First home game of the season, great to be back at Skyreach. Sat in some primo seats tonight too, anyway, here's my report:
Defence:
Marc-Andre Bergeron: Great game from the kid. Rushes the puck so easily, makes the quick decisions required, great PP QB especially when paired with Hemsky. Really played with purpose tonight, impressive.
Mikko Luoma: Not ready, weak out front, has the size but doesn't use it yet. Just not decisive enough for the N.A. game yet. Send him to T.O. for a few, then recall and dump Ferguson.
Cross, Staios, Semenov: all solid games, Staios pasted Kavanaugh, Semenov dropped em but Langdon ran away, and Cross dropped em to go with Bertuzzi, but of course, Bert ran and hid.
Ferguson: Too old, too slow, thanks for the service but no room anymore.
Forwards:
Raffi Torres: Raffi, Raffi, Raffi, if only you had hands you might be a player. Let up on several hits tonight as well, and fell over his own feet on a great scoring chance in the slot. Too bad we gave him a one-way, I'd rather keep someone else.
Stoll: decent game, is going to be full-time ready at the 1/2 way point I'd guess. Not quite there, but so very very close. Needs a little anticipation work.
Peter Sarno: If this guy could just get a couple breaks, the confidence would put him in the lineup. So much skill there, just not playing decisively enough. I'd still like to see him get into at least a few games this year. Hopefully a late bloomer, he really does nice things with the puck.
Marty Reasoner: Sort of a meh game, nothing special, nothing bad. Nothing that'll win him a second line job though. Still looks better than Horcoff so far.
Jani Rita: This guy is so close to being able to have a significant impact. He gets in there in the scoring area, but then doesn't seem to have that little somethin that he needs to find. Solid game, but kinda dissappeared as it went on, which seems to be common for him for some reason. Really nice give-and-go between him and Salmelainen, but Tony got tripped.
Salmelainen: net instinct for sure, knows how to get open and skates just amazingly, I still think he's on the team by the end of the year ala Bergeron.
Smyth: Typical Smytty.
Isbister: Brad, just finish the plays and the fans will love you. Just finish the plays and you'll score 30 goals. BURY THE PUCK!
Dvorak: lacking a little intensity, but could just be the pre-season, hope it doesn't continue.
Chimera: played well, had chances, he's an Oiler.
Wright: He was okay, definately giving it his all. I'd rather keep Sarno, because he could come in handy more often, but have a feeling Wright may stay to open the year, the effort is quite noticable and appreciated.
And lastly, Hemsky, he's really taking charge out there, his goal was typical of what I think we'll see, and he JUST missed on a couple really nice shots. Ran the show all night. Setting up people, rushing the puck, Powerplay QB, penalty killing, I don't know if there's anything this kid can't do. Lets hope that goal is a sign of things to come. I think it is, the kid looks possessed out there.
Goalies:
Nothing special, stopped 11 shots, not really any amazing saves.
SO much fun to be back there again. Really positive about this hockey team. Get Mikey back in the fold and watch us fly.
So my thoughts on the game are thus in no particular order:
I'm loving the line of Isbister-Smyth-Hemsky. They seemed to all click together. I think that Smyth and Hemsky will still outscore Isbister quite significantly though. Even if they are on the same line all year.
Bergeron played like a demon tonight. He had a great game. He skates around like he owns the place. Great on the PP. I'm not sure they can cut him after this game.
Luoma looked alright. I agree with the assessment that he is a smart player positioning wise.
They played three PK units- Smyth-Hemsky, Reasoner-Dvorak, and Stoll-Wright.
I don't know if they didn't ice all of their good guys or what but I didn't think that there was any point that Vancouver was actually in this game. Very classless move putting out their backup goalie and then pulling him 30 seconds later when he gets scored on. Unless of course this had to do with equiptment or something.
Stoll looked alright- good on faceoffs. Sarno, Salmeleinen, Rita, didn't really stick out- maybe because they were on the fourth line.
Everyone else had not bad games. Torres plays hard. I like that he isn't afraid of contact by any stretch.
I didn't realize that Valiquette was so large. So very large.
Ferguson and Staios were wearing the A's. Smyth the C.
They announced that they are going to be changing the netting to something less intrusive- lighter and thinner netting I think. Good news.
If I remember any more I'll mention it but I'm kinda tired so I'm gonna leave it at that for now. It was good to watch a game again after so long.
