The Copper & Blue: FanPosts

SB Nation Survey + Chance to donate $500 to a charity of this community's choice

2010-03-20T00:48:04Z

>> Take SB Nation Survey

Hello sports fans! We're always striving to provide you with the best experience possible and it's been quite some time since we checked in with you.

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Ask Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson

2010-03-19T14:30:37Z

via upload.wikimedia.org

What if - and believe me this is a hypothetical - but what if you able to ask Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson a question? Would that do anything for you?

We here at The Copper & Blue aren't obsessed with Scandinavians and Finns. Really. We do like North American skaters. We promise. But, as regular readers know, those crazy way-northern European kids like us for some reason. And they like to talk to us and they might even genuinely like us! I feel like Sally Field for some reason. The last time we put out this call, Anton answered all of your questions, so we're doing it again. There's a possibility that some time in the near future we're going to have a conversation with Oiler prospect and Timrå superstar Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson. Johan and Timrå blogger Jimmy Hamrin looked at Pääjärvi a couple of months ago in an excellent article. If anything from that report, or anything from the other articles on Pääjärvi have tickled your fancy, let us know - we'll ask, hopefully he answers.

Oilers vs. Flyers, 50 in 39 - Liveblog!

2010-03-17T23:38:55Z

"Only the marvelous is beautiful"

An excellent live blog of a happier time for Edmonton fans - December 30, 1981 - the night of 50 in 39. Wayne Gretzky scored five goals in one game (before the Safeway Score and Win Contest) with the Daves, Lumley and Semenko on his wings. B.C.B. at Bringing Back The Glory live blogs the events with some outstanding descriptions of the game. The current Oilers would kill for someone that could score 17 goals in 35 games.

NHL Video has the highlights, though B.C.B.'s descriptions are a necessary read before watching each goal:

Spinal Cord Injuries in Canadian Amateur Hockey: A Study With NHL Implications?

2010-03-16T23:00:42Z

Every so often, my education crosses over neatly with current events. Like when we talked about the Wingate test during training camp, or when we talked about knee injuries the same week Mike Cammalleri fell awkwardly and ripped up his knee. With a pair of questionable hits into the boards coming in the last two weeks and getting everyone talking (when they're not railing against Matt Cooke), it just so happens that for my sport injury class, I'm reading a paper on the incidence of spinal cord injuries in Canadian amateur hockey. After finishing the paper, I felt it would be worth taking a quick look at some of the findings, and conclude by questioning just why some in the media and on the Internet continue not only to defend certain types of cheap shot, but indeed even glorify them.

Note: If you have access to PubMed or another, similar article indexing service (check with your University librarian), you can download and read the paper yourself. The citation:

Tator CH, Provvidenza C, and Cassidy JD. Spinal injuries in Canadian ice hockey: an update to 2005. Clin. J. Sport Med., 19(6): 451-456. PM: 19898071

Background

Judging from the References section of this paper, Dr. Tator specializes in the study of catastrophic injury in sport, and has been looking at spinal cord injuries in hockey since 1981. In the early '80s, he found a sharp increase in the number of spinal cord injuries in hockey could be attributed primarily to checking from behind, leading to the first penalty for the act from the CAHA (Hockey Canada) in 1985. He's checked back on the situation several times since, and has finally got good news for us: after nearly twenty years of double-digit numbers of annual spinal cord injuries, we're finally starting to see a consistently reduced number of these injuries in Canadian amateur hockey.

The authors indicate a few reasons for the increase happening in the first place. One theory is that the increased prevalence of helmets and face masks created a feeling of invulnerability and reduced accountability in the players, terming it "risk compensation." They're quick to point out that helmets are likely not a direct cause of injury, but that there may be a cultural effect due to them. Another theory is that as players have gotten bigger, stronger, and faster, and been encouraged to play more aggressively, more reckless plays have been the natural result.

The authors have also noted a number of reasons why it may be decreasing. Grassroots education programs like "Smart Hockey with Mike Bossy" and the STOP program, increased and more consistent rule enforcement, as well as a change in the overall coaching culture of the sport at lower levels, have all been considered as possibilities. However, it's difficult to tease out the effects of each of these, since there's a large degree of overlap in the time periods over which each of these changes has occurred.

By the Numbers

The first figure that may astonish people is that more than 2/3 (67.7%) of all non-professional hockey spinal cord injuries in Canada come in players between 11 and 20 years of age. In particular, nearly half of all injuries (47.6%) occur between the ages of 16 and 20. I would suspect that a large number of these come from major junior and, to a lesser degree, Junior A, as players try to impress NHL scouts, or just retain their positions on teams coached or managed by former players. The authors also indicate that part of this high incidence may be due to players gaining the strength and speed to deliver these hits before they've developed the corresponding spinal musculature (and, I would add, bone mineral density) to absorb them.

What's really interesting, however, are the common mechanisms of injury. The top three mechanisms by a longshot are three types of hit that should be familiar if you've been watching the NHL this year. They are presented below, hopefully without the perception of an agenda, to illustrate what, precisely, we're talking about.

