Monday Mailbag – Predictions for the Oilers vs Blackhawks play-in round?

Happy game week, Nation! As we do every Monday morning, I’ve got a fresh mailbag ready with the answers you’ve ever wanted to know about the NHL’s return and life in general. Once again, our panel of life coaches wandered into the depths of their brains to offer you every nugget of wisdom that they could muster and all for the low low price of absolutely nothing at all. As always, this feature depends on you guys so I need you to submit your questions. If you have something you’d like to know you can always email me, or DM me on Twitter. With that out of the way, it’s time to learn something. Enjoy.

I think there’ll be plenty of edge to the game but nothing goofy. This will be the first situation for both teams to be in a game situation and I expect they’ll use that to run their lines and get up to speed in general. I expect we’ll see pretty much the starting line-up for both teams on the ice and both goaltenders for the Oilers.

I’m not expecting any fireworks. Both teams will be focused on getting in game shape. Maybe we see an odd scrum, but unless someone delivers a huge hit I don’t see the emotions running too hot.

It’s fair to be a little bit anxious about this game given the fact Connor McDavid suffered his brutal injury against the Flames in a meaningless game at the end of the 2018-19 season and the Flames have some notoriously *cough* Mark Giordano *cough* players on their roster. But, after four months off, I think players will be more worried about getting themselves up to game speed than they will about bringing the intensity of the Battle of Alberta rivalry we saw this year.

I don’t think it’s going to anything crazy. The two teams are both going to be looking to get some jump back into their games as they prepare for the important games on August 1st. For anyone looking for anything similar to what we saw earlier this year, you’re probably going to be disappointed.

I think they’ll be pretty quiet in terms of physicality as both sides will be looking to knock the rest off rather than settle old scores. We can save those for later on in the playoffs.

No donkeys banging the glass or standing up and throwing their arms in the air every time the camera pans past them. Actually looking forward to seeing how the league dresses up the seating area with the tarping, signage etc that was discussed and shown in an artist’s concept last week.

There will be 12 extra cameras so we should see the game from different angles. I’ve long believed TV made the NHL look easier than it is, and didn’t capture how fast the game is. I’m hoping the extra cameras showcase that.

The NBA has done some really cool, floor-level camera stuff that makes it feel like you’re a part of the action. The NHL doesn’t have the same courtside open space that the NBA does, obviously, but it’ll be interesting to see what the NHL’s creative teams can do with more room in the stadium to operate with.

It’s going to be interesting to see how the players respond. I don’t think it’s going to be anything crazy for them but at the end of the day they’re definitely used to the added crowd noise. The new camera angles are going to be cool and I’m excited to see what they do with the added displays in the rink.

I’m looking forward to seeing these new camera angles that we’ve heard about as well as all of the hilarious swears that bleed through on TV even though they’re on a five-second delay.

I think he should win it on merit, but it’s a vote so let’s go with 80 per cent to allow for an upset — thinking back to RNH getting stiffed on the Calder Trophy.

All three players are worthy. How voters view it will be fascinating. I don’t see a clear choice, because, remember, this is most valuable to your team. It is a different than Ted Lindsay, which I think Draisaitl has a better chance to win. But if you are asking for a percentage I will say he has a 57% to win.

I’d say it’s a 50/50 flip for me. I do believe he should win, since I watched the Oilers all season and saw the value he brought to the team, but a lot of voters are going to see his minus-7 rating and penalize him for it. Voters who don’t watch the team closely will also likely mistakenly associate Draisaitl’s success with riding shotgun beside Connor McDavid, which isn’t even really accurate, but that’s just how these things go.

I don’t know. 70/30? I think MacKinnon and Panarin have compelling cases, but I really don’t know if its enough to knock Leon off the top.

He should win it but I don’t think he will — I think the eastern voters don’t watch him play enough.

I said in an item I wrote that I expect the Oilers to sweep it in three games if the Blackhawks don’t have Corey Crawford. He’s coming to Edmonton but has missed a lot of camp/workouts, so even if he does play there will be some rust. I suppose he could get the Blackhawks one game, but I still see it as a sweep and will stick with that.

Oilers win…I have entire playoff prediction article coming later this week, so will hold off in how many games until it is out.

I’d have said a sweep without Corey Crawford in net, but, if he’s playing and healthy, he can probably steal Chicago a game. Oilers in four.

Oilers in three. Clean sweep.

Oil in four, baby!

Not my first choice and I’m not crazy about the name, but I do like the colours and the logo. The presentation at the unveiling was very good. They’re after a younger demographic, not old guys like me, so I expect the name and colours will be very popular.

No complaints about the name, logo or colours. Kraken is great, because it is so different that most monikers and the colour schemes are very different, which is great. I also liked both logos a lot.

The jerseys are definitely sharp and they’ll look great on the ice. They also match other Seattle team aesthetics used by the Seahawks and the Mariners, so it all makes sense. Kraken as a name, though? I’m not a huge fan. I would have loved Sockeyes. It matches the city a bit more, I think. Kraken just makes me think of that rum.

Look, the NHL is not a very fun hockey league. As much as they try, they still struggle. So for the Seattle Kraken to come into the league is great because, well, they’re fun. Like seriously. The Kraken? I love it. And the logo and colour scheme are tremendous, too. I give it three bags of milk out of three.

I think they did a solid job personally. The colours are solid and the logo is nice and clean. As for the name, Kraken is fine but certainly better than the Sockeyes, which was also rumoured to be in the running.

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