Post-Game Talk: From the jaws of defeat…

[WhiskeyEE]

I never really get this comment. So because you're being paid 2.6M a year you shouldn't be doing the utmost to be the best you can possibly be? The Oilers spend plenty on the goalie file if counting Campbell contract and buyout. I could buy the excuse Skinner wasn't ready to be a starter 3yrs ago. I can't buy a player improving very little in the span he's been here and expectations for a player being less just because they get paid less than some others. Hyman had a Rocket Richard year last season and only gets 6M. We don't pay Ekholm a ton and it doesn't stop him from being a stud, and imo one of the more imposing D in the game and good in all areas and also scores. Somebody tell Janmark he's doing too much (he's been one of the best players on the club everygame this year. I guess he's overperforming his contract.

These are pro players playing in the top rung of hockey. Through history several goalies have overperformed and been happy too and have become excellent despite their pay grade. Of note Skinner is also up for contract negotiation and his current play being among league worst for staters, its probably not getting him a big deal either.

Skinner is making a guaranteed 2.6M a year. We've paid him 7.8M in this contract for 3yrs just to be Stu Skinner I guess. Even though its a shitload of pay which should be good enough to inspire anybody.

Lastly the Oilers are dealing with a goalie who changed agents one year after signing his contract. Presumably he feels as if he's being underpaid. He thinks he's some kind of stud and has the same agent as hellbuck. The "we're only paying this guys so much could change soon" Really I wish the Oilers would just not sign another contract with him but I doubt thats what they end up doing. Skinner, despite his drawbacks and his agent are highly using "once allstar, and SC finalist" in their ploys to get the most buck for this weaksauce bang. Skinner problably gets way more in his next deal and for what really?

What makes you think he isn't trying his best?

I'm just saying that the Oilers haven't invested much into their starting goalie and sometimes you have to expect to get what you pay for. They spent 7 mil on JSkinner and Arvidsson in the summer that they could've put toward a goalie upgrade if they wanted (minus the salaries of their hypothetical replacements and + Pickard's or Skinner's salary I guess).

Makes more sense to be mad at management than Skinner since I see no reason to believe he isn't doing all he can.

I was hoping for a goalie upgrade, but it seems the Oilers management decided to gamble on Skinner improving and playing above his salary.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Dad took the kids Xmas shopping lol. Good on Bouchard

 

[Duke74]

The cool kids use the term "washed" now apparently.

Actually, I think it's "cooked." As in, "bruh, he's totally cooked..."

 

[rboomercat90]

Missed the game.

How did arvidson look caught thebladtv5 minutes and ot never seen him

He looked just like Gagner looked like last year. He got crushed pretty much every time he touched the puck. IMO, he’s done and at risk of injury every time he steps on the ice.

 

[brentashton]

Actually, I think it's "cooked." As in, "bruh, he's totally cooked..."

Cooked, washed, fried, baked, toast. What’s with all the cooking terms?

 

[The Panther]

Some stats related to Mattias Ekholm's period with Edmonton.... Since he became an Oiler:

NHL teams:
1. Dallas .681
2. Edmonton .670
3. Boston .665

NHL defencemen ES scoring:
1. Quinn Hughes 87
2. Cale Makar 81
3. Josh Morrissey 80
4. Evan Bouchard 76
5. Erik Karlsson 69
...
10. Mattias Ekholm 63

NHL players plus/minus:
1. Mattias Ekholm +82
2. Gustav Forsling +80
3. Dylan DeMelo +64
4. Connor McDavid +57
5. Leon Draisaitl +54
6. Quinn Hughes +53
7. Evan Bouchard +51

Remember when some nutty fans thought the Oilers should be acquiring Erik Karlsson? Since Ekholm was acquired, he has scored 91% of Karlsson's ES points while going +82 to Karlsson's -25.

Mattias has had a rough few weeks, but overall, I'd say since his acquisition he's been the Oilers' best Dman since Pronger.

 

[brentashton]

Remember when some nutty fans thought the Oilers should be acquiring Erik Karlsson?

There a couple of macadamias on these boards that still think they should be persuing EK.

No thank you, very much.

 

[Tarus]

Remember when some nutty fans thought the Oilers should be acquiring Erik Karlsson? Since Ekholm was acquired, he has scored 91% of Karlsson's ES points while going +82 to Karlsson's -25.

Mattias has had a rough few weeks, but overall, I'd say since his acquisition he's been the Oilers' best Dman since Pronger.

No one thought Ekholm would be available, it was something that only popped up in the week leading up to the deadline and most thought Nashville wouldn't be dumb enough to do that.

