Post-Game Talk: Woodcroft + Practice Time = Profit???

[Drivesaitl]

What a game to see in person for my first time at Rogers Place.

JP looks really rusty, but was still in a good position to be dangerous most of the night from what I could tell.

Smith didn’t have a hard night, but he made the stops he needed to and hopefully can build some momentum because it really doesn’t feel like we’re getting and G help at the deadline.

Yams is looking really good lately with Mcdavid.

Overall, I’m loving a lot of what’s happening right now, we just need to keep it going. I also want to see JP on the third line when RNH comes back. McLeod looked really good with Drai so I don’t think it’s fair to demote him for a fresh from injury JP, but without nuge there really isn’t another option for 3C.

JP guilty of passing off chances but he was a bull and he was solid in the cycle game the line had which was the best bit of Cycling we've seen from 3 players on 2nd line in quite awhile. Of note you DON'T see this Cycle game with Yama on that line. Drai, Pulju, and Hyman were so in sync it looked like showtime out there, and all constantly moving into spots. It was beautiful. Looked like a PP half the time they were out there. Teams record is so much better when Pulju is here. With his solid 200ft play and being abrasive and hard to play against easy to see why.

 

[CycloneSweep]

JP guilty of passing off chances but he was a bull and he was solid in the cycle game the line had which was the best bit of Cycling we've seen from 3 players on 2nd line in quite awhile. Of note you DON'T see this Cycle game with Yama on that line. Drai, Pulju, and Hyman were so in sync it looked like showtime out there, and all constantly moving into spots. It was beautiful. Looked like a PP half the time they were out there. Teams record is so much better when Pulju is here. With his solid 200ft play and being abrasive and hard to play against easy to see why.

Really smart of Woodcroft to swap the wingers a few games ago. Kane and Yamamotos style work much better together with McDavid. It's less cycle and more fast paced chaos.

 

[Drivesaitl]

The only city in Canada players want to play in is Toronto because its the closest to the amenities of a big American cities and its close to New York etc.

And even then Toronto can't get over the last game in the first round.

Canadian teams also seem to react to the "pressure" from fans way more. A lot of the American teams just seem to do what they need to do, to improve as a team and org and just quiet the fans. In Canada teams honestly listen to fans far too much for worse it seems and are also way more likely to be full of nepotism

Can't say I agree with the bolded. Vast majority of fans HATED the Hall trade. All the fans HATED the Steve Kelly over Shane Doan pick (which was at the draft at Rexall so was a severe as ever happens statement that the team doesn't listen to fans while they're chanting Doan, Doan, Doan.

Org wise the biggest thing is hockey itself is not enough of a sell in most US markets to have a terribly run inept org. You have to have results and org credibility in US markets. for a long time conversely in Canada we've had the worst Harold Ballard type orgs because you can, and usually get away with it. Dilbert symptoms are empowered by fanbases, or not. The Oilers org has been terribly run since the 90's. A whole generation has never seen it be anything but inept.

 

[nally]

Kassian is such an enigma.

His first game back you say to yourself "looks like he's determined to go on a tear for the rest of the season" but then it reverts to the same old song and dance.

Kane or Kassin + Barrie next year and beyond?

 

[Drivesaitl]

Really smart of Woodcroft to swap the wingers a few games ago. Kane and Yamamotos style work much better together with McDavid. It's less cycle and more fast paced chaos.

Kane works with either. But Hyman sure looks better with Drai thus far. Kane has shown himself to be pretty swiss army knife here. Valuable player that plays well and gets results on any line. He's been a consummate pro.

 

[ZJuice]

Ice time was incredibly even:

Just under 10 minutes: Archibald
More than 20 minutes: Nurse and Bouchard w/ ~22 and ~21 mins
12-20 minutes: Everyone else

 

[EchoesoftheEighties]

Also the case in Bettman era fans seeing so much that seems rigged to favor the US clubs or that is just economically, or climate, or tax advantage, or cap malfeasance favoring those clubs. The players themselves add to this. Gone are the times where players want to play in Canada. Where they prefer to play to rabid hockey markets. This is gone.

I mean I can't really blame the players for this. If I'm a multi millionaire athlete, Miami is more appealing to me than Winnipeg to do essentially the same job. I wanna do my job and go home, not have every kid on a street corner throwing their smartphone in my face or trying to grab a picture etc. Just how it goes.

 

[Laodongxi]

Not sure if this has already been mentioned but Nurse turning on the jets to catch up on that developing breakaway was really an eye opener! He opened up, wide open for a stretch, and holy crap can he ever fly if he wants to!

I wonder if it's because of his massive ice time that he has decided to reign it in all the time? I wish he would use this extra gear more often because it is spectacular.

