Laurent Brossoit will sleep well tonight. Final Score: 3-1 Sharks.
Tonight’s game felt weird to me. For the first time in months we were actually able to fully cheer for a win! Now that the Oilers are locked in 28th place regardless of how anyone else does means we can be happy about winning and sad about losing. We can’t gain anymore points in the McDavid race. We’re out of the sweepstakes barring a miracle draft lottery steal. We need a ringer. Frankly, if the Oilers aren’t scouring the earth for Steve Tambellini so they can try to win our version of the Stanley Cup they’re just not trying hard enough. I want to see Tambo’s cheshire grin as the Oilers rob the NHL of another first overall pick.
Tonight’s game was a good test for the Barons. It was also important for management to see where we are at as a farm team – that’s a valuable lesson going into the summer. It’s always important to have a look at the youth in your organization and how they’re developing. For the Barons, you can’t say enough about how well they stuck in there with an NHL team like the Sharks. For a goalie that had never played a game against NHL competition, Laurent Brossoit stood on his head and gave his teammates a chance. For a guy that was making his NHL debut, Brossoit looked calm and confident in the net. If not for him, the Oilers would have been out of it in the first period.
Unfortunately, the last home game of the season ended the same way so many had before it – with a loss. If not for Brossoit this game would have gotten out of hand. I’m not sure how anyone could be surprised that the Sharks outplayed the Oilers. When you look at the roster you see more Barons than you do NHL regulars so the fact that this game was so close is impressive. It’s a kudos to the night Brossoit had, and it’s a hat tip to the job Todd Nelson is doing with the pieces he’s got to play with. Unfortunately, good efforts don’t help us get back to where we need to be, and tonight closed out another sub-20 win season at Rexall.
We wrap.
THE BRIGHT SIDE
- I miss seeing the home team wear the light jersey colours.
- There’s only one more game left until the Oilers playoff season starts. Bring on the draft lottery.
- Yak’s 13th goal of the year was hilarious. Normally those kind of giveaways go against the Oilers rather than for them.
- As far as NHL debuts go Laurent Brossoit’s ranks up there with the best. He deserved better than a loss for the effort he put in tonight. In his first NHL game, Laurent Brossoit finished with 49 saves and a .961 save%. The 49 save NHL debut is an NHL record, and that’s something he should be very proud of.
- Taylor Fedun didn’t score despite being a former Oiler with a great story. I was sure that he was due for a pair against his former team.
- At least Calgary can’t get McDavid? *sigh*
THE FACE PALMERS
- I miss NUUUUUUUGE!
- What Laurent Brossoit did for the Oilers was amazing, but this baptism by fire thing isn’t really a great idea in the long.
- I’m convinced that Brossoit would have pulled out the shutout had he not been Jultz’d. The Bryan Lerg goal was just a biproduct of the Jultzing disappointment.
- Bryan Lerg scored his first NHL goal tonight. Against the Oilers. Surprised? I didn’t think so.
- The Oilers were outshot 52-27 tonight. That’s ugly. Management is lucky that a shelling like that didn’t shatter Brossoit’s confidence heading into the OKC playoffs.
- Jeff Petry is playing more minutes in Montreal, and just extended his point streak to six games tonight. Nice job evaluating talent, MacT.
- Calgary made the playoffs tonight. Real. Funkin. Great.
- I can’t help but wonder what kind of cool stuff Dallas Eakins is doing with the Oilers cheques he’s getting? He’s got all the time in the world and a guaranteed income for the next two years. He could be on the world’s greatest staycation and we’d never know about it. I want to know about it.
SCORING SUMMARY
BEST OF THE TWEETS
@OilersNation because the Oilers were winning a lot more?
— Tyson Lenz (@Tyson_Lenz) April 10, 2015
“Lance Pitlick” count: 2
— Mary L (@mdl507) April 10, 2015
@OilersNation keegan 2 fights in nhl debut, K lowe first fight in oilers history, I think we found our next gm once lowe retires
— Pinder Dhindsa (@PDhindsa) April 10, 2015
How sad is Iggy right now
— stace_offlams (@stace_ofbase) April 10, 2015
I love Nuge and Marincin but if Yak needs a Kidney I will get tested to see if I’m a match.
