The day has finally arrived. The Edmonton Oilers will be the last NHL team to make their 2011-2012 debut. It almost feels like the NHL is doing its best to torment Oiler fans by making them wait longer than any other team to finally start playing hockey again, even though it’s been painful enough to endure another 30th place finish and the long summer that followed. (I guess Winnipeg Jets fans could argue that their wait has been even more painful.)
However, as the saying goes, “Good things come to those who wait.” In this case, I think the wait will be worth it. The Oilers will play tonight against the Crosbyless, yet still dangerous Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens are an undefeated team after beating the Canucks in a shootout on Thursday and polishing off our good old rivals to the south last night.
The Oilers will immediately give first overall pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins an opportunity to shine by putting him on the first line in between Taylor Hall and Ales Hemsky. With no shortage of skill on that line, RNH should get every chance to prove that he’s capable of staying with the Oilers all season.
Maybe the best thing about the Oilers this season is that they are not limited to a couple skilled players or to only a top line that is capable of generating offense. There is plenty of additional talent and offensive potential in the form of guys like Jordan Eberle, Linus Omark, Magnus Paajarvi and of course another guy you may have heard of: Ryan Smyth.
While RNH gets most of the spotlight as far as rookies are concerned, the Oilers also will have another centre, Anton Lander, making his NHL debut. Lander, the former captain of the Swedish World Junior team, has been known throughout his young career for his hockey smarts, defensive capabilities, faceoff skills and leadership. Lander has also showed so far (albeit only in preseason so far) that he definitely has offensive upside as well.
It's no big secret that the defense of the Oilers is where there are the most question marks. Will Smid be ready to play tonight? When will Ryan Whitney play? Will Cam Barker rebound from a very poor season last year? Is Jeff Petry ready to take the next step and become an NHL defenseman? Will Peckham be able to build on a decent rookie campaign and become a solid defender with fewer mistakes and capable of logging more minutes? Obviously there are more questions than answers, but we will start to get some answers tonight.
Dubnyk has been the better Oiler goaltender through the preseason and during the latter part of last season. While he deserves to start the season opener, it’s uncertain whether or not he will. Regardless, I think this could be the year that Dubnyk solidifies himself as an NHL starter.
The Oilers will be in tough against a good opponent tonight, but one thing is for certain, it will be fun to watch. Go Oilers!
Sunday 9 October 2011
Friday 7 October 2011
To Touch or not to Touch
It wasn’t the first time that something like this had happened. Most notably in 2008 a very similar incident occurred when Kurtis Foster, then a member of the Minnesota Wild, went heavily lower body first into the boards after being checked by Sharks forward Torrey Mitchell in a race to prevent an icing call. Foster would miss an entire season and playoffs with a broken femur.
Taylor Fedun, a 23 year old prospect of the Edmonton Oilers, and a native of Edmonton, had impressed at training camp and was hoping for a shot on the Oilers blueline for the start of the season. However, on September 30th, in an incident similar to that of Foster’s, Fedun got tangled up with Eric Nystrom of the Minnesota Wild and also went hard into the boards. His diagnosis is also a broken femur, so his season is over.
The incident has sparked debate about whether or not the NHL should implement a no-touch icing rule similar to what is used in international competition.
While this is not a new discussion, the NHL seems to have a current mandate to make changes that will better serve the players and prevent serious injuries from occurring. This has been evidenced by the new headshot rule that has been implemented to reduce concussions and accordingly the number of suspensions that have been handed out by Brendan Shanahan, as a result of incidents in the preseason.
Incidents as severe as those experienced by Fedun and Foster are rare, but there have been a multitude of injuries that have resulted over the years from races to the puck to prevent or get an icing call. If the league is really serious about protecting its players, it seems like the no touch icing rule may be a logical step to implement into the game.
While I admit that I personally have always enjoyed seeing a speedy forward trying to outrace a defender to have an icing call waived or vice-versa, I would definitely be ok with this being removed from the game, if incidents like those suffered by Foster and Fedun could be prevented.
Let’s hope the NHL takes a long look at this issue and makes the right decision.
