[AlbertaOiler72]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

You can't argue that the Flames have not improved their blueline over last year, massively.

Travis Hamonic? I like him for his character and toughness but not much of a puck mover...and was a -21 last year on a decent Isles team

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

You can't argue that Smith while playing for a tremendously bad Arizona team had good goaltending stats especially when it came from making saves on chances from the danger area.

Smith has had very mediocre stats, is old and a hot-head...can't wait to see him lose his mind the second a defender makes a mistake

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

You can't argue that the departure of Eberle for Strome (who's been god awful for a long while) and the loss of Sekera makes the Oilers weaker.

Sekera? sure...he'll be missed, but for how long? no one knows
Eberle? certainly not if last year is any indication...Strome only had 7 less goals in 12 less games
Strome has 11 ES goals in 69 games
Eberle had 16 ES goals in 82 games
not a massive drop-off even if Strome doesn't improve

the good thing about Strome is he's versatile as a natural center

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

you do understand that a blueline that has Brodie, Hamilton, Gio, Hamonic and Stone alone is far better then a blueline of Bridie, Hamilton, Gio Engelland ond some other disposable yeoman that the Oilers faced last time.

you're only adding Hamonic to a team that got swept in the playoffs and finished the year 5-7 after the 10-game win streak
time will tell if that's enough to put the Flames ahead

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

You can gloat all you want about the Oilers sweeping the Flames last year, but based on a 10 year curve, its probably a fluke caused by circumstances
Hey I have to wonder, is McDavid going to vanish again when the going gets tough? What's are Oiler fans going to do when Doctor 8.5 struggles? Boo him out of the building.

don't worry, Drai will pick him up...remember?

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

But I wonder? Will Edmonton choke on their expectations, you know everyone predicting Stanley Cup Glory, and if things go poorly at the start, does T-Mac do what T-Mac does best, fall apart and choke?

remember when Joel Quennville had the "choke" label with his time in St. Louis and Colorado?
now he's considered one of the best coaches in the NHL

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

But hey the good news is that Chia doesn't have anymore contracts to sign this season, so he can't screw up the Oilers cap structure anymore, at least for a little while.

I'll take my chances with a Cup winner thank you very much...all this guy does is win hockey games