Saturday, May 06, 2006
Alexander the Great Plays Trombone
Just to recall, Alexander Ovechkin had this to say about Edmonton in his first round predictions (รพSidearm Delivery):
Edmonton vs Detroit: Detroit in four. This is a very powerful team. You can't just focus on one player. I can still remember how hard it is to play against them. They are a well-oiled machine. I'm pretty sure that Edmonton is doomed.
Well, Alexander the Great is back for more. And it appears that, like Mirtle, he will not be caught with his pants down twice:
Edmonton vs. San Jose - Edmonton in seven. I won't say that the West is the weaker conference. Simply, Ottawa is the definite favorite, and all of the rest of the teams in the two conferences are about equal. Personally, in the West, I like Edmonton most of all-- a brilliant, quick, young team. I thought they'd be finished by Detroit, and subsequently, I'll be pulling for them. I can't have any belief in San Jose. Their outlook mainly results from two players, Thornton and Cheechoo, and in the playoffs they'll be asked to overcome more well-balanced opponents.Welcome aboard, Sasha! There looks to be room beside the trumpet.
Sidenote: I really don't want to have to do a full post on this, but how is it possible that Edmonton still gets called a young team?
Staois: 32
Pronger: 31
Spacek: 32
Tarnstrom: 31
Smith: 32
Harvey: 31
Moreau: 31
Murray: 34
Laraque: 30
Pisani: 30
Smyth: 30
Both Roloson and Ulanov were born in the 60's for crying out loud.
As Cosh aptly phrased it: "It's been a while since the Oilers could be confused with Muppet Babies; these guys are pretty much in prostat-exam-and-RRSP territory."
# posted by sacamano @ 9:04 am 
Comments:
I think people have just stereotyped Edmonton as a "young, fast and hungry" team for the last 10-15 years, so it's hard to shake that label no matter what it really looks like.
I guess people look at some of the younger stars like Hemsky, Stoll, and Torres and see how young they are, and just apply it to the rest of the team.
I'm not too worried about the ages, alot of the really old guys (Ulanov, Murray, Harvey) probably won't be Oilers for too much longer. The only core "old" guys are still in their very early thirties.
The trick with age issues is to manage them intelligently. Every year your core 20 guys age by 20 man-years, so you have to find ways to claw those years back or you're going to get eaten alive sooner or later. But more ice time is naturally going to devolve onto Pouliot or Schremp and probably Greene next year, so the Oilers arguably have room to look for a stopgap UFA centre to replace Peca--or re-sign Peca at a deep discount if he wants to come back (seems improbable).
Colby Cosh said...
The trick with age issues is to manage them intelligently. Every year your core 20 guys age by 20 man-years, so you have to find ways to claw those years back or you're going to get eaten alive sooner or later.
And hey, if sacamano and Pisani are involved those 20 guys age like 30 man-years every year.
Pisani's 29 and his birthday is over 7 months away. I'm on board with this "the Oilers aren't that young" thing but good grief.
I'm one who got caught in the "Oilers-young" deal - Julian nails it right on the head - you look at a lot of the guys who get press and they are either young or because they were collegians (Horcoff/Pisani) are in their late 20s but have not been in the league very long, compared to Smyth, say, so you think they're younger. Well, I do anyhow.
I think next year they will be appreciably younger - Harvey, Laraque, Murray, Peca, Ulanov, Tarnstrom - these guys will all be gone and likely replaced by youngsters - the core guys on D and a few up front will be @ 30-32 but the average age will take a dip.
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I think people have just stereotyped Edmonton as a "young, fast and hungry" team for the last 10-15 years, so it's hard to shake that label no matter what it really looks like.
I guess people look at some of the younger stars like Hemsky, Stoll, and Torres and see how young they are, and just apply it to the rest of the team.
I'm not too worried about the ages, alot of the really old guys (Ulanov, Murray, Harvey) probably won't be Oilers for too much longer. The only core "old" guys are still in their very early thirties.
# posted by 
: May 06, 2006 9:54 am
: May 06, 2006 9:54 am The trick with age issues is to manage them intelligently. Every year your core 20 guys age by 20 man-years, so you have to find ways to claw those years back or you're going to get eaten alive sooner or later. But more ice time is naturally going to devolve onto Pouliot or Schremp and probably Greene next year, so the Oilers arguably have room to look for a stopgap UFA centre to replace Peca--or re-sign Peca at a deep discount if he wants to come back (seems improbable).
# posted by : May 06, 2006 2:32 pm
: May 06, 2006 2:32 pm Colby Cosh said...
The trick with age issues is to manage them intelligently. Every year your core 20 guys age by 20 man-years, so you have to find ways to claw those years back or you're going to get eaten alive sooner or later.
And hey, if sacamano and Pisani are involved those 20 guys age like 30 man-years every year.
Pisani's 29 and his birthday is over 7 months away. I'm on board with this "the Oilers aren't that young" thing but good grief.
I'm one who got caught in the "Oilers-young" deal - Julian nails it right on the head - you look at a lot of the guys who get press and they are either young or because they were collegians (Horcoff/Pisani) are in their late 20s but have not been in the league very long, compared to Smyth, say, so you think they're younger. Well, I do anyhow.
I think next year they will be appreciably younger - Harvey, Laraque, Murray, Peca, Ulanov, Tarnstrom - these guys will all be gone and likely replaced by youngsters - the core guys on D and a few up front will be @ 30-32 but the average age will take a dip.
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