2015-2016 NHL Discussion Thread

1. you absolutely are right, but I'm just saying so far the oil has been arguably plagued worse by injuries than any other team (besides maybe the habs at this point, losing price and gallagher are huge hits to that team). ebs missed a bunch of games at the beginning of the season. mcdavid has and is missing a lot of games. same with yak. and pouliot. and hendricks missed abunch. and klinkhammer. now klefbom our best dman is out for a couple games. taking a page out of your book, this is an abnormal amount of injuries, and what goes up must come down, right?

2. you aren't lying, but at the same time, the guy coming back from injury isnt no ordinary hockey player. i dont have much doubt he'll hit the ground running when he returns. pouliot is supposedly looking to come back into the line up in the next few games so he'll be warmed up for once mcdavid is back. what yak is like when returning who knows but yak has been known to have some surprises up his sleeve, but it's likely McDavid and Eberle will also get some decent line time together to see if those two have any chemistry together (which in theory, they absolutely should), so if that works out then how yak plays isnt that big of a deal, although what the 3rd line is going to be like I have no idea. hendricks nuge yak? who knows at this point, but it's a problem I like having.

3. talbot isn't our only goalie. nilsson has shown he's got some serious goalie skill too. when one starts having some rough games, the other can fill in. neither has proven that they have what it takes to be a full time no 1 NHL goalie yet, but they've both shown good indication that they just might

4. again, you'e got a point, but even if the Oil lose in OT they're still getting a point (look at vancouver). as well, if you look at the Oilers roster, and then watch how they play in OT, you'd think 3v3 was a gift from the NHL. Hall and Drai are absolutely lethal together on it. Same with Ebs and Nuge. Once McDavid comes back, put anyone on his line who can keep up and watch the magic happen.

like I said, I don't expect them to make the playoffs, but unlike many many seasons before this, they have the potential to if lady luck decides so.

 

30 points would be nowhere near playoffs in any other divison, yeah lol. Central is sort of the same in terms of competitiveness, you got 4 teams all hovering within 3 pts of each other as well however they're all a notch up.
Honestly, to take the glass half full side against Dunworry-
1. even with injuries the oil have shown that they have what it takes in them to grind out the wins against teams that quite frankly I wouldn't have seen them beating in the first few weeks of the season.
2, these guys are young (youngest team in the league) and still learning in the big leagues, even those that have been here a few seasons already. Yea of course I forsee a hiccup here or there, but I think these guys will still be eager and hard-working enough to battle it out.
3- Talbot is sub .900 atm and look where the team is at. Yes, they're close games but they are winning. If he even steps it up a notch it'll be a huge help to the team.
4- The record says something but the style of play says something as well. Whenever you watch Oilers OT (much like the Flames, not even saying that because of their record but their core players are all bringing something to the table in terms of 3 on 3. Did you see that video of the Saddledome starting to cheer when Gaudreau even just stepped on the ice?!) its a bunch of explosive players creating lots of chances. I think this favours an offensive team like Edmonton with the 2rd highest GF in the West, behind only the runaway Stars.

Of course this could all be speculation and all amount to nothing following an epic collapse. As a Leafs fan, I feel ya with the no expectations mindset. But honestly, things are looking bright for the Oilers this year. A bunch of things have already lined up, what with their division being so weak and them pulling out the clutch wins on time. I think that this may just be the year.

 

Made this exact point too lol. It's obvious the standout teams that the 3 on 3 is built for, and the teams like the Wild who, while are a decent team, just don't have the flashy guys and the dynamic pairings that other teams do, which is why they crumble so often in OT (I think they're like 1-5? correct me if I'm wrong).

Again I'm not saying anything as there's lots of hockey left, but they certainly have a bigger crack at it this year I'd say.

 

Additionally, the goal was never really to make it into the playoffs this year as we have a brand new coach, and a brand new GM trying to fix all of the many, many mistakes made during the terribly mismanaged last 10 years of this franchise. It sucks that it's taken 9 years to FINALLY get everything headed in a correct direction for once, and setting the record for most seasons without playoffs in a row is going to be a really, really tough pill to swallow, but if it means we're playoff contenders next year I can deal with it.

