January 2009 Archives

Two Minny games in a row, I'm glad I didn't have to try to grade that last one against Buffalo - I think Staples was a lot more generous than I would have been. Smid was scratched, MacIntyre played, and Strudwick dropped back to D. One thing that puzzled me was - again - MacTavish's treatment of Penner. I have to admit, I'm a Penner fan, have been since the signing. Last year I wondered why he didn't get any PK time, and this year he's had some, and done ok. Unfortunately, the PK time was at the cost of his PP time, and his points have suffered. Tonight he's benched in the third in favour of Reddox, who wasn't playing any better. In fact, at least Penner was standing in front for Hemsky's goal. Is he hurt? Did he run over MacT's dog? Anyway, I digress.

Horcoff, 7: Only 21:48 for Horcoff tonight, 4:26 on the power play and 3:11 killing penalties. Another strong game with 3 shots on goal, but 3 giveaways to go with. Hard to say much other than a typical hard-working Horcoff game.

Nilsson, 6: Almost 16 minutes on the ice, saw 4:11 of power play time - he got most of Penner's PP time. He was skating hard most of the night and even knocked Boogard over somehow, something I'm sure neither of them were expecting. Took a needless penalty out of it too. Still, he had an assist, but only one shot. He needs to do more if he's going to get that much power play time.

Cogliano, 7: one of the quietest two assist nights I've seen from him. He was decent all over the ice, he had a shot and actually won more faceoffs than he lost. MacTavish rewarded him with icetime; listed as a C on the lineup sheet, I think he played the wing a fair bit too as lines were juggled around.

Moreau, 7: tough all night, no stupid slashing penalties, he crushed Vielleux at the start of the second period, was ready to defend Staios... he made a few mistakes, I hated the Oilers' play near their own blueline in the third and late in the first and nabbed him for a terrible pass then. Still, the pucks went into the right net when he was on the ice.

Potulny, 5: How he played more than Penner and Brodziak is beyond me. 6 shifts in the third. I didn't think he got a great deal done offensively, he wasn't terrible defensively but 3 giveaways including a brutal one to Nolan in the first that forced Roloson to make a great save... the bad didn't outweigh the good, since the player was even, but he was what he is: deserving of fourth line minutes.

Staios, 8: Maybe it's rose-coloured glasses for the old warrior this game, and some sympathy points after a brutal showing vs CBS, but he had it going early. Crushed Veilleux early in the first, held his own against Clutterbuck and skated off screaming for more. 16:18 of icetime, he had 2 giveaways scored against him, but Bullet Magnet had 3 blocked shots to go with. No points, but who cares? He was also good on the PK in the third, with Minny buzzing and Roloson down, he knocked the puck out of the air to take away the 3-2 goal.

Cole, 7: A lotta hustle and a drawn penalty or two, 3 hits, but no points. He wasn't great on the PP, was good enough on the PK. Sort of a Mike Peca game, except with less faceoff mojo. He was on the ice for Visnovsky's PPG, but I'm not sure he had a lot to do with it - it was more just 71's drive to the net and maybe 12's buzzing around.

Penner, 6: Like I said, I like the guy, and his grade reflects his results more than his play, I think. He was instrumental in Hemsky's 1-0 goal - if he's not standing in the crease, Burns isn't playing so desperate and the puck stays out. But it's hard to have anything more than a good game when you only get two shifts in the third and five each in the first two periods. One shot, one credited hit, although he soaked up his usual amount of punishment and cycled well when he got to play with 10/83. An enigma.

MacIntyre, 5: At first every time Boogaard jumped over the boards, so did big #33. Their fight took so long getting started that the linesman was obviously telling them to hurry up or knock it off, but the fight was a decent go by both big men. I scored it a very weak win for Mac, just because he was a bit more active than Boogaard. Two hits, 2:13 of icetime - he did exactly his job.