Oh. two more things. They were carrying and passing the puck better than last year it seemed. There seems to be different breakout sequences. Yeah!! Also, the PP already looks better than last year. They controlled the puck and got shots on net. It was great- absolutely.
I was lucky enough to get to the game tonight, too bad it was so boring but so be it.
brief rundown:
D
Bergeron: great offensive game, but every time he had the puck in his own end it was nervewracking.
Luoma: seemed to have a really rough night with the puck, from what I heard on the radio on the ride home this was the worst he's looked in camp, and he by no means looked NHL ready tonight
Ferguson: even worse than Luoma, not as many errors with the puck as Luoma because he doesn't handle the puck as much, but blown coverage a couple of times.
Cross: wan't impressed with him at all.
Semenov and Staois: both looked pretty good
Overall D thoughts: slots 4-7 on this team look just as bad I was hoping they wouldn't.
Forwards
Sarno: I'd be tempted to keep him up simply because he's so much smarter than any other Oilers forward on the PP. You can see he knows what he's doing out there in terms of how he works angles, and how he positions himself.
Hemsky: didn't like him on the point, because unlike Sarno, he just stands still back there and doesn't adjust to what is given.
Torres: he's on a one-way??? Hope it was just a bad game
Isbister: those weren't good hands tonight, one awesome power move to teh net that gives me hopes for the future, bring that consistantly and he's a key player. But I've seen him make those kind of moves once every 7 games before, so we'll see.
Smyth: I went into the game trying to pay attention to him at C, but the game was so boring I had trouble with it. Seemed to be paying decent attention to his defensive responsibilities.
Dvorak,Reasoner, Stoll, Rita, Salmo, Wright, Chimera: didn't do much
G
Salo: looked really shaky to start, was solid as his time ended
Valiquette: really hard to evaluate since he only got 4 shots, but I have to say I really liked what I saw. Different style from Salo, much more calm and composed.
Thanks everyone for the Siskel and Ebert reviews of the game. I'm in the dark ages tonight with no tv highlights (satellite down), and was unable to listen to the game on the web. What was life like in the olden days, pre-satellite universe? Can hardly remember.
Appreciate all of the first hand observations and comments.
Nice summaries guys. As an out-of-towner I listened to Rod & Morley and every game but absolute stinkers Rod can make sound exciting. Sounded like Vancouver played a pretty undiscipline game with Jovo getting goofy again.
Next Tuesday's game a GM Place aught to determine for sure if Vancouver can intimidate the Oilers and how the two division rivals stack up against each other. The PP is still shooting too many blanks and "finish" has got to become more than an European homonym.
agree to disagree, the only reason Hemsky looked good on the point was his natural skill, not really a great knowledge of how to play the position.
He was passing when he should shoot, not moving to make himself available for passes and shots.
I'd like him better on the sideboards where reasoner was
I'm sorry, my name may make this sound biased, but Hemsky played the position to the letter tonight. He didn't take stupid shots, which guys like Cross are often prone to, he controlled the play and moved the opposition around, him and Bergeron ran the show. Period. Play like that all year on the PP and we'll certainly have better stats, and we'll do fairly well in general, especially when the Mikeys get playin again.
If you wanted to do a clinic on how to play that position, show the video of the game tonight.
Oilers biggest PP problem that everyone misses: STUPID SHOTS, bad angles, through 2 blocking opposition players, from places where you will not score, when there is no traffic. Bergeron and Hemsky elminate those stupid shots.
And don't even get me started on that half-boards junk.......
Thanks for the info guys...What kind of lineup did the nux ice...I assume it wasn;'t their A lineup...From what I read, Bertuzzi and Jovo were playing...
Also from what I read from some of you, it seems the Oilers won't get pushed around this year...The one or two games I saw last season bw the Oilers and the Canucks, physically, the nux were more dominant...Is that safe to say? Anyways, I realize it's only pre-season and we didn't beat the actually canucks last night, but hopefully, the Oilers' physical play is a sign to come...
Great news about the faceoff success. The boys really got schooled in Calgary. I didn't see the line-ups posted anywhere. Can someone direct me to a link or post, please.
Who did the Canucks dress?
