GDT: XXXIII | "The Non Insulting One" | BOS @ EDM | 12/12/13 | 7:30 PM | SNET-EDM

[Fixed to Ruin]

Hasn't it been Win, Loss, Win, Loss, Win, Loss, Win the last few games. Going with that, tonight is a loss.

Glass Half-Full response: Hey, they are playing .500 hockey

 

[AlowlyMcOilersfan]

He doesn't shoot anymore. He always defers to the guys on the walls on the PP.

Well, it's not that he doesn't shoot, but he gets blocked.

He seems to have a real lack of confidence walking the line on the powerplay. He's quick enough to move laterally or to rotate positions in order to get a shot through.

I don't know if it's fear of turning over the puck or something else.

 

[Da McBomb]

I'm guessing the lines will stay the same tonight? I hope Yak and Hall continue to click together, giving us two legit scoring lines. One thing I noticed about Yakupov last game was how deep he was defending in our own zone and not just hanging out near the blue line. Wonder if this is something he was told to do or not.

 

[Mr Positive]

we have a lot of tough opponents coming up. We can realistically aim for a .500 record for the next 4 games.

So, hopefully if we lose tonight we learn something or gain some humility for the next ones.

 

[nhlisajoke]

i dont care what happens today or tom. but if we dont come out punching tom vs Nucks i will be even more disappointed than i am right now.

im not saying go after Kassian....im running the star players...so Loungo

 

[Alex87]

They are not a the 2nd game of a B2B, the cal game was tuesday.

My bad, thanks for the correction!

 

[Greasy Sliders]

Anyone know when warmups start?

 

[Dtb1381]

Bruins fans here, I know you guys spent some good money on ference, but at this point in his career all he is a solid 4th D or a great 5th, to expect anything more out of him is Wrong, you guys will be severly disappointed. That's all he was in boston and he's on the downside of his career. This, with the intangibles he brought is what made us love ference so much. He played for the B on the chest and that's what you should expect him to do for the oilers. He will get a Heros welcome when he comes back to boston, as he should. GL tonight, excited to see some of your players

 

[Oiltankjob Fail]

I think the Oil surprize tonight with 3 solid periods 4-2 Oil and another empty netter.

 

[PaPaDee]

Bruins fans here, I know you guys spent some good money on ference, but at this point in his career all he is a solid 4th D or a great 5th, to expect anything more out of him is Wrong, you guys will be severly disappointed. That's all he was in boston and he's on the downside of his career. This, with the intangibles he brought is what made us love ference so much. He played for the B on the chest and that's what you should expect him to do for the oilers. He will get a Heros welcome when he comes back to boston, as he should. GL tonight, excited to see some your players

I think most people here realize that Ference should idealy be on the 2nd/3rd pairing; however, we don't have the luxury of a solid D group that Boston has

 

[CornKicker]

Bruins fans here, I know you guys spent some good money on ference, but at this point in his career all he is a solid 4th D or a great 5th, to expect anything more out of him is Wrong, you guys will be severly disappointed. That's all he was in boston and he's on the downside of his career. This, with the intangibles he brought is what made us love ference so much. He played for the B on the chest and that's what you should expect him to do for the oilers. He will get a Heros welcome when he comes back to boston, as he should. GL tonight, excited to see some of your players

only the mongs and nubs here dont appreciate ference for what he brings to the oilers

 

[KCC]

Bruins fans here, I know you guys spent some good money on ference, but at this point in his career all he is a solid 4th D or a great 5th, to expect anything more out of him is Wrong, you guys will be severly disappointed. That's all he was in boston and he's on the downside of his career. This, with the intangibles he brought is what made us love ference so much. He played for the B on the chest and that's what you should expect him to do for the oilers. He will get a Heros welcome when he comes back to boston, as he should. GL tonight, excited to see some of your players

Believe you me, the majority of us Oil fans know this, but he has to do for now as we don't exactly have anyone else.

I think EDM will play hard, get chances, but ultimately, it's going the other way that will hurt them. They could play for 59 minutes straight of good hockey, but the good teams find a way and the Bruins will do that no matter how hard the Oil do work. Everytime I watch, I think, it isn't a case of 'if', but 'when'.

