Early season previews coming out and projecting Oilers to win the division and McDavid with 110 points. Damn. I thought they got worse. Guess not. Let's see what happens when the big publications come out. NHL Network pegged them as Cup Contenders.
How are they expected to do so good with that defence?
Early season previews coming out and projecting Oilers to win the division and McDavid with 110 points. Damn. I thought they got worse. Guess not. Let's see what happens when the big publications come out. NHL Network pegged them as Cup Contenders.
How are they expected to do so good with that defence?
Early season previews coming out and projecting Oilers to win the division and McDavid with 110 points. Damn. I thought they got worse. Guess not. Let's see what happens when the big publications come out. NHL Network pegged them as Cup Contenders.
How are they expected to do so good with that defence?
You know its funny too because I watched the NHL network video that was put out regarding Kevin Weekes discussing how the Flames have without question a Top 5 D in the league and the guy alongside him was laughing at the notion which bothered me. He said 'really??? Calgary??' like 5 times and I was like 'really, Gio/Hamilton/Brodie/Hamonic/Stone ??'
Just shows you how much bias a player like McDavid can create.
Early season previews coming out and projecting Oilers to win the division and McDavid with 110 points. Damn. I thought they got worse. Guess not. Let's see what happens when the big publications come out. NHL Network pegged them as Cup Contenders.
How are they expected to do so good with that defence?
Because for all of our discussions about looking and analyzing teams, the media seems to have a perpetual blind spot when it comes to the Oilers.
Remember the whole omg Robbie Shremp and the Nuge and Eberle and Hopkins song and dance combined with their building something special moment.
And when they got Hall and it was toot toot, here we go Oilers its not a matter of when but how many.
Because the Oilers are so good at self promoting and controlling their message, the media types fall in line.
It helps to also have a player like McDavid who becomes a false reflection of the team. OMG if they have a guy like McDavid, who they drafted, everyone will follow him in a linear path of awesomeness.
What this ad didn't tell you was that Albert may have been great, but his team was garbage because Albert was a salary cap albatross.
Plus I tend to think that hockey media members are lemmings and lazy. Omg remember when the, its something special era. And suddenly even a guy like Hrudey was like OMG their goalie has the best glove in game, and someone else sang the praises of their defense.
the bottom line is that their talent level pretty much dropped, Sekera out til Jan is really going to hurt them badly, Suddenly Nurse and Russell who are the poster boys for low hockey IQ are going to be spending more time on the ice.
Outside of Klefbom there's not a lot of things on that blueline to be excited about. I mean Larsson is decent, but the media has lionized him into Captain Awesome, but there's no offense to his game, and his underlying stats were ok but not great.
Up front Eberle was pretty bad but he hid it with some nice offensive numbers. Strome isn't going to be a great replacement for him.
they had a ton of guys with career years, chances are that some players are going to drop and if its Talbot look out lotto train here come the Oilers.
Their schedule doesn't look as easy in terms of getting back to back teams.
Teams are also going to prepare differently for the Oilers. A team on the road playing a 70 point team from the year before prepares differently no matter what. Now the Oilers aren't going to sneak up on anyone.
Also the argument here when the Flames had their playoff year a couple of years back was unsustainable. You can argue that a team that goes from 70 some points to over 100 is unsustainable. Especially a team that got worse, and hs no significant depth, and if JP struggles again that team is in a world of hurt. As well a team that statistically allows that many chances from the danger area and leaves Talbot to his own devices is just asking for a punch in the mouth.
I know that the media wants the Oilers to live up to their expectations because they were badly embarrassed during the something special era when it blew up in their faces. They can't wait for the hockey night in canada theme on playoff night while they trumpet "Canada's team and Canada's ambassador Connor McCrouton, the holy seer of dving take on Donald Trumps favorite team the Las Vegas Knights tonight"
But its going to blow up in their face again.
underneath the shiny happy veneer of the Oilers lays the problem.
New shiny Haircut, same dead arm.
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Their D is worse. Lucic isn't getting better. Maroon has probably peaked as well. Strome won't score like Eberle and is no better defensively. Draisaitl won't put up the points if they try to keep him on a different line.
It's entirely possible that McDavid won't have as good a year. The Ducks played him well and that leads to video. It could be a little similar to Johnny - I think teams are playing him a lot better than his first couple years, and McDavid is more front and centre.
And the big factor is Talbot. If he plays even a little worse, they lose about 10 points IMO.
It will be funny if they follow a similar path to the Flames from 2015 to 2016. It will seem like a catastrophe and many fans will turn on the team and pout, especially if the Flames are indeed improved, but that's only because the team and media have built up such unrealistic expectations. The idea of experiencing growing pains is unfamiliar to them, so it would be quite a shocker for them. It's basement team to cup contender in two seasons, up in the land of orange and blue fumes.
Actually it's amazing to me how much I'm hearing and reading in the media that the Oilers' future is full of Stanley Cups. I get that they've improved (finally) and made some noise even, but really?
I guess time will tell but I'd be shocked if they were an actual contender this coming year. Years beyond that, who knows, every off-season sees turnover, but I don't see this coming version as much more than a top-3 in the Pacific type team. Which means they could win a round or get hot and win two. But all the way? Stranger things have happened I guess.
Well they could hardly get worse.
