Post-Game Talk: x - Edmonton Oilers

[Soundwave]

If we the 5 guys play the way they do in front of the goalie, we still make the playoffs with Kosk. The thing is Smith, through his leadership, has helped the team play a much better/more structured defence more consistently.

You're kidding yourself.

You got to see the team with Kosk and as starter for the first 9 games and again in 18-19 ... the results speak for themselves. Koskinen cannot outplay the opposing teams goaltender on a nightly basis and the Oilers are not some tightly structured shut down defensive team (almost no young teams are) to make up for the rest.

Smith makes SAVES. Big ones. At key times. It's not just about huffing and puffing "leadership", you need to back it up on the ice with actual ability, not hot air like losers like Ference brought here.

Not a chance in hell they have the same record without Smith. You can look at other young teams too, Toronto went through that ugly stretch of 6-7 losses in a row when they kept playing an injured Andersen and he couldn't make saves. Snap of a finger a 1st place team looks like garbage just that quick.

 

[Stoneman89]

I like Mondays. Think about it.

2weeks ago the outstanding game, a win against the Habs. People calling the slobberknocker the best game of the season, certiainly most physical. 4-1W

Last week we hammer the last remaining bits of life out of the Jets so thoroughly spanking them. 6=1W. We stuff the jets in the trunk of a Toyota and drive it off the cliff.

Yesterday an entertaining fast paced open game in which McD bags 2G 2A 4pts.

Every one of the Monday contests well worth watching.


Are the Oilers going to make a thing of Monday Night Hockey? Hey NBC, pick up on this..

Meh. Oilers were going to make the playoffs whether this game or the next. we're in no-mans land in terms of where we end up, and 2nd is it. Playing a last place team with a bunch of AHL recruits, ravaged by COVID, and going nowhere. We did what we had to do. Wouldn't be filing in the NHL archives any time soon. Good for McDavid to get more points. Puljo looking more and more like his right hand man. We'll soon have to change the nickname to McPul.

 

[MaxR11]

You're kidding yourself.

You got to see the team with Kosk and as starter for the first 9 games and again in 18-19 ... the results speak for themselves. Koskinen cannot outplay the opposing teams goaltender on a nightly basis and the Oilers are not some tightly structured shut down defensive team (almost no young teams are) to make up for the rest.

Smith makes SAVES. Big ones. At key times. It's not just about huffing and puffing "leadership", you need to back it up on the ice with actual ability, not hot air like losers like Ference brought here.

Not a chance in hell they have the same record without Smith. You can look at other young teams too, Toronto went through that ugly stretch of 6-7 losses in a row when they kept playing an injured Andersen and he couldn't make saves. Snap of a finger a 1st place team looks like garbage just that quick.

And a snap of the finger a bust goalie like Campbell has a 15-2-2 record behind a team playing much better all round defensive game.

 

[Soundwave]

And a snap of the finger a bust goalie like Campbell has a 15-2-2 record behind a team playing much better all round defensive game.

Shouldn't Campbell be given some credit for that? He's not making saves by osmosis and the team has enough fire power in front of him that even when he plays poorly they can win or get to OT, keeping his record looking good.

We don't have that kind of depth because Chiarelli was a moron.

 

[MaxR11]

Shouldn't Campbell be given some credit for that? He's not making saves by osmosis and the team has enough fire power in front of him that even when he plays poorly they can win or get to OT, keeping his record looking good.

We don't have that kind of depth because Chiarelli was a moron.

He's played well but it really has helped a lot that Toronto has developed into a much better all round 200ft solid team. There's some inconsistencies from time to time but it's much better than a couple/few years ago.

 

[Soundwave]

He's played well but it really has helped a lot that Toronto has developed into a much better all round 200ft solid team. There's some inconsistencies from time to time but it's much better than a couple/few years ago.

They're better defensively because they added actual better defensive players over time. Muzzin and Brodie are solid defenders.

This team is kinda just happy to stay in place, they were OK in 16-17, then Klefbom has been up and down because he gets hurt every 5 seconds.