Grebeshkov, 6: He wasn't high-risk, and actually played fairly well, gobbling up almost 18 minutes of icetime and garnering an assist on Hemsky's goal. Still, I didn't like the hooking penalty he took in the third, although he was otherwise fairly solid most of the game. Call it a strong 6.

Strudwick, 5: A workmanlike game, he took Smid's spot on the blueline almost minute for minute. A few mistakes, but mostly played a simple and effective defensive game.

Souray, 6: -1 on the night, although I didn't tape the game and missed who made the biggest mistake on Sheppard's goal. He got a couple shots off on the PP before the Wild wised up and cheated to him, 4 shotblocks. No points, but he was good defensively and very good on the penalty kill. He played 26:36, including 6:11PP and 3:55PK.

Brodziak, 5: He was out with Horcoff for a lot of d-zone faceoffs; at the start of the game he'd yield for Penner, then later for Reddox. No shots, 2 hits, a give and a take with 60% faceoffs.

Visnovsky, 7: Great determination on his goal, 23:38 of quality icetime and some great PK work. Good game.

Gilbert, 6: 20 minutes of icetime, almost 3 on the power play, and 0 shots isn't good for an offensive dman who doesn't hit. Still, he made some good passes and gobbled up icetime, so hard to complain too much too.

Pouliot, 6: I was surprised to see 4 shots for him, he was at times hard driving the net and others invisible. Started the play that led to Moreau's goal. He even won his faceoff.

Hemsky, 7: 2 shots, 1 goal on a brilliant play and another few great plays that finished nowhere. He was dancing around for parts of the game, but the plays just weren't working. 3 takeaways led all players on both teams. Maybe worthy of an 8.

Reddox, 6: 3 shots and he was skating hard, but I didn't think his chances were dangerous and no goals while he was on the ice. He got more icetime as the game wore on and I wasn't sure he did much with it. He was good enough defensively though.

Roloson, 8: Made some great saves to keep the team up, including a great one (involved some luck, but hey) on Zidlicky as he got the old "out of the penalty box and onto the puck" breakaway. He made another great save in the third on Nolan, and a good one on Miettenen after Potulny coughed the puck up to Nolan in the first. Maybe he didn't steal the win, but he made some great stops.

On the heels of the Garon trade, Ryan Potulny was sent down to clear a roster and lineup spot as Hemsky was set to return. Nilsson was re-activated and played last night, but he didn't need a roster spot cleared. However, today Brule and Reddox were demoted.

This could be just a gambit to get them into some games. Springfield plays twice in the next week, and both of them can probably use the ice time during the All-Star Break.

Given that Oilers TV published interviews yesterday with both Brule and Reddox regarding their plans for the All-Star break (which definitely did not include "play for the Falcons"), going down for playing time would seem to be likely a surprise for them. So this could also be a harbinger of things to come, a clearing of the decks, so to speak. Oilers players should probably be keeping an eye on the GM's office door, regardless of their other plans.

(Edit: I guess I should have read Lowetide first, a couple of days ago even. That explains Potulny, but not Reddox.)

Edmonton Oilers Press Release:

Edmonton Oilers General Manager Steve Tambellini announced today the acquisition of forward Ryan Stone, goaltender Dany Sabourin and a fourth round draft choice in 2011 from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for goaltender Mathieu Garon.

My first reaction was "What do the Oilers get out of this?" Garon gets to go to an organisation where he won't be battling a third goalie for practise and playing time, while Edmonton gets... a third goalie, a fellow with 8 NHL games plus three AHL seasons in the 5 years since he's been drafted, and a fourth round pick, also known as the scratch and win ticket your aunt gave you for Christmas.

But. The trade market is teh sux, as kids of yesterday might have put it. Considering the non-return the Canucks got for Sanford, I guess getting anybody at all back is doing ok. Really, this trade is Garon for Stone. Tambellini made mention of "solving the goalie problem" so he won't have brought in Sabourin to occupy an NHL roster spot. He'll be in Springfield tutoring Dubnyk unless Deslauriers falters or he or Roloson get hurt.

