Monday Mailbag – October 13th

I hope all of you are having a fantastic Thanksgiving long weekend! May you drink and eat far more than you ever should.  If you have to work today, the mailbag is here to provide a distraction and waste company time.  If we can’t help you waste company resources, what’s the point of being here? If you have a question for the mailbag, email me at baggedmilk@oilersnation.com or hit me up on Twitter at @jsbmbaggedmilk.

No. The teams of my youth were the Oilers of the late-90’s/early-00’s.

Lowetide: 

Just the feeling of cheering for a team that won something I cherished as a fan. The Bruins won in 1970 and 1972, so as a fan I’d been enduring other teams (mostly the Habs, gack!) winning Stanleys. It was awesome. I lived in Red Deer (Shalom Apartments) and went for a walk about 2 in the morning. It was so calm, I remember that morning very fondly.

Jason Strudwick: 

I was only 8 when they won the first cup so details are a little blurry. I do remember the feeling after they won!

It might sound strange, but it was the 11-0 loss to Hartford. The Whalers and Oilers were my two favourite teams.  The Oilers usually crushed them, but not that day. I remember Rod Phillips calling the game and he was almost in shock how bad the Oilers played. The best playoff memory for me was Randy Gregg’s OT goal in game two vs. Winnipeg. I was 11 years old at the time and I remember thinking how cool it was that a guy like Gregg scored that goal.

No. Before my time. Didn’t arrive in Edmonton until 1989.

My favourite story about the 84 Cup team is when they won the cup!

I wasn’t born yet, but I assume my dad was holding at the time. He probably cheered, and I would have cheered by default.

Anything in the 0.500 range would be good; say 9-9-2 at a minimum.

Lowetide: 

I think they need 20-22 points in their first 20 games. Seriously. The schedule favors them and they’re home a lot early. If Edmonton is 6-11-3 after 20, I think fans will be upset and with good reason.

Jason Strudwick: 

20 points.

Jason Gregor: 

I’d say 21 points. Whether it is eight, nine or ten wins. They need that many points.

Robin Brownlee: 

Given the favourable home schedule in the first 11 games, I think the Oilers need at least 20 points from those first 20 games. Not a torrid pace, but a marked improvement over last season.

IF THEY AREN’T GONNA GO 82-0 THEN WHY EVEN BOTHER??

I wouldn’t be super mad if they went, say, like, 10-7-3. I think that’s a pretty reasonable goal. Though I also 

thought it was a reasonable goal for me to marry Megan Fox, and the jury is still out on that one. 

They’ve already ruined my version of an acceptable record. 

The message it sends, in concert with the things Doug Wilson and company were saying all summer, is that management would really like him to go somewhere else but he refuses and now they’re trying to live with the situation. I should also add that I think that the amount of politics associated with letters in the NHL is ridiculous.

Lowetide: 

Lordy. I don’t know what the hell they’re doing in San Jose. I guess they MIGHT be thinking that nothing else has worked, so we’ll be the bad guy (management) and give them an enemy to resent. Weird behavior from a smart guy (Doug Wilson).

Jason Strudwick: 

This seems like an over reaction to last season. They resign Joe and Marleau and then talk about moving them? I always thought the Sharks did most things right but they have messed up this situation.

Jason Gregor: 

The players voted on which players should wear a letter, so I think it shows us how much they respect Thornton. I believe Todd Mclellan wanted to make his team uncomfortable. I think he wanted them to deal with some adversity, albeit, much different than losing. It seems to have galvanized the players and that could be a good thing.

Robin Brownlee: 

Haven’t talked to any San Jose players about it so I can’t say for sure. I’m of the mind stripping a captain of the C isn’t a good idea under most circumstances. Joe Thornton isn’t to blame for San Jose’s failings to this point. so unless there’s a real question about his leadership from management or the coaches, I think it’s a bad idea if it’s being done under the premise of “shaking up” the team.

It’s gotta be a mixed message at the very least. “Hey Joe, we don’t trust you to be captain, but here’s almost the same responsibility with less of the prestige HOPE YOU’RE COOL WITH THAT KBYE!” They basically demoted him to Assistant To The Regional Manager, and that was only to get him out of Doug Wilson’s office and put his dick back in his pants.