Mechanism #1: Check/push from behind (35.0%)
Recent NHL Example: Maxim Lapierre cross-checks Scott Nichol from behind at the goal line; Nichol falls into the boards, injuring his shoulder.
Resultant Penalty: None on the play, with a four-game suspension issued thereafter.

Mechanism #2: Check/push not from behind (25.4%)
Recent NHL Example: Alex Ovechkin shoves Brian Campbell sideways into the boards. The hit broke Campbell's clavicle and ribs, ending his regular season and jeopardizing his playoffs.
Resultant Penalty: Five minutes for boarding and a game misconduct, with two more games added after the fact.

Mechanism #3: Tripped on ice (20.4%)
Recent NHL Example: Jarome Iginla gets his stick under Sheldon Souray's skate, sending him into the end boards, resulting in a concussion.
Resultant Penalty: Two minutes for tripping.

With respect to the recent decreases in injury, the interesting trend I noted was in Figure 1, for those following along at home. While there was a sharp drop in injuries in "juvenile" (i.e. registered adult hockey) after 2000, it was preceded by a slightly less sharp drop-off at the developmental level beginning around 1996. (Since a quick look on Google doesn't tell me anything, when did the CHL introduce its rule against checking from behind?) It's also worth noting that not only are injuries down in the first half of this decade compared to the previous two, but the number of injuries due to hits from behind are also down (36.6% from before 2000 to 25% since), which is an encouraging sign.

So What About the NHL?

It seems obvious to me that the NHL should be doing everything it can to discourage these kinds of hits, and indeed, it does to an extent. The third one, tripping, is probably the toughest one to deal with, because there is no major for it, nor is there usually any cause for there to be. The NHL did step in and force there to be a penalty for interference or tripping when two players jockey for position on an icing call, to reduce incidents ending in injury like this one between Torrey Mitchell and Kurtis Foster. However, punishment for the other types of hit have been wildly inconsistent: star players get different penalties from scrubs; the extent of injury weighs more greatly on the outcome of supplementary discipline than the danger level of the play, rather than the other way around; punishment levels seem to change depending on how much media attention's been garnered, and whether it's something the NHL has publicly stated it's "trying to stamp out," though even that is rather questionable, in light of the Matt Cooke-Marc Savard incident.

The bottom line is, the NHL needs to be a lot tougher on crime, and much more consistently tough, than it has been to this point. We've been fortunate, really, that there hasn't been a serious neck injury resulting from one of these dangerous plays, because if someone went in at the wrong angle, that could be it for their career, and then what would the NHL do? Throwing the book at one guy while letting everyone else off with a couple of games here or there -- all while handing out six games for a stupid sex joke -- is a poor substitute for changing the culture of the game away from supporting reckless endangerment. When the NHL decided it wanted bench-clearing brawls to end, once and for all, they implemented a ten-game ban for the first guy off the bench. They have the power to do something similar here, but I doubt there's much will for it at this point.

Perhaps most saddening, though, is the fact that even when it's clear and obvious when a dangerous play has occurred, fans and media alike come out of the woodwork to defend a player. Mike Milbury and Pierre McGuire stated on NBC during the first intermission of the Capitals-Blackhawks game this weekend that they didn't think Ovechkin should've been tossed. Robert L of Habs Eyes on the Prize here on SB Nation defended Maxim Lapierre's hit as a "hockey play," and his suspension part of "the pussification of hockey." Hell, I'm even guilty of it myself, defending Tomas Plekanec's slew-foot on Denis Grebeshkov last year as some sort of accident, even after he was suspended for two games over it; with the benefit of hindsight, I'm finally prepared to admit that I was wrong on that one.

I think we, as hockey fans, need to start realizing that, while the violence inherent to the game is part of its appeal, it should not come at the expense of causing a career-ending injury, which this study demonstrates is very much possible. Injuries happen and accidents happen, and that's all just a part of the game, but surely we can do a better job than we have to this point of recognizing when a player crosses the line between making a good hockey play and making a reckless, dangerous play that doesn't need to be a part of the game. The NHL owes it not only to themselves and their players -- the League's "greatest asset," as Gary Bettman puts it -- but to us, the fans, to ensure that the players we pay dearly to watch aren't jeopardized unnecessarily. We also owe it to ourselves to expect better, both from the League and from ourselves. If we continue to support reckless play and consider it, "part of the game," we're as much a part of the problem as the guys like Cooke and Lapierre and Ovechkin.

Ask Anton Lander

2010-03-12T16:00:18Z

via cdn.picapp.com

What if - and believe me this is a hypothetical - but what if you able to ask Anton Lander a question? Would that do anything for you?

From time-to-time, we here at The Copper & Blue get a chance to speak to some of the prospects in the organization. Often times a commenter brings up a great question that we neglected to ask. There's a possibility that some time in the near future we're going to have a conversation with Oiler prospect and Timrå Assistant Captain Anton Lander. We want to make sure that we don't overlook a good question or topic of discussion as we prep for our talk with Lander.

