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Out of curiosity…when did putting a hockey game onto my tv screen become the media equivalent of the Manhattan Project? I’m envisioning hundreds of Canada’s brightest scientists working in a windowless facility somewhere in Northern Saskatchewan, furrowing their brows in a vain attempt to understand the intricacies of the process. The thing is, I swear to god that they used to be able to do this with no problem. The game started out looking normal and then all of a sudden the picture got all strange and I had the score/time thing well out of the upper left corner of the screen, to the point that it was blocking the screen.

Every time I see the chubby guy at the end of the Viagra commercial, I think that he should consider some lifestyle modifications in addition to medication.

Spacek blown PP shot count: 1. Stoll please.

Sweet Jesus!!!! Raffi Torres connected on a pass!! Abysmal coverage from the Wings there. I don’t know how any hockey fan could do anything but just love watching Fernando Pisani. I like those guys who make it after full college careers to begin with and a guy like Pisani, it’s so rare that you see him make a mistake and he’s always working hard. He’s just a joy to watch as a hockey player. I’ve got no idea how much credit should accrue to the coaches for a guy like him-my inclination is to give Pisani most of the credit-but for a coaching staff that’s taken some heat for player development in the past, you can’t do anything but credit them in this case.

10 minutes in, two big clears on the PK for Moreau so far.

CBC image fixed. We’ll see how they handle it when they’ve got the Calgary game on at the same time; even odds that they end up putting it over the entire network by mistake at least once. Either that or a Coronation Street re-run or something.

Whatever you say about this Oilers team…they never, NEVER make it easy on themselves. Playing against a Wings team with one of the best power plays in the league? Take penalty after penalty. Smart.

Yeah, I’d definitely rather see a shot of Mark Lee’s mouth gaping open then oh, I don’t know…a shot of the penalty.

5 on 3…here comes the Detroit tying goal. Holy christ. Chelios takes a similar shot at Smyth after a whistle but Staios gets called for that? Ridiculous.

The refs really should get an assist on that one. The call on Staios is an entirely discretionary call. It’s just stupid of Staios to take that penalty but you’ve got to make that call both ways if you’re going to do it.

Bergeron and Greene are a defensive pairing? I’m not particularly comfortable with that.

Funny, when Roloson got traded to Edmonton, Pierre McGuire was going on about Roloson’s fantastic rebound control. I distinctly remember Dennis saying that he trusted McGuire’s analysis on this because of the amount of hockey that McGuire watches. My numbers showed something different-Roloson was in the bottom half of the league in rebound shots faced despite playing for the Wild, IIRC. I’d say that the numbers have been more correct than McGuire.

Soft call on Holmstrom. Bought and paid for with that call on Staios.

20 seconds left on the Holmstrom penalty and you see what Stoll can do on the point. A good hard shot that hits the net.

Wings lead. Damn. Frustrating to see one bounce in like that after they get the bounce on the pass across to send it to Lang.

Wow. University of Toronto Faculty of Law alumni Bill Graham doesn’t like the softwood deal with the United States. He looks crazy. Just crazy. Culture of excellence!

I’m going to have to stop bagging on Spacek for a while but I still don’t like how desperately the Oil look for that backdoor play. It’s so rare that it works-if Legace had his stick in position, that would have been stopped easily.

Odd moment there-the Wings defenceman slapped the puck out of the air and down the ice. The referee’s arm went up and then no call. I’m not sure why his arm went up there. Strange.

I don’t know RJ Umberger or what he’s all about but if ever there’s a guy who deserves to be on the opposite end of a hit like that…it’s Chris Chelios.

As good of a season as Shawn Horcoff’s had, he can have an even better one I think. His skill set (he’s a reasonably creative playmaker) is duplicated on the Oilers PP by the presence of Hemsky and Samsonov who work even better in that regard (and both shoot the puck right handed, which sets up well for cycling out of the one corner) but given the additional PP time, he could put up some numbers I think.

Chris Chelios can whine all he wants. Everytime after a whistle or during the play that he gets a chance to pop Smyth, he does it. It’s about time that the referees caught that.

I had a bit of a flashback to the last HNIC Edmonton-Detroit game there with Chelios coming out of the box and almost stealing it at the blueline.

I was going to comment positively on Kelly Hrudey but the comments about me liking him a little too much have me running a bit scared here.

I crunched the numbers this afternoon-an Oilers win tonight puts them at about an 80% chance to win the series. I didn’t consider the effect of a loss-I don’t really want to know. My probability of an Oilers win based on them being a +40 goal differential squad was almost bang on with the probability that Cosh’ B.S. is giving them. I’ve got no clue how he’s got Montreal and New York ranked as such good bets to win the Cup though.

