Hockey World Blog

All Things Hockey

Posts Tagged Edmonton Oilers

NHL Photo of the Day

Feb 3

Posted by EB in NHL Photo of the Day | 2 Comments

Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images

Quite a night for the Edmonton Oilers as they win 8 – 4 over the Chicago Blackhawks. The team is still a bottom dweller in the Western Conference, sadly, but they can celebrate a little bit.

Center Sam Gagne had a hand in everything last night with 4 goals and 4 assists for 8 points. The feat has not been done since 1989 by Mario Lemieux against the Philadelphia Flyers in the playoffs. Lemieux also had the last regular season 8 point night which was on December 31, 1988.

If you happen to think Lemiuex is a big name, Gagne now joins the ranks of Wayne Gretzky, Paul Coffey, Peter Statsny, Bryan Trottier and Rocket Richard in having scored 8 points in a night.

A little bit of luck, a lot of skill, and crazy stuff like this happens.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Taylor Hall Cut By Teammate’s Skate in Warmups

Jan 18

Posted by Matt in News | 4 Comments

Taylor Hall, who has points in all but one games played in the new year, was forced to sit out last night’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets after receiving a serious cut above his left eye during warm ups. In what can be described as nothing more than a freak accident, Hall stepped on a puck and lost his footing during warm ups and slid into Ladislav Smid, taking out his feet. Smid and Hall both crashed into the boards as teammate Corey Potter was swinging around. Potter attempted to leap over the crashing duo, but only caused more damage as his skate hit the head of Hall. Fortunately, Corey Potter managed to not hit Hall directly in the eye during the accident. The cut was severe enough, however, as Hall required 30 stitches to close the wound.

“This is one of those fluky things. It just happens, not much we can do about it.” Oilers head coach Tom Renney said of the injury to Hall.

An incident such as this, however rare and fluky it may be, should bring up the question of whether or not players should be required to wear helmets during warmups. Hall, who typically wears additional facial protection with a shield, could have walked away from this incident unharmed had he been wearing his typical game set-up. Instead, he was forced to be scratched from the game against Columbus which they eventually lost. Edmonton plays again tomorrow in St. Louis, and only time will tell if Hall will be ready to go. If not, a situation which could have been avoided with a helmet and shield leads to more missed games from star players and additional frustration for Oilers fans.

Check out the video of the incident below and sound off in the comments. Do you think this whole problem could have been avoided in any way?

 

Here’s a nice photo of the aftermath – Taylor Hall with 30 stitches on his forehead after being cut.

 

Taylor Hall Head Cut Stitches

Taylor Hall after receiving 30 stitches in his head. Hall was cut by teammate Corey Potter's skate after a fluke accident during warmups.

Tags: , , ,

HWB Goes to Vegas – Needs Your Expertise

Dec 15

Posted by EB in Soap Box | 2 Comments

It's OK, I can bet on games unlike someone else...

Hockey World Blog will be taking a trip to Las Vegas and asks for our readership’s help. Well, 1/4 of HWB that is.

This Saturday I will be in Vegas and plan on placing some wagers on the games. Although I feel I have an idea of who’s hot and who’s not, it is always nice to get a few other opinions.

First, understanding how to bet. I plan to bet on the moneyline, those of which are not determined. The best way to explain a moneyline is to give an example. Last night’s game between the Boston Bruins and the Ottawa Senators had a moneyline of Bruins -190 and Senators +165. This is saying that the Bruins are favored in the matchup. If you are to bet $190 on the Bruins, you will win $100. On the flip side, if you are to bet $100 on the Senators, you will win $165.

Further complexing the moneyline, you are able to parlay your bet. A parlay is a multiple-team bet in which you pick anywhere from 2-10 games and you need to hit on every one of them in order for the total bet to be a success. The payouts for these types of bets escalate based on the number of individual games you add, where a two-team parlay pays out around 2.5-to-1 and a 10-teamer hits at about 300-to-1. For example, say a bettor likes the Edmonton Oilers +160 and the Florida Panthers -130. If the bettor places a $10 wager, they essentially would have a $10 bet on the Oilers +160, which will return $26 should the Oilers win, and then would have $26 on the Panthers -130. Should the Panthers also win, the bettor has turned a $10 wager into $46. Adding a little more math to the mix, to figure out winnings, it is best to turn the odds into decimals. To do this, for positive odds such as +160, you would take 160/100 to get 1.6. Multiply 1.6 by your bet amount ($10) to win $16 on top of your bet of $10 to come up with the $26. If the odds are negative, such as -130, you would take 100/130 to equal .77. Multiple .77 by the $26 to win $20, add the $26 bet and you now have your $46.