#
2 - D - MATTIAS OHLUND
3 - D - BRENT SOPEL
5 - D - BRYAN ALLEN
7 - C - BRENDAN MORRISON
13 - C - ARTEM CHUBAROV
15 - R - PAT KAVANAGH
16 - C - TREVOR LINDEN
19 - L - MARKUS NASLUND
20 - L - DARREN LANGDON
28 - R - TYLER BOUCK
29 - C - NATHAN SMITH
32 - L - BRAD MAY
34 - G - ROB MCVICAR - only played the first 0:17
36 - D - ZENITH KOMARNISKI
38 - D - MIKKO JOKELA
39 - G - DAN CLOUTIER - played 59:43
40 - D - RENE VYDARENY
44 - R - TODD BERTUZZI
55 - D - ED JOVANOVSKI
56 - C - BRANDON NOLAN
I thought Cloutier went in after Hemsky scored at 1:19, but this is from NHL.com.
#
2 - D - MATTIAS OHLUND
3 - D - BRENT SOPEL
5 - D - BRYAN ALLEN
7 - C - BRENDAN MORRISON
13 - C - ARTEM CHUBAROV
15 - R - PAT KAVANAGH
16 - C - TREVOR LINDEN
19 - L - MARKUS NASLUND
20 - L - DARREN LANGDON
28 - R - TYLER BOUCK
29 - C - NATHAN SMITH
32 - L - BRAD MAY
34 - G - ROB MCVICAR - only played the first 0:17
36 - D - ZENITH KOMARNISKI
38 - D - MIKKO JOKELA
39 - G - DAN CLOUTIER - played 59:43
40 - D - RENE VYDARENY
44 - R - TODD BERTUZZI
55 - D - ED JOVANOVSKI
56 - C - BRANDON NOLAN
I thought Cloutier went in after Hemsky scored at 1:19, but this is from NHL.com.
That's correct. They put McVicar in with 9 minutes left in the game. We scored. They pulled him. Like I said before- classless. What does that do to a guy's confidence?
As for Hemsky on the point, I think he isn't sure exactly what he's doing there yet, and it didn't really look like he can one time it at all. It should come though. Maybe if they play him with Bergeron there long enough, he'll pick it up and we'll have them on different PP units.
An interesting thing I forgot to mention last night- I was talking to one of the ushers and she said that "Craig the oilers guy" (rep?? I'm sure it wasn't the coach) was telling them that they won't be renaming Skyreach this year. Who knows if this is reliable or not. It is kinda disappointing though. Also, the Air Canada Club is now known as the Copper Club. Is that another corporate sponsor gone?
That's correct. They put McVicar in with 9 minutes left in the game. We scored. They pulled him. Like I said before- classless. What does that do to a guy's confidence?
Apparently Cloutier was having some cramping so they stuck McVicar in - then Cloutier's cramps got better so they put him back in. That's Crawford's story, at least...but he did say that McVicar looked at him like he had two heads when told to get in there!
That's correct. They put McVicar in with 9 minutes left in the game. We scored. They pulled him. Like I said before- classless. What does that do to a guy's confidence?
As for Hemsky on the point, I think he isn't sure exactly what he's doing there yet, and it didn't really look like he can one time it at all. It should come though. Maybe if they play him with Bergeron there long enough, he'll pick it up and we'll have them on different PP units.
An interesting thing I forgot to mention last night- I was talking to one of the ushers and she said that "Craig the oilers guy" (rep?? I'm sure it wasn't the coach) was telling them that they won't be renaming Skyreach this year. Who knows if this is reliable or not. It is kinda disappointing though. Also, the Air Canada Club is now known as the Copper Club. Is that another corporate sponsor gone?
Thanx hairball. Guess I was confused [it could happen ] on the details.
Hmmm... Skyreach may continue sponsorship for another year.
Air Canada has so many problems, I'm not surprised.
The Oilers marketing guys are good, and will find other sponsors.
I've heard the "Skyreach all year" thing too from a couple people I know. They wouldn't be doing that if they weren't getting paid for it, so I'm sure there's some money there. As for Copper Club instead of Air Canada Club, who knows.
Hmmm... Skyreach may continue sponsorship for another year.
Air Canada has so many problems, I'm not surprised.
The Oilers marketing guys are good, and will find other sponsors.[/QUOTE]
I thought there was an article in the sun about Telus or Epcor sponsoring the building. Did this go away or what? You're right about the Oilers marketing guys IceDragoon, they are good. Look at how much attention the Heritage Classic is getting. Can't wait!!
There are other sponsors on the way, but ya can't really go changing your name on the rink and all over the place in the middle of a season. Too much of a hassle.
] on the details.
