The Cult of Hockey's "Oilers with sensational sudden life victory over Florida" podcast

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by Fateful, it's you and the noodles and for the faithful. I'm here today listening to David, I'm sure I'm here today with Barus McCurdy. Hi Bruce, how's he doing? Alright tonight, Dave, how are you? yourself, well, well, well, I had a

hockey

game and I had to leave after the second half when it was 1-1 and of course right in the locker room I reviewed afterwards and we won our game by one goal and then you know, en I always said yes when I saw the score, but I had no idea that the dramatic way would win that game four to three over the Florida Panthers, let's get into it because it's late, two good things, two bad things and two numbers, Bruce, what is your good?

Well, the good thing was a personal thing that I was actually at this game with great seats, uh, that's cool, where are my Turtle Island t-shirts for the occasion? Well, indigenous celebration night, a lot of things happened there when my heroes, uh Chief. Little Willie was involved in the opening ceremonies and uh uh so it was fun from start to finish uh but the end, let's go straight to the end uh with the game looking almost lost with the orders minus three to two 9.6 seconds in the clock ran out in the offensive zone after a couple of really good looks from Zach Hyman in the last minute that didn't go in and you're thinking it's just one of those lights that Goldie got again uh because Spencer Knight was fantastic. and then, out of nowhere, they produced a losing faceoff, they produced the tying goal in just a few seconds, like five seconds after the giveaway, where Florida got the puck back a little bit, but Hyman was in it, and he was able to. to somehow get it to McDavid and McDavid was somehow able to turn around and find Evan Bouchard like he knew exactly where he was going to be because they put him on this tape and Bouchard wasted no time and looted the bush bomb oh no the slap but the top corner of the wrist to warm up uh Spencer Knight 4.4 seconds on the clock and uh in a pretty dramatic way to at least see 11 times a point, although there was a nervous shot that bounced with a second left that was not fun for Florida in the regulatory aspect that Stewart Skinner handled and that's how it went from, you know, the verge of Despair to Absolute Triumph and as if there was no fixed time because the overtime lasted like half of a 22-second shift and the game It was decided in order. favor and that they actually won the puck in the face off or held the puck and Florida made a key mistake by Matthew Kachuk.

Nurse Dino got revenge on our Matthew Katrip for something that happened earlier in the game because he beat Darnell Vita two. -hard man four pressure control four controlled by Florida and when Kachuk agreed to be the second man and then and the nurse Patrick lost his balance and

sudden

ly he is too far for the boys trapped deep with the nurse with Puck and a clean look and dry. Saddle and McDavid behind everyone except the defender and the nurse made an excellent stretch pass to the dry settlement. He passed it to McDavid. McDavid cornered him and returned him.

Both passes were slightly angled, so it wasn't easy for the guy. on the receiving end, but McDavid got it settled flat, it was deflected and it was wobbling behind him, so he had to reach out a little bit and just pick it up off the near side post and put it in the net in a you know right. I ran two on one to end the game and the place blew up again like both goals, the place went crazy, it was worth the price of admission and the tickets are pretty expensive but hey, you know what?

When you, when you, for me, it sure was. It was the best thing, uh, when you invest that kind of money in season tickets like people do, it's nice to see them rewarded. I know you know the hardcore people who really support this team with season tickets. You know they're going to be live in a game like that. it's just a feeling of euphoria, that's what brings people back and um, it was fantastic to see Kachuk get erased on that overtime goal, it was fantastic, it was absolutely fantastic, I was listening to the crowd, so I was going to say that I have a gesture for Matthew girl, what do you have to say now?

Matt actually the end of Lost on Turtle Island yeah thinking underneath is there something underneath Turtle Island anyway Bouchard um it's great to see them playing with confidence and I. I think we saw that throughout the game he looked like a different player again, you know, just throwing the puck and he, um, I thought Philip Robby had a pretty good game when he didn't play much, but they had a bad one. change Burberry but other than that I thought he was solid enough in his 11 minutes of ice time uh but Bouchard is a great hockey player, he's so smart and good with the puck and to see him get a goal like that As you know, after two goals like he should, there's no reason Evan Bouchard can't put up 50 or 60 points seasons in the NHL consistently and I think we're going to see that eventually, maybe not this year because Tyson Barry is still around. playing in front of him on the power play, but man, did he make that shot?