Stone has size and plays centre, two things the Oilers are badly missing. His lack of playing time in the big league isn't surprising when you consider that the players he was behind on the Penguins depth chart are named Crosby, Malkin, and Staal. His 19/20 year in Brandon was 99 points, not bad.

I looked at his GP totals though, and I immediately thought, "injury prone." A look at his Hockey's Future profile confirms that. He's had a concussion, hand injury, and probably more. This year he seems healthy enough, having played 38 games for the W-B Penguins. However, falling short of a point a game at 23 years old in the AHL doesn't bode well for his future as a scorer in the NHL, regardless of how he's been used in the minors. Using Desjardins equivalency, he looks like a 25 point player in the NHL.

Lowetide, who obviously wakes up before I do, already has a post up and thinks Stone is about a JF Jacques equivalent trade-wise. If Stone is as his numbers and talk advertise, a gritty centre who plays well enough in both ends to not be a liability, he's a fourth-liner who can fill in on the third, so that assessment seems reasonable. He seems tough enough as a light middleweight; his scrap with Steve Downie (look for it on hockeyfights) certainly showed some aggression and know-how.

As a return for a goalie who helped to keep Brian Burke from drafting Luke Schenn, Kyle Beach, or Zach Boychuk in 2008, that's not great. Stone has to be a bit of a disappointment so far, regardless of who's ahead of him in Pittsburgh; he's been surpassed by several players taken after him, like Shea Weber, Patrick O'Sullivan, and David Backes.

But, and there's always a but... Trading a current headache in the form of 1/3 of three unhappy goalies in return for any potential at all is pretty good in today's market. If I was Stone, I'd be in Shawn Horcoff's hip pocket; if I was Craig MacTavish, I'd be telling this young man he could do worse than to emulate the heterochromic one in terms of defensive play and maximising your assets.

Where does he fit in? Marc Pouliot has got to be looking over his shoulder at this point, since Stone will be wanting his roster spot. Potulny's may be in trouble too, and MacT may also consider sitting Strudwick in favour of the new guy, as his strategy appears to be to play MacIntyre against teams with tough guys and Struds against those lacking one.

I covered tonight's tilt vs the Wild for David Staples' grading project. I kind of wish I hadn't. MacT shortened his bench early as not only did MacIntyre not fight, neither did Boogard. Boogieman at least drew a penalty for his 2:26 on ice. More on MacIntyre later. Overall, not a game the Oilers really looked like they wanted to win.

Smid, 5: 2 hits and was otherwise involved physically, he also dropped the gloves with Sheppard and did fairly well. 1 shot block. With 15:10 of icetime, he was pretty much the standard definition of "average bottom half defenceman." He was on the ice for Clutterbuck's goal, which wasn't really his fault, but still. He made a nice play on Vielleux in the second period, separating him from the puck in the corner with a hard hit and coming out with it.

Horcoff, 6: 22:43 of icetime was more than anybody not wearing #37 for the Oilers or #3 for the Wild. Plenty of PK time which he did fairly well with, 2:55 of PP time which was pretty uniformly sucky. I had 2 pluses against his name, one for a nice delaying tactic on a first-period Minny PP, and the other for a great defensive play on Nolan in the second. Needed to score (ideally on the power play) for a 7, but was good in his own end: the only goal against he was on the ice for was a 5-3 when the game was already out of reach. When your best player is a 6 though, there's problems.

Cogliano, 5: He used his speed to get open and had a couple of good chances (one of which even resulted in a shot on goal) and was otherwise fairly tenacious, but lots of flash and no fire. He was on the ice for Bouchard's goal but wasn't really involved; that one was all on the D. He got 1:58 of PP time in the first, but very little down the stretch. He soaked up a nasty hit from Koivu, courtesy of Pouliot, shortly after his one really good chance, but came back apparently none the worse for wear.

