(4) Edmonton Oilers Vs. (5) Anaheim Ducks Preview

[I wanna be like Miikka]

VS

51-30-5 Regular Season Record 49-29-8
6-4-0 Last 10 Games 3-7-0
W4 Current Streak L4
292 GF 282
250 GA 242

Leading Scorers:
Oilers
Martin Havlat - 48-50-100
Dany Heatley - 45-43-88
Ducks
Jarome Iginla - 38-46-84
Zdeno Chara - 23-40-63

Goaltending:
Oilers
Chris Osgood: 39-23-3, 0.886, 2.83 GAA
Pekke Rinne: 12-7-2, 0.880, 2.87 GAA
Ducks
Miikka Kiprusoff: 36-24-4, 0.899, 2.59 GAA
Peter Budaj: 13-5-3, 0.876, 3.25 GAA

Head to Head:
Game 1: Anaheim 6 - Edmonton 1
Game 2: Edmonton 2 - Anaheim 3
Game 3: Anaheim 2 - Edmonton 4
Game 4: Edmonton 4 - Anaheim 2

These teams split the regular season series at 2 games each with the Oilers winning the last 2 by a score of 4-2. In every statistical category these two teams are very similar. You have to give the offensive edge to the Oilers as they have to big time scorers in Heatley and Havlat. Over Defense is a win for the Ducks and goaltending seems to be fairly even.

The Oilers have been hot lately and the Ducks have been very cold. If the Ducks even want to make this series close then they will have to play a lot better. Having basically backed into the playoffs with 4 straight losses and giving up the home seed, a lot of question marks remain.

Martin St Louis has been brought in to the Ducks to try and improve the goal scoring. He has not played a game for the team yet and depending on his CD after the first set of playoff games he might see action in Game 1. The Ducks best Dman, Zdeno Chara is serving the final 2 games of his suspension and won't see any action until the series returns to Anaheim for games 3 and 4.

With Chara out for 2 games, St louis barely healthy, and a Ducks team that has the worst last 10 game record out of any of the playoff teams, the Ducks look to be in tough in round 1 of the playoffs.

Having said that, maybe some of the guys can realize how talented they are and take advantage of the 6 pansies the Oilers call Defensemen.

Go Ducks Go!! It's playoff time!

[Sylvanfan]

Well last year I lost my last 4 games going into the playoffs and needed Dallas to beat LA on the last day to make it in. I proceeded to go 8-2 against the leagues top 2 teams and than beat another top 5 team and the #3 seed in the Conference in 5 games. Than reality set in. So being hot or cold going into the playoffs can mean nothing in a SIM league.

In reality my team isn't close to the Ducks anywhere in the lineup. They have us trumped in talent at every position. It's baffling that we actually finished higher in the standings. But we had 3 defenceman with 50 or more points, 6 guys who score 20 goals up front with two of them eclipsing the 45 mark, as well as 6 forwards with 58 or more points. So we do get scoring from our top 6 forwards, pretty good offence from our top 4 defenceman and we do have a third line in Filppula/Moreau/Upshall who combined to score 51 CPHL goals this season.

Still with Chara out and a healthy lineup it opens up a window of oppurtunity. We need to win the first 2 games, and than see if we can win 2 out of 5 to take the series.

I think the Ducks will win this in 6. I mean serioulsy a team lead by such gutsy competitors as Dany Heatley and Martin Havlat and backed by Chris Osgood and Kevin Bieksa is seriously going to win a playoff series?

[Swayze11]

Just cause Syl is a Chiefs fan:

Ducks in 5

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Swayze11

Just cause Syl is a Chiefs fan:

Ducks in 5

What the hell are you a Bronco's fan, a Raiders fan, or some other kid who jumped the Chargers band wagon? You suck.

[Sylvanfan]

Oilers practice notes

-Lukas Krajicek is still out of todays game, listed as day to day

-Randy Carlyle was extremely upset in the morning skate with his team. He wrestled Sergei Gonchar to the ice, took his stick and smashed it to shreds on the boards. He than called him the lousiest defenceman he's ever seen. He told him a real man would play with no helmet

-Ethan Moreau offered no comment on allegations that he did not pay his bar tab at an Anaheim establishment last night. He also claimed to have no idea why his rented Escalade had the bumper ripped off and the side panels were severely scratched up and damaged.

-Chris Osgood admitted to buying five packs of cigarettes and that he will be smoking between periods of todays game. He admitted that if the game has more than 4 intermissions that they might as well send Pekka Rinne out because he'll be screwed.

[I wanna be like Miikka]

Ducks Practice Notes:

- Zdeno Chara is making his 1st appearance of the series and is expect to take on 2nd pairing duties since Weber-Bouwmeester seem to have some chemistry

- Team leaders Iginla and St Louis were kept after practice working on set plays for the man advantage. Everyone knows the Ducks need these 2 to get going.

[simmer2]

Originally Posted by I wanna be like Miikka

Ducks Practice Notes:

- Zdeno Chara is making his 1st appearance of the series and is expect to take on 2nd pairing duties since Weber-Bouwmeester seem to have some chemistry

- Team leaders Iginla and St Louis were kept after practice working on set plays for the man advantage. Everyone knows the Ducks need these 2 to get going.

You need to work on your practice notes Ravi, can't let the Oilers GM show you up!

[Sylvanfan]

Oilers pre game notes:

-Randy Carlyle has informed Chris Osgood that if he craps the bed again, he'll make damn sure he never sees the ice again.

-Martin Havlat accepted no responsibility for his 0 goals and 2 points and -4 rating in the first three games. Blames Martin Erat for making the line useless.

-Lukas Krajicek will draw back into the lineup, but the team is expected to dress 7 defenders to let him work his way back in slowly.

-Ethan Moreau and Kevin Bieksa are now both accused of dodging several bar tabs in Orange County. Both players claim we're not going to be Oilers next year anyway, so we're out celebrating early and "Katz can pay our tabs if he won't pay us".

[Sylvanfan]

Game 5 notes:

-An all out mutiny is underway in the Oilers dressing room. Ethan Moreau, Chris Osgood, Martin Havlat, Kevin Bieksa, and Stephen Weiss all stated they will no longer give full efforts for coach Carlyle. Dany Heatley and Sergei Gonchar stated they still want to play and would rather scratch these guys than go to battle with bad apples.

-Lukas Krajicek ate a kitten last night in hopes of exorcising the Oilers team demons.

-David Moss continues to suck hard.

[simmer2]

There's a local weathergirl in Edmonton I hear is popular...she might be able to build morale.

[Sylvanfan]

Apparently the divide in the locker room has a lot to do with the malcontents organizing a team outing to a Chippendales show in Anaheim before game 3. They were some upset with their team mates who didn't show for the event, wasting the money they had spent on the tickets.

[OILFAN #81]

Originally Posted by simmer2

There's a local weathergirl in Edmonton I hear is popular...she might be able to build morale.

Who?

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by OILFAN #81

Who?

Simmer had the gender wrong....It's actually this weatherman who is causing a serious rift in the Oilers dressing room right now.

[Sylvanfan]

Todays pre game notes

-Randy Carlyle will blindfold himself and throw a dart to determine who his starting goalie is today.

-Martin Havlat feels that due to his 3 point performance last game he's done enough in these playoffs.

-Saku Koivu did nothing in practice today. When confronted by media, he said, Practice like you play, do nothing in practice, do nothing on ice.