100 X 2?
7 years ago
Just as many of you have done in recent weeks, I was wondering out loud on Twitter Thursday evening after the Edmonton Oilers beat the Colorado Avalanche 7-4 in Denver if Connor McDavid might hit 100 points in his bid for the Art Ross Trophy as NHL scoring champion.
With two assists in the sloppy win over the Avalanche, McDavid upped his season totals to 26-61-87 with eight games to play. I suggested the century mark was within reach. Not a sure thing, not even likely, but “within reach,” as in a possibility. I did so without running a spreadsheet.
The comment drew a lot of responses, including this one from Jasper Place football coach Tyler Broska:
To which I replied:
You get the drift.
CAN CONNOR DO IT?
It’s taken awhile, but I’m up to speed on the contrarian approach on Twitter. The wet-blanket thing. The say-the-opposite thing. If I say it’s day, you say it’s night. If I say it’s black, you say it’s white. Mix in some sarcasm and a lot of honest debate, which makes the whole thing fun, and you get some great back-and-forth.
Will McDavid hit 100 points this season? I don’t know and neither do you. We’re all guessing and projecting one way or another. Is it possible? Sure, even if the straight math on what he’s done through 74 games this season – 1.18 points per game – says he’ll come up short. Then again, McDavid just reeled off 13 points in eight games so . . . Likely? I wouldn’t go that far.
In the end, whether McDavid hits 100 points or not takes a backseat to the possibility he might. After 10 years of seeing this team run in place as a group and as individuals, we’ve finally got a playoff race and a scoring race to contemplate. From where I sit, that’s a welcome aside from the last 10 stretch drives, when the Oilers weren’t within a $5 cab ride of those conversations.
The Oilers haven’t had a 100-point player since Doug Weight turned the trick in 1995-96 with 25-79-104. They haven’t had an Art Ross winner since 1986-87 when Wayne Gretzky copped the silverware again with 183 points. Many of you reading this weren’t even born when that happened, so it goes without saying it’s been awhile.
McDavid could manage both feats this season. Maybe he goes one-for-two. I’ll take watching how it unfolds one way or another over reading or writing more draft lottery stories any day. For the record, I guessed McDavid would finish with 99 points the other day on the Jason Gregor Show. What say you?
THE TEAM THING
Jan 21, 2017; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers goalie Laurent Brossoit (1) celebrate win with center Connor McDavid (97) and center Mark Letestu (55) after the game against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome. Edmonton Oilers won 7-3. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
With the win over Colorado, the Oilers are 40-25-9 for 89 points. Like 100 points for McDavid, 100 points for the Oilers is within reach. Far from a sure thing. Maybe not even likely, but possible. They start taking a run at the 11 they’ll need to get there in a rematch with the Avalanche tonight.
I see six of those 11 points in the encore with Colorado and in two games against the Vancouver Canucks. As for the other five, they’ll have to come in two games against Los Angeles and San Jose and in a game against the Anaheim Ducks, who just beat the Oilers 4-3 last Wednesday.
The Oilers haven’t hit 100 points in the standings since 1986-87 when they finished with 106 with a record of 50-24-6. The Oilers have had 100-or-more points six times (all of those coming in their first eight seasons) with 106, 119, 109, 119, 106 and 111. I didn’t arrive in Edmonton until 1989, so I missed every one of them. I’ll be here for this one – I say they hit 100. You?
WHILE I’M AT IT
- If McDavid reaches 100 points he’ll become the eighth player in franchise history to do it. Gretzky did it nine times, Jari Kurri did it six times, Mark Messier managed it five times and Paul Coffey and Glenn Anderson did it three times each. Weight and Jimmy Carson did it once.
- Gretzky has nine of the top-10 point totals in franchise history, including four seasons when he had 200-or-more points – 215, 212, 208 and 205.
Listen to Robin Brownlee Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the Jason Gregor Show on TEAM 1260.
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