Oilers camp Day 1.

[Muley69]

I didn't go...but a few things stuck out to me.


1. Penner scored way higher on his fitness test than expected. Perhaps took some off-ice training to heart?

2. Day 1 was teaching new systems. THANK JEEBUS.

3. Still don't know who is going to match up with Hemsky and Horcoff on the first line

[earl2]

Re: Oilers camp Day 1.

3. Still don't know who is going to match up with Hemsky and Horcoff on the first line

Way to early to guess, but I'll guess anyway.

Their opening night linemate will be Robert Nilsson.

[stamphater]

Re: Oilers camp Day 1.

1. That is great to hear Penner may finally be taking hockey seriously. Maybe he took his name coming up in trade rumours to heart.

2. I am very excited to hear Quinn is stressing on puck possession. Namely not just throwing the puck to the other team.

Quote from Quinn: "Our forwards have to compete better to help the defence and keep the puck out of our zone. Everybody seems to be worried about our scoring. The reason you don't score is you don't have the puck and you're always chasing it," said Quinn.

3. I would be very interested to see Comrie there. I like the idea of having someone on that wing who can play give-and-go with Hemsky. That would be very helpful increasing Hemmer's goal totals.

[Numberz]

Re: Oilers camp Day 1.

I look forward to seeing the Oilers preseason game here in S'toon next sunday. I'll post some notes about what I see.

[Beerfish]

Re: Oilers camp Day 1.

The favourite thing I could hear is who matches up with Hemksy on the 1st line. Horcoff has not done enough to just being handed the #1 centre position like in the MacT era.

[PDO]

Re: Oilers camp Day 1.

The favourite thing I could hear is who matches up with Hemksy on the 1st line. Horcoff has not done enough to just being handed the #1 centre position like in the MacT era.

Do you enjoy making **** up?

2006-2007, Horcoff is coming off a 73 point season and a monster playoffs... so he enters camp the #1 C. Seems pretty obvious to me.

2007-2008, Horcoff is coming off a rough year offensively with only 51 points. Sam Gagner makes the team, and in fact spends a lot of time with Hemsky. There are several stories up in the paper about Horcoff losing the #1 C spot to multiple players... Cogliano was mentioned, as was Stoll, and of course Gagner. He goes on to have an all-star season with 50 points in 53 games (though I'm sure you'll just refer to this as a 53 point season as you have many times, objectivity and all that ).

2008-2009, Horcoff enters season as #1 C... being he came off of a PPG season. Wow, that's ****ing insane! What kind of idiot coach would put a PPG player on the same line as Hemsky? Never mind a guy who had had two very good offensive seasons in his last 3?

You arguments against the guy would be a lot more valid if you didn't keep cherry picking and plain making **** up.

That said, Quinn is quickly realizing how few NHL'ers are on this squad and has mentioned splitting Hemsky and Horcoff up simply so he can have more lines that he can trust. Hard to argue, but I don't think there's a C on the team (unless the plan is to play O'Sullivan at C on his line) that is a better fit there than Horcoff. Gagner plays too similar of a game, and Cogliano plain needs to be moved to the wing.

There aren't a lot of races, but I think the interesting things to watch for are:

#1) How Comrie, Nilsson, Cogliano, Gagner and O'Sullivan separate themselves from each other. All similar players, and fighting for what in all likelihood will equate to 3 spots in the top 6.

#2) How Motin and Peckham show. Peckham is apparently battling a foot injury of some sort, so we'll have to wait and see there, but there's a good chance we're looking at #8 and #9 on the depth chart this season... so there's a good chance both will see ice at some point.

#3) Dubnyk vs Deslauirers. Dubnyk would have to blow the doors off... but I think he's a better prospect, and I think there's a decent chance he does.

[quake]

Re: Oilers camp Day 1.

2. I am very excited to hear Quinn is stressing on puck possession. Namely not just throwing the puck to the other team.

Quote from Quinn: "Our forwards have to compete better to help the defence and keep the puck out of our zone. Everybody seems to be worried about our scoring. The reason you don't score is you don't have the puck and you're always chasing it," said Quinn.

How I hate dump and chase hockey. I realize sometimes you have to but to do it on a constant basis just doesn't make sense. It actually might be enjoyable to watch hockey. Hopefully by the time I get a chance to watch (Feb) the Oil will be in a playoff spot.

[PDO]

Re: Oilers camp Day 1.

How I hate dump and chase hockey. I realize sometimes you have to but to do it on a constant basis just doesn't make sense. It actually might be enjoyable to watch hockey. Hopefully by the time I get a chance to watch (Feb) the Oil will be in a playoff spot.

It's necessary though... the key is knowing when to dump and when to carry it.

Turnovers at the blueline will kill you every time though.... something like 75% of goals scored at 5v5 begin with a turnover at either blueline.

[Esks4ever]

Re: Oilers camp Day 1.

Horc IS NOT a #1 centerman, but he's the best we have...

[PDO]

Re: Oilers camp Day 1.

The sooner people realize that #1 C does not equate to being an elite player in the league, the better.

There's a lot of number 1 C's in this league who aren't elite players... and it's no crime. Horcoff is one of many. Langkow, B. Richards, M. Koivu, M. Richards, Antropov, etc, etc.

There's 30 #1 C's in the league by definition. Would it be nice to have a truly elite player like Zetterberg or Crosby or Thornton there?

Of course. Is it necessary to success? Absolutely not.

You'll also notice all those players make more money than Horcoff. Seriously, it has to be the most over blown imaginary problem I've ever seen a hockey team being charged with. We have an average #1 C who has a wide range of skills to help the team win. He's not going to toe drag anyone, but he puts up numbers that are passable for a #1 C more often than not... especially when he's not being ridden to death with defensive zone faceoffs (those 20 seconds add up a lot of time where you're going to get tired out and you're sure as hell not going to be scoring goals) he's proven to be more than capable offensively with two seasons flirting with a PPG.

This team doesn't need an upgrade at #1 C.

It needs more NHL players up front who create more than they give back. Hopefully Gagner and Cogliano can make that step this season, because that's the key to the Oilers making the playoffs.

[GREYx14]

Re: Oilers camp Day 1.

Way too early to guess, but I'll guess anyway.

Their opening night linemate will be Robert Nilsson.

Only if they're in Springfield Falcons uniforms.

[PDO]

Re: Oilers camp Day 1.

I'm guessing Cogliano.

[Muley69]

Re: Oilers camp Day 1.

PDO...if we had what a lot of us consider to be a #1 center, you would understand what a lot of us mean. Hemsky plus a true #1 center = 100 points each, IMO.

[Angelus]

Re: Oilers camp Day 1.

PDO...if we had what a lot of us consider to be a #1 center, you would understand what a lot of us mean. Hemsky plus a true #1 center = 100 points each, IMO.

Are you kidding me?

3 players had 100 points last year. THREE.

Think about that.

[Muley69]

Re: Oilers camp Day 1.

Re: Horcoff and his albatross salary / cap hit.


The salary cap is defined as the amount of real money a team pays out in a single season. The players' share increases if revenues rise. They get 55 percent when NHL revenues hit $2.2 billion, 56 percent at $2.4 billion, and 57 percent at $2.7 billion.


So yes...Horc's cap hit is better than his actual salary. But since ONLY 55 - 57% of league revenue can be spent on salaries, Horcoff taking home more REAL DOLLARS means less if available to sign on other players...IMO