Disclaimer: Due to impending eye tests today, I was forced to wear my inadequate glasses last night instead of my usual wonderful contacts that give me 20/15 vision. SO, as many refs been accused of, I may have indeed needed thicker glasses last night.
Anyway, with that said, I really didn’t enjoy that game last night. We played just like we played in game 7 of the cup; nothing going, bobbling pucks, not capitalizing; it was very shaky and depressing.
What essentially happened I think, is that once Hemsky was gone, CGY keyed on the young guys and shut them down. Penner completely ran out of gas trying to carry his line, and it was left to Glencross to try to win us this game. The crazy thing is that he almost did.
You could tell the guys were really nervous from the get-go. Pucks that effortlessly melded to their blades in previous games were bouncing all over the place. Players were missing chances related to being patient and waiting for the puck. Positioning was way off on many occasions in the offensive zone, and this probably cost us at least 3 goals. We certainly had enough open nets and chances. We also weren’t making the extra effort to get time and space to get the shots through unimpeded. That all hurt us on a night when our limiting of CGY’s chances gave us a great chance to win. The ‘O’ let us down tonight, along with that disgusting second goal that CGY scored. The game turned there.
After that we took the losing approach, as opposed to a sort of middling approach. We were never dominant in this game, but it got away from us in that second when we should have been sticking it to them.
How was Glencross not out there trying to tie it up?
We got eaten alive on the draws tonight, and it made a difference because they were often in the Flames’ zone or on the PP. That cost us BIG because we weren’t winning battles after losing draws either.
PLAYER REPORTS
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Roloson
Wasn’t really tested aside from a couple good saves. That second goal killed his team and he’s got to know that. You can’t get fancy, just make the freaking save and cover up. For that to end up in the net at that time is inexcusable. The third goal, while largely a coverage error, still wouldn’t have happened without that HUGE rebound. Nowhere near as bad as goal #2 however. I really hope that’s the last time I see him in an Oilers uniform. Thanks for the run Dwayne, but you’re done.
Staios-Pitkanen
I’ll start off by saying Joni didn’t play well. I’ll then qualify that by saying that it’s because he was trying to play 27 minutes on one leg…maybe half of one. To have a groin injury AND a hip flexor and go out there and play that long for this team took huge guts and heart. It was nowhere near his best performance, but if you know how it feels to play with those injuries, or similar, you know how tough that was last night. To see our team’s best skater hardly able to move was really tough. Should he have been in the lineup? Probably not. He never gets beat standing still, or gives up on a rush, but he had to tonight. He still almost did enough offensively to get us the win. Staios and Joni shouldn’t play together. There have been way too many goals down the stretch where someone is left open because they’ve both drifted to cover the same guy. It happened again on the winner last night. I’m going to say Staios caused the problem, but that’s obviously up for debate. Aside from that, he had an okay game, with nothing really special. The D did a good enough job by far tonight to get us a win. Others let the team down.
Smid-Greene
Smid should have gotten more icetime, he played a decent enough game. Enjoy it when he hits people. Greene took too many shots. His shooting is very ineffective and doesn’t generate rebounds or chances. I’d be encouraging him to make the choice to play the puck into the corners where a forward can make a play with it instead. I guess they were both fine defensively.
Grebeshkov-Gilbert
It is quite obvious that Tom is tired in his first full season. His play down the stretch has been nowhere near the quality that we’ve seen earlier in the year. He didn’t finish rushes tonight that would’ve been easily done earlier this year. Defensively he was pretty good, and he’ll be a staple of this blueline for years to come we hope. Grebeshkov has come a really long way. He had a couple nice rushes tonight to try to create some offence, and made the right choices on D. Look forward to him being here as well.
