My five-year-old son has been in Can-Skate for the past 14 months. We have played floor hockey in the garage for years, but last week was the first time I put him on the ice with a hockey stick. I wanted him to learn how to skate first, and after a few falls learning how to balance while he shot the puck, he was wheeling around the outdoor rink with a huge smile on his face.
He is becoming a hockey fan.
He has watched his cousin’s WHL highlights in the morning for a few years, but usually he is in bed when the Edmonton Oilers games start. Over the past few months my wife and I let him watch the first ten minutes of the first period before going to bed. He loves the national anthem. He makes us stand up and sing it because at kindergarten they sing the anthem. It is great to see what kids gravitate towards.
And he is now a Connor McDavid fan. He wants a #97 jersey. I never influenced him at all, but even the most innocent and inexperienced fan can see how great McDavid is. It is no surprise he is the favourite of most kids in Northern Alberta. And the other great part about kids is how honest they are.
He watched part of the San Jose afternoon game at our house. I was at the rink watching it live and Sunday morning when he and I were building lego I asked him about the game. “I asked mom to change the channel. It wasn’t fun to watch,” he said.
I confirmed later with my wife that this is exactly what happened. He just turned five and he has a short attention span, so even if a game is close he sometimes will stop watching, but in this case he simply didn’t like the drubbing the San Jose Sharks were giving the Oilers.
After I explained you can’t win every game, he, in deep thought, looked at me and said, “How come the Oilers can’t score many goals? McDavid and his friend Dra-saddle (It is a hard name to pronounce for kids) score but not the other guys,” he asked.
He is young and as anyone knows kids aren’t vindictive. He was simply curious why they rest of the team struggles to produce. I said it is hard to score in the NHL and that is why those two are so good. It is too early to explain to him the real truths, but I found it interesting how even the youngest fan can see one of the Oilers main deficiencies.
It reminded me that sports isn’t as complicated as us adults try to make it to be. It is pretty basic. You need a great player or two, some quality depth forwards, a sound defence and a reliable goalie. If you have that, you have a chance.
Right now the Oilers have virtually no depth scoring and they are leaking goals at an alarming rate. No doubt some players need to be doing more offensively — mainly Tobias Rieder and Milan Lucic — but Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli hasn’t built a solid enough supporting cast around McDavid, Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
Tonight’s roster illustrates this.
LINEUP…
Oilers
Khaira-McDavid-Rattie
Rieder-Draisaitl-Spooner
Lucic-RNH-Puljujarvi
Gambardella-Brodziak-Kassian
Nurse-Petrovic
Manning-Larsson
Jones-Benning
Koskinen
The forward lines are a projection based on yesterday’s practice and the recent trades. I’m certain about the first D pair, while the others are an educated guess. A neat story for Joseph Gambardella. His brother graduated from the New York City Police department two days ago. He will be working his first shift tonight in New York at the Ball Drop, while Joseph plays his first NHL game. A thrill for both in their respective line of work.
Khaira has eleven points in his last eight games and Rattie had three points on Saturday, so they are the best offensive options on McDavid’s wing if you don’t want Draisaitl or RNH there. None of the Oilers wingers enter tonight’s game with more than three goals. Ouch.
Kailer Yamamoto is out with an injury, and I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. My concern with Yamamoto being in the NHL this season was his size. I believe he will be a solid NHL player in the future, but he needs time to develop and get stronger. You can’t rush the latter. It is impossible. He missed three weeks in Bakersfield in early December and I hope for his sake this is just a minor tweak.
Earlier today Peter Chiarelli outlined that Brandon Manning and Alex Petrovic are third pairing defenders. Which is fine. Teams need solid third pair players, but both will be asked to play more tonight. Much of that is due to injuries to Oscar Klefbom and Kris Russell, but as I wrote earlier today, I don’t see how Manning is much of an upgrade over Kevin Gravel.
I asked GM Peter Chiarelli what Manning does better than Gravel as I see them battling for the same spot on the third pair LD.
“That is where I respectfully disagree with you,” began Chiarelli. “He’s (Manning) an established player in the NHL. He’s a good solid defender, and he can make some offensive plays. I think from the offensive perspective you are going to see more. He’s played longer in the league and he is meaner. Kevin has done well for us. This (trade) is about bringing in some players who can help our defence now. It doesn’t mean we aren’t looking for higher end D, as we have dipped into our LTIR money…but it is a fair question, Jason, but he has more experience and he’s shown he can do more at this level. That is our evaluation of him.”
