Pre-Game Talk: Pregame Positivity - Oilers v Canes Wednesday 5 PM.

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Positivity Notes vs Carolina

If I squint while drunk I think I see Bouchard having a decent defensive game tomorrow night!

Pickard outplayed Skinner and could get the start so we’d have our best goalie in!

Knobby believes confidence is what’s lacking in the Oilers game and I think they forgot it in Vegas last May so if we call the hotel they stayed it might be in the lost and found box!

We only win in Carolina once every fifth leap year so we’re overdue for a win there!

The 11-7 didn’t work (surprise surprise) so we might go 10-8 or even 9-9. Throw something at them they’d never expect!

McDavid might break the minutes played in a single game by a forward Wednesday night!

RNH could be the first Oiler to become completely invisible in a game but Connor Brown has the inside track, but what a feat to become invisible on live tv!

Ryan McLoeds new Charmin sponsorship will pay him double the salary he’s earned this year, so about $50. Moneys money!

The Penalty Kill scores a short handed goal out scoring the Oilers Power Play!

The PK only gets scored on 3 times out of 4 bringing out average up for the season!

Other than Kane the Oilers collectively throw 5 body checks more than doubling their teams season total!

3 entire puck battles are won along the wall and a Hurricane is knocked on his ass while attempting to shoot in yet another juicy rebound in a physical match by the Oilers!

Our HDS% gets up over .500 after this game!

So many positive waves we can’t lose!!!

Click to read more...

 

[K1984]

Sadly I see this game going exactly how the prior two went.

Play well, get a lead, then f*** away the lead in dramatic and embarrassing fashion.

 

[KlefDown]

did you all see Tim Peels tweets where he shared his DM's with Mark Spector?

Oilers meme hockey is back baby, gooooodbye stanley cup

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Positivity? Derek Ryan. He can play as long as he wants to.

 

[oXo Cube]

New coach is pretty much the same as the old coach, but the old coach was pretty alright so that's ok.

Bout all I got for positivity right now.

 

[Oilers333]

The only positive spin from this team right now is that Jeff Jackson is likely going to be forced to put his stamp on this team come trade deadline and offseason.

There is no way he keeps things par for the course. We could see some massive shakeups.

People on twitter can spin the standings anyway they want facts are 8 points back at American Thanksgiving gives us less than a 5% chance to make the playoffs lol.

 

[McShogun99]

We always lose to Carolina. Svechnikov with 4 goals.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Thing is they have to win those games in hand AND hope the teams ahead of them lose.

Besides, being a wild card team isn't exactly what we had in mind.

And it's the nightmare building where everything fell apart. The team that truly broke the Oilers.

 

[bone]

Dating back to last season including playoffs, the Oilers have either won or had the lead at some point in the game for 46 of the last 51 games.

PS - To keep it positive, don't look at the record in those 46 games.

 

[Mr Positive]

It is getting harder to stay positive but I still am.

Ultimately the Bolts didn't win it all until they took a big step back in the season. The Blues were last in the league during the season where they won it all, in January

If there were a team who could win 10 straight, it would be this team

 

[Drivesaitl]

Not a completely weird way to look at it but stick with me. These were my thoughts watching Calgary beat Seattle last night. Both of these teams are crap. Add Anaheim to that mix.

So I considered, if somebody just woke up and were in a cave since say NHL lockout and you found these teams and one of them had McDrai on it you'd still take the situation and bet on the Oil.

The Oilers can still get a WC and I like their chances of finishing above the aforementioned 3 clubs.

Of course the Oilers have to turn it around but this seems like a season where the race for wild card won't exactly be redhot. Could even be 90-92pts takes it.

Look at the conference. All the decent clubs already have playoff spots and I expect the standing to stay pretty much where they are. The teams currently holding WC are STL and Seattle. Those are not particularly stiff clubs. The Oilers are only 8pts out of last WC spot but with 3 games in hand on Seattle. As bad as record is this season this is where we are and none of the WC teams above are skating away with it.

The only two clubs one would even think should be recovering somewhat are Edmonton and Minny.