Glencross-Brodziak-Stortini
Brodziak finding a streaking Glencross for that breakaway goal was just purdy. To put the sauce on that with that kind of pressure and time it just right to spring the guy was awesome. Glencross then made no mistake, and sure has confidence for a guy who’s not that big of a scorer. I agree with the “sign him now” sentiment. He could play on my team any day of the week. He does nothing but hustle, shoot hard, hit people, and make things happen every game. Great trade Lowe made, now lock him up. For Kyle to have the game he did, including that broken finger, was pretty awesome. He pushed the offence and played the solid D he’s now known for. I still think he could be in tough next year for full time status with the guys who will be pushing, but I think he’ll rise to the occasion. Stortini was pretty invisible, especially after he was replaced by Pouliot, but that’s okay, he must’ve kept them relatively honest as there were no real brouhahas.
Nilsson-Cogliano-Gagner
Did these guys ever get a lot of icetime tonight, wow. It is obvious that they were playing because we needed to score and Hemsky was out…the problem is that this allowed to the Flames to key on them and they were shut down. All were a little nervous tonight with the pressure on and bobbled or lost some pucks they normally wouldn’t have. Nilsson kept losing it in the offensive zone, whereas Cogliano and Gagner were losing it in the neutral zone. Nothing ugly just not generating the rushes we needed. All had chances to score that were pretty good; specifically Gagner coming out of the corner and having his stick whacked before he could slide it past a goalie he had surprised, and Cogliano on a couple chances beside the net as well as a break-in. If Hemsky would’ve been there for the last half I think they score 1 or 2 tonight. Too bad. They’ll all be fantastic next year. I don’t know if I want Cogliano at centre…getting owned in big games like that on the dot can be a big deal.
Pisani-Reasoner-Pouliot
I didn’t see too much from these guys. Fernando had a couple shots that could’ve and probably should’ve gone in but they didn’t. They all played solid I suppose, though Marty and the rest of the team needed to be better on the draw for sure. Pouliot did alright, especially filling in for Stortini. I still don’t think he’ll make the squad next year though. Just not quite good enough.
Penner-Stoll-Hemsky
After Hemsky was gone, Penner totally ran out of gas and was useless. Late in the game he cost us on at least 3 different forechecking instances where the puck was his and he just wouldn’t get there. It wasn’t a question of his speed either, it was that he didn’t have even his normal speed. The guy wasn’t very effective tonight when we really needed him to be. That’s too bad. Stoll was just okay on the dot when we needed him to be great. He only got off a couple good shots, both of which could have gone in, but oh well. Hopefully he finds whatever he needs to find in the offseason, though I’m sure having a real offseason as opposed to a concussion recovery one will make a difference. Ales was playing okay before he got hurt. Not great, but okay. He was forcing the Flames to take notice and something likely would have happened. I think that if he stays in we get a different result…but we’ll never know.
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Well, I guess that’s that. It is sad too because a lot of guys made amazing efforts down the stretch only to blow it with a 5 second brain-fart in Colorado and an egg against Calgary.
My post season analysis will come out soon I suppose, might as well wrap things up. BTW – Oilers fans can’t pick awards…It’s gotta be Gagner and Garon for top first year Oiler, not Cogliano…Defensive forward should have been Brodziak, and Joni was our best D-man.
Didn’t get to do as many of these as I like to this year, both because of missed time and an early end, but I certainly did enjoy our conversations and I will certainly be back.
There’s another home season…which means we’ll be talking about it for a few months now…let’s have at it.
Thanks for your reports this year. As an EastCoaster who doesn't get to stay awake for all the games, it's great to get your take on things.
I didn't think we played as poorly as you indicate. The 3rd period we absolutely owned last night and Kipper basically bailed them out. I agree with ya on Staios and Pitkanen, they don't seem to communicate well and have had bad coverage. My only complaint aboug Grebs is he keeps getting them banked in against him.
Going forward, I'm hugely excited for this team, provided they don't take a step backwards. You add in Moreau, Horc and Souray on this squad (Torres I can do without!) and we are looking pretty amazing.