Quote:
Originally Posted by robaur
Early season previews coming out and projecting Oilers to win the division and McDavid with 110 points. Damn. I thought they got worse. Guess not. Let's see what happens when the big publications come out. NHL Network pegged them as Cup Contenders.
How are they expected to do so good with that defence?
The media has been predicting that the Oilers would be the best team in the League for damn near a Decade now. Hows that gone so far?
How many years ago was it that Pierre McGuire said "They're Building something Special up in Edmonton?"
How many players are left from the team he was referencing?
The media predicting the Oilers to be awesome? Same crap, different day.
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it's stuff like this that makes me so anxious for the regular season to start..
the oilers had a bunch of overachievers last year, none more so than Talbot. If there is any dropoff at all, they are in for a tough year and all the scrutiny that goes with high expectations.
It will be funny if they follow a similar path to the Flames from 2015 to 2016. It will seem like a catastrophe and many fans will turn on the team and pout, especially if the Flames are indeed improved, but that's only because the team and media have built up such unrealistic expectations. The idea of experiencing growing pains is unfamiliar to them, so it would be quite a shocker for them. It's basement team to cup contender in two seasons, up in the land of orange and blue fumes.
There is certainly going to be a lot more pressure on the Oilers making the post season this coming year than there will be on the Flames, although I have no doubt the Flames will make the post season.
In recent times the Oilers have never handled pressure well.
There is certainly going to be a lot more pressure on the Oilers making the post season this coming year than there will be on the Flames, although I have no doubt the Flames will make the post season.
In recent times the Oilers have never handled pressure well.
If the Flames can't make the playoffs with that top 5 on defense then they either could not score for their lives or there were major injuries that hampered them. There is just not enough competition to realistically push them out of a top 3 pacific spot as well as the wildcards. So like you, I'm fairly confident. A good start though particularly would go a long way towards making the stretch run a whole lot easier on them, rather than a do-or-die, heart attack inducing stretch where they need to salvage the season, as has been the norm in most recent seasons.
Last season there actually seemed to be somewhat reasonable expectations of the team (around the league that is), outside of McDavid's point totals (which so happened to be not far off). Since they overachieved, the expectations have sky rocketed from what they were a year ago. It can only set up for a pretty entertaining letdown.
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Listening to Sirius NHL Network and they seem to think Oilers are coming out tops in the west, the hype train is in full force. Curious to see how they deal with the pressure, I really don't see that team doing near as well as last year.
Of course, it's summer! The Oiler media hype train was in full force mid-summer back when the core was Hall, Eberle, RNH and Yak. Now it's 10 times worse that they finally have a team that isn't actually terrible. Oilers are summer champions every year going back to 2010 in terms of hockey media.
I like the idea that the Oilers like their over the top fan base are going to come into the first Flames games with a bit of arrogant swagger. Look at these guys we swept them and the Ducks pushed their stools in, in the playoffs. We're the Oiler's gods gift to hockey, and we're cup favorites this year.
The Flames could give them a solid punch in the teeth right off of the start of the season and plant those seeds of doubt.
I mean lets look at it this way. If everything goes the same as last season, and the Flames split the season series which puts then at 97 points, it puts the Oilers at 99 points. If you factor in the loss of Sekera and Eberle and add in Strome, versus the Flames goaltending change even being average and the other new additions, my prediction is simply that the Oilers and Flames at the very least change places in the standings.
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I like the idea that the Oilers like their over the top fan base are going to come into the first Flames games with a bit of arrogant swagger. Look at these guys we swept them and the Ducks pushed their stools in, in the playoffs. We're the Oiler's gods gift to hockey, and we're cup favorites this year.
The Flames could give them a solid punch in the teeth right off of the start of the season and plant those seeds of doubt.
I mean lets look at it this way. If everything goes the same as last season, and the Flames split the season series which puts then at 97 points, it puts the Oilers at 99 points. If you factor in the loss of Sekera and Eberle and add in Strome, versus the Flames goaltending change even being average and the other new additions, my prediction is simply that the Oilers and Flames at the very least change places in the standings.
Edmonton serving as an example of how not to do things - transit edition:
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An LRT station on a line approved in 2008 and built between 2010 and 2014 (though only fully functional as of February 2017), which sits immediately beside Rogers Place, built in a location that was discussed in 2008, can only fit 100 people.
I like the idea that the Oilers like their over the top fan base are going to come into the first Flames games with a bit of arrogant swagger. Look at these guys we swept them and the Ducks pushed their stools in, in the playoffs. We're the Oiler's gods gift to hockey, and we're cup favorites this year.
The Flames could give them a solid punch in the teeth right off of the start of the season and plant those seeds of doubt.
I mean lets look at it this way. If everything goes the same as last season, and the Flames split the season series which puts then at 97 points, it puts the Oilers at 99 points. If you factor in the loss of Sekera and Eberle and add in Strome, versus the Flames goaltending change even being average and the other new additions, my prediction is simply that the Oilers and Flames at the very least change places in the standings.
the Flames are/were one of the softest teams in the league last year and got pushed around by the likes of the Oilers and Ducks all year
the Flames are/were one of the softest teams in the league last year and got pushed around by the likes of the Oilers and Ducks all year
I doubt that changes with the addition of Hamonic
Ummm huh the solid punch in the mouth on the score board. I mean I know that Edmonton fans have trouble with making leaps of understanding when they read things, maybe because they spend too much time sorting their sweat pants and dress sock collections,
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