 

[Mowzie]

Boston puts on a clinic, wins 3-0, 98% of Oilers shots come from the perimeter.

 

[LTIR]

I'm guessing the lines will stay the same tonight? I hope Yak and Hall continue to click together, giving us two legit scoring lines. One thing I noticed about Yakupov last game was how deep he was defending in our own zone and not just hanging out near the blue line. Wonder if this is something he was told to do or not.

I know Hemsky looked dangerous at times last game but we really should flip him with Perron.

Hemsky-Nuge-Ebs
Joensuu-Arco-Perron

Perron just doesnt fit well with Nuge and Ebs and would shine on the Arco line.

 

[Da McBomb]

I know Hemsky looked dangerous at times last game but we really should flip him with Perron.

Hemsky-Nuge-Ebs
Joensuu-Arco-Perron

Perron just doesnt fit well with Nuge and Ebs and would shine on the Arco line.

I think I prefer Perron with Nuge and Eberle over Hemsky. He's a natural left winger, while Hemsky isn't. Plus he adds much needed grit to the line. I thought that line looked pretty dangerous together last game.

 

[ToeMcDrag83]

No. He's just a good team guy who plays hard. He's a #4 dman here, just like he was in Boston. People just had unreasonable expectations for him.

Who is he behind if he's our #4 dman? I'll remind you of our D lineup:

Petry, Schultz Sr., Schultz Jr., Larsen, Belov, Potter, and of course Ference.

I don't think it's unreasonable to say Ference is a #2 dman in that lineup. The Schultz's have been jokes. Larsen is still raw. Belov has proven nothing. Potter is Potter. And Petry is about as consistent as the digits in pi.

Ference is the only established top 4 NHL defenseman.

He's got the C on his chest. We're paying him $3.25mill/year. He comes advertised as a solid defensive guy with a physical edge and some nasty. We have not seen nearly enough of it yet, and I think we should be able to expect more than what we've seen.

Until MacT adds legitimate top pairing defensemen to this group, Ference won't be able to play as a number 4 where he is, I agree, more suited.

 

[aki]

I expect we'll be seeing Chad Johnson instead of Rask tonight: www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2013/12/...or-practice/9CIAcCqIm6f9I15ZFAFKzL/story.html

"Kurtis Mucha was supposed to spend Wednesday taking a spatial economy final. Instead, the University of Alberta goaltender was summoned to Rexall Place to stop pucks in place of Tuukka Rask, felled by the stomach bug that has been sweeping through the Bruins."

Mucha - a good story and a good guy.

 

[The Nuge]

Who is he behind if he's our #4 dman? I'll remind you of our D lineup:

Petry, Schultz Sr., Schultz Jr., Larsen, Belov, Potter, and of course Ference.

I don't think it's unreasonable to say Ference is a #2 dman in that lineup. The Schultz's have been jokes. Larsen is still raw. Belov has proven nothing. Potter is Potter. And Petry is about as consistent as the digits in pi.

Ference is the only established top 4 NHL defenseman.

He's got the C on his chest. We're paying him $3.25mill/year. He comes advertised as a solid defensive guy with a physical edge and some nasty. We have not seen nearly enough of it yet, and I think we should be able to expect more than what we've seen.

Until MacT adds legitimate top pairing defensemen to this group, Ference won't be able to play as a number 4 where he is, I agree, more suited.

I didn't say he is OUR #4... I said he is A #4, because that's what he is... It's like when people offer us crap and say they'd be a top pairing dman here. Playing on the top pairing doesn't make you a top pairing dman. Just like being a #4 doesn't mean you have to be the guy playing the 4th most minutes. IMO, we have

Petry - #3
Ference - #4
Belov - #5
N. Schultz - #5
J. Schultz - #5
Potter - #7
Larsen - #7

 

[ToeMcDrag83]

I didn't say he is OUR #4... I said he is A #4, because that's what he is... It's like when people offer us crap and say they'd be a top pairing dman here. Playing on the top pairing doesn't make you a top pairing dman. Just like being a #4 doesn't mean you have to be the guy playing the 4th most minutes. IMO, we have

Petry - #3
Ference - #4
Belov - #5
N. Schultz - #5
J. Schultz - #5
Potter - #7
Larsen - #7

Am I calling him a top pairing D? Am I saying he needs to turn into a cornerstone of our top 2? No. Silly at this stage in his career.