As much as I like to rip on the Leafs, at least you guys have made it to playoffs once in the last decade. I sure do wish for the time the Oilers can do that....

 

The leafs, that's an interesting story. *awkward transition* They don't have much of a roster haha. Their goalie situation a few days back was certainly interesting. Bring in a new amazing coach with Babcock, and they still seem to play the EXACT same way. Granted, I haven't watched all of their games for the past few years, but comparing the few I've seen they haven't changed much at all (especially in the standings). What do you think this team could do to get some talented new prospects in?

 

Sharks, finally, snapped their 6 game loss streak. Conveniently enough, it was against a team with one of the best records in the NHL. Hopefully they start turning things around.

 

Bernier's career is imploding in Toronto... He wont be a goalie next year at this rate.

 

In combination with Reimer going on a tear and bernier just... straight up sucking I have to agree. I wonder what they'll get for him. A fourth line AHL forward lol?

On a serious note, the problems just keep coming for Toronto. I keep wondering how in the world Babcock is going to turn this one around. They seem to be so far gone.

 

The sentiment with me and my buddies (100% accurate representation of entire Toronto fanbase!!!11) is that come the all star break and things still aren't looking up, we'll just start cheering against Toronto in the hopes of a better pick. Sparks, while decent, has shown to be inconsistent in the bigs. Bernier is a lost cause. Letting in 5 goals in an AHL game is never a sign of NHL caliber goaltending, especially 2 softies like they were. I honestly am just following and rooting for all the Canadian teams, Leafs seem pretty done here. With a solid core of young prospects on the Marlies I'd say we have a chance in the next few years, but for now unfortunately I just can't see anything looking up for the team.

(Sharks 2-2 Leafs atm, good game! Can't believe Sharks actually got a ppg lol they never seemed that strong on it but I guess if there's a team for them to do that against, it's the leafs..)

 

See that's what is odd. You should see the Sharks powerplay a couple years ago, it was hard to stop. Ever since the Sharks seemingly dropped in the standings last year (like the Ducks this year), they just haven't been able to regain their stride.

 

Wooooo!!!! Brent Burns wins it in OT!!!!!

 

Well shit. Not like there's an excuse for blowing a 4-2 lead but what a bounce...

(only slightly salty)

 

On the bright side, Bernier didn't suck. 2 of the Sharks goals weren't really his fault at all..but goddamn this guy will never get a win lol

 

The Leafs just looked very lazy and like they weren't trying defensively. The Sharks didn't win that game, the Leafs lost it >.<

 

Yeah that 3rd period PP was really sloppy. I mean getting a point out of it is ok I guess. Sharks really needed the extra one to keep a step ahead of all the other shitty teams in the Pacific lol

 

Yeah the Pacific is not looking strong this year. I don't know what happened; a few years back the Pacific had some dominant teams: Ducks, Kings, Sharks, and even the Canucks were pretty solid. Now it's just the Kings, and they are just starting to emerge after a terrible start.

 

Yeah 6 points separating 2nd from 7th is ridiculous. At this rate the 2 wildcard teams from that conference will both be Central teams, and at this point I wouldn't really give the 2 other teams (other than the Kings) chances against the 2 Central teams. Of course playoffs are a totally different game and anything could change, but that's just what it looks like atm.

This is huge, especially in such a tight division. If any of these teams go streaking they can really set themselves ahead of the pack.

 

Yeah it all depends on who goes on a streak and gets hot at the right time. But I have a feeling you're right: many of the teams in the Pacific division just straight up look weak compared to the loaded Central. It's likely going to be 5 central and 3 pacific teams in the playoffs, unless conveniently some of the central start to slump while some of the pacific start to go on a hot streak

 

3 scoring lines when?

 

Sharks lost, again. Real surprise there. Kind of a shame because they were doing well for the first two periods but they just dropped the ball at the end of the game ;\