Moreau, 3: the one time he really stood out, it wasn't for a good reason - he made a terrible giveaway in the first. Other than that, he skated around, was -2 (but -1 came from a D giveaway he had nothing to do with), 0 shots, 2 hits, took a penalty "sending a message" in the third that wound up in that 5-3, and was not terribly effective on the forecheck. Still, 3:55 of fairly decent PK time. (Edit: from a 4 to a 3, Dennis reminded me that it was a bad pass from #18 that led to Souray bobbling the puck and a GA.)

Potulny, 4: fairly unnoticeable in 9:49 of icetime. He moved up and down the wings, had a couple of missed shots, one decent forecheck, and that was it. Could have been a strong 3 or a weak 5.

Staios, 6: 7:49 of penaltykill time - did he even leave the ice? 21:09 total, he was -1 for Clutterbuck's goal. 0 everything else, shots hits blocks. (0 blocks? Puckmagnet Steve? Wow.) Would be a 5 if his PK hadn't been so good.

Cole, 5: He was skating hard early, but seemed to slow down a bit later on. The Minny D did a good job containing him, and did nothing at all with his 3:21 of power play time. In the third period, made a horrible mistake, giving the puck away to Bouchard at the blue line. He got bailed out by a good save by Roloson. Later, he couldn't play D with Grebeshkov and Burns scored on a gimmie from Koivu. Overall, not a great game by the big man.

Penner, 5: One plus (the play that resulted in his assist on Reddox's goal), one minus (offensive zone holding penalty). He did a good job of being big in front of the net on the power play, but with no point shots that didn't help much. Only 13:11 of icetime, he got shuffled around a bit and saw his time cut from 6 to 4 to 3 minutes period to period. He did have two shots with two missed, and even a hit.

MacIntyre, n/s: no rating for 1:13 in two shifts, both in the first period.

Grebeshkov, 5: led the Oilers in icetime, including 5:55 of decent penalty killing. He made some good breakout passes. He also missed three backdoor plays, two of which led to goals and one of which was off the post. 5 instead of a 4 because his blast from near the blueline led to Reddox's goal, and because of his PK time and 4 blocked shots led both teams. High event game for a high minutes player.

Souray, 4: 4 shots, none of them great (the one he really got away was unscreened). The hit on Clutterbuck that led to a crosschecking penalty was undisciplined, although understandable. He filled Weller in quite nicely in the third and was otherwise fairly nasty. But his brutal mishandling of the puck (he looked off-balance, but he needs to not be) led directly to Bouchard's goal, and that was when the Wild really clamped down. Not a game to remember for big #44. Exposed on the power play, he couldn't get the rocket off and couldn't get open for a wrister either. (Edit: he mishandled the puck as a result of a bad pass from Moreau. Still not really a game to remember and I'm still not fond of that Clutterbuck penalty.)

Brodziak, 3: two hits was the highlight of his game. He wasn't terrible, but he wasn't good either, outside the faceoff circle (67% of 9). He was complicit in the Clutterbuck goal. No shots, none blocked, and no missed shots, he never really got set up on the cycle - usually his strong point. MacT probably agreed with me, as Brodziak only played 46 seconds of even strength time in the third.

Brule, 4: -1 (Clutterbuck's goal), 0 shots, one blocked, two hits, one shotblock. He shuffled around a bit too, and was equally ineffective with every linemate. Not much else to say.

Visnovsky, 5: He made some great passes up the middle, the usual Vis-passes, and managed to get 3 shots on net. Looked like a pylon on the Kolanos goal, he usually manages to stop Miettinen before the pass is even made, and he sure didn't help out his D partner Souray on the Bouchard goal. He was usually his crafty self, but like Souray, just couldn't seem to get a shooting lane on the power play - not good with 4:50 of PP time.

Gilbert, 5: He didn't make any brutal plays, but no great ones either. Backdoor play didn't seem to be there for him tonight, but he did make a great play in the second on a 4-4 to keep the puck in, showing some plain doggedness.