OK, tough stuff is out of the way. The fact is the moneylines have yet to be set for Saturday’s games so I am unable to truthfully figure out any winnings on bets placed. I do however need to know what our readers think of the matchups. Out of the games listed below for Saturday, let me know what 3 games you would pick for individual moneylines. Also, pick one parlay of 3 teams. The games are as follows:

Boston @ Philadelphia
Vancouver @ Toronto
New Jersey @ Montreal
Buffalo @ Pittsburgh
Anaheim @ Winnipeg
Los Angeles @ Detroit
Tampa Bay @ Columbus
St. Louis @ Nashville
NY Islanders @ Minnesota
NY Rangers @ Phoenix
Washington @ Colorado
Edmonton @ San Jose

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Fantasy Debate: Pavel Datsyuk

Nov 21

Posted by EB in Fantasy, News | No Comments

The beginning of the NHL season has been a unique one to say the least. The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Edmonton Oilers were leading the league while other teams seemed to falter. One such team, the Detroit Red Wings, left many fans to wonder if this will be the season that their playoff streak ends. Have no fear as both Toronto and Edmonton begin to drop while the Red Wings slowly climb the Western Conference Standings. Despite the Red Wings recent success, a question arises for fantasy owners, what to do with Pavel Datsyuk?

Pavel Datsyuk is one of the best players in the game with takeaways and dangles that few players can match. But 19 games into the season, will Datsyuk put up big numbers to help your fantasy team?

Some may argue that he has 15 points in those 19 games, a respectable tally for any player. But currently on pace for 64 points, a point total that fantasy owners expect to be nearer to 90, some owners might want to look at their options. Factor in Datsyuk has nearly a quarter of his total points in the last 2 games, it may be time to dump the Datsyuk.

On the flip side, to cast more confusion in your Datsyuk debate, Pavel is still one of the top players in the league. Coming off of a 2 game, 4 point performance, perhaps the dam has finally broken. Surely Datsyuk will not keep up a two point night, but Datsyuk has yet to let any of his fantasy owners down. Last year he was out for part of the season, only playing 56 games and he still put up 59 points. The 2009-2010 season saw him take a dip, only to 70 points, but the 4 season previous he did not fall below 87 points.

Well, what to do what to do? Datsyuk could be his dependable self, or perhaps he is slowly declining in his point production. As a fantasy owner you need to make a decision soon on what to do. If you so choose to make a trade offer, now is the time, coming off of a good couple of games, a point total respectable to the amount of games played, and the Red Wings are starting to win again. But if you so choose to hold onto him, the future is unknown, but hope for bluer skies red lit lamps.

Tags: , , ,

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins: Get Him While You Can

Oct 17

Posted by Eddie in Fantasy | 2 Comments

Only four months ago, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was the first overall pick in the NHL draft. And just like fellow No. 1 pick and teammate Taylor Hall, Nugent-Hopkins has entered the NHL with a splash. He’s played four games this young season and he has four goals. Granted, three of those came in a hat trick performance came in a loss against the defending Western Conference champs Vancouver, but it quite impressive none the less.

Nugent-Hopkins is 18 years old and has already put three pucks past one of the best goalies in the world in Roberto Luongo. That’s something Team USA struggled with in the 2010 gold medal game. Standing at 6’1″ and 175 pounds (very similar build to yours truly) , Nugent-Hopkins entered the NHL via the CHL-Juniors route just like six of the previous seven No. 1 overall draft picks (Erik Johnson in 2006 is the only exception). He played the last two-plus seasons with the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League. He is no stranger to lighting the lamp as he scored 31 goals and recorded 75 assists last season. He took a team that missed the playoffs in the two seasons before he arrived to two playoff appearances during his time there. Last season, the Rebels won the division title before losing in the second round of the playoffs.

Now that you have a little background information, check back at my season preview when I said he could be NHL ready at 18. I also said he would spend time on the second line and he’s doing just fine anchoring the young talent the Oilers possess. Only if they can get Ales Hemsky back because he suffered a shoulder injury Thursday night and will be out a couple weeks.