Mark Lee comments on how the Oilers wouldn’t have Pronger if not for the new CBA. While technically true, don’t be fooled into thinking that this system of NHL organization is the only one in which the Oilers could have had Pronger. The NHL could have easily had a luxury tax/revenue sharing system and the Oilers could have obtained Pronger in such a system.

Torres is going to have nightmares about missing the chance where the puck hit his foot as Legace slid out of the play.

At least Dick Tarnstrom never got any ice time and so he couldn’t take a penalty. Even so, the referees seem to be doing their best to ensure that this is Matt Greene’s last game of the playoffs.

Wow, did Dwayne Roloson ever save Steve Staios on that play. Nice dive Samuelsson.

The NHL is a joke. Just a complete and utter joke. That play was a) such an obvious set play and b) such an obvious pick. A minor hockey referee could have called that. I guess obstruction and interference are ok if they’re setting up offensive chances. Just complete garbage.

Did Stoll go down easy there? I might guess yes because the contact didn’t seem THAT tough but I’ve never seen a guy dive on a 5 on 3 like that before. I think you have to give him the benefit of the doubt here. He’d have to be absolutely stupid to dive on that play-it basically guaranteed Detroit a golden scoring opportunity if not called. Stoll is a smart player-I’m inclined to believe he was legitimately taken down.

Ales Hemsky is quite possibly the stupidest player in the NHL. Unbelievable. Just unbelievable. How dumb can you be?

You could see that fourth Detroit goal coming as soon as the Oilers sent three guys up on the rush. Frustrating, frustrating hockey. Why is Staios jumping up to create a three on three rush when the Oil are shorthanded and will be getting a guy out of the box a minute or so before the end of the game? What are the odds here boys?

A post game look at BOA reveals that Stoll acknowledged going down a little easy. Three comments. First, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a penalty. Second, that sort of thing was getting called all night-why not there? Third, how dumb do you have to be? Savvy Oiler fans might remember that during one of this season’s ridiculous losses to Minnesota, the exact same play happened on a Minny PP. The victim there? Jarrett Stoll. I wonder if the guys reffing tonight remembered that.

If the Oilers lose this series, the non-call on Lidstrom picking Stoll will be remembered as a turning point. The Oilers had a great chance to win that game and Detroit got the breaks tonight.

Looking at the series more broadly, a few more things are clear now than were after the Detroit games. First, the Wings have a clear edge over the Oilers in terms of depth. For whatever reason, the Oilers just don’t have that fourth line right now that they can be really comfortable using or a sixth defenceman. This is a tribute to the Wings I think-Edmonton’s depth is generally a team strength when compared to other teams. Second, the Oilers have to find a way to get the penalties under control. Hemsky with the lazy hooking penalties…just stop. Enough. Fin. Please. Stupid penalties have been a hallmark of three Oilers in particular the past few years and Hemsky looks to be establishing himself as a gold medallist in that regard.

The one thing that’s going the Oilers way in terms of an edge and giving them a chance to beat a better team: goaltending. The Roloson-Legace duel has been a big mismatch so far. If the Oilers are going to win this, it has to continue to be a mismatch.

Speaking of the TSN media boys…have you ever wondered why Bob McKenzie isn’t an NHL GM? One of the rocket surgeons over at HF posed the question and everyone’s favourite hockey gossip reporter dropped in. Here’s what he had to say:

Flattered that someone would suggest it, but here’s the bottom line:

I have a great job that pays me a healthy salary and gives me the whole summer off (unless there’s a lockout ). I have no interest in taking any job that is life-consuming (and that is the very definition of being a GM) because as hard as I work now and as much as I work now, I still have something of a life, and a good one, outside of covering hockey, If anything, as I get older and I’m coming up hard on the big 5-0, I intend to have even more balance in my life between work and play, although that may be elusive.

As for the qualifications for being a GM, I am convinced that any intelligent being who is totally immersed in the game at any level and has a burning desire to be a GM can work towards that goal. But the key is, more often than not, that individual should have paid his dues working his way up the ladder, whatever area of expertise that ladder may have been in. I would not necessarily consider my experience at this point sufficient to walk into a GMs job right now. More training in some other areas would, in my opinion, be required.

Jay Feaster did his time in the administrative/financial side of the minors for a long, long time and he has a Stanley Cup ring as a GM. He doesn’t fit the profile of what a lot of you think is a GM, but he has ring, and good on him. But then what is the profile? Kenny Holland was a minor-league goalie who became a scout and has had great success. Brian Burke is a former minor leaguer turned lawyer/player agent who went into management. Pierre Lacroix, as near as I can tell, never played the game at any high level, but this former agent has a couple of rings. Kevin Lowe was a great NHL player who went virtually straight into the front office. Dave Nonis was a Division 1 college player who apprenticed first with the NHL and then Burke and the Canucks. Different strokes for different folks.