Taylor Fedun, a 23 year old prospect of the Edmonton Oilers, and a native of Edmonton, had impressed at training camp and was hoping for a shot on the Oilers blueline for the start of the season. However, on September 30th, in an incident similar to that of Foster’s, Fedun got tangled up with Eric Nystrom of the Minnesota Wild and also went hard into the boards. His diagnosis is also a broken femur, so his season is over.
The incident has sparked debate about whether or not the NHL should implement a no-touch icing rule similar to what is used in international competition.
While this is not a new discussion, the NHL seems to have a current mandate to make changes that will better serve the players and prevent serious injuries from occurring. This has been evidenced by the new headshot rule that has been implemented to reduce concussions and accordingly the number of suspensions that have been handed out by Brendan Shanahan, as a result of incidents in the preseason.
Incidents as severe as those experienced by Fedun and Foster are rare, but there have been a multitude of injuries that have resulted over the years from races to the puck to prevent or get an icing call. If the league is really serious about protecting its players, it seems like the no touch icing rule may be a logical step to implement into the game.
While I admit that I personally have always enjoyed seeing a speedy forward trying to outrace a defender to have an icing call waived or vice-versa, I would definitely be ok with this being removed from the game, if incidents like those suffered by Foster and Fedun could be prevented.
Let’s hope the NHL takes a long look at this issue and makes the right decision.
Wednesday 5 October 2011
The Forgotten Oiler Star
It wasn’t too long ago that when you thought of the Oilers offense, you immediately thought of Ales Hemsky. His fantastic blend of speed, skill and playmaking ability made him an absolute treat for Oilers fans to watch. It was not so long ago where Oiler fans saw stuff like this on a regular basis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqVgu6ZFKyk&feature=related
and stuff like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yIr7-6gx6s
At that time it was frustrating looking around and seeing the lack of talent that Hemsky had to play with. Hemsky, clearly more of a playmaker than a scorer, has spent most of his Oiler tenure with Shawn Horcoff as his centre. While Horcoff is a decent 2 way centre, who can win faceoffs, anyone declaring him to be a potent offensive weapon is clearly missing something.
On the wing, the last few years have had Hemsky paired for the most part with Dustin Penner. Again, Penner is a decent winger with good hands and size, but clearly not an elite consistent scorer.
Hemsky fans would sit back and wonder- imagine what this guy could do if he had another player on his line, who had similar offensive skill, but more of a goalscorer- a guy who could convert Hemsky’s amazing passes into goals.
Ironically, now that the team has started to acquire and develop some extremely gifted offensive players, it seems that the sentiment towards Hemsky has changed completely. When I talk to people now, the majority seem to have forgotten about how he used to carry the offense. In fact, most people I’ve talked to lately have said we should trade him because we have no room for him, he is injury prone or he is not the player he once was.
It always amazes in pro sports how quickly people forget things. It’s always “what have you done for me lately”. I guess it would be different if Hemsky had been healthy the last couple years, but had just played poorly. That has not been the case here. Hemsky’s number of games have been limited by injury, but while in the lineup his production has been very good.
2 seasons ago, he was limited to only 22 games, but still put up 22 points in that timeframe. Last season, despite missing 35 games with injury, he still finished only one point back of the team’s scoring leader. His point per game production over the past 5 or 6 years would put him right up there with the elite right wingers in the game, yet he does not seem to receive that level of respect around the league and more surprisingly now even amongst Oiler fans.
His number of injuries are not really that surprising if you sit back and think about it. For a the bulk of 5 years now Hemsky was the only real offensive weapon on a team with limited offensive talent. Basically, you stop Hemsky and you stop the Oiler offense. The gameplan of the opposition was to hit Hemsky as much as possible and this was easy to accomplish because there seemingly was no one on the Oilers who could skate (Sorry Mac) and was able and/or willing to do anything about it.
The number of injuries on the team over the past couple of seasons is a reflection of this. Too many teams were able to take liberties with the Oilers’ stars and too few players would do anything to stop it. Tambellini tried to address this with his off season moves. Hopefully the injection of players like Eager, Hordichuk and Sutton will help to keep the Oiler roster in better health than it’s been the past couple of seasons.