It is fair to say Manning has more offence in his game. In junior he was a 50-point defender and in the AHL he produced 31 and 43 points. He had 19 points in the NHL last year. He will bring more offence, but it is unlikely he adds a lot. What about defensively though? The Oilers have allowed 31 goals in the past seven games.
On the season Gravel is an even player at 5×5. He’s been on for 12 goals for and 12 against. With Chicago Manning has been on for 26 goals against and nine for. He is -17 at 5×5. Now I recognize that doesn’t mean he was at fault on all the goals against, but he hasn’t been outperforming Gravel in the D zone. Maybe that changes with a new address, but I think much of this was due to Manning being a more aggressive player.
Chiarelli and Ken Hitchcock like big-hockey. It doesn’t mean they don’t like skill, but I think they still have a soft spot for the bigger, meaner player. I love that type of player, but in today’s game, unless that player also has the skill to make plays his aggressiveness is not nearly as valuable as it was in the past.
Jets…
Ehlers-Schiefele-Wheeler
Connor-Little-Laine
Perrault-Lowry-Tanev
Copp-Roslovic-Lemieux
Morrissey-Trouba
Kulikov-Myers
Chiarot-Morrow
Hellebuyck
The Jets top-six is excellent. They are a tough matchup when your defence is healthy, but the Oilers are without the best defender in Klefbom, and a solid #4 in Russell, so the Jets will pose even more problems. The Oilers get a bit of a break with Dustin Byfuglien out of the lineup with an ankle injury, but I suspect Mikko Koskinen will have to be great tonight for the Oilers to have a chance.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING…
There was a brief moment midway through this past month where a lot of Oilers fans and media felt that the 30 year old Finnish goaltender was about to take over as the Oilers number one guy in net as he had a 11-3-1 record and three shutouts along the way.
Since then he’s lost his last three games in a row with save percentages below .900 and the last game was especially bad as he gave up four goals on six shots faced against the Vancouver Canucks.
The Oilers need a lot of help pretty much everywhere outside of Connor McDavid, but if Koskinen can rebound and regain the form he had in the first part of the season, it would go a long way in help righting the ship in Edmonton.
TONIGHT…
![](https://i1.wp.com/dev1.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/GDB-Edmonton-Oilers-Winnipeg-Jets1.jpg?resize=666%2C531&ssl=1)
GAME DAY PREDICTION: Jets are too deep and skate away with a 4-2 victory.
OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: McDavid, Wheeler Schiefele and Draisailt, who are all top-13 in NHL scoring, register a point.
NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Jones picks up his third point in seven NHL games and he reminds people how a full season in the AHL is not a bad development plan.
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Source: NHL, Official Game Page, 12/31/2018 – 1:00 pm MST
Give me 60 hard minutes and 2 points please. That is all. San Jose showed what we are made of so now the Oilers are in prove us wrong mode. This either goes really good or really really bad. Scared to watch.
Give me 60 hard minutes and 2 points please. That is all. San Jose showed what we are made of so now the Oilers are in prove us wrong mode. This either goes really good or really really bad. Scared to watch.
Overall I thought the presser went well.
The wingers tonite have 11 goals on the season. SMH!
Lol yeah it went alright Pete
Much of what you sat is true but your point about Yamaoto is not on. Are the players in the AHL not also full grown men? Your on the full on Fire Chia rant and letting it cloud your reason like many Oiler fans are at the moment.
The wingers tonite have 11 goals on the season. All of them. Combined. 11 GOALS!
McDavid alone on an island , just like Draisaitl and Hopkins tonight . Get rid of Chia tonight , and lets get this team going in a positive direction at last .
The plane has crashed and is in pieces. Maybe they can put this plane back together and get it in the air again. Not likely.
So far so good
MCNUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1-0 OIL
Nuge pots one…nice 1-0 Oilers. Did anyone else notice when Manning threw the big hit there wasnt much of a response from the fans… tells you how happy people are wit the trade… any other Oilers would have threw that hit there would have been a huge roar from the crowd
We talking the Tanev hit? Because I just saw that, and the crowd seemed to like it
No not that one Alex, Manning threw a big hit earlier, but yeah the second hit on Tanev he did get a little bit more of a roar than the first one. I cant recall who he hit the first time
If I were Chiarlelli I would have a contract waiting for Manning after the game. Something along the lines of 4×5.
