So I was bored last night and came up with an idea for the NHL to shake things up, and maybe even help team sales, help a few teams out by evening out the amount of travel for each NHL team. My idea: reformatting the divisions/conferences. This way, we get away from some of the same old matches we have seen now for over a decade, keeping a few of the major rivalries, and creating a new level of competition and possibly evening things out a little (no more southeast division). So here is my new conferences and divisions:
Campbell Conference:
Div 1
Edmonton
Vancouver
Calgary
Chicago
Columbus
Div 2
Dallas
Tampa Bay
Florida
Pittsburgh
Philadelphia
Div 3
Colorado
Washington
St Louis
Buffalo
New Jersey
Wales Conference:
Div 1
Montreal
Toronto
Ottawa
Minnesota
Carolina
Div 2
Boston
Phoenix
San Jose
New York R
New York I
Div 3
LA
Anaheim
Detroit
Nashville
Atlanta
So with this, my new NHL, there is a little more travel between division, then in the old NHL (new jersey, pitts, new york, new york, philly all in one div). This should even things out for all the teams like Vancouver and Florida. Also, this may help in ticket sales, as now teams are playing different teams more often, and yet, some of the good rivalries, are still intact. Competition within conferences should be interesting as superpowers have switched sides, and now team building may become a huge factor.
Anyways, just thought I`d throw out an idea.
-Sporer
Friday, November 20, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
A leak in the tank?
Happy "Movember" everyone. As this is the month to grow the ever so awesome "stache". The Oilers are doing it, boys at my store are doin it, everyone is doin it. Here are a couple good pic's of the Oilers awesome "staches".
So, enough of all the fun and happy stuff, lets get down to business. So the Oilers ended their 5 game road trip with just 4 out of a possible 10 points...that's not all that fantastic. They were however 2 goals away from ending with 7 out of 10 points. However, that's clearly the past.... Looking to the future (the Oilers next 10 games), here is what the schedule looks like:
Nov 18: Colorado
Nov 21: Chicago
Nov 23: Phoenix
Nov 25: LA
Nov 27: San Jose
Nov 28: @Vancouver
Dec 3: @ Detroit
Dec 5: @ Dallas
Dec 7: @ Florida
Dec 9: @ Tampa Bay
So a 5 game homestand and then a 7 game road-trip (2 games un shown). So seeing as how their home record sits at 6-3-1, and their road record at 2-7-2, lets say they go 3-1-1 at home, then 1-3-1 on the road. That's 10 points out of a possible 20... based on their current record. Not good. So here is hoping that they can put their record behind them, and put some wins on the board... Winning 4 out of 5 at home would be a good start. Now, lets consider this seasons meeting with these teams. Colorado: Shut out the Oilers in game #1, 3-0, Oilers win 5-3 in Denver in game #2. That leaves this game right up in the air, however Colorado's recent
performances point to an Oilers home win. Chicago: The hawks beat the Oilers in Edmonton in the only meeting of the year 4-3, and Chicago is playing pretty good right now.... Phoenix: The Oilers haven't played the "Yotes" yet this season, but considering they usually own the desert dogs, put down a win for the OIL. The next two teams the Oilers haven't played yet either (San Jose, LA) and Ryan Smyth coming back to town playing so well lately isn't good, and Dany Heatley's arrival for the first time since the summers bull-shit, will spell another exciting night....
Now to the road, Vancouver: the last time the Oil entered GM place, they got shutout 2-0. So going back will hopefully be a better outcome. Dallas: Oilers beat the Stars, end of story. Florida/Tampa Bay: doing the Florida trip is hard on teams, but the Oilers are one that usually do well, so here is hoping that they can keep that up.
So all in all, there is a lot hanging on these next 10 games. The Oilers sit in 12th, only 3 points out of a playoff spot, even though they have been brutal lately. So putting together a string on wins now, would be huge. They could easily put this horrible road-trip, and last 10 games behind them and never look back. There are shining lights in the Oilers lineup: Hemsky has 19 points, Penner has 23, Visnovsky has 13... Then the "not -so shining" lights: Horcoff 7 points and -6, Souray 5GP 2 points. Souray has been hurt, which in turn, hurts the Oilers.
A little more on Horcoff: his faceoff % sits at 50%. That number doesn't even give him the
argument that he brings that intangible to the team. His stats suck, and he has been in and out of the lineup lately. He is the Oilers leading forward for time on ice per game. Yet, just 7 points. He is normally on the #1 powerplay, yet, just one powerplay goal. This guy has to pick things up, and soon. He is being paid out $7 million this season, his contract works out to be a $5.5 million cap hit, for the next 6 seasons! He will be 36 by the end of that contract! Yikes! Lowe left his mark on the team with that one.... Now trading Horcoff would be one of the best routes for the Oilers to take. Especially this year. With Gagner, Cogliano, Brule, Stone, Grebeshkov, and Deslauiers all becoming RFA's at seasons end, the Oilers will need some money to play with. Pisani's, Strudwicks, and Comrie's contracts will all come off the board as well. Trading Horcoff would free up that $5.5 million to tie down the Oilers young talent.