Whether it’s in the area of scouting, being a former player, working in the media, whatever, there is no “right” or “wrong” way to learn about the game of hockey, business and management.

I have had the opportunity over the years to pick the brains of the brightest minds, and some not so bright, in the game in all positions — management, scouting, coaching, playing. They have told me things they probably would never tell their competitors. These insights have been invaluable. In part because of my job, and in part because of my kids who play the game, I have had the opportunity to see how this game and this business works from the inside out.

I always laugh when people automatically assume that a member of the media couldn’t possibly know the game of hockey. I know enough to do my job. That’s fine by me. As an aside, though, without meaning to sound arrogant, I know a helluva lot more about this game than people think and I probably know a lot less than I think I do.

I have intimate and firsthand knowledge of the ins and outs of more levels of hockey — minor hockey, Jr. A, major junior, international and NHL — than many people involved in the game. I played hockey (not at any high level), I coached (not at any high level) and I feel I know the game and have a feel for it just as well as many who are employed in it in hockey-related jobs. But like I said, I’m happy doing what I’m doing and at this stage of my life, I’m not interested in taking on any huge new challenges.

That said, I should tell you that if I win the lottery, I’m quitting journalism and have every intention of buying a Jr. A or major junior franchise and running the whole damn show, or maybe even coaching at the Jr. A level. Failing that, I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing, which ain’t too shabby.

I don’t even really know what to say. Good on McKenzie for popping in there and interacting with people-he’s like a rock star. At the same time, I don’t recall EVER seeing a member of the media feel the need to explain why he isn’t a GM before. Strange stuff.

If you compare him to Grant Fuhr and Mike Vernon, two guys who I think it’s fair to say would be considered as his betters (they played in All-Star game after All-Star game, it seemed), Hrudey comes off quite well in terms of relative save percentage. I’ve only got the data from their mid-20’s on in this, but I don’t see how any sane person could come to any conclusion other than Hrudey being the best of the three during that time period.

Vernon and Fuhr are pretty elite company-you’re talking about a guy who won 5 Cups and is in the Hall of Fame in the one and a guy who won 2, a Conn Smythe and is a reasonable candidate for the Hall of Fame in the other. The defence when Fuhr’s lousy save percentage is pointed out is generally that the Oilers played lousy defence-while that’s arguably true, does anyone really want to make the argument that the Kings of that era were any better? I personally attach little weight to the argument that Fuhr never let in that extra goal-when the Hockey Summary people get to the same point as Retrosheet, I fully expect that to be debunked. I’d make the same comments in relation to Vernon, although he didn’t have the reputation for shutting the door at crucial moments that Fuhr had.

If you accept this, then I don’t see how you can come to any conclusion other than Hrudey being one of the better goalies of his day. He was no Patrick Roy, who’s the clear gold standard, but he’s pretty good. He just had the misfortune to play for the wrong team in the Smythe Division.

Apropos of nothing: I like the Sidney Crosby Gatorade commercial. I have a feeling I’m supposed to recognize the dude in the Russian jersey though and I don’t.

Bill Guerin hasn’t scored a playoff goal since 2002 according to the TSN crew. What’s the word for schadenfreude when there’s no shame again? (If I was him reading this, I’d laugh to myself that I’ve made $25MM or so in that span; I’m somewhat below that level myself).

How good do you think the Oilers are? If both teams are of the strength that their GF/GA from the entire season indicate, the Oilers are a 45% chance to win this series. I don’t think that any reasonable person would care to make that argument though-I’m of the opinion that this team is the equivalent of a +40 GD team. On that basis, the Oilers become a 57% shot to win the series. Taking the 2-1 lead appears to have basically turned the series into a coin flip for the Oilers. Good news if I’m right that the Oilers are a +40 team? The second most likely outcome for the series is Oilers in 6. Bad news? The most likely outcome for the series is Red Wings in 7.

Darren Pang described the Lightning as a “dominant offensive team” last night. The Lightning were decidedly average at scoring this year. This really is amazing-this isn’t a technical point, it’s not something that you can really argue about-all you can do is look at the numbers and see that the Lightning are exceedingly average at scoring goals. Can you imagine watching the news or reading the newspaper and routinely reading things from columnists like “The Liberal minority in Parliament today introduced a bill…?” That’s the real world equivalent of this. Why is the standard in the sports media apparently that if you can string together a series of words and own a suit jacket, you’re good to go? What an industry.

Behind the Jersey comments on a couple of key moments:

You’ve GOT to be kidding me. Lebda called for unsportsmanlike for diving? Seriously - he was bloody “corkscrew”ed according to Mickey. There was no way he could’ve stayed on his feet.