— Matt Henderson (@Archaeologuy) April 10, 2015
What if we moved the Oilers to Atlanta for a couple years?
— Andrew Leach (@andrew_leach) April 10, 2015
@OilersNation here’s the bright side to that last goal. Lerg’s mom is right in front of me crying. She saw his first goal in his first game
— Gibby Davis (@gibbydavis) April 10, 2015
Hey @OilersNation too early??? ?
#LB pic.twitter.com/JNq8KehQb4
— $)))) ✌⚡ (@OilersCoffey) April 10, 2015
Want to show up in the Best of the Tweets? Show me how funny you are by tweeting to @OilersNation and @jsbmbaggedmilk for your chance at Internet glory.
THE NATIONDRAFTS PLAYOFF POOL
The NHL playoffs are back, baby! That means we can stop arguing about Corsi and start arguing about which squadron (Oilers excluded as always) will be walking away with Lord Stanley’s Cup come June! Since you know who is going to win, we wanted to give you a chance to flex that mighty hockey IQ. You DO know about hockey, right? You wouldn’t just make that up, would you? Well, the coming playoffs also mean a brand new edition of the NationDrafts playoff pool! Sign up today at www.nationdrafts.com for your shot at prizes, glory, and to help us raise money for Earth Group.
So, for what seems like the umpteenth season in a row, I will sit at my television with all my friends, and listen to them talk about the Canucks playoff odds, and weep.
I was born in Edmonton in 97, and moved from Edmonton to Vancouver when I was 3. As a little child, I’d try and cheer for the Canucks, but some quirky form of loyalty stayed my course, and Orange and Blue I remained.
I heard from my father of the glory days of the Oilers, of Gretsky, Messier, Kurri, and Moog. I heard of the series between Montreal and Edmonton, as we swept them in three.
That was all a long time ago now. My father has moved on to “greater sports” now, claiming that the advertising has drawn him away.
Yet I have avidly followed my decrepit Oilers, and watched year after year as the Canucks make playoffs after playoffs. As my most hated team makes the playoffs after a stinkin’ 1 year rebuild.
I say all this knowing that the Oilers will likely not make the playoffs next year, and that we are a bullet riddled team at best. Knowing that this is an old boys club, not willing to change when needed, and I ask what was once unaskable.
Why couldn’t I have been born in Calgary instead?
So, for what seems like the umpteenth season in a row, I will sit at my television with all my friends, and listen to them talk about the Canucks playoff odds, and weep.
I was born in Edmonton in 97, and moved from Edmonton to Vancouver when I was 3. As a little child, I’d try and cheer for the Canucks, but some quirky form of loyalty stayed my course, and Orange and Blue I remained.
I heard from my father of the glory days of the Oilers, of Gretsky, Messier, Kurri, and Moog. I heard of the series between Montreal and Edmonton, as we swept them in three.
That was all a long time ago now. My father has moved on to “greater sports” now, claiming that the advertising has drawn him away.
Yet I have avidly followed my decrepit Oilers, and watched year after year as the Canucks make playoffs after playoffs. As my most hated team makes the playoffs after a stinkin’ 1 year rebuild.
I say all this knowing that the Oilers will likely not make the playoffs next year, and that we are a bullet riddled team at best. Knowing that this is an old boys club, not willing to change when needed, and I ask what was once unaskable.
Why couldn’t I have been born in Calgary instead?
A night of nostalgia for me. I had tickets for tonight’s game, the last pair of season tickets I will own. I have held a full or partial share of season tickets since 1981, when I landed my first decent job, and could afford to buy a pair from a friend.
I attended with my father, a fanatical Oiler fan, for the next 25 years, through the Glory of Gretzky, the Perils of Pocklington, the grinding years of Weight and Smyth. My father’s health began to fail in early 2006, and I attended my last game with him in February of that year, a 2-1 shootout loss to Columbus. He died a couple of months later, two days after the Oil secured their last playoff berth. I am convinced he had a hand with their miracle run to the final, pulling strings from the Great Beyond.
I didn’t go to tonight’s game, of course. I spent the afternoon at work trying to give away the tickets, because I, as is usual now, had something better to do. I went through the usual routine, my offer of free ducats being turned down a half dozen times (“Oh, Oiler tickets? Let me call my brother-in-law, he’s a fan. Sorry, no, he has to rake the lawn tonight….”, etc., etc.)
