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ABLE TO BEAT THE BEST TEAMS IN THE LEAGUE, AND STRUGGLE WITH MEDIOCRE TEAMS.... ISN'T THAT ALWAYS THE WAY? HERE'S A GOOD ARTICLE FROM TERRY JONES ON THE OIL:
Jones: Oilers win over Hurricanes a double-declaration
By , Edmonton Sun First posted: Monday, January 04, 2016 10:05 PM MST | Updated: Monday, January 04, 2016 11:04 PM MST
The Edmonton Oilers' Taylor Hall (4) battles the Carolina Hurricanes John-Michael Liles (26) during first period NHL action at Rexall Place, in Edmonton Alta. on Monday Jan. 4, 2016. David Bloom/Edmonton Sun/Postmedia Network
As a season goes along with a hockey club, fans are looking to make declarations about this and that.
Like last night as fans sat through 60-minutes of sleep-inducing 0-0 hockey against the Carolina Hurricanes as the Edmonton Oilers hit the halfway mark of their season.
This one turned out to be a double declaration game.
Declaration 1: The Oilers are also learning how to play in games like that.
Declaration 2: With the skill in their lineup it’s good business to get to 3-on-3 overtime.
Andrej Sekera, for the second time this season, scored the overtime winner. This time Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle produced the assists. That, in 22 words, was the game story.
“I don’t know where we would have been in that game at this time last season or earlier this season,” said Matt Hendricks as he studied the scene from his corner of the dressing room where the squad which won six in a row and then lost seven of eight is now back on a two-game winning streak.
“It might have been a blessing in disguise that we played three straight games, against Anaheim, Arizona and now Carolina, which were very much the same opponents. We definitely harped on being patient tonight, sticking to the system and not taking unnecessary risks.
“I know a lot of people will dislike me for saying this, but that’s the type of hockey that wins you games. And playing that way gives you a better chance to get in the playoffs.”
Nugent-Hopkins agreed.
“We have to learn how to play this way. We’re learning. We’re getting better at it.”
Coach Todd McLellan said doing it once or twice is nice but you “have to do it repetitively when you need it.”
And to get games to overtime is proving to be a very good thing for this group.
“We do have some skill,” said McLellan. “We have some guys who have the ability when they’re given space to hold on the puck to get creative. Once you take a couple players off the ice I don’t think size and skill is near as important as finesse, special awareness, hands and some of our players really shine in that situation.”
The victory gave Edmonton an 8-2 home record against Eastern teams this year and a 12-7-1 record against the East overall. The Oilers managed a grand total of 15 wins at home last year.
The win also left the Oilers with a 16-23-3 record at the halfway mark. Turning the corner with 37 points that doubles to 74 for a team that ended up with 62 last season is nothing to hoot and holler about considering this is a franchise that tanked last year to end up far enough down in the standings to get a shot at McDavid.
Your correspondent asked McLellan to analyze where this team has been and where it is going as the Oilers head into the second half of the season Friday against Tampa Bay.
“I think we spent the first half of the season finding out a lot about each other. New coaching staff. New players. Our strengths. Our weaknesses. We tried to put some structure in place. We’ve done some things but we have a lot more on our ‘To Do’ list,” said McLellan.
“Where we’re going and where we think we’re going I hope is the same place. We need to continue to improve. We need to understand game situations better. We need to understand that checking is a way to win as well as scoring. We need to improve on the road. We need to get special teams up. We need to get healthy. So we have a lot of work ahead of us.”
McLellan said he’s learned a lot.
“The will to improve. I wasn’t sure if that was in our locker room. It’s been good in terms of teacher and class room. Teachers are always asking ‘What’s your classroom like?’ We have a really good classroom. And I found that out in the first half.
“They are prepared to come every day and work. Are they always successful? Do they pass all their exams? No. But they do show up and they want to learn and they want to improve.”
As they head to the second half of the season, you can make a case that they’ve been through the worst of it.
They’ve already played 24 games against teams currently in possession of a playoff position with the second most man games lost in the league in the first half at 159 games including Connor McDavid, Oscar Klefbom and Nail Yakupov.