Pouliot, 4: Quiet 12 minutes of ice, including 3:04 on the power play. 3 shots, including a great wraparound chance, and he tried to be physical. He should have seen Cogs in a vulnerable position before he tried ramming Koivu through the boards though - almost an anti-hit.

Reddox, 6: 16:07 of icetime, MacTavish had him playing everywhere. He had some quality PK time, the goal, and 3 shots and a hit. He even won his faceoff.

Gagner, 3: He and Cole are supposed to be 4-4 wolves, not sheep. A deserved -2 on the night, he didn't make any brutal mistakes but he didn't make any great plays either. He did have a few cycles with Cogliano and Cole, which is more than the rest of the Oilers can say, but if they don't find the back of the net it doesn't matter. Double minor was unfortunate, but he should have better control of his stick. No shots, 2 giveaways.

Roloson, 5: while it's hard to really fault him for any of the goals, and he made some good saves, he didn't make any game-saving saves. All the goals came off great Minny plays (two directly following brutal Oilers giveaways and one on a 3-5 PK). Maybe a 6, probably not a 4. So, 5.

I watched the full game last night, although I'm not sure I caught everything because I was pretty zonked from a very full first day on the new job. That being said, the Oilers played a bit like they were exhausted and on a new job too, except for the fourth line. Even the referees must have been tired, since they missed an obvious icing at the end of the game that had MacTavish screaming. I was too.

Smid, 5: He had a couple of big hits, and soaked up a couple more. Offensively though, not much doing and defensively, he wasn't all-world either. He made a few decent plays, but in the first lost a puck battle he should have won that wound up in a good chance for the Isles - player missed the net, but still. On one shift, Comeau tried to hit him and bounced off, then he drove down below the Isles icing line and hammered Witt down. He was getting as good as he gave all night.

Horcoff, 5: Off game for the crafty C. The first Islanders goal came off a horrible giveaway by #10 and it didn't get much better from there. His ice time was down a couple of minutes from usual, 2:40 of useless PP and 2:21 of not great PK. Weak 5 might be generous, but on those occasions the Oilers gained the Islanders zone, he was almost himself forechecking.

Nilsson, 6: 3 shots, a hit, and a giveaway, 3:18 of PP time almost as useless as Horcoff's. He did at least create some chances.

Cogliano, 6: His goal was just what the doctor ordered, but he wasn't good enough on the faceoffs, and there's that anemic PP of which he played 2:58. 4 shots though, counting the one that went in, and two were good.

Moreau, 6: unusually high-event game for #18, his assist came off some strong hard work, and he was driving the net with authority and threw his weight around. 3 giveaways though, including one that led indirectly to Horcoff's.

Staios, 4: 3 giveaways, he had trouble clearing the zone at times, and he wasn't hitting and grinding. He did make a nice play to keep the puck in at the offensive zone, which is more than a lot of Oilers could accomplish. Strong 4, he had a couple of nice shot blocks.

Cole, 6: I considered a 7 just based on the number of times he was able to drive the net and the couple or three penalties he drew, but he wasn't able to convert that to anything on the PP and he only managed a single shot. Lots of flash, no bang (but 3 hits), 2 giveaways. Still, he was the hardest-playing forward whose last name didn't begin with S, so that's worth something.

Penner, 5: quiet night for the big man, although he showed his strength on a couple of wristers and some bullish play. Needed to be more physical or to score though.

Grebeshkov, 5: 1 shot, 4 blocked, blocked one himself. He had trouble clearing the zone and had 2:25 of that damn power play.

Strudwick, 7: 9:02 of ice, 2 shots, a goal, instrumental in another, and nearly scored a third to go with 2 hits and some strong forechecking. His line only got penned in really badly once or twice, more than you can say for the rest of the team.

Souray, 6: +2, a takeaway to go with his giveaway and some nasty play. But there's that power play... and he was out for 3:31 of it. He made a very nice play on the second PP to get back and knock Bergenheim down when the puck was coughed up deep by Horcoff (I think).