Nurse has basically grown into replacing Klefbom so now no Klefbom isn't as big of a deal. The rest of the pieces are kinda just treading water with the exception of Barrie bringing offence to the back end.

Bear and Jones still every 2nd game bring a dose of "what the f*** did I just watch" stupid to the table. Smith can often bail them out of that. They'll have one good game and follow it up with a dog shit game where they gift a hapless Gaudreau a goal or something.

 

[MaxR11]

They're better defensively because they added actual better defensive players over time. Muzzin and Brodie are solid defenders.

This team is kinda just happy to stay in place, they were OK in 16-17, then Klefbom has been up and down because he gets hurt every 5 seconds.

Nurse has basically grown into replacing Klefbom so now no Klefbom isn't as big of a deal. The rest of the pieces are kinda just treading water with the exception of Barrie bringing offence to the back end.

Bear and Jones still every 2nd game bring a dose of "what the f*** did I just watch" stupid to the table. Smith can often bail them out of that.

Brodie is not known to be a solid defensive player. There's definite talk about how there's just way better buy in to defensive play from their top guys and just the entire team in general.

Making the odd mistakes is inevitable. The more important thing is to commit to playing urgent, solid, responsible smart defensive hockey as much as possible.

 

[Soundwave]

Brodie is not known to be a solid defensive player. There's definite talk about how there's just way better buy in to defensive play from their top guys and just the entire team in general.

Making the odd mistakes is inevitable. The more important thing is to commit to playing urgent, solid, responsible smart defensive hockey as much as possible.

Brodie's been Calgary's best defensive player for a while, it's obvious they miss him, especially Giordano's who's game has fallen off a cliff.

I mean I know you want to huff and puff about responsible defensive hockey, but we aren't really there yet, in large part because we're kinda handcuffed from upgrading the back end thanks to Chiarelli's stupid contracts and Klefbom always being injured.

The roof of where we can get to is usually "decent" and that's about it. But that's all you need when you have a starter playing at a .924 clip who on top of that makes big, big time saves.

Bear and Jones are a nightmare every second game giving up mind bogglingly bad chances against, but it's kinda the process you have to go through with young non-elite D.

 

[MaxR11]

Brodie's been Calgary's best defensive player for a while, it's obvious they miss him, especially Giordano's who's game has fallen off a cliff.

I mean I know you want to huff and puff about responsible defensive hockey, but we aren't really there yet, in large part because we're kinda handcuffed from upgrading the back end thanks to Chiarelli's stupid contracts and Klefbom always being injured.

Bear and Jones are a nightmare every second game giving up mind bogglingly bad chances against, but it's kinda the process you have to go through with young non-elite D.

We're not the best defensive team but we've been fairly solid. Smith's been very good but you're underestimating his leadership contributions to the team. Connor, Tip s etc have all went out of their way to heap praise to Smith for those specific contributions. Heck they've even downplayed his actual play in some interviews and said his leadership/energy/locker room contributions are actually more important than his play between the pipes.

 

[Soundwave]

We're not the best defensive team but we've been fairly solid. Smith's been very good but you're underestimating his leadership contributions to the team. Connor, Tip s etc have all went out of their way to heap praise to Smith for those specific contributions. Heck they've even downplayed his actual play in some interviews and said his leadership/energy/locker room contributions are actually more important than his play between the pipes.

He can say whatever he wants in the room, doesn't mean a damn thing without a save on the ice.

That simple.

I would say this to Buffalo too, speaking as a fan of a team that's been where they are ... don't buy into garbage like "culture" and "is it the water?", "lets spend 100000 hours talking about the owner" ... make sure you have a f***ing goalie that can actually make big saves.

You want to kill a young team, there is no faster way to do that than to not give them strong goaltending, again show me "culture" and I will show you a goalie that makes big saves or a grizzled veteran team like the Penguins who have won 3 Cups and don't get rattled like young teams do over a bad goal against.