Yeah…you don’t want to be looking to the hometown announcers for neutrality or citing their opinion on anything pretty much ever. The reason he went down like that is because he was diving-the man was barely touched.

Man. That Oiler (Hemsky) fell head face into the board and just laid there until the refs blew the whistle and then popped right back up. And the Wings had the pressure down in the Oilers end. Man that sucks.

First clue that he wasn’t faking-he just laid there while the play went down the ice. And he “…fell head face into the boards”? Right. I suppose that you could say “The buildings in Hiroshima all fell over on August 6, 1945″ as well. He “fell” because Chelios hacked him in the feet and then shoved him. Dangerous play from a dirty guy. It’s strange that there was a whistle there but given that the Wings just completely got away with what should have been a penalty, I don’t know that I’d complain that vociferously.

I’ve noticed some grousing from Wings fans just generally about their team choking in the playoffs. Is it all possible that there’s a karmic price to be paid for employing Chris Chelios? You’d have to think that if there is a god, the answer to that question is “yes”.

I slept through the first two periods but woke up in time to catch the third and overtime. A running list of observations:

I don’t know what’s funnier. The fact that John Garrett took a pretty vicious shot at Brett Lebjda, comparing him to Emmanuel Sandhu or the fact that Mark Lee took offence. On Emmanuel Sandhu’s behalf.

Does anyone have a link to a video of Chris Chelios getting the hell beat out of him by someone? That shot at Hemsky’s feet was the epitome of a dirty, dangerous play-Hemsky’s in a vulnerable position and you hack him in the feet? Keep in mind too-this was Ales Hemsky who isn’t exactly going to drive him through the boards.

Not to rip on the officials but with all the chintzy calls on the Oilers in the third-that penalty on Bergeron leading to the second Detroit goal of the game was a joke-they’ve simply got to make the calls on the Wings. Torres gets basically tackled as the Oilers apply pressure-no call.

And just as I write that…they actually call a penalty. Against Nicklas Lidstrom. I can’t blame Lidstrom for thinking it wouldn’t be called-the call I’m whining about was very similar and wasn’t made.

Nice Oiler PP to end the third period. I feel like it’s 2003-04.

“Your team seems to be showing more interest…” Yep. Sports interviews are a waste of time.

Mark Lee is a bit rusty, calling a two line pass. Welcome to the 2005-06 NHL Mark.

Does anyone remember the last time Spacek hit the net? I don’t.

Inserted after seeing the highlights on the Score at 2:15AM EST: I was taking a nap that lasted for the first two periods and had no idea that Spacek had banged one home in the first. All is forgiven.

Roloson just dodged an ugly, ugly headline in the papers tomorrow. Funny, I watched that and had an idle thought in the back of my mind that it looked strange the way it came out of the net and then thought nothing of it. I didn’t think that there was a problem with the net being flush though-strange that they went and switched nets.

Nice to see Dan Cleary playing the best hockey he’s ever played in Edmonton. Thanks Dan.

Smyth and Horcoff seem to be getting their game together. Those two looked solid in the OT-lots of contol down low and they were creating chances. It’s a shame that the best chance they created went to Dvorak. The Wings have seemed to collapse down low a lot during the overtime-there’ve been a fair amount of open shots taken from the top of the slot by the Oilers.

As I was saying before the series, I’m not a fan of Steve Yzerman. For some reason, he’s always left me cold. I’m guessing that this is his last season though (hopefully this is his last series) and he’s just been a great player in this series.

That suit jacket that Ken Holland is wearing is just terrible.

These long overtime games are interesting. Detroit’s depth is obviously a huge, huge benefit for them during the game-just as in the first game, the Oilers looked to have shortened the bench up as I don’t remember seeing much of Rem or Harvey in OT. I wonder if it’s harder on the Wings to bounce back from it than it is for the Oilers though.

Just a reminder: in 02-03, the Oilers were up 2-1 on Dallas. There’s a lot of hockey still left to be played. Detroit is probably still the favourite to win the series, I’d guess. Edmonton’s chances are growing though. Key difference between that team and this team: this team has many, many more players who’ve blow a 2-1 series lead than that one did. I’m not a big believer in experience and veteran presence and all that crap but it can’t hurt that a bunch of them have blown a 2-1 lead before.

If this was a movie one of those movies where a cowboy fights a ninja, this would be the point where the cowboy pulls his gun on the ninja. Game 4 will be the point where he either ties him to the chair or the ninja kicks the gun out of his hand.

Anyone who doesn’t think that the playoffs are a crapshoot should be watching this series. Either team could be up 3-0 at the moment. Either team could be down 3-0.