Here’s hoping that Hemsky remains healthy this season and can help fans remember how good a player he really is. At 28 years old my guess is his best hockey is still ahead of him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqVgu6ZFKyk&feature=related
and stuff like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yIr7-6gx6s
At that time it was frustrating looking around and seeing the lack of talent that Hemsky had to play with. Hemsky, clearly more of a playmaker than a scorer, has spent most of his Oiler tenure with Shawn Horcoff as his centre. While Horcoff is a decent 2 way centre, who can win faceoffs, anyone declaring him to be a potent offensive weapon is clearly missing something.
On the wing, the last few years have had Hemsky paired for the most part with Dustin Penner. Again, Penner is a decent winger with good hands and size, but clearly not an elite consistent scorer.
Hemsky fans would sit back and wonder- imagine what this guy could do if he had another player on his line, who had similar offensive skill, but more of a goalscorer- a guy who could convert Hemsky’s amazing passes into goals.
Ironically, now that the team has started to acquire and develop some extremely gifted offensive players, it seems that the sentiment towards Hemsky has changed completely. When I talk to people now, the majority seem to have forgotten about how he used to carry the offense. In fact, most people I’ve talked to lately have said we should trade him because we have no room for him, he is injury prone or he is not the player he once was.
It always amazes in pro sports how quickly people forget things. It’s always “what have you done for me lately”. I guess it would be different if Hemsky had been healthy the last couple years, but had just played poorly. That has not been the case here. Hemsky’s number of games have been limited by injury, but while in the lineup his production has been very good.
2 seasons ago, he was limited to only 22 games, but still put up 22 points in that timeframe. Last season, despite missing 35 games with injury, he still finished only one point back of the team’s scoring leader. His point per game production over the past 5 or 6 years would put him right up there with the elite right wingers in the game, yet he does not seem to receive that level of respect around the league and more surprisingly now even amongst Oiler fans.
His number of injuries are not really that surprising if you sit back and think about it. For a the bulk of 5 years now Hemsky was the only real offensive weapon on a team with limited offensive talent. Basically, you stop Hemsky and you stop the Oiler offense. The gameplan of the opposition was to hit Hemsky as much as possible and this was easy to accomplish because there seemingly was no one on the Oilers who could skate (Sorry Mac) and was able and/or willing to do anything about it.
The number of injuries on the team over the past couple of seasons is a reflection of this. Too many teams were able to take liberties with the Oilers’ stars and too few players would do anything to stop it. Tambellini tried to address this with his off season moves. Hopefully the injection of players like Eager, Hordichuk and Sutton will help to keep the Oiler roster in better health than it’s been the past couple of seasons.
Here’s hoping that Hemsky remains healthy this season and can help fans remember how good a player he really is. At 28 years old my guess is his best hockey is still ahead of him.
Optimism in Oil Country
In what feels like an eternity ago (2006) the Edmonton Oilers reigned as Western Conference champions and came within one win of capturing Lord Stanley's mug for the 6th time.
While Oiler fans managed to refrain from rioting after the game 7 loss, there has been very little to cheer for since that memorable run with the team missing the playoffs for the past 5 seasons. In particular the last 2 campaigns have been especially difficult to stomach with the Oilers ending up in the league's basement as April and the end of the season came around.
While it's been a painful time in Oil Country, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Unlike their aging rivals to the south (Flames), the Oilers have managed to assemble an impressive crop of young talent highlighted by first overall picks Taylor Hall, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Add in other impressive prospects like Jordan Eberle (scorer of tsn's goal of the year), Magnus Paajarvi, Sam Gagner, Anton Lander and Linus Omark along with the increasing likelihood of a new arena and Oiler fans do have a reason to be optimistic about the future of the team.
The Ottawa Senators were the last team to hold consecutive No. 1 picks, when they picked in the top spot in 1995 and 1996. The season following Ottawa’s second consecutive No. 1 pick began a run of qualifying for the playoffs the next 11 seasons including a president’s trophy and trip to the finals in 2007.