I don’t think anyone was thrilled about the trade but he’s ours now so at least he’s doing something to get the guys fired up.
Ah.
I like what I’m seeing so far. Keep it up Men
Exqueeze me, baking powder?!!
Gene’s the best! Haha
Petrovic has an assist on the Nugent-Hopkins Goal
S o f t l i n e n. lel.
Hahahahahahahahaha.
I’m not sure Koskinen saw that one… Benning ~sigh~ Oilers failure to get the puck out of the zone
Great job by Benning to get that puck out of the zone
And now it’s 2-1 Winnipeg
Softkinen puts himself in a tough spot reaching for that puck. If he stays VH he can move post to post easier but he instead overextends and the Oilers are down
You gonna do your “I told you so” thing again tonight?
If i’m right. So far so good.
FFS… again cant get the puck out of the zone…burned by it again… same issue all year, cant defend in our end
Bottom of standings here we come. Lets make more moves tomorrow to try to fix this mess.
Dont worry I am sure Chia is still patting himself on the back, a stroke of genius to get the heat off him by trading for Manning… lol
Damn Canada lost to russia 2-1 good game, but Canada needs to stay outta the box
nice one timer by Drai…all tied up
NEON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WHAT A SHOT!
2-2 ON THE POWERPLAY
3-2 bud. Sit down.
Soft linen. The answer. So hot right now. Trade Talbot.
So much for that. 3-2 Jets
yup man left open and boom….
Dude either people are watching the game or on a sportsnet looking at the score. No one is checking your comments for score updates. Thats strange.
3-2, they almost fooled us there. Seems like Winnipeg can just step up and score a will against this oilers team. Sad state.
FFS man….really
The worst non coverage ever. They suck.
Big 3rd boys. Gangbusters time.
How many more second rate KHL goalies is it going to take before teams stop signing these scrubs for Christ’s sake.
Winnipeg’s backup has a better record than both of our goalies lmaoooi
Koskinen almost looks like talbot now. This is on goalie coach.
@randomfan. Koskinen was never “good” video review and pro scouts have caught up to him.
Are you going to be a troll in 2019 too?
Name three KHL free agents starting for their respective NHL teams and I’ll acquiesce to you calling me a troll lmfaooo
Name 3 positive things you’ve ever said that demonstrate you’re actually an Oiler fan
Pretty sure I called Benning a poor mans Niskanen at the start of the year, said that the team would be a playoff team and I’ve been so pro Bouchard I’ve changed my jersey number in rec league to #2. I still think Koskinen sucks and Talbots the better goalie. Fight me.
Has Kassian lost a step as well? He used to surprise me with his speed now he surprises me when he seems to have a step on the dman and gets cutoff easily
Kassian and Lucic will be playing for the Allan Cup next season. Or should be.
It looks like there is no place in hockey for tough guys anymore. Chia needs to wake up to the new game. I preferred the contact game, but clearly this is the new direction.
Whatever happened to 1-0 style ken hitchcock’s games. I know players have to execute on ice but they look clueless at times.
Skill. Other teams coaching.
Tired of it all, I know PC hasn’t done a very good job but remember Kevin Lowe and Mac T done their part to contribute to this mess and the laughable part of this is they still have a job with this organization. How is that possible they are part of the brain trust of this team still. So the fans, the media in EDM better pull their heads out their asses!! You run a decent coach out of town and hired a local product. What are u all gonna do when he fails?? This team was in trouble long before PC got here..
That’s what I been saying all along. Embarrassing that Lowe and Mact are still on the payroll.
Interesting…a case study on Oilering in the most Oiler way possible. Somehow get a lead for a bit, wait 5 seconds, find yourself down a goal. Oiler around for awhile…somehow score a PP goal! Wait 2 seconds & find yourself down a goal…only thing left is to manage just 2 shots in the 3rd while the competition scores 3 or 4 more and we can call it a night!
NEON LEON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3-3
I give it 5 minutes before softlinen blows it
I was off by five minutes