THE EPIC 2006 STANLEY RUN: PART ONE
By Lowetide
7 years agoIn a series that begins today, we are going to re-visit a magical time—the late winter, spring and early summer of 2006. The first chapter opens as we approach the trade deadline. A top flight NHL team is hanging around the final playoff spot, badly in need of a goalie. GM Kevin Lowe casts about looking for a solution, and my goodness did he find one.
- Scott Burnside, January 2006: The Wild goaltending tandem has been, well, a tandem for so long, we
instinctively link them together. But that’s about to come to an end as
both will be unrestricted free agents at the end of the season.
Fernandez, who has played the marginal second fiddle to (Dwayne) Roloson in spite
of posting better numbers (again marginally), is most likely to move
on. The Wild have recently surged into the Western Conference playoff
hunt, adding another dynamic to GM Doug Risebrough’s thought process. If
they stay close, do the defensive-minded Wild move one of their
netminders for some offensive help, or do they keep both for a possible
playoff run? Source
The Edmonton Oilers of 2005-06 are possibly the least understood team of the century. Many people will tell you they were an average team that barely scraped into the playoffs, got hot, and ran their winning all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
The truth is this: The 2005-06 Oilers belonged with the big boys in the Western Conference all year, but lacked the goaltending to make things hum. At the deadline, when the team acquired Dwayne Roloson, the final tumbler clicked, and they became the best Oilers team in the last 25 seasons.
STANDINGS ON DECEMBER 25, 2006
The Oilers were outside the playoffs on Christmas morning, although in truth it was a three-way tie for No. 7 overall with Minnesota and the Avalanche. Edmonton was in fact a far better team in most areas, but the goalies were not strong and the team needed a tweak here and there.
TRADE DEADLINE (AND BEFORE) 2006
- January 26, 2006: JAROSLAV SPACEK. The
Chicago Blackhawks gave up the veteran blueliner for the rights to Tony
Salmelainen. Fantastic deal—veteran top 4D with two-way skills for a mid-level prospect (Tyler Pitlick level). - January 26, 2006: DICK TARNSTROM. Pittsburgh sent him
over for Cory Cross (who was extremely disappointed to be dealt) and
Jani Rita. Rita was a former first rounder that Craig MacTavish never warmed to, and I always felt bad for Cory Cross, who was a good soldier. Tarnstrom would come in handy, but not at the same level as Spacek. - March 8, 2006: DWAYNE ROLOSON. Kevin
Lowe’s 2nd most famous “good trade” cost a first round pick in 2006 and
a conditional pick—it was worth every penny. - March 9, 2006: SERGEI SAMSONOV. Edmonton gave up Marty Reasoner
(who they could have used later, when Pouliot went down with mono) along
with Yan Stastny and the draft pick that turned into Milan Lucic.
We may never pass this way again, but that is a rocking trade deadline. Starting goalie, offensive winger, stud pairing defender and an offensive chaos defenseman in case M-A Bergeron went sideways. A very good deadline.
FINAL STANDINGS 2005-06
After Christmas, Edmonton went 23-13-11 to finish 41-28-13 and win the final playoff spot. The club had goaltending issues until the deadline and then fixed it with the Roloson hire:
- Jussi Markkanen 37gp, 3.12 .880
- Mike Morrison 21gp, 2.83 .884
- Dwayne Roloson 19gp, 2.42 .905
- Ty Conklin 18gp, 2.80 .880
The team was a good possession team, as Sunil Agnihotri showed in the following graph:
The Oilers were good. Full stop. that SP (30th!) killed them, and obscured a very good team. Craig MacTavish and his coaching staff (Billy Moores, Craig Simpson, Charlie Huddy, Pete Peeters and Brian Ross) had the team rolling come playoff time. Up next: Round One.
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