Johan and Timrå blogger Jimmy Hamrin looked at Lander a couple of months ago in an excellent breakdown. If there was anything in that report that piqued your interest, if there is anything that you'd like to know about the WJCs, let us know in the comments and we'll do our best to get the question answered.

Chris Minard Up; O'Sullivan Injured

2010-03-11T15:12:48Z

Chris Minard has been called up from Springfield of the AHL and will play tonight in place of Patrick O'Sullivan who was injured in the Oilers' last game against the Ottawa Senators and Ethan Moreau who ~~sucks~~ is out with an injured neck. Unlike any of the other call-ups the Oilers have made earlier this season Chris Minard is both over six feet tall and can score points in the AHL (25 points in 31 games this season and 57 in 54 with Dunder Mifflin a year ago), a pretty nice combination. He started the year on an absolute tear but then suffered a concussion and was tragically unavailable for recall when the Oilers needed bodies. His loss at that time has been Ryan Potulny's gain. The 27-year-old Minard now gets one last chance to impress. He's already played in 35 NHL games and hasn't done much (that 4.8 shotting percentage couldn't be more ill-timed), but given the Oilers incredible lack of talent he may actually get put into an offensive role for a few games. I hope, for his sake, that he can make the most of what may be his last opportunity to establish himself in The Show.

Falling Short of Expectations: Bottom Corsi Underachievers

2010-03-10T23:20:47Z

More fine work from the lovely and talented Gabriel Desjardins in this post about Exceeding Expectations: Top Corsi Overachievers. Gabe is a balanced individual - especially for a numbers guy - so he looks at both the top and bottom 30 of the league. Experienced Oiler fans surely know where to look for the names of some of the local zeroes. No surprise to find three Oilers who have received quite a pounding here at the Copper & Blue this season. Nice to get some independent confirmation from such an authoritative source that we've been on the right track.

In related news Fernando Pisani's many fans are advised to look only at the bottom half of that bottom 30.

Taylor Chorney's Per-Game AHL numbers

2010-03-09T23:08:04Z

I just wanted to post this quick comparison of Taylor Chorney's performance in the AHL this season and last season. Numbers are per-game ratios projected over an 82 game season.

2008-09: 82GP - 7G - 19A - 26PTS, -35, 101 shots
2009-10: 82GP - 10G - 23A - 33PTS, -51, 156 shots

I'm fairly certain that the important thing to note here is that Chorney's shooting more.

Ryan Jones Tears MCL, Out 4 Weeks

2010-03-08T23:31:17Z

Well, so much for seeing what Ryan Jones can do. Word has come down from the Oilers that Jones has a torn MCL, the result of an "errant" (i.e. carefully placed) knee from Derek Boogaard. Boogaard was suspended for two games for the hit which is ridiculous but pretty standard fare for the NHL so it's not worth getting upset over. I would have liked to have seen Jones play a few more times this season to get a better idea of what should be expected from him and I'm sure management feels the same (Tambellini loves evaluating). But as much as it's a tough break for the Oilers it's likely even worse for Jones. With some good play he probably could have established himself somewhat for next season. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like that's going to happen and, as such, he'll probably be penciled in as a 4th line or press-box option heading into next year.

The Devils Struggles From A New Jersey Writer's Perspective

2010-03-07T19:39:47Z

I asked John Fischer of In Lou We Trust for a scouting report on the Devils in advance of tonight's game. Even with Ilya Kovalchuk and maybe because of him, the Devils are struggling, 3-6-1 in their last ten games, and they've been caught and passed by the Penguins for the division lead in the old Patrick. Fans are nervously calling for some action either from or on Jacques Lemaire, and there are whispers of "system problems"

Below the jump, John weighs in.

SB Nation's Devils vs Oilers coverage

In Lou We Trust

The biggest indication of how well the Devils will do in a game can be seen in their puck movement. Granted, the same could be said for most teams, but if the Devils are misfiring passes, seeing pucks go off skates, heels of sticks, or just miss their target, then it's a big sign that the team isn't playing so well. Basically, the Oilers need to either play the Devils closely to take advantage should said passes go astray or just shut down passing lanes by collapsing down low on offense to force them to keep it outside where the shots have a lesser chance of hitting the net. By frustrating them early, they can utilize their counter attack to a great effect because the Devils' defense isn't just without a "big name" but also in speed. Again, one could say that applies to most teams, but it's been especially noticeable for the Devils this season. In fact, recent games have shown the team to suffer this for a period or two and lose the game in the process because the other team just rolls them over without the Devils' offense at least putting the puck in the other team's end often enough to keep them honest.

Speaking of the offense, here's a breakdown of their top two lines.

