AHL- Apolyton Hockey League 07/08: V Blades of Glory

[Flubber]

Back to our league-- My players go minus 3 on the night and I gain NINE in the plus minus . I was getting crushed in it until Calgary's 9-6 win which alone contributed a minus 8 to my opponent-- wild wild night

[Asher]

In my other league I benched Huselius (5 points? +6?) and played Ranger (0p, -6). AWESOME.

And, my opponent in this league had Phaneuf. AWESOME.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Asher
In my other league I benched Huselius (5 points? +6?) and played Ranger (0p, -6). AWESOME.

And, my opponent in this league had Phaneuf. AWESOME.

That is one tough night

[Flubber]

and good on the Oilers in taking down Detroit-- They are never easy. I only watched a portion of the game in from the mid third period on and they seemed to be holding their own . . . I did notice they got outshot 42-25 and that Rolosen was named first star so it sounds like it was another huge goaltending night-- It appears that goaltending has really emerged as a team strength with no fears to use either goalie

[Flubber]

Originally posted by notyoueither

They had a brutal first 20 games. 7-12-1 and were second from last in the league.

A lot of people up here picked them out of the playoffs. I thought 7th to 10th before the season.

You're not reporting any news.

Well I never thought my opinion that the Oil are not that fantastic would be revolutionary or anything

While 32 points in 33 games is far better than I expected , we all know that .500 alone won't make the playoffs. They would need to be even better . . .. and I don't think they can continue to win the shootout as much as they are.

On the FLames end, sitting in 10th place, their games against Columbus and St Louis ( both one point ahead of the Flames with games in hand as well) loom pretty large. I know there's a long long way to go but I could see this playoff race being very very tight

[Asher]

The Oilers have 6 regulation wins in 33 games. The worst in the league.

The second worst are the Thrashers, with 50% more regulation wins (9).

Unreal.

[snoopy369]

I don't much like shootouts myself, but I can't fault the Oil for gaming the system... you're paid to amass points, not based on how you do so (within the rules). Come playoff time it may be a different story of course

[Asher]

Originally posted by snoopy369
I don't much like shootouts myself, but I can't fault the Oil for gaming the system... you're paid to amass points, not based on how you do so (within the rules). Come playoff time it may be a different story of course

Well, are they paid to amass points or are they paid to gun for the stanley cup?

The shootout wins give a false sense of success to the Oilers. I'm worried that their success in the shootout may sneak them into the playoffs when far more worthy teams are missing out just cause they don't have a couple shootout specialists like the Oil do.

Yes, you cant fault them for winning shootouts. Thanks for that Snoopy.

[snoopy369]

In the regular season, you're paid to amass points. The playoffs are a different animal altogether of course; but I'd say that given Edmonton's current position, a first round playoff exit probably won't bother their GM or ownership too much. They're not Toronto after all

[snoopy369]

Oh, I love this gem from Yahoo

Ellis is 6-2-0 with a 2.23 goals-against average and .922 save percentage, while starting seven of his 11 starts this season.

I'm curious what happened in his other four starts that he didn't start them ...

[Asher]

Originally posted by snoopy369
In the regular season, you're paid to amass points. The playoffs are a different animal altogether of course; but I'd say that given Edmonton's current position, a first round playoff exit probably won't bother their GM or ownership too much. They're not Toronto after all

Are you aware how the NHL draft lottery works?

(I know this doesn't really apply to the Oilers this season due to trading away their 1st round pick, mind you)

[snoopy369]

Hmm, not really ... I presumed it is similar to other leagues in that if you make the playoffs you aren't in the lottery? Anyhow, I'm not one of those fans who wants their team to either win the championship or get the top pick in the draft... even now at 5-8 I want the Bears to try to win a few games. It's not tactically the best thing, but playoffs mean more profit for the owner, even if only one round (right?) and you don't have any chance if you don't make them...

[Asher]

Originally posted by snoopy369
Hmm, not really ... I presumed it is similar to other leagues in that if you make the playoffs you aren't in the lottery? Anyhow, I'm not one of those fans who wants their team to either win the championship or get the top pick in the draft... even now at 5-8 I want the Bears to try to win a few games. It's not tactically the best thing, but playoffs mean more profit for the owner, even if only one round (right?) and you don't have any chance if you don't make them...

All teams are in the draft, it just determines which spot you pick. The worst 5 teams go into a lottery to determine who gets what pick, then after that it's strictly based on where the team finished in the standings -- worst go first. The reason Chicago got players like Toews and Kane were the years they were atrocious they got a couple very high first-round draft picks. Same with Pittsburgh getting Crosby, Malkin, Staal, etc.

The worst thing for an NHL team is mediocrity. You don't get the first draft picks, and you don't get the championships. This is the fundamental problem in Toronto.

When teams like the Oilers -- which are undeniably awful -- you have the shootout inflating their actual team value in terms of league standings, which impacts drafts. But it also doesn't help them win the Cup either. If the Oilers actually had their 1st round pick this year, I bet a lot of their fans wouldn't be so thrilled with all of the bonus points from shootouts...

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Asher

All teams are in the draft, it just determines which spot you pick. The worst 5 teams go into a lottery to determine who gets what pick, then after that it's strictly based on where the team finished in the standings -- worst go first. The reason Chicago got players like Toews and Kane were the years they were atrocious they got a couple very high first-round draft picks. Same with Pittsburgh getting Crosby, Malkin, Staal, etc.

Yes, I understand that part The only 5 team lottery is interesting, slightly different than the NBA (all nonplayoff teams are in the lottery, though worst 6 or 7 teams have the only real shots, last team out of playoffs is like 0.2% chance).

The worst thing for an NHL team is mediocrity. You don't get the first draft picks, and you don't get the championships. This is the fundamental problem in Toronto.

When teams like the Oilers -- which are undeniably awful -- you have the shootout inflating their actual team value in terms of league standings, which impacts drafts. But it also doesn't help them win the Cup either. If the Oilers actually had their 1st round pick this year, I bet a lot of their fans wouldn't be so thrilled with all of the bonus points from shootouts...

I still would prefer to win games than to lose them... and prefer to make the playoffs than not. Admittedly getting a bunch of good draft picks is nice, but you have to endure a lot of **** from the fans and lose a lot of fans to do it (only reason anyone watches the blackhawks is that Chicago fans are used to losing...)

[Asher]

Doug Weight to the Ducks for Andy McDonald...

Here I thought the Ducks wanted to offload players.