Ryan Smyth - Shawn Horcoff - Ales Hemsky
Ryan Jones - Eric Belanger - Sam Gagner
Taylor Hall - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle
Ben Eager - Anton Lander - Lennart PetrellLadislav Smid - Tom Gilbert
Cam Barker - Corey Potter
Theo Peckham - Jeff PetryNikolai Khabibulin
According to Joanne Ireland and the Oilers site, Hemsky and Barker are back in. Paajarvi and Teubert are out.
7 months ago
Copper and Blue Staff
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Bloody hell. I’ll be honest and say I never envisaged that lineup as the result of Hemsky’s return. Shows what I know (very little). The Jones-Belanger-Gagner line looks like some sort of Frankenstein’s monster – sewn together from the disembodied spare parts of now deceased lines. Of course, they’ll probably pot three goals between them now I’ve said that.
The Belanger line has looked like that all year. Well, other than the pot three goals part.
If you believe in boxcar stats, Ryan Jones actually brings a welcome infusion of offence to the line. His 5 points are one more than the combined totals of Gagner, Belanger, Gagner, and Omark, who mostly formed the “deceased lines” referenced above. A scary thought, but maybe Jonesy plumbing around in front of the net might allow Gagner to do a little more dangly stuff. Meanwhile according to “misfit” over at Lowetide’s comments section, Belanger’s previous line history with other recent teams was mostly with straight-ahead types, and he always put up decent numbers. So maybe playing him with nothing but dancers just isn’t the ticket.
Oilers fan through thick, thin and anorexic. Writer for The Cult of Hockey.
by Bruce McCurdy on Nov 8, 2011 10:51 AM MST up reply actions
If you believe in boxcar stats, Ryan Jones actually brings a welcome infusion of offence to the line.
It’s clear to me that Renney is simply putting Jones on the line to help pump up Sam’s numbers ahead of his inevitable trade.
Actually, what I don’t understand is the commitment to the fourth line in these circumstances. Why not put Belanger between Jones and Petrell and see if they can play some good shifts against the opponent’s secondary scoring? That lets Gagner centre a line with some scoring potential: MPS – Gagner – Omark. It would also have the side benefit of finally shutting Derek up about the Omark demotion.
Of course, we all know that Renney likes his Eager Beaver for all the toughness he apparently brings…
45 minutes of game play or ice time?
Everyone knows rock attained perfection in 1974. It's a scientific fact.
Writer for The Copper & Blue and a frequenter of the time waster that is Twitter.
Last year Hemsky returned early from a groin injury to play in Montreal, scored three points in leading the Oil to a 4-3 OT win, but reinjured the groin and missed 10 more games.
True story.
Oilers fan through thick, thin and anorexic. Writer for The Cult of Hockey.
by Bruce McCurdy on Nov 8, 2011 10:52 AM MST up reply actions
I’d forgotten all about that. Thanks for the reminder Bruce.
Everyone knows rock attained perfection in 1974. It's a scientific fact.
Writer for The Copper & Blue and a frequenter of the time waster that is Twitter.
Oh man
Sam Gagner is even more screwed than he was before. Now he’s got a whiffer and a guy 5 steps behind the play to work with. The player that needed to be moved was Belanger. Lander would have done a far better job in the 3C position.
Sadly, I don’t think there’s any evidence – either statistical or from watching the games – that suggests Lander would be a better option at 3C at this point. I’m sure he will improve to fill that role perhaps as early as next year, but right now I think he’s working all out just to tread water on the fourth line.
Just having a guy who could keep up with Magnus and Sam would be a huge step forward. I seem to recall Tre Kronor did a pretty decent job, albeit in pre-season.
Omark got another assist today. I have to think Omark/Gagner/PRV would be a pretty dynamic line if given half a chance to get some traction. Why this isn’t being tried I’ll never know.
IIRC that line got killed last year, so there may be some reluctance to try again. Something about Gags didnt mesh well with the Swedes
Insert Witty Comment Here
I could be wrong but alot of that may gave been due to the Swedes having to adapt to the North American game. Belanger was killing Sam and Magnus earlier this year, on top of Sam re-learning how to play wing. Put Sam back to C and support him with the proper offensively minded wingers and I bet you’d see a drastic improvement.
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