Hockey Discussion Thread/News 2021

Another OT game tonight. That's 13 OT games in the first round this year

This graph was posted this morning. 

That damn kid is at it again. 🤪🤣🤣

Everytime I see your name in fantasy leagues I think of your son who does pretty good in our fantasy football league

Yeah I didn't get any notices about a tournament for league champions for the NFL or NHL. Fuck Yahoo, it's time to find a new hosting site

Adam Gretz
Tue, May 25, 2021, 10:14 AM
What a waste.

That is the only way to describe the totality of the 2020-21 Oilers season after it ended with an emphatic thud on Monday night in a 4-3 triple overtime loss to the Jets.

The loss completed a four-game sweep, including three consecutive multiple overtime losses, that sends the Oilers home early — again — without coming anywhere close to a championship.

It was a waste in the sense that it wasted a historic offensive season from the likely league MVP, Connor McDavid, in which he scored 104 points in 56 regular-season games.

It also wasted another prime year of McDavid and Leon Draisaitl as they both, once again, finished as two of the NHL’s top offensive players and dragged an otherwise lousy team along as far as they could.

Most organizations will go their entire existence without ever having two players this good. It takes an extraordinary amount of luck, good fortune, and good timing to not only get two of them, but to get two of them at the exact same time, at roughly the exact same age, at the exact same point in their careers. On the rare occasion you do get that, you should be competing for the Stanley Cup every season.

Not just barely making the playoffs. Not just being close to the playoffs. You should be a major contender. Winning it should not necessarily be the expectation every year, but you should at least give yourself a reason to be in the discussion.

[NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2021 First Round schedule, TV info]
The Oilers, now six years into the McDavid-Draisaitl era, are not even close to that discussion.

In total, they have won eight playoff games during that time, and that is if you want to be generous and include the one Qualifying Round victory from a year ago against the 23rd-ranked Blackhawks. If you do not include that one game, they have seven playoff wins. And that is a damning indictment on the entire organization from top to bottom, ranging from the former GM Peter Chiarelli to the current GM Ken Holland. They are wasting this gift from the hockey gods that they have been given.

Whenever a team loses in the playoffs, and this is especially true when it is an embarrassing playoff loss, there is always a rush to point the finger at the superstars. With big money and big stats comes big expectations. If the team fails, they get the blame. Or they get told how they have to change. For years when the Capitals lost in the playoffs it was always Alex Ovechkin that had to change his game. When the Lightning kept falling just short it was Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos that would take the heat. When Toronto goes out early, it’s the young core that does not know how to win.

Now, McDavid and Draisaitl are going to get that microscope placed on them with every aspect of their game being critiqued. Be better defensively. Make your teammates better. Change the way you play so it is a winning style.

It is all a waste of time.
First, consider this. This is the supporting cast for McDavid and Draisaitl that was on the ice in Game 4 on Monday.




Seems bad!



The struggle with team building in hockey is that the best players have the smallest impact in the game among the major sports. It is not like basketball where one or two superstars can play 90% of the game and change everything. In football, a great quarterback makes you a contender as soon as they join the team.


But here? The best players only play, at most, a third of the game. That means for the overwhelming majority of the game you need to rely on your supporting cast. And not to be overly dramatic here, but the Oilers supporting cast, for lack of a better word, stinks.



They are getting less support from their teammates than any other top player in the league.



Let’s look at this table here as an example. This shows the top-15 scorers in the NHL from this regular season. On the left, you have what the teams did with them on the ice during 5-on-5 play in terms of goals for, goals against, and shot attempt differential.



On the right, you have what those teams did when the top scorer was not on the ice.

Look at how dominant the Oilers were with those two on the ice. Then look at how bad they were without them. Look at the drop. Then look at the support the other players on this list received.



The only other players whose teams were outscored without them on the ice were Brad Marchand (minus-6), Patrick Kane (minus-25), David Perron (minus-10), and Artemi Panarin (minus-1).



Even with Marchand, that number dramatically improved after the trade deadline (because Boston actually tried to get better).



As for the others? Chicago missed the playoffs by a mile. The also Blues got swept in the First Round (while playing the NHL’s best team and not actually having Perron for any of the games). The Rangers also missed the playoffs.



The very fact that the Oilers even made the playoffs is a testament to how far McDavid and Draisaitl carried them because when they are on the bench this is a lottery team. A bad lottery team.



But Adam, you are probably thinking, this is the regular season here. The playoffs are different, and maybe McDavid and Draisaitl needed to do more. Fight through it. Go to the tough areas. Be better!



Maybe. But the Oilers still outscored the Jets with McDavid and Draisaitl on the ice. It was only 3-2 on aggregate, but it was still in the Oilers’ favor. As was the territorial advantage (significantly so).



In the 90 minutes of all situations hockey (5-on-5, power play, penalty kill) where one of those two was on the ice the Oilers scored four goals.



In the 202 minutes without them the Oilers scored … four goals. And were outscored 9-4, including 7-3 during 5-on-5 play. When neither McDavid or Draisaitl played they were outscored by four goals at even-strength, in a series where they lost three one-goal games in overtime.



Yeah, maybe you could expect two superstars to have more than three total goals in four games.



But maybe for once, just once, this season or at any point over the past six seasons, somebody else on the roster could make a play, or score a goal, or make an impact on the rare occasion that those two guys got stopped. Maybe the goalie could make a save. Maybe they could avoid taking the stupid penalty that swings a game. At some point every Cup winning team needs that from their supporting cast.



The Oilers never get it. Because they do not have anybody else capable of doing it and every piece of objective evidence we have at our disposal illustrates it. For that to be the case six years into this, after all of the high first-round picks, is a complete and total failure across the board.