I’m wondering how long Detroit has actually led games in this series. They never led in game one, led briefly in game two and never led tonight.

CBC must be pretty happy right now, what with the Canadian teams 8-3 in the first round so far.

Switching to the Score to watch the post game press conferences from the coaches.

Steve Ludzik is wearing a jacket that it’s even worse than the one Ken Holland is wearing. Green and black plaid? I wouldn’t even know where to get such a thing. It’s like a sitcom where a guy shows up at a fancy restaurant without a jacket and they offer him a hideous loaner. Hilarity ensues. Best of all, he’s got a handkerchief or whatever it is in his jacket pocket-a nice touch.

Interesting comment from MacTavish about his reaction to the no goal in OT. He says he was surprised by the euphoria of the Wings and Legace in particular-he described Legace as “looking like the weight of the world was lifted off his shoulders.” Couple of real goalie killing cities matched up here.

I hate when the media seizes on irrelevancies. Kudos to Dennis Beyak for refusing to get sucked in to Steve Kouleas’ absurd point about the Wings being too euphoric after thinking that they won. Kouleas heard what he wanted to hear in MacT’s answer about Detroit being euphoric (it looked to me like MacTavish was making a point about how the Wings thought they’d dodged a bullet) and was trying to push the old momentum thing. Detroit had a ton of good chances in overtime after that and they just didn’t go in. That’s the way that the game works sometimes.

Wednesday morning update: It’s even more fun when you see the Wings announcers celebrating the no goal.

Update: Abel to Yzerman has a post up complaining about the arrogance of Oilers bloggers. Now, he wrote it before yesterday’s game but a guy who, after the Oilers tied the series at 1, heading back to the Pharmacy for 2, wrote “Wings in 5″ is in no position to be complaining about the arrogance of others. (I still like his site, other than that Probert5Minutes cat, who commented thusly:

I especially like all of these Oiler bloggers tenedencies to use as much profanity as possible when they�re erupting with elation or disdain. Very professional. What are they, 12?

Now there is the odd Oiler blog that’s been known to use profanity now and then (this one’s pretty clean) but complaining that we aren’t professional? That’s like complaining that a young guy like Jarret Stoll doesn’t have the playoff poise and savvy of a veteran like Mathieu Schneider and that he engages in lousy defensive zone coverage. You just can’t expect a rookie like Stoll to have the defensive nuance of a guy like Schneider and you really shouldn’t look to a bunch of cats on the internet for professionalism.

I wrote this during game 2 but I’m so up to my eyeballs at the moment that I’ve been unable to post it until now. Lots of what I thought has been said elsewhere-the trap is boring but it’s working, Hrudey is a one eyed man in the land of the blind, Torres was hitting…unstated anywhere else, though, is a breakdown of those ing terrible commercials with Frank D’Angelo. So I’ve got that going for me, which is nice. Actual real analysis, with numbers and stuff? Talk to me on Saturday.

Pretty funny sequence early in game two. Torres ran someone down at the blueline. Clean hit. He takes a shot in the face from Shanahan that wasn’t called immediately afterward. The puck goes down into the corner where Chelios plays it around to the other corner. Chelios is almost out of the shot when he gets absolutely destroyed by Torres. It was probably a charging call but then the ref had just let Shanahan off so it would have been particularly egregious to make the call on Torres. Funny stuff.

Dennis has been adamant that the Wings get the benefit of calls from the referees. The high sticking call on Hemsky during the first Oiler PP supports his position, I’d say.

I believe that there are different laws in the United States and Canada as to how much advertising can be shown by television networks in a given hour. The cool benefit of this for those of us with the CBC is that we’re getting an extra 30 seconds every so often where they can do a brief review of some play or another. I’d be great to have a guy like Hrudey or someone who can break things down doing quick 30 second hits in those spots although it might be a bit much to expect from CBC-I’ll settle for if they can consistently put a picture and sound on my screen.

“And a pass by Lang…ahead to YZERMAN!!!!111!!” Does someone want to tell Mark Lee that Steve Yzerman isn’t such an offensive threat that his name needs to be pronounced with a series of 1’s after it. It was a decent chance but Staios was there and it hardly required the Steve Armitage BOOO-RAY!!! treatment of the mid-90’s.

Good job by John Garrett pointing out the uncalled Chelios interference which was then followed up by yet another Ales Hemsky stupid stick penalty. Honestly. I wish there was some way to force him to leave his stick at the opposition’s blue line and just pick it up when the Oilers came back to the zone.

It’s easy to see why Jarret Stoll has done so well as an Oiler. He just consistently makes the right play. A blocked shot and some great forechecking during his last shift of the first period. Thank god that the Calgary braintrust didn’t know how to run a fax machine.

