Pre-Game Talk: WCF Game 1: Tuesday @ 6pm MT

[Mr Kot]

It's amazing how many people still don't realize that you need a covid test to enter the US, but you don't need one to come back to Canada.

But hey, people love to complain about things they have zero clue about.

no canada strange, go away now.

 

[Marty McSurly]

no canada strange, go away now.

Do you also believe science experiments are conducted in a "Peach Tree Dish" too?

 

[Mr Kot]

Do you also believe science experiments are conducted in a "Peach Tree Dish" too?

Yes

 

[flyfysher]

Avs fan coming in peace. What’s the Oilers’ anticipated PO lineup? I suspect the Kane-McDavid-Driaisatl line will draw Nichushkin-Kadri-Lehkonen with Toews and Makar covering them. Not sure how the other lines would shake out.

 

[bone]

Do you also believe science experiments are conducted in a "Peach Tree Dish" too?

and that the government wants to monitor your babble movements as well.

Avs fan coming in peace. What’s the Oilers’ anticipated PO lineup? I suspect the Kane-McDavid-Driaisatl line will draw Nichushkin-Kadri-Lehkonen with Toews and Makar covering them. Not sure how the other lines would shake out.

Woody changes things often. Even mid-game, so tough to say. First line could be any one of Hyman-McDavid-Draisaitl, Kane-McDavid-Draisaitl or even back to Kane-McDavid-Puljujarvi if he wants to get Leon running his own line again. As for matchups, tough to say. He seems to like fighting fire with fire, but likes making subtle changes to get favorable matchups.

 

[flyfysher]

and that the government wants to monitor your babble movements as well.


Woody changes things often. Even mid-game, so tough to say. First line could be any one of Hyman-McDavid-Draisaitl, Kane-McDavid-Draisaitl or even back to Kane-McDavid-Puljujarvi if he wants to get Leon running his own line again. As for matchups, tough to say. He seems to like fighting fire with fire, but likes making subtle changes to get favorable matchups.

This should be interesting. The announcers during the Blues-Avs series remarked on Bednar’s frequent line changes in response to what was happening on ice. JB learned from the VGK series and he had the club spending the last two weeks of the season intentionally playing weird line combos to stress them and see how they’d perform instead of chasing the President’s Cup again. So we should expect to see a matching of wits and perhaps some feeling each other out for the first game or two. I wonder if JB will go with Jack Johnson or Ryan Murray in place of Girard.

 

[Shanahanigans]

My ideal forward group for this series:

Kane- Mcdavid- Draisaitl
Hyman-RNH-Yamamoto
Holloway-Mcleod- Pulju
Foegele-Ryan- Kassian

I know Hyman is on the top line right now but I prefer him on the 2nd line- that line gave the Flames forechecking nightmares. Plus Kane is more of a one shot scorer while Hyman and Yamo are forecheck beasts; which gives us top 2 lines that are both defensively responsible and can play distinctly different styles.

3rd line- Mcleod and Pulju are both near the top of the team in terms of chance suppression and defensive play. We don't need them to score a ton, just don't get killed and give the team responsible minutes (which they've both been good at all year). Adding Holloway there gives us a defacto "kid line" that's strong, fast and defensively responsible with some offensive potential as well.

4th line- Foegele and Ryan have some good minutes together this year. If Kassian doesn't improve play, I wouldn't mind subbing him out for Shore or even Turris.

 

[fuswald]

Funny way to spell USA.

This reminds me of a little thought of fact.
The country represented by the acronym USA or by United States has no actual name of that country.
United States? This isn't a name but a statement. Of America? Where these States that are united reside.

Country with no name.

 

[Porkleaker]

This should be interesting. The announcers during the Blues-Avs series remarked on Bednar’s frequent line changes in response to what was happening on ice. JB learned from the VGK series and he had the club spending the last two weeks of the season intentionally playing weird line combos to stress them and see how they’d perform instead of chasing the President’s Cup again. So we should expect to see a matching of wits and perhaps some feeling each other out for the first game or two. I wonder if JB will go with Jack Johnson or Ryan Murray in place of Girard.

I'm expecting just that. Game 1 could go either way and back to the drawing board or can win and keep doing what you're doing, I think the Oilers are pretty used to being blended at this point so in-game adjustments will happen and it'll be a more even coaching matchup than Sutter just keeping markstrom in net and rolling 4 lines lol.

 

[Porkleaker]

My ideal forward group for this series:

Kane- Mcdavid- Draisaitl
Hyman-RNH-Yamamoto
Holloway-Mcleod- Pulju
Foegele-Ryan- Kassian

I know Hyman is on the top line right now but I prefer him on the 2nd line- that line gave the Flames forechecking nightmares. Plus Kane is more of a one shot scorer while Hyman and Yamo are forecheck beasts; which gives us top 2 lines that are both defensively responsible and can play distinctly different styles.

