Post-Game Talk: The dogs are back

[North]

I may have seen it incorrectly, but I swear one of the delay of game calls was clearly off the glass as well

Might have been but it’s a mistake I can forgive. I can’t forgive the blatant non-calls and the weak shit like the Pettersson one.

 

[Stoneman89]

If they start calling all of the penalties they'll be forced stop taking the penalties. Wouldnt that be something. There are no consequences right now and they know they can get away with it. Just because McDavid is elite doesn't mean the rule book goes out the window. It's insane to mistreat a player like that.

Not disagreeing at all, but the league (Bettman) and others need to come to the realization that this is a golden goose they are stomping on.

 

[Shaquille Oatmeal]

Not disagreeing at all, but the league (Bettman) and others need to come to the realization that this is a golden goose they are stomping on.

Yes. It's ridiculous

 

[bone]

That’s just your opinion, we have the most flying, teams on the second of a back to back and had to start in Europe!

I think the point was that by the end of the year, the Oiler schedule is one of the better ones. It started as a bear in terms of opposition, but had a lots of rest. It then settled down a bit with variety of quality of oppostion, but then it got really busy the last little while to make up for the time off they had early due to the travel. From here on out though the schedule is a pretty decent schedule.

 

[WIOiler]

Is there a worse pairing than Garrison/Benning in the NHL? I doubt it. How many games can we even be in when we have to have them play?

 

[Drivesaitl]

You'd think introducing a talent like McDavid might force the opposition to adjust accordingly, but instead the refs are gracious enough to adjust instead so nobody else has to.

Yet the indelible memory I have of the game is McD with 5mins left in the 2nd skating directly into a pack of 4Nucks and turning the puck over. McD was not sharp, Drai looked dead, and the line had no mojo going on. The Oilers had no jump. Not even McD's attempts to go outside were working. Even he was having trouble last night finding that overburn gear. It happens.

Blaming it all on officiating seems a bit misguided. I've seen a lot worse.

 

[North]

Not disagreeing at all, but the league (Bettman) and others need to come to the realization that this is a golden goose they are stomping on.

It’s one reason why the NHL isn’t as big as other sports in the States. They have no clue how to market their superstars or even protect their superstars.

 

[LaGu]

I may have seen it incorrectly, but I swear one of the delay of game calls was clearly off the glass as well

I don't think so, but I could be wrong. Larsson's was just a miss, clear as day and he was obviously pissed off with himself. Gravel's was more in doubt. In my view that's not a penalty because his stick was hit by the VAN players stick and that seemed to cause the puck going over the glass, but that is a tough call to make on the ice.

I'm more bothered by this one:

Head ref is right there looking.... Nothing... Notorious diver Larsson should probably have been sent off for diving ......

 

[Multigrain]

Confused why Hitchcock said the PK was not bad? I must have been watching another game.

 

[Multigrain]

Does anyone believe Jones should sit against Tampa Bay?

 

[Multigrain]

Get very confused on how Benning plays. He looks a little cocky and unfocused out there. Maybe the second line promotion is going to his head. Would like to see him simplify his game against Tampa Bay.

 

[iCanada]

Confused why Hitchcock said the PK was not bad? I must have been watching another game.

I think the pk itself was fine. The first two were kinda fluky tricklers thst either goaltender stops 9/10, and the third was a broken play that left their best player wide open after a fortuitous bounce off a skate. It happens sometimes.

We didn't really make mistakes, more just puck luck. Keeping in mind the nucks pp been unlucky of late as well. Ah well.

The team looked tired, and we played 9 in 17 nights. A lot of hockey.

 

[RegDunlop]

Jones looked pretty good with the puck just needs more experience.

Meanwhile , Larsson looks like he is allergic to carrying the puck or making a tape-to-tape pass.

It's kinda intersting seeing how Larsson and Nurse both are without their safety blankets (Klefbom, Russell) to bail them out when they don't know what to do with the puck. Hopefully, they can use this stretch to improve their game.

I think this as well.
Lars feeds off Klef as much as the other way around and Russel has stabalized Nurse. They are missed not only for thier contribution to D but to what they mean to the whole D corps.

And YES that's right - it does include Russell!

 

[RegDunlop]

I'll make one of the weirdest comparisons ever. Roller Derby. Way back in the day every team would have some jet on roller skates that could go like the wind and score pts but was usually the lightest person in the arena. If the person could fly on compact, literally fly, it was way better because it would milk calls. It was to the point of hilarious how much smaller these players were from all the others. In mens or womens roller derby. They weren't midgits, just players so thin you could practically see through them.

Decades later NHL hockey has become that sport where every team now needs some pint sized runts flying around in the air upon slightest contact so you can get some calls. Tampa loads up on em. They've figured something out.

Skinny Minny Miller??!!!!

 

[RegDunlop]

The only thing that will change in that is the Oilers getting more penalties and suspensions. This is how the NHL works. When you have a Coach Crawford (and I'm not comparing, just saying) stating that he's going to sick Brad May and Bertuzzi on the NHL's ass all it begats is increased vigilance and problems. Its problematic for the team itself in that it shifts their focus (like the first game against Calgary) and also makes the NHL chickenhawk watch for Oilers infractions even more. Kass and Lucic were on NHL shortleashes before even arriving here. Both players almost have to be wearing different names and numbers to escape nothing penalty calls as it is.