While they aren't big, the ZZ Pops line of Zach Parise, Travis Zajac, and Jamie Langenbrunner plays very well down low and in the corners, able to not only fight for pucks but get them quickly right in front of the net. It's no coincidence that Parise scored the majority of his goals in the slot or around the net this season. Either the Oilers defense has to be very strong around the boards or very quick in reacting at guarding the slot. The Devils are starting to develop a second line of Ilya Kovalchuk, Dainius Zubrus and Patrik Elias which varies their approaches more often. Kovalchuk's got a great shot and so sometimes the play is to set him up across-ice or from distance so he can utilize that shot. Elias is technically the playmaker of that group, so he'll be distributing the puck more than shooting (which he can do well). Zubrus is the utility man who creates space with his size and can surprise some with his good stickhandling. Some shifts, the plan will be to get the puck to Kovalchuk and let him rip it; but more and more, Kovalchuk will lead the rush up ice and dump it off for Elias or Zubrus for a shot. While they aren't the first line, the Oilers defense needs to be even more prepared for the various styles of the second line moreso than the first line, who has a more consistent attacking approach. If either gets rolling, the Devils do take the game for themselves; their period-based struggles largely come when both lines struggle to do much leaving their defense prone and possibly overworked - which leads to errors that make for difficult shots for any goalie to stop, much less Martin Brodeur.

Thanks to John for spending the time on this to give us a picture of the next team to send the Oilers on their way to the lottery.

Smid Out for the Season

2010-03-06T00:12:29Z

Ladislav Smid's neck injury that kept him out of last night's game requires surgery and will keep him out for the rest of the season. This is obviously bad news for the Oilers - you'd certainly want your core players not having surgery - but it's also bad timing (not that there's every really good timing). With Visnovsky and Grebeshkov traded, Smid would have been the clear number three man on the depth chart. If I were in the Oilers situation I would have paired Smid with Gilbert in shut-down role for the last twenty or so games to see whether or not Smid could handle that kind of assignment going forward. It's particularly difficult to tell how good Smid really is because of his fantastic results this season when paired with Visnovsky and his somewhat less fantastic results when apart from him. Seeing him in a shut-down role without Visnovsky for the last part of the season would give the club useful information for this off-season, especially since "shut-down defender" is likely the role Smid is going to have if he's to become a really valuable member of the hockey club.

On the other hand, the timing is actually kind of good. Smid is a pretty respectable player and with him in the lineup they're more likely to win. With Smid out, they've now got both Jason Strudwick and Aaron Johnson in their top four. Well, they would if they actually played the best four defenders in the top four. As it stands, Taylor Chorney is probably going to play with Strudwick on the third pairing while Theo Peckham gets put with Aaron Johnson. I'm pretty confident the third pair is second best. But that's really the other thing Smid's injury offers, a chance to evaluate Chorney and Peckham at the NHL level to see if they want them as full-time members of the team next year. My early evaluation suggests that if the Oilers are hoping to win games, they don't want Peckham and Chorney as high as 7th on next year's depth chart.

So get well soon Ladislav! We'll see you next year!

Arsene and Motin Demoted

2010-03-05T23:56:11Z

Well they didn't last long. With Aaron Johnson and Ryan Whitney arriving for tonight's game both Arsene and Motin were sent back to the Springfield Falcons. Fortunately for fans in Springfield, the Falcons didn't need to play a single game with these two out of the lineup. They may have been outchanced by a combined 15-3 against the Blackhawks but they're certainly better than anything Springfield can replace them with. And heck, Johan Motin can say he's played in an NHL game and can head back down to Springfield knowing that he has supplanted Bryan Young (17 career NHL games!) in the depths of the depth chart.

Losing Lubo hurts, but Whitney could turn out just fine

2010-03-04T19:28:44Z

Ryan Whitney said some really nice things in his interview yesterday about coming up to a young team and wanting to take a leadership role. This is definitely good news. Say what you will about his play in Anaheim this past year, but Whitney was drafted 5th overall in 2002 for a reason and 38 points in 82 games with the Ducks as a 3/4 defenceman is truly nothing to scoff at. He's already been through the tail end of a rebuild as well as 38 playoff games in both Pittsburgh and Anaheim. Let's not forget he was in the SCF in 08, albeit on the losing side. At 27 years old, he brings veteran experience at a key age, something possessed only by Tom Gilbert, Dustin Penner and Ales Hemsky on this team. He almost makes up for the loss of Jarret Stoll and Matt Greene in that sense, which is likely a good thing. If he wants to be the player he was in Pittsburgh, maybe the Oilers aren't a bad place to be to restart a career filled with potential that has gone a little sideways the past two seasons. Younger players to build around are almost always positive assets, especially when these players have the benefit of playoff experience to draw upon. This marks the start of establishing a new core of peak aged players in Edmonton, much like what the Kings have been trying to establish the past few years. I don't know if Whitney is capable of becoming a top-pairing option, but he's is an Oiler now and he has the pedigree to become the player the Penguins drafted him to be. In the short term, the Oilers definitely lose this trade, but long term Whitney could turn out to be a very strong piece of the puzzle. It's hard to be optimistic these days, but you have to start somewhere, right?