The Oilers have the two most dynamic offensive players in the world in the prime of their careers. And the team is still years from contending.



Total waste.

“I promise you, with the people I’ve worked with over the course of my career, I don’t think you’re going to tell Andy Van Hellemond, Don Koharski or Kerry Fraser how to referee a hockey game,” said Hall of Fame referee Paul Stewart, a fourth-generation official. “They just look at you like pffft.

“I didn’t give a shit. I did the job based on what my feelings were. In many senses, I felt the players played for me. If you’re going to officiate and be at the top level of your game, you can’t allow this type of outside influence to taint your thinking. You have to gauge it by how you are and who you are.”

-Paul Stewart, former NHL referee

“At a stoppage of play, I would go to the benches to both coaches and say, ‘Obviously you’ve taken way too much advantage of my generosity and I’m embarrassed, but I’m now going to lay the hammer down. I prefer you to control your guys before I have to. But I’m going to grab one player in the scrum — it might be your guy or their guy. Control your guys or I will.”

“If I said something, you can take it to the bank, I was going to do it. The guys that are really successful are when they step on the ice and players know they mean business. When they tell them something, they follow through. It’s not an idle threat.”

-Kerry Fraser, former NHL referee

via Turner Sports press release,

The NHL is coming to Turner Sports’ networks and platforms later this year and the first additions to the roster of studio and game commentators are in place. Turner Sports and Wayne Gretzky have reached a multi-year agreement for “The Great One” to offer studio analysis during key moments of the NHL regular season and throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Additionally, veteran play-by-play commentator Kenny Albert and analyst Eddie Olczyk will call live games for Turner Sports throughout the regular season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs, airing on TNT and TBS.

“The world’s best hockey league is coming to Turner Sports later this year and the exciting additions of Wayne, Kenny and Eddie will jumpstart our NHL coverage with some of the best and biggest talents in the sport,” said Tara August, Senior Vice President of Talent Relations and Special Projects, Turner Sports. “Their incomparable experiences within the game and unparalleled depth of knowledge will bring a distinct dimension to our game and studio coverage. We’re thrilled to welcome them to the Turner Sports family.”

“I’ve long admired Turner Sports’ coverage of the NBA, among other sports, and I’m thrilled to be joining the studio team in their inaugural NHL season,” said Gretzky. “This is an exciting opportunity to share my experiences and perspectives on the game I will always cherish, while hopefully informing and entertaining fans along the way.”

“Calling the NHL’s biggest games – including the Stanley Cup Final – has been a lifelong dream since I was five years old,” said Albert. “I look forward to this tremendous opportunity with Turner Sports and can’t wait for the puck to drop on the 2021-22 season! Becoming a teammate of ‘The Great One’ and sharing the broadcast booth with Eddie Olczyk – one of the best analysts in all of sports and a long-time friend and colleague of mine – is the icing on the cake!”

“I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of the Turner Sports family and its coverage of the NHL,” said Olczyk. “I’m equally thrilled to be on the same team with ‘The Great One’ for the first time in my career; that’s just tremendously tremendous! Thanks to everyone at Turner Sports for all of their efforts in assembling this amazing team.”

Announced in April, Turner Sports’ multi-year NHL agreement includes crowning a champion through its exclusive live coverage of the Stanley Cup Final on TNT in three of the seven years; half of the Stanley Cup Playoffs each year (half of the Conference Finals, First and Second Round games); rights to up to 72 exclusive national regular season games each season; and expansive digital and highlight rights for Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and additional platforms. TNT will also exclusively present the NHL Winter Classic each year, among other live events.

Additional live game and studio coverage details, along with programming plans, will be announced in the months ahead.

Gretzky, considered the greatest to ever play hockey, will contribute in-depth studio analysis during key moments of the NHL regular season and throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs on TNT and TBS. “The Great One” played 20 seasons in the NHL, including winning four Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers, and is the NHL’s all-time leading scorer with the most goals and assists in a career. He won a record nine Hart Trophies as the most valuable player in the NHL, and he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame immediately following his retirement in 1999.

Albert will bring his more than 30 years in sports broadcasting to Turner Sports as lead play-by-play commentator for its NHL telecasts. He is considered one of the most versatile broadcasters in sports and is the only national play-by-play broadcaster who calls hockey, football, basketball, baseball, and boxing. Albert has also served as the radio play-by-play voice of the New York Rangers since 1995. His hockey broadcasting career began in 1990 as play-by-play commentator for the Baltimore Skipjacks of the American Hockey League, eventually leading to calling NHL games for the Washington Capitals and nationally for Fox and NBC. He has called seven Stanley Cup Finals on national radio, more than 400 NFL games on Fox including five Divisional Playoff games, five MLB Divisional Series and the New York Knicks. The two-time national Emmy Award nominee has also served as play-by-play announcer for men's and women's ice hockey at five Winter Olympic Games for NBC.

Olczyk will be lead analyst for Turner Sports’ coverage of the NHL throughout the regular season, the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Stanley Cup Final. Olczyk played 16 seasons in the NHL, winning a Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers in 1994. Following his playing career, he joined the Pittsburgh Penguins game broadcasts for Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh and provided analysis for ESPN, ESPN2 and NHL Radio. Olczyk was head coach of the Penguins from 2003-05, before returning to the broadcast booth in 2006 with NBC and the Chicago Blackhawks as lead hockey analyst for both, respectively, the last 15 years. A stage III colon cancer survivor, he was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012.

Terrible call in Carolina last night...if thats interference then they should put goalies in those bubble thingy’s. 

And Crosby with his patented cheapshot when the penguins are behind

😂 love it. 

Shouldn't Curtis Pashelka be asking questions to Doug Wilson rather than to Brian MacLellan.