I finally gave them to a homeless guy panhandling on Jasper. He was reluctant to take them until I convinced him he could probably flog them at Rexall before the game for at least the price of a can of Big Bear.
My son used to be as crazy about the Oilers as I was. He lived and died with them in 2006, when he was 12. He is 21 now, and has other interests: school, girls, the Toronto Raptors. He came to two games with me this year, both losses. We left after the second period once.
Dave Staples wrote in his piece in the Journal today that the Katz era has cost the Oilers a generation of young fans. If my son is any indication, that observation is valid.
I didn’t renew my tickets for 2015-16. The money I save will go to a trip to Europe this summer. I’m looking forward to it.
As I type this, I’m sad, angry, frustrated, outraged, apathetic. But mostly sad. So long Oilers. It was nice while it lasted.
So funny and so true. I can’t be bothered to take free tickets and drive from Beaumont to a game and back and drop $500 between Colieseum Steak& Pizza, Parking, Piss beer and being pissed off.
Meanwhile I’m taking my kids and wife to the game at GM place in Vancouver this weekend and the tickets alone are $800 for the 4 of us but it’s about the “experience” right!!
I’ve been a fan since Vinny Damphousse scored 4 in one game in 92? 93 maybe? i was 7/8 years old.
I’m done, i’m jumping ship and cheering for the Jets. This Era is making me regret my entire life of fandomship
Very nicely done.
I would recommend you send a version of it in a letter to mr katz – not an email but a physical letter – he will actually get and read a letter – and CC klowe, laforge and Nicholson and the journal and sun.
Yep, A sentiment of how we all feel about the oilers.
It was a great post by Dougthe slug, but I am asking you how it can help in your view to send it in Gord?
Are you really hanging onto the hope that all we need is some “touch of heart” to melt Katz’s lack of attention to this team?
man, I am sorry. That is hard to read.
It is almost like a long lost memory. I still remember back in late 90s that fans were petition to have the team stay in Edmonton when Pocklington was about to sell it to Texas. During the late 90s to early 2000 that even the team were not contending but their overall effort to compete night after night was memorable. I still remember that Oilers had a few upsets in playoffs by eliminating Stars and Avs in playoffs. I still remember seasons ago that Oilers won their last game of the year against Canucks by eliminating them from playoffs even when Oilers were eliminated at the last week of season.
Sad to read this but the same talking ,”Welcome to the winners zone”!!!!!
The more people do it the better product Katty will produce…… It is all up to him and the Funs have the ultimate power over him too!!!
“As I type this, I’m sad, angry, frustrated, outraged, apathetic. But mostly sad. So long Oilers. It was nice while it lasted.”
Well said Doug. I think that describes how everyone feels about the Oilers right now.
I adopted Chicago as my “B team/playoff team” about five or six years ago after repeated years of Oiler futility pushed me closer to moving on from the childhood team that I loved and adored. All it took was the perfect combination of misguided ownership, inept management, deficient scouting, negligent coaching, horrible development and a culture of entitled players to make that happen.
Not my monkeys. Not my circus. Katz, I kindly suggest that you take an interest in your investment, get an outside opinion and do something about your “six ring” circus.
double post
Shoot. Apologies to everyone who reads this forum. Didn’t mean to send my form 5 times. computer glitched
Would have been funny if you made your apology 5 times, but who am I to tell you how funny works?
Totally should have done that. Wish I had your brains, instead of those of a dopey teenager…
Right now I’m looking at the CBA’s arbitration rules. I think we can file arbitration to get a pay cut for Jultz. Otherwise we have to qualify him at 100% of his current contract which would be an insult to other players making the $3.75 million range (e.g.: Johnson, Gorges, Fowler, Giordano).
That’s what all of us would like to do. Craig is delusional and will give him norris money. Management has gone insane.
If I’m reading the CBA correctly our three options are: (1) 100% qualifying offer; (2) arbitration; (3) let him walk. Option 1 is unacceptable. Options 2 & 3 both have merits. I don’t like giving away assets, but Jultz was a freebie, and that contract is an overpay.
@dougyouaintnoslugbut bleed bluebaby
Nice post. Sad though. I feel the same. This team kills me. I hope Katz does not write another letter ….you’re an inept owner Mr Katz and writing another empty letter will bring tremendous scorn and more hardship to a city that deserves better….much better.
