The Cult of Hockey's "McD, Drai and Oil out-skill and outscore Vegas" podcast

Let's do this, yes or faithful, I'm David Staples from the Edmonton Journal and I'm here tonight with Barrus Mercury, hey Bruce, hey David, how are you tonight? Great, you've got your honors in orange, that's right, that's right, well, actually it is. uh every kid cares about orange, but it's orange, so it's a game day jersey, there you go, so there aren't many opponents that are orange, just a couple of them, they're the Islanders and the Ducks. I think they are the only ones, but fortunately you are diffi

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. I never played against the Denver Broncos oh no that's right, I don't even know if they do.

I don't watch the NFL. I think they don't see it anymore and I think well, it's elegant. I think it's blue and orange. The crushing orange, yes, yes. 1970 Sports Reference Lyle Alzado, okay Bruce, that was a fantastic win for the Edmonton Oilers tonight. I deserve to win according to orders. I thought a lot of things went right, some things went wrong and we'll get into it. These are our two good things. Two bad things and two numbers

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so I'm going to start with this because the good thing is something that I wrote about um at the beginning of uh in my post today and it had the title of nice please can't orders? they gave up the first goal of the game tonight and they didn't, they scored the first goal of the game, that's the eighth time, eighth time in the 18 games they did, so they did it Bruce, um, when the Oilers, uh, in seven of their eight losses this year seven of them, you know, they only lost the eight games in which the opposing team scored the first goal, so if that opposing team is going to score the first goal, chances are that the orders lose the game. and their losses invariably come when the first goal is scored against them tonight, although I thought they played a very strong game from the top there was a break in the game, but I think it actually had a lot to do with an illegal pick itself, so pulling the RV in the center ice area still happened, but um um and it would have counted if there was a goal against, but I don't think they got a shot, they didn't get a shot.

That, um, so they missed the net on the shot, but the orders that I thought were strong at the beginning of the game and that's it, uh, at 1805 of the first period, they did it in an absolutely fantastic spot. I thought dry Leon flew off like a skate, uh, very, very strong. At the beginning of the game and his line was there for this goal, it was absolutely, you know, let's talk about this. He scored several beautiful goals and this was one of them, a dry cycle, settled dry and Ryan Murray. They were moving the puck really well back and forth to each other on diagonal passes and then Murray hit Brian Nugent Hopkins in the slot and knew he threw it into the net on a kind of shot pass.

Fogle got the puck before he hit the net. I picked it up right in front of the goalie and smashed it. It was a beautiful passing play and was indicative of a strong start to this strong start from Euler. I actually don't think the starting orders have anything to do with a lack of offensive will or offensive ability, the owners have had bad starts this year because they generally don't increase their defensive play until they get behind, you know how they are, you know in too many games and they have a lot of bad habits in this sense, they have a break as a team if they want to be a Stanley Cup challenger team and that goes up and down the lineup for each player.

The ones who make these mistakes early in the game are your most prominent players, they make them more often than anyone else because they are on the ice more than anyone else, but they have to speed it up and I thought they did that. I thought that players like McDavid and Dry Set and Eugene Hopkins and if I'm in an infirmary and CeCe want to play too. Release a strong and tough defense. Start the game and simply have to do it. They have to make that their habit, you know, like I said, instead of publishing, I'm going to make it their religious religion.

I saw it tonight, Bruce and I was impressed with it, I thought the owners, um, you know, I don't know. I don't know if this habit will last, I hope it does, but it's a habit to love for this team, if they hope to compete for the Stanley Cup, there is no other way to do it. Also get in the habit now of doing it and continue forward and that's what I hope to see, yes, a fundamental professionalism as far as I'm concerned to be ready for the start of the game, I mean the other time.

You're going to get bombed, but it shouldn't happen twice a week that you know you're coaching in the first TV timeout and you're down 10-1 on the shot clock midway through the first period, something like three or four times lately. it's just yeah you know hello wake up yeah and we don't say you wake up at night so good when we see it on tv not always and neither do other fans it's so frustrating oh no no I thought that The coach is crazy and there have been several coaches like this is a habit, this has been a um, an ongoing problem in the McDavid era, you know, with the dry side of McDavid, um, the two, and the nurse, ya You know, the three players who.

