Round 2

Apparently I was way tad bit off on my mental TV schedule, I thought tonight would be the wrap up of the first round and I guess it was last night. So final results for the first round were as follows;

Philly

Tampa

Washington

Boston

So I  got the Boston/Montreal series wrong, not bad, 75%

In the West not so good

Detriot

Nashville

Vancouver

San Jose

50%, was wrong on LAK again and wrong on Anaheim.

Here is what I have picked for the second round

Vancouver VS LA

Not happening, but I had Van City advancing to the next round so we'll see how it pans out between them and Nashville

Detroit vs Anaheim

Again not happening plus I had Anaheim advancing, so I'm SOL completely. Hoping San Jose wins so we can see which of the two big playoff choking teams crap the bed in the conference finals.

In the East

Washington vs Tampa

Again the underdog strategy is going to kill me but I have Tampa advancing. They still could as I think they got a lot more grit and a lot of veteran talent. Plus they have a couple former Oilers that will be fun to cheer for.

Philly vs Montreal

Not happening, but I do have Philly advancing so there is hope I will come out in the conference finals with atleast 75% percent of my teams

So far 5 points for the first round

Next round I have a possible 3 points to grab.

Going to be tough to win this when the number one guy in pool pulled 8 points out of the first round to start.

Playoff Pool 2010-11 Edition

So last year I had participated in my works bracket playoff pool. I faltered pretty early out of the gate by picking way too many lower seed teams in the west and had too many of my higher seed teams in the East clasp (looking at you Washington). This year I went with a more balanced approach but still got taken in by some lower seed picks.

In the first round my pick in the Eastern Conference looks like this;

Washington over New York 

Finally Washington beat somebody.

Philly over Buffalo

Could this one been any closer??

Montreal over Boston

This was kind of a sentimental pick as I was big Habs fan when I was a kid. They're sticking it out but I don't know if they'll make. Guess we'll find out soon enough

Lightning over Pittsburg

I thought I was being smart on this one, and I really like the Pens, so far its turned around but again have to wait and see what game 7 brings. Could potentially go 100% in this round in the East.


Western Conference

LA over San Jose

Too many Oilers on this team not to pick them. Thought their goaltending would carry them through which is what I thought last year. One of these days we will be talking about LA as a serious contender but not this year.

Anaheim over Nashville

I really thought with Anaheim coming in on such a hot streak they would go pretty deep, but was way off on that. You got to like Nashville's lunch bucket work man like team, reminds me of the Oilers in 06'. I didn't pick Nashville at all but I could now see them being the Cinderella team for this year.

Detroit over Phoenix

I went with Phoenix last year and decided this year I was again favouring the lower seeded teams too much so went with Detroit. What can I say, I at least learned from one mistake. I look forward to picking the Jets next year though.

Vancouver over Chicago

I really didn't want to pick Vancouver and I was very close to regretting it but I couldn't over look their depth and hopefully (playoff pool wise) they will go deep. Otherwise I would have been all on the Chicago bandwagon for this serious.


I can't wait till I can start picking the Oilers for these again....

I'll post my second round picks before it starts...

The Best Oiler Rookie Class - Hockey Card Edition

As I have been adding to my collection of Oiler rookie cards I started to wonder what would be the best Oiler rookie class in regards to Hockey cards. Now it wasn't easy to define what the best class would be based on Hockey cards. Basically came down to three years;

1981 - 82

Anderson, Coffee, Kurri, and Moog

 

2007 - 08

Gilbert, Cogliano, Gagner, and Schremp

 
 

2009 - 10

Hall, Omark, Paajarvis and Eberle

 


Now if we based this on career achievements its a pretty big no brainer the 81-82 Group would rock the other two combined, though the 07 group did have Robbie Schremp.

If we compared based on the combined Beckett value of cards themselves for each group it would be pretty unfair as well considering that 81-82 group only had one card manufacturer. Plus with the short prints of today they are not nearly as rare as some of the rookie cards of today.

