travel_dude

Bronx cheer for Smitty.

Go Flames Go

One anthem, no waiting.

Guy and Jane in da house.

Jersey on - check. Rituals followed - check. Begin Pase 2, Stage 1

So, the panel wear cowboy hats for the game in Calgary. Do they put on greasy ball caps for EDM games?

Let the SN Connor love fest begin.

Valimaki recalled from Stockton. The Heat don't play until next Monday. Precationary at best.

I think Gretz makes calls based on odds. Would it bother me if it was the other way? Naw. Does it bother Oiler fans that "Oilers for Life" people don't drink kool ade? Yes. Spector predicts Flamesin less games. Fans already hate him for speaking the truth.

We are positive for sure. I don't think anyone discounts them. They beat a decent team. We beat a decent team. We haven't had to change the gameplan from day 1. It's not always successful, but it uses concepts that work. If we stay that course, then there should not be any letdown. We don't need to ride 2 lines or rely on PP's. It can work short term, but after a long season it wears down. We have weak links, but they bring other things to the party.

All is fair in pools and war. You can pick em, but I threw up a little in my mouth.

Just think how Lou feels. Didn't lose a single player and he's last. I'm more or less happy with my team. Unless you get the bracket 100% right, you will always pick players that don't go on. Or ones with zeros. If they go far, they will get something. I think there should be a handicap for anyone that picked Oilers players. Automatic -10. LOL.

Leafs made the playoffs and lost last year. Flames didn't make the playoffs last year. We got a different coach (finally the right one) and turned the ship around. We made a lot of changes to the team and decided we needed more cup experience. We didn't blow it up because you don't do that after a weird season. A covid season that had strange divisions. The Leafs stuck with the same coach and had the same results. Did he turn Marner and Matthew into top players? Nothing really changed with the coaching, so it's more on those two. I admit we gave away game 6, but not from lack of trying. Leafs had a few games when they didn't show up. All I was getting at was how do you disect a team's failure and direction in 3 days. Maybe you don't turn around and fire a coach or GM right away. But do you really need to pump tires after a car crash?

Great work again RD. Have we officially renamed the series Pillow Fight of Alberta? I wonder how tentative the first game will be. Or if this will be much like the way we started game 1 vs Dallas. Time to shut down McD since he was the only player on the ice for the Oilers in games 5 and 6. I would like the Flames D to actively hunt Draisaitl. He's constantly being give too much room to make passes. Take away the pass and make him skate to the net. And I don't mean on rushes. Get the forecheck going early. Put pressure on Kulak, Barrie and Bouchard. We know what Nurse is. And Keith will be prone to making some dumb passes. Ceci is about their most consistent D. Don't give him any room.

I would suggest that the Leafs have been a lot closer to being consistent than the Flames. Consistent, but unable to win a single round. Was watching Tim & Friends and the host went ballastic over the Leafs. It's the same thing every year. Hate to lose. Get them next year. What really chances? Same core, same coach, same GM, same Pres. Regular season success sells playoff tickets, but playoff failure does nothing. Someone described it as a coach that never was one in the NHL before TO, a GM that never was one before in the NHL and a Pres that was never one before in the NHL. That's all fine, except that they have found zero success and still are at the top. If it's something in the core or other players, don't come out 3 days later and suggest there is no problems at all, we just didn't win. Calgary has made poor choices, signed some questionable players and trades, but also has been in and out of the playoffs. We haven't been able to land the top free agents. Our LTIR didn't allow us to go over the cap this year.

Good job, mate. I was off on one of Saymzies players. Now, let's stop letting McD and Draisaitl get points. So tired of hearing how he's the best player in the playoffs and how he went superstar in g5 and 6. Shut that dude down.

Whining aside, it's great that you devote so much time to creating GDT and updating this pool. You deserve the ultimate respect from this fan base.

RD - I had a slightly different total for the top 4. Saymzies - 138 Conum - 134 Pikey - 133 TD - 132 ... Lou - 89 I suspect that NHL.COM goes back and makes some slight changes after game day, since they don't always get it right the first time. I noticed it was off before the games yesterday. Not like this is a big deal. If I had to guess, I would say there may be a points problem with a couple of players these 5 teams share. Gaudreau (8), Tkachuk (6) and Stamkos (5) are the players shared by all of these teams. But there may be one other off, as Saymzies is only off by 2 points.

Ahh, good old Leafs. 3 days after losing in another first round series they decide to come out to talk. No problem with senior management. No problem with GM. No problem with the coach. No problem with the players. Sheldon Keith will be talked about like Scotty Bowman in 10 years time. We want Matthews to be here his entire career. What a joke. Better coaches have lost their jobs for better results. GM's have been shown the door for failing to achieve more than a first round exit.

I know they are channeling Sutter, but Holland is saying everyone plays. Woody says Leon is feeling good. That's nice. Play Leon with McD or don't. It doesn't matter. I suspect that they use 29-97 together with little Yammer on RW. Allows them to mostly park Leon on the right circle. He skates in the O-zone slower than Lucic, so just cover McD like glue. Make him keep the puck on the wall and not allow him to get the pass off. I've seen that movie before. Drai curls back along the boards. Gets to the blueline and passes to the D. D gets it to McD. Drai skates to the vircle. Nuge used to be a biger threat, but he is getting destroyed out there. Hyman goes to the net. Kane waits for the pass. The 3rd and 4th lines may have some speed. Archi lays the body like Kassian. Neither has puck smarts. Foegele is just speed and no sense. Pooly has zero puck sense. Too bad, since he has a good shot and is a big body. The D pairs are questionable. Ceci has played well, Kulak one of their best. Keith is not good most games. Nurse is a boob and doesn't see the ice. Barrie is a timebomb. Bouchard hasn't learned how to play defense yet, mostly a forward that can skate backwards.

Funny how little we talk about Lindy. Best player in the trade. Who would have thought we would end up with B2B 1st round picks. Too bad Monahan wasn't healthy. Lindy has solidified the top 3. His stellar play turned JH into a +64 player. Top defensive trio in the NHL, nobody even close. And I say defensive because they get scored on so seldom.

As far as Lucic's contract goes, his signing bonus is paid this summer. That leaves only $1M in actual salary remaining. When Lucic ws traded to us, it was after his SN was paid. Only his cap remains high.

They are already starting. No Draisaitl or Nuge or Kane for practice today. Says Woody, they will all be in game 1. No family related absences. They also have called up most of the Bakersfield team to skate as Black Aces. Good luck with that group.