Thursday, April 27, 2006
Oilers Playoff Game #4 [updated]
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It's tough to beat any team 3 in a row in playoffs, nevermind the President's Trophy winner. I wonder what the historical stats on this are -- has the PT winner ever lost three in a row?
Having said that, it is definitely nut-cuttin' time for the Wings. As such, I'm fully expecting them to come out flying. Tonight's game should be the best of the series. Babcock has all but guaranteed a Wings victory.
The preview linked above claims that Roloson has been "good and lucky"? Lucky? 4 of Detroit's first 6 goals were flukes. And I'm not sure how Williams disallowed goal makes Rollie lucky -- he gave Williams nothing to shoot at and it snuck under the side of the net -- this is lucky? Whatever.
Pronger has been a horse, and Detroit fans are still coming to terms with the fact that he just might not meltdown this time. So far, he has a grand total of zero penalty minutes through three games.
The two Wings who have looked most dangerous are Zetterberg--who has improved every game--and Yzerman. Stevie-Y is geriatric and wobbles around the ice on two reconstructed knees -- and when I say reconstructed I'm talking about doctors sawing his bones apart so that they could insert wedges to realign the joints. Yeesh. The good news for Oilers fans is that it sounds like he is not going to be able to go tonight (although I'll believe it when I see it). That is actually a shame, I've always liked Yzerman and if Edmonton does pull this series out, it would be kinda sad if Stevie's last(?) playoff series ended in injury.
For the Oilers, it sounds like LeGG might get another shot as Harvey suffered a mid-upper-lower body injury with flu like symptoms.
Sacamano's Keys to the Game:
- Can the crowd keep it up. Last game was loud. In fact, it set a new Rexall record of 108 decibels. My favourite part of that article:
"Metz said he may take a reading in Joe Louis Arena in Detroit for Game 5 Saturday to get a comparison.
But what he'd love to do is have a Calgary-Edmonton series up next. Then theBattle of Alberta could be a battle of sound as well.
"It would be interesting to take the readings in both buildings if we get that series."
- A common theme in the Edmonton media this year has been the lack of a killer instinct on the Oilers. Pronger notes the same thing. Everytime the Oilers get tentative, they lose or almost lose (like on Tuesday).
- Judging by the "Rollie, Rollie" chants at Tuesday's game, Roloson is well on his way to becoming an Edmonton folk hero. Another good game by him would just about seal the deal.
- Can the Stan Weir magic continue?
- Penalties. The Oil need to stop taking them. You can only tempt fate for so long. Of course, some decent officiating would make fans of both teams happier.
- Fitness. I really think Detroit has one on Edmonton, here. In each of the OT games, Detroit has looked fresher. Pronger has logged 113:22 minutes, and Edmonton had six 30+ min players on Tuesday compared to only 1 (Lidstrom) for Detroit. If this series goes 7 games, I think Edmonton's players are going to be sucking wind.
[UPDATE]: Chopper is back, baby! Look for him to score a shortie.
Go Oil!
# posted by sacamano @ 9:00 am 
Comments:
This one pains me to say, but I well remember a certain President's Trophy winning team losing FOUR in a row in 1988. But I really don't want to talk about it.
Go Wings.
Go Flames.
I'm not sure how Williams disallowed goal makes Rollie lucky
He's lucky he's not still in a Sabres uni, by rule the opponent gets one illegal goal per series...
So, with Moreau back who's the 4th line?
If they get some minutes out of those guys that will lighten the load.
I think they mentioned that Harvey was out with an injury. I assumed LeGG would get in, but now I suspect it will be Moreau taking his place. Either that or both Georges and Ethan are in and Rem is also out.
So, I looked up how President's Trophy winners had made out in the playoffs over the years. The Trophy winner has gone on to win the Cup only 6 times in the 19 years the Trophy has been around. At least twice, the winner went out in the first round, and the winner has lost 3 or more playoff games in a row at least 4 times (1988, 1991, 1992 and 1995). The Oilers have beaten the Trophy winner 4 times in a row at elast once (1988) and Detroit, as Trophy winner has lost 4 in a row at least once (1995).
Does any of this mean anything now? Does Colby's big spreadsheet account for any of this?
The checking line was especially good; early on, Dan Cleary's line with Johan Franzen and Kirk Maltby was arguably the best one.
They actually said the words " Dan Cleary's line" without the slightest sense of sarcasm, irony or even post-irony. I couldn't even read the rest of the article after that.
Wow! Terrific work, peter!
And to think that I was worried about tonight's game -- based on those numbers it should be in the bag
Does Colby's big spreadsheet account for any of this?
It certainly knows when a team is somewhat overrated as a consequence of playing in a weak division, which I suspect is true of most President's Trophy winners.
Of course, in the twenty years before that, only 3 Western Conference teams would have won it -- or was Chicago in the East then?
From the Oilers website:
MOREAU RETURNING TONIGHT:
Ethan Moreau will likely be making his return to the Oilers lineup tonight after missing the first three games due to a groin injury. He will replace Todd Harvey on the fourth line.
And all you Oilers bloggers should add haloscan.
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This one pains me to say, but I well remember a certain President's Trophy winning team losing FOUR in a row in 1988. But I really don't want to talk about it.
Go Wings.
Go Flames.
# posted by 
: April 27, 2006 9:18 am
: April 27, 2006 9:18 am 
I'm not sure how Williams disallowed goal makes Rollie lucky
He's lucky he's not still in a Sabres uni, by rule the opponent gets one illegal goal per series...
# posted by : April 27, 2006 10:15 am
: April 27, 2006 10:15 am So, with Moreau back who's the 4th line?
If they get some minutes out of those guys that will lighten the load.
I think they mentioned that Harvey was out with an injury. I assumed LeGG would get in, but now I suspect it will be Moreau taking his place. Either that or both Georges and Ethan are in and Rem is also out.
So, I looked up how President's Trophy winners had made out in the playoffs over the years. The Trophy winner has gone on to win the Cup only 6 times in the 19 years the Trophy has been around. At least twice, the winner went out in the first round, and the winner has lost 3 or more playoff games in a row at least 4 times (1988, 1991, 1992 and 1995). The Oilers have beaten the Trophy winner 4 times in a row at elast once (1988) and Detroit, as Trophy winner has lost 4 in a row at least once (1995).
Does any of this mean anything now? Does Colby's big spreadsheet account for any of this?
# posted by : April 27, 2006 3:04 pm
: April 27, 2006 3:04 pm The checking line was especially good; early on, Dan Cleary's line with Johan Franzen and Kirk Maltby was arguably the best one.
They actually said the words " Dan Cleary's line" without the slightest sense of sarcasm, irony or even post-irony. I couldn't even read the rest of the article after that.
Wow! Terrific work, peter!
And to think that I was worried about tonight's game -- based on those numbers it should be in the bag
Does Colby's big spreadsheet account for any of this?
It certainly knows when a team is somewhat overrated as a consequence of playing in a weak division, which I suspect is true of most President's Trophy winners.
# posted by : April 27, 2006 3:32 pm
: April 27, 2006 3:32 pm Of course, in the twenty years before that, only 3 Western Conference teams would have won it -- or was Chicago in the East then?
From the Oilers website:
MOREAU RETURNING TONIGHT:
Ethan Moreau will likely be making his return to the Oilers lineup tonight after missing the first three games due to a groin injury. He will replace Todd Harvey on the fourth line.
And all you Oilers bloggers should add haloscan.
Post a Comment
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