Pre-Game Talk: POLE: How many points will the Oilers finish with this season?

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Haven't seen @Cloned poll yet so figured I better get the ball rolling with one.

Where will our Oilers finish this regular season, assuming no key injuries?

96 or better gets us into the playoffs most likely. 105-100 gets us 2nd most likely. 111+ should be a lock for first or pretty close.

So lets hear it!

I have 111+. I think Calgary will need a month or two to get on track with all their changes. Vegas is going to have their challenges and cant seem to stay healthy never mind no experienced starter going into the season. Vancouver is starting with some key injuries. LA could surprise. Ducks are a combination of young and old and of course they have Eakins as their coach. Seattle will be better but not so much as to take more points from the Oilers as last season. Sharks are already out of it. So I think the Oilers will start hot, not have the slump they did last season and top out with 112 points.

Click to read more...

 

[JordanGalhanth]

I'm going to say that this is the year.

 

[Beerfish]

No clue but barring injuries this team should take that next step into a top 3-5 team.

 

[xoczar99ox]

Here’s my bold predictions for the year.

I have a feeling we will only get Draisaitl for 65 games this year…

I think Campbells recovery after he commits to a play is on the weak side so that will lead to some ugly goals against.

Nurse will become the Oilers biggest whipping boy we’ve had in years for obvious reasons.

Holloway will lose the Calder because Oiler.

 

[Oilslick941611]

I think 105-7 sounds right.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

105 on the nose.

 

[Oilhawks]

Here’s my bold predictions for the year.

I have a feeling we will only get Draisaitl for 65 games this year…

I think Campbells recovery after he commits to a play is on the weak side so that will lead to some ugly goals against.

Nurse will become the Oilers biggest whipping boy we’ve had in years for obvious reasons.

Holloway will lose the Calder because Oiler.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Here’s my bold predictions for the year.

I have a feeling we will only get Draisaitl for 65 games this year…

I think Campbells recovery after he commits to a play is on the weak side so that will lead to some ugly goals against.

Nurse will become the Oilers biggest whipping boy we’ve had in years for obvious reasons.

Holloway will lose the Calder because Oiler.

Nice to see you are optimistic.

 

[xoczar99ox]

Nice to see you are optimistic.

Lol. I’m tempering my expectations.

actually pretty freaking funny now that I read it back.

 

[ZJuice]

Enough, I hope

 

[Oilhawks]

Lol. I’m tempering my expectations.

I don’t like to get overly optimistic about too much as I feel it’s best to prepare for the worst but hope for the best.

I could see Drai missing a few games but not expecting that many, at least not with regards to his current injury which seems healed

Campbell seems to recover okay from GA, better than Smith (who often seemed too angry to focus, better last year about it), and Koskinen (who was okay sometimes when giving up a bad goal but would also have ridiculous meltdowns). Campbell does seem to let in one or two bad goals so far when the team is a fire drill but he’s absolutely robbed the opposition multiple times in what should have been goals. Smith and Koskinen could as well, but I get the feeling Campbell will steal more games than those two did. I think Campbell is going to have a lot of fans here, Skinner as well

Nurse? Who knows? I’m not the biggest Nurse fan but I want to give him the benefit of the doubt that it was a lot to do with injuries last season, particularly in the playoffs

I think Holloway won’t win because I have a sneaking suspicion he may not spend the entire season up here. Big wild card. I hope he does as I’m a big fan and they are better with him at 2LW so McLeod can play on the third line and Nuge at 3C, but we’ll see

 

[Drivesaitl]

Picked +111 because I think the Oil could be in that rarefied air this season and they have full season of Kane, steady goaltending, now Holloway, and I feel guys like Pulju will be better than forecast. We have more ingredients now and more win knowledge in the team, a club more confident and finding different ways to get results. It really helps when you have steady month to month goaltending. We will be a first place club.

I think our division will be tougher this season but we will pick up more pts around the league. We should be getting the benefit of more PP's as well.

 

[Chet Manley]

Picked 110+ because it's that time of year to set aside my crushing cynicism and put blind trust in the team to do well.

 

[xoczar99ox]

I don’t like to get overly optimistic about too much as I feel it’s best to prepare for the worst but hope for the best.