I've been here all the time, new John Hopkins, some others and they're part of this, right, they have it. They have to make a decision just as much as anyone else. Honestly, if I'm being completely honest, this is what I believe. I really think the star players on this team have to make a decision. This simply doesn't happen anymore. You know it can happen. It can happen. You know that even really great players can get beaten from time to time, but it won't happen every second. game like it's been happening where the other team is storming you out of the gates and you're fiddling with the puck and your legs aren't moving and your mind isn't moving and you're letting The guys from these leaders on this team get They have gotten in, not in our way, we are going to know that our team will be defined by strong defensive play from the beginning of the game, Bruce and if I think they do it well, everything else. will fall, we will fall in these spots for this team, it doesn't mean they are going to win the cup, but they will go far in the playoffs, they will do very well and they just have to do it, they have to do it well. so my job is to make the playoffs and, yeah, you know they've had so far in the second 10-game segment, this was only the third win, they've already lost five in regulation, you know, so, in Best case scenario, they're treading water and you know they're most likely not even doing that right now and just so you know they have to clean some things up, but being ready for the start of the damn game is pretty high up. that list were tonight, were, were.

I thought they skated hard and presented it physically and showered with the puck and, you know, got that, that first goal, although this game, unlike the previous six, I think the team. Whoever scored first never lost while tonight the lead actually changed hands Vegas scored the second third goal then Evington got the fourth and the fifth uh and I kept swinging back and forth but Edmonton had it right in the end I got three leads and Vegas had one, but it was a see-saw affair, that second goal was very critical and obviously let's get to your good stuff, Bruce, because you're going to talk about the other three goals, which I'm going to talk about all of. the goals because I thought I thought about the orders uh I mean if you look at the numbers from this game the artist was outshot uh we had them as a chance uh but in the order chances they executed super well in all his goals. which were basically beautiful passing spots, yeah, and it was, I mean, no, the first goal that you already described, you know, a really good play by Leon along the boards to get to Murray at the point and Murray made a shot. pass where it looked like he was shooting, but in reality he fired a diagonal dart at Newton Hopkins and, as he mentioned, he shot naked, whether it was a shot originally.

I took a shot at the gold when I saw the replay, it went to Fogo, who intercepted it. the shot or was it just a hard pass and he was able to take it on the edge of the box and put it in well the second goal was a nifty three way passing play again Newton Hopkins got involved and this time he got a good pass to nurse a nurse found a seam and fed her again diagonally to a dry chair with enough time for, instead of blowing up the only timer, there was such a commotion in front.

Leon actually held it for a second, picked his spot and hit it home to make it 2-2 and that was a great stabilizing goal because only the order gave up two goals to fall behind 2-1 but there was a little defensive problem in the first half of the second half, yeah and uh and they uh So they hung in there so they got a goal at that point, you know, stabilizing the score and changing the momentum that was absolutely huge. Five Five Alarm shots in a row for the Las Vegas team before that goal. Five Alarm shots were the five alarms, including the penalty goal, right, right, and you know what I loved about that goal, I mean, other than Leon's shot, Darnell's nurses pass, yeah, It was great, what a pass and he just tore it up and what a thing for Las Vegas. you're playing against this team, you've had five, five, follow their shots on everyone, you've got a goal to show, which is right, which is pretty good, but you're playing against this team and they don't get much, but man, when When you make a little mistake against these players, Bam, it's in that net, that must be very painful for opposing teams.

You have this level of surreal

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that, in the blink of an eye, they know. they run and destroy your defense and you know they are all My image of this game is the Las Vegas players lying on the ice after the orders have gone through them for another brilliant goal, you know they are falling all over the place trying to stop and they are doing the best they can, but they can't do it, yeah, so the orders open the third period with the transferred power play and after two pretty miserable power plays early in the game and in kind of a diffi

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situation.

Starting even in the third period is part of this power after first missing a big opportunity at the end of the second and then at the beginning and in the third. Tyson Barry coughed up the puck and they took a look at it. but the puck went down to the other end and then all of a sudden the

skill

comes up again, they always had a chance, uh, that didn't work out and it looked like the puck was going to go to Vegas, get knocked down the ice. and Tyson Barry crossed all the way from Far Point on the right side.

I anticipated the play would be over quickly and not only did he not win the race to the puck, but his stick did because he did such a great job of reaching over the stick and just putting it back in the corner and from there, the rest of the team worked some of their magic with the puck with Eugene Hopkins again finding McDavid and McDavid and excellent shooting position. Instead of passing it to Zach Hyman, who sent it home and didn't put Edmonton up three to two at the start of the third and then finally in the overtime period, just one turn a minute and 23 no minutes, 17 seconds, three players on the ice the entire time, 40 seconds chasing the puck and then 40 seconds with the puck, McDavid and the dry chair.