3rd line- Mcleod and Pulju are both near the top of the team in terms of chance suppression and defensive play. We don't need them to score a ton, just don't get killed and give the team responsible minutes (which they've both been good at all year). Adding Holloway there gives us a defacto "kid line" that's strong, fast and defensively responsible with some offensive potential as well.

4th line- Foegele and Ryan have some good minutes together this year. If Kassian doesn't improve play, I wouldn't mind subbing him out for Shore or even Turris.

Those bottom two lines are going to get caved in so hard. Throw the MacKinnon line out and then the Kadri line vs the other. Plus they have home ice advantage and a coach that can match lines. And Holloway isn't just going to slot in for a WCF game, It'd be great if he could but the majority of the call-ups are just here to get visual experience or *knock on wood* there's an injury and they slot in.

 

[ozhenson]

I found this breakdown to be pretty excellent. Paints us as a pretty hefty underdog, with a superstar playing absolutely out of this galaxy and the potential to be the factor that makes or breaks the series for us. No surprises there.

 

[bone]

I found this breakdown to be pretty excellent. Paints us as a pretty hefty underdog, with a superstar playing absolutely out of this galaxy and the potential to be the factor that makes or breaks the series for us. No surprises there.

It's interesting though. If we go player by player:

McDavid > MacKinnon (though not by as much as McDavid usually is better)
Draisaitl > Rantanen (though not by as much Draisaitl usually is vs. the 2nd best player)
Kadri = Kane (I'd give Kane a slight ovensive advantage but Kadri the defensive advantage).
Burakovski vs. Hyman (I don't know enough about Burakovski, but I don't see how it would be a drastic advantage either way)
Landeskog > RNH (but not by a ton)
Nichushkin > JP (though JP is building a similar resume but a few years behind)
Lehknonen vs. Yamo (don't know enough about Lehkonen, but Yamo outscored him)
Compher > McLeod (I think just looking stats, but know little about Compher's game).

Then we're into forwards 9-12 that while I don't like a lot of Edmonton's 9-12, I'm not so sure Aube-Kubel, Helm, Newhook, O'Connor, Sturm, and Cogliano are so awesome to make it an impossible task.

The real issue is the offense from the defense on the Avs, but if Girard misses enough games, it is at least minimimzed. Let's hope Woody is ready to victimize Jack Johnson though as he's likely the worst d-man on either team expected to dress.

 

[Fourier]

Do you also believe science experiments are conducted in a "Peach Tree Dish" too?

Everyone knows that Peach tree wood makes the best science dishes!!!

 

[HockeyGuy1964]

It's interesting though. If we go player by player:

McDavid > MacKinnon (though not by as much as McDavid usually is better)
Draisaitl > Rantanen (though not by as much Draisaitl usually is vs. the 2nd best player)
Kadri = Kane (I'd give Kane a slight ovensive advantage but Kadri the defensive advantage).
Burakovski vs. Hyman (I don't know enough about Burakovski, but I don't see how it would be a drastic advantage either way)
Landeskog > RNH (but not by a ton)
Nichushkin > JP (though JP is building a similar resume but a few years behind)
Lehknonen vs. Yamo (don't know enough about Lehkonen, but Yamo outscored him)
Compher > McLeod (I think just looking stats, but know little about Compher's game).

Then we're into forwards 9-12 that while I don't like a lot of Edmonton's 9-12, I'm not so sure Aube-Kubel, Helm, Newhook, O'Connor, Sturm, and Cogliano are so awesome to make it an impossible task.

The real issue is the offense from the defense on the Avs, but if Girard misses enough games, it is at least minimimzed. Let's hope Woody is ready to victimize Jack Johnson though as he's likely the worst d-man on either team expected to dress.

Girard is done for the year.

 

[bone]

Girard is done for the year.

Missed the update, just the original prognosis. that's too bad for him.

 

[Fourier]

It's interesting though. If we go player by player:

McDavid > MacKinnon (though not by as much as McDavid usually is better)
Draisaitl > Rantanen (though not by as much Draisaitl usually is vs. the 2nd best player)
Kadri = Kane (I'd give Kane a slight ovensive advantage but Kadri the defensive advantage).
Burakovski vs. Hyman (I don't know enough about Burakovski, but I don't see how it would be a drastic advantage either way)
Landeskog > RNH (but not by a ton)
Nichushkin > JP (though JP is building a similar resume but a few years behind)
Lehknonen vs. Yamo (don't know enough about Lehkonen, but Yamo outscored him)
Compher > McLeod (I think just looking stats, but know little about Compher's game).