Here are a few more interesting stats on the Oilers right now:
Oilers are 18th in NHL in GF/G with 2.76, ahead of teams such as: BUF, NJD, TOR, MON, BOS
however, they are 23rd in GA/G with 3
The Oilers have the 11th best Powerplay in the league at 22.1%
Their PK is 24th, at 77.6% (something to improve on)
The Oilers are the 3rd worst team in the league for SF/G, with 26.7, ahead of Colorado and Calgary!
However their SA/G, is only the 5th worst at 33.2, with NYI, ANA, FLA, and ATL below them.
And the most hurtful fact: The Oilers are 29th in the league on Faceoffs with a team 46.1%, only better then the Avalanche.... not good....Horcoff.....
Now here is why the first goal is so ever important: When the Oilers score first, they are 7-2-2, when they don't score first they are 1-8-1. WOW! Pretty much know how the game is gonna go by the first goal....
Anyways, that's all for this Monday night, enjoy the rest of the week, and Go Oilers Go
-Sporer
p.s. Hemsky is on pace for 21 goals and 83 points, Penner for 46 goals and 89 points....
So, enough of all the fun and happy stuff, lets get down to business. So the Oilers ended their 5 game road trip with just 4 out of a possible 10 points...that's not all that fantastic. They were however 2 goals away from ending with 7 out of 10 points. However, that's clearly the past.... Looking to the future (the Oilers next 10 games), here is what the schedule looks like:
Nov 18: Colorado
Nov 21: Chicago
Nov 23: Phoenix
Nov 25: LA
Nov 27: San Jose
Nov 28: @Vancouver
Dec 3: @ Detroit
Dec 5: @ Dallas
Dec 7: @ Florida
Dec 9: @ Tampa Bay
So a 5 game homestand and then a 7 game road-trip (2 games un shown). So seeing as how their home record sits at 6-3-1, and their road record at 2-7-2, lets say they go 3-1-1 at home, then 1-3-1 on the road. That's 10 points out of a possible 20... based on their current record. Not good. So here is hoping that they can put their record behind them, and put some wins on the board... Winning 4 out of 5 at home would be a good start. Now, lets consider this seasons meeting with these teams. Colorado: Shut out the Oilers in game #1, 3-0, Oilers win 5-3 in Denver in game #2. That leaves this game right up in the air, however Colorado's recent
performances point to an Oilers home win. Chicago: The hawks beat the Oilers in Edmonton in the only meeting of the year 4-3, and Chicago is playing pretty good right now.... Phoenix: The Oilers haven't played the "Yotes" yet this season, but considering they usually own the desert dogs, put down a win for the OIL. The next two teams the Oilers haven't played yet either (San Jose, LA) and Ryan Smyth coming back to town playing so well lately isn't good, and Dany Heatley's arrival for the first time since the summers bull-shit, will spell another exciting night....Now to the road, Vancouver: the last time the Oil entered GM place, they got shutout 2-0. So going back will hopefully be a better outcome. Dallas: Oilers beat the Stars, end of story. Florida/Tampa Bay: doing the Florida trip is hard on teams, but the Oilers are one that usually do well, so here is hoping that they can keep that up.
So all in all, there is a lot hanging on these next 10 games. The Oilers sit in 12th, only 3 points out of a playoff spot, even though they have been brutal lately. So putting together a string on wins now, would be huge. They could easily put this horrible road-trip, and last 10 games behind them and never look back. There are shining lights in the Oilers lineup: Hemsky has 19 points, Penner has 23, Visnovsky has 13... Then the "not -so shining" lights: Horcoff 7 points and -6, Souray 5GP 2 points. Souray has been hurt, which in turn, hurts the Oilers.
A little more on Horcoff: his faceoff % sits at 50%. That number doesn't even give him the
argument that he brings that intangible to the team. His stats suck, and he has been in and out of the lineup lately. He is the Oilers leading forward for time on ice per game. Yet, just 7 points. He is normally on the #1 powerplay, yet, just one powerplay goal. This guy has to pick things up, and soon. He is being paid out $7 million this season, his contract works out to be a $5.5 million cap hit, for the next 6 seasons! He will be 36 by the end of that contract! Yikes! Lowe left his mark on the team with that one.... Now trading Horcoff would be one of the best routes for the Oilers to take. Especially this year. With Gagner, Cogliano, Brule, Stone, Grebeshkov, and Deslauiers all becoming RFA's at seasons end, the Oilers will need some money to play with. Pisani's, Strudwicks, and Comrie's contracts will all come off the board as well. Trading Horcoff would free up that $5.5 million to tie down the Oilers young talent.