He had a couple of possessions that looked dangerous. I mean, it always seems dangerous when one of those guys has spoken and the other. guys, they opened Ice, uh, but um, uh, dry settlement, they returned the puck to the nurse at the point where the nurse decided to take it out of the zone and restart, which is a very common strategy in 3v3 with time not being use a lot. See five on five, but what he accomplishes in overtime, I mean, it's not hard for two other guys to get back onside, but it leaves a lot more room for his game and notice that after he drifted back, he waited for McDavid return. in position and cutting up the ice and then he gave a nice hard pass to McDavid and all of a sudden he's one on one and he has 60 feet to work with because he's taking this pass to the Blue Line as opposed to somewhere near or behind the net and he left some poor guy in his wake as soon as he got the pass and the other guy trying to climb over him didn't stand a chance and McDavid made the little inside cut and a Roof Job with a quick two touch where he just switched the shooting angle and covered it all in a split second, to bring the Knight to a happy conclusion for the oilheads, and they, you know, earned it based on the execution.

I mean, I would say they had, uh, probably the four best goals in this game. I'm biased, but I would justify it. I thought Vegas goals were kind of garden variety. I mean, the penalty goal was a you-know-what. It was a shot, but it wasn't like a shot after three good passes, as all the oracles seemed to be. In fact, the new Jeep has three assists tonight. I'm sure you made two with the same strength. responded with a couple apples and then got a third on the power play if an assist is an apple what is a goal?

Well, that's a good question. I was trying to look for it the other day and couldn't. I can't find it, you know, a grape, so Nuge has 20 points. I'm just going to check what he is through 18 games, so he's 34th, tied for 34th in the NHL, actually tied for 28th. YeahIf Bruce had three more points, it would be Kai in tenth place, it's been a while since the orders have had any of the three players in the top 10 in scoring. You know they've had two players in the top ten for a while, but there's a chance. and I'm going to say it's like I didn't know that one in five, maybe even more than that, one in three, I knew that Dr.

Hyman was going to be in the top ten this year in NHL scoring. Listen Snapchat has to be there too. Diamond is right. there too close, I think he's 19. um, they're very um, so if these guys get hot and the power play gets super hot, you know, if you need, nooch could have it. I could see naked getting 85 90 points this year and um, that could slide it in, you know, which is great because you know, based on their salaries, that's a great value if you're getting a point or close to a game point from a player who earns about what is 5.1 million dollars a year um that's exceptional um uh return on your dollar Newch has been receiving criticism for his scoring strength um, he is not alone and struggles in that area for the forward order, although he has a lot of really great minutes with McDavid I I've liked his play with McDavid and subtle and dry this year.

I haven't always liked McDavid and the walks, but I think he is becoming a strength player and even a little more effective this year than last. The last two years, I mean, he was great on the dynamite line, as we know, with him, dry cycle and Yamamoto in 2019 20. That line found some real chemistry for 30 games, that was the last time he was great, but really I have done. In fact, I quite liked his game this year. I think he is quite focused and sharp in attack, especially and more determined to force his will in the game, as well as to get involved physically, than in the past.

I think he can be a perimeter player, an artist in our Newton Hopkins evaluation, but he's getting more into the middle of things on offense and maybe a little bit of those Zach Hyman attitudes rub off on him because, of course. Hyman is the human pinball out there and he's always in the middle of everything, so the good for Bruce, let's move on and now we'll talk about our bad things and the bad will be some bad luck and that was in Las Vegas. Las Vegas' first goal that tied the game, I mean, it's a point shot off a guy's head, I think he went off his head, right?

It looked like he came off his head or shoulder and then went up into the air above Skinner. who comes after that and right into the net, so the chances of someone shooting from the top, you know his shoulder or his head like that, landing in the net, he did. I mean, you might not see many goals. like that it's just bad luck to play um against orders it happens it's a goal that counts for the other team you know, we know it's a goal that Pacific Division teams love to try to score I think it's, you know, dominated by Todd McClellan's teams that point shot where you have traffic in front of you and you hope it hits someone and goes in and uh, I called it California because it's the California teams that understand it, but I think I'm going to call it the Burnsy because it's Brent Burns who is the master of that Latin shot, you know, hard shot that finds a piece of someone else and goes to the net to be his teammate or the opponent, but it goes towards the United States.