 

[Del Preston]

 

[Staghorn]

I mean I can't really blame the players for this. If I'm a multi millionaire athlete, Miami is more appealing to me than Winnipeg to do essentially the same job. I wanna do my job and go home, not have every kid on a street corner throwing their smartphone in my face or trying to grab a picture etc. Just how it goes.

Nevermind the monster tax advantages in the US...

 

[CycloneSweep]

I mean I can't really blame the players for this. If I'm a multi millionaire athlete, Miami is more appealing to me than Winnipeg to do essentially the same job. I wanna do my job and go home, not have every kid on a street corner throwing their smartphone in my face or trying to grab a picture etc. Just how it goes.

I think it also depends on the lifestyle their lives want to live too as they honestly will be in the city more often. For someone like Hymans family, settling down in a quieter city like Edmonton could be great, but a lot of hockey wives love the big city life style.

 

[EchoesoftheEighties]

Nevermind the monster tax advantages in the US...

Get paid more, live in a nicer city, nicer weather, no one knows who you are.

Yeah it's a no brainer.

 

[Staghorn]

Get paid more, live in a nicer city, nicer weather, no one knows who you are.

Yeah it's a no brainer.

Like just imagine how much happier your wife would be if you could check those boxes... hmmmm... LOL

 

[94 Oil Drops]

Can I like this more than once?

Peaky Steelcroft.

Free avatar idea for those who want to save and crop it.

I missed just about the entire game but saw the highlights this morning. Pure domination! This roster can do a lot when it's healthy. Still think we need a defenseman and a goalie before we're a real contender though. Let's grab another 2 points from New Jersey on Saturday!

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

"WHY are the FANs always running guys out of town...Leon stop being so Pissy, and Connor you need to lead and Coach I think"

 

[Drivesaitl]

Get paid more, live in a nicer city, nicer weather, no one knows who you are.

Yeah it's a no brainer.

Given present wants, for players, I guess it is. Its short sighted.

In past times Rocket Richard would go to bat for his team, a province, and wouldn't have it any other way. You couldn't take him out of Montreal by force. Back then a hockey player was still an average joe kind of guy too. They weren't far too removed from knowing that there be challenges in life or from the concept working class, which they were clearly part of. The disconnect we see in present day is that players are born wealthy, (hockey is an uber expensive game to play now, especially with changes in equipment costs) and the players are contractually and otherwise rockstars living in rockstar homes. Its interesting that all of the difference seen, quantum, has been within a lifetime.

The fan gets lost in the exchange, the fan is now just a pawn. An inconvenience, an annoyance. The founder of this hockey club, Bill Hunter, was always quick to remind big egos that without the fans, that none of this pro hockey or edifice exists.

Its still sad to me how much pro sports became something else, and sold out the fans. Any league, any sport. In a different life time I wouldn't have been so inured with Pro hockey. Given the detachment of players from Canada, the country that still raised 50% of the players, its natural theres an increasing disconnect from Canadians to hockey.

How long before Soccer here is in every way bigger than Hockey? The CMNT have taken more strides in one year than Canadian hockey or teams have in 30. One sport is ever building, the other isn't, and hockey is stagnated all over the planet. No growing of game.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Like just imagine how much happier your wife would be if you could check those boxes... hmmmm... LOL

Just imagine the weekly shopping bills.. hard pass. hehe

 

[MoontoScott]

Kane or Kassin + Barrie next year and beyond?

Well, my guess is no better than anybody else's but I think that the Kassian and Barrie contracts would be very tough to move unless you want to throw in a considerable amount of assets so my hunch is that they both play out the final 2 years of their deals in Oiler uniforms.

As for Kane I expect him to move on. There isn't much room in the budget for him precisely because too many expensive long term contracts have been handed out to guys who are not consistent performers. Let's be honest here--as Red Wing fans warned us--Holland is not great at cap management.

 

[LemmyUlanov55]

Hyman seems like one of the most likeable guys I've ever seen in hockey, combined with his work ethic he's such a solid signing.
Woody chants, all nice and dandy until the first longer losing streak or not getting far in the post season happens. I get it but stuff like this always makes me think of Icarus, sports fans are weird.

 

[K1984]

Given present wants, for players, I guess it is. Its short sighted.

In past times Rocket Richard would go to bat for his team, a province, and wouldn't have it any other way. You couldn't take him out of Montreal by force. Back then a hockey player was still an average joe kind of guy too. They weren't far too removed from knowing that there be challenges in life or from the concept working class, which they were clearly part of. The disconnect we see in present day is that players are born wealthy, (hockey is an uber expensive game to play now, especially with changes in equipment costs) and the players are contractually and otherwise rockstars living in rockstar homes. Its interesting that all of the difference seen, quantum, has been within a lifetime.

