[GT] Season starts tomorrow in Edmonton

[Backlunds_socks]

Enough about the semantics and more about the game.

I'm pumped. FAWK the oilers.

[savardandjokinen]

Lol this is a day early and it's supposed to be the gdt

[CMPunk]

I blame this thread if we lose.

[Love]

Originally Posted by dash_pinched

Score first and score often.

Yes

[Otto-matic]

I can't remember when the Flames played a decent season opener, they always end up coming out flat. Hopefully GG can get them ready for tomorrow and focused on winning.

[dino7c]

hopefully being the underdog makes it easier for them

[Finger Cookin]

I guess Love is TheScorpion of 2017.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

So is this thread a place for us to discuss the upcoming GDT or the game itself? Is there going to be a GDT sign up sheet like last year?

[kukkudo]

There should be an actual GDT tomorrow morning.

[GranteedEV]

Know what I'm excited about, guys?

Gaudreau - Monahan(/Bennett) - Ferland

It's not just based on how they finished last year, where sure, they probably rode some percentages. But they've played together before last year too. And on a whole, there's signs of sustainability there.

Here are the Score-Adjusted 5-on-5 numbers this trio has produced over their icetime together over the last three years (Regular Season+Playoffs):

438.73 minutes Time-on-Ice together
53.36% shot attempts
54.77% expected Goals
2.86 expected goals per 60 minutes
2.72 goals per 60 minutes

These are strong numbers across the board. That goals/60 would have been the tenth best mark in the league among lines that spent 400+ minutes together last year.

Last year the Oilers had the most "hyped" top line in the league in Maroon-McDavid-Draisaitl. Including the playoffs these were the numbers that super hyped line put up:

538.17 minutes TOI together
52.49% shot attempts
54.57% expected Goals
2.88 expected goals per 60 minutes
3.51 goals per 60 minutes

There's a bit of a gap in only one stat (goals/60), but how much of that is the fact that Ferland was snakebitten in 2015-16 and the whole line was snakebitten against the Ducks in the 2017 playoffs? How do we know the Oilers' line, despite McDavid, wasn't just really lucky on top of that? What if we just cherrypicked last year's regular season results?

250.92 minutes TOI together
3.6 goals per 60 minutes



Anyways I'm just really excited about our first line now that Ferland finally has an opportunity.

[btimbit]

Much more confident about starting off on the right foot this year

[Love]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Much more confident about starting off on the right foot this year

Same. I feel like Smith will have a big game

[browna]

Is there to be a 2hr ceremony for some dusty old Oilers memory yet again as there were nauseating amounts last year? Lee Fogolin's birthday for example? Jaroslav Pouzar's 35th anniversary of his first game? Or something as simple as "celebrating" a new shade of orange jersey?

[Toonage]

^ Have to raise that 2nd round runner up banner.

[ResAlien]

Love must work for Sportsnet. A GT that’s out of sync wth the actual day the game is played, classic.

[calgarywinning]

Well, the Edmonton analyst from Sportcentre was on, saying Edmonton was ready to go for a Stanley Cup last night.

The Sportcentre screen shows McDavid soaring with Johnny behind. Let's hope we start closing the front door on this wishy wash analysis and bias tomorrow night.

[DylanScores]

Does anyone know about our stats on opening nights for the last 10 years? Wins vs losses?

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by ResAlien

Love must work for Sportsnet. A GT that’s out of sync wth the actual day the game is played, classic.

He should probably be careful, MMF got banned for something similar.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by browna

Or something as simple as "celebrating" a new shade of orange jersey?

Raise the "Orange is the new Orange" banner!

[---Hatrick---]

Big Booooooo to the league for making our season opener in Edmonton for the second straight year