Thursday, April 27, 2006

 

Oilers Playoff Game #4 [updated]



Preview

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:
"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."

[UPDATE]: Chopper is back, baby! Look for him to score a shortie.


Go Oil!

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.
 


Hee Hee
 


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.
 


Interestingly, since instituted in 1986, only 4 Eastern Conference teams have won the thing.
 


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.
 


Ah hell. CALL DIVING YOU SCHMUCKS.
 

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