Post-Game Talk: Oilers beat the Knights

[Duke74]

The VGK GDT has TWO replies.

Their thread on Kolesar's 3 years extension. 0 Replies.

Lol. #Passion.

I think most of them post on the main GDT

 

[Drivesaitl]

Emberson and that silly Podkolzin aren’t Holloway and Broberg, but they’re not that far off either

Emberson matches what we lost in Broberg. He's probably better in the short term as he's already got his man strength, is a beast, and is a better D at this point in time and we have him cheap. So credit to the org managing to fill that whole that they lost.

But yeah, Podkolzin, he ain't Holloway, and won't be at anytime. He's actually far off. Not comparable players. Which is not to say Pods isn't playing a role here and he's offered more than I thought, but not the same. The other thing is we don't know that current motivation lasts indefinitely with Pods. We have a player in this instance that already seen his NHL career vanish. With Pods a player that has had extreme long times of just not finding scoring or his complete game. Its nice that we have some aspects of it now because he's desperate, but will it last?

That said same could be said for Kapanen. You just don't know the long game with reclamation players. The reason you have players like this on the cheap is they bombed out somewhere else.

Emberson looks like the real deal though. Great find.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Arvidsson will be lucky to get back in the lineup. He can wait.

I can wait too. We're a much better team without him. Gives up the puck far too much and far too easy. Blow and he falls down. He doesn't match what this club is ideally, a strong on puck possession club. Unless Arvid is somehow suddenly 100% he won't be much more than what we have.

 

[Soundwave]

Emberson and Pod are much better fits for the roster roles the Oilers need while Broberg and Holloway are getting pumped up on a bad team because of what they’re paying them.

Were paying these two a combined 1.9M while Holloway and Broberg cost almost 7M combined, not to mention the additional assets and cap space will allow Edmonton more targeted additions.

The Oilers don’t miss Holloway or Broberg at all, we are a better team this year without them than we were last year with them.

I'd like to have kept one of them at least, but I get the feeling if we had they would be having no where near the same puck luck here and would be under a shit-ton of pressure from the media and fanbase due to signing an offer sheet and may just be having bad seasons here outright.

It is what it is.

For what Holloway and Broberg were here *last season*, they've been replaced without much a hitch. Neither was good in the regular season here last year, Broberg didn't really stand out (granted 11/7 is probably a dumb setup, thanks Woody) and Holloway had a terrible 4 points total in his 30th game played.

 

[GOilers88]

Huh? The Oilers have had much more playoff success than the Jets. Best they did was get Gentleman’s Swept by the Golden Knights that one year and haven’t been able to make it out of the first round otherwise, aside from that one time where they were swept

The last few years are absolutely pushing decades of poor to mediocre history into the rear view. Nor am I saying Winnipeg is a bastion of success. I'm just saying that I disagree with this notion that Gary Bettman is keeping a cup out of Canada because every Canadian franchise seems to shoot itself in the foot by hiring and sticking with poor management groups.

I think Winnipeg, given the location, has done a pretty damn respectable job over the years by having good player scouting and development, and smart management in a small market that isn't exactly known as desirable, and without the luxury of winning draft lotteries.

 

[TheNumber4]

I think most of them post on the main GDT

Yeh all 3 of them…

 

[bobbythebrain]

Sorry man but you're delusional if you don't think that Ceci was a bad match for Nurse. I'm not entirely blaming Ceci, some of Nurse's issues were definitely on Nurse, but Nurse's numbers away from Ceci have always been better. The proof is in the pudding.

And that's the problem. You're relying on stats to justify your explanation

I don't need statistics to see why he's been better. I can see it with my own 2 eyes, and it definitely isn't predominantly because of his d partners.

I can also guarantee you that his stats would plummet if he defualts back to doing 20+ reverses a game, 4 pointless icing and goaline forced passes over and over

 

[Oilhawks]

The last few years are absolutely pushing decades of poor to mediocre history into the rear view. Nor am I saying Winnipeg is a bastion of success. I'm just saying that I disagree with this notion that Gary Bettman is keeping a cup out of Canada because every Canadian franchise seems to shoot itself in the foot by hiring and sticking with poor management groups.