It's just on the top shelf where mom keeps the cookies like the legendary, pleased to beat Spencer tonight, he was so good on the ice with his pads, yeah, well, I mean, that's a guess. poor RV about that um you know there were guys that uh crypto just couldn't beat him at all but that shot was uh putting a good spot yeah it's funny about uh Bouchard you know like I said on this

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more at once. I anticipate him scoring 10+ goals every year, I think he's that type of offensive player that you can probably expect 10, 12, 15 goals from him and I mean there will be ups and downs, but he didn't have zero after 20 games and now after. 22 games, all of a

sudden

, he's in rhythm with an 11-goal deficit and he's a little worried waiting for me to score three goals and in 22 games he'd rather have five, you know?

But suddenly, he's producing it and the case can be argued. the artist would have had zero points in the last two games without Evan Bouchard's goals, yes, his Lightning hockey stick, yes, he has tremendous, tremendous talent, you know, some people were criticizing him and giving him this look, he is shooting in the shin guards. over and over again, I mean, if they had forgotten about the whole last season where he was constantly taking hard shots, I mean, it was just a confidence thing where he wasn't moving his feet or his head. High enough in terms of making plays and confidence ebbs and flows for players and I think on this team it's a struggle particularly, you know, when you play with McDavid and the dry Seidel, these are two extremely confident players and it's a great opportunity for you.

I know an impossible standard of setting high standards in terms of offensive plays and I think it's a little intimidating to have your own offensive game almost functioning like you really have the confidence in yourself to try to live up to them when you're on the ice and You know how to finish his plays, you just have to try. Take a time. I think some of these younger guys can do that. Yes Bouchard did it. You know, we're looking at the RV pulley. I think there are issues with his trust and it has been a constant issue with Yes, So, Pulley RV.

I think it's a trust issue. Playing with these guys is not easy, but Bouchard did it tonight. Bruce, the good thing is that no, it's the work of Zach Hyman. He thought he was fantastic from the beginning to the end of the game, um, he really is the Hustler in Chief, you know, uh, from the evidence, he's just a human pinball, incredible ability to win the puck, protect the puck four, check, um, he has. He's been the most consistent player in the order, I mean, with McDavid and Dry Cell, it's hard to say he's been their best player, but he's been outstanding, you know, he's playing at an All-Star level, all year and this night, we saw it again. their heads extend past center McDavid on that breakaway to tie the game one-on-one like the orders were again, they're down from the start of the game and you understand we're having that sinking feeling and they just needed that play, they were desperate for that play and he made it, he just read it, there's no doubt, he shot, that puck hit him calmly and it was and McDavid went in there with an absolutely spectacular shot, he was in two margols, I mean.

Although he already knows that the puck is the third period and this is when it is 1-1, the orders are putting good pressure in the offensive zone and a dry chair, I think he passes the puck to Kulak, who puts the net of pocket. and there's Hyman again going to the net, sticking a stick into the puck to deflect it and he passes it to Tyson Barry who jams it on another real, tough, tough play and it's interesting for a tough player. like a player who goes through so many tough times, like Hyman, doesn't take a lot of punishment, it's like a boxer who, you know, there's a clip of Muhammad Ali, someone throws a barrage of punches at him like 15 punches in nine seconds and everything who dug uh He ducks each of them is kind of like Hyman in the corner, he often misses punches and misses contact, it's not necessary, I don't think he, um, takes a lot of punishment and doesn't hit. a lot, he just tries, uses his body to good effect, uh, to gain position and win pucks, then on the winning goal, there's Aries again using his, you know, using his triangle, excuse me on the tangle 3 -3, there it is out of the face and they find a way to win that puck to take it from the other team and McDavid understands it, of course, and does what McDavid does: mixes it up, selfishly passes it to Evan Bouchard, who hits it In the net. mocking there Stan Fishler uh dad called McDavid um Mick selfish what he said he said he heard Whispers of Alberta selfish did you ever hear that name?