I liked Kelly Hrudey’s reaction to MacLean’s absurd claim that the Oilers have the Wings right where they want them. Polite incredulity and then change the subject. I’m no broadcast professional but it’s always struck me that it’s better to be up 1-0 than down 1-0 in a series.

These Frank D’Angelo commercials…unreal. He’s got these terrible Steelback beer commercials where he’s sitting in a dressing room with a bunch of NHLers from the 60’s and 70’s, as if after an old timers game. That commercial is at least kind of interesting because Brad Park takes a shot at the quality of his beer which D’Angelo follows up with a shot about the size of Park’s gut. There’s a moment of palpable tension, some forced laughter and then D’Angelo says he’ll buy the boys a round. This is of course the message you want to create about your product-”Give it to someone to avoid having your ass kicked-it’s cheaper than buying him a Blue.”

He’s now advertising some energy drink called “Cheetah”. The commercial features him with-I kid you not-Ben Johnson. He says to him “Ben, I gotta ask-are you a cheatah?” Johnson replies yes and then holds up the product. It’s like my grandmother always said: “Even if you’re reduced to racing horses and cars, it can always be worse.”

It also appears to me that his Honey Brown beer ads involve the use of the same piece of footage that Stephen Colbert uses on the Colbert Report when he runs through the Threatdown. Nice.

To be honest, I spent much of the second and third studying. My summary: the system that the Oilers are using looks to be effective but it’s not all that exciting to watch. There were a couple of great shots on CBC of the Oilers setting up their trap-pretty strange to see the Oil backing up like that. All in all, it looked to me like the Oilers did a better job of picking their spots to be aggressive today.

With a 4-2 win, at least one thing is obvious. The Oilers chances of winning this series are now signficantly better than they were 48 hours ago, as it’s now a best of 5 series with the Oilers having home ice advantage. I’m looking forward to seeing whether or not the Oilers continue to trap in Edmonton-I expect that they will but they’ll be able to pick their spots with it a little more effectively. I’m thinking that the coaching staff might be able to do much better things with line matching now that they’ve got the last change-we won’t see a situation where the fourth line gets sat for twenty minutes like in game one.

First the good news. I can’t imagine the Oilers getting outshot like that again. 57-25? I don’t know if the Oilers have ever been outshot by more. I’d be stunned if they’ve been outshot by 32 since 1996-97. That was just unreal. I’m having flashbacks to the wins over the Stars and Avalanche in the late ’90s, where the Oilers would get destroyed in shots and chances and win the game because their goalie outplayed the other teams guy. Roloson was everything that the Oilers could have hoped for last night-he gave them what they needed to win. With the exception of the Bergeron/Tarnstrom pairing, I can’t complain about the Oilers defencemen either. The Oilers were solid from the blueline in. The blueliners just looked solid-I thought that Edmonton’s defence looked better than Detroit’s defencemen in the face of pressure.

The bad news is this. I don’t know how the Oilers can beat this team without getting more bounces than they can reasonably expect if they get outchanced like they did last night. The tying and winning goals were lousy bounces for the Oilers but the Wings bought and paid for those bounces with the way that they played all night long. Their forwards simply owned the Oilers zone all night long. The Oilers generated nothing through the neutral zone for most of the game and rarely hit the blueline with any speed whatsoever. Many of the guys were just invisible. What’s even more scary is that this isn’t the lack of offence that’s plagued the Oilers since the trade deadline where they create chances that don’t go in-they just didn’t create chances in this game, particularly at even strength. There was a brief flurry in OT where they had a couple of chances but the Wings had them dominated all in all.

It looked to me like the Oilers wanted to avoid dumping the puck in but the cost of doing so was turning over the puck at the blueline or in the neutral zone. While I can understand that the Oilers want to pay attention to their defensive responsibilities, it’s a narrow, narrow balance. They can’t completely avoid putting pressure on the Wings like they did last night. This seems to have been something of a running theme of the recent Oiler-Wings games I’ve watched-it was definitely taking place in the HNIC Edmonton-Detroit game.

If Edmonton’s going to win this series, they’ve simply got to find a way to put more pressure on the Wings. Maybe when it’s one of the guys who can kill you with the pass like Lidstrom, you hang back more but they’re going to have to pick spots in which to apply a forecheck. The way that they played last night…it’s not going to get the job done. It’s on MacTavish and the coaches to come up with the necessary adjustments here. Their setup last night will not be enough.

The guy I’m frustrated with after last night…Ales Hemsky. He made a stellar defensive play at one point, sliding down and covering for Spacek after Spacek got burned. Stuff like that is great to see. He also made yet another Darryl Stinson play, coming in one on one and refusing to challenge the defenceman by attacking him wide. Aggravating.

