Oilers VS Sharks

 

Its Saturday and it’s GAME NIGHT!!

Tonight the Oilers face the San Jose Sharks for the first meeting this year. This is going to be a very interesting game. Don’t get me wrong, this is probably going to be a good old fashion school yard whooping. The Sharks are going to school the young Oilers on what it really means to be a good team. BUT, there are always things worth watching for. For instance, Taylor Hall looked like the beast was starting to emerge last game and I am curious to see if it carries through to this game. The Oilers have not had many days off this time so I am hoping that the intensity they showed in the last two periods of the last game also carries over. I want to see if Khabibulin can keep the Oilers in it again and make it an interesting game.

 

I am looking for the OIlers to come out fast and hard. I can actually see the Sharks underestimating them and the Oil may get up a goal or two before SJS takes the game over. I’m sure Renney is begging the team to stay out of the box, and now that he is seeing his system start to take shape with the players I am sure he is looking to see if his team can accept the challenge that SJS presents and run with it.

Not much of a story here except that I hope the Oilers at least make a game of it. There is very little reason to believe that the Oilers will win, but if they can make a game of it it will show that they are continuing along the path towards greatness.

 

until next time.

Defensive Breakdown

So I have been having some very animated conversations lately with a friend of mine about the defense. We are both in agreement that there are obvious deficiencies in the back end. And we both agree that they would do well to have a solid puck carrier back there. One thing we disagree on is the viability of Smid, another is the need for more offence from the last pairing and if Foster is truly worth keeping on the team if he is going to be simply a Power play specialist.




For Smid, I keep preaching the patience. I like the direction he has been going in. I like the fact that he has continued to get better (even if he is not what the Oilers brass claimed he was going to be) and although he really does seem to rely on his partner a lot, it’s not like some younger “D” that need their partner to cover mistakes. Smid seems to need a partner that is going to bring offence while he is a stay at home type. On a properly built defense this is not a problem at all, you pair him with a Visnovsky type player and away he goes. On THIS team it’s hard to watch as there isn’t a partner that compliments him so well. I also think that if he was allowed to properly develop in the minors instead of being rushed up so the fans wouldn’t cry about losing Pronger, it would have made quite a bit of difference. I like Smid and until his arrows head in the wrong direction I think he is a valuable piece to keep. He will be worth his weight soon enough.



Now the “offence from the last pairing” ties into Smid as well because I think one of the good things the Oilers can do right now is pair Smid and Peckham on the last pairing and simply limit their mins if they are struggling. The argument I keep getting myself into is that if the Oilers pair those two together, they will not bring more offence than they give up. Now I agree that this is true, but I think that over all it wont be such a huge issue. I think that they would come out of the year as minus players, but I also think that they would have the capability to shutdown a whole lot more than they gave up. True, the offence wouldn’t come from them but as long as it is made up for in other areas it really doesn’t matter. What I want to see is a true shutdown and TOUGH pairing. They are both tough so that’s a plus, and Smid has the defense first mentality that starts breeding a shutdown pairing.



And then there is Foster. Foster was a pretty decent offensive defenseman last season and the Oilers seem to have figured they could use him to replace Souray’s shot. Personally I don’t think there is room for a power play specialist on this team right now. I think he would be best used a 5-6 defenseman, or an idea that really struck me as an idea that might work, is putting him on the 4th line and use him as a specialist. I have little care for keeping him or anyone else “happy”. I prefer to build a team that will have a lasting winning mentality, and whatever moves that will make the team better over all is a plus to me.

until next time.

Oilers VS Wild (a bit late)

So here we are again. Game day has arrived and I’m wondering if the time off between games is going to start to pay off.




The other day on Stauffers show it was said that there was going to be a line change up. They were going to jig things around and we were going to see a Penner – Gagner – Eberle line. I was ecstatic, finally I get to see if one of my “preferred” lines can make some noise. The very next day they were apparently scrapping that line and the only change we are going to see is a flip of Hall and MPS. Lol, and then today in the SUN newspaper things were changed again. So tonight is going to be up in the air.



Regardless of the lineup I would hope that having this many days off starts to pay off. Although I would expect that the first period after any layoff like that would be a bit sluggish, I hope to see a systems play that is gaining some cohesion, and some confidence gained with the kids. Small steps as long as they are in the right direction are better than nothing.



Until Next Time.