Just look at your list, it dictates he has to play as our #2 dman regardless of skill, comfort or ability. Yes, he's not going to thrive, but it's not too much to ask he step us his game and bring to the table what he's good at.

Again I'll defer to to his style: solid d, physical play, some grit and pest features. I'll ask, do you think we've seen enough of this from him?

EDIT: For the record, you said he's a #4 dman HERE.

 

[The Nuge]

Am I calling him a top pairing D? Am I saying he needs to turn into a cornerstone of our top 2? No. Silly at this stage in his career.

Ok... I never said he had to...

Just look at your list, it dictates he has to play as our #2 dman regardless of skill, comfort or ability. Yes, he's not going to thrive, but it's not too much to ask he step us his game and bring to the table what he's good at.

ok... I've outright stated he has to play as our #2 even though he should be on the second pairing... I'm not sure what you're trying to argue

Again I'll defer to to his style: solid d, physical play, some grit and pest features. I'll ask, do you think we've seen enough of this from him?

absolutely. He's the same dman here as he was in Boston

EDIT: For the record, you said he's a #4 dman HERE.

Not trying to sound rude, but you're reading it wrong. What I wrote states that he's the same player here as he was in Boston. He was a #4 dman in Boston, and he still is a #4 dman here. Meaning he hasn't regressed. I did not say he is our #4 dman. There's a big difference

 

[BackhandToeyJoey]

I read this GDT in a heavenly voice lol. Go Oilers Go!

 

[rfournier103]

Bostons GDT is why I'm still willing to wait on Ference the player to make his apperance.

They clearly love this guy.

Ference is a class act, made Boston his home, and really was a "Bruin". He left it all on the ice every time out there, and he never ever quit. THAT is why Boston loves Ference.

We haven't beaten the Bruins since Y2K....Last game we one, was on Oct. 17,2000 at home....

The Oilers won the Cup twice(!) at the Bruins' expense... I would happily trade all the wins against Edmonton since Oct. 17, 2000 for the Stanley Cup in 1988 and 1990. Any takers?

Good luck tonight, and enjoy the game. I think it will be a good one, decided late in the 3rd period.

 

[McBaevid]

This is gonna be gross

 

[ToeMcDrag83]

I'll preface all this by saying I'm not taking offence to anything you're saying, simply trying to have a hockey discussion. Anything that came across as insulting from my end, not meant that way.

Ok... I never said he had to...

It sounded like you were painting me as one of the guys that wants him to be a top 2 when you said "People playing on a top pairing doesn't make you a top pairing D-man". I never said it did, nor am I so daft that I need that pointed out to me. So it seemed odd to me that you'd bring that up unless you think that's what I was saying somewhere.

ok... I've outright stated he has to play as our #2 even though he should be on the second pairing... I'm not sure what you're trying to argue

We agree here. But your stance is that you're satisfied with his play. Mine is the opposite. I think he can be doing better, even as a number 4.

absolutely. He's the same dman here as he was in Boston

And this is where we disagree ultimately, but it comes down to opinion. I think he's been poor positionally on more than a few occasions, caught flat footed and isn't playing physical. I do not think we've seen the best of Ference, and that's my point.

Not trying to sound rude, but you're reading it wrong. What I wrote states that he's the same player here as he was in Boston. He was a #4 dman in Boston, and he still is a #4 dman here. Meaning he hasn't regressed. I did not say he is our #4 dman. There's a big difference

Well if I've read it wrong, I apologize. When you said he's a #4 dman "here", I read "here" as "for the Edmonton Oilers" i.e. our team.

At the end of day, we both agree he's a #4 dman. I disagree that he's not capable of stepping it up a notch or two against tougher opposition and with his defensive play. Not to mention against his former team against whom I expect he will be jacked to play.

 

[T-Funk]

Ference is a class act, made Boston his home, and really was a "Bruin". He left it all on the ice every time out there, and he never ever quit. THAT is why Boston loves Ference.

That's why it surprises me that he's shown that in approximately 3 games all season.