I watched Ron MacLean interview Brian Burke last night and something odd came up. He asked the question that I raised in my recent post about whether or not the Flames new bar counts as hockey related revenue. Even more strangely, he mentioned the specific provision I cited about streets adjacent.

I’m curious as to whether or not this was a coincidence-I’m sure I’m not the only one to have that question but this isn’t exactly a major news story. According to Google News, it was mentioned only in the Calgary Sun. I’m sure that CBC has someone plowing through the newspapers and media releases on the team sites but for someone to read it and come up with the exact same question right down to the comment about streets adjacent…small world. If CBC came up with this independently, kudos to the researcher who picked up on it-it’s a bit of an arcane point but the failure of the media to pick up on stuff like this is part of why I started writing this site (in addition to the whole calculator angle). If the media is now going to cover this stuff in gory detail, I can go back to just watching the TV and inadvertently dropping f bombs in front of my girlfriend’s mother when that prick Chelios does something dirty.

Burke noted that Detroit apparently does something similar-which doesn’t answer the question but does throw up a little smoke in terms of making it look respectable and then said that he wasn’t sure if the revenue would count as hockey related revenue. Hopefully CBC drags Ken King in front of the cameras at some point during Calgary’s brief (please God, let it be brief) playoff run and asks him the same question. I’d be very interested to hear his response. As I said in my initial post, there’s nothing wrong with what the Flames are doing but those in the media who marched in lockstep with the NHL during the lockout (which is pretty much everyone in the Canadian media) should ask themselves if they anticipated this and what it’s potential ramifications are.

Something I noticed during the game and then forgot to comment on: MacT really got burned by shortening the bench. Without the last change, he’s terrified of getting caught with Laraque, Harvey and Murray on the ice (and possibly with good reason) against one of Detroits better offensive lines. There was a rare offensive zone faceoff for the Oilers in the first OT and who comes out to take it but those guys. On the one hand, it’s damned frustrating to see the Oil giving up a chance in the offensive zone. On the other, it’s the only bloody time he can do it, given that he doesn’t want Babcock sending the scorers over the boards with a faceoff in Edmonton’s end. It’s going to be less of a concern in Edmonton obviously, but they’re going to have to find a way around this.

I’m writing this from a Starbucks, with some sad Elvis tune playing in the background. It’s pissing rain outside-my gym equipment, airing out on my balcony, got soaked last night. What a miserable 18 hours.

I’m starting to see click throughs from CBC, so I suppose I can announce this. A CBC reporter emailed me and asked if I’d like to take part in a blog roundtable along with the guys who write Hockey Country, Colorado Avalanche Blog and Red and Black Hockey. The first roundtable is up, if you’re interested.

If you’ve come here from the CBC site and want to see my argument about why the goaltending isn’t what’s killing Tampa Bay this year, go read this. I submitted an answer on the question about how the Oilers will do in the playoffs but it seems to have gotten there too late; if it isn’t able to be added, I’ll post here.

There’s an interesting story on the Flames website today. The Flames have announced that they’re partnering with a Calgary entrepreneur to develop a 1,200 seat bar that is going to also work as a conference facility and place to do things like press conferences. There’s lots of discussion about leveraging the Flames brand in the release and I imagine that it will work quite well. On the surface, this just seems like a nifty bit of leveraging. I think it’s also probably CBA related though.

One of the reasons that I shifted a long way towards the players position during the lockout is that I came to the conclusion that no matter what economic system was developed, it would be inevitable that parties would try and work the system to their benefit. For the owners, I figured that you’d see guys directing their investment capital away from the generation of hockey related revenue and towards the generation of revenue that wasn’t captured by whatever definition that the two sides agreed upon.

Why did I expect this? The system created by the NHL effectively taxes marginal dollars of revenue in a couple of ways. First, as you increase hockey related revenues, you end up increasing the cap. If a team like Calgary generated another $2MM in hockey related revenue, they bump up the salary cap. For teams that aren’t able to spend to the max like Calgary or Edmonton, they don’t want to see the cap increased with the advantage that it confers upon the larger markets. Every dollar by which they increase their hockey related revenues also makes their competition for player talent stronger, as they’re only restrained by the artificial limits imposed by the cap. This effectively limits the buying power of each additional dollar of hockey related revenue generated by the Flames or Oilers. It’s a hidden tax.

Second, there’s the issue of revenue sharing. I’m not sure where the Flames fall in terms of eligibility for revenue sharing. I would guess that they’re doing rather well at the moment. Generating revenue that doesn’t count as HRR is huge though-it puts money in the coffers while not moving them up the list and possibly putting them in a position where they’d have to kick in dollars. If the Flames have a dollar to invest, the returns being equal, it makes a lot more sense to invest it in something that doesn’t generate HRR as opposed to something that does.

