JR Ewing

What you've suggested for Hall is absolutely in line with what could happen, and is right in line with how he played in 2013, when he was still recovering from shoulder surgery.. JR

Eberle had a pretty nice season in 2013, but was extremely unlikely to do what he did in 2012: his 34 goals that year were built more than a little bit on an unsustainable shooting percentage of 19%. Wasn't going to do that two seasons in a row. That's the type of guy he'll be, I think: when things go right, he'll be in that 35ish goal range, otherwise, usually it will be in the 25-30 range. JR

Career stats: well, the stats I used were rate stats (per 60, per 20, etc) so they're pretty applicable here, and don't punish or reward either player for the length of their career so far. Last year: -Gagner ended up with one more point with 20 more minutes played. Statistically, that's completely insignificant. -If we take a look under the hood, at the deeper numbers, Gagner's line ended up being outplayed quite a bit at evens, so Sam ended up with a CorsiRel of -4 to Eberle's +22. In other words, the pucked moved the wrong too much for Gagner last year. NOW... There's some very good evidence which shows that coaching tactics played a role in this, so we'll have to see how it turns out from here. -Hits: I always have a hard time with this one as a point in one guy's favor. On one hand, it can indicate a more physical player. On the other hand, it also indicates that you didn't have the puck (thus the reason the Red Wings hardly ever get many hits credited to them: they always have the puck). In this case, we're talking about a pair of guys who play an offensive possession game, of course. But even then: what's the value of a hit? Are they necessary to be a good player? Is one player who had 25 more hits than another player better at hockey? In and of itself, it's not tremendously indicative. Between Gagner and Eberle, I think Gagner is more aggressive, and actually has fought when he thought somebody needed to, though that once again brings in the question of the value of such a thing. We can say that there isn't a lick of statistical correlation between these things and winning, scoring, defense, etc, that's for sure. -Block shots: mostly the same thing as above. Of course Gagner had more blocked shots. Last year's numbers tell us that he was in his own end more often, without the puck, and giving up scoring chances. Eberle would have had a tough time blocking shots in the offensive zone. But again, back to a philosophical question: how important is shot blocking? Would you rather have a player who keeps the puck in the offensive zone more often than spends time in his own end, with the opposition controlling the puck? Do teams which block a lot of shots give up fewer goals? (they don't, btw). Anyway, I'm not trying to get you to change your vote, but one of these two players is 13th in the NHL in Points/60 the last three years, and he other is 110th. I'll let you guess who is who here. I think Gagner is a *very* good young center, and don't get the near-constant talk from Edmonton folks about running him out of town. Dumb fans I guess; hockey has more of them than most sports. I just don't think he's as good a player, and I bet you 30 GMs would take Eberle over Gagner, too. JR

For things like this, I've always used a checklist of little points. The list has changed over the years as more tools have become available, but the core of it has been mostly the same for about 25 years. 1. Which player is the better goal scorer? Eberle: 1.183 G/60 Gagner: 0.573 Big advantage for Eberle here. Eberle 1, Gagner 0 2. Which player is the better playmaker? Eberle: 1.342 A/60 Gagner: 1.201 A/60 Eberle has the edge in playmaking. Eberle 2, Gagner 0 3. Which player is better at ES? Probably the best way to compare them would be to see how much the puck is moving in the right direction while they're on the ice. This is a no contest for Eberle: Eberle: 12.0 CorsiRel Gagner: 4.4 CorsiRel Eberle 3, Gagner 0 4. Which player is better on the PP? Again, this is straight-forward: Eberle: 4.041 Pts/60 Gagner: 3.887 Pts/60 Eberle gets the nod here again. Eberle 4, Gagner 0 5. Which player is better on the PK? A nice way to measure this would be to see how each player did compared to his teammates, while short-handed. Eberle: 4.736 SHGA/20 Min. Teammates: 2.197 SHGA/20 Min. -2.539 Gagner: 1.945 SHGA/20 Min. Teammates: 2.254 SHGA/20 Min. +0.309 This one goes for Samwise. Eberle 4, Gagner 1 6. Which player is bigger and stronger? Gagner and Eberle are the same height, but Gagner is 199 lbs to Eberle's 184. Eberle 4, Gagner 2 7. Which player is more physical? For what it's worth, Eberle has been credited with more hits than Gagner every year they've played. Final score: Eberle 5, Gagner 2 JR