I think Winnipeg, given the location, has done a pretty damn respectable job over the years by having good player scouting and development, and smart management in a small market that isn't exactly known as desirable, and without the luxury of winning draft lotteries.

While I don’t necessarily disagree with your points, and while Bettman sucks shit for multiple reasons, blaming him entirely is too easy. It’s more nuanced than that or “poor management” as well, IMO. There is a real locational advantage for some franchises due to geographic reasons, lower taxes, anonymity etc. Likewise, a Canadian team has to be very successful to become a desirable location, and even then, some players won’t care enough when they can have a good chance to win in more desirable locations (not counting the players that apparently don’t care about winning to begin with, which there are some)

I think your Winnipeg example is pretty key in illustrating that as well

 

[Soundwave]

And that's the problem. You're relying on stats to justify your explanation

I don't need statistics to see why he's been better. I can see it with my own 2 eyes, and it definitely isn't predominantly because of his d partners.

I can also guarantee you that his stats would plummet if he defualts back to doing 20+ reverses a game, 4 pointless icing and goaline forced passes over and over

The trend was the same last playoffs ... Nurse was terrible with Ceci and then magically way better with everyone else.

There's definitely something happening there. Some guys just mix like water and oil, it doesn't work.

 

[AM]

There was panic in the streets going into the start of the season.

Honestly I don't know what the plan will be for the deadline right now. With Kulak and Nurse lights out I think the target might be a solid third pairing LHD which is probably the cheapest option out there. But who knows if it will look the same two moths from now.

Lots of hockey before they need to make a decision. And best of all, the players are making it hard to take them off the ice.

 

[AM]

As an Oilers fan it is shocking how much I like watching the d-corps play. Steady, move the puck fast, makin plays, constantly filling in as the 3rd man on a rush, switching on the offensive blue line, skating…

Kudos to Coffey’s philosophy to get his guys to push it, definitely done more than years of scaredy cat coaching.

It’s like double the fun. When your team is executing at both ends of the ice.

 

[McShogun99]

Emberson matches what we lost in Broberg. He's probably better in the short term as he's already got his man strength, is a beast, and is a better D at this point in time and we have him cheap. So credit to the org managing to fill that whole that they lost.

But yeah, Podkolzin, he ain't Holloway, and won't be at anytime. He's actually far off. Not comparable players. Which is not to say Pods isn't playing a role here and he's offered more than I thought, but not the same. The other thing is we don't know that current motivation lasts indefinitely with Pods. We have a player in this instance that already seen his NHL career vanish. With Pods a player that has had extreme long times of just not finding scoring or his complete game. Its nice that we have some aspects of it now because he's desperate, but will it last?

That said same could be said for Kapanen. You just don't know the long game with reclamation players. The reason you have players like this on the cheap is they bombed out somewhere else.

Emberson looks like the real deal though. Great find.

Pods and Emberson are excellent support/depth players while Holloway and Broberg are looking like a future stars and team leaders.

 

[Stoneman89]

I liked my pgt title more but looks like this one is being it.

Bobblehead Skinner. This guy frustrates me even in a win like this. The worst goal you ever seen, and he's had 20 blooper mishandle pucks like this, its not new, and a minute later he's bopping his head around like a dummy again. I can't unsee it. This guy makes me nervous all the time. He just handed the Knights the 5-3 goal on a routine dump in. Skinner being the one to erase the clubs perfect record of not being scored against on PP, until Skinner handed out the shorty like Halloween candy. The whole Vegas bench laughing at it. Because you know these teams will face each other in playoffs and about the only thing Vegas got on us is Skinner is our starter. We win, but Skinner has to remind us..