Burns is the master of this play. we've seen it for years and they have it there, it's very frustrating, but life is like

hockey

, that's

hockey

, traffic, yeah you got the rebound, sure it's not the most exciting, but it can be very ruthlessly efficient , yes I love it. when the lighters score those goals I admit it when you get one it's like wow that's you they just found money okay yeah it's in the middle of the table you grab it and that's why teams try to make those shots , It is not like this. bad tactics and the orders need to make maybe a little bit better shot by trying to get more of those more of those type of goals and shots themselves, you know they're having a hard time getting some of their spot kicks in recent games. and it would be nice to see them score some of those goals.

I don't know how many, no. I don't remember them scoring more than one or two all year if Edmonton has. I scored that way, so, and you have to score that way from time to time, what's your problem? Yeah, well, I was thinking about criticizing linesman number 90's terrible call, which led directly to the tying goal in the third period. And I thought about it. It was a big call or something when the puck went right past Las Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore, he was skating towards him and all he had to do was take one more step and stick out a stick and it wouldn't have hit the Hosh mark. and decided to turn around and go back to the goal line on the right, the linesman allows them to do that and then calls for icing, it was just absurd and of course they scored in the box.

I got pretty bitter after that, but In fact, I'm going to mention my bad thing because the play that led to the penalty shot was a big part of the problem with two bad line changes by two orders that exposed them in the middle of the ice, one of which was Brett Kulak leaving. I remember you after a 2 minute and 15 second shift. uh, trying to get it, do the long shift. The second period is just brutal, especially for the defense, but not for the benches a mile away. He would know it by all the quick changes you have in your beer. league games that, uh, the bench is a lot further away in the second period than in the first, yeah, anyway, so I have a little bit of sympathy for him, but he didn't come out on time and the guy who replaced Nursery there was no chance it got caught on the ice on the play, uh, but then the second Dylan Holloway, like Vegas, has the puck, they have the puck inside their own Blue Line Holloway dead center in the middle of the ice , which is a kind of forward coverage.

The faster and for some strange completely unknown reason he decides to slide, he doesn't, he also slides towards the bench leaving the center of the ice open. Wham pass right through the middle, you know, no defense, no striker, well guess what the breakaway is. and Ryan Murray on the other side, I mean, he was somewhat at fault and ended up committing the foul on the play that they uh that called for the uh for the penalty kick and I didn't have any real complaints with that decision and it was uh uh, but it was just poor game management by um uh, to some extent, kulak in a hallway very much, like he thought it was just a horrendous work mistake in a long series that he's made at this point and for all that I understand, all the hype and excitement about how good a player Dylan Holloway is going to be, the sad fact is that he's still not that good of a player and at this point in the season, in my opinion, he's on the hook and I think it's time for them to take stock of that and say from time to time to get more reps and get more ice time because tonight he played, what do we have here, four minutes and 40 seconds with a penalty and zero shot attempts and nothing at all in his summary of events other than that penalty, that bad line change which, you know, turned out to be pretty costly and are a couple of pretty big mistakes to make in less than five minutes, you know, hooking a guy along the boards and then abandon your doctor when the other team is in possession of the puck and this happens way too often and I don't want to sound like I'm mad at Dylan Holloway.

I just don't think he's ready yet and I think it's time for the team to maybe recognize that fact and change things up for a while, what if Tyler Benson had a great preseason and if he can come back like he's been out for a while? a while due to an injury, unfortunately, the story of his life, if he could come back after there in Bakersfield he will play a lot of games this week if he could come back, take and take Holloway's place. I mean, it could be the ticket. He's more of a veteran player.

He is physical. He now he's a troublemaker. He has a little. a little bit of skill and you know it's okay if Potter Benson on this play right now plays seven eight minutes a game it's not okay if Dylan Holloway does it I agree with Bruce, that was clearly, it's a rookie mistake, he's thinking I'm a rookie I have to come off the ice like they're coaches now kulak it's like his head is swimming like he can barely think he's been probably so tired at that point so he likes I I have to come out but it was bad line change on his part too, but if Holloway doesn't change, they won't be able to make that pass and there is time for the crew to cover the middle of the ice, well he was there in good position until he left it.

