Quote of the Day

by Jonathan Willis on Mar 31, 2009 3:16 PM MDT

The player in this picture is Theo Peckham, the guy who is likely the best defensive prospect currently in the Oilers' system (with all due respect to Jeff Petry). He's going to draw in tonight for the injured Ladislav Smid. Taylor Chorney's been recalled to take Peckham's spot in the pressbox.

Craig MacTavish was asked about Peckham in his press conference this morning, and the exchange went like this:

Reporter: Will Peckham take all of Smid’s minutes, or is it going to increase the workload for the rest?

MacTavish: No, it’ll increase the workload for the rest. With Smid and Strudwick there’s a real comfort level defensively with those two. You don’t want to put a young defenseman in a position where he has to go against the top line or even the second line. (italics mine)

That's why the player behind Peckham is Ben Guite, who has four goals on the season and posted a career-high 22 points last season. Because matchups matter, and for a young defenseman the best place to start an NHL career is on the bottom rung - playing weak opposition.

It's also a big part of the reason why teams breaking in a bunch of young players go nowhere fast - there simply aren't enough 3rd and 4th-line forwards to match up against, so somebody ends up getting burned.

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No, it’ll increase the workload for the rest. With Smid and Strudwick there’s a real comfort level defensively with those two. You don’t want to put a young defenseman in a position where he has to go against the top line or even the second line...

says the man who played Ladislav Smid on the second pairing for his entire first NHL season.

by Scott on Mar 31, 2009 8:33 PM MDT reply actions

But do you really blame MacTavish for that? As I recall, Dick Tarnstrom was on the first pairing.

by Jonathan Willis on Mar 31, 2009 11:56 PM MDT reply actions

says the man who played Ladislav Smid on the second pairing for his entire first NHL season

Some lessons are more costly than others.

by raventalon40 on Mar 31, 2009 11:58 PM MDT reply actions

Dick Tarnstrom was on the first pairing.

I think that was actually Daniel Tjarnqvist (or however that name is spelled) and that he actually did pretty well until his pubic bone flared up. I find it extremely unlikely that Smid was one of their four best defenders at the start of the season. Guys playing under him were Bergeron, Greene and Hejda with Tom Gilbert in the minors. I would think that playing Bergeron in the top four in that situation would have been the best option (after failing to convince Lowe that he needed another dman).

by Scott on Apr 1, 2009 12:19 PM MDT reply actions

Scott: IIRC, Tarnstrom-Staios was the top pairing for a little while that year.

Either way though, I don't think anyone can argue against the facts that a) Edmonton's defense corps was ugly that season or b) Ladislav Smid was probably not ready for a top-six role in the NHL.

by Jonathan Willis on Apr 1, 2009 12:24 PM MDT reply actions

JW - naw you're confused

They ran Shaggy/Smith as the top pair. Staios/Smid as the second. Bergeron/Greene as the third. Hejda sat in the PB (and went to the minors briefly iirc) until Shaggy went down.

Then Staios went down. Then Bergeron got traded. Then Hejda went down. Then Bryan Young was playing in the NHL. Bisillion too I think. And Toby played some D as well.

Tarnstrom came back last year and strangely enough even though Shaggy, Smith, Hejda and Shaggy were all gone Smid ended up in the bottom pairing. Where he should have been the year before, if not the minors.

by Black Dog on Apr 1, 2009 7:18 PM MDT reply actions

Don't forget Mathieu Roy and Danny Syvret got a number of games in '06-07. Or that we had to play 5 defencemen for weeks at a time due to a cockamamie rule that exposed the NHL for the Bush League that it is. At one point Smid was a "legitimate" top pairing guy in that he was the second most experienced (healthy) NHLer on the squad at that point.

by Bruce on Apr 1, 2009 8:58 PM MDT reply actions

Or as I like to call it, the year of Sebastien Bisaillon.

by Jonathan Willis on Apr 1, 2009 9:03 PM MDT reply actions

Yeah, BDHS mentioned Bisaillon, Young, and Toby. Gilbert got called up and he got crushed by Jody Shelley. It was one of the worst injury bugs I've ever seen to one team at the same position. And the league's emergency call-up rules sucked balls.

by Bruce on Apr 1, 2009 9:25 PM MDT reply actions

But do you really blame MacTavish for that? As I recall, Dick Tarnstrom was on the first pairing.

As I recall, "Dan" Hejda spent half the year in the press box, for absolutely no adequate reason.

by Doogie2K on Apr 2, 2009 11:38 PM MDT reply actions

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Northwest Standings

	GP	W	L	OTL	PT
Vancouver Nucks Misconduct	52	32	15	5	69
Minnesota Hockey Wilderness	52	25	19	8	58
Calgary Matchsticks and Gasoline	53	24	22	7	55
Colorado Mile High Hockey	54	26	25	3	55
Edmonton The Copper & Blue	53	21	27	5	47

(updated 2.7.2012 at 7:26 AM MST)

21 - 27 - 5

Streak: Lost 1

Oilers Schedule

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@ Ottawa Silver Seven	Sat 02/11	12:00 PM MST
Toronto Pension Plan Puppets	Wed 02/15	8:00 PM MST
Colorado Mile High Hockey	Fri 02/17	7:30 PM MST
Vancouver Nucks Misconduct	Sun 02/19	7:00 PM MST

Last 5 Games

@ Toronto Pension Plan Puppets	Mon 02/06	L 3 - 6
Detroit Winging It In Motown	Sat 02/04	SO - W 5 - 4
Chicago Second City Hockey	Thu 02/02	W 8 - 4
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@ Vancouver Nucks Misconduct	Tue 01/24	SO - L 2 - 3