AT RANDOM: HOME COOKING
7 years ago
It’s been duly noted since the Edmonton Oilers started calling Rogers Place home that the swank new downtown barn doesn’t have the rowdy and raucous vibe old Rexall Place did, spawning the unflattering nickname The Library.
It’s also been pointed out the new rink, for all its bells and whistles and high-tech guts, has lousy ice. That makes it a wash with the old joint, whose reputation for having maybe the best ice in the NHL lasted at least a decade past when it actually was that good.
What is different as we exit the NHL all-star break is the Oilers have a pretty good – not great — record at home at 13-8-3 for 29 of a possible 48 points through 24 games at Rogers Place. At 28-15-8 overall for 64 points, they’ll make a push to lock down a playoff spot for the first time after 10 years on the outside looking in with 17 of their final 31 games at home.
That better record in large part comes from a 4-0-1 stretch since I was bemoaning their home record yet again back on Jan. 11 – they were 9-8-2. The bottom line: if the Oilers play as well as they have on the road (15-7-5) or close to it in February, when they play nine of 12 games away, they’ll be poised to put the finishing touches on a post-season berth in March with 11 of 13 games at home.
GETTING IT DONE
A slightly road-heavy schedule to this point has the Oilers in a pretty good spot. Of the teams holding down a playoff berth in the Western Conference coming out of the break, only the Minnesota Wild, who come calling Tuesday, have more home games left – they have 18 remaining at the Xcel Energy Centre.
Nashville, like Edmonton, has 17 home dates to play. Chicago, for example, has just 12 home games remaining. San Jose has 16, then comes Calgary with 15 and St. Louis and Anaheim with 14. The Oilers, of course, have to turn those extra home games into points, but having last change and more favourable matchups won’t hurt.
Of those 17 home games, eight of them will come against teams currently occupying playoff positions in the eastern and western conferences – Minnesota, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Montreal, Boston, San Jose and Anaheim. Just four of those 17 games will be against teams with more points than the Oilers have now – Minnesota, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Montreal.
After failing to win even 20 games for the faithful at home in any of the last five seasons, the old term “home-ice advantage” looks like it might finally mean something around here with this edition of the Oilers. The timing of that could not be better.
WHILE I’M AT IT
- The highlight of Connor McDavid congratulating Ryan Kesler on his goal Sunday was priceless. Kesler has been nothing but a pain in McDavid’s ass during his brief career as somebody tasked to shadow him, but there was the kid slapping him on the back. Special player. Special young man.
- Almost as good, McDavid taking a cross-ice pass from Kesler at the blue line, then breaking in alone on Sergei Bobrovsky and making the Columbus stopper look like a beer leaguer with a nifty backhand tuck for a goal.
- Loved the photo of Chris Pronger plastering Justin Bieber into the corner glass in the celebrity game, but you know it’s all fun and games at this kind of event because there is no hint of an elbow or a stick to be found in the photo.
- As an Armchair GM, I often suck. During his time with the Los Angeles Kings, I had Wayne Simmonds pegged as solid third-liner who might, MIGHT, be able to play top-six in a pinch. Sunday, Simmonds was voted NHL all-star MVP.
Listen to Robin Brownlee Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the Jason Gregor Show on TEAM 1260.
RECENTLY BY ROBIN BROWNLEE
Recent articles from Robin Brownlee