I know veteran players might be aware Hey, my dmat needs to go down. I have to do everything I can to cover it and stay back and not let them break the ice, attack the ice instead of skating and leaving the middle of the ice wide open like that, so yeah, um, I don't know, I guess they could call James Hamblin, he'd be the other guy, um, he's an option if Benson's not ready, like 200 vents are needed. He's still a month away from returning and being ready to play in the NHL. He doesn't want to come here when he's not ready, but he's a good option.

Hamlin is a good option. Well, those are my two guys, who I would choose. I know Rob alone is a player that the coach really likes, but I know he has very limited usefulness at the NHL level, he's a little slow, he was actually called up, I think they should put Yamamoto in reserve of injured. although I haven't changed because Milan was called up today, but well, I missed that he didn't play, of course, but he was, there you go, and Tyler Benson is listed as the number 23 man, but he's in his uh. He's on a rehab assignment in Bakersfield to be able to do the rehab and stay on the roster, you have to be on the 23-man roster and the roster and everything else, so after the end, I think it's four games. that Benson gets his allotted time, after that they have to bring him back and keep him on the roster or then they have to signal him to keep him in Bakersfield, so these are pretty big games for him in Bakersfield, but I'm being nice.

With you, I mean the Benson we saw in the preseason. He was playing pretty well. It was very tough luck for this guy to suffer an injury at a time when he was really playing the best he could. He gave his best. to fight for a job here and as you say you know it's not like we're asking for orders we would ask to replace a 15 to 18 minute winger they have a four to seven minute winger that they We're struggling to find places where they can put them in the games and I, you know, I think we've seen enough, I've seen enough, that tells me this is a really good prospect, but he's not an NHL caliber player yet, the mistakes outweigh the good plays by a significant margin, yes, and at a certain point you wonder if the lessons you know are being learned might outweigh the trust being lost, and I'm not at all sure on that front either, so it's not a demotion for the miners.

I'll do anything to boost a guy's confidence in the immediate short term, but once he's there, you know you get the most out of them in every situation. He put him on the power plane, the penalty kill and the first line, the center, the wing and overtime. and everything and say how about her, show us your game, understand what you know, get, get your instincts going again because playing five minutes One night, the game will flow for him and clearly it's not yeah, it's just uh, it's just ha been a bit of a train. The disaster up to this point is exacerbated, you know, if you start to lose confidence as a coach and you have less time, don't play at all in the third period like he did on the night and then in the next game, you know.

The guy is going to be on edge and I think we've been seeing that for quite some time. A couple of months in Bakersfield would probably do him some good right now. I don't see any problem with that and if he excels there like me. I hope he's ready for the playoffs, you know, for the regular season, you know, cut to February, March and go from there, you know, they have options, if Benson is healthy, they'll have an option there, that's him. can play in the NHL, I think at this point, um, yeah, and we're looking at Matthias Yanmark coming in and man, he was, he looked good with Conor McDavid, I mean, McDavid sent him on a breakaway, he sat McDavid down. . a breakaway with a battle there, um, this is this, you know, the owners have a little, they have a little depth here, they don't need Dylan Holloway to lead this team to anything, I think Jan Mark is what would do .

I won't be surprised to see him stay here for Bruce, you know, a couple of weeks with McDavid and we'll see how it goes, then of course you know everything is very changeable in the NHL with forward lines, but Jan Mark's gains hold up right now and um, he's the type of player that hits, I think you can team up with two super attackers like Hyman and McDavid and build some chemistry. You know, a smart, heady player who is good with the puck and wins battles. I mean man he could bethe best. This is what we expected, I guess the RV pulley would do this year and Yamamoto would do it and both I think it's fair to say that they both struggled, to some extent, they are just not, they are not nor have they brought their help game all year , but we're seeing that yeah, Mark is a game, he's bringing it right now, so let's see and maybe we'll see Tyler Benson come in and bring his game and that.

We'll add something to this team as well and that's what they need to happen Bruce, let's get to your number, what is it? Well, actually I'm going to go back to Matthias, yeah, and Mark, and I'm going to talk about the 17 minutes and 44 seconds that he played in this game and when you look at all these forwards in this game, the top four are exactly who you think they would be. Leon Dry Saddle 23-29 Connor McDavid 23 12 Zach Hyman 22 31 Orion Nugent Hopkins 22-12. and that's for the big five and of course the fifth guy, Amanda Kane, is on the sidelines so you know they really miss him because he logged a lot of ice time, he's kind of the fifth guy of the big five and right now.