The fan gets lost in the exchange, the fan is now just a pawn. An inconvenience, an annoyance. The founder of this hockey club, Bill Hunter, was always quick to remind big egos that without the fans, that none of this pro hockey or edifice exists.

Its still sad to me how much pro sports became something else, and sold out the fans. Any league, any sport. In a different life time I wouldn't have been so inured with Pro hockey. Given the detachment of players from Canada, the country that still raised 50% of the players, its natural theres an increasing disconnect from Canadians to hockey.

How long before Soccer here is in every way bigger than Hockey? The CMNT have taken more strides in one year than Canadian hockey or teams have in 30. One sport is ever building, the other isn't, and hockey is stagnated all over the planet. No growing of game.

Been hearing this for 25 years and it still isn't close to becoming true.

Fad sports like soccer and women's hockey are popular when a national level team is doing well and competitors in major tournaments. Then everyone gets all excited about how these sports are the new thing and they're going to overtake everything, but then a week later they fizzle back to relative obscurity after the bandwagon jump is over and things settle back to normal.

 

[Garbo Man]

f***IN WHEEEEEEEEEW BOYS WE'RE BACK! Rest of the league better watch out if the Oilers keep playing the way they have been!

 

[Drivesaitl]

Been hearing this for 25 years and it still isn't close to becoming true.

Fad sports like soccer and women's hockey are popular when a national level team is doing well and competitors in major tournaments. Then everyone gets all excited about how these sports are the new thing and they're going to overtake everything, but then a week later they fizzle back to relative obscurity after the bandwagon jump is over and things settle back to normal.

Yeah Soccer is a fad sport... Hockey participation in Canada is in constant decline.

Note that hockey registration numbers declining DESPITE massive increases in the population of Canada.

Registered ice hockey players in Canada 2023 | Statista

In the 2022/23 season, there were a total of roughly 549 thousand registered ice hockey players in Canada according to the International Ice Hockey Federation.

www.statista.com

This article gives some of the reasons why there is such decline.

In Canada, the Cost of Youth Hockey Benches the Next Generation (Published 2020)

The price of ice hockey is forcing many parents to choose different sports for their boys.

www.nytimes.com

All of Basketball, Soccer, Tennis over last decade have had the impact of stars showing Canadian kids(and their parents) that there are other paths than hockey. All considerably cheaper, less injurious, and with enrollment increasing in those sports.

 

[K1984]

Yeah Soccer is a fad sport... Hockey participation among youth in Canada is in constant rate decline.

This article gives some of the reasons why there is such decline.

In Canada, the Cost of Youth Hockey Benches the Next Generation (Published 2020)

The price of ice hockey is forcing many parents to choose different sports for their boys.

www.nytimes.com

All of Basketball, Soccer, Tennis over last decade have had the impact of stars showing Canadian kids(and their parents) that there are other paths than hockey. All considerably cheaper, less injurious, and with enrollment increasing in those sports.

Sure, but nobody cares to watch these sports in significant numbers on any kind of consistent basis.

Kids play all kinds of sports. Watching soccer, tennis, women's hockey are fad sports from a "being a fan" and investing time/money perspective in Canada. Overtake hockey in terms of number of kids playing soccer? Makes sense for all the obvious reasons. Still not even remotely close to being as popular as hockey in every other way in this country though.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Sure, but nobody cares to watch these sports in significant numbers on any kind of consistent basis.

Kids play all kinds of sports. Watching soccer, tennis, women's hockey are fad sports from a "being a fan" and investing time/money perspective in Canada. Overtake hockey in terms of number of kids playing soccer? Makes sense for all the obvious reasons. Still not even remotely close to being as popular as hockey in every other way in this country though.

The slide is happening and like you say has been indicated for decades. At what point does the concern become significant? Already we're seeing a 6yr precipitous participation decline despite massively increasing population. For instance since the peak participation hockey is down around 120K players while the population has increased by around 12%. Compounded, accounting for population this is massive rate decline in participation in hockey. So much so that in major cities like Toronto they have already been repurposing many hockey arenas to other sports as usage and suitable distribution befits. Its a one way trend, away from hockey.

 

[tardigrade81]

Can't say I agree with the bolded. Vast majority of fans HATED the Hall trade. All the fans HATED the Steve Kelly over Shane Doan pick (which was at the draft at Rexall so was a severe as ever happens statement that the team doesn't listen to fans while they're chanting Doan, Doan, Doan.

Org wise the biggest thing is hockey itself is not enough of a sell in most US markets to have a terribly run inept org. You have to have results and org credibility in US markets. for a long time conversely in Canada we've had the worst Harold Ballard type orgs because you can, and usually get away with it. Dilbert symptoms are empowered by fanbases, or not. The Oilers org has been terribly run since the 90's. A whole generation has never seen it be anything but inept.

We will always have the 05-06 season to remember.

I wish I had a Pronger Oilers shirt