HOCKEY: In the Box with Brent & Craig
Leafs & Laffs
First road trip of the season brings the Oil from one pandemic hotspot to another as they go back to back in the big smoke against the Leaves. Apparently Matthews decided to be a big baby and not play the second game, further cementing those dumb Toronthomer chants of Matthews being better than Connor. But, was Connor any good over these two games?
Maybe?
Craig Douglas
Here it was. McDavid vs Matthews. End to end trips to Excitement City. And here we go, hold on to your hats! And… holy fuck this first game was boring. It’s already been extensively written about over the last several days about how boring this game was, it would be doubling down on the intense boredom for me to go at it any further. I could drill down on the numbers to tell you which period was the snooziest, or I could admit that I spent most of the second half of the game googling rum recipes. I could do all sorts of things to try to trick someone into misremembering the intensity of this dud. Instead, let’s push this game to the back of the fridge, leave it there, and forget about it.
All game number two had to do was not be boring. Though it was a low bar to clear, and though it may be damning with faint praise, this game was definitely a significant improvement over Wednesday in the all important Hold Your Attention metric. That being said, it wasn’t as if many of the Oiler players were any better than what we’ve seen in the first handful of games. Kassian still looked useless, Larsson continues to look like he is no longer an NHL capable defenseman, the power play still looks kinda like shit, and Yamamoto still stands out as the only player on the team who is giving close to 100% effort. I suppose I’ll also mention that Koskinen has looked better of late, but he’s also played basically every minute of every game, and as much as they may need him to continue doing so, it’s obviously unrealistic and a reckoning in the crease is coming sooner than later. The momentum gained by scoring a short handed goal was squandered so quickly via turnovers and a fluky goal, that they were right back to chasing before they had a chance to really get going.
To sum these two games up, the Oilers benefited from some luck and some undeserved power plays on Wednesday and walked out with a win, but then come Friday their luck turned and they didn’t have the effort to overcome a fluky goal against. They are now feeling the huge difference between a 3-3 record and being 2-4 after six games, with no one to blame but themselves.
Once again, it’s time for Predicsh. Brought to you this week by Hulu and Sun-Maid Raisins in tiny boxes. I could not really have been any wronger with these last week, so here are some more shitty, bound to be wrong prognostications:
Predicsh!
01/24 At Winnipeg – The Oilers take advantage of a depleted Jets lineup after their big trade, and coast to a 4-1 victory. Draisaitl scores two and Yamamoto scores the other two.
01/26 At Winnipeg – The Oil win again and return from the road trip back at 4-4, and we all debate if they’re good now, or if Winnipeg is simply not that great, especially without Laine and Roslovic.
Brent Oliver
As usual, I’m pissed off for watching the Oilers. They’re finding all the ways to piss me off, so I’ll outline them.
Wednesday’s game, although a victory, was exactly what Craig said – a real snoozer. Don’t get me wrong, I like victories, but watching this game was such a chore. I wanted it to be over so I could get back to the binge of Lupin on Netflix (watch it. srsly). The second game was less of a snoozer but a baffling loss. The Oilers get to play a game against a team with no Jumbo Joe or Auston McPervymoustache and as usual – shit the bed on the ice. The overwhelming sentiment I get from watching this team for 60 minutes, is that they’re incapable of playing for 60 minutes. Defensive bungles, missed passes in the neutral zone and star players not playing both ways (I’m looking at you, Connor) leads to more losses than wins, and that’s exactly what happened.
I’m doing my best to find highlights in this already shit stained season, and the only one that I can find is the play of Kailer Yamamoto. All 5 foot 1 of him blocks shots, drives to the net, plays his position, chases the puck… he’s a joy to watch. Now can the other 20 players on the Oilers show the same hustle please?
I won’t steal Craig trademarked Predicsh segment (brought to you this week by Mounds bars and Sriracha Sauce), but I will say that if the Oilers don’t come out of Winnipeg with two victories, against a trade depleted Jets team, the season could be over. In fucking January. I’m not saying they could rebound from a 2-6 start, just saying that good teams have to win against less good teams – and if our good team doesn’t beat their less good team, we’re not a good team. Got it? Good.
The Oil play the Jets in the Peg Sunday and Tuesday after the Jets trade away one of their best and most beloved players for a guy who seems to not give a shit about playing. See? Other teams can make terrible roster decisions too!
See you next time – In the Box.