At the end of the day, does it even matter to Joe Thornton? (I don’t know, I’m asking) It seems like it’s a Sharks tradition to strip Cs off guys though. Didn’t it happen to Marleau a few years ago? He seems to be doing alright.

Some of it comes down to opportunity and the consequences of failure. Every NHL team has two goaltending slots, six defencemen slots and 12 forward slots; there is more room for specialists (most really good young players tend to be offensive specialists, because their two-way game has not matured) when there are more slots overall. The consequences of a mistake are the smallest for wingers, who generally aren’t expected to be the high forward; there are several layers of defence behind them. The consequences are a little bigger for centres, who have more defensive responsibility. They’re much bigger for defencemen, who have only one line of defence behind them. They’re toughest of all for goalies, who are the last line of defence and for whom even a small mistake on an innocent play can be devastating. In short, it’s extremely easy for goalies and defencemen to look bad and it’s a lot harder to shelter a guy with weaknesses.

Lowetide: 

Defense and goal are more difficult positions to learn, and mistakes end up in the back of your net. Offensive forwards can already do the thing NHL teams want them to do, and defending takes experience.

Jason Strudwick: 

Wingers have much less to learn at the NHL level and adjust to. Center, dmen and goalies really are put under pressure.

It is easier position to play. If you make a mistake you have the D-men and the goalie to bail you out. There are rare exceptions like Doughty and Price who can handle it right away, but most can’t.

For starters, there’s more roster spots available for forwards — 12 to 14 for every team opposed to 6-7 for defensemen and two for goaltenders.  Generally speaking, there’s more turnover up front.

Speaking as a defenceman it’s obviously because forwards have super-massive egos that need to be constantly stroked, where as D-men are always super humble and quiet and handsome and are willing to put in the work it takes to become a regular NHL player. What do you think would have happened if Hall got sent back to Windsor his rookie year? HE WOULD HAVE BURNED DOWN STEVE TAMBELLINI’S HOUSE THAT’S WHAT!

Forwards have way less defensive responsibility (especially on the wing) and that allows coaches to ease them into games, for the most part. I suppose you could try to give young D-men soft zone starts, but if things go bad we’re all looking for someone to blame. 

I don’t think any kind of objective analysis would conclude the NHL is the best professional sports league. I like it because they play hockey, but from a business or ethical standpoint there’s no case in the NHL’s favour. From a business perspective, hockey doesn’t command the market that football, baseball or basketball do. From an ethical perspective, the NHL (like most professional sports leagues) is a parasitic growth on society, one that sucks up public subsidies in both Canada and the United States to inflate the bottom lines of billionaire owners and millionaire players and has no aversion to price gouging or cancelling seasons if it increases the amount of revenue coming in. I love watching hockey at its highest level but I have zero emotional attachment to the NHL.

Lowetide: 

Hmmm. I don’t know if I agree with your statement, Stephen. The NHL has the most wonderful game, but the league and its member owners do more to shoot their league in the foot than any human in recent history. I’d suggest the NHL is an example of a league that flourishes in spite of itself.

Jason Strudwick: 

The speed, physical style of game and skill all combined are unmatched in sports.

Who said it is? I’d say for writers and readers it is our favourite sport, but I don’t see it as the best pro league. I’m not sure there is one. The NFL, from a pure business standpoint, is the best, but they have many off-field issues right now that don’t allow it to be the best.

They are all good, because they are multi-billion dollar businesses, but I wouldn’t say the NHl is the best league. It is my favourite.

Who says it is the best professional sports league and in what context — popularity, revenue? In many U.S. markets, the NHL is second, third of even fourth in terms of fan interest. Inside page stuff until playoffs.

REF CAM!

I don’t even understand this question. The NHL is the best league in terms of what? Money generated? Entertainment value? Street cred? What are we talking about here? Just because you’re a hockey fan doesn’t necessarily (or at all) mean the NHL is the best league in the world. 

Now let me ask you a question… What makes fuchsia the best colour?