I never heard Stan why or anyone called McDavid a mcegoist it's funny like Stan was a he's a brilliant uh troll I mean and he trolled the order in which he trolled the owners during the 1980s he was, ya you know, he got under our skin constantly and there he was again, um, before the last game, one, you know, speculating about McDavid if you know he's going to do it. Are you going to live up to his selfish edifice that some people are whispering about again? I don't know where that comes from people I know, no I haven't even liked him even on Twitter, like if you Google Mick, would there be selfishness? any reference to that, well, Sam Fisher's tweet, Dan Fishler's tweet, anyway, selfish, he had a couple of nice assists tonight on the flying game-winning goal, so, Hyman, they had him on the top line, that's when they put Zach Hyman on that line. that line came to

life

and really became effective, he is a tremendous hockey player and has several years left on his contract, he said he is in his early 30s and I hope he can continue this, you know, for

life

. of this contract, some players can do that, even players who play a bit of a rough game, a lot of that is down to luck with injuries, but so far so good, it's been a spectacular signing for the lifts they are absolutely spectacular and they proved again tonight that he's worth every penny and two million or three million dollars a year more than he's making.

He'll get those millions on the other end of the contract, so you know, he's just frontloading his money up front. proportion of that is pretty fair million dollar contract or whatever, $38.5 million contract, so you're putting in a couple of seasons of eight to ten million dollars up front, let's remember that yes, absolutely , what's your back, they're paying them the The reason they gave them the term in that booth was because they knew they wanted the value on the front end when they have the big players and that's what Place is delivering to me. Ah well I have to pick Zach and specifically just one play that he did that that I thought was uh it was um uh well it didn't end well let's put it that way uh this was the 2-2 goal that the artist had finally put ahead in the third period 2-1 the clock had been reduced to less less than 10 minutes and Hyman had already had a pretty long shift there, I don't know exactly how long it was and his linemates um at that point McDavid and dry Saddle were leaving. changing and um Hyman took the puck on the right wing just inside the Florida blue line and I'm going for my seat, just take it deep and get down for your change and uh he took the puck to the wall just inside the blue line and fought against one, then two, and eventually, three Florida players as he held the puck along the wall, by which time two new linemates had come out and joined him in the Florida Zone.

I think he got away with it because he was able to hold it long enough for his teammates to get in there, the problem was they got there and he was still on the far wing of his bench and he goes down, he gets up, he tries to get down, there's a Florida guy who is friendly. in his way, then he has to skate and he dives towards the bench and all of a sudden that right wing is wide open and there's a pass down the wing and it's a three-on-two and Florida executes the three-on-two perfectly and the Pucks in network and I thought it was a fundamental decision, there was an old saying, get the discsdeep, well, that puck didn't go deep and if you put the puck in deep, turn and make the change, there are two. new linemates are coming out into the zone towards the play.

It's like everything under control, whereas in this case his linemates are already there, they got caught and their owners two defenders ended up having to defend the three four or four words and they made a great play, I mean, they took it to Florida for how they saved that one, but for me the fundamental mistake was the right decision in At first you know, I agree that Hyman was to blame for that golden Bruce, but I really didn't like Nugent Hopkins or Barry on that play, they got aggressive, they played high, the news they were beaten in the neutral zone on a pass and that's what creates the three on two at that point it's three on three he's back and they beat him in the neutral zone uh with the pass instead of going back and checking you know he's trying to intercept it and then Barry is up high and instead he has to recognize well now we have it now we have a three on two now we're in trouble he's playing up high on the Blue Line and they hit him on the pass instead of backing up playing conservatively he's pretty aggressive there and they catch him.

I think Hulak got caught in a really diffi

cult

situation, yeah, the way they were, yeah, there was little he could do, it's like a back pass and then, I don't think who could. I've done anything, but I think if Nuj and Barry had made better reads and more conservative defensive plays, then that's not a goal, so I agree with Hyman too. I agree with your assessment on everything you said about Hyman, but there are two other players there. Who could have done the opposite on that play? um my Bruce play is similar where one player really stood out.

It's like the orders at the beginning of the game. It's a horror show. It's a nightmare. continue with this team and you know you have when the first goal against Discord like all their best players are on the ice, you know it's McDavid Long and um it's the CCM nurse and they just start losing battles in their own zone. they're a little out of sync, they're not really rushed, they're not really in the game and, you know, CC gets to the point and someone puts the puck balloons back in the slot, I don't know what. The nurse was thinking, honestly, that this play was just one of those things where maybe he's caught between the two.