Oh, and I would make that clear to Giroux if I were Holmgren. Hell, I'm sure that Giroux himself has the first and foremost on his mind. Either way, like I said in my first post: Giroux's just so damned good, that if he plays like we can expect, he'll be on that team no matter what. JR

"If" is certainly the operative word here; I agree. How does attending a meeting in Calgary take anything away from the Flyers? I have 100% understanding for the Flyers not wanting him to further injure his hand by taking part in any sort of scrimmage, but fail to see what any team should care about a player meeting up with a bunch of other players and coaches in another city on his own time off. I want to know how this negatively impacts the Philadelphia Flyers organization. JR

-Hmm... McKenzie just said "it's safe to assume" that Hockey Canada is extremely disappointed. I wouldn't want to get too bent out of shape over anything yet. -The Flyers have their concerns, and they're extremely fair. However, if they ordered Giroux not to attend, then they're just being dicks. He could have attended the orientation, met with his coaches and teammates, but then (gasp!) not played any ball hockey. The hand injury is only an issue if he plays. -None of this is a very big deal. If Giroux goes out and plays like he can this year, he's an easy choice for the Olympic team. JR

I get that: the Pens have some legit issues with the play of their bottom six and can't just throw money at one guy in that group. JR

A 1-yr $600,000 / $100,000 two-way deal is so good it's not even funny. After 20+ years of watching the Oilers almost never having depth, it's nice to see them pick it up one spot at a time. For me: very nice bet on MacTavish's part. JR

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/oilers-agree-to-terms-with-forward-omark/

I pretty much have no choice but to go with Jordan Eberle, but I think that Hopkins is really close as an overall player (it was mostly missed that in the course of one off-season, he became glorious in all three zones). However... He's injured, and Eberle continues to produce. JR

HF fan voting of the Oilers top 5 players... So far: 1. Taylor Hall We move on to #2. NOTE - This isn't asking who you think will be better players, or who are the best prospects, but who are the best Oilers players right now.

Sorry, we had company for most of the past two weeks, and didn't have more than a moment or two to get away, so I didn't have a chance to update. Hall is the clear winner of the #1 spot, as he should be. Next up: #2. JR

Pretty nice deal for the Caps. Grabovski has a VERY good chance of outperforming the salary hit and provide a value contract. JR

Stamkos is one hell of a goalscorer, but things definitely tighten up on a G/60 look: 1. Stamkos, 1.540 2. Toews, 1.531 3. Malkin, 1.320 4. Pacioretty, 1.252 (Crosby, 1.213) 5. Vrbata, 1.204 6. Neal, 1.198 7. Nash, 1.189 8. Eberle, 1.183 9. Lupul, 1.183 10. Grabner, 1.179 For the hell of it, I placed Crosby in there. He is, overall, preposterously better than everybody else at producing points: ES Points/60, last two years Crosby, 4.35 Malkin, 2.98 Toews, 2.87 Lupul, 2.73 Dupuis, 2.71 Eberle, 2.67 Stamkos, 2.60 Hall, 2.52 Pacioretty, 2.50 Whitney, 2.50 JR