Then we're into forwards 9-12 that while I don't like a lot of Edmonton's 9-12, I'm not so sure Aube-Kubel, Helm, Newhook, O'Connor, Sturm, and Cogliano are so awesome to make it an impossible task.

The real issue is the offense from the defense on the Avs, but if Girard misses enough games, it is at least minimimzed. Let's hope Woody is ready to victimize Jack Johnson though as he's likely the worst d-man on either team expected to dress.

Girard is out for the whole playoffs.

 

[FlameChampion]

I found this breakdown to be pretty excellent. Paints us as a pretty hefty underdog, with a superstar playing absolutely out of this galaxy and the potential to be the factor that makes or breaks the series for us. No surprises there.

Pretty nice preview from Hot Garbage Sports.

I've watched quite a few of his vids. I think he undersells some of the other Oilers a bit. That being said, he does use a lot of analytics, so its based on something.

Good amount of effort put in the video though. Much more than most would do.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

Got my round 3 series related avatar going.

Sasquatch doesn't believe in you either, Natey Mack.

 

[brentashton]

Awesome song, thanks for the grade 3 memories (my dad was a huge Guess Who fan).

 

[brentashton]

My ideal forward group for this series:

Kane- Mcdavid- Draisaitl
Hyman-RNH-Yamamoto
Holloway-Mcleod- Pulju
Foegele-Ryan- Kassian

I know Hyman is on the top line right now but I prefer him on the 2nd line- that line gave the Flames forechecking nightmares. Plus Kane is more of a one shot scorer while Hyman and Yamo are forecheck beasts; which gives us top 2 lines that are both defensively responsible and can play distinctly different styles.

3rd line- Mcleod and Pulju are both near the top of the team in terms of chance suppression and defensive play. We don't need them to score a ton, just don't get killed and give the team responsible minutes (which they've both been good at all year). Adding Holloway there gives us a defacto "kid line" that's strong, fast and defensively responsible with some offensive potential as well.

4th line- Foegele and Ryan have some good minutes together this year. If Kassian doesn't improve play, I wouldn't mind subbing him out for Shore or even Turris.

I like the first two and fourth, but Holloway ain’t being NHL baptized in this series unless something major happens and if it does, it’s probably bad news that he’s in before some of the other aces. Dont get me wrong, Holloway has huge upside but GMKH likes to simmer prospects on the low temp burner. Holloway is here to watch, learn and get ready for training camp next year so he can make this club.

 

[tardigrade81]

I’m nervous boys.


Really nervous….. Leah is checking for something in the cabinet that I’m sure I couldn’t find…..

Oh and for the game… both have my guts in knots

 

[Chet Manley]

My ideal forward group for this series:

Kane- Mcdavid- Draisaitl
Hyman-RNH-Yamamoto
Holloway-Mcleod- Pulju
Foegele-Ryan- Kassian

I know Hyman is on the top line right now but I prefer him on the 2nd line- that line gave the Flames forechecking nightmares. Plus Kane is more of a one shot scorer while Hyman and Yamo are forecheck beasts; which gives us top 2 lines that are both defensively responsible and can play distinctly different styles.

3rd line- Mcleod and Pulju are both near the top of the team in terms of chance suppression and defensive play. We don't need them to score a ton, just don't get killed and give the team responsible minutes (which they've both been good at all year). Adding Holloway there gives us a defacto "kid line" that's strong, fast and defensively responsible with some offensive potential as well.

4th line- Foegele and Ryan have some good minutes together this year. If Kassian doesn't improve play, I wouldn't mind subbing him out for Shore or even Turris.

I'd like to see this if Drai can skate:

Kane - McDavid -???
??? - Draisaitl - Yamamoto
Hyman - RNH - ???
??? - Mcleod/Ryan -???

These players work well together. Kill'em with depth and top load lines if that doesn't work.

 

[ElysiumAB]

Absolutely ridiculous that fans can gather in arenas and watch parties en masse, yet a group of 50 guys in a bus or plane can't cross a border without being deemed a health threat.

In the meantime...activate power stance.

View attachment 553766

The way he opened the door was the best part...

 

[Faelko]

I'd like to see this if Drai can skate:

Kane - McDavid -???
??? - Draisaitl - Yamamoto
Hyman - RNH - ???
??? - Mcleod/Ryan -???

These players work well together. Kill'em with depth and top load lines if that doesn't work.

I’ll try to fill in your ???.

Kane- McDavid-Puljujarvi
McLeod-Draisaitl-Yams
Foegele-Nuge-Hyman
Archibald-Ryan-Kassian (5 min max)

But there’s no way they’ll split McDrai at the start.

 

[snipes]

snipes jr. has baseball tomorrow just after the eventual puck drop.

I‘ll have to PVR it, can’t miss my little mans baseball.