The saying is: why not play with the cane as if you know he should be aware that there's actually no one else around him? There were two Florida players in there deep, but there was no one around Nurse Darnell and he decides to go down and block it with his shin guard, why there was no reason to do it all, he just had to shoot the puck in the corner like Shepherd. to the corner or go, let him go, there's no one behind them, do it, do anything, but he decides that he's going to try to block it with his shin guard and he goes right at uh, the crazy kachuk, so that was it.

I imagine he wasn't there. Twitter then, but I imagine if there are people criticizing Nurse Darnell because they were in movies at the time and honestly, I was also thinking, what are you doing, man? and I'm sure he was angrier than anyone on Earth about his own mistake, it was a serious mistake, you know, in some ways, it's just one of those things, it's like a fluke mistake because it's like the puppy took , makes a kind of strange game. and then attacking the Pug gives a really terrible bounce so it's hard it's hard it's hard to like it if we're being completely irrational it's okay these things happen it's okay to regroup at the same time this is this horrible recurring movie It's been in the middle several times times and, in my opinion, that is enough.

Darnell spends much of his games playing on one knee, crouching or trying to play Ice Lord and adopting as wide a stance as possible. I can't understand why, but it doesn't work, you know, because what he does in the process is immobilize himself and his guy, his feet are among his best attributes, well, it's pretty hard to skate when one of your toes is in the ice because you're on your knees trying to block a lane, you know the other guy moves two feet and all of a sudden the lane is there, how are you going to block that lane that you're stuck in? here on one knee, so it's just that I've never really understood it and it's become more of a part of his game like he's Alan Stanley from 1966 or something, you know, and then that's, I mean, it's a preference. personal and he likes to play. the game obviously that way and there are plays that he cuts uh I just don't like the percentages of how many of those get cut and that was I mean let's play this super state because the slow corner katric was behind me I don't think that he knew where it was, but Kachuka was actually able to turn to the other side of the net and sure enough, the puck is fired by Darnell towards Katuk if he lets it go and chases after it. in the corner was no problem and he just didn't turn anything into a goal like I texted you in the scorer kid's summary I'd rather breastfeed him he just intercepted that shot and turned and shot it at his own neck so the church wouldn't she got credit for the goal, I mean, she's talked about adding insult to injury, so anyway, as I already mentioned, the nurse had the last laugh on the winning goal. go to our numbers Bruce, what's your number?

My number six and that's the number of players on the ice at one time, in the first period, all of them graduates of the Bakersfield Condors and all of them were coached at the AHL level by Jay Woodcroft, who of course, also graduated from Bakersfield Condors, and those six were, of course, the goalkeeper, Stuart Skinner, the defensive pairing of Philip Brovery and Evan Bouchard on the forward line of Brad Malone with Dylan Holloway and James Hamblin, who was playing his first game. NHL game and he behaved very well and I noticed that combination of players in the game, hey, I went, look, you know, this is Brad Malone, he doesn't really fit into the group in the sense that he's a gray beard and the Not the rest of them, but he was Jay Widcroft's captain in Bakersfield and he was one of the guys.

James Hamlin was another who actually had an AHL contract and won the Malone case and won an entry-level contract again. I'm sure if they made a play that good, Dylan Holloway made a fabulous play to keep a puck with his glove at the Blue Line, somehow got it through traffic to Hamblin and Hamlin took it over the left wing wall and then he shot a Crosley speed for Evan Bouchard who shot one that has a lot of shots on net, which Spencer Knight was able to follow, it's really pretty, plays a good game, works hard, passes well, good shot and all this from you you know guys that in the past one to It's been two years in the system and I'm trying to think when was the last time that they always had everyone on the ice that came up, you know, through that system, so that I hit all six guys so that's my number yeah they were in another grade A Chance uh Bouchard and Holloway um the whole time they shot Bouchard took an outside shot and Holloway I think you might have to.

I'm not exactly sure this is at the beginning of the second period anyway. Then Holloway comes, he's a player like me. You know, he had about 10 minutes tonight. I think he's going to start moving forward and I hope to win more. You know, he started to get up. 11 12 13 14 minutes per game. Hamlin look, that was a very good play that Hamlin made, possibly sure would have been good if he had scored on Bruce, my number made some mistakes in this game like no, he just seems to be doing the right thing all the time, yeah, yeah, so time. is very impressed by his first financial game, yes, my numbers, my number is 11 and there are two reference points for 11, that is the number of shots on net for Evan Bouchard that he had, one missed shot, three blocks and seven in Matt seven. on the net, including the game tying goal, fabulous playing time, gold beyond proportion, yes, and also 11 is also the number of qualifying shots, great important contributions to qualify mcselfish's scoring opportunities, so, what a game Conor McDavid had, that's him.

