linemates work, but Draisaitl with two small guys doesn't seem to bear fruit. Maybe try moving a bigger guy like Neal or Kassian when healthy up there, especially since by now it's apparent Tips will never reunite him with Yam and Nuge.

He got slew footed in Winnipeg . His head hit the ice pretty damn hard .

 

[Spawn]

You'd have to take out Bettman points to make this a worthwhile statistic, especially if they're that close. Randomly handing out extra points throws off determining who is winning the most against each other.

Taking the loser point out:

East: 87.8
West: 81.1
Central: 79.8
North: 79.2

The difference is negligible. Still end up where one division is clearly the strongest and the others all very close.

 

[rboomercat90]

Calgary could be playing ISIS and I’d have a hard time cheering for Calgary.

It’s happening tomorrow.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

It’s happening tomorrow.

Indeed!

 

[McSuper]

I cheer for Edmonton and Calgary. If anyone has an issue with that they can mind their own f***ing business lol

I use to . Love AB . The Flames are just a dirtbag team . I blame my many concussion for my cheering for the Flames . Thank god I got the right meds and gave that shit up .

 

[McDrai]

The hype is real lol

 

[Paralyzer008]

I still really don't like the Nurse - Barrie pair and look forward to Bear being back beside Nurse as soon as they can.

The one big problem though now is Barrie didn't look so hot with anyone else and on this pair, he is at least offensively unlocked, so it's possible Tippett can't break that pair up because he can't trust Barrie with anyone else. I guess we'll see.

 

[Spawn]

I still really don't like the Nurse - Barrie pair and look forward to Bear being back beside Nurse as soon as they can.

The one big problem though now is Barrie didn't look so hot with anyone else and on this pair, he is at least offensively unlocked, so it's possible Tippett can't break that pair up because he can't trust Barrie with anyone else. I guess we'll see.

Other than Nurse Barrie has basically only played with Koekkoek. We don't actually know how he'd look with anyone else.

 

[Paralyzer008]

Other than Nurse Barrie has basically only played with Koekkoek. We don't actually know how he'd look with anyone else.

Yes, so it's an interesting thought. What would Barrie look like besides Lagesson? Or Jones? We've seen a bit of him with Russell. What about Larsson if he flipped left?

I kind of feel like Lagesson may be really good for Barrie, a low event D-man who is defensive and can hold a fort while Barrie does his thing. But not sure.

I sometimes feel like I'm the only one who notices that Nurse - Barrie spends a lot of time in their own zone and I think it's because neither guy is a real puckmover, which is maybe why Jones could be a surprise fit with Barrie but time will tell.

 

[Spawn]

Yes, so it's an interesting thought. What would Barrie look like besides Lagesson? Or Jones? We've seen a bit of him with Russell. What about Larsson if he flipped left?

I kind of feel like Lagesson may be really good for Barrie, a low event D-man who is defensive and can hold a fort while Barrie does his thing. But not sure.

I sometimes feel like I'm the only one who notices that Nurse - Barrie spends a lot of time in their own zone and I think it's because neither guy is a real puckmover, which is maybe why Jones could be a surprise fit with Barrie but time will tell.

Oh true he has played with Russel a bit. My mistake!

But honestly... Russell is the place where all offense goes to die.

So yeah it is tough.

When they were first paired together I agreed that I wasn't as confident in the pair. Thought they gave up too much offense (Nurse and Barrie). But honestly they might be dynamic enough to outscore any defensive deficiencies at 5v5. And ultimately that's what you need.

 

[Emotive]

When is Kassian back?

The second Kassian touches a flames player you know he'll get suspended for 20 games. They only care when we are the ones laying the hits

 

[Paralyzer008]

Oh true he has played with Russel a bit. My mistake!

But honestly... Russell is the place where all offense goes to die.

So yeah it is tough.

When they were first paired together I agreed that I wasn't as confident in the pair. Thought they gave up too much offense (Nurse and Barrie). But honestly they might be dynamic enough to outscore any defensive deficiencies at 5v5. And ultimately that's what you need.

I think it'll be tough for Tippett too because he trusts Nurse clearly with anything, but Barrie...well there's a big defensive gap there.

I'll be interested to see where they go offensively from here. The Oilers are shooting 14% with them on the ice, that's unsustainable. I think Nurse had some shooting luck + has secondary assists where his offense will drop, whereas Barrie's had less shooting luck (a few missed nets) where maybe he continues his pace going forward. We shall see. I don't think this a pairing that the playoffs will be kind to though, but that's where Ethan Bear may factor big back in. Personally, I don't care if Nurse isn't producing at this pace because we don't need him to be an offensive driver all the time with the names we have, we need him to be a rock defensively. I thought Nurse - Bear this season had some really stellar defensive games and that's why I see that pairing being a thing again.

 

[Nostradumbass]

A bag of Richards maybe.

 

[shoop]

You'd have to take out Bettman points to make this a worthwhile statistic, especially if they're that close. Randomly handing out extra points throws off determining who is winning the most against each other.

I hope this season sparks the league to go 3-2-1 and award an extra point for winning in regulation time. It makes for a better product when there is that added incentive to win in regulation.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

I spun by the Flames thread on this site in regards to last night's game...they're calling Khaira our goon because he went after Bennett and he's a way bigger guy than Bennett. I don't know whether to laugh or facepalm.

Khaira is 6'4, Bennett is 6'1. Not a lot of size difference and as I said before, play stupid games, you win stupid prizes.

...they also totally ignored the cowardice of Lindholm cross checking a vulnerable Yamamoto who is 5" shorter and 40 pounds lighter face first into the boards but Khaira is a big meanie.

Somebody warm them up a glass of milk.

 

[Samus44]

I'm still waiting for Gio to get his. The closest was Gagner feeding him. Why are we paying Kassian $3 million again if he can't even do that?

I assume he'll get his much like Ryan Kesler did, by never winning anything substantial as a pro. Giordano lists a Spengler Cup as the pinnacle of his team accomplishments and Kesler a WJC Gold as an amateur. 19 games, 6 points, -6 and 14 PIM's, way to go Kneeordano that's one hell of a career in the playoffs. One thing I'm happy about is although there were some tough years you look at most of the great Oilers they've managed to be winners elsewhere. Smyth has multiple best on best championships for example. It's always nice to see winners win and losers lose. Here's to hoping Tkachuk can follow in their illustrious paths (although I'd imagine you want him to do well internationally. lol).

 

[McAsuno]

I spun by the Flames thread on this site in regards to last night's game...they're calling Khaira our goon because he went after Bennett and he's a way bigger guy than Bennett. I don't know whether to laugh or facepalm.

Khaira is 6'4, Bennett is 6'1. Not a lot of size difference and as I said before, play stupid games, you win stupid prizes.

...they also totally ignored the cowardice of Lindholm cross checking a vulnerable Yamamoto who is 5" shorter and 40 pounds lighter face first into the boards but Khaira is a big meanie.

Somebody warm them up a glass of milk.

They're a special breed down there. Lets not also forget Tkachuk slashing Yamamoto before the faceoff or punching an unsuspecting Barrie in the face. Funny how Tkachuk tried to pull off his usual antics all night, but not one single Oiler gave him the time. Ignoring his antics just neuters him completely.

 

[Jumptheshark]

90% of these Boards had the Flames as the 2nd best team in the division so they should probably eat some crow. That team is baaaaaaad

Still over half the season to go