HOCKEY: In the Box with Brent & Craig
Eastern Promises
Two beatdowns on the Ottawa Senators then a meltdown on national TV against the Flames. Craig and Brent break down the beatdowns, the meltdown and the come down of an atypical up and down week in Oil Country.
Follow the bouncing ball!
Craig Douglas
During the first month of this strange season, some teams have taken a while to get going, while other teams came out flying right away. And some teams are the Ottawa Senators. It looks like the Oilers may be one of the teams that needed a little runway before they got up to speed, and it’s tempting to say that they have gotten there this past week, but it’s equally tempting to write these two laughers off as simply being against the worst team in the division, if not the worst team in the entire league. When you score with eight seconds elapsed in the first period, you know you may be watching a laugher. While one may have hoped for a few more saves from Skinner, this game was exactly the kind of triumph you want to give to your backup goalie who is playing his first ever NHL game. It also gave the Oilers their first set of back to back wins in 2021, so they’re rolling a little bit and they definitely look a lot more engaged compared to what we saw in the unsteady first two weeks of the season.
There’s not a lot to be said about these two games against Ottawa, everything that could be said in praise of the Oil has to be tempered with the fact that the Sens are just a shit team who sit last in the entire league in points (5) and last in goal differential (an abysmal -24). The only other thing I’ll note is that game two versus Ottawa saw the season debut of newly minted In The Box favourite player Evan Bouchard, who is back from Sodertalje after being loaned to the Swedish league for most of last year. He debuted to the tune of four shots on goal, an assist, and nearly seventeen minutes of ice time. Not fucking bad at all.
As for the big Saturday night game against the Calgary Chumps, hooboy – let’s see:
Positives –
Hype Justice. The game was at least exciting and entertaining. It wasn’t the victory/bloodbath we’d all been hoping for, but it held my attention throughout.
The play and puck moving of ITB fav Evan Bouchard.
At least the next two are against Ottawa.
Negatives –
Letting in the first bloody shot.
Giving up two goals in 1:54.
Giving up two goals in 2:20.
Koskinen playing like the $2.5M player he is, while being paid $4.5M. Fuck you, Chiarelli.
Getting scored on by that wanker Lucic. Fuck you, Chiarelli.
The all around shittiness of the officiating.
I could do this all day.
The Connor McDavid Player Of The Series Award brought to you by Humpty’s
To the surprise of no one, Mr. McD has won this prestigious award again. With nine points over three games this past week (and a tidy nine game point streak totaling 6G and 15A) he has continued to lead the way and lead the league. Is it ridiculous to name an award for a player and then hand it to him every week? Well, he’s a ridiculous player, so there.
Predicsh brought to you by Samsung
01/08 @ Ottawa – The road trip heads out east for some stat padding games against the bumbling fools in parliament. It’s a relative cake walk for the Oil, and we all start to feel bad for the dipshit Sens. Final score Oil 5 Sens 1
01/09 @ Ottawa – This should be another back up goalie game. Will we see the season debut of Smith? Another round of Skinner? Some other rando? Be sure to tune in and find out. Final score Oil 4 Sens 3
01/11 @ Montreal – Are the Oilers any good? Are the Canadiens actually good? These are the questions that will be answered on Thursday evening in Montreal. Except not really, because the game will be super close. Final score Habs 4 Oil 3 (OT)
Brent Oliver
I spent most of the two games against Ottawa reminiscing of the Oilers dark years, where they couldn’t beat an AHL team, much less a team as bad as the current Senators. Remember the Penner years? MacTavish after each loss saying he was satisfied and that the team looked “visually better”? Remember all the hope and promise we had with Nail Yakupov? I’m sorry if I’m triggering anyone, but I lived through it too. The Ottawa Senators are just that bad and rebuilding, and seemingly in the same goaltending mess we’re in. I ended up feeling sorry for them more than anything, then remembered I hate them and everyone on the team and was delighted as the dynamic duo racked up 8 zillion points against these lowly chumps. Serves you right for playing, dummies.
As for Calgary on Saturday night, it was the old “Hockey Night In Canada Oilers Shit The Bed in a Myriad of Ways” and shit they did. Scoring on the first shot, hanging their overused back up goalie who’s thrust into the number 1 position out to dry, defensive miscues and giveaways and the always classic – get scored on by an ex-Oiler. Boy I hate Saturday night games. We lost, and had our pants down the whole time.
As for the two major things I’ve griped about all year, something better give and quick.
Coaching/ Management
The bizarre line-up moves continue with Khaira drawing in, waiving the goalie we just picked up, zero defensive zone management and a general sense of not responding when – well, things need responding to. Can we maybe take a time out or two when we get scored on in bunches? Tell the kids on this team (and they are ALL kids) to wake the fuck up? Infuriating.
Goaltending
While a certain local pundit decided to pin the last loss completely on Koskinen, I don’t share the same level of criticism as old Matty McJournal. Koskinen was never supposed to have this workload, and the cracks are showing. Maybe not just cracks, gaping, 5 hole and glove side chasms. We need to address it soon, and the return of Mike Smith tonight will likely not solve all our problems. We have two backups that will have to get a shit ton better in this shortened season for this team to get any better. Maybe we trade for someone else, but honestly, no one comes to mind as either good, nor available.
“And Oilers fans were cursed to walk the earth searching for that goalie that made other teams actually scared… They were all heard to pine – ‘Cujo? Where are you buddy?’”
The Oilers get a shot of what ails them tonight in Ottawa to beat the hell out of the Sens for a couple games, then a Thursday tilt against the Habs to test their mettle. Can they shake off the Calgary loss and come out strong against these teams, or will the old Oilers come out and blow it and slip further under .500? I don’t know, but it’s probably going to be fun to watch, right?
See you next time – In the Box.