Here are a few more interesting stats on the Oilers right now:
Oilers are 18th in NHL in GF/G with 2.76, ahead of teams such as: BUF, NJD, TOR, MON, BOS
however, they are 23rd in GA/G with 3
The Oilers have the 11th best Powerplay in the league at 22.1%
Their PK is 24th, at 77.6% (something to improve on)
The Oilers are the 3rd worst team in the league for SF/G, with 26.7, ahead of Colorado and Calgary!
However their SA/G, is only the 5th worst at 33.2, with NYI, ANA, FLA, and ATL below them.
And the most hurtful fact: The Oilers are 29th in the league on Faceoffs with a team 46.1%, only better then the Avalanche.... not good....Horcoff.....
Now here is why the first goal is so ever important: When the Oilers score first, they are 7-2-2, when they don't score first they are 1-8-1. WOW! Pretty much know how the game is gonna go by the first goal....
Anyways, that's all for this Monday night, enjoy the rest of the week, and Go Oilers Go
-Sporer
p.s. Hemsky is on pace for 21 goals and 83 points, Penner for 46 goals and 89 points....
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The Name Game
So at work we have an ongoing competition to see who can name the most outrageous, or just the most in general NHL players, may it be anyone from the great Wayne Gretzky to no name players such as Frans Nielson (sorry bud). So I thought that for my next blog post I would give the A-Z all time best names list. Going with last names, Illl give you some of the best names to ever show up in an NHL program or grace the sheets of NHL ice. Trust me, you will want to look up some of these players stats after this, because ya never know...
A) Alexander Andrijevski HM)Thommy Abrahamsson
B) Jason Bacashihua HM) Dustin Byfuglien
C) Mariusz Czerkawski HM) Dino Ciccarelli
D) Hnat Domenichelli HM) Wade Dubielewicz
E) Phil Esposito HM) Nils Ekman
F) Lou Francheschetti HM) Pat Falloon
G) Bernie Geoffrion HM) Brent Gretzky
H) Kari Haakana HM) Nicklas Hjalmarsson
I) Al Iafrate HM) Ralph Intronouvo
J) Pat Jablonski HM) Jaromir Jagr
K) Alexei Kaigorodov HM) Darius Kasparaitis
L) Jamie Langenbrunner HM) Guillaume Latendresse
M) Glen Metropolit HM) Kent Manderville
N) Evgeny Namestnikov HM) Antero Niitymaki
O) Roman Oksiuta HM) Selmar Odelein
P) Alexei Ponikarovsky HM) Konstantin Pushkarev
Q) Bill Quackenbush HM) Stephane Quintal
R) Branko Radivojevic HM) Reijo Ruotsalainen
S) Jaroslav Svejkovsky HM) Fred Sasakamoose
T) Rick Tabaracci HM) Oleg Tverdovsky
U) Igor Ulanov HM) R.J. Umberger
V) John Vanbiesbrouck HM) Vladimir Vorobiev
W) Matthias Weinhandl HM) Andy Wozniewski
X) NO NHL PLAYERS
Y) Jeremy Yablonski HM) Dimitri Yuskevich
Z) Zarley Zalapski HM) Valeri Zelepukin
Well folks, if that doesnt brighten up your day, i dont know what will.
So I need to address the Edmonton Oilers recent performance. As a few of my fellow employee's
and friends, and family, and well, just about everyone, is letting me know, the Oilers have absolutley, positively SUCKED out loud. Dating back to October 24th in Calgary, is where the Oilers began their current slump. They had come off such an emotional defeat of the Columbus Blue Jackets two nights before, and then they go into Cow Town and get blown out 5-2. Lucky for them they have to go to GM place the very next night and Luongo puts up the wall and the 'Nucks win 2-0. Mark that, its shutout #1. Then the ever so lucky Oilers came home to play the Western Conference leading Colorado Avalanche, and get owned by Craig Andersson for shutout #2. Then the Oilers beat up on the Red Wings for the 1st period of their next game, leading 4-0 after a minute into the 2nd period. However, the Oilers then let the Red Wings be the Red Wings and come all the way back, luckily for the Oilers they got away lucky with a shootout win. Then the Oilers hit the Eastern seaboard with another shutout loss in Boston (#3), and a poorly played 3-1 loss to the oh so great Islanders. So if you have been paying attention, the Oilers have been shut out in 3 of their last 5 games. They have managed to only score 6 goals in those 5 games (5 of them against Detroit).