Then Debrusk polishing him all day, constantly. You'd swear this was the Skinner is great broadcast. Praise Skinner. haha

Seriously? The guy had a .930 save % and stopped 40 shots, many of the tough variety as Vegas really put the screws to us during the last half of the game when we took our foot of the gas, and he made one gaffe and you're all over him? He's no Mike Smith but for the most part, he's been making the simple puck handling moves to his d-men. No wonder so many of your comments are not taken seriously on here.

 

[Stoneman89]

Get that kid a season ticket!

 

[K1984]

The last few years are absolutely pushing decades of poor to mediocre history into the rear view. Nor am I saying Winnipeg is a bastion of success. I'm just saying that I disagree with this notion that Gary Bettman is keeping a cup out of Canada because every Canadian franchise seems to shoot itself in the foot by hiring and sticking with poor management groups.

I think Winnipeg, given the location, has done a pretty damn respectable job over the years by having good player scouting and development, and smart management in a small market that isn't exactly known as desirable, and without the luxury of winning draft lotteries.

The Jets win trades, and that’s an absolute requirement in that market. The last two major “I don’t want to play in this hell hole anymore” type moves for Trouba and PLD they won handily. Even going back a decade, they did well in the Evander Kane deal too.

They don’t panic when players want out of there. They just seek out the best deal and win them.

 

[Stoneman89]

Huge credit to Knob for getting them to play a hard game at both ends of the ice. Not losing a bunch of 50/50 battles anymore, and making sure multiple guys in on the play. Support all over the ice. Teams continue to try what has been our achilles heal in forever - firing the puck to the net and cramming it with players and outplaying us for a rebound for an easy close in score. Now, we're competing hard in there with lots of guys and invariably coming out with the puck. And when we don't, Skin has been very good at smothering it.

- since Nurse started simplifying his game, he's been lights out, and our best dman by a lot. Amazing how less can be more.
- Drai playing his best overall hockey of his career. Oozing with confidence and unlike some posters on here saying he always gets shafted on linemates, he's managing to elevate them and make them look like decent to good hockey players, something his superstar teammate does on a regular basis. That is huge.
- Emberson has really settled in and found a mark with this team. Another guy just playing within himself and slowly growing his game with more experience and confidence. As for Stetcher, he's been good in stretches, but I firmly believe they need an upgrade there as I think he'll get caved in the playoffs. But a very solid choice at a number 7 and a fill-in when needed.
- Skinner was good all game but especially in the last half when we really needed stops. Yes, he made an incredibly bad play on the 3rd goal, but fortunately he came back strong after that and shut the door. I seem to remember a pretty good goalie playing for the Wild a few weeks ago that allowed a soft ridiculously terrible goal in the game and then locked it down after that. A good lesson to learn from. He's been handling the puck a whole lot better in the last few weeks and making smart simple plays to his d-men, so as bad as this looked, I'm prepared to write it off as a one-off and hopefully he's learned from it. But shit happens to the best of them and fortunately, it didn't hurt us.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Were the favorites again, as of today..

View attachment 945769

Love how it squeezes the red part into oblivion

 

[Stoneman89]

I've been as critical of Nurse as anyone over the last couple years, and let's be honest here...he deserved it.

That being said, he's currently playing like a high-end #1, and it's a thing of beauty. The pass he made tonight to Drai was f***ing awesome.

Honestly to me, it seems like his lateral mobility, and ability to pivot has much improved which is allowing him to get to pucks dumped in behind him quicker, and square up to players with possession on his periphery.

Is there anything to this? It seems to me he's been reported as having some hip issues over the last couple of years which would explain this.

Regardless, he's currently more than earned his contract so far this year. The man has been an absolute beast at both ends of the ice, and looks like he's having a ton of fun out there.

Well deserved redemption arch, that might actually be the biggest boon this team could have possibly asked for.

He's been our best defenseman by a f***ing country mile.