When the debate for months is whether the Oilers should acquire Chrychrun or push for Karlsson while he's in the middle of a 100 point season, it's pretty easy to see why lots wanted to see the Oilers acquire EK back then

 

[Drivesaitl]

What makes you think he isn't trying his best?

I'm just saying that the Oilers haven't invested much into their starting goalie and sometimes you have to expect to get what you pay for. They spent 7 mil on JSkinner and Arvidsson in the summer that they could've put toward a goalie upgrade if they wanted (minus the salaries of their hypothetical replacements and + Pickard's or Skinner's salary I guess).

Makes more sense to be mad at management than Skinner since I see no reason to believe he isn't doing all he can.

I was hoping for a goalie upgrade, but it seems the Oilers management decided to gamble on Skinner improving and playing above his salary.

Because Skinner hasn't "tried his best" (whatever that is) his whole career. By his own accounts somebody that just started to train and take that aspect seriously after draft. He's somebody thats basically relied his whole career on just being big. he has the worst skillsets of any starter in the league and still. its like a comedy movie where some org with the best players in the world just somehow land on Stu Skinner, which is frankly awful, and the org loves him so much we probably see him for the rest of the decade f***ing round. I'm patient with almost any player that is good. What I cannot absolve is a guy that selects that he's going to be a pro athlete and then fails to even do the modicum in preparation of that.

Charmed life Skinner just landed in this spot. About the only thing he had to do is be better than Rodrigue. he wasn't even better than Campbell and he's worse than Pickard, and he still gets the cherry spot and he probably gets a raise, maybe even doubling, in next contract.

lol I'm working myself into a lather about this. I'll shut up for a bit. Thanks for reading.

 

[Drivesaitl]

There a couple of macadamias on these boards that still think they should be perusing EK.

No thank you, very much.

macadamias is very polite of you. Except those are pretty good. jmo plus bonus for the Hawaii connection. I like Mixed Nuts more thus me hanging around here hehe. I'll identify as an Almond if anybody is wondering. I would say cashew but I'm not soft. I'm a harder nut to crack. I would say Walnut but that would exaggerate. My nutty tangent of the day.

Just an aside but its crazy how unbusy the shopping is right now. I'm benefitting from Amazon I guess and online shopping whether I use it or not. Stores aren't even busy. None of them are .

 

[brentashton]

macadamias is very polite of you. Except those are pretty good. jmo plus bonus for the Hawaii connection. I like Mixed Nuts more thus me hanging around here hehe. I'll identify as an Almond if anybody is wondering. I would say cashew but I'm not soft. I'm a harder nut to crack. I would say Walnut but that would exaggerate. My nutty tangent of the day.

Just an aside but its crazy how unbusy the shopping is right now. I'm benefitting from Amazon I guess and online shopping whether I use it or not. Stores aren't even busy. None of them are .

Xmas , always the time of year that we had/have mixed nuts with a nut cracker, picks etc.. Not sure why, maybe it gave us something to do, get the tools out and have a small snack. I used to “farm the pile” a lot, could not stand the Brazil nuts or the flat almonds whatever they are called.

Used to also love xmas candy- that multi coloured small candy that had pictures of flowers on it or something. Used to love getting that in my stocking along with xmas oranges. Simpler times.

 

[The Panther]

When the debate for months is whether the Oilers should acquire Chrychrun or push for Karlsson while he's in the middle of a 100 point season, it's pretty easy to see why lots wanted to see the Oilers acquire EK back then

Didn't make any sense to me. The Oilers, at the time, were the highest scoring team in the NHL and were filling the net on a nightly basis. Their challenge was defence and goaltending, and those weren't issues that Karlsson was going to help with.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Xmas , always the time of year that we had/have mixed nuts with a nut cracker, picks etc.. Not sure why, maybe it gave us something to do, get the tools out and have a small snack. I used to “farm the pile” a lot, could not stand the Brazil nuts or the flat almonds whatever they are called.

Used to also love xmas candy- that multi coloured small candy that had pictures of flowers on it or something. Used to love getting that in my stocking along with xmas oranges. Simpler times.

A tub of mixed nuts is my version of crack apparently. I have to close the jar, put it out of reach and then get the wife to hide it. Except then she knows where it is. I should never be eating these things when Skinner is in goal. I'm just saying. I should eat air popped popcorn only...my horror movie staple. Ala Mr Bean.

You lost me with the Xmas Candy with pictures of flowers. Ahhh Mandarin oranges before they mass marketed and modified these things to grow big and plentiful but not with the same taste. used to be the best.

 

[MessierII]

Ahhh Mandarin oranges before they mass marketed and modified these things to grow big and plentiful but not with the same taste. used to be the best.