Day Thirteen (Seventeen): Gold

2010-02-28T16:49:45Z

So it's the Olympic open thread but today there's not a lot to be open for. Just two events today, the 50k mass start and then the hockey. The 50k almost breaks your heart to think about. They bring along a guy to become the first ever person to compete in both the Olympics and Paralympics and then pull out the rug. I've been cheering that cross-country men's team for these Olympics and although there might be four guys better, if Brain McKeever is a part of your team how is it that one of the four guys who have raced a bunch already won't step aside? Pretty disheartening.

That aside, Canada has had a wonderful Games overall on the strength of a monster second week. Three golds yesterday probably wasn't how it was drawn up, but wow what a day. The men's speed skaters with further redemption. Jasey-Jay Anderson overwhelmed with emotion at finally getting his medal. And Kevin Martin. The man finally did it and that coy smile on his face at the end said it all. A hearty congratulations! You too John Morris, Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert! All four were great this whole time, and frankly, even beyond that.

And now, unbelievably, Canada has tied the record for most gold medals in a Winter Olympics and will be trying to break the record today. I'd say it puts more pressure on the hockey team but I doubt that's true. At some point, the pressure is what it is and it's not going to get more stressful unless you're putting a guy's life on the line or something. The record probably just adds a "cool" factor and might even make them feel a bit more like they're a part of the overall team since it would truly be a "whole team" accomplishment.

The Americans have been really good in the tournament but didn't deserve to win the only time they played one of the best. They have nice depth at forward, not as good as the Canadians, but no one that should be overwhelmed and a really physical club. There will be no soft minutes - by any definition - today. Ryan Miller has of course been very good this season and in these Olympics. The Canadians are probably 60/40 to win at this point, which is pretty much the best case scenario.

So let's go Canada! Come on now! One more game to win it all!

Schedule:

Canada v. United States 1:15 p.m. MST

Day Twelve (Sixteen): Martin (and Bronze)

2010-02-27T20:22:40Z

It's (past) time for the Olympic open thread! And the good times did keep on rolling. The Canadian men had a huge day on the oval with three medals in two events, two of them gold. The Canadian women curlers gave the men's hockey club a lesson in choking as she missed shots to win in both the 10th and 11th ends to "win" the silver medal. It was hard to watch but Cheryl Bernard and her crew actually looked pretty up-beat after the fact. Obviously they would have preferred to win the gold but it seemed like they kind of knew they hadn't played all that well over the last week. Today, the big game for me is Kevin Martin's gold medal foray. His game against Norway in the round robin was very close and that Norwegian club is quality. It's likely to be an exciting final and I can only hope Martin comes out on top. If he does it, I expect some emotion from the Old Bear.

And then there's the hockey. Yesterday saw the Finns embarrass themselves against the Americans as Miikka Kiprusoff gave the worst performance from a Scandinavian goalie since NHLers started coming to the Olympics. But the whole team was awful. And the Americans were very good. Canada? Somewhat less impressive against the Slovakians. The game ended 3-2 but only by inches. It says something about the Canadian performance when I'm almost cheering for the Slovaks to tie the game. They didn't, and it's Canada-US tomorrow for the gold. That American team has some really nice depth at forward. They're not as good as Canada's forwards but there also shouldn't be any huge mismatches. But today's game is for bronze. I've got to say, I'm pulling for the Slovaks.

Schedule:

Canada (Martin) v. Norway (Ulsrud) 4:00 p.m. MST

Finland v. Slovakia 8:00 p.m. MST

The One Way Jaromir Jagr Coming to Edmonton Could Work

2010-02-27T18:58:24Z

We've all heard the rumours of Jaromir Jagr coming to Edmonton, of course. They've been out there for the last three years. He's thirty-eight years old, he's not quite a point-per-game player in the KHL, and he'd want a lot of money. He'd be a decent player but he wouldn't outperform his contract and by the time the Oilers were ready to compete again he'd have hung the blades by the fire.

Obviously, gassing, say, $4 million of salary to buy Jagr in a rebuilding year is madness. No matter how you get the money, there are better ways to spend it; a lot of Steve Otts and Branko Radivojevics to sign.

Actually, maybe it's not quite so obvious. For you've probably seen Robert Tychkowski's report in the Edmonton Sun that Ales Hemsky is pimping for Jagr to come to Edmonton. He overrates Jagr a fair bit (seventy points, Ales? He had 71 points in his last NHL season, he's older, and he'd be playing for a worse team) but that's not the point.

We've also all worried about Ales, the golden wunderkind, the young star we all want to retire in copper and blue. He's wasting the prime of his career on a last-place team. He's one of the biggest team guys and best human beings in hockey, but he's also human and he's competitive and he probably wants some silverware at some point before he's dead.

So you know what? If signing Jaromir Jagr is what it takes to keep Ales Hemsky happy, I damned well sign Jaromir Jagr.

Day Eleven (Fifteen): Let the Good Times Roll

2010-02-26T19:56:21Z

Olympic open thread! The good news just kept right on rolling yesterday. Both curlers are into the gold medal game, the women's hockey team took gold and Joannie Rochette earned a bronze medal with her performance in the free skate. A great moment for her in what must be, more generally, a very difficult time. The last two days have seen Canadians rise to the occasion time and time again and that's always fun to watch. Coming into the day the Canadians now have as many first place finishes as anyone with some very good opportunities to take a few more. Cheryl Bernard is up first playing for the gold medal against the Swedes. Later on, there are a bunch of short-track events. The Canadian men have had disappointing results to this point, but could make up for it with a big night tonight.