In your fantasy league, he could be available. According to some simple research, he is available in 75 percent of Yahoo! Fantasy Hockey leagues. He was still available in the Hockey World Blog fantasy league myself, Chris and EB participate in and I had a difficult decision to make. I was pretty set at the Center position as I have John Tavares, Ryan Getzlaf, Logan Couture and Steve Ott. I picked up Ott because Mike Fisher is on IR and I’m still hoping he can produce when he returns to the lineup. I might regret it, but I dropped Couture because he has not started off the way I thought he would be.

Check out this video of his hatty from the Vancouver game.

Tags: , ,

2011-12 NHL Season Preview: Edmonton Oilers

Sep 25

Posted by Eddie in Season Previews | 1 Comment

Alex Hemsky is part of the supporting cast of Oilers behind sophomores Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Magnus Paajarvi.

Offseason Losses: Kurtis Foster, Andrew Cogliano, Sheldon Souray, Jim Vandermeer

Offseason Additions: Ryan Smyth, Eric Belanger, Andy Sutton, Cam Barker, Ben Eager

Last Season Ranking: 15th in the West

Offense: For as bad as they may be as a team, they will have an exciting offense. They have an ensemble of young players due to having high draft picks over the last several years. They are led by franchise players Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle. They also have the grizzled vet (Shawn Horcoff) and young veteran (Alex Hemsky) that should be able to create and generate goals. Should Hemsky stay healthy and play 76+ games, a 65-point season isn’t too much of a stretch. That number can also depend on the play of Hall who plays on the other wing.

Just like Taylor Hall, No. 1 overall draft pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins looks like he is NHL ready at the ripe age of 18. Early preview guides have him centering the second like with Smyth and Eberle, but depending how he performs in the first 10 games of the season, he could find himself back at the junior level should he struggle to find the net. NHL teams have until the 10th game of the season to send junior-eligible players back down before they are stuck in the NHL for the season.

The team is still young and rebuilding, and they have to find a way to increase goal production. They finished 27th in the league with an average of 2.33 goals per game, and they made an “addition by subtraction” move then they traded Dustin Penner to Los Angles at the deadline and brought back Ryan Smyth. Third liner Magnus Paajarvi could be one of the best young third-line players in the league, as the right winger is behind Hemsky and Eberle in the RW depth chart. The Oilers might be pressured to win soon while they are well under the salary cap and the young talent is playing on their first contact. Should they fail to win once Hall, Eberle and others reach time to negotiate their second contract, they might hit the highway for greener pastures.

Defense: The Oilers have youth and depth at the forward position, but the cupboard is just about bare on the blue line. Besides Ryan Whitney, there isn’t much to get excited about with the defensive unit. They lacked a shutdown defensive pair as well as a puck moving defenseman who could help get the forwards going. They tried to plug those holes with Barker and Sutton, but the impact they will have is still yet to be seen.

If Whitney suffers an injury, the team might be doomed. Before he got hurt last season, they started playing solid hockey around the .500 mark. He was leading the team in minutes, points, and plus-minus. The Oilers went into a tail spin by losing 14 of their next 17 games after he got hurt.

Goaltending: This could be the biggest question mark. They have an aging vet in Nikolai Khabibulin and a young keeper in Devan Dubnyk as the 1-2 combo. Khabibulin is coming off the worse season of his career with a back injury and a 10-32-4 record. Not to mention the distraction he had off the ice last season. With that hopefully behind him, he could focus on the task at hand on the ice. Dubnyk, 25, looked good at times last season. But just like Detroit’s Jimmy Howard during his rookie season, didn’t look like he was ready to be the main man in goal.

Penciled in the third position is 31-year-oldYann Danis, who carried a 8-17-3 record with Khabarovsk of the KHL. He will likely see more time with Oklahoma of the AHL (pending the health of Khabibulin) along with 20-year-old draftee from 2009 Roy Olivier.

Playoff Prediction: Not playoff bound. They will be exciting for your fantasy team and to watch in person, but I believe they need to go the route of the Detroit Red Wings and have two young goalies who can grow and develop with the rest of the team. They have one piece of the puzzle with Dubnyk but they could use a high-pick on a goalie or defenseman in 2012. What could work in their favor is they picked No. 1 the last two seasons. The last team to do that was Ottawa in 1995 and 1996. The season after that, they began a streak of 11 straight playoff appearances.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

NHL 2011-12 Season Preview: Dallas Stars

Sep 19

Posted by EB in Season Previews | No Comments

Key Offseason Losses: Brad Richards, James Neal, Jamie Langenbrunner

Key Offseason Additions: Michael Ryder, Radek Dvorak, Vernon Fiddler, Jake Dowell, Sheldon Souray

Last Season Ranking: 9th in the West

Offense: It is hard not to think how the pending bankruptcy and sale of the Dallas Stars will negatively impact the overall play of the team. The Stars will be going through a lot of tough times this season, on the ice being a major one.

