How 'bout them Oilers?

[Thorin]

Yeah, well, anyone following the Oilers knows we don't shoot enough and allow too many shots.  However, those stats you linked, Darren, can be very misleading.  It all comes down to how dangerous of a shot it was.  30 shots from the blue line are less dangerous than 3 shots from the crease on the opposite side of the goalie.  Thus I like to look at scoring chances rather than shots.  Too bad there isn't a league-wide measure of those (David Staples compiles them for the Oilers as a hobby).

While I do see Hemsky giving up on plays and getting frustrated, by scoring chances he's not doing too much wrong defensively (i.e. he's in the correct place on the ice doing the correct thing for a winger).  As an illustration, have a look through this frame-by-frame of all four goals scored against and marked as a negative against Hemsky: http://www.mc79hockey.com/?p=4289.

[Melbosa]

... Remember when? ...

Hey Mel, gratz on them Jets, they're certainly doing better than the Oil.

I know, we got a lucky one tonight to put Washington to a shoot out, but damn we outplayed them most of the game!  I'm hoping for a 8th place playoff clench!

[Darren Dirt]

While I do see Hemsky giving up on plays and getting frustrated, by scoring chances he's not doing too much wrong defensively (i.e. he's in the correct place on the ice doing the correct thing for a winger).  As an illustration, have a look through this frame-by-frame of all four goals scored against and marked as a negative against Hemsky: http://www.mc79hockey.com/?p=4289.

"mc79hockey.com is a statistically oriented website focused on the many ways in which the Oilers disappoint us..." 

[Thorin]

The way the Oil have been playing the last few games, they might actually climb out of 29th!

What a change from the first page of posts in this thread.

[Mr. Analog]

That's for sure, I was pretty damn impressed with the way the clobbered the ol' Broad Street Bullies.

It'd be great to see 'em jump a few rungs in the ladder, that's for sure.

[Thorin]

Here's something weird: Winnipeg and Edmonton have the exact same goals for and goals against:

Winnipeg, 1st in their division, 3rd in their conference, 14th in the league: 161 goals for, 178 goals against, on 63 games played
Edmonton, 5th in their division, 14th in their conference, 29th in the league: 161 goals for, 178 goals against, on 60 games played

WINNIPEG IS THIRD IN THEIR CONFERENCE!  HOLY BLAP!  Of course, if they get knocked out of first in their division, they'll drop to seventh or even eighth in their conference.

"eighth"...  Is that the right spelling?

[Mr. Analog]

Eighth, yes

Yeah, no surprise they knocked out the Leafs

[Thorin]

Well, the Oil are now out of 29th and into 28th.  Six games left, three that matter for the opponent (one against Dallas, two against LA, who both have a chance to make playoffs or get knocked out yet), three that don't (two against Anaheim who can't make it, one against Vancouver who are now guaranteed in).  So we'll probably see three losses and three wins.  The talk now is about who to draft.  <sigh>  That all-too-familiar talk.

I'm impressed that Ladislav Smid has more than doubled his career number of goals scored in the NHL this season.  He was at 4 goals in 5 seasons, now he's at 9 goals in 6 seasons.  Hopefully he keeps that up, and hopefully they don't trade him away now that he's finally playing well (see many former Oilers that have scored on us just this season).

[Mr. Analog]

If we let LA get two points it pushes Calgary out of contention.

I'm not saying they should THROW THE Friday GAME but maybe they should THROW THE Friday GAME