The Oilers play only 20 of the final 41 against those teams in the second half of the schedule. And six of those are against Vancouver (or Anaheim) and Arizona, teams that are only a few points ahead of them in the pathetic Pacific Division.
Jones: Oilers win over Hurricanes a double-declaration
By , Edmonton Sun First posted: Monday, January 04, 2016 10:05 PM MST | Updated: Monday, January 04, 2016 11:04 PM MST
As a season goes along with a hockey club, fans are looking to make declarations about this and that.
Like last night as fans sat through 60-minutes of sleep-inducing 0-0 hockey against the Carolina Hurricanes as the Edmonton Oilers hit the halfway mark of their season.
This one turned out to be a double declaration game.
Declaration 1: The Oilers are also learning how to play in games like that.
Declaration 2: With the skill in their lineup it’s good business to get to 3-on-3 overtime.
Andrej Sekera, for the second time this season, scored the overtime winner. This time Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle produced the assists. That, in 22 words, was the game story.
“I don’t know where we would have been in that game at this time last season or earlier this season,” said Matt Hendricks as he studied the scene from his corner of the dressing room where the squad which won six in a row and then lost seven of eight is now back on a two-game winning streak.
“It might have been a blessing in disguise that we played three straight games, against Anaheim, Arizona and now Carolina, which were very much the same opponents. We definitely harped on being patient tonight, sticking to the system and not taking unnecessary risks.
“I know a lot of people will dislike me for saying this, but that’s the type of hockey that wins you games. And playing that way gives you a better chance to get in the playoffs.”
Nugent-Hopkins agreed.
“We have to learn how to play this way. We’re learning. We’re getting better at it.”
Coach Todd McLellan said doing it once or twice is nice but you “have to do it repetitively when you need it.”
And to get games to overtime is proving to be a very good thing for this group.
“We do have some skill,” said McLellan. “We have some guys who have the ability when they’re given space to hold on the puck to get creative. Once you take a couple players off the ice I don’t think size and skill is near as important as finesse, special awareness, hands and some of our players really shine in that situation.”
The victory gave Edmonton an 8-2 home record against Eastern teams this year and a 12-7-1 record against the East overall. The Oilers managed a grand total of 15 wins at home last year.
The win also left the Oilers with a 16-23-3 record at the halfway mark. Turning the corner with 37 points that doubles to 74 for a team that ended up with 62 last season is nothing to hoot and holler about considering this is a franchise that tanked last year to end up far enough down in the standings to get a shot at McDavid.
Your correspondent asked McLellan to analyze where this team has been and where it is going as the Oilers head into the second half of the season Friday against Tampa Bay.
“I think we spent the first half of the season finding out a lot about each other. New coaching staff. New players. Our strengths. Our weaknesses. We tried to put some structure in place. We’ve done some things but we have a lot more on our ‘To Do’ list,” said McLellan.
“Where we’re going and where we think we’re going I hope is the same place. We need to continue to improve. We need to understand game situations better. We need to understand that checking is a way to win as well as scoring. We need to improve on the road. We need to get special teams up. We need to get healthy. So we have a lot of work ahead of us.”
McLellan said he’s learned a lot.
“The will to improve. I wasn’t sure if that was in our locker room. It’s been good in terms of teacher and class room. Teachers are always asking ‘What’s your classroom like?’ We have a really good classroom. And I found that out in the first half.
“They are prepared to come every day and work. Are they always successful? Do they pass all their exams? No. But they do show up and they want to learn and they want to improve.”
As they head to the second half of the season, you can make a case that they’ve been through the worst of it.
They’ve already played 24 games against teams currently in possession of a playoff position with the second most man games lost in the league in the first half at 159 games including Connor McDavid, Oscar Klefbom and Nail Yakupov.
The Oilers play only 20 of the final 41 against those teams in the second half of the schedule. And six of those are against Vancouver (or Anaheim) and Arizona, teams that are only a few points ahead of them in the pathetic Pacific Division.
