Wild/Oilers series preview

[JiriHrdina]

The #8/#1 match-up in the West has a chance to be one of the opening round's closest series.

Although the Oilers struggled with an inconsistent series they still have a lot of talent, including arguably the best goalie in the CPHL.

The match-up breaks down like this:

Forwards

The Wild don't have a mega-superstar in their forward ranks, but are extremely deep with seven 20 goal scorers. Nathan Horton led the team in scoring during the regular season, but the Wild will likely depend heavily on a pair of veteran Swedes - Mats Sundin and Peter Forsberg.

The Oilers are one of the few teams in the CPHL that can match the Wild in terms of depth - with eight 20 goal scorers. The Oil have some younger forwards and will likely need the veteran Brendan Shanahan to have a huge series.

EDGE: Even

Defense

The Wild also focus on offense on their blueline with four elite offensive d-men in Tomas Kaberle, Jay Bouwmeester, Shea Weber and Ryan Whitney. However the third pairing is not great with the veteran Nic Wallin trying to steady the young and rowdy Jack MF Johnson. If injuries strike the Wild's blueline the ranks get thin quickly. Kaberle is the lone hold over on the Wild from their 2007 championship team

On paper the Oiler's blueline is not as strong...but Kevin Bieksa and Willie Mitchell are both under-rated dmen. Similar to the Wild, the depth is not great and any injuries to a top four dmen could spell disaster for the Oil.

EDGE: Wild

Goaltending

Tomas Vokoun had an outstanding season for the Wild leading the circuit in wins and minutes played. Freddie Norenna is a capable back-up that can step into play when called upon but is at best a .500 tender. The Wild do have the added depth of Scott Clemenson meaning if Vokoun is in need of a rest Minny can completely scratch him

The Oilers have arguably the best goalie on the planet in Bob Luongo. Although he struggled with other teams his stats with the Oil are outstanding across the board. Pekka Rinne, who has a bright future, at this point isn't a great back-up option and in a long series could be a real weakness unless Edmonton figured how to get Bob Esche or Jocelyn Thibault back up.

Edge: Edmonton

Special Teams
The Wild's PP ranked #5 in the CPHL at 18.8% while the Oil check in fifteenth at 16.6%. Although that's ten places in the standings the difference is negligible.

The Wild's PK unit is #3 at 86.1% while the Oil rank #7 at 85.3%. Again - not much to quibble over.

The Oilers on average take on more minor penalty per game than Minny which could be a slight edge for the Wild

Edge: Meh.



Should be a good series!

[Sylvanfan]

Well we made some moves at the deadline hoping that we would win one of our final two games and move into 6th place which would have allowed us to avoid the Wild or Sharks. But we sucked, and this is what we get.

My last go round as Oilers GM I had the powerhouse team and Grant had sold many of his rated SIM veterans off because you could get absolutely rediculous deals on young players due to the lockout and youth having bad ratings. The result that time was a relatively painless 5 game win. This time the tables are sort of turned.

Up front the Wild have 8 players rated 75 or better. We the Oilers also have 8 players rated at 75 or higher. The Wild players are actually rated better, but our forwards have actually put up more goals in the SIM. Our trio of Weiss, Cammalleri, Shanahan scored at least 36 goals during the season while Martin Erat and Cory I kissed a boy Perry also had 30 goal campaigns. Whereas only Nate Horton and Paul Kariya put up 30 for the wild. So the two groups are pretty even.

Defence is where the difference between the two teams would appear to be. Bouwmeester, Weber, Whitney, and Kaberle all rate better than any Oilers defenceman. They also scored at much greater rates and posterd superior +/- numbers. Nick Wallin and Jack Johnson give the Wild an adequate 5-6 duo. The Oilers are pretty weak on the backend. Christian Ehrhoff, Willy Mitchell, Kevin Bieksa, and Matt Carle just don't measure up. Surprisingly veteran cast off Teppo Numminen has been the Oilers best defenceman having 25 points and a +17 in 26 games as an Oiler. The loss of Karlis Skrastins and Brad Lukowich really hurt us as both guys were having good SIM years...if only they didn't make so much damn money and look so bad for next year!

In goal we have the CPHL's most notorious choker. The Wild are backstopped by a player who's every bit as looney. It looks even on paper. We'll need Luongo to step up and simply out play the Wild goalies if we want to have a prayer.

Going in as the underdog, we don't expect to win and we're going to go all out throwing everything we have at the Wild. We really have nothing to lose. No doubt I'll need a bit of luck to win the series from the injury gods, and I'll have to coax some overachievement somewhere in my lineup. Should be a fun series though.