100 % agreed. These posters telling us now that "I knew it all along and I'm a genius, you fools" are full of it. He's been average to really bad a lot of times the last few years, and last years playoffs was arguably one of our worst if not our worst dman, and the stats bore that out. The criticism has been wholely justified and has been mostly constructive.
But now that he's in a great stretch, he also needs to be acknowledged and highly praised for his play. He's been fantastic, and finally worth every penny of that big contract if he continues this.

 

[OilerTitanFan]

I've been as critical of Nurse as anyone over the last couple years, and let's be honest here...he deserved it.

That being said, he's currently playing like a high-end #1, and it's a thing of beauty. The pass he made tonight to Drai was f***ing awesome.

Honestly to me, it seems like his lateral mobility, and ability to pivot has much improved which is allowing him to get to pucks dumped in behind him quicker, and square up to players with possession on his periphery.

Is there anything to this? It seems to me he's been reported as having some hip issues over the last couple of years which would explain this.

Regardless, he's currently more than earned his contract so far this year. The man has been an absolute beast at both ends of the ice, and looks like he's having a ton of fun out there.

Well deserved redemption arch, that might actually be the biggest boon this team could have possibly asked for.

He's been our best defenseman by a f***ing country mile.

It felt like we just traded a 6th round pick for a top pair defenseman in the off season. And this nurse guy comes in and shows what an 11 million dollar D looks like.

 

[Stoneman89]

It felt like we just traded a 6th round pick for a top pair defenseman in the off season. And this nurse guy comes in and shows what an 11 million dollar D looks like.

Or even a 9.25 million guy.

 

[GOilers88]

While I don’t necessarily disagree with your points, and while Bettman sucks shit for multiple reasons, blaming him entirely is too easy. It’s more nuanced than that or “poor management” as well, IMO. There is a real locational advantage for some franchises due to geographic reasons, lower taxes, anonymity etc. Likewise, a Canadian team has to be very successful to become a desirable location, and even then, some players won’t care enough when they can have a good chance to win in more desirable locations (not counting the players that apparently don’t care about winning to begin with, which there are some)

I think your Winnipeg example is pretty key in illustrating that as well

Oh there's definite disadvantages Canadian teams have to overcome that a lot of american markets don't have to contend with.

But I think poor management has made those disadvantages seem much bigger than they are across the board up north. The Jets are a team I think has done pretty well all things considered. It seems the Oilers are bucking the trend over the last few years as well, but the bar is much higher when you've had numerous lottery tickets and generational talent. Were it not for poor managerial decisions, the Oilers would probably have had much more success up to now.

The DoD, A decade of Jim Benning, Dorian and Melnyk, The Shanaplan, Marc Bergevin, and a middling Flames team that has been run into mediocrity for as long as I can remember.

Canadian markets don't help themselves.

 

[tiger_80]

Golden Cheetahs took IT for the team.

 

[Oilhawks]

Oh there's definite disadvantages Canadian teams have to overcome that a lot of american markets don't have to contend with.

But I think poor management has made those disadvantages seem much bigger than they are across the board up north. The Jets are a team I think has done pretty well all things considered. It seems the Oilers are bucking the trend over the last few years as well, but the bar is much higher when you've had numerous lottery tickets and generational talent. Were it not for poor managerial decisions, the Oilers would probably have had much more success up to now.

Yeah, I do agree with this. One thing I'll say (thinking about the last series more with the game against Florida *spits* coming up) is that I feel they've been a bit unlucky with injuries in the playoffs. Had they been healthier I think they win last year or maybe the year before.

 

[GOilers88]

Yeah, I do agree with this. One thing I'll say (thinking about the last series more with the game against Florida *spits* coming up) is that I feel they've been a bit unlucky with injuries in the playoffs. Had they been healthier I think they win last year or maybe the year before.

Can certainly agree that key injuries have maybe taken a bite out of what could have been. It happened to Florida the year before last too.

 

[JustNapalmIt]

Sure, but Nurse was playing unmanageably bad, then figured stuff off and the Oilers are dramatically better for it

Also Schwartz needs to be fired, because change is needed there

Gotcha.