Who would do that?
- AdamFrench

I would defend Laughs but he deserved that.

Maybe there is no season and we win the first pick. That would be awesome.
- doon

we'll only have 1 ball in comparison to a bunch of teams with 2 and about 5 with three, so it's a total longshot. but in this case, yes, i wouldnt be upset.

Richard Cloutier: The Shawn Horcoff Blog
- Maxbone

I'll say it again. There was an excellent study comparing the quality of competition and offensive zone start percentage of NHL players. Those stats showed that judging by those metrics Horcoff was in the top 1% of difficult assignments for forwards. Factoring in the amount of Ice time he had, he was in the top 1% of that 1%. Factoring in that most other teams had at least two forwards given those difficult roles, I can objectively state that Horcoff had one of, if not the most, difficult assignment of any forward in the NHL last year.

Is he elite? No. Would we be in dire straits without him? Yes.

I'll say it again. There was an excellent study comparing the quality of competition and offensive zone start percentage of NHL players. Those stats showed that judging by those metrics Horcoff was in the top 1% of difficult assignments for forwards. Factoring in the amount of Ice time he had, he was in the top 1% of that 1%. Factoring in that most other teams had at least two forwards given those difficult roles, I can objectively state that Horcoff had one of, if not the most, difficult assignment of any forward in the NHL last year.

Is he elite? No. Would we be in dire straits without him? Yes.
- Morris

but apparently management doesnt want him around, and hasnt for awhile, the kids dont respect or listen to him and he's gonna lose his captaincy at any moment.

I'll say it again. There was an excellent study comparing the quality of competition and offensive zone start percentage of NHL players. Those stats showed that judging by those metrics Horcoff was in the top 1% of difficult assignments for forwards. Factoring in the amount of Ice time he had, he was in the top 1% of that 1%. Factoring in that most other teams had at least two forwards given those difficult roles, I can objectively state that Horcoff had one of, if not the most, difficult assignment of any forward in the NHL last year.

Is he elite? No. Would we be in dire straits without him? Yes.
- Morris

Great post.

but apparently management doesnt want him around, and hasnt for awhile, the kids dont respect or listen to him and he's gonna lose his captaincy at any moment.
- hugefemale dog77

One thing is for certain. If Clouts, Garth, ek or Iggysbff said it, there is nothing but truth behind it

I'll say it again. There was an excellent study comparing the quality of competition and offensive zone start percentage of NHL players. Those stats showed that judging by those metrics Horcoff was in the top 1% of difficult assignments for forwards. Factoring in the amount of Ice time he had, he was in the top 1% of that 1%. Factoring in that most other teams had at least two forwards given those difficult roles, I can objectively state that Horcoff had one of, if not the most, difficult assignment of any forward in the NHL last year.

Is he elite? No. Would we be in dire straits without him? Yes.
- Morris

Bahahahahaha. You do remember that we finished second last though and his plus minus was in the gutter??? Sure he had the toughest assignments on the team but all you stat guys have yet to come up with any stats that says he was any good in those situations. Give it up.

Until the oilers find a "GOOD" third line center, Horcoff will be there because....well....why waste a good player when you have a natural loser you can sacrifice.

Bahahahahaha. You do remember that we finished second last though and his plus minus was in the gutter??? Sure he had the toughest assignments on the team but all you stat guys have yet to come up with any stats that says he was any good in those situations. Give it up.

Until the oilers find a "GOOD" third line center, Horcoff will be there because....well....why waste a good player when you have a natural loser you can sacrifice.
- Oilnutz

we finished 2nd last because we had one of the worst defences in the league, average goaltending and rookie/sophmore children as our go to first line guys.
not because horcoff was our captain.

forget his salary man. it's irrelevant at this point. all that matters is what he brings to the team..something no one else does really

Who would do that?
- AdamFrench

And some say Boinker is a homer
- Bieksa#3

I said one of the best captains, not players.

You are ridiculous Cloutier! i mean yea i would Horcoff out as well if we had an amnesty clause because he's not worth the money and if we want other expensive players, we need to shed some of our salary. BUT horcoff and bad attitude? you are crazy right? i mean i have read numerous articles where you have talked about how amazing his attitude is, but still needs to be cut due to the money, and now you are saying he has bad attitude and comparing him to Souray? Thats (frank)ing ridiculous.. i really enjoy your articles sometimes, but honestly we need someone more sensible writing articles for the oilers, whose blogs i can follow consistently and not wanting to female dog him out.

You are ridiculous Cloutier! i mean yea i would Horcoff out as well if we had an amnesty clause because he's not worth the money and if we want other expensive players, we need to shed some of our salary. BUT horcoff and bad attitude? you are crazy right? i mean i have read numerous articles where you have talked about how amazing his attitude is, but still needs to be cut due to the money, and now you are saying he has bad attitude and comparing him to Souray? Thats (frank)ing ridiculous.. i really enjoy your articles sometimes, but honestly we need someone more sensible writing articles for the oilers, whose blogs i can follow consistently and not wanting to female dog him out.

Bahahahahaha. You do remember that we finished second last though and his plus minus was in the gutter??? Sure he had the toughest assignments on the team but all you stat guys have yet to come up with any stats that says he was any good in those situations. Give it up.

Until the oilers find a "GOOD" third line center, Horcoff will be there because....well....why waste a good player when you have a natural loser you can sacrifice.
- Oilnutz

Well, for one, Off zone Start, a stat to which I alluded, should tell you a bit about how often a player is put in a position to score, and Horcoffs was 2nd lowest on the team, about 20% below a guy like Nugent-Hopkins.

You put Player A out against Vancouver's top line in our own zone, and Player B out against Vancouver's 3rd line in their zone, and you tell me who's going to have a higher plus minus.

There are a lot of reasons we finished in the basement, and I'll grant that secondary scoring wasn't on par last year, along with solid team defense and consistent goaltending. But one of the big differences between a team like Edmonton who finished in the gutter, and teams like Phoenix and Florida who rode their mediocre talent to the playoffs, is that they had two or three guys like Horcoff who could play tough minutes. We had one last year.

I'm not saying that as the kids mature and are able to take on tough minutes themselves, a guy like Horcoff will be necessary. But while they're developing, he seems pretty essential to the team based on how he was used.