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Ripley
PickupHockey Pro
USA
365 Posts |
 Posted - 10/15/2016 : 13:22:53
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So are the Oilers even better now than last year if McDavid isn't in the line up? Take him out and I just don't see how they are better - aside from their new building which looks like a crockpot according to my wife. 
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The Duke
PickupHockey Veteran
Canada
1239 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2016 : 16:28:08
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guess ur topic line just about sums it up .
nah, they have a few budding stars, theyll do ok.
keep workin on their defense |
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Beans15
Moderator
Canada
8286 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2016 : 11:31:57
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I won't be a homer planning the parade route, but through 10 games the Oilers are 7th in the league in GF, 5th in the league in GA, and 4th in goal differential. No doubt that McDavid stirs the drink offensive but saying they need to work on their defense is thinking of the old Oilers. They have beaten some really good teams and haven't been out of place in any game. Nope, these new Oilers are not the same and they are more than fine defensively. Lots can change and it's a long season, but considering they have more wins in October than they had through mid-December last year, there is a reason for optimism.
As far as the building goes, I have been to 5 NHL/NBA stadiums and a dozen NFL stadiums, and I can objectively say the Oilers new barn is among the best. I think it was over-hyped and there are some residual issues (like parking) but the building it self really is state of the art and a great place to watch sports or concerts. In the next few years it will be a centerpiece of a revitalized downtown in Edmonton which is something that was sorely missing. As far as it looking like a crockpot?? I think your wife has a weird looking crockpot...
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JOSHUACANADA
PickupHockey Veteran
Canada
2308 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2016 : 12:41:44
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quote:
Originally posted by Beans15
I won't be a homer planning the parade route, but through 10 games the Oilers are 7th in the league in GF, 5th in the league in GA, and 4th in goal differential. No doubt that McDavid stirs the drink offensive but saying they need to work on their defense is thinking of the old Oilers. They have beaten some really good teams and haven't been out of place in any game. Nope, these new Oilers are not the same and they are more than fine defensively. Lots can change and it's a long season, but considering they have more wins in October than they had through mid-December last year, there is a reason for optimism.
As far as the building goes, I have been to 5 NHL/NBA stadiums and a dozen NFL stadiums, and I can objectively say the Oilers new barn is among the best. I think it was over-hyped and there are some residual issues (like parking) but the building it self really is state of the art and a great place to watch sports or concerts. In the next few years it will be a centerpiece of a revitalized downtown in Edmonton which is something that was sorely missing. As far as it looking like a crockpot?? I think your wife has a weird looking crockpot...
I agree with most of what you have said here. Davidson's injury, coupled with Russel throwing himself infront of every slapshot, Larssen giving his best to make everyone happy with the Hall trade, Sekeras improved play, Gryba hasn't even looked bad bad. The Shot are up the shots against are down, Talbot is more than pulling his weight and McDavid is as good as advertised. Future looks bright for the Oilers.
Haven't gone to a game yet in the new arena, but driving around it is a nightmare and I really hope they clean up the surrounding neighborhood. Couldn't imagine going for an aftergame beer in the neighborhood in the dark. I don't know if this is normal for NHL arena's, but it is in a rough part of town, both looking and the characters that hang out there. Not saying it is worse than the old arena for the characters. |
Edited by - JOSHUACANADA on 11/01/2016 12:42:54 |
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Alex116
PickupHockey Legend
6113 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2016 : 08:03:27
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The Edmonton D looks real good so far. It's amazing what an average yet capable dman like Russell can do for a D. No, it's not just him, but mix in the other guys who're playing better now including Sekera and they may be in the top 10 D in the league but they're no longer in the bottom 3!
Talbot has surprised me to this point as I didn't think of him as much more than a good backup goalie. It's still early and he may come back to earth, but he may just be the real deal too!
As much as I'm not a fan of the Oilers, and I hate how they got so lucky with the draft, I'm a fan of Canadian cities having teams so it's nice to see them having some early success and their future definitely looks bright, assuming they can manage their cap well in the coming years and guys like McDavid don't opt out at their first opportunity.
Beans/Joshua......where exactly is the new home? I'm not overly familiar with Edmonton but have been to a game at Rexall/Northlands back in the day! |
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Beans15
Moderator
Canada
8286 Posts |
Posted - 11/16/2016 : 06:14:27
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The new barn is downtown. About three block north of Jasper Ave and approx. 104 street. East of the Grant Mac Ewan college and West of City Hall. It's a perfect location from an entertainment standpoint. Terrible location for parking. Public transit is solid.
Rough part of town?? Sorry bro, you don't know Edmonton or you live in bubble wrap if that is a bad part of town. Every city has a 'bad" area of downtown which in Edmonton starts around 97 street. The arena is 7 blocks west of the start of the bad part of down town and there are TONS and TONS of reputable watering holes within a 2-3 block radius of the arena. And nothing looks terrible around the area. It's entertainment at ground level and it's in the sea of high rise office towers. Rough part of town?? Not at all. Rexall was in a far worse part of town than Rogers Place.
It's a fantastic arena comparatively from Rexall which was well past it's time.
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Edited by - Beans15 on 11/17/2016 09:07:12 |
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Alex116
PickupHockey Legend
6113 Posts |
Posted - 11/16/2016 : 16:18:15
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Rogers Arena (here) is similar. Depending which direction you come or go from, you can be in the entertainment zone in 5 mins (walk) or about 4-6 blocks. Otherwise, you're the same distance from skidsville!
As you say Beans, every city has it's shady areas. |
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JOSHUACANADA
PickupHockey Veteran
Canada
2308 Posts |
Posted - 11/18/2016 : 13:34:05
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quote:
Originally posted by Beans15
The new barn is downtown. About three block north of Jasper Ave and approx. 104 street. East of the Grant Mac Ewan college and West of City Hall. It's a perfect location from an entertainment standpoint. Terrible location for parking. Public transit is solid.