The striking thing is that Seattle hold a WC spot while being sub .500. Standings in west are completely weird this season. Seems like 6 clubs doing really well and the rest struggling.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

First in on the Official Oilers "What Me Worry?" t-shirt! https://www.fruugo.ca/what-me-worry-mad-magazine-alfred-neuman-t-shirt-t-shirt/p-54612894-110873990

 

[KCC]

Weird how this new coach blew Up the lines after such a good game against Tampa to 11-7. Why? He flat out said he didn’t like changing things up and believed the team was better with McDavid and drai on separate lines. So what did he do against fla? Lol. oh well. Season is lost and all we can hope for is real change eventually as the losses pile up.

 

[bone]

Not a completely weird way to look at it but stick with me. These were my thoughts watching Calgary beat Seattle last night. Both of these teams are crap. Add Anaheim to that mix.

So I considered, if somebody just woke up and were in a cave since say NHL lockout and you found these teams and one of them had McDrai on it you'd still take the situation and bet on the Oil.

The Oilers can still get a WC and I like their chances of finishing above the aforementioned 3 clubs.

Of course the Oilers have to turn it around but this seems like a season where the race for wild card won't exactly be redhot. Could even be 90-92pts takes it.

Look at the conference. All the decent clubs already have playoff spots and I expect the standing to stay pretty much where they are. The teams currently holding WC are STL and Seattle. Those are not particularly stiff clubs. The Oilers are only 8pts out of last WC spot but with 3 games in hand on Seattle. As bad as record is this season this is where we are and none of the WC teams above are skating away with it.

The only two clubs one would even think should be recovering somewhat are Edmonton and Minny.

The striking thing is that Seattle hold a WC spot while being sub .500. Standings in west are completely weird this season. Seems like 6 clubs doing really well and the rest struggling.

Good point, I guess if the last Wild Card spot will be below 90 points, we're not completely out of it after all.

Looking specifically at all the teams outside the top 6, does any of St. Louis, Arizona, Nashville, Chicago, Minnesota, Seattle, Anaheim, Calgary or San Jose strike any fear at all. I think Minnesota, likely gets on track at some point, but I actually expect the rest (other than San Jose) to actually be worse as this season rolls along.

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

 

[FunkyChicken]

McLeod will mistakenly bump into someone (ref or teammate qualifies) and Brown will not fall on his next scoring chance (might have to wait a few games).

 

[Drivesaitl]

I guess if the last Wild Card spot will be below 90 points, we're not completely out of it after all.

12pts in every 10 game segment remaining gets us there. That takes us to 77GP and 83pts. On same identical pace we get 6pts in remaining 5 games for total of 89pts. Most seasons this wouldn't be good enough but this season it will put us in in the race.

With even average goaltending and how the team has been pushing games to this point we get the above.

#1 thing is keep the belief though. The last 2 efforts shows its still there. What the Oilers have to do is what any team in their situation needs to do. Win games period by period. Even the Flames have resurrected. This team can do that.

 

[Lay Z Boy GM]

I MIGHT have this one on in the background. Close to just tuning out sadly

 

[brentashton]

Weird how this new coach blew Up the lines after such a good game against Tampa to 11-7. Why? He flat out said he didn’t like changing things up and believed the team was better with McDavid and drai on separate lines. So what did he do against fla? Lol. oh well. Season is lost and all we can hope for is real change eventually as the losses pile up.

I believe he is still a bit in his orientation and “let’s see what fits and works together” phase to his line shuffling etc.. At this point neither line up won, so have to give him the benefit of the doubt that he’s looking for something that can be the difference.

 

[bone]

12pts in every 10 game segment remaining gets us there. That takes us to 77GP and 83pts. On same identical pace we get 6pts in remaining 5 games for total of 89pts. Most seasons this wouldn't be good enough but this season it will put us in in the race.

With even average goaltending and how the team has been pushing games to this point we get the above.

#1 thing is keep the belief though. The last 2 efforts shows its still there. What the Oilers have to do is what any team in their situation needs to do. Win games period by period. Even the Flames have resurrected. This team can do that.

Another strange thing looking at the standings that really shows the disparity is regulation winning percentage. The top six are .618 or higher which is a pretty good regulation winning percentage, only 3 teams in the entire league were higher last year.

However, after the 6th best team there is only one other team above .444 and that's St. Louis with a .529. The gap between the top 6 and the rest is a very real thing right now.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Weird how this new coach blew Up the lines after such a good game against Tampa to 11-7. Why? He flat out said he didn’t like changing things up and believed the team was better with McDavid and drai on separate lines. So what did he do against fla? Lol. oh well. Season is lost and all we can hope for is real change eventually as the losses pile up.