And then there's the hockey. The Finns and Americans will duel in the first game this afternoon. I'm probably in the minority here, but I'm pulling for the Americans. A Canadian gold medal victory will just feel all the more complete if they can avenge their only loss of the tournament and I doubt the Finland is an easier game for Canada in the final anyway. And there's Canada-Slovakia. It isn't quite the storied rivalry of Canada-Russia but the game today is a biggie. The only Slovakians with 20 GP this season in the NHL under 30 are Marian Gaborik, Tomas Kopecky, Andrej Meszaros, Andrej Sekera, Marek Svatos, Milan Jurcina and Boris Valabik. That's it. Seven guys and, aside from Gaborik, not much to hang your hat on. This is their last semi-relastic shot at Olympic glory for the forseeable future. And they know it. I don't often put a lot of emphasis on the psychological aspect of the game but if ever there was a team ready to play above their heads because of "desire," this is that team.

Schedule:

Finland v. United States 1:00 p.m. MST

Canada v. Slovakia 7:30 p.m. MST

Defending the Bulin Wall

2010-02-26T04:24:11Z

Einstien defined insantiy as " expecting different results by trying to do the same things over again". I am sure If he was still alive and an Oiler fan, he would have invented the time machine to get the hell out of this era. Over the last four off-seasons, there has been only one thing constant about the Oilers: Chasing a relatively big name player and throwing ridiculous amounts of money at him! Hossa, Chara, Vanek. Penner, Jagr the list is endless. What is more frustrating is that while they were after the superstars, they did not do anything to fill the holes the roster has!

Lets just forget about the previous summers and talk about the last one. A season where we got left out of the playoff spot. Our GM talked about bringing in players to help improve the toughness at forward and the defense. What did they do? Chased Heatley, overpaid Khabibulin and signed Comrie!! How did that make our team any tougher? Beats me . Now I am not going to go in detail with the other two subjects, but focus mainly on the Bulin wall. Even though I am extremely mad with the current organisation, the Bulin signing isnt one that angers me. On the contrary, I am one of the few people who have been for the signing. Let's look at the reasons after the jump

Lets first take a look at the goal-tenders available this summer (I am not including Roloson on that list because we all suspected that he will not be coming back):

Lets be honest here, Khabibulin was easily the best goalie available then. Many who thought that Biron was a better goalie should see that he is having a poor season as a member of NYI which is a better team than the Oilers. Of this bunch, only Craig Anderson has had a season that can be considered a success. Well, sure there is Ty Conklin, but signing him would have been a PR disaster, but that is another day`s story. This is what Lowetide had to write about Khabibulin signing (dated 22nd July)

So I began looking at reasons why the Oilers would have made this decision. At this blog and others everyone was well aware of the plethora of good goaltenders available through free agency this summer and it was completely reasonable to believe the Oilers could get a bargain who would also be more than adequate. However, as a new hire I'm not certain Tambellini would choose starting goaltender as the position he'd like to get ballsy on, especially with the new head coach probably expressing a strong desire for a proven starter.

If a team like Philadelphia had suddenly entered the picture, or Chicago pushed harder to bring Khabibulin back, the Oilers could easily have been on the outside looking in July 1 (in terms of a proven starter, which was clearly the priority).

I completely agree with him here. All Steve Tambellini talked about was making the playoffs and hence he went ahead and grabbed the best goalie available. Did he overpay?

Yes. Did he give a contract too long

? Yes again. However was there a better goalie available?

No. Was there another goalie available with a better track record

? No! The thing is that Steve Tambellini did not think that other teams werent looking for great goaltending. The teams that did not have a clear #1 goalie, were looking for a rebuild. They werent thinking about the play-offs. Amongst the teams that signed a new goalie last summer it was only the Oilers who wanted a turn-around!

Now lets look at his stats:

18-7-9-2 SV% .909

Yeah of course his SV% is below the league average, but think about the quality of shots he has faced! There have been too many and most of them of high quality ones. His EV sv% is 0.924 just behind that of Brodeur @ 0.925. Again not spectacular, but its decent. If again you take in the quality of the team he is playing for, it isnt too bad. Another thing to be considered is the SV% of the other goalies on this team. It is below .900. That goes to show that it was Khabibulin who was carrying the team on his 'back'. There were 5 games where he had SV% of upwards of .930! If we consider that 90% of those games are generally victories, if he played 60 games, that alone would have been 15 victories!

Despite missing time with injuries, he has averaged 50 games every season since the lockout!

So him playing just 18 games in a season is an anomaly. W

here the management screwed up was to not provide for a proper back-up that could play about 30 games and be consistent. One thing every fan here will agree with me is this fact: This season all the fears have come true in a collective manner. Everything that could have possibly gone wrong has gone wrong. This season is the definition of the 'worst case scenario'.

