Edmonton is No Good VIII: There's Still Something in the Water!

[Knut]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

He just curls up at the foot of the bed.

Wraps his mullet around himself for heat.

[Rejean31]

I see we are at the time of year when all the hockey magazines are coming out for the upcoming season. Bought the Sports Forecaster. Those clowns have the Flames finishing 6th in the Pacific division. The mighty Oilers? They have them finishing 3rd. You'd think some of these publications would get tired of looking like idiots year after years. Somehow they have Calgary finishing behind even the Kings.

[JBR]

2 seasons ago they predicted the Flames to finish 7th and they won the division.

Wouldn’t lose sleep over it.

[browna]

In this day and age especially, you have to sell magazines with "burning hot takes" and with an element of taking a wild card and hoping they fluke out, in order to pretend they know what they were talking about and gain some credibility.

For well over a decade, the experts and want to be experts have been picking the Oilers in preseason.

First it was assumed they'd get back to the SCF in 2007 or 2008 because they overpaid everyone on the 2006 team to stay.

When that failed, it was going to be Quinn and Renney leading them, along with Khabibhulin.

Then it was going to because they on paper they had all these top draft picks that couldn't lose like Hall.

Then it was because they surely couldn't be bad two or three years in a row with guys like Hall Yakoupov and Ebele.

Then they got McDavid, so substitute his name in there as far as on paper talent and desperate hope, and the cycle starts again.

They then won a playoff round so start the cycle again.

Now it's been how many years, picked because on paper they look good and pumped up by offseason organization media campaigning to pull media members to be nice to them.

The Oilers get picked by these idiots who are again thinking they cant surely be this bad year after year. And picked for the aforementioned hope that they may fluke out and do well, so that said publication gets credit for calling something no one else does even if it's now going on 13 seasons and one playoff appearance.

[djsFlames]

Meanwhile the Flames add a top 5 starter, and they're projected to finish in a worse position?

I'd say that's annoying but I also know I'm going to enjoy it later because they'll likely be very wrong.

But waiver wire junk, a Leafs outcast and Frankenberry fresh outta Europe are unquestionably going to elevate the Oilers!

I love how in the offseason for whatever reason Edmonton can just do no wrong. It's as if every piece they bring in is made of solid gold, or a match made in heaven for McMurderhouse, when they would be an unceremonious fringe add anywhere else. Even that guy that was bought out for a penalty lasting almost a decade. Yup, solid add. One of the Preds' best 2-way forwards, that's why they paid out the wazoo to get rid of him. What's great is one calendar year later the same guys are already in or on their way to the farm or other leagues more often than not.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Yearly Oilers preseason predictions: Like Groundhog Day, only it's on April 1st.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by browna

In this day and age especially, you have to sell magazines

See, that's the problem right there. In this day and age, if you are still in the magazine business, you have not yet figured out what century you are living in. Like the Oilers, print journalism is still pining for the glory days of the 1980s.

[Bingo]

Here is a sportsnet ranking of the Canadian division ...

Link

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Here is a sportsnet ranking of the Canadian division ...

Link

Pretty fair. Depending on how Holtby and Demko do I could see the Canucks finish slightly ahead of the Oilers. Unless somehow the Oilers insane PP % continues next season and their terrible goaltending duo can look NHL-caliber.

[Erick Estrada]

Lots of hate for ranking the Leafs first in the comments. By the sounds of it a lot of Oilers fans. I think the Leafs probably deserve to be ranked 1st and don't really have much issue with their order as it's pretty well what I would pick.

[Burning Beard]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Lots of hate for ranking the Leafs first in the comments. By the sounds of it a lot of Oilers fans.

They conveniently forget about the loss to Chicago in the play in round and only mention how awesome they think they were before Covid.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Here is a sportsnet ranking of the Canadian division ...

Link

Oh thank the heavens. Finally someone sees the landscape north of the border for what it is and didn't get drunk on Habs, Oiler and Canucks kool-aid.

However, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if the Canucks ride the confidence & high from their playoff run to a better finish than the Oilers, and if Holtby regains form, they'd very likely give the Flames a run as well.

Leafs at #1 is justified. Even with the sketchy D-group (IMO improved with TJ Brodie), still have the best top 12 forward crop and a #1 that can play above average.

[getbak]

I think Sportsnet is likely correct with its 1-3 and 4-6 but not necessarily in the right order.

I think it will be the Flames, Jets, and Leafs fighting for the top-3 and the Habs, Nucks, and Oilers fighting for the final playoff spot. Meanwhile, the Sens will just be hoping their cheques don't bounce.

[Enoch Root]

I think the Sportsnet rankings are pretty reasonable.

I think WPG is too high, and MON is too low, but otherwise about how I would have them.

I would go something like the following:

1st tier: TOR, CAL

2nd tier: EDM, MON

3rd tier: VAN, WPG

4th tier: OTT

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

I think the Sportsnet rankings are pretty reasonable.

I think WPG is too high, and MON is too low, but otherwise about how I would have them.

I would go something like the following:

1st tier: TOR, CAL

2nd tier: EDM, MON

3rd tier: VAN, WPG

4th tier: OTT

That's exactly how I had them on the radio show ... but I blended the 2nd and 3rd tier into one big tier.

But if pushed I'd put them in the order you have them.

I'm not a big fan of the Flames core, and would like some change, but they really don't have a clear cut weakness going into the season. The defense core is different, but honestly not that much worse with Valimaki returning.

More depth and options up front, and a star goaltender.

[Eric Vail]

I think we need to take season predictions into a new thread. This is the E=ng thread. There is some overlap, but many posts are not in the spirit of the thread.

How about this:

Edmonton looks at upping fines for people who don't dispose of their garbage legally.

In the dead of night, they're driving to the outskirts of Edmonton with their broken TVs, bags of garbage, unwanted play structures and other trash. They dump and then they run.

In the past six months, the problem of illegal dumping in ditches beside rural roads skirting the city seems to be getting worse.

At least, that's the opinion of Brendyn Yome, a construction worker from Beaumont who sees the mess during his daily commute into Edmonton — and has taken it on himself to clean some of it up.

He figures he's stopped a half-dozen times to load up a trailer with someone else's garbage.

"I really noticed it getting worse when the dumps were closing down," said Yome, referring to measures taken in March when COVID-19 was getting a foothold in Alberta.

"That's when it was getting real bad. Like, finding TVs and stoves and couches ... literally, I've seen piles of garbage bags in the ditches out here."

In early September, a video Yome posted to Twitter showed a child's play structure, siding and a washing machine dumped at the southeast city limits near 50th Street.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmon...ping-1.5726767

[Locke]

They should just dump it into the River Valley...

[browna]

Not surprisingly, the condition of that city is only noticeable when its refuse starts extending past city limits and catches the attention of those living in bedroom communities 20km away.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by browna

Not surprisingly, the condition of that city is only noticeable when its refuse starts extending past city limits and catches the attention of those living in bedroom communities 20km away.

Its a hilarious Juxtaposition with Calgary.

People move to our Parasite communities because they cant afford to live in Calgary whereas people move out to Edmonton's bedroom communities specifically to GTFO of Edmonton.

[1qqaaz]

Winnipeg has better forwards and goaltending than Montreal. I think a lot of people are overrating the Habs and I wouldn't be surprised to see them finished 2nd last out of the Canadian teams.