All in all I think nostalgia wins the day here. Don't get me wrong the cards being manufactured in this decade are awesome, I love the look, I love the autographs and jerseys but nothing beats old fashioned bubble gum cards. Plus it doesn't hurt that the first group won a bunch of cups.

Maybe in 30 years we will get to look back on the other two groups and wax nostalgic about their careers as well. we can only HOPE

Due to popular demand (as of today a 3 to 1 vote differential) I will be continuing on with the Good, the Bad and the Ugly Trade deadline edition. This time I will be looking at the blockbuster trade between the ever-present Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins. Toronto sent longtime defenseman Tomas Kaberle to the Boston Bruins in exchange for prospect Joe Colborne, a first round pick in 2011 and a conditional second round pick 2012.

The Good

No more stories on TSN about Tomas Kaberle and where he will be traded! Or that he is thinking about waiving his no trade clause; or about Brian Burke talking to him about waiving his no trade clause; or Kaberle thinking about Brian Burke talking to him about waiving his no trade clause. Seriously. It seemed like a decade of stories about the possibility of Kaberle getting traded as if he was the corner stone of all hockey-ness. I will enjoy never hearing anything about him again unless I am at a Boston Sports Pub. Don't get me wrong he is a fine defensemen and probably a nice guy and I have nothing against him but I was getting sick of hearing about him and where he would end up.

The Bad

Joe Colborne. Its not so much thats its he is bad, its just that he is not meeting the potential that was expected of him when he was drafted. I remember that year a lot of Oiler fans were gung-ho on the possibility of drafting him. Which was understandable at the time; he had size and skill which is what we have always wanted. But unfortunately he was not available at our draft position and we ended up drafting some kid named Eberle. All in, Colborne looked good in college but so far that hasn't translated into success at pro level. He is still young, mind you, and this would be what you would expect in return for a trade that was very similar to the Penner trade. But if I were a Toronto fan I would not invest too much hope in Colborne turning out to be more than another Jeff Taffe.

The Ugly

This trade could have happened two years ago! TSN The potential deal was Kaberle and the 7th Overall pick for Kessel. Instead this deal has essentially taken 2 years to complete and has now cost Toronto the following: Kaberle, 2 first rounders (one being the 2nd overall), and a 2nd rounder in 2010. For Kessel, Colbourne, a mid-low first rounder and a conditional 2nd rounder. Why didn't Burke just make this deal 2 years ago? According to Bob McKenzie it fell apart over the 1st rounder. Doesn't make sense then and this doesn't make sense now. What was Burke thinking? Not rebuild thats for sure. Does it make a difference? Maybe. Probably won't know till we see what becomes of the picks in few years. All in all a very very bizarre affair.

A couple of new additions

I finally won a couple of ebay auctions this weekend, I know how lame that sounds, how hard is it to win an online auction. Please keep in mind my budget is fairly low budget on account of a new baby on the way so it is a challenge to get the hards you want in the price you are willing to pay. Nonetheless I have couple of new additions to be adding to my collection.

First is a Magnus Paajarvi SPX Rookie Materials Jersey card. I love the look of these 2010-11 SPX cards, they are pretty simple in design and they just look sharp. Wish the patch was a little more exciting but that doesn't mean I won't be excited to check the mail this coming week;

The other card was a Ryan Smyth 2006-2007 Ultimate Collection Signatures. I got this for sentimental purposes. Ryan Smyth was always a warrior for the Oilers and he has been missed ever since he was traded the same year as this card. Again the design of this card is nice and simple, a very clean look to it. The only change I would make to it is have the signature on plain white background, the greyish background and blue pen doesn't make the autograph pop out as much as much as a white background would.

I am going to be looking forward to get these in the mail. Also I'm going to put up some cards for trade so keep your eyes peeled for and if you are interested in any them let me know what you are willing to exchange for them.

Trade Deadline Edition

Continuing in the series looking at the good, the bad and the ugly of some of the key trades at the 2011 Trade Deadline. Today we are looking at the Dustin Penner trade from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angles Kings. In return for Penner the Oilers received LA's first round pick, former first round pick Colton Teubert and a conditional pick.

