NHL 2017-2018 Season: Penguins already sucking dick

So the Edmonton Oilers have the worst penalty kill in the league however It is the best penalty kill on the road. Theres a 18% differential between #1(Edmonton) and #31(Columbus) on the road but their home PK is so bad, 15% differential between #31(Oilers) and #30 (Ottawa), that it drags them down to the worst in the league. How does that even happen?

Looking into it a bit more someone said theres a 0.003% chance of that happening. Literally something we will never see again.

That's a pretty crazy spread. That's like the Patriots this year having the 29th ranked defense giving up yards/game, but 5th ranked at giving up points/game. You so see funky gaps sometimes, but both are waaaay larger than normal.

5-0 win for the Leafs with 4 rookie defensemen playing. Dermott got his first goal and his celebration was priceless. I cant find a video of the whole thing so heres the memes.



Found the whole thing


and as a last edit Id like to present Southpark Dermott

Nice to see Oshie finally break his goal drought. Good comeback win, needed it with Pens rising and everyone else in the division picking up points here and there.

It may not have been what he said but its all about how he said it.

Leafs looked really solid last night with all those rookies out there. This gives me hope. Which makes me foolish.

lurkingdirk said:

Leafs looked really solid last night with all those rookies out there. This gives me hope. Which makes me foolish.

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That Rangers game and a little more hope. Im not looking forward to these playoffs. Im a long time Leaf fan and like to think I can have reasonable expectations. Im looking forward to next year.

Must be nice to have a coach that trusts their young talent. Rangers are very not good.

Also


No hearing scheduled for one of the dirtiest repeat offenders in the league?? Makes perfect sense.

man, that's just bloody dirty.

That reminds me of the James Neal leaping elbow. Heard they accepted the excuse that it was accidental. Like I accidentally left my feet to land a semi head shot.

StoiCynic said:

Must be nice to have a coach that trusts their young talent. Rangers are very not good.

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This is a fairly new thing (3-4 games) for Babcock. Up until now hes been facing heavy criticism all year for playing Roman Polak over the kids. Other than that Ron Hainsey plays something insane like 1:50 out of 2 every penalty kill because Babs doesnt trust any of the kids of defense. With Polak and Hainsey both out, his hand was forced into this and its looking great. Real test will be tommorow against Boston though.

StoiCynic said:

Must be nice to have a coach that trusts their young talent. Rangers are very not good.

Also


No hearing scheduled for one of the dirtiest repeat offenders in the league?? Makes perfect sense.

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Leaping in the air I thought was an automatic hearing and suspension. NHL being NHL sadly.

Good article about the guys in the ECHL (2 steps down from NHL)
In one: My four wild days trapped in minor-league hell with...

Holtby looked like shit tonight. Some interesting things being called and not called in this game, as well.

Trotz needs to do something with this defense. Bowey and Djoos are going to be even more exposed the moment they hit the ice in the playoffs. Carlson isn’t going to survive playing 30 mins every game and Orlov is always good for at least one boneheaded mistake where he either blows coverage or over commits. God help us if a Chorney ever dresses.

The forward side isn’t any better. Not sure why he is doubling down putting scrubs like Wilson and DSP opposite of Ovie. I’d love to see kuzy, vrana, and Stephenson on a line together for one game. Couldn’t be any worse than Burky “shot goes wide” and a non-100% Oshie.

/rant off

yaph said:

Trotz needs to do something with this defense. Bowey and Djoos are going to be even more exposed the moment they hit the ice in the playoffs. Carlson isn’t going to survive playing 30 mins every game and Orlov is always good for at least one boneheaded mistake where he either blows coverage or over commits. God help us if a Chorney ever dresses.

The forward side isn’t any better. Not sure why he is doubling down putting scrubs like Wilson and DSP opposite of Ovie. I’d love to see kuzy, vrana, and Stephenson on a line together for one game. Couldn’t be any worse than Burky “shot goes wide” and a non-100% Oshie.

/rant off

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Orlov has been pretty damn solid all around lately. Frankly Niskanen has been the problem on that pairing lately by far. Orlov needs to have freedom to jump up with the offense even more with that shot of his. Djoos had a horrid turnover last night that resulted in a goal, but otherwise hasn't been bad. Bowey and Orpik have been pretty horrid, though. Wilson has played pretty great this year, not sure why the hate. I don't think Vrana should be sitting either, but he has been in a bit of a slump, and Bura is kind of just floating around out there making bad passes in our zone and like you said, shooting high and wide.

Merrith said:

Orlov has been pretty damn solid all around lately. Frankly Niskanen has been the problem on that pairing lately by far. Orlov needs to have freedom to jump up with the offense even more with that shot of his. Djoos had a horrid turnover last night that resulted in a goal, but otherwise hasn't been bad. Bowey and Orpik have been pretty horrid, though. Wilson has played pretty great this year, not sure why the hate. I don't think Vrana should be sitting either, but he has been in a bit of a slump, and Bura is kind of just floating around out there making bad passes in our zone and like you said, shooting high and wide.

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Yeah, I’m probably being way to overly critical of Orlav and Wilson. I think I’m just not sold on Wilson being a top 6 forward. He played great on the third and fourth lines last season when Trotz was rolling all four lines all season. I think Djoos will get there with another season under him. He could be our ghostbear, small d with high offensive capabilities. Unlike the last two season trade line acquisitions, I think this time we do need a solid depth vet defenseman to have.

yaph said:

Yeah, I’m probably being way to overly critical of Orlav and Wilson. I think I’m just not sold on Wilson being a top 6 forward. He played great on the third and fourth lines last season when Trotz was rolling all four lines all season. I think Djoos will get there with another season under him. He could be our ghostbear, small d with high offensive capabilities. Unlike the last two season trade line acquisitions, I think this time we do need a solid depth vet defenseman to have.

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I'm not really sold on Wilson being a "top 6" guy either, I'm not sure he has that much finish in him. His passing though and puck retrieval have been so much better this season than in the past, I think he can be a useful part of a top 6 line sometimes, depending on who he's with. I definitely see upside though offensively that makes me think he can be a solid middle 6 winger that also PK's, instead of just bottom 6/4th line guy that PK's. Agree on Djoos, I think he's looked better of the two rookies (Bowey), and will have some bonehead plays but could be an asset going forward.

I just am not sure about making a trade for a D man...before you know it, we'll have Mike Green again and it'll be weird.

StoiCynic sounds like the Rags are going into sell mode. They do have some pieces that will be attractive to some teams, too. Wonder what kind of hauls you might get for Nash or if you go FULL sell off and look to move McDonagh.

Merrith said:

StoiCynic sounds like the Rags are going into sell mode. They do have some pieces that will be attractive to some teams, too. Wonder what kind of hauls you might get for Nash or if you go FULL sell off and look to move McDonagh.

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Yeah, been a long time coming. Most fans are glad the GM finally made it official. Rumors are 1st, 3rd and prospect for Nasher. Imo he's worth it to the right team (Preds/Stars) but sure most would disagree. Insiders are saying Mac will be shopped more aggressively in the summer but who knows. Also expect Grabner and Zucc are being shopped. RIP Hanks shot at the cup sadly. Instead he gets to watch his brother play for Sweden in the olympics ...

All well and good to sell for assets, but without a change in coaching staff it won't matter much. AV is notorious for being shit with the youth.