I hope the Oilers are having there post game beers and see that crowd and that team of misfits in Calgary celebrate and hug one another …. I hope that stings too because you don’t respect your gifts as athletes and you don’t respect the jersey you wear. Go become a Panther or a Coyote they have the winning tradition you deserve….
Have fun in Europe….say hello to Yari and Tik!
Im liking musil he is a bull! And moves better than advertised and not a jultz
Until that moron and campanions are dismissed, people we are wasting our precious times!!! They are the weakest links about hockey!!! It is all about ” what have you done lately for me???
Haha did you see sixrings kid today? What a joke! He picks a fight with a former first overall, 50 goal scorer and then looks surprised when Vinny comes back and kicks the s#it out of him? Hahaha learn some respect kid!!! Looks like the son is at least as smart as his dad. Regarding our Oil, yeah, its sucked for a long time (2006 feels like a lifetime ago) but maybe, finally, Katz will clean house and get rid of these clowns… one can always hope, fingers crossed
Tough time in E town. Team sucks and now the economy is tanking too. In Calgary at least they have something to cheer for this spring. FU Kevin Lowe. Just do us a favor and quit. BTW, your son is a tool just like you. Fighting an old soft guy twice in NHL debut, he sure knows how to “earn” his fame in this league. Did you teach him that?
did you even see the replay either fight.
Vinny started the first and got pounded
then he responds by jumping Lowe the second time when he was on his knees
The kid is showing his team what he’s got
would like to see some of that from our team
Not a fan of Six Rings Kid, watched him on Oil Kings and he would not be in the NHL if his last name wasn’t Lowe, which is annoying when it’s supposed to be the best league in the world. That Being said that was a cheap shot by Vinny, lost the first fight then suckered Lowe in the second before he could drop his gloves which also annoys me. I thought vinny was a decently tough guy (Iggy fight, Chara?), must have been pissed at Lowe but that seemed gutless to me. The code is fading haha
In some ways it’s too bad that Brossiot had such a great game. MacTavish has probably crossed ‘starting goal tender’ off his to do list already.
The Oilers have a vested interest in the Flames making the playoffs this year, knocking off the Kings earlier this week. Come on Oiler fans jump on the Flames bandwagon in 2015.
And Thank You BTW
I loved seeing the Oilers wear white at home.
Have no clue why the NHL went to whites on the road. Maybe to jive with other leagues but to me the home team wears white. Always has and always should.
Plus I’d go back to the colour scheme that started on the ’97 with copper and blue. These throw backs are nice for about a dozen or so games a season. Katz needs to let go of the 80s and get with the present.
If you are going to stop being an Oiler fan why are you telling everyone about it just go away. If you have lost faith and want to cheer for another team that is fine too. I am an Oiler fan through thick and thin and better times are surely ahead. There are literally thousands of Oiler fans who cannot afford tickets that would love to go to a game so if you have tickets and choose not to go contact a charity and do some good and stop whining.
Due to so many MacT. gaffes over his tenure as GM , the Oilers are even further away from being a good contender . A new GM is in order firstly to turn this team around . Present club is low NHL caliber players in most positions and 70% need to be upgraded . Klefbom , Hall, Eberle , Hopkins and maybe Pouliot are the core , with others needing upgrades including one dimentional Yakupov .
I know there is a troll on here whom suggested a couple weeks back that Petry has no love in Montreal, however if you go over to the HF boards it’s not true. Canadien fans love what he brings to the table.
Mact taking Shultz over Petry will stick with me as long as Mact is GM. It’s hard, really hard to trust somebody so bad at player evaluation.
MacT will no doubt give Jultz a fat raise, compounded stupidity in my mind. All of the call ups have played better than Jultz .
Woke up just depressed today. I went to Beer Revolution yesterday evening with some friends, one of those friends is a Flames fan. Thought it’d be great to catch both games as they were only half an hour apart. Flames game was first. In hindsight I wish I watched more Flames this year because holy cow they are a fun team to watch. Veterans mixed in with young players, size throughout the lineup every guy plays for each other.