Whenever things go wrong with(in) an organisation, everyone starts making a huge deal out of any and all negative publicity. If the Oilers were at the top of the division, we would have chalked Khabibulin's arrest to a player just having too much fun and getting carried away. However that hasnt happened. Hence we are having the Khabibulin bashing competition.If you ask me, I am just tired of this season. Every game all we can do is whine about how the season is going on. Everyday we find new things to criticize. I know that there nothing else to talk about. Trust me, that frustrates me more than anyone else. I have been an Oiler fan only for the last 4 years. The season I started following hockey, we traded away Ryan Smyth and had that epic losing stretch. All I have seen is loss, loss and more loss. I am sick and tired of the management making one error after another. The blunder was not going into the rebuild mode any sooner. The error wasn't signing the Bulin Wall, the error was to think that we can make the playoffs with the kind of roster that we have!! The error was to trade away Brodziak, the error was to not sign for Blair Betts. The error was to let the captain play as many games as he has! The error was to stand pat and let many trade opportunities get away! So rather than hitting the man when he is low, lets all get-together as fans and urge the management to be more pro-active. Let us all send a message to them saying that they cannot jerk us around for four season and tell us " Oh we have just begin the rebuild ". If that is case then I ask them WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU GUYS DOING TILL NOW!!

Day Ten (Fourteen): A Day of Reflection and Joy

2010-02-25T18:37:13Z

Consider this the open Olympic thread. Any thoughts on the Olympics, leave them here. What can be said about yesterday? It's hard to be anything but happy when Clara Hughes, perhaps the greatest Canadian Olympian ever, closes out her skating career with a medal. An amazing person as well as an amazing athlete. She even gave a bit of a shot at the "own the podium" verbage after her race which makes me like her all the more. And the day just got better from there. Jessica Gregg avenged a fourth-place finish earlier this week with a silver medal - along with three team-mates - in the women's 3000m relay smack dab in the middle of Canada's unbelievable conquest over Russia in the quarterfinals. And when that great and glorious game ended, CTV whisked viewers off to Whistler to see the women's two-man bobsleigh live with only four teams to go: two of them Canadians. Helen Upperton threw down a great time in her final run and put her mind at ease after a fourth place finish in Turin. With two racers to go she was fully satisfied. And then the Americans faltered. They stood first still with only one team to go and while Kaillie Humphries got down that track a bit faster, she too wore the Canadian colours. Gold and silver. What a day. If the hockey game was a most satisfying main course, the bobsleigh was the perfect dessert. A great night to be Canadian, to celebrate Canadian sport, to sing, to dance and to smile at the accomplishments of our countrywomen. And the hockey team.

And today could be just as sweet. The curling rink sees both the men and the women trying to guarantee a medal and give themselves a chance for gold. Both start the medal round as #1 seed and favourite but I must admit that Kevin Martin one of the athletes I'm really pulling for. As in, before the Games started I knew who he was and cared about him winning. Let's go Kevin! In non-ice action Steve Omischl and two others go for gold in men's aerials. Omischl hasn't made a single podium on the tour this season so expectations can't be set too high, but a medal isn't out of the question. He was the world champion in 2009 for a reason. Back on ice the women's hockey team goes for gold against the Americans tonight in what should be the most (only) competitive game of the women's tournament involving North Americans. a medal is assured but gold sure would be sweet. Nonetheless, tonight's marquee event is the women's free skate with Joannie Rochette beginning the day in third place. I'm certain that for her today will be a day of reflection. I can only hope that it's also a day of joy.

No men's hockey today I'm afraid. But yesterday was quite the day. The Americans rolled over the Swiss. The score was close but the play really wasn't. It was still a good showing for Switzerland at the games, coming out with two victories and three very competitive games against superior clubs. No blow-outs and that really does set them apart from the other minnows. They'll play the Finns tomorrow who beat the Czechs in what was a mild surprise for me and a very good reason to celebrate for Derek (real name: Erkki Ylonen). On the other side of the bracket there was the Canadian victory and the awesome Slovak upset over Sweden. It was a great game to watch, especially seeing Pavol Demitra score yet another goal late to help push the Slovaks to victory. They had a 2-0 lead, blew it, drew it back out to 4-2 and then almost blew it again. But they held on tight and are now in the semis! I would love to see these guys get a medal. Given the draw, I hope it's bronze, but after watching them play the Czechs tough and then earn victories over the Russians and Swedes, the Canadian team had best not take these guys lightly. If it's Slovakia-Finland in the bronze or gold medal game Derek and I will be cheering more passionately than one would expect for opposite sides.

Day Nine (Thirteen): A Great Day of Hockey

2010-02-24T17:28:22Z

Have some thoughts on the Olympics, hockey-related or otherwise? This is your dumping ground. And my oh my there are some things to throw down today. A gold medal performance in ski-cross, which is one of the weirdest events in the Games. It honestly looks like an event where the skiiers looked at the snowboarders and said, "Hey look guys, we're cool too!" and the snowboarders just laughed at them and left. But still a great performance from Ashleigh McIvor and congrats to her on the gold.