The fifth guy is Matisse Landmark, he had 1744 and the next striker after him had 15 minutes and 17 seconds. Warren Fogle and Yanmark in the process led the penalty unit with two minutes, 38 seconds, the most of any forward and that's not all. game because the Wednesday night game against the Kings, a game I attended and I wasn't, uh, Ira, thank you, Ira filled out the

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for me, um, but we got more of the same in that game, we had you . meet McDavid 22-43 uh Hyman 2203 uh dry chair 2021 Newton Hopkins 1943 and then there was a four to five minute gap again, number five was Matthias Yanmark 1522 with a team high of 253 on the penalty kill, so no he just comes up and you know he played in the bottom six, he's coming up, he's been promoted within the lineup and he's been promoted not only with linemates but with actual minutes like he's in the top six if you believe in minutes of the last two games.

He's been number five with a bullet in both games, so this guy, I mean, he was really between a rock and a hard place and got caught in a terrible calf crunch that the Oilers had. I mean, there's no way they would want to ship. He took him to the miners, but they had to send one of him or Ryan just because the cop was too strict to let them both on the team, so he had to be biting the bullet down there without even playing because he had Green . Problems with the cards and he was finally able to play and I'm sure he wasn't very happy to be in the AHL at this or any other time in his career, but when he came back, I give the guy credit for playing well in his few AHL games and he's played well since he's been here he's skating, he's so, you know, making things happen, he had a play tonight, they were under a little pressure, he made a great play to block a shot right in of the line and an even more excellent play. he played to somehow get to the loose pocket and then McDavid was there, before he knew it, he had beat his guy and was going to go in alone, but all of that happened because Landmark had made the big stop, so for the most part it was good. brutal loss like a minute and 20 seconds ago, yeah, period, it could have ended very badly, but he, you know, I think he looked good, he's very fast, he's very clever on the boards, that's right, I knew he was fast in the games.

I've watched the preseason and some regular season games. He has always impressed me with his ability to handle traffic. Yes, Bruce. I wrote a post about Buried Treasure and how difficult it has been for Reuters GMS during the decade of Darkness. Defines the forwards who can. come in and play who really comes in, you know, be good and be good, it's like you know there's an endless list, it's done, it's dozens and dozens of players that have been brought in that haven't been good, you know? like just a quick list of names Ben eager Robert Nielsen Alice kodalik Patrick oh Sullivan Eric bellanger Jared Smiths and Boyd Gordon now some people may like Floyd Gordon but I wasn't one of them Teddy Purcell Ryan Spooner Laurie corpica Colin Fraser Drake cajula Tobias reader and UC yokonen, so these were all pre-Ken Holland players and they're largely right, they're a big part of the reason the audience never went anywhere and it was the decade of Darkness, plus it was a horrible time for the franchise.

The pro scouting was atrocious, they couldn't identify talented players or convince talented players to come here, you know, there's always that aspect, well, you know, Ken Holland Bruce, he brought in Evander Kane and whatever else you want to say, it was brilliant. , it was a brilliant hockey move, you get a player like that to come here last year, for pennies on the dollar and the way Kane played and the success he had in the playoffs, it was a great move by Ken Holland and then you can sign him to a long-term contract at a pretty good price for a player of his ability um, you know, unfortunately he's injured, that happens to players, you can't, you don't know, that's going to happen, so that's it. one right now, they convinced Zach Hyman. come here, but Hyman wasn't a buried treasure, he's a known commodity, you know, he was just dry, he wants to play with McDavid and Dry Saddle, they got him to come here, that was good, although I mean, that's good, but it What they need is them.

I need more players um sort of at the bottom and you know so I think Derek Ryan has been a helpful person to sign like that. I think Josh Archibald was fine. Warren Fogle could still work. um, you know, he, you know yesterday. Paulie RV could. It still works, people are discouraged by it, but Holland convinced him to come back. Ryan McLeod, that was a gem found in the drought. I think in the Shirelli era, uh, who was developed might work, but Yan Mark is who I first saw. He plays like you know. I'm a little self-conscious about players on other teams who aren't superstars, but from the first time I saw him with the Oilers here I thought, "This guy is a hockey player." he can actually play, it sounds like a surprise, you know, because how often have we seen, we've almost never seen a guy who can actually play hockey, um, comes in, uh, he's a little-known player and he comes in and impresses everyone. now he does. can do if he can do it consistently, it's going to be huge for orders, like if you can get a third line or a second, even for a while, a second line or a first line player from him, that's going to be huge for orders. because it never happens, it almost never happens, so, good luck to him, a great first impression and tonight he, he, came through once again, yeah, well, I'm constantly reminded of Craig McTavish's great quote when he came in like some kind of a wild card in management and evaluated the talent pool that Steve Tambolini had amassed and said we have too many guys paraphrasing, but we should be close, we have too many guys here, where it's the best you can hope for.