Article 50.1 of the leaked CBA defines what hockey related revenues (HRR) are. While the list is non-exhaustive, here’s how the CBA defines concession revenue:

All revenues received by a Club or a Club Affiliated Entity derived from the sale of concessions, including any restaurant owned by a Club or a Club Affiliated Entity, in NHL arenas or on any street that is adjacent to the arena, on days on which that Club’s NHL hockey games or NHL events take place, for such NHL game or NHL event

I don’t know Calgary all that well but if I’ve got any readers from there who don’t hate my guts, I’d be interested to know where the Palace Theatre is in relation to the Saddledome. I’d be surprised if it’s close enough to be caught by this. If the Flames can pull in 1200 people every game night who average $20 in spending, that’s another $2MM in revenue. Those are significant dollars, particularly if they aren’t captured as HRR.

The NHLPA may well object to this if I’m right and this is revenue that isn’t captured by the CBA. If I am right, it’s a heck of a smart move by the Flames. There aren’t very many NHL teams that are strong enough brands within their communities to expand into less hockey related areas and expect to receive a warm reception. If it turns out to be a significant moneymaker, hopefully the Oilers are quick to copy this move.

Lowetide wrote an absolutely noxious post the other day wherein he suggested that there’s a lot to like about the Red Wings. Clearly, this view is just wrong. I don’t know what happened to the normally astute LT-it’s rare that I disagree with him but when I read stuff like:

Their spiritual leader is the truly great Steve Yzerman, a man who (along with Joe Sakic) will end his career having reached icon status, the “inner circle” reserved only for the best who have come before (the Beliveau’s, the Keon’s, etc).

I have to shake my head to try and send the bile back down to my stomach. Even before we consider the players, think about the fact that Detroit has nicknamed itself “Hockeytown”. How presumptuous is that? They’ve won 3 Stanley Cups in 50 years and they see fit to give themselves such a nickname? It’s obviously better than “The Murder Capital of the United States” but still…awfully presumptuous.

And then there’s their players…In truth, all NHL teams but Edmonton are filled with loathsome individuals. Their degree of loathsomeness may vary-the average loathsomeness of a Flame is higher than that of a Coyote-but they should all be hated. Below, a list of why the various Wings players are bastards beneath contempt:

Yzerman: I blame Stevie Y for the terrible trend of players who win something bringing their children out on the ice. My (admittedly vague) memory is of first seeing this following Team Canada’s Olympic win. It’s now common for the ice to be filled with little tots after a big game. Is there anyone out there who was demanding this?

Chelios: One of the dirtiest players in NHL history. I’m hoping to see Georges beat him down if he tries to get frisky during the series.

Cross: It’s arguably Cory’s fault that the Oilers are stuck playing against this operation. Thanks for the 34 terrible games early in this season Cory!

Cleary: Sucked in Edmonton for quite a few years. He used to enrage Oiler fans by teasing every year that this was going to be the year he broke out. Now he gets to play on the best team in the conference? To hell with that.

Jason Williams: I’m a stats guy and like to comb through the NHL’s stats. The presence of THREE J. Williams’ in the league is a complete pain in the ass.

Fischer: I’m not going to rip a guy with a heart condition. Him, I like.

Draper: Like Jarmoe, another guy who took an Italian Vacation. At least Yzerman had the class to realize he no didn’t belong at that level anymore.

Lidstrom: Values money over his children. Someone else noted it elsewhere but it’s always the same thing with this guy-”I’m going home to raise my children. It’s important that they’re raised in Sweden…wait, you’re offering me how much?” Enough already-you’re here to get paid…admit it.

Legace: Red headed.

Maltby: Another former Oiler property who became a useful member of a Cup winning Detroit teams.

Holmstrom: Made me cheer for Eddie Belfour, after Belfour speared him in the junk a few years back. Unforgiveable.

Zetterberg and Datsyuk: The Wings draft these guys in the late rounds while Oilers fans suffer through Bonsignore, Rita, Niinimaki etc. Hate ‘em.

Babcock: I got sick of hearing about this guy by round 2 of the 2002-03 playoffs. So he says he likes his players to play “greasy”…who cares. Also appears to be red headed.

There seems to be ample reason to dislike the Wings based on this survey. I’m having no problem at all developing the requisite degree of dislike. It’s not Calgary or Dallas but it’ll do nicely as a warmup for facing them later on in the playoffs.

I was looking at ESPN’s expert picks and one jumped out at me: those of former TSN Calgary reporter David Amber who not only sees the Oil knocking out the Wings but the Ducks taking out Calgary. A wise man.