Then there were the two bobsledders who held their own last night and are in the hunt going into today. It's hilarious that they ran the feature on the girl that always finishes fourth in the bobsleigh only to have her finish fourth after two runs. You better believe that's getting replayed this morning. But the other sled is sitting in first and it looks at least possible for the Canadians to take two medals in the event. And who's going to be watching the last two runs live? Nobody. Except maybe during the intermission. It's a shame for them really. Maybe they ought to move the event.

Then there's Great Britain and Sweden playing today to see who gets Kevin Martin in the semis. Sweden had better win. After an undefeated round robin wouldn't it be just perfect if Kevin Martin gets to play Murdoch in the semis. You can see the train wreck from a mile away. Oh Kevin Martin, why does fate you so much!?

But the best thing about last night was the highly emotional performance from Joannie Rochette. Seeing her go out and perform at a high level given the circumstances was awesome. Healing for her too I'd bet. Just a wonderful skate and I hope she performs well again in her next skate so that she can leave these Olympics with a mixture of sadness and joy instead of just epic sadness.

As for the hockey, Belarus and Switzerland went as expected. It was tight but the Swiss made it through to face the Americans today. Will the Swiss be able to hang around? If so, they'll need to play a lot better than they have in their last two games and they'll need Hiller to be better as well.

Canada and Germany was again, as expected: a blow-out victory for Canada. And now it's the Russians. As I said last night, I can hardly wait. The game is going to be an epic display of skill and desire. Both the Canadians and Russians have had some kinks so far in the tournament (Russia's power play hasn't been nearly as good as it should be) but this is the most hockey talent in one game we'll see all year and both teams are desperate to win. It's going to be amazing.

Then it was Latvia and the Czech Republic in the only game being played at UBC in the men's tournament. And boy was that one fun. The Czechs beat up on the underdogs early but after a lackluster second period held only a 2-0 lead going into the third. Still, a two-goal lead against Latvia with one period left is pretty much home and cooled. And the Czechs played like it. Latvia got some chances, killed some penalties, survived Edgars Maskalskis passing the puck between his legs to a Czech attacker, got wonderful goaltending - the Latvians were playing well and the Czechs weren't, but the Latvians were still being widely outchanced - and then with eight minutes to go it was 2-1. Five minutes later the Latvians were crowding the front of the net and it was 2-2. Lat! Vi! A! Lat! Vi! A! Lat! Vi! A! The crowd sensed it. Fate had already wisked Jagr away with an injury so that hockey royalty wouldn't be embarrassed. The Czechs all sat on the bench, the Latvians all stood; it was an image that would live on for years to come. Overtime. A minute in the puck bounced off the glass behind the net and into Tomas Vokoun, drifting just wide. Inches from Tommy II. Inches. Then with five minutes left it was David Krejci scoring on the Czechs first shot of overtime. Dammit. Maskalskis played a great game and the goal wasn't exactly a softie but it just felt like he should have made that save. That he bucked fate. Sad. But now it's the Czechs meeting Finland today. Jaromir Jagr may be out (injury, day-to-day) for the Czechs and Joni Pitkanen is definitely out (suspension) for the Finns. It should be a good one nonetheless with both teams recognizing that they have a great chance at the gold medal game. Still, I feel ripped off that I won't be hearing Latvia chants and singing all through an 8-0 drubbing.

Finally, it was the Norwegians and Slovaks. And again the game was unexpectedly close. O-K Tollefsen was kicked out of the game early and the Slovaks scored twice for a 2-0 lead. The game seemed over already. But at the end of two periods it was only 3-1 and with a goal in the final second of the second period the Norwegians were had tied the game 3-3 heading into the third. The Norwegians were actually much closer to the Slovaks in flow of play than the Latvians had been to the Czechs. After watching a close second period and the first five minutes of the third, you got the impression that it could go either way. The crowd desperately wanted the Norwegians to pull the upset but I was of a different mind. I like the Slovaks to begin with and I wanted the Swedes to have a real game in the quarters so I was cheering for the Slovaks throughout. And let me tell you, a tie-game in that situation as the favourite is no fun. It was different than the Canadians and Swiss (both this year and in 2006) because you know there's still time to fight another day. Not so here. You're tied with Norway and if you lose you're done. Come on Slovakia! Just put it away already! And then old friend Miroslav Satan put it away mid-way through the period. The crowd was going crazy for every puck that came near Jaroslav Halak from that time on but it never made it into the goal. And now today the Slovaks meet the Swedes. Heavy favourites to heavy underdogs just like that. Let's hope that the Slovaks can take that extra step against the Swedes that Norway wasn't able to take against them.

Schedule:

United States v. Switzerland 1:00 p.m. MST

Canada v. Russia 5:30 p.m. MST

Finland v. Czech Republic 8:00 p.m. MST

Sweden v. Slovakia 10:00 p.m. MST