GDB 1.0 Wrap Up: Pulling the Plastic Off

7 years ago

Welcome to the house that Connor built. Final Score: 7-4 Oilers

After years of hole diggery, construction, and corporate blabbery we were finally able to watch our beloved Oilers play their first ever regular season game at Rogers Place. Sure, there are still some kinks to work out, but did you really expect that they would be able to open a brand new building without having to work out a few bugs? A few annoyances aside, the building truly is special and I was happy that hockey fans throughout Canada were able to see the place for the first time tonight. Does a building merit a 45-minute ceremony/game delay? That’s up for debate, and I’m curious to know how you guys thought it went, but at least it was fun to look at. I’m like a goldfish when it comes to blinking lights, so I was thoroughly entertained. I thought it was a little bit long, but I think that’s mostly because I love sleeping and the opening made the game go late.

As for the game itself, it made sense that the Oilers would open their new barn against the heathens from down south. They had to play the Flames in the first game at Rogers Place, right? Personally, I love that the Oilers are going back to Calgary on Friday night for a home and home because there would be nothing better than a rekindling of the Battle of Alberta. Tonight’s game was pretty chippy and I think there could be something brewing here. Will the first two games of the year really be able to kickstart things? Of course not, but one can hope that, at he very least, a seed of hatred can be planted with these two games. If the Oilers and Flames can manage to keep pace with each other it will make the season that much more interesting, and I, for one, am hopeful.

With the way this game went tonight I really, honestly feel like we could be in for a fun season for the first time in years. Who knows where the Oilers will finish in the standings — we’ve only seen one game — but if they can put together 81 more games like the one they played tonight then we’ll all be much more entertained than we were a year ago. By no means did the Oilers play a perfect game, and there are ample opportunities for improvement, but they still came away with two points. There were some big hits, a fight, some drama, and all the McDavid you needed to make it a hell of a season opener. If it weren’t for the Davidson injury and the two shorthanded goals against I would say that this was an overwhelming success. Undeafeated McDavid era.

For the first time this year, we wrap.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

Long or not I thought the opening ceremony was cool. They walked through the history of the team, gave a shoutout to Rexall Place, and had Gretzky and Messier skate out on the ice before the team. What else could you want?
Patrick Maroon scores the first ever goal at Rogers Place. Write that down somewhere, because the big man just became the answer to a trivia question.
I will never get tired of watching Connor McDavid play hockey. The kid is a wizard with the puck and it seems like he’s playing a completely different game from everyone else on the ice. And the “C” on his jersey? *whistles* The best part about the kid is that you can count on him. After the Flames scored two shorties in the second period it was Connor that got a quick goal to reclaim the lead. He then followed that goal up with a penalty shot beauty. The. Franchise.
Derek Engelland bumped into Connor and within seconds Milan Lucic was punching him in the face. That’s something that we haven’t seen around the Y-E-G in years. It wasn’t that Lucic won or lost the fight, and he won’t fight every time, it’s that he was there and willing to jump in for Connor and that’s what counts.
I love watching guys score their first NHL goal and it was no different tonight for Jesse Puljujarvi. Personally, I think he should have started in the AHL but would love nothing more than for him to prove me wrong. Well played, young sir. You’re more than a Teemu to me.
How can you not pull for Lance “Don’t Call Me Tyler Or Wait Is My Name Actually Tyler” Pitlick? Any time that he seems like he’s going to be close to making the Oilers he runs into injury trouble. Every single time. How does that happen? He scored a beauty goal tonight and if that’s not enough he also gets the satisfaction of knowing that I’m pulling for him.
I liked the Klefbom/Larsson pairing tonight. They played big minutes, were often able to make clean breakout passes, defended well, and chipped in on the scoresheet. What more can you ask for?
Sorry, stats guys, but I liked Kriss Russell’s game (for the most part) tonight. He had two points in his Oilers debut, and played reasonably well considering he’s only had the two games with the team.
Cam Talbot was a little bit shaky at times tonight, but he gets the pass because the Oilers won the game. He’ll need to be better going forward, and I think even he would admit that, but a win is a win and it’s his first of the season. That said, Talbot made some big saves that kept the Oilers ahead late in the game. Talbot finished the night with 37 saves and a .902 save%.

THE FACE PALMERS

Brandon Davidson left the game late in the second period and did not return. The Oilers are already lean enough on the backend that losing Davidson is a straight shot to the balls.
Pretty rude of Johnny Gaudreau to sign a contract right before the season. I would have been cool with him missing the first two against the Oilers. Ah well.
Seeing Kris Versteeg in a Flames jersey was annoying. Yes, I know it’s only Kris Versteeg but he would have added veteran depth to the right side that simply isn’t an option right now.
Pat Maroon scored and then Alex Chiasson tied the game up only 36 seconds later. That’s too close to last year’s Oilers. Gotta cut those out in a hurry. Still early, though.
The Flames scored two (TWO!) shorthanded goals in the second period on two consecutive power plays. That is absolutely horrific. Actually, the power play was pretty gross as a whole tonight. That said, I did think Nuge’s second unit seemed to have some chemistry but that’s me being kind.
As a whole the power play was mostly junk tonight, going 1/6, actually allowing two shorthanded goals against.
The Oilers were outshot 41-27 and if it weren’t for Brian Elliott’s shitacular® play then the Oilers may not have come away with two points tonight. They’ll have to tighten things up defensively going forward.
Flames dominated the faceoff circle going 60% in the draws.
Gregor went three for three in his GDB predictions and it’s starting to freak me out.

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
01:10	Edmonton	Patrick Maroon (1) ASST: Leon Draisaitl (1)	0-1
01:46	Calgary	Alex Chiasson (1) ASST: Matt Stajan (1), Lance Bouma (1)	1-1
05:34	Edmonton	Tyler Pitlick (1) ASST: Adam Larsson (1), Kris Russell (1)	1-2
15:12	Edmonton	Zack Kassian (1) ASST: Oscar Klefbom (1), Connor McDavid (1)	1-3

2ND PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
08:26	Calgary	SHG – Troy Brouwer (1)	2-3
10:51	Calgary	SHG – Michael Frolik (1) ASST: Mikael Backlund (1), Mark Giordano (1)	3-3
12:17	Edmonton	Connor McDavid (1) ASST: Andrej Sekera (1), Kris Russell (2)	3-4
14:33	Edmonton	PS – Connor McDavid (2)	3-5

3RD PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
09:00	Edmonton	PPG – Jesse Puljujarvi (1)	3-6
11:29	Calgary	PPG – Dennis Wideman (1) ASST: T.J. Brodie (1), Mikael Backlund (2)	4-6
18:38	Edmonton	EN – Jordan Eberle (1) ASST: Darnell Nurse (1), Andrej Sekera (2)	4-7

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THE SEASON OPENER PARTY

After a long summer of arguing and waiting, the NHL season is right around the corner and that means it’s time for us to throw another party. We wanted a second take on last year’s season and decided that we would celebrate the start of the second year of Connor’s reign over Oil Country. Thanks to our friends at AMA Travel, Cornerstone Insurance, the Pint, Oodle Noodle, and United Cycle we’ve got a big night planned for you complete with raffles, swag bags, and two trips (valued at $5000 each) for two to the outdoor game in Winnipeg courtesy of AMA Travel.

Here’s what you need to know:

Where: The Pint Downtown
When: Friday, October 14th at 5pm
Why: Because we’ve got a hankerin’ for some partyin’
How: Tickets are available here

See you on October 14th!