Rough part of town?? Sorry bro, you don't know Edmonton or you live in bubble wrap if that is a bad part of town. Every city has a 'bad" area of downtown which in Edmonton starts around 97 street. The arena is 7 blocks west of the start of the bad part of down town and there are TONS and TONS of reputable watering holes within a 2-3 block radius of the arena. And nothing looks terrible around the area. It's entertainment at ground level and it's in the sea of high rise office towers. Rough part of town?? Not at all. Rexall was in a far worse part of town than Rogers Place.
It's a fantastic arena comparatively from Rexall which was well past it's time.
I was living in Kingsway area off of 111ave and 113st for the last 5 years and moved to just outside the Red Deer area. My area in Kingsway across from the mall was 10 blocks away from the bad area near the arena, but my experiences were not great at night. 107 which is mere blocks away from the arena is worse than Forest Lawn in Calgary, which is saying something. Nothing is safe under lock and key in either of those 2 areas and you definately dont let your kids go to the store alone close to dark. Not saying the area around the former arena was any better, as a matter of fact, I might consider it slightly worse at night. |
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n/a
deleted
4809 Posts |
Posted - 11/21/2016 : 22:54:58
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quote:
Originally posted by Ripley
So are the Oilers even better now than last year if McDavid isn't in the line up? Take him out and I just don't see how they are better - aside from their new building which looks like a crockpot according to my wife.
They are better.
Better D. And their good young players and prospects are another year more mature and developed - and this aspect of "getting better" is often overlooked.
So Besides McDavid (who is potentially primed to win a scoring title), Draisaitl and co are also improving.
They are a bubble team to me that could easily make the playoffs. Their defence has been better than I expected.
Don't Leaf me hanging, Buds! |
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Beans15
Moderator
Canada
8286 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2016 : 11:41:47
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quote:
Originally posted by slozo
quote:
Originally posted by Ripley
So are the Oilers even better now than last year if McDavid isn't in the line up? Take him out and I just don't see how they are better - aside from their new building which looks like a crockpot according to my wife.
They are better.
Better D. And their good young players and prospects are another year more mature and developed - and this aspect of "getting better" is often overlooked.
So Besides McDavid (who is potentially primed to win a scoring title), Draisaitl and co are also improving.
They are a bubble team to me that could easily make the playoffs. Their defence has been better than I expected.
Don't Leaf me hanging, Buds!
There defense, and goaltending, is better than anyone expected. Talbot, at this point in the season, is leading the NHL in wins and saves! Shocking. That said, I agree that even though they find themselves on top of the Pacific, they are a bubble team. Their defense is not great but they aren't terrible anymore which means they are in most games.
To dissect a very small sample size, the Oilers are 12-8-1 through 21 games. Of those 12 wins, 10 of them came when the Oilers scored more than 3 goals. Subsequently, 5 of their 8 losses came scoring 2 goals or less. I am not saying anything that isn't common with most NHL teams as a team scoring 3 or more a game will win more than they lose. The point is, the Oilers are not a good enough defensive team to win many close/low scoring games. They need their offensive guys scoring to win, especially against the elite teams in the league. The challenge the Oilers will face is that when it gets into the meaningful games in Feb and Mar, the best teams get better defensively. Will the Oilers be able to stay on point offensively as well as step up their game defensively?? I sure would like one more stud defensemen on the roster before I make any bold statements.
The 20 game mark is usually a pretty good litmus test for the shape of a team but it's normally Christmas time when the standings are shaping into form. Typically speaking, teams that are in the playoffs at Christmas make the playoffs. It's something like 80% probability and it's normally the teams in the 6-7-8 spot that might not make the playoffs. Let's see where the Oilers are going into the New Year. That said, no one can argue this is not the same team as the past ten years. It's amazing what good management and a generational player will do to a franchise.
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n/a
deleted
4809 Posts |
Posted - 11/30/2016 : 08:22:09
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I don't know whether it's just an issue with playing Toronto or what, but . . . they did not look good last night. And I really expected a solid "revenge" game from the Oil last night . . . instead they were schooled. To their credit, they did generate a good amount of scoring chances, Andersen was simply the better goalie on this night.
But the troubling aspect which a lot of Leaf fans observed is . . . that no one other than McDavid is dictating offence. Again, maybe it's a small sample size (I've only watched two Oilers games, you can guess which two), but that would be the troubling thing the Oil have to deal with. That and, they really need a top dog d-man who can provide more offensive value. And they need a better defensive system.
They are definitely a bubble team.
Don't Leaf me hanging, Buds! |
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Beans15
Moderator
Canada
8286 Posts |
Posted - 11/30/2016 : 10:51:20
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Give the Leafs some credit too. They are a team quickly developing and, as I have said before, a coach makes a lot more of a difference than people suspect. Babcock is the best hockey coach in the world today. The Oilers didn't play horrifically but they and into a hot goalie and 9 min of PP time and 6 shots just doesn't cut it. Well deserved win and a well deserved loss.
To your point, the offense after McDavid is non-existent right now. . . I see guys like Eberle, RNH, and Pouliot, who seem to have shifted down a gear because McDavid has been so good. Drasietal is still a relatively inexperienced player as is Pullujarvi so they get a bit of a pass. Lucic and Maroon have been inconsistent in production but the effort is there. The nights the Oilers win have someone plus McDavid step up. That 'someone' is often different players each night and some games that 'someone' is 'no one'.
The formula is simple; the Oilers will stay close in games solely on the play of McDavid but to win games they need secondary scoring. That equals a bubble team.
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No McDavid, No Oilers 