Hitch saying the team will address this if the league doesn't is 1990's talk. In an era where Derian Hatcher could play caveman with his club. The NHL is not like that anymore. I love Hitch, don't get me wrong, but this is crazy talk in 2018. Its just going to mark the Oilers games on the calendar for NHL surveillance. But not with the result that we're hoping for.

Also it means either Lucic or Kassian on the topline. I'll let people think about that a bit and let it sink in.

We had this base covered with Maroon in there. Alas.

Perhaps.
But anyone else noticing how JJ is babysitting Pulji and even Nuge on the second line? Love it! And I can't wait for someone to not know or forget how tough this man is, and foolishly engage with him.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Skinny Minny Miller??!!!!

lol, are you my brother? haha

I bet we watched the Same Saturday morning cartoons as well. heh, that's too funny. That is EXACTLY who I was thinking of. Its a bird, its a duck, no, its Skinny Minny Miller flying through the air and getting extra points..

 

[Hopelesslucicfan]

Yet the indelible memory I have of the game is McD with 5mins left in the 2nd skating directly into a pack of 4Nucks and turning the puck over. McD was not sharp, Drai looked dead, and the line had no mojo going on. The Oilers had no jump. Not even McD's attempts to go outside were working. Even he was having trouble last night finding that overburn gear. It happens.

Blaming it all on officiating seems a bit misguided. I've seen a lot worse.

I'm not talking about just last night. Refs were bad, but the oilers weren't winning anyways with how they played last night.

I just meant the league in general. Instead of letting their superstars shine, the league is more worried about bringing them in line with everyone else for some reason.

 

[bone]

I'm not talking about just last night. Refs were bad, but the oilers weren't winning anyways with how they played last night.

I just meant the league in general. Instead of letting their superstars shine, the league is more worried about bringing them in line with everyone else for some reason.

This league loves parity. Not just at the team level, but apparently the player level as well.

 

[Hopelesslucicfan]

This league loves parity. Not just at the team level, but apparently the player level as well.

It really does seem that way. It's like they're scared nobody will wanna watch if the fourth liners aren't clearly outclassed by the stars of the league.

I understand not wanting to call 20 penalties a game, but that should be up to the players and coaches to adjust to by playing within the rules, not the refs to decide because they don't want one team getting too far ahead.

Game management is killing my enjoyment of hockey.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I'm not talking about just last night. Refs were bad, but the oilers weren't winning anyways with how they played last night.

I just meant the league in general. Instead of letting their superstars shine, the league is more worried about bringing them in line with everyone else for some reason.

Don't watch the CFL btw then in any means. I'm pretty much turned off that product due to how bizarre the officiating is and its much worse in football because bad calls can just basically hand teams TD's or take them back. PI can put the ball on the one yard line. WTF? I've seems get 2-3 TD's that way, just that way, on bogus calls and win the game.

So I'm sympathetic to your message that bad calls can kill enjoyment and I've gone through some waves like that myself. But actually the game today is much more wide open then its usually been. This is free skating hockey. With the change in the lines, long passes, it opens up the game. More interference is called generally, its a lot more open today then hockey has usually been. That's something someone wouldn't necessarily know unless they watched hockey for 50 years.

Mostly last night the Oilers had trouble with the Canucks schemes, coverage, and pressure. it was the complete opposite of the prior game in which the Flyers didn't give a shit to cover anything. The Oilers get lulled into that kind of thing. I dread games like the Flyers game because I know it makes the Oilers feel "scoring is easy now". Then its back to reality a game later when a well coached club is actually covering them. Most of what stopped the Oilers was not infractions. It was well drilled systems, schemes, execution. Nucks played a better, and more cerebral game, and won.

 

[voxel]

Was going to post that poll was arrogant and a jinx. Refused to vote... but I see I've been beat to it about a dozen times.

I turned off that game immediately after the EP 3-1 goal.... did not like our D they all handle the puck like a grenade and lacking basic puck handling skills. It's quite sad actually.

And I did not care for the reffing.

 

[Multigrain]

So was playing Jones and Garrison a smart move by Hitchcock 2 games in a row? I get he is trying to see what he has but its a lot for a kid just up from the AHL this time if year especially when they are still in the hunt unless they are showcasing one of them for a trade?

 

[AvOiL]

So was playing Jones and Garrison a smart move by Hitchcock 2 games in a row? I get he is trying to see what he has but its a lot for a kid just up from the AHL this time if year especially when they are still in the hunt unless they are showcasing one of them for a trade?

Did you watch the game? Caleb Jones was excellent, and his advanced stats corroborated the eye test.

Not a fan of Garrison though.

When Russell is back, I would keep Jones in the lineup (provided he doesn't regress) until Klefbom returns. I would waive one of Garrison or Wideman (preferably Garrison), and use the other as our 7th Dman.

 

[Oilers in NS]

I think this as well.
Lars feeds off Klef as much as the other way around and Russel has stabalized Nurse. They are missed not only for thier contribution to D but to what they mean to the whole D corps.

And YES that's right - it does include Russell!

Russell has been playing good in my books.

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

It really does seem that way. It's like they're scared nobody will wanna watch if the fourth liners aren't clearly outclassed by the stars of the league.

I understand not wanting to call 20 penalties a game, but that should be up to the players and coaches to adjust to by playing within the rules, not the refs to decide because they don't want one team getting too far ahead.

Game management is killing my enjoyment of hockey.

if the refs are worried they can't make the required amount of calls then change the rules so they can throw players out of the game.