For me, our #1 priority should be to find a true, #1, top-5-in-the-league goalie for next year. I like Garon, but I don't believe he's the guy for this role. Our D are young and take chances and we need a goalie that can bail us out. Not sure who is available but we do have lots of assets.
I too find these reports very valuable, especially before I found out about ESPN 360. It's interesting even when I've watched a game to come here and read the report to compare.
I agree with your take, even though I'd give the Oilers a little bit more cred. Kipper had a good game and the Oilers suffered from bad luck and bad reffing on the first goal, and arguably some bad luck on the second as well.
For me, our #1 priority should be to find a true, #1, top-5-in-the-league goalie for next year. I like Garon, but I don't believe he's the guy for this role. Our D are young and take chances and we need a goalie that can bail us out. Not sure who is available but we do have lots of assets.
The goalie that you're looking for is next to impossible to acquire. None of them are free agents this summer and the teams that have them are not going to trade them.
I'm thinking Garon is better than any goaltender that might even be available via trade or free agency. In goal the focus should be on dumping Roli, not trying to upgrade Garon. A top 5 goalie he is not but he's very close to top 10 I would think.
Roloson didnt cost us the game. Also, hes not done, he has another year with the Oilers at least @~3,000,00 for next year.
The Pisani Reasoner Pouliot line had some very dominant shifts. Maybe if you were looking away while those shifts were going you might make the report you did.
Once Hemsky left they looked quite abit diferent, especially on the power play where they looked out of sync, though they still managed to give Calgary conniptions.
Goofy goals killed us off.
The first bouncing in off of Grebeshkov, the second coming wiht 2 seconds left. Few teams win when two unlucky goals fall in the net. The team played well given that.
IMO, GX and Grebs were the best Oilers on the ice all night. Grebs has come along way for sure. He has really elevated his game and he brings a bit of everything to the table.
Thanks for your reports this year. As an EastCoaster who doesn't get to stay awake for all the games, it's great to get your take on things.
I didn't think we played as poorly as you indicate. The 3rd period we absolutely owned last night and Kipper basically bailed them out. I agree with ya on Staios and Pitkanen, they don't seem to communicate well and have had bad coverage. My only complaint aboug Grebs is he keeps getting them banked in against him.
Going forward, I'm hugely excited for this team, provided they don't take a step backwards. You add in Moreau, Horc and Souray on this squad (Torres I can do without!) and we are looking pretty amazing.
For me, our #1 priority should be to find a true, #1, top-5-in-the-league goalie for next year. I like Garon, but I don't believe he's the guy for this role. Our D are young and take chances and we need a goalie that can bail us out. Not sure who is available but we do have lots of assets.
No problem man, I really like doin this.
They may have played a little better, I was just disappointed to not see the flying crazy crew we've seen in games recently. I was really expecting that being at home and needing to win so badly. I think the pressure finally got to them, rather than just having fun and winning.
Next year does look promising. I personally like going forward with Garon, upgrading on Greene and maybe Staios, and adding a scorer.
I too find these reports very valuable, especially before I found out about ESPN 360. It's interesting even when I've watched a game to come here and read the report to compare.
I agree with your take, even though I'd give the Oilers a little bit more cred. Kipper had a good game and the Oilers suffered from bad luck and bad reffing on the first goal, and arguably some bad luck on the second as well.
Thanks Fish.
Hadn't seen ESPN 360 before, that's pretty cool. I've read that they're reviewing the CRTC guidelines and we might get some ESPN variants here...that'd be pretty awesome.
The goalie that you're looking for is next to impossible to acquire. None of them are free agents this summer and the teams that have them are not going to trade them.
I'm thinking Garon is better than any goaltender that might even be available via trade or free agency. In goal the focus should be on dumping Roli, not trying to upgrade Garon. A top 5 goalie he is not but he's very close to top 10 I would think.
I'd say he's in the top 10, and I'd agree with your comment. I think as the go-to guy next year, he'll be excellent. He's also earned the chance. I'd think seriously about extending his contract next year.