Look at time and time again ... Oilers were everyone's darling in 16-17, as soon as Talbot's play fell off a cliff so did the Oilers and all the scoring titles from McDavid/Draisaitl couldn't change that until Smith has come in and given them actual solid play in the net, not just talk.

Vancouver last year had strong goaltending, they made a surprise run in the playoffs, this year, the goaltending is not as good and the team has collapsed. Toronto better defenesively sure, but look what happens the minute they get poor/average goaltending from an injured Andersen ... 6 or 7 straight losses.

Young teams cannot deal with bad goaltending on the ice (how nice or clever or funny the goalie is in the locker room does not matter if they can't actually bail the young team out on the ice).

 

[MaxR11]

He can say whatever he wants in the room, doesn't mean a damn thing without a save on the ice.

That simple.

I would say this to Buffalo too, speaking as a fan of a team that's been where they are ... don't buy into garbage like "culture" and "is it the water?", "lets spend 100000 hours talking about the owner" ... make sure you have a f***ing goalie that can actually make big saves.

You want to kill a young team, there is no faster way to do that than to not give them strong goaltending, again show me "culture" and I will show you a goalie that makes big saves or a grizzled veteran team like the Penguins who have won 3 Cups and don't get rattled like young teams do over a bad goal against.

Look at time and time again ... Oilers were everyone's darling in 16-17, as soon as Talbot's play fell off a cliff so did the Oilers and all the scoring titles from McDavid/Draisaitl couldn't change that until Smith has come in and given them actual solid play in the net, not just talk.

Vancouver last year had strong goaltending, they made a surprise run in the playoffs, this year, the goaltending is not as good and the team has collapsed. Toronto better defenesively sure, but look what happens the minute they get poor/average goaltending from an injured Andersen ... 6 or 7 straight losses.

We;re not going to see eye to eye on this. I'm pretty sure I've said before very recently, the Oil (they even admitted it), got complacent and overconfident after their 2017 playoff run. They were horrific in 200ft all round game buy in in 2017-18. Night and day difference in backcheck and urgency etc from 2016-17 to 2017-18. Talbot really started to lose his confidence as the team in front of him was so unprdictable. He started to lose his game and was bad. You can say whatever you like. The 5 guys play in front of the goalie has as much if not more importance in keeping pucks out of the net than the goalie's talent level. I'm checking out of this convo because we've beaten it to death but thanks anyway.

 

[Soundwave]

We;re not going to see eye to eye on this. I'm pretty sure I've said before very recently, the Oil (they even admitted it), got complacent and overconfident after their 2017 playoff run. They were horrific in 200ft all round game buy in in 2017-18. Night and day difference in backcheck and urgency etc from 2016-17 to 2017-18. Talbot really started to lose his confidence as the team in front of him was so unprdictable. He started to lose his game and was bad. You can say whatever you like. The 5 guys play in front of the goalie has as much if not more importance in keeping pucks out of the net than the goalie's talent level. I'm checking out of this convo because we've beaten it to death but thanks anyway.

Well Talbot having twin babies at home (exhausting) plus Sekera out, plus Klefbom's shoulder (as per usual) requiring surgery, and then Larsson's dad suddenly passing away all did a number on the back half of the team.

The thing is do all young teams just magically forget defensive structure? It's not just Edmonton, you can look at Vancouver this year, same thing (even before Petterson got hurt), you can look at Toronto in that 6-7 game stretch where Andersen was playing hurt ... you can even look at Buffalo ... do they only remember defensive structure when Ullmark is in net? Because their record is remarkably different when ever he plays.

It's more like young teams need a goalie that will bail them out of mistakes. If you want to kill a young team, the fastest way to do it is to put a goalie in net that can't do the job.

The Oilers in 17-18 when they realized Talbot was cracking should have moved to make a play for a Smith type experienced goaltender, instead Chiarelli bet the farm on an unproven KHL goalie named Koskinen and they ended up missing the playoffs twice in a row for no great reason because of that.

 

[McDNicks17]

Brodie's been Calgary's best defensive player for a while, it's obvious they miss him, especially Giordano's who's game has fallen off a cliff.