Thank god I’m not crazy. I was just complaining about this other day. Even 10 years ago mandarin oranges were so much better.

 

[brentashton]

A tub of mixed nuts is my version of crack apparently. I have to close the jar, put it out of reach and then get the wife to hide it. Except then she knows where it is. I should never be eating these things when Skinner is in goal. I'm just saying. I should eat air popped popcorn only...my horror movie staple. Ala Mr Bean.

You lost me with the Xmas Candy with pictures of flowers. Ahhh Mandarin oranges before they mass marketed and modified these things to grow big and plentiful but not with the same taste. used to be the best.

 

[harpoon]

Thank god I’m not crazy. I was just complaining about this other day. Even 10 years ago mandarin oranges were so much better.

I was back in Canada around Christmas time last year. Surprised (but not really) to see that most of the mandarin oranges I could find were from China. They were shit. The mikan oranges that we have here in Japan are excellent. Just like I remember from my childhood. Can even buy them in S,M,L sizes as you prefer. They aren’t cheap, but they are tasty af.

 

[SupremeTeam16]

Cooked, washed, fried, baked, toast. What’s with all the cooking terms?

Trudeau’d if you wanna get away from the cooking analogies.

 

[brentashton]

Trudeau’d if you wanna get away from the cooking analogies.

You had me at Tru…

 

[rboomercat90]

View attachment 948886

I remember these.

 

[brentashton]

I remember these.

My wife is big on maintaining family traditions and still buys these. I appreciate it. It’s a small thing but floods my mind with so many memories.

We also still eat a 12 dish meatless (fish) Ukrainian meal on Xmas Eve, including kutia, boiled wheat. (My dad would occasionally fling it at the ceiling as it was a tradition to tell if the next year would be prosperous or not, depending on whether it stuck or not). Breakfast at supper I always say. Love the entire meal.

Looking forward to the incoming food coma in a few days.

 

[brentashton]

I was back in Canada around Christmas time last year. Surprised (but not really) to see that most of the mandarin oranges I could find were from China. They were shit. The mikan oranges that we have here in Japan are excellent. Just like I remember from my childhood. Can even buy them in S,M,L sizes as you prefer. They aren’t cheap, but they are tasty af.

Good Xmas oranges (and produce in general) at the store across from the Sherwood park mall, near festival place. Daughter brought some home . Never had mikan.

 

[rboomercat90]

My wife is big on maintaining family traditions and still buys these. I appreciate it. It’s a small thing but floods my mind with so many memories.

We also still eat a 12 dish meatless (fish) Ukrainian meal on Xmas Eve, including kutia, boiled wheat. (My dad would occasionally fling it at the ceiling as it was a tradition to tell if the next year would be prosperous or not, depending on whether it stuck or not). Breakfast at supper I always say. Love the entire meal.

Looking forward to the incoming food coma in a few days.

If my Dad was throwing food in the house Mom would have made sure he didn’t have a good year.

 

[Tarus]

Didn't make any sense to me. The Oilers, at the time, were the highest scoring team in the NHL and were filling the net on a nightly basis. Their challenge was defence and goaltending, and those weren't issues that Karlsson was going to help with.

The Oilers had a huge hole in the top 4 back then, and the best two defensemen that every rumormonger in the league was reporting to be available at the time was Chrychrun and Karlsson. Given the seemingly limited options and the Oilers glaring need, Karlsson seemed like the better bet to some even if he didn't fit what the team really needed stylistically,

Which was my original point, no one knew Ekholm was available. Everyone was arguing about whether they should acquire Chrychrun or Karlsson, and then suddenly Ekholm was an Oiler.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

In the last 25 games at all Strengths for all teams, the Oilers rank:

#2 in Points
#3 in GA
#5 in GF
#4 in GF%
#5 in xGA
#11 in xGF
#6 in xGF%
#5 in CF%
#2 in HDCF%
#8 in SV%

All this with a PDO of .99

Team is rolling right now.

View attachment 948771

Imagine how good they'd be if their number 1 D man wasnt low IQ bouchard.

He looked just like Gagner looked like last year. He got crushed pretty much every time he touched the puck. IMO, he’s done and at risk of injury every time he steps on the ice.

Gonna start calling it the Arvi hattrick.

Get hit 3x and look like you're dead.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Good Xmas oranges (and produce in general) at the store across from the Sherwood park mall, near festival place. Daughter brought some home . Never had mikan.

These are possibly Indian Mandarins which are often available here now and are better than the Chinese ones (anything is) They usually come attached with the stems which is also kind of festive looking in a bowl. Could be something else though. I've been in that grocer, its quite good. They have good fruit and produce. Its H & W but seems way better than the Edmonton stores.