Roloson didnt cost us the game. Also, hes not done, he has another year with the Oilers at least @~3,000,00 for next year.
The Pisani Reasoner Pouliot line had some very dominant shifts. Maybe if you were looking away while those shifts were going you might make the report you did.
Once Hemsky left they looked quite abit diferent, especially on the power play where they looked out of sync, though they still managed to give Calgary conniptions.
Goofy goals killed us off.
The first bouncing in off of Grebeshkov, the second coming wiht 2 seconds left. Few teams win when two unlucky goals fall in the net. The team played well given that.
He's done in the sense that he's not effective, especially at that contract, anymore. I didn't say he cost us the game.
I thought Marty especially could've been a lot better, and I'm a big Marty fan.
The team played okay, but didn't come with the offence they needed to on a night when they got the chances and the loose pucks.
IMO, GX and Grebs were the best Oilers on the ice all night. Grebs has come along way for sure. He has really elevated his game and he brings a bit of everything to the table.
Thanks again for your work this year LMHF.
I'd agree with that sentiment. Denis is a very talented guy, and I'm very glad that people seem to have given him some time to settle in.
No problem! Next year there'll be more reports and more wins!
I didn’t see too much from these guys. Fernando had a couple shots that could’ve and probably should’ve gone in but they didn’t. They all played solid I suppose, though Marty and the rest of the team needed to be better on the draw for sure. Pouliot did alright, especially filling in for Stortini. I still don’t think he’ll make the squad next year though. Just not quite good enough.
Pouliot is showing much more confidence, gets in on the forecheck, is really rattling people on the boards and impressing me with his checking. But that move where he cut to the middle while sheltering the puck showed his pedigree. If he continues with this kind of hustle it will be hard to keep him off the team. I could see him quickly becoming an effective player with of course the offensive upside. He could still grow into a first line role.
Quote:
Penner-Stoll-Hemsky
After Hemsky was gone, Penner totally ran out of gas and was useless. Late in the game he cost us on at least 3 different forechecking instances where the puck was his and he just wouldn’t get there. It wasn’t a question of his speed either, it was that he didn’t have even his normal speed. The guy wasn’t very effective tonight when we really needed him to be. That’s too bad. Stoll was just okay on the dot when we needed him to be great. He only got off a couple good shots, both of which could have gone in, but oh well. Hopefully he finds whatever he needs to find in the offseason, though I’m sure having a real offseason as opposed to a concussion recovery one will make a difference. Ales was playing okay before he got hurt. Not great, but okay. He was forcing the Flames to take notice and something likely would have happened. I think that if he stays in we get a different result…but we’ll never know.
Penner really struggled last night. Before Calgary took the 2-1 lead Penner was on a shift that was getting owned in their own zone. At one point Penner strangely leaves the camera view(most of own zone) and I'm wondering what the hell he's doing, we don't have the puck is he changing or something?! then he strolls back into view and it was amazing we weren't scored on. Couple minutes later we were.
Note on the Hemsky injury Hemsky and Stoll are in battle for the puck along the boards with hemsky taking a beating. Whos the outlet just standing watching for several secs? Penner.
How much sense does it make that the biggest player on the club is often the outlet on this line and so requiring Hemsky(who should be the outlet) to do more battling and endure more hits along the boards.
Why does this happen? Because Penner is slower than anybody on the club converging on the forecheck. More often than not he ends up being the outlet because not all 3 can commit to the forecheck. But he's not the outlet for any sensible reason just that he's slow arriving.
Finally(although I could bring up several other bad plays) who commits the error on the Calgary winning goal? Penner who makes a horrible pass to Pisani thats several feet behind him and turns the puck over and Calgary breaks down and pressure down low until they score.
Penner really needs to bring more to his game for next year. This is not being enough to warrant him being on topline.
Trouble for the club is he looks very ineffective anywhere else.