Two big players, Brad Richards and James Neal, both have found new organizations to play for. Together, the two scored 49 goals and assisted on 67 others. That is 22% of the teams overall goals scored and 19% of of the Stars’ overall points.

Goaltender Kari Lehtonen is actually a good goalie. Unfortunately for him, the Dallas Stars do not have the offensive firepower this year to help him out.

Making things worse, the team added only one superstar and a few depth players to fill the gaps. Michael Ryder is coming off of a long season winning the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins. Ryder is averaging 47 points over 7 seasons, but lackluster line mates on the second line may decrease his output. From a fantasy perspective, if he does get bumped up to the top line or plays along side Brendan Morrow or Mike Ribeiro, or if Ryder sees time on the power play, the odds of him reaching his average points greatly increases.

Radek Dvorak and Vernon Fiddler should be decent additions for depth on the third line, however, both players are in their 30′s in a game that has continually seen younger and younger players dominate.

Brendon Morrow, Mike Ribeiro and Loui Eriksson will continue to be called upon to lead the team throughout the season. Morrow seems to be healthy from his right knee surgery in 2009 that sidelined him for 64 games. Last season he played all 82 games. Ribeiro continues to be a point getter, assisting on 52 goals last year. The Stars hope he can improve upon his 20 goal range though. Lastly, Eriksson continues to become an elite athlete coming into his 6th season. Throughout his career, Eriksson has 257 points in 371 games, most recently, two seasons in a row over the 70 point mark.

Defense: The Stars need to better their defense to be any type of competitor this season. Top players Stephane Robidas and Alex Goligoski had excellent point production seasons, but the two need to better their overall plus/minus. Perhaps the two need to take some notes from Trevor Daley and Nicklas Grossman who both had a plus 7 rating over the season.

Dallas did pick up one more piece in the off-season, that being big named, hard slapshot, Sheldon Souray. Souray really upset people with the Edmonton Oilers’ organization, seeing his contract bought out and kicked to the curb. In part, it was his high cap hit that deterred teams from picking him up and instead saw him play in the AHL by being loaned to the Hershey Bears. At a modest 1.65 million 1-year contract from the Stars, if Souray wants to continue in the NHL, this year is a make or break for him.

Goaltending: Many fans were upset when Marty Turco left the team to go play for the Chicago Blackhawks, but in hindsight, where is Turco now? Kari Lehtonen takes the number one spot and is actually a solid netminder. A 34-24-11 record last year did not give any justice to his 2.55 goals against average. Not convinced? Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres had a 2.59 goals against average.

Playoff Prediction: Not making the playoffs. A pending bankruptcy and sale of the team, factor with a lack of offense, the Dallas Stars will come up short again this year.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Khabibulin to Serve Jail Time in DUI Case

Jul 28

Posted by Eddie in News | 1 Comment

No one wants to spend time in jail, but Edmonton goalie Nikokai Khabibulin will spend 30 days between jail and house arrest after not continuing to appeal his DUI charge in Arizona earlier this week. The DUI occurred February 8, 2010 when he was caught driving 70 mph in a 45 mph zone near his Phoenix area home. When he was pulled over, Khabibulin was arrested after a field sobriety test showed his blood-alcohol level at .164, more than double the legal limit in Arizona. He was in Phoenix while recovering from an injury he suffered while in Edmonton.

Khabibulin, 38, played for Phoenix from 1996-99. He signed a four-year, $15 million deal with Edmonton in 2009. He was originally sentenced last August but decided to appeal. He withdrew the appeal after realizing the court process would linger into Edmonton’s training camp and potentially the regular season, preventing him from being in two different cities and countries at the same time. He wanted to get the situation behind him and focus on training camp and the upcoming season.

In a statement, he said “Despite assurances by legal counsel regarding the strength of my appeals case, I have decided to withdraw my appeal and proceed with sentencing. Once completed, I eagerly anticipate a timely return to Edmonton for training camp, where I will strive to be the best player, teammate and citizen possible.”

He will not spend the entire 30-day sentence behind bars, Khabibulin will serve the first 15 days of his sentence in jail with work release and the other half of his sentence under house arrest. He will have to wear an ankle monitor and is subject to random alcohol testing.

