HOCKEY: In the Box with Brent & Craig
Overreacting Canuckleheads
The first two games of the new Oilers season are in the books and here at In The Box it’s time to break them down the best way we know how – with anger, elation and a trip to the overreaction bubble where all things are either great or fucking terrible.
Let’s go!
Craig Douglas
The NHL finally resumed play this week and your Edmonton Oilers helped open up the action in the brand new, but temporary, All Canadian Teletubbies Northern Division™️, brought to you by Kindle, Beef Jerky, and Moxie’s. The gang opened up the season at home with a two game, baseball style series against the Vancouver Canucks. We’ll get to those games shortly, but first I want to quickly talk about my glorious realization.
Obviously I’d known about the divisional realignment and the condensed schedule due to the closed border, but it wasn’t until Tuesday evening that it sunk in: we won’t have to endure a single second watching the excruciatingly boring Minnesota Wild play hockey for the entire season and likely the playoffs. The faceless team of nameless players that are never good, never bad, and nevvvverrrr interesting, have been condemned to the Western Division brought to you by Miracle-Gro Indoor Potting Mix. They’ll be busy boring the shit out of the fans of such teams as the Arizona Coyotes and the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and … wow, that’s a lot of travel for them … let’s get back to discussing the Oil before I start feeling sorry for whatever lame team it is that I was talking about there.
The first two Oiler games in the 2021 season were almost polar opposites in term of effort and results. Of course there was a lot of rust to shake off, seeing as how there wasn’t even pre season games to aid with conditioning (and of course no conclusions can be drawn after two measly games against a single opponent), it was still encouraging to see such a strong effort in the second game of this back to back set. I enjoyed the narrative that was circulating in the media that McDavid was pissed about losing and being held pointless on his birthday, and that he would come out ready to prove that he was still the best player in the world, and that opening night was an aberration. Then we were all treated to him putting up a hat trick, and a four point night, all while making it look extremely effortless.
Since the team was able to come out on the second night and avoid dwelling on the lacklustre effort of the opener, we shall do the same. It’s impossible to praise the captain too much, he was leading the charge for the entirety of game two, buzzing through all three zones and giving the Canucks fits. Scoring a hat trick of gorgeous goals, and elevating the performances of all his teammates. He really set the tone for the entire team, giving them no choice but to excel alongside him. There were a few players who had less than stellar efforts in the first game, but no one stuck out last night as being anything less than good, and I’ve somehow written all of this without mentioning that Dr. Drai finds himself quietly leading the league in points with five through two games.
There are still areas of concern, such as giving up too many shots, taking too many penalties, the back up goalie situation still being a looming question mark, and the overall quality of the third and fourth lines and the defense, but the takeaways from two games against a quality opponent are predominantly positive. Let’s all revel in the continuing emergence of Yamamoto, the exciting return of Puljujärvi, the mostly stellar play of Koskinen, and the blessing of getting to watch two of the best players in the world put up multi point efforts on the regular.
Brent Oliver
As usual, myself and the collective internet Oilers fan base all freaked out after game one. I specifically overreacted at the sloppy and porous defence, and passable, but not stellar play of our stars and our goalie. Instead of putting my head directly in the oven, I decided to step back to realize that game was less than 2% of the season and we’re back at it for Game 2.
Cue the opposite overreaction.
The second game against the godless Canucks was not only better on the score sheet, but better with the lack of fans – specifically Canucks fans, who have overtaken Leafs fans as the most annoying in the league – or any sport. For a team that’s won nothing for nearly 50 years, humility should come easier for their diehards. Captain Connor played the equivalent of saying to everyone on his team and the opponent: “Fuck you. I’m Connor McDavid.” Drai was magic, and as usual – keep Nuge forever.
Final thoughts after two games return to the goaltending situation with Mike Smith out for an undisclosed reason (cough… cough… rhymes with Bovid Guy Teen) leaving Koskinen to handle most, if not all the work until he returns. Maybe we see the NHL starting debut of young Stuart Skinner, but with a stacked No Frills Swiss Chalet North Division, they can’t afford to take too many chances in net.
Maybe I’m overreacting, but I’m staking out my spot on Jasper Ave, in a 6 foot plastic bubble, so I don’t miss the parade.
Focus now shifts over to les Canadiens de Montreal de la belle province de Quebec for deux match de hockey Samedi et Lundi. Craig and Brent will report back after those back to backs, and try and remember what the French word for “seal” is in their review.
Talk to you then – In the Box.