Penner really struggled last night. Before Calgary took the 2-1 lead Penner was on a shift that was getting owned in their own zone. At one point Penner strangely leaves the camera view(most of own zone) and I'm wondering what the hell he's doing, we don't have the puck is he changing or something?! then he strolls back into view and it was amazing we weren't scored on. Couple minutes later we were.
Note on the Hemsky injury Hemsky and Stoll are in battle for the puck along the boards with hemsky taking a beating. Whos the outlet just standing watching for several secs? Penner.
How much sense does it make that the biggest player on the club is often the outlet on this line and so requiring Hemsky(who should be the outlet) to do more battling and endure more hits along the boards.
Why does this happen? Because Penner is slower than anybody on the club converging on the forecheck. More often than not he ends up being the outlet because not all 3 can commit to the forecheck. But he's not the outlet for any sensible reason just that he's slow arriving.
Finally(although I could bring up several other bad plays) who commits the error on the Calgary winning goal? Penner who makes a horrible pass to Pisani thats several feet behind him and turns the puck over and Calgary breaks down and pressure down low until they score.
Penner really needs to bring more to his game for next year. This is not being enough to warrant him being on topline.
Trouble for the club is he looks very ineffective anywhere else.
Who wasn't at the top with their guy on Phaneuf's shot? I didn't catch that due to the previously mentioned inadequate lenses.
I think Penner can be a really good second line/second PP kinda guy with the right fit. I hope we can build that heading into next year. I just don't see him being good enough with Hemsky to warrant that for a full year either. We can do better. We also need to find ways to play Gagner with Hemsky more, as they are stupidly effective together.
He's still working on when to step in, and also when to be decisive on the forecheck. Hopefully the coaches have picked up on this and are working with him on it directly. He really needs that knowledge.
Penner really needs to bring more to his game for next year. This is not being enough to warrant him being on topline.
Trouble for the club is he looks very ineffective anywhere else.
Im glad that Im not the only one that feels this way. Penner needs to put his hard hat on and go to work each game. He takes too many games off and looks too ineffective when he isnt playing with two talented forwards that can create opportunities for him.
I have two problems with the guy: he seems to disappear far too often, and he produces very few chances from his own efforts. Most of his chances come from others setting him up. He is a complimentary player and completely reliant on others to produce.
Who wasn't at the top with their guy on Phaneuf's shot? I didn't catch that due to the previously mentioned inadequate lenses.
I think Penner can be a really good second line/second PP kinda guy with the right fit. I hope we can build that heading into next year. I just don't see him being good enough with Hemsky to warrant that for a full year either. We can do better. We also need to find ways to play Gagner with Hemsky more, as they are stupidly effective together.
He's still working on when to step in, and also when to be decisive on the forecheck. Hopefully the coaches have picked up on this and are working with him on it directly. He really needs that knowledge.
Have you noticed how much more of a forecheck assignment Hemsky has had this year vs last due to Penner being here instead of Smyth?
Hemsky is tough and reads where the puck is going well but this isn't where he should be as much as he now is. Penner really needs to be able to read the play better and converge on it as we need that 240lbs battling for the puck to feed Hemsky. If Penner can't adapt to that obvious requirement and use of his size I too question why is he even on topline.
Very frustrating to see Penner watching the play instead of being in a puck battle. Further problem is he's less effective than say even Torres coming out of the corner with the puck. When Torres converges on a guy in the corner you know the guys eating ice and Raffi has the puck. How that isn't the case with Penner is beyond me. I see him losing as many battles along the boards the times that he is there.
Have you noticed how much more of a forecheck assignment Hemsky has had this year vs last due to Penner being here instead of Smyth?
Hemsky is tough and reads where the puck is going well but this isn't where he should be as much as he now is. Penner really needs to be able to read the play better and converge on it as we need that 240lbs battling for the puck to feed Hemsky. If Penner can't adapt to that obvious requirement and use of his size I too question why is he even on topline.