It's kinda funny when Edmonton gets mentioned in these types of threads. Growing up, the arena was called "Northlands Mausoleum" because it was so quiet. After the glory days things changed. By the time 1997 arrived, the Oilers had been out of the playoffs for five years, all of the greats had left town, and (probably just as importantly in this regard) the game was being sold quite differently. Previously, the building was quiet as people took their seats. The pre-game stuff was simply anthems, an announcement of the lineups, and then puck drop. By this time, there was loud music, laser shows, anthems, etc, all pumping everybody up before and during the game. In 1997, the Oilers played Dallas in the opening round of the playoffs, and it was a mis-match. Dallas had a much better roster and they had Ken Hitchcock who knew how to strangle the life out of a game. VERY well coach hockey club. In game 2, Bryan Marchment had been knocked unconscious on a freak play where he crashed into the penalty box just as the door was being opened as Guy Carbonneau was ready to step on to the ice. It was an ugly and frightening site to see happen to any player... In game three, the Stars were playing their A-game, and simply left no opportunity for the Oilers to cash anything. There was no room for skating, passing, shooting or anything. The fans (myself included, since I was there) were utterly silent. With a little over 4 minutes left in the 3rd period, and the Stars up 3-0, the in-house camera centered on Marchment, in the pressbox due to his injury, and the crowd gave him a cheer. The camera remained on him, and the cheering grew louder and louder. Deafening stuff. CBC, btw, completely missed all of that stuff with the crowd and Marchment, but it was there, and the microphones didn't do the volume level justice. I had a headache for two days after. And... Well... Youtube helps tell the story well: Scroll ahead to 12:40. youtube and HF don't play nicely when you try to set it for a specific time. (if you have time, watch the entire re-cap of the series, as it was absolutely thrilling and classic stuff. Great series.) When Kelly Buchberger scored the goal in OT, the place really erupted. It was the first playoff game in town in five years, and in that time, we'd watched the greatest player in the world be sold off, and a great dynasty stripped down for parts. I guess it all came out, and it was so loud in there. People kept cheering and screaming. As we left, in the stairwells, on the train platform, in the trains. Everywhere. I didn't see its like again until Spring 2006, when the Oilers made it back to the Finals. Edmonton belongs in that conversation now, but I think we took things for granted in "the good old days". JR

Hmm... Probably a whole lot of Windsor Spitfires? JR

This is Max Bentley. He was a terrific player. Small (155 lbs) but slick with the puck, strong passer and was a superb skater. Bentley won Art Ross Trophies in 1946 and '47, while he played for Chicago, and that's with missing three prime years to World War 2. Bentley was also a hypochondriac of the first order. He tried out for the Bruins, who loved his skill, but decided that he was too skinny to last in the NHL. He then went to try out for the Canadiens, and during the medical, the doctor told him he had a heart condition that was too severe for him to play; that if he did he'd be dead within a year. From that day on, for the rest of his life, Bentley went nowhere without a bag full of medications a hat full of maladies he was convinced he suffered from. Sore throats, stomach ulcers, headaches, burning eyes, and the constant belief that a heart attack was around the corner at any moment, Bentley suffered from what we would now see as anxiety. Everybody knew about it. Cal Gardner: "I had been max's teammate on the Maple Leafs when we won the cup in 1949 and 1951 and we had been roommates but this was a game we had to win. As soon as we got on the ice for warmups, I made a beeline for Max and told him straight out that he seemed sick to me and that he should see a doctor. Whenever we'd pass I'd bring it up again. By game time, Max was a wreck and couldn't do a thing for New York that night. Naturally we beat the Rangers." Article from the Montreal Gazette, Dec 28, 1953: http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19531228&id=aoMtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cZkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4182,4771846 JR

Yes, guys like James go to the lowest depths that the worst people are able to go. I just don't see how his crimes are pardonable. JR

Speaking of which: I voted Hall. JR

I'm fine with how it is now, with people choosing to say who they voted for if they want to. JR

So, who are the Oilers top 5 players, and what order do they belong in? Let's start with #1... We'll do this by process of elimination here, even if there's name on the list who are clearly not at the top. JR

Good mentions, and they make me think of two things related (in a way)... Chris Nilan: was longtime friends with Monsignor Frederick J. Ryan; close enough to perform Nilan’s wedding ceremony as well. In 2002, Ryan told him that he molested three boys during the 1970s and 80s. Nilan did the right thing and testified in legal proceedings against his old friend. Bulger always reminds me of: Tony Demers, who played parts of 5 season with the Habs during the 1940s. Scumbag. After bouncing around in the minors, including being the MVP of the Quebec Senior League, Demers ran into big legal trouble: was convicted of beating his girlfriend to death in 1949, and served 8 years of a 15-year prison term. JR

Yeah, Clarke did. Bob Gainey and Marcel Dionne as well. JR

Yeah, Eagleson is just lousy of a guy. I imagine he's a pretty smart guy, but a terrible human being. JR