The Oilers open preseason action with split-squad games September 20. One half of the team will take on Minnesota at home while the other half will travel to Saskatoon, SK to play Chicago.

 

Tags: ,

Ryan Smyth Trade Rumors

Jun 26

Posted by EB in News, Rumors, Soap Box | No Comments

For those not living under a rock, news media everywhere are reporting on the potential return of Ryan Smyth to the Edmonton Oilers.  The trade is currently put on hold though, leaving this story to have more drama than a soap opera.

The frenzy began with TSN reporting that Ryan Smyth had removed his no trade clause in hopes of returning back to the Edmonton Oilers. Smyth, who currently plays for the Los Angeles Kings, started his career in Edmonton back in the 1994-1995 season as a rookie and played for 12 seasons with the club.

The rumors began to continue from there, as it was then reported that Smyth would be moving to the Calgary Flames. The deal seemed possible as the Calgary Flames have asked defenseman Robyn Regher to remove his no trade clause. With the removal of Regher, the Flames look to be cleaning up cap space. Once again, the Calgary rumor began to fizzle.

Rumors and talks are not done yet. A “done deal” trade between the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings has Captain Canada in exchange for a Gilbert Brule and a fourth round draft pick. Oh what another disappointment for fans as the deal is yet again falling through.

Why you ask? Because Brule is currently injured. The Los Angeles Kings had the intent of buying out Brule, however the collective bargaining agreement forbids teams from buying out an injured player.

Where this story ends no one knows. What I do know is that there has been some lousy reporting. Sure Smyth could have gone to the Calgary Flames, but don’t count your chickens before they hatch. And the report of Smyth going to the Edmonton Oilers for Brule seems like a no brainer when it is known you cannot buyout an injured player’s contract. Why even print stuff when you know it cannot be done? Heck, Yahoo! even has Smyth already on the Edmonton Oilers.

If I were Smyth, I would stay in L.A.. At 35 years of age, I would want a chance at the Stanley Cup, a chance the developing Oilers will not have for another 3-5 years. The Kings on the other hand, recently picked up star center Mike Richards from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for forwards Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn. Throw in a healthy Anze Kopitar, the Kings will not only look to make a push to the top of the tough Pacific Division, but a push for the Stanley Cup.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Oilers must choose offense or defense at NHL Entry Draft

Jun 24

Posted by Chris in Soap Box | No Comments

Last season, when the NHL was abuzz with the Taylor vs Tyler debate, there was no consensus number one draft choice as both Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin possessed a high level of skill. The Edmonton Oilers finally decided to take Taylor Hall number one overall for his scoring ability. This year, however, the Oilers find themselves in a similar position with the number one pick, but this time around, it may come down to needs over wants.

The general consensus for most hockey pundits is that forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the WHL is the best talent overall and ranks tops amongst most draft lists thanks to his supreme play-making abilities, his willingness to battle for the puck and his outstanding defensive capabilities.

The Oilers opt may go a different route, however, and leave Nugent-Hopkins on the board for the number two team to grab. Instead, the Oilers may select a defenseman, the massive Adam Larsson from the Swedish Elite League. Larsson possesses a big frame at 6-foot-3 and over 200 pounds, but he has also been hailed as a highly-intelligent puck-moving defenseman with comparisons to Nicklas Lidstrom abound. The Oilers need a top defenseman and Larsson appears to be a player they could build their blue line around for years to come.

As a team in full on rebuilding mode, the Oilers have some tough decisions before the first round of the NHL Draft tonight. If the Oilers decide to nab Nugent-Hopkins, they could potentially be getting a solid two-way player whose play-making abilities would complement the goal-scoring abilities of Taylor Hall and could create a fearsome duo up front for the Oilers. With good defensive talent available via free agency this summer, the Oilers very well may opt to go this route. But Larsson could be a franchise defender, a player that the team can build around on the blue line and one that could pay immediate dividends in the NHL after three years in the Swedish Elite League.

Either way, the Oilers are guaranteed to get a top-notch player capable of helping their cause. They have a young team bursting with talent with players such as Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson up front for the squad. Either Nugent-Hopkins or Larsson would fit right in and pay immediate dividends for the Oilers.

The first round of the NHL Entry Draft will take place tonight at 7 p.m. Round two through seven will take place Saturday afternoon. For a great NHL Draft preview, check out NBC’s first round mock draft that offers great information on all of the potential selections at tonight’s draft.

Tags: , ,