The Good

Los Angles Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi, for a GM to pick up a 6-4 30 goal scorer for his team who is still under contract without having to give up a roster player or a key prospect has to be doing something right. Don't get me wrong, the return is about right for a player like Dustin Penner, a first round pick, a prospect with pedigree and another pick. I would have liked as an Oilers fan to see a roster player coming back as well, someone like Kyle Clifford, but thats what I want. For Lombardi, this was a very strong acquisition for his team that is trying to make an impact in the playoffs. Plus when you factor in that Penner is signed for another season next year there is a lot of value in what they got for what they gave up. Clear win for Lombardi.

The Bad

Colten Teubert, to start off let me say that this kid's story is not fully written, he is still young and he is still developing. But. He is a long way off from being an NHL defender, he has the size that every team is looking for in a defenseman, he is mean which fits well with that size but the one thing that keeps popping up is his lack of hockey IQ which is a big concern. A few quotes from Lombardi last year highlight this;

“[Teubert has] made a lot of progress, but he still has a lot to learn,” said Lombardi. “The whole thing about his physical game still has to be channelled in the right direction. You can’t play like the Flyers of the Seventies, so you have to channel that type of aggression. You can’t get away with just running around being physical.”

“Then, he’s got to get smarter with the puck,” added Lombardi. “Sometimes these guys try to add to their game too much, thinking they should be rushing pucks. Whoa. You were drafted to be that physical, make the first pass guy.”

“I think he had his ups and downs last year,” Lombardi noted. “The World Junior team wanted him because of that [toughness] element, just like why we drafted him. But he got a big wake-up call when we sent him to the [Ontario Reign of the] ECHL [late last year]. He wasn’t ready for [the AHL].”

Not to take too much away from Teubert, but I do hope expectation are tempered and that Oiler fans shouldn't expect to see him as regular for a few more years.

The Ugly

The Edmonton Oilers roster. For a team so short on real NHLers, to give up a player like Dustin Penner without getting a roster player in return is pretty poor. Currently the Oilers roster boasts 8 rookies on the active roster last game, 10 of the players either played in Europe, the AHL or Junior hockey last season. This team desperately needs some veteran talent especially with a team so young. They need some one to mentor these great young talents because right now its getting scary to watch 3 or 4 players out there at once on the ice who have so little experience. They need some one to guide them and help them develop. Was Penner that guy, sometimes, did LA have someone on their roster that filled that, not necessaryily but that should have been consideration in making a move like this. I don't see this team being competitive for few more years until they start adding the pieces to build around these young stars.

The Best Oiler Trade Ever...

As everyone goes on about the Dustin Penner trade to LA I would like to comment on how Steve Tambellini may have made the best Oiler trade ever, okay maybe not ever, and maybe it was not a trade at all. It was in fact not trading at all and in this case not trading Ales Hemsky. Don't get me wrong the bigger news of the day is definitely Penner and what we got in return, but not trading Hemsky is pretty huge. For all the talk about Taylor Hall and the kids, Hemsky is still the man on this team and will be for a few more years. I see him filling the Marian Hossa role on the this up and coming team, providing veteran offense and leadership when needed.

Also I think the return we would have gotten for Hemsky would not have been sufficient considering what it would take to replace him in a few more years. As I had posted earlier the likely return would have been similar to what the Oilers received for Penner; a prospect, a pick and a young roster player. Obviously thats not quite what Penner returned. Nonetheless two years from now it would be pretty hard to get a near point per game player like Hemsky and let alone sign him.

I'm hoping that we will see a contract extension this summer for Hemsky and that we will sign him long term with a lower cap hit, similar to Hossa's deal in Chicago.

One note on the Penner deal, I think this is a step in the right direction, it would have been nice to get a roster player in return but I think Tambellini did a good job in not taking a salary back which means this should free up some cap space to sign a much needed defenseman in the summer.