Pre-Game Talk: The Last Hockey Game of All Time

[Zerotonine]

Not looking to far into this. Pretty much gaurntee mcdavid sits after he gets his 100th point

 

[K1984]

I love how Knoblauch said that Draisaitl will be ready well before the playoffs and now he’s still not ready. At this point, I doubt he’ll even start the playoffs. I can’t trust a word he says at this point.

Who says he isn't ready? McDavid was ready and didn't play the last game.

I think keeping both of them away from the Kings was deliberate/strategic, and this game is just irrelevant. The handling of 97 and 29 need to be looked at in the light of load management as much or more as injury management IMO.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I think that was for Disturbed and a mid-week concert, which I suspect isn't as big a deal to move. This year that would be Cypress Hill, so I can't see that being a deal breaker especially since they are only doing the half bowl set up meaning it's likely only meant to be a 3000-5000 attendee show and looking at available tickets, they aren't even close to that so I suspect they could even move this outright to a different venue

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I suspect bumping a Saturday concert where people from out of town were possibly making a weekend out of it and taking in the ice district may be harder to pull off, but even then Bush is only selling lower bowl, so who knows. This isn't exactly dealing with Shania Twain like last year.

Edmonton may deliberately use the concerts as an excuse to buy the guys an extra day off with the injuries.

What kind of Scheduling moron throws in these no ticket sales half bowl shows at Rogers during playoff season. Seems like the 500 fans going to the show could be see it at the Jube or Winspear or anywhere else.

 

[McShogun99]

Who says he isn't ready? McDavid was ready and didn't play the last game.

I think keeping both of them away from the Kings was deliberate/strategic, and this game is just irrelevant. The handling of 97 and 29 need to be looked at in the light of load management as much or more as injury management IMO.

I think it was a bit of strategy as well not to play McDrai and a few others against LA. They kept everything to the perimeter including the PP not to give LA any recent first hand experience about playing us. Meanwhile LA dressed their full lineup and played like it was game 7.

 

[K1984]

What kind of Scheduling moron throws in these no ticket sales half bowl shows at Rogers during playoff season. Seems like the 500 fans going to the show could be see it at the Jube or Winspear or anywhere else.

No kidding, this is my thought as well. The only way this scheduling makes sense is if there's a "if we need it for playoffs that night you're being moved" clause included.

 

[K1984]

I think it was a bit of strategy as well not to play McDrai and a few others against LA. They kept everything to the perimeter including the PP not to give LA any recent first hand experience about playing us. Meanwhile LA dressed their full lineup and played like it was game 7.

Agreed, and I think it was a great plan.

By keeping them out, the Kings haven't effectively played us since January I believe. I can just tell they're feeling really comfortable over there. Couple of casual wins, no goals against, took care of our PP, easy. Have their scout on the broadcast talking about how "historic" their season was, back patting at getting home ice, etc. The internal hype train is running too. All the tenants of a group that hasn't been there before, celebrating the small wins that aren't actually wins.

I think we're going to come out and f*** them up in Game 1.

 

[Duke74]

Who says he isn't ready? McDavid was ready and didn't play the last game.

I think keeping both of them away from the Kings was deliberate/strategic, and this game is just irrelevant. The handling of 97 and 29 need to be looked at in the light of load management as much or more as injury management IMO.

I agree that it's probably the best decision not to play him tonight even if he's 100%. I don't think McDavid should play either, but that's another issue altogether.

My issue is the poor communication and continuously increasing timeline on his return. Initially, Knoblauch said that Draisaitl will be back "well before" the playoffs. Less than a week ago, Draisaitl would for sure return for this game. Then, two days ago, it was a maybe. Now he's out again.

Knoblauch said something in his interview when discussing Draisaitl's absence" "we're still waiting for..." but purposely stopped short of elaborating. My guess is he intended to say that they were still waiting for medical clearance, so what's to say that he has medical clearance for Game 1? Or any specific game in the playoffs?

 

[Juxta Position]

That means that three years of number one picks would amount to nothing.

I'm so confused...how is this relevant since we do have Draisaitl and McDavid? Are you that pissy about things that you're actually mad at the Oilers for hypothetical scenarios that never happened?

Wow, that's some serious dedication to a Debbie Downer outlook.

 

[K1984]

I agree that it's probably the best decision not to play him tonight even if he's 100%. I don't think McDavid should play either, but that's another issue altogether.

My issue is the poor communication and continuously increasing timeline on his return. Initially, Knoblauch said that Draisaitl will be back "well before" the playoffs. Less than a week ago, Draisaitl would for sure return for this game. Then, two days ago, it was a maybe. Now he's out again.

Knoblauch said something in his interview when discussing Draisaitl's absence" "we're still waiting for..." but purposely stopped short of elaborating. My guess is he intended to say that they were still waiting for medical clearance, so what's to say that he has medical clearance for Game 1? Or any specific game in the playoffs?

That's a symptom of "how do I spin the message this week?" They aren't going to go out on day 1 and say they're out for a month, because they very likely aren't injured that bad, then by the time load management came into play they probably aren't all that injured at all. "They're pretty much fine, but we just aren't playing them the last few weeks" isn't an answer they can give.

It's twice now that McDavid spots in when they are down a skater last minute because he was the only healthy option. I have a pretty good feeling that we wouldn't have seen him at all down the stretch had we not had subsequent injuries and roster shortages.

 

[K1984]

I'm so confused...how is this relevant since we do have Draisaitl and McDavid? Are you that pissy about things that you're actually mad at the Oilers for hypothetical scenarios that never happened?

Wow, that's some serious dedication to a Debbie Downer outlook.

Just a dumb whine too.

If only we could have teleported ourselves to years where better players were available at #1 so that those years weren't "wasted."

 

[Duke74]

That's a symptom of "how do I spin the message this week?" They aren't going to go out on day 1 and say they're out for a month, because they very likely aren't injured that bad, then by the time load management came into play they probably aren't all that injured at all. "They're pretty much fine, but we just aren't playing them the last few weeks" isn't an answer they can give.

It's twice now that McDavid spots in when they are down a skater last minute because he was the only healthy option. I have a pretty good feeling that we wouldn't have seen him at all down the stretch had we not had subsequent injuries and roster shortages.

Hopefully you’re right. I guess we’ll have to wait for the first playoff practice at the earliest.

 

[tiger_80]

I'm so confused...how is this relevant since we do have Draisaitl and McDavid? Are you that pissy about things that you're actually mad at the Oilers for hypothetical scenarios that never happened?

Wow, that's some serious dedication to a Debbie Downer outlook.

The conversation was about Calgary and their liminal position--outside playoffs and not being able to rebuild properly. My comment was the admission that even being a bottom feeder for years is no guarantee of success. The Oilers had three number one picks in 2010-2012, and it still took McDavid to turn the franchise around.