The Nuge
Some say…
Ya it’s kind of crazy that by the time we’re playing our next game, we’re going to have 5 less games played than the team we’re chasing (Nashville)
Pre-Game Talk: I’ll Wait: Sens in YEG @ 8pm Jan 6 2024 on HNIC
- Thread starter Morpheus
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Ya it’s kind of crazy that by the time we’re playing our next game, we’re going to have 5 less games played than the team we’re chasing (Nashville)
Completely ridiculous, and we haven't even had our week-long break yet (maybe it's included during your list - I don't know). One important thing is that thankfully our insanely bad start to the year was during a relatively quiet schedule, and not a busy one...
bone
5-14-6-1
Followed by an extremely light January schedule with a relatively light schedule of 10 games in 22 days. Edmonton will have 5 games in hand on Vegas at the all star break and 3 games in hand on LA who currently has a game in hand on Edmonton.
Edmonton's schedule post-break is likely the busiest in the entire NHL. Thanks schedule makers.
Though maybe the saving grace of that is will force Edmonton's hand to use all the roster and give Skinner more games off so that the team isn't completely out of gas by the playoffs. Woodcroft became too obsessed with chasing 1st in the West instead of preparing the bodies for playoffs and may impacted Skinner's playoff performance while also not properly assessing whether Campbell could have been an option for a playoff start.
Picture another universe where Edmonton split games equally (including some games for Campbell against teams that weren't bottom 5 in the entire NHL) over the final 15 games or so last year where the team was playing so damn good Campbell maybe wins those games anyways, then we have not only a more fresh Skinner but also Campbell playing confident as well. His handling of the final 15 games last year may have been one of JW's biggest mistakes.
Yes it looked good as Edmonton dominated and tied a franchise record for a winning streak in the process, but in retrospect was it worth it for home ice when Edmonton was 2-1 vs LA both at home and in LA and 1-2 vs. Vegas both at home and in Vegas.
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- Dec 9, 2004
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All these breaks now is just going to hurt us come Feb/March/April when the schedule is crazy busy. So hopefully the Oilers rack up as many points as they can now during this soft schedule against weaker opponents.
bone
5-14-6-1
bone
5-14-6-1
I thought 3-5 games in hand was bad, but seeing they will get to 8 games in hand is absolutely absurd in a non-Covid impacted season. That's like more than 2 and half weeks worth of actual schedule time they will be behind Seattle. Absolute fail by the NHL schedule makers.
My only hope is that it is so compressed in that stretch, that assuming Edmonton is pretty secure in at least getting a playoff spot that they properly spread out the games in April for the goalies leaving Skinner fresh and whoever is the other goalie ready if needed to come into service during the playoffs.
bone
5-14-6-1
Double checked and you are right. Seattle plays their last game before the break (their 50th game) on January 30th. Edmonton's last game before the break (their 45th game) is January 27th, but Edmonton re-starts on Feb 6 but Seattle Feb. 10, so it's really like 4 game cushion.
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I haven't watched a ton of them this year, what's the general problem?
My read on it is they are 2010-15 Oiler esque from the perspective of having a lot of talent, but not a lot of talent that is mature enough to pull it together.
Having said that, the 2010-15 Oilers had zero top calibre young D men (the Senators have 2), the 2010-15 Oilers had zero star quality veteran leadership (Sens have Giroux), and the Oilers were led by a bunch of guys that struggled to drag themselves into the fight when the season got away from them (Sens have Tkachuk).
One of the things that burned the Oilers in the end was the amount of cap that we committed to the failed rebuild 1.0 in 2010-15 that we never really extradited ourselves from before we had to pay the players in rebuild 2.0 that were actually good. At no point did we have the opportunity that Chicago does now where the seas are parting cap wise so that they can build as they like around Bedard. It's always been incremental and challenging here, and with the cap dollars that the Sens have committed to what looks like their own failed rebuild 1.0, it starts to become difficult to find the formula to flip things around.