I know we don't mention it enough I don't think somehow podcast um you often know this, but the goal he scored coming in there in the just beat night to night, who would look that good during that game ? Spencer and I looked fantastic, but mageeva just made him look like a goalie Peewee, you know, I just beat him on the glove side with that brilliant backhand shot, you know, Mcdavid's pass, the game-winning goal, the goal of the tie and then, well, do you know what happens if we are so fantastic? We're very fortunate and so 11, you know, he makes six to seven major contributions to grade shots per game, so this is about double his season average, so he had a nearly I would give him a I don't know what Kurt gave him.

He would have given him a nine, I think, but he just looks at what Kurt gave him here, but um, he had a McDavid of a game, after a pretty not-so-good game. Last game he really put on a show tonight for the home fans and you know people have been talking about how the orders have been coming in and getting a little bit better playing better defensive hockey. It was nice to see them. Kirk gave him an eight, it was nice to see them win this game, the owners really deserved this win, the orders had 21 grade A shots to 13 for Florida, they had 15 five alarm shots compared to nine, so the orders should having had five holes right above it.

Five alarm shots and then maybe another goal. You know it was their expected goals according to us, it was like 6.2 or so and Florida's would have been around four, so this was a pretty high affair with both teams getting a lot of great goals. chances, but the orders were from the much better team, overall, and they fully deserve that win, so here's to it Edmonton Oilers. I was pretty despondent as the game was coming to an end and it looked like the orders would come out of that effort with nothing like no, you know. not even a point from Batman, yeah, you know, I mean there's 9.6 seconds left and, if you know, a showdown, the bettors who put the odds of winning at that point would have surely been in single-digit percentages, uh, no, they were, they could uh.

Take it, I'm just looking at what they had for all situations for expected goals tonight and they have 3.8 for the Oilers and 3.3 for passing, yeah, and we had great dangers in 1814 Edmonton and scoring opportunities at 40. -28 Edmonton exactly the same that the shots and you know Edmonton had a substantial lead you know 58 56 59 59 56 across the board and all these categories again and it just didn't seem fair that they came out with nothing but in the end Justice prevailed now at least I think this one night we didn't even mention one in the way that a play in which um Hyman, I have scars but the goal was disallowed because he actually had a kick move on the rebound, but of great The opportunity to have a dry chair he had battle to for Puck to come out of the air and give it to McDavid and McDavid behind his back right to Hyman walking alone in the night and he, you know, tried to slow down again, couldn't beat him until he kicked. on the rebound, but those guys were producing a lot of quality chances, all three really, so the orders now are 12 and 10.

Of course, they don't have any underdog points, so they're a little bit. We're struggling a little bit in the standings, but you know they have the same amount of wins as LA and two last games right, but they're three points behind because LA is three underdog points, so that's too many teams with double-digit regulation losses and that's what hurt the Oilers and this was the first game of these two games now, or the first game since November 1st where they got real points from two consecutive games as if each win had been followed by a regulation loss, so that I never got everything that has happened throughout the month of November until now finally right at the end, so these are two very unlikely winds, but putting them one after the other like this is a promising sign that maybe it's time of some kind of career, you know, player.

Damn the shortage, you know they have, they still have the big guys, yeah, well, and some players like it if Hamlin and Benson, who haven't played yet, and Holloway can step up and several other players can step up go ahead, you know, maybe Ayan Mark costs. and if these players can play, I like Yan Mark's game, although he is not scoring yet, I think he is really effective, um, you know, this is not the fall, it is not that good, I mean, Yamamoto was not playing as well. Of course, yes, Fogle finally got the game out of him and then he got out.

McLeod was finally flying and came out, so Kane is obviously a big loss, so yes, the wingers are losing some forwards here, but Kane is the only long-term injury. From what I can tell, hopefully Yamamoto, when he comes back this time, we'll be one hundred percent like that or close to it, you know, it'll be good to go becauseIt sure wasn't the last time he came back, Bruce, uh. let's leave it there, let's move on to the next game thank you, thank you for speaking tonight, thank you for listening everyone and in the meantime, and in between moments, this has been another edition of The Cult of hockey podcast.