I mean I know you want to huff and puff about responsible defensive hockey, but we aren't really there yet, in large part because we're kinda handcuffed from upgrading the back end thanks to Chiarelli's stupid contracts and Klefbom always being injured.

The roof of where we can get to is usually "decent" and that's about it. But that's all you need when you have a starter playing at a .924 clip who on top of that makes big, big time saves.

Bear and Jones are a nightmare every second game giving up mind bogglingly bad chances against, but it's kinda the process you have to go through with young non-elite D.

Calgary doesn't really miss him.

They have the fifth best 5v5 xGA/60 in the league. Markstrom has been a tire fire though.

 

[Soundwave]

Calgary doesn't really miss him.

They have the fifth best 5v5 xGA/60 in the league. Markstrom has been a tire fire though.

Doesn't really match the eye test for me, feels like we can score 5-6 goals on them if we really want outside of times they get to play us totally gassed 3 games in 4 nights with them having several days rest.

 

[McDNicks17]

Doesn't really match the eye test for me, feels like we can score 5-6 goals on them if we really want outside of times they get to play us totally gassed 3 games in 4 nights with them having several days rest.

They have their best 5v5 numbers against the Oilers.

The Oilers have won those games on the PP.

 

[Soundwave]

They have their best 5v5 numbers against the Oilers.

The Oilers have won those games on the PP.

PP is part of the game. It's like a basketball team saying "yeah they kicked our ass, but if you don't count their 3 pointers, we win" .... I mean, like ... lol.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

They have their best 5v5 numbers against the Oilers.

The Oilers have won those games on the PP.

Ahh the classic PP goals don’t count argument.

 

[McDNicks17]

PP is part of the game. It's like a basketball team saying "yeah they kicked our ass, but if you don't count their 3 pointers, we win" .... I mean, like ... lol.

What does that have to do with Brodie? haha

Unless you're implying Brodie would have singlehandedly stopped the Flames from giving up more than a PP goal per game against the Oilers, I don't really know how that ties in with your original point of the Flames missing Brodie.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

What does that have to do with Brodie? haha

Unless you're implying Brodie would have singlehandedly stopped the Flames from giving up more than a PP goal per game, I don't really know how that ties in with your original point of the Flames missing Brodie.

Disregard my post. I understand what you are saying now.

 

[dssource]

Congrats to the Oilers and Oiler fans on the big X.

 

[GOilers88]

He can say whatever he wants in the room, doesn't mean a damn thing without a save on the ice.

That simple.

I would say this to Buffalo too, speaking as a fan of a team that's been where they are ... don't buy into garbage like "culture" and "is it the water?", "lets spend 100000 hours talking about the owner" ... make sure you have a f***ing goalie that can actually make big saves.

You want to kill a young team, there is no faster way to do that than to not give them strong goaltending, again show me "culture" and I will show you a goalie that makes big saves or a grizzled veteran team like the Penguins who have won 3 Cups and don't get rattled like young teams do over a bad goal against.

Look at time and time again ... Oilers were everyone's darling in 16-17, as soon as Talbot's play fell off a cliff so did the Oilers and all the scoring titles from McDavid/Draisaitl couldn't change that until Smith has come in and given them actual solid play in the net, not just talk.

Vancouver last year had strong goaltending, they made a surprise run in the playoffs, this year, the goaltending is not as good and the team has collapsed. Toronto better defenesively sure, but look what happens the minute they get poor/average goaltending from an injured Andersen ... 6 or 7 straight losses.

Young teams cannot deal with bad goaltending on the ice (how nice or clever or funny the goalie is in the locker room does not matter if they can't actually bail the young team out on the ice).

Sounds like you're describing any team that has poor goaltending.

 

[Soundwave]

Sounds like you're describing any team that has poor goaltending.

Some more experienced teams like Pittsburgh can weather stretches of bad goaltending but these are veteran clubs.

Young teams like the Oilers, Canucks, Leafs, Buffalo ... you give them bad goaltending ... those teams crumble.