Very frustrating to see Penner watching the play instead of being in a puck battle. Further problem is he's less effective than say even Torres coming out of the corner with the puck. When Torres converges on a guy in the corner you know the guys eating ice and Raffi has the puck. How that isn't the case with Penner is beyond me. I see him losing as many battles along the boards the times that he is there.
It is true that Hemsky is most effective when he can spend his time grabbing the puck after a battle rather than having to win the battle then get open. Penner unfortunately wasn't the guy to wade in, throw some people, and make a solid pass.
As Ales becomes more of a goal scorer (which I think he will) having someone who can do that will be very important.
Im glad that Im not the only one that feels this way. Penner needs to put his hard hat on and go to work each game. He takes too many games off and looks too ineffective when he isnt playing with two talented forwards that can create opportunities for him.
I have two problems with the guy: he seems to disappear far too often, and he produces very few chances from his own efforts. Most of his chances come from others setting him up. He is a complimentary player and completely reliant on others to produce.
I'm startled at the amount of times I watch Penner hanging back like Anson Carter waiting for the pass. This is a big player who unfortunately doesn't play very big.
I've said he's reliant all along. He has to do much more to justify his contract and space on the team. The last 30 games were unimpressive.
I'm startled at the amount of times I watch Penner hanging back like Anson Carter waiting for the pass. This is a big player who unfortunately doesn't play very big.
I've said he's reliant all along. He has to do much more to justify his contract and space on the team. The last 30 games were unimpressive.
UGHGUGHUGH...don't use that name again...comparing a player to Anson Carter just scares me.
It's one thing when you're talented but lazy...it's another thing when you're untalented and lazy.
Hadn't seen ESPN 360 before, that's pretty cool. I've read that they're reviewing the CRTC guidelines and we might get some ESPN variants here...that'd be pretty awesome.
The ESPN feeds seem to be exactly the same as Centre Ice, though. What they lack is an archive which really is a must for us Euros over a full season. Hopefully they'll have that sorted for next year or sitting up until five o'clock in the morning several times a week is gonna kill me.
UGHGUGHUGH...don't use that name again...comparing a player to Anson Carter just scares me.
It's one thing when you're talented but lazy...it's another thing when you're untalented and lazy.
Talented or not, the result of laziness is all the same in the end. Penner has shown flashes of what he could be but he doesnt bring it every game. I can't even say that he is inconsistent like Raffi. At least Red Bull plays most games balls out. The only thing inconsistent about Penner is his effort level and that pisses me off.
Did these guys ever get a lot of icetime tonight, wow. It is obvious that they were playing because we needed to score and Hemsky was out…the problem is that this allowed to the Flames to key on them and they were shut down. All were a little nervous tonight with the pressure on and bobbled or lost some pucks they normally wouldn’t have. Nilsson kept losing it in the offensive zone, whereas Cogliano and Gagner were losing it in the neutral zone. Nothing ugly just not generating the rushes we needed. All had chances to score that were pretty good; specifically Gagner coming out of the corner and having his stick whacked before he could slide it past a goalie he had surprised, and Cogliano on a couple chances beside the net as well as a break-in. If Hemsky would’ve been there for the last half I think they score 1 or 2 tonight. Too bad. They’ll all be fantastic next year. I don’t know if I want Cogliano at centre…getting owned in big games like that on the dot can be a big deal.
I wanted to bring this up in the GDT during the game but forgot. A lot of us have discussed Nilsson's development and his turn around from a guy that often looked disinterested or lazy on the ice, to a guy that pushes hard on every shift. I really think that the reason for this change is the influence of Cogs and Gags who are both very hard working and genuinely excited about playing. Did anyone else catch the shot where the Kid Line changed, Nilsson was the first on the bench and took a seat. Gags and Cogs followed behind him and the both stayed standing leaning on the boards watching the action. Nilsson stood right up and followed their lead. It might have been nothing, but I really wonder how much of an impact the attitudes and work ethics of Cogs and Gags has rubbed off on Nilsson.