I could see Drai missing a few games but not expecting that many, at least not with regards to his current injury which seems healed

Campbell seems to recover okay from GA, better than Smith (who often seemed too angry to focus, better last year about it), and Koskinen (who was okay sometimes when giving up a bad goal but would also have ridiculous meltdowns). Campbell does seem to let in one or two bad goals so far when the team is a fire drill but he’s absolutely robbed the opposition multiple times in what should have been goals. Smith and Koskinen could as well, but I get the feeling Campbell will steal more games than those two did. I think Campbell is going to have a lot of fans here, Skinner as well

Nurse? Who knows? I’m not the biggest Nurse fan but I want to give him the benefit of the doubt that it was a lot to do with injuries last season, particularly in the playoffs

I think Holloway won’t win because I have a sneaking suspicion he may not spend the entire season up here. Big wild card. I hope he does as I’m a big fan and they are better with him at 2LW so McLeod can play on the third line and Nuge at 3C, but we’ll see

Okay let me have a redo on Draisaitl. I could see him losing out on ten games for sure. Unlike you I don’t feel like he is 100% healed I have nothing to base that on other than a sneaky suspicion.

Maybe it can just be chalked up to it being preseason, also I’ve never seen him play a game before this year. One thing that did stand out to me in the game against the Kraken is that when there was a big scrambling play going on and once he committed to save attempt he would just lie there kinda resolved to the fact that he wasn’t getting back into the play. Once the play died out and it wasn’t in the back of the net then he would pop back up and reset. Maybe nothing more than preseason cob webs but just something I picked up on and will continue to watch for. With that being said I think he’s going to be the goaltender that we’ve longed for for many, many years.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

I'm bullish on this team, I'll say over 111

 

[rboomercat90]

Picked +111 because I think the Oil could be in that rarefied air this season and they have full season of Kane, steady goaltending, now Holloway, and I feel guys like Pulju will be better than forecast. We have more ingredients now and more win knowledge in the team, a club more confident and finding different ways to get results. It really helps when you have steady month to month goaltending. We will be a first place club.

I think our division will be tougher this season but we will pick up more pts around the league. We should be getting the benefit of more PP's as well.

Getting more power plays doesn’t seem likely to me after what we witnessed from the league the last few years.

 

[BlackDogg]

I don’t like to get overly optimistic about too much as I feel it’s best to prepare for the worst but hope for the best.

I could see Drai missing a few games but not expecting that many, at least not with regards to his current injury which seems healed

Campbell seems to recover okay from GA, better than Smith (who often seemed too angry to focus, better last year about it), and Koskinen (who was okay sometimes when giving up a bad goal but would also have ridiculous meltdowns). Campbell does seem to let in one or two bad goals so far when the team is a fire drill but he’s absolutely robbed the opposition multiple times in what should have been goals. Smith and Koskinen could as well, but I get the feeling Campbell will steal more games than those two did. I think Campbell is going to have a lot of fans here, Skinner as well

Nurse? Who knows? I’m not the biggest Nurse fan but I want to give him the benefit of the doubt that it was a lot to do with injuries last season, particularly in the playoffs

I think Holloway won’t win because I have a sneaking suspicion he may not spend the entire season up here. Big wild card. I hope he does as I’m a big fan and they are better with him at 2LW so McLeod can play on the third line and Nuge at 3C, but we’ll see

Campbell has already made some crazy saves and on lateral movement where there is no way Mike Smith would have been even close on. So that looks better already - and so does Skinner. And no forward cat pounces at all yet.

Nurse is an enigma. Definately overpaid, but hopefully his injuries were playing into things.

LIttle worried about the tenacity of this squad outside of Nurse. And we can't afford Nurse fighting at all. That was just plain not smart in pre-season, but where else is it going to come from? Hopefully Jack campbell can fight.

 

[GreeningOil]

I don’t like to get overly optimistic about too much as I feel it’s best to prepare for the worst but hope for the best.