Are they going to break even? Yeah, you know, there's no way they're going to do anything more positive that you know helps you win more than a very, very casual game, uh, and of course the best you can hope for, like me. break even well, you're not always going to get that either and all those guys that you listed and a thousand others that you didn't either were the mediocre players that you know one after another or you know just um uh uh average or below and more often below and the orders have had this problem with their stars off the ice well into the McDavid era, you know, with the sole exception of 2016-17 when you know they had a hot year from Mark the testu and they had um, You know, a little more bounce up and down the lineup and excellent health that year as well, but they haven't found too many gems in the depth signings and we'll see at Yanmar.

They come early, but yeah, early, there are signs that this guy can play and it's past history, you know, I mean, this guy is like a 30-year-old guy who's been in the NHL for several years and his track record suggests he can play like this let's see what he can do and maybe this, if he's a real frontline player with McDavid, well I have my doubts, on the other hand, you know, the right player gets the right opportunity, I mean Patrick Maroon, whoever gets him have seen him as a top-line player. with McDavid, though, when he had that opportunity, he took that ball and ran with it, so yeah, that's what you hope, at least it doesn't have to be like you know Steve shot it or you know it doesn't have to be Glenn Anderson. he doesn't have to be um I don't know who likes a real top line winger Joe pavelski he just has to be a glue player he just has to fill in and contribute from time to time and you know the owners during that decade of obscurity plus, it just wasn't just that they didn't identify the players, they let some really good players slip through their fingers, you know, like, of course, Ryan Strom and David Perron over Andrew Cagliano Carl Braziak and Curtis Glenn they cross now yanmares maybe he can be like a Glenn Cross player, like that guy, um, he's a good player, yeah, he was a very good player, especially with a million dollars, he's a good player, you know, yeah, I think which is what I mean, guys like Hyman and uh, Kane, we mentioned it before while they pay those guys to be good, but what you have to find is Valor further down your list somewhere, yeah, you have to have a million dollar player or two, three or four that are out, uh, doing their Police Officer Follows Orders, they possibly have Skinner and McLeod in that category.

I'd say I'm not even sure those guys are overachievers and they have Evan Bouchard still on his entry-level contract, who in theory should outperform his touch stroke. long term, even though I'm less than enthusiastic about the game he's been playing lately, um, but you need to know a couple of veterans to participate and then between Yanmark and the guy who was called in at the same time as Clem's costume, I think that those guys are helping, in fact they are Bruce, my number is two and they are two specific moves that McDavid made in that incredible Rush that ended with the winning goal in overtime.

You know, when he gets to the park it's like a No-Stop, uh, Gatling gun, spray of moves that he constantly makes, you know he's just moving here, there and everywhere, but there were two moves in particular that no other Mortal or no hockey player alive today or maybe alive could have done it, I don't think. and they are what separate McDavid, his ability increases at this incredibly high speed at which he moves to execute these plays and the first one, so the orders are regrouping in the neutral zone and the game becomes shots through the center of the ice.

The laterally moving area receives the nurse's pass and his first move was to move the puck to his backhand for Puck to protect. Alex Peter Angelo, you know one of the best defensemen in the NHL over the last 10 years, great range. guy who can really defend and what does McDavid do? He takes the puck and moves it to his backhand and immediately with the perfect weight throws it forward about four or five steps past Peter Angelo, so McDavid is now going to skate on that puck um and I'm not. I don't know if he beats Peter Angelo, if he doesn't, if he tries to hold the puck, he might not beat it, but he moves the puck forward and skates on it so he and he do all that in a split second. and with the perfect weight to push the puck forward, most other people would push the puck forward and go deep into the front right, you'd have to go get it in the corner, but he just put it forward enough to do it . by Peter Angelo and recovered the puck on the other side and then he's closing in on number 20, Chandler Stevenson, he was in the defensive slot and he and he has a little bit of an advantage on him and then he put his pads out. he has the puck on his backhand, uh, because Stevenson is in the middle of the ice and then he's going to make his move with that and the second move that he makes at an incredibly high speed is he takes that puck to pass to Stevenson . a protective puck, you have to have it on your backhand, but then at lightning speed with your hands, with incredible sleight of hand, you grab the puck and move it to your right and then hit it into the top of the net, but it's that little movement. to the forehand, which gives you the angle to hit that forehand shot because otherwise you have to shoot backhand or try to go around the goalie and D, but that quick movement from the back with just your hands to shoot of the disk. to be able to throw him up high, that was Sublime and again no, I don't think there are some other people who can do that, but there are very few people on Earth who can do those two particular moves at the speed that he is at.