Stortini, 6: A well-deserved +2, young Zachery was ferocious on the forecheck with his linemates, digging pucks out of corners and just generally being ornery. Somehow only got one hit.

Brodziak, 7: 80% on faceoffs, +2, and scored a goal (albeit a very lucky one). He didn't give up much the other way either.

Visnovsky, 6: high-event game for #71, he made some great passes and some terrible ones. Early in the second he made a great shot block, then limped for the bench but he tried to make a hit and skated back into the defensive zone when the puck was turned over near him, gutsy move by somebody who had every excuse to bail. He turned the puck over on the third power play, which led to a great chance for Okposo. 3:57 of exciting-in-the-wrong-way power play time.

Gilbert, 6: nothing glaring, nothing great, 2 minutes on that damn power play. He moved the puck well enough and avoided giveaways, got a helper and was +2.

Pouliot, 5: curious that he got no power play time later in the game, since 10/27/26 weren't doing much and the kid line weren't any better. Drove the net with authority and was physical enough, 2 credited hits. 1 shot, 1 blocked shot, 1 giveaway.

Reddox, 4: he didn't show much of that "pop" MacTavish was talking about earlier this year, although he was skating he didn't produce much. Got pulled off so Cole could double-shift a few times. He was -1, although I don't think he had much to do with the goal against (that was pretty much all Horcoff).

Gagner, 6: his faceoffs are improving, at least, 70% last night. While he was on that dang ol power play for 0 points, he had a few chances on his 3 shots. Incredibly, he was credited with two hits, although I missed both. Saw the one he made on Grebeshkov though. Needed a point for stronger 6 or a 7.

Roloson, 6: he played well enough to win, one 5 alarm save with Comrie in close after Gagner took Grebs down by mistake.

Both teams tried desperately to let the other side win, but as the sportscasters say, "something had to give." I'm just happy I didn't have to watch an overtime of more of the same, or a shootout where somebody put it into the wrong net or something. Not really a game to remember for anybody involved.

I've been looking over the grades that other guys have been giving out, and mine seem to cluster more. My initial reaction to Bruce was:

Man you're a hard marker. (Can't speak to the Calgary game since I didn't see it, but...)

Maybe we'll need a ... SomethingCute number... to correct for things at the end of the year. Knock a point off my grades and/or add one to yours. ;)

Bruce pointed out that our averages are actually fairly close; mine for Ottawa was 5.8, his 5.4. My response:

I guess my reaction is more because I tend to cluster players around 5/6, with the occasional 7/8 and the occasional 4. Dunno if I've given 3 or less. You've got a bigger spread, whereas I'm inclined to think an average player will make mistakes. I don't think most Oilers have usually been individually BAD this year, but they've not been GOOD either, and that's the problem.

In comments on David Staples' blog somebody named Cathe had a few questions. My response there was:

Cathe, I've been trying not to think of previous games when rating the current one, I'm trying to have them be more or less standalone, but yeah, I've given some thought to the scoring system. I'm thinking next season we might like to try something a bit different. Part of the problem is that for a player who didn't suck out loud, but who wasn't great either, 5 and 6 are the only two real grades, and a 7 is a bit much. I've been cheating a bit with weak/strong, but it's not really satisfying. Maybe a bit more spread in the middle would be better - most NHL players are never going to turn in a 1 or a 2, nor a 9 or a 10.

I must think more about my grading strategy, although I guess for the balance of the season I'll need to stay the course, just so my own grades will be consistent.

Later I said that I would re-visit the grade descriptions. As I said, I don't think it's a good idea for me to change my methodology now, but it's a consideration for next year, should we continue the project. It's not clear to me that we're interpreting the grades the same way, although again, as David and Bruce pointed out, we tend to agree on who was better and who was worse any given game. Might be worth loading the grades into a spreadsheet for various computations though, just to play around.

For the record, here's a copy of the original marking guidelines suggested by Staples. Sorry for the (lack of) linewraps; download the file and open it in a text editor that inserts soft wraps or something.