HOCKEY: In the Box with Brent Oliver
Rocky Mountain Play
Round 3! The Oilers move to the final four in this year’s Stanley Cup Finals with a decisive five game victory over the Flames in Round 2 where they scored ALL the goals, and ahem – let in a few too.
Can the Oilers tighten up before meeting the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference final, or will that even matter with McDavid playing so well? Brent has all the answers in this week’s In The Box – presented by Home & Away YEG.
FIVE ALIVE
We made it THROUGH the second round! Holy shit!
While a hugely different series than the Kings seven game marathon, the Oilers proved their might over the Calgary Flames by averaging 5 goals a game, and seemingly having an answer for any obstacle that was thrown at them. While game 1 didn’t go our way, the Oilers clearly took momentum from being down 5-1 and battling back to at least tie it 6-6. The rest of the series had Connor McDavid putting the team on his back and willing them to victories through incredible playmaking, timely goals and holy shit – power forward hitting. If the Oilers win the Cup, it’s because of McDavid. Sounds simple to say, but not since Crosby in his prime have we seen a superstar player, on a solid team make everyone else around him better, and pushing every game to win. If he keeps this up, there will be even more memes of Connor making the league his baby.
AVS AND AVS NOT
Colorado. Denver. Rocky Mountain High? Let’s fucking hope so.
This is truly the test for this Edmonton Oiler team. If they can survive and win this round, they have a very good chance of winning the Stanley Cup. And that’s a fucking Rocky Mountain sized “If”.
Nathan MacKinnon could be the 2nd or 3rd best player in the league, and the Avs play a juggernaut power game. Kadri has played the best hockey of his career, they have a future superstar on D in Cale Makar, and who knew Darcy Kuemper was a number one goalie after all? The Avs killed the competition in the West leading to a 56-19-7 record. Holy shit, that’s a lot of points.
That all being said, the Oilers are genuinely on a roll right now. The Avs are playing exactly how they should where the Oilers have proven they’ve taken the game to the next level. So, how the fuck do they win this series? Same way they won the last two. Connor McDavid stays healthy and wears down the opposition, the defense limits the open assignments in our zone (I’m looking at you Darnell) and Mike Smith continues to play solid enough that he keeps the Oilers in every game. I’m not saying this is going to be easy, or for the faint at heart (where are my pills?!), but the Oilers can take this series in 6.
THE CONNOR MCDAVID PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Connor McDavid, you dummies. Of course it is.
PREDICSH (STANLEY CUP EDITION)
Let’s see how we Predicshed from last time. Brought to you by Jesse from Breaking Bad hocking a gambling app.
Predicsh pre-playoffs Oilers beat Calgary – 4-3
Well, there were enough fucking goals for a seven game series, but Oilers in 5 works pretty well for me.
Predicsh pre-playoffs – Avs, Carolina and Florida advance
Game 7 tonight for Rangers/Carolina – so I still might be 2 for 3. Who would have ever thought the Florida Panthers would be swept? That was nuts.
Predicsh pre-playoffs Oilers beat Avs – 4-2
This is my pre-playoffs prediction and I’ll stick with it. Oilers in 6, winning on home ice and for the love of god do NOT touch the Western Conference trophy.
Tuesday sees the Oilers start the Western Finals in Denver and a reasonable ass hour of 6 pm MST for the series. While we all will likely get just as drunk and pukey (come on guys… keep it together), it should be a rollercoaster ride against the best team in the West. Eat it, MacKinnon!
Thoughts and ridicules can always be lodged on Facebook and Twitter @inthebox
See you next week – In The (playoffs) Box.