Moving in um, it was incredible, it was absolutely exciting to see him do it so well from the goalkeeper's perspective on that play where he comes cutting in like that and he has those two touches and it's like it's like an eighth of a second. Other than pulling it inside out, he moves maybe a foot or a foot and a halfto his right, but it's on his right and it's gone before the goalie can even prepare for the new shot angle, the puck is already behind him and in the net and you know it's normal, you know these things take a certain amount of time. of unknown time, it's like a short stop that senses a ground ball and knows how long it takes the runner to get to first base and some guys are a little faster than the other guy, well this is Ricky Henderson and the shortstop doesn't have time because it's already, you know, 70 feet down the line before the guy touches the ball, uh, you know, it's just a game changer, uh. the speed with which he is able to perform these high skill moves, yes, if he ever wants to make his own, if he is ever down on his luck and needs to make a living as a pickpocket, that way he will be a rich man too, his hands are so incredible.

Shapers is simply a pleasure to watch. It's just, um, no, it's exciting and we're very lucky and fortunate to have this player in the prime of his career, who knows if he'll be here in Edmonton. all the time in his career, but in the best years of his career I still have hope that he does, but in the best moment of his career we see this guy night and night and some nights he just puts on a show like he does there. and he takes over the game and wins it for his team, so he would just do it.

Really, one of the reasons I want to see this team come together defensively is because I really think McDavid deserves to win, he deserves to be on a winning team, he deserves to be on a team that wins the Stanley Cup and the only way that's going to happen is with this team and perhaps any team that is given parity in the NHL it is through an absolutely manic defensive commitment and they have to bring that. But if they do that, if they do all that, if they do hard things, they will do it, they can beat the cop, they can win the Stanley Cup, he can be rewarded for his great gifts and that's what I want to see.

I think that should happen. I think that would be justice, but he can, he, he can only make you know that he will, he will, he will pay the iron price for the Stanley Cup with a lot of blood, sweat and tears in defense of playing defensive hockey, he and dry . Seidel that's what it's going to take I think they're going to do it but I think they're going to do it so that's the story of the year Can they get it right? Tonight was the perfect example of a game where they were probably outbalanced, you know, they got a 34-23 shot, we had the Grade A shots at 16-11, but the order executed better on their opportunities and They were able to bury and that is what is expected.

It's your advantage with a highly rated team and maybe you take some of those other numbers with a grain of salt because you know that a shot on your team's stick is maybe worth a fraction more of the expected goal than a shot on the other team's stick and when everything goes to plan you finish some and your goalie stops some at the other end and you find a way to come out on top and that's really what happened tonight we should finish with a little shout out to Stuart Skinner's goalkeeper who you know he had those you know, he had a pretty good game, he was, he was the best goalie tonight and the owners won, so that's what you want to see from a goalie.

Stewart Skinner has been great, he's just had a great start to the year, very good for him, hopefully he can keep it up and hopefully Jack Campbell can come in and start improving his game. You know, there was a really good breakdown of his game by McKenna, who wrote that. Mike Mckenna was really good, he had video footage and you know he really knows stuff. I've been following McKenna on Twitter for a long time since he was a player. He was always pretty open about goaltending, techniques and stuff, and he was great. friend and I'm not at all surprised that he has moved on and found a platform in the media now that his long and checkered career played with around 300 different teams and around 20 leagues, but I'm not surprised. and I'm very happy to see that he has landed on his feet because he has a lot to say about the position, well, Bruce, we are approaching 2 a.m.

Edmonton time, so I think we should let you get back to work. in your game, yeah, I'm two-thirds of the way there, but I'm still a couple grand away and then I gotta pick her up and go to bed, let's get it going, man, get it going. Okay, thanks for talking tonight, Bruce. Okay, thanks for listening everyone. In the meantime, this has been another edition of The Cult of hockey podcast.