It was specifically done because Barkov is out and that McDrai typically have been the Killshot against the Panthers. We didnt' lose the game due to this matchup.

 

[bone]

It is getting harder to stay positive but I still am.

Ultimately the Bolts didn't win it all until they took a big step back in the season. The Blues were last in the league during the season where they won it all, in January

If there were a team who could win 10 straight, it would be this team

The Lightning were still a 107 point pace team despite taking a step back.

How about Florida. Couldn't get a save through much of the year last year, and were the last team to qualify with a record worse than Calgary all the way to the cup final. So getting the wild card isn't the end of the world.

Especially if a team like Vancouver manages to ride this to a first place finish, they could be surprised by a playoff wildcard team kind of like Edmonton did when they finally got back into the playoff picture with back to back seasons of what would have been considered upsets.

 

[K1984]

Another strange thing looking at the standings that really shows the disparity is regulation winning percentage. The top six are .618 or higher which is a pretty good regulation winning percentage, only 3 teams in the entire league were higher last year.

However, after the 6th best team there is only one other team above .444 and that's St. Louis with a .529. The gap between the top 6 and the rest is a very real thing right now.

This is the only thing giving me hope.

Frankly, the standings are f***ed up at the moment to the point where it's almost impossible to figure out what will sustain. Some teams that are supposed to be mediocre/stink are being propped up by amazing goaltending (in a few cases out of left field) and/or a high SH% (Coyotes, Blues, Ducks, Nucks, Kings all fit one or both of these categories). Then on the other hand you have the Oilers who absolutely stink in both areas unexpectedly.

It basically comes down to this to determine if the Oilers will/won't make the playoffs:

- How many of the teams on unexpected heaters in net and shooting will come back to reality? (Coyotes, Ducks, Blues, Kings, Nucks). If it's only one or two the Oilers are probably f***ed regardless, if it's three or four then they have a chance.

- How long will it take the Oilers to start scoring and/or get saves (at least to the degree we got saves last year) or will they ever get scoring and/or get saves?

To make the playoffs no less than three of the "luck" teams have to start falling off and the Oilers have to get their shit together pretty quickly.

 

[bone]

This is the only thing giving me hope.

Frankly, the standings are f***ed up at the moment to the point where it's almost impossible to figure out what will sustain. Some teams that are supposed to be mediocre/stink are being propped up by amazing goaltending (in a few cases out of left field) and/or a high SH% (Coyotes, Blues, Ducks, Nucks, Kings all fit one or both of these categories). Then on the other hand you have the Oilers who absolutely stink in both areas unexpectedly.

It basically comes down to this to determine if the Oilers will/won't make the playoffs:

- How many of the teams on unexpected heaters in net and shooting will come back to reality? (Coyotes, Ducks, Blues, Kings, Nucks). If it's only one or two the Oilers are probably f***ed regardless, if it's three or four then they have a chance.

- How long will it take the Oilers to start scoring and/or get saves (at least to the degree we got saves last year) or will they ever get scoring and/or get saves?

To make the playoffs no less than three of the "luck" teams have to start falling off and the Oilers have to get their shit together pretty quickly.

At this point, I'd exclude the Nucks, not so much as they aren't experiencing the luck, just that they've parlayed that luck into such a big head start that they could go on a prolonged slump and still survive it much like Edmonton did in their first season back in the playoff picture (2019-20).

I'd exclude the Kings as well as they are simply a very good team that in many ways creates their own luck.

None of the others scare me much. The Ducks are already falling fast, Coyotes... does their management even care if they do well. Blues... they could stick around, but I also don't think they're overly concerned about how this season plays out.

 

[K1984]

At this point, I'd exclude the Nucks, not so much as they aren't experiencing the luck, just that they've parlayed that luck into such a big head start that they could go on a prolonged slump and still survive it much like Edmonton did in their first season back in the playoff picture (2019-20).

I'd exclude the Kings as well as they are simply a very good team that in many ways creates their own luck.

None of the others scare me much. The Ducks are already falling fast, Coyotes... does their management even care if they do well. Blues... they could stick around, but I also don't think they're overly concerned about how this season plays out.

Agree with all of this. Kings and Nucks are definitely in, just a question of where exactly they will be positioned and how much of a threat they are down the stretch if one of shooting/goaltending comes back to earth for either team.