The one thing I don’t think gets talked about enough with that team is how simple their game is. Dump and chase, if you get an open lane shoot the puck, put bodies in front, cycle puck back to defencemen, repeat. They looked like they were already playing playoff hockey. I will not be surprised if they beat Vancouver.
The Oilers game came on half an hour later, but none of the TV’s were turned to it. I asked one of the waitresses if she could turn on the game, she went to ask a manager.
He said no. Not until one of the other games (Montreal-Wash was on too) was finished.
A bar in Edmonton was playing Flames games over Oilers games and no one cared.
This is no disrespect to the bar (still love that place) but more of the sad reality we as Oiler fans find ourselves in. All we want is to watch some meaningful hockey games. If that can’t be with our own team than so be it.
Brace yourselves for a long off-season my fellow fans. There is no happy ending in sight.
Well,it’s official. In the 9yrs that Kevin Lowe,Craig MacTavish,and Scott Howson have been trying to rebuild,Brian Burke has taken 3 teams to the playoffs,and won a Stanley Cup. Also,one of the teams being the Maple Leafs,who are trying to give the Oilers a run for their money,as the leagues most inept franchise in the league.
When is it enough? Just because a billionaire stepped up to buy the team,does that mean he should be allowed to run it into the ground,by keeping his friends in their positions,that they can’t perform? If Katz would show as much hatred towards losing and his friends poor performance,as he and his team show fans who are angry and calling for change. Then his team would be in way better shape.
How many more years of this? Before Katz finally cleans house,and apologize to the fans for dragging them through this,and ripping them off of their hard earned money.
Stop arguing about Corsi?
While the Flames with their “unsustainable Corsi” are in the playoffs and the Oilers with their “visually better” Corsi are… not.
I’m not sure if we should stop arguing about Corsi or simply ignore it.
I remember the beginning of the season well. Flames off to a fast start, Oilers languishing. No shortage of Oilers Nation writers and Edmonton radio interviews confidently pointing out that the Flames were likely to be worse than the Oilers for the rest of the year.
It is not about stats being bad, I just think this is a story where the Flames defied the odds and conventional wisdom. Those are the stories people love in sports, like when the Oilers went on their improbable playoff run 10 seasons ago.
There is nothing really to argue about Corsi or possession; it’s relevant.
The Oilers “visually better” Corsi…ranks 24th out of the 30 teams this year. 24th not 4th. The Oilers are not a good possession team. Full stop.
Neither is Calgary. The difference is that Calgary has the 2nd best shooting % in the league and ranks 13th for SV %. Cgy’s 0.912 SV % is only .002 % from being top 10 in the league. And their shooting % has resulted in the 6th most goals for in the league. That’s how you overcome poor possession.
The Oilers on the otherhand rank 25th in shooting %; 2.44% lower than Cgy. The Oilers are also dead last in the league for SV %. Dead. Last.
In terms of sustainability do you really think Cgy will have the 2nd best shooting % next year? Col was 2nd last year but only 12th this year shooting a full 1 % lower. They went from 4th in the league for goals for to 22nd. They also went from 3rd in the standings to 22nd while their possession remained at the bottom of the league.
I think the argument comes into play on how to improve. For example, if you look at a team like Edmonton and their SV%. If we were to acquire an actual #1 goaltender with a consistant .915+ than you would most likely see our SV% improve = less GA = more wins.
However when it comes to stats like Corsi I think things get murkier. Last off season we saw MacT acquire guys like Fayne and Pouliot who had great possession numbers on their previous teams. However we haven’t seen any dramatic increase in our Corsi.
Corsi definitely factors into having a team with the proper mix of players but unless the proper systems have been put into place it’s only a small cog in the machine.
I don’t necessarily agree that stats like Corsi make things murkier although saying that is certainly dependent on how you use and interpret the stat.
And I don’t think there is any doubt that there is certainly a team effect to possession numbers; hence the concept of WOWY.
Corsi is used as a proxy for possession. If they put RIFF tags in everyone’s jersey with Sportvision the Corsi stat will go the way of the dodo bird.
The reason I don’t think Corsi makes things murkier is that the plays that drive possession and thus drive Corsi are the plays traditional hockey people look for by eye. Things like back-checking, fore-checking, winning face-offs, breaking up the cycle, getting the puck back when you lose it, staying on the defensive side of the puck instead of cheating for offense. That’s what drives possession.
