Remember when the Edmonton Oilers were not on ESPN's Power Rankings?

[GindyDraws]

Yeah... a few seasons ago, for one week, Scott Burnside was so annoyed at the shoddiness of the Oilers' product on the ice that he intentionally had them placed out of the Power Rankings and replaced them with the best AHL club.

Sadly... that Ranking for Week 17 of that season was deleted from the website as soon as Week 18 came out, so ESPN immediately decided against letting that joke ever see the light of day again.

I wanted to know if any of you remember that, and as a Hurricanes fan, I also feel your pain right now. Neither of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finalists have had any success since then.

Click to read more...

 

[s7ark]

ESPN has hockey power rankings?

 

[0ilerman]

I don't recall that specifically, but if so, what a bush league piece of journalism. They deserved the ranking of 30 at the time (perhaps still?), but someone once told me kicking someone when they're down is bad karma

 

[GindyDraws]

ESPN has hockey power rankings?

Believe it or not, they do.

It's like trying to find Canada on a map, all tucked away down there.

But, yeah, it was bush league.

 

[McRobbiezyg]

Believe it or not, they do.

It's like trying to find Canada on a map, all tucked away down there.

But, yeah, it was bush league.

yeah canada is pretty hard to find if you are looking down there

 

[Mr Positive]

Are they going to do the same for Buffalo now, or are they too American?

 

[oiler4ever]

does ESPN stands for Eakins Swarm Player Network? lol

 

[Roof Daddy]

If it weren't for the fact that ESPN often consults with LeBrun (and it appears Bobby Mac now on their telecasts), I would consider them to have zero relevancy. Burnside? Could care less. It would be different if we were the first team to tank/ice an inferior roster for the purpose of landing a top pick, but there were teams that did it even more blatantly in the past, to the point they had to initiate a draft lottery (Daigle sweepstakes of 93). Does Burnside know this? Maybe not, which would explain why he works for ESPN.

End rant.

And no, I wasn't aware of this because I've never used ESPN as a source of info for hockey.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

God ESPN. It's like looking at Fox for News.

 

[rboomercat90]

The only thing I use ESPN for are their game trackers. Not remotely interested in their columnists or their articles.

 

[Alberta]

Yeah... a few seasons ago, for one week, Scott Burnside was so annoyed at the shoddiness of the Oilers' product on the ice that he intentionally had them placed out of the Power Rankings and replaced them with the best AHL club.

Sadly... that Ranking for Week 17 of that season was deleted from the website as soon as Week 18 came out, so ESPN immediately decided against letting that joke ever see the light of day again.

I wanted to know if any of you remember that, and as a Hurricanes fan, I also feel your pain right now. Neither of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finalists have had any success since then.

At least the Hurricanes made the playoffs in 2009 and advanced to the third round!

'Canes point totals since the 2006 Cup: 88, 92, 97, 80, 91, 82, 42 (72 prorated), 81

Oilers point totals since the 2006 Cup: 71, 88, 85, 62, 62, 74, 45 (77 prorated), 67

Regarding the Power Rankings, I don't remember that at all. I think it's pretty funny, though.

 

[Bangers]

ESPN's print team is actually pretty decent (except for Buccigross, who I can't stand). Burnside and LeBrun are both decent hockey journalists, and their affiliate site Grantland has some of the best sportswriting talent anywhere.

In all honesty, I prefer ESPN to the bland, biased coverage also known as TSN.

 

[FlyingPhi]

ESPN's print team is actually pretty decent (except for Buccigross, who I can't stand). Burnside and LeBrun are both decent hockey journalists, and their affiliate site Grantland has some of the best sportswriting talent anywhere.

In all honesty, I prefer ESPN to the bland, biased coverage also known as TSN.

Agreed. I think it's far superior to TSN, especially with Grantland and the Insider content. That won't be a popular opinion here, because it's "American". For some reason, most of my fellow Canadians turn their nose up at anything American in origin. I mean, if people give both sites a fair chance, and they prefer TSN, that's cool. It is this disliking anything American because it is American that is so petty and lame.

 

[OneMoreAstronaut]

Wasn't it just last week that Ray Ferraro was lauded for calling out the Oilers?

 

[shoop]

Agreed. I think it's far superior to TSN, especially with Grantland and the Insider content. That won't be a popular opinion here, because it's "American". For some reason, most of my fellow Canadians turn their nose up at anything American in origin. I mean, if people give both sites a fair chance, and they prefer TSN, that's cool. It is this disliking anything American because it is American that is so petty and lame.

Outside of hockey ESPN is far superior to TSN. I agree with you about people that automatically turn up their nose on American things. Most of my entertainment choices are American, that's the way it is.

I do like some of the Grantland stuff. Bill Simmons has really gotten a pretty big head recently. His suspension was deserved. He dared his bosses to discipline him? Of course they proved to him who the boss was. He made a very valid point about the relationship between ESPN and their relationship with the NFL. My guess is Simmons will leave ESPN when his contract expires next year.

The 538 blog stuff on Grantland is interesting, but kind of running out of steam. For election polling and predictions it is phenomenal. Not so much with what they try and do for pop culture.

As an Oiler fan I get almost as much coverage/quality coverage of my team on ESPN as on TSN. Unless I'm looking at CFL stuff or tennis, I don't have much reason to go to TSN.