I could see Drai missing a few games but not expecting that many, at least not with regards to his current injury which seems healed

Campbell seems to recover okay from GA, better than Smith (who often seemed too angry to focus, better last year about it), and Koskinen (who was okay sometimes when giving up a bad goal but would also have ridiculous meltdowns). Campbell does seem to let in one or two bad goals so far when the team is a fire drill but he’s absolutely robbed the opposition multiple times in what should have been goals. Smith and Koskinen could as well, but I get the feeling Campbell will steal more games than those two did. I think Campbell is going to have a lot of fans here, Skinner as well

Nurse? Who knows? I’m not the biggest Nurse fan but I want to give him the benefit of the doubt that it was a lot to do with injuries last season, particularly in the playoffs

I think Holloway won’t win because I have a sneaking suspicion he may not spend the entire season up here. Big wild card. I hope he does as I’m a big fan and they are better with him at 2LW so McLeod can play on the third line and Nuge at 3C, but we’ll see

Man this shows how seriously abused us Oiler fans have been.

 

[Oilhawks]

Man this shows how seriously abused us Oiler fans have been.

To be fair, the “I don’t like to get overly optimistic about too much as I feel it’s best to prepare for the worst but hope for the best” is generally how I approach most things in life that I have no control over, not just being a fan of a hockey team.

 

[Drivesaitl]

To be fair, the “I don’t like to get overly optimistic about too much as I feel it’s best to prepare for the worst but hope for the best” is generally how I approach most things in life that I have no control over, not just being a fan of a hockey team.

heh. We have this in common as a trait. Somehow though with this specific club I've flushed most of the PTSD out. But I've also decided to enjoy the ride no matter what happens. At the end of the day the Oilers are the most entertaining club in the league, again, and we have them here.

As an aside in history the Oilers of say 80-83 don't get talked up as much. it was kind of considered that those were learning years but win or lose Stanley Cup that whole time period I was just enjoying how spectacular the type of play was. Most people were heartbroken in those years. I was seeing it as one of the best viewing teams I'd ever watched. I remember going to WEM where the team would hold some practices. This team did line drills and break out drills than any other club could do on ice. They had a gear that was otherwise unknown. They'd come at teams in waves. It would start from their play in practice. I used to think to myself I could come here any lunch for free, and watch the greatest team on Earth just practice and its better entertainment than most clubs bring in games. That team was incredible.

The Oilers were the best in entertainment from 1980-1990. A complete decade of hockey playing excellence. This time we've had a lot of burps but we're in the window now and I really like what I'm seeing. Who knows where it lands but the season shows great promise as the last one did. Since we got Barrie for some reason I've been in enjoy now mode. When a team starts attracting good talent that wants to be here, and Kane and Hyman fit the bill as well its just fun to be watching it.

 

[Drivesaitl]

The team feels similarly it seems. "The time is now".

McDavid, Draisaitl feel Oilers' 'time is now' in quest for Stanley Cup | NHL.com

Forwards ready to take next step after Western Conference Final run

www.nhl.com

It is what players say but this season and last has felt different. Barrie, Hyman, Kane, Campbell, Ceci, these are the kind of solid adds that teams get to climb the next hill. Along with Bouchard and our other prospects this team is starting to really flex its muscle. i think they can regain the verve they showed in the Calgary series. I think they were still some doubting in the LA series and in the Conference final injuries and the best team in the league took its toll. Wasn't our time.

I kind of cheated on the poll. I just looked up pts totals of the previous season. I figure the Oilers will be first place territory and no lower than 4th or 5th in league. They should be around there in that handful. Quality steady goaltending alone will make such a difference.

I mean even Calgary finished with 111pts last season and they were 6th in league.

An Oilers team in the mix should be +111pts. They got to 104pts last season and that was with a bad 2mth slide. I'll remind people that within 3 pt NHL that around 95.5pts is mean pt totals. The median pt totals last season were 97, and 94 pts. 97pts was the playoff cutoff. People forget how much 3pt games elevate pts.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Never change Gene.

 

[94 Oil Drops]

Never change Gene.

*Cringe

I think we finish with 110. Though, if we make a blockbuster trade at the deadline, there's a chance we get 111+ and win the President's trophy.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

*Cringe

I think we finish with 110. Though, if we make a blockbuster trade at the deadline, there's a chance we get 111+ and win the President's trophy.

You should be Thankful we have a Gene! He is the whipping cream of the crop!

 

[Drivesaitl]

Pumpking the tires...

'It felt pretty darn good': Alberta man grows largest pumpkin ever in Canada

An Alberta man watched his pumpkin break the scale at the Smoky Lake Great White North Pumpkin Weigh-off and Fair last weekend

vancouversun.com