So yes the boys have had some trouble scoring. However, the Oilers are victim to a few
unfortunate circumstances since the end of October. For one, the whole team has suffered the flu bug. Mike Comrie, Ladislav Smid, Lubomir Visnovsky, Gilbert Brule, Denis Grebeshkov, and who knows who else has suffered from the flu and continued to play thru. Smid is the only one who actually was diagnosed with H1N1. Sheldon Souray and Steve Staios have been out with cuncussions. Ryan Stone has a busted knee. Shawn Horcoff is now out with a shoulder injury, and Fernando Pisani just now has returned to the lineup. So the hockey gods havent been to nice to the Edmonton Oilers as of late, and it shows. Here is hoping that a slightly healthier lineup can bring home a win against the Rangers tomorrow night.
A) Alexander Andrijevski HM)Thommy Abrahamsson
B) Jason Bacashihua HM) Dustin Byfuglien
C) Mariusz Czerkawski HM) Dino Ciccarelli
D) Hnat Domenichelli HM) Wade Dubielewicz
E) Phil Esposito HM) Nils Ekman
F) Lou Francheschetti HM) Pat Falloon
G) Bernie Geoffrion HM) Brent Gretzky
H) Kari Haakana HM) Nicklas Hjalmarsson
I) Al Iafrate HM) Ralph Intronouvo
J) Pat Jablonski HM) Jaromir Jagr
K) Alexei Kaigorodov HM) Darius Kasparaitis
L) Jamie Langenbrunner HM) Guillaume Latendresse
M) Glen Metropolit HM) Kent Manderville
N) Evgeny Namestnikov HM) Antero Niitymaki
O) Roman Oksiuta HM) Selmar Odelein
P) Alexei Ponikarovsky HM) Konstantin Pushkarev
Q) Bill Quackenbush HM) Stephane Quintal
R) Branko Radivojevic HM) Reijo Ruotsalainen
S) Jaroslav Svejkovsky HM) Fred Sasakamoose
T) Rick Tabaracci HM) Oleg Tverdovsky
U) Igor Ulanov HM) R.J. Umberger
V) John Vanbiesbrouck HM) Vladimir Vorobiev
W) Matthias Weinhandl HM) Andy Wozniewski
X) NO NHL PLAYERS
Y) Jeremy Yablonski HM) Dimitri Yuskevich
Z) Zarley Zalapski HM) Valeri Zelepukin
Well folks, if that doesnt brighten up your day, i dont know what will.
So I need to address the Edmonton Oilers recent performance. As a few of my fellow employee's
and friends, and family, and well, just about everyone, is letting me know, the Oilers have absolutley, positively SUCKED out loud. Dating back to October 24th in Calgary, is where the Oilers began their current slump. They had come off such an emotional defeat of the Columbus Blue Jackets two nights before, and then they go into Cow Town and get blown out 5-2. Lucky for them they have to go to GM place the very next night and Luongo puts up the wall and the 'Nucks win 2-0. Mark that, its shutout #1. Then the ever so lucky Oilers came home to play the Western Conference leading Colorado Avalanche, and get owned by Craig Andersson for shutout #2. Then the Oilers beat up on the Red Wings for the 1st period of their next game, leading 4-0 after a minute into the 2nd period. However, the Oilers then let the Red Wings be the Red Wings and come all the way back, luckily for the Oilers they got away lucky with a shootout win. Then the Oilers hit the Eastern seaboard with another shutout loss in Boston (#3), and a poorly played 3-1 loss to the oh so great Islanders. So if you have been paying attention, the Oilers have been shut out in 3 of their last 5 games. They have managed to only score 6 goals in those 5 games (5 of them against Detroit).So yes the boys have had some trouble scoring. However, the Oilers are victim to a few
unfortunate circumstances since the end of October. For one, the whole team has suffered the flu bug. Mike Comrie, Ladislav Smid, Lubomir Visnovsky, Gilbert Brule, Denis Grebeshkov, and who knows who else has suffered from the flu and continued to play thru. Smid is the only one who actually was diagnosed with H1N1. Sheldon Souray and Steve Staios have been out with cuncussions. Ryan Stone has a busted knee. Shawn Horcoff is now out with a shoulder injury, and Fernando Pisani just now has returned to the lineup. So the hockey gods havent been to nice to the Edmonton Oilers as of late, and it shows. Here is hoping that a slightly healthier lineup can bring home a win against the Rangers tomorrow night.
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