The stat is simply a numerical representation of those hockey plays and can act as a sober 2nd look for what you see. Critics talk as if Corsi numbers say Pavel Datsyuk or Drew Doughty are bad hockey players. Quite the opposite.
And in terms of teams, I’ve never heard a “by eye” hockey person suggest letting the opposition cycle the puck in your zone for 2/3 of the game and out-shoot you 51-27 on a consistent basis was a winning formula. It’s intuitive that it is not.
Measuring it and calling it Corsi doesn’t change that.
Next year doesn’t matter to the Flames in this sense really because their rebuild is not over. Some players will be gone, more young guys will be in. So it is hard to predict what is going to happen with them.
As a whole, though, their team speed should keep them from a huge drop off, though the playoffs are very hard to make these days.
I think part of the Flames having poor Corsi numbers is that they don’t possess the puck for long stretches in the offensive zone. They try to sneak in chances with quick passes and shots, they don’t cycle like Vancouver. It just suits their personnel.
That top line of Gadreau, Hudler and Monahan doesn’t so much posses the puck as try for a quick set up and shot. It clicked this year, it might not next year.
I just think their game is not geared towards Corsi, like LA is. Heavy, strong guys who can dominate the puck.
As for the Oilers, that defence core is mucking up anything they do offensively, because it is simply not good enough. They are always playing from behind.
Could you perhaps explain how corsi is recorded. Does it start with “some guy in a pressbox”? Is there anything subjective to the stat or is it all black and white such as ERA or AVG in baseball?
Dear Taylor Hall.
Please less toe drag. The puck just ends up going the other way. Your a great player but leave the toe drags for Eberle and use your strengths more to your advantage.
Or how about another idea…take your little toe drag moves somewhere else ! Seriously.
Of course, Lerg scored last night. He’s a former Oilers’ farm hand (Springfield 07-08 through 09-10)
One more HNIC night and this sh/*t show is over. I am so tired of the breakouts of 3 on 1’s or worse I will be glad to see it end. Jultz managed to screw it up for Broissant almost single handedly and he just doesn’t ever seem to learn anything. Again I hope for a presser on the 13th dismissing the POHO and all of the management team including MacT. All above
Has anybody noticed the quality of compete since Hall’s been back? Powerplay dissolved. Backchecking – yeah right. He’s a sprinter one way, and a floater the other. He also visibly pouts to the spectators, I wonder how that energy influences the bench and locker room?
I’ll never understand the allure of Taylor. Super speed, but can’t create his own chances because he can’t get out of his own way when he’s bambiing. Opens himself up to crushing hits. Mediocre passer. Below average shot. Stick handling nothing to write home about. No compete.
Every 6 points he scored this year got him a million dollars, or 166 000 dollars a point. Derek Roy scored 31 points for FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND dollars, or 16 000 dollars a point. We paid 10x more for Taylor’s points this year than we did Roys. Oh, and Roy had a second job developing another player into a legitimate NHLer
But I get it – visually, he’s a very nice player moving one direction down the ice.
Can’t move Nuge (it’s in the name, duh). Eberle is a gifted scorer. Yak will be cheap to keep around, huge upside. What we could get for Hall…. man. I truly hope I’m wrong and Hall will be a stud in the next 5 years, but I’d rather see him parcelled off for a legitimate D man.
Been beating this horse dead for two years. I don’t understand the Bieber like infatuation with this player ? Yes, he gets points but he does not do anything in helping this team win. He has the highest value of anyone on this team, package him with whatever it takes to make that deal and improve this team NOW. Or we can all go through this same bullsheet next year.
@tileguy
Corsi is a simple calculation of ‘Shot Attempts FOR – Shot Attempts AGAINST’.
The results are used a proxy for possession with the logic being the team that has the puck more is going to make more shot attempts. Studies have shown there is a good correlation between the two.
Currently, it does start with a “some guy in the press box” recording shot attempts. And to top it off it’s not the same guy in the press box for every game in every rink.
So yes, there is certainly a degree of subjectivity and human error in the variable used to calculate Corsi. Quality of data is probably the number 1 issue all of the “stat nerds” gripe about. But the subjectivity is probably more of concern regarding shot quality as opposed to just shot attempts for and against and possession numbers.