Although 2011 # 1 overall pick Nugent-Hopkins has yet to tie up the laces for an NHL game – his play in the pre-season demonstrated his high end skill level, vision and hockey sense. His production is far from a guarantee, but the other youngsters have all gone through the inevitable growing pains of at least one NHL season. Last season, Oiler rookies, Eberle, Hall and Paajarvi all flirted with the 20-goal plateau, with Hall eclipsing it. Oiler fans should be able to expect increased production from the trio this season.
But talent and youth alone can only take you so far. And , GM Steve Tambellini has made some clever moves in the offseason to assist and support the development of the youth.
The addition of guys like Ben Eager, Darcy Hordichuk and Andy Sutton should provide some much needed functional toughness to a team that has high end talent, but in a lot of cases average size. Since injuries have been a big concern over the past couple of seasons, the hope is that the addition of toughness will lead other teams to take less liberties with skilled players like Hall, Eberle and Hemsky.
Another sorespot over the past 2 seasons has been in the faceoff circle and Tambellini has attempted to remedy that by the addition of Eric Belanger, who will also hopefully benefit the team's previously disappointing penalty killing unit.
Finally, the return of fan favourite Ryan Smyth will add an element of leadership and mentoring that was clearly lacking. Smyth will be a role model for the young stars on and off the ice. Horcoff may have been helping with the off-ice component, but on the ice.....well maybe not so much!
While patience is a virtue and things don't change overnight, things are definitely headed in the right direction in Oil Country.
While Oiler fans managed to refrain from rioting after the game 7 loss, there has been very little to cheer for since that memorable run with the team missing the playoffs for the past 5 seasons. In particular the last 2 campaigns have been especially difficult to stomach with the Oilers ending up in the league's basement as April and the end of the season came around.
While it's been a painful time in Oil Country, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Unlike their aging rivals to the south (Flames), the Oilers have managed to assemble an impressive crop of young talent highlighted by first overall picks Taylor Hall, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Add in other impressive prospects like Jordan Eberle (scorer of tsn's goal of the year), Magnus Paajarvi, Sam Gagner, Anton Lander and Linus Omark along with the increasing likelihood of a new arena and Oiler fans do have a reason to be optimistic about the future of the team.
The Ottawa Senators were the last team to hold consecutive No. 1 picks, when they picked in the top spot in 1995 and 1996. The season following Ottawa’s second consecutive No. 1 pick began a run of qualifying for the playoffs the next 11 seasons including a president’s trophy and trip to the finals in 2007.
Although 2011 # 1 overall pick Nugent-Hopkins has yet to tie up the laces for an NHL game – his play in the pre-season demonstrated his high end skill level, vision and hockey sense. His production is far from a guarantee, but the other youngsters have all gone through the inevitable growing pains of at least one NHL season. Last season, Oiler rookies, Eberle, Hall and Paajarvi all flirted with the 20-goal plateau, with Hall eclipsing it. Oiler fans should be able to expect increased production from the trio this season.
But talent and youth alone can only take you so far. And , GM Steve Tambellini has made some clever moves in the offseason to assist and support the development of the youth.
The addition of guys like Ben Eager, Darcy Hordichuk and Andy Sutton should provide some much needed functional toughness to a team that has high end talent, but in a lot of cases average size. Since injuries have been a big concern over the past couple of seasons, the hope is that the addition of toughness will lead other teams to take less liberties with skilled players like Hall, Eberle and Hemsky.
Another sorespot over the past 2 seasons has been in the faceoff circle and Tambellini has attempted to remedy that by the addition of Eric Belanger, who will also hopefully benefit the team's previously disappointing penalty killing unit.
Finally, the return of fan favourite Ryan Smyth will add an element of leadership and mentoring that was clearly lacking. Smyth will be a role model for the young stars on and off the ice. Horcoff may have been helping with the off-ice component, but on the ice.....well maybe not so much!
While patience is a virtue and things don't change overnight, things are definitely headed in the right direction in Oil Country.
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