Exile of Atlantis
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- Mar 30, 2022
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Fourier
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Thanks for following up. That is still a big gap. It was just that 8 stood out for me as being off the charts.
bone
5-14-6-1
Did the math and pre-all star break, Edmonton will have been playing games at a rate of about 1 games every 2.42 days. After the break, Edmonton will be playing games at a rate of 1 game every 1.95 days. Crazy descrepancy.
Using Vegas as a comparable... pre-all star break they play at a rate of 1 game every 2.18 days and post-break a game every 2.25 days.
Using Vegas as a comparable... pre-all star break they play at a rate of 1 game every 2.18 days and post-break a game every 2.25 days.
Oilers in NS
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I cant figure out the Sens. They have some great defence, great offensive players and some vets. Not sure what’s up.
Call me crazy, but this could end up being a blessing in disguise. This group seems to be better when there is a steady cadence of games, playing a bunch of elites in a row might be the perfect way to get in gear for the playoffs.
Having said that - if we don't have a steady 1A/B option by then there is obviously the risk of burning Skinner out again before the playoffs like last year. Need to rectify that first.
Oilers in NS
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I’m worried about injuries when they compress the schedule.
bone
5-14-6-1
Agreed. All the more reason to stretch things out as much as possible. Fortunately, Coach K isn't playing McDavid to ridiculously high minutes and the defense is also spreading the minutes out much more evenly than before at 5 on 5. If they can keep that up, it becomes less of an issue.
Oilers in NS
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Maybe they need a trip on the Epstein Express?Must be something in the water...
Oilers in NS
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100%
Coach K is spreading out ice time properly. I believe McDavid played @17 mins the other night. Before, it was over 25 when Woody coached. Bottom 6 is playing good. Very tough decisions upcoming. I’m gonna predict a trade. Possibly with Columbus
Coming back will be a bottom 6, Dman, and goalie
What do we trade?
1st, Cambell, Bourgault, another prospect, 2nd
bellagiobob
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This was another annoying and dumb Woodcroft trait. He was playing McDavid and Drai over 20 mins a game in blowout pre-season games this year. The only time he would ever really back them off is if the game was a complete runaway early, but even then they'd be in the ballpark of 18/19 a lot of the time. I remember plenty of blowouts when they were both over 20 mins for literally no reason.
For a guy that seems to be a methodical thinker and planner, Woodcroft did not properly manage the team with the big picture in mind really ever.
bone
5-14-6-1
Unless it's a game with 4-6 powerplays, or we're down a goal or two in the third, the standard should be 20-21 minutes maximum for them. In games with 0-2 powerplays, and the team leading, they shouldn't be cracking 20 minutes.
So far in KKs tenures. McDavid has played less than 20 minutes 8 out of 22 games. He's also played 22 or more minutes 8 times, but all 8 games were games that either included overtime (3 times) or the team trailing by 2 or less goals in the third period (TBay(x2), FLA, Winnipeg, Islanders). 6 of those 8 games also had more than 4 minutes of PP time.
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Davo Ikinzom
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KCC
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They did just play 4 in 6 nights so I can see why a 3 game break was put in but yeah, the schedule is really wonky.
Also trying to change the defensive system with very little practice was suicide. Dude was too chill to start the year maybe expecting the team to start where they left off and then when they didn't, it possibly caught him off guard. To put in bluntly I don't think he prepared the team enough heading into the season and it showed.
Drivesaitl
Finding Hemingway
I think the worse in this NHL scheduling is whether its happening incidentally or by design. The NHL thinking that fans will just look at pts and the way standings are conventionally displayed rather than say win % as is done in other sports.
Seems like the NHL tossing some crumbs to teams like Vancouver, Seattle, to create the illusion of elevation. In the same or similar ways that 3pt games does that. The NHL with that stroke made the majority of teams .500 or better clubs using NHL brand math and logic. Further that wins are all in one column, losses are divided. Illusion and poor parlor card tricks.
