As the Oiler season winds down the only reminder that the Playoffs exist anywhere in the organization is when we hear notice of another Junior aged player finishing his CHL season and transferring over to the Barons for their push to the post-season. The Barons are in a real dog-fight for the final 2 Playoff spots in their conference. They have 77 points and sit 7th in the West. Behind them are the Rochester, Rockford, and Chester with 76, 75, and 75 points respectively. Two of those teams aren’t making the cut.
First the Oilers signed Greg Chase and a couple others to Amateur Tryout contracts and sent them to the Farm and now that Darnell Nurse’s season is over he will pick up in OKC and get his first taste of playing actual Professional games. This is nothing new as Oiler fans will remember Jordan Eberle and many others doing the same thing once their CHL teams were eliminated from the playoffs.
Chase and Holmberg have already seen game action in OKC and started picking up points right away. Chase is a player I am excited about because of his productivity and style of play. Holmberg crushed his last year of Jr too, and I think he’ll be the topic of his own post someday soon. This will be a good test for Nurse and hopefully the Barons will indeed make the Playoffs and the Oilers’ brightest prospect will get an extended look at the next level.
As Edmonton’s 2013-2014 campaign dies of neglect, the management will have to ask itself who will be shipped back to the farm to also participate in the OKC run. For my money I would have Klefbom on the next jet destined to Oklahoma but I wouldn’t worry about Marincin. It’s not as if 85 couldn’t use more experience, but I’m comfortable saying he’s an NHL player now. With Oscar I’m not so sure he’s established that in his time here. I would love to see him take the confidence he gained here and try to add more to his game in OKC, even if it’s just for one playoff series.
Since we’re talking about the Barons, how about their Head Coach Todd Nelson? This is a guy who has helped transition a few Oiler defenders into legitimate prospects with NHL potential. If the Oilers do as they should and make some “adjustments… to the coaching staff then his name should be on the list of candidates to take over for Bucky and Smith. The fact that he took a team with that many rookie pro and inexperienced blueliners and has them in a playoff spot today is impressive. He should be coaching in the NHL in some capacity soon if he keeps his teams performing and graduating players at the same time.
LINEUPS
The Oilers are keeping a goalie rotation for now which means Fasth should start tonight and Scrivens gets the game against the Canucks. Am I reading too much into it if I think the Oilers want the Professor to play the final game of the season as a gesture to him that he earned the right to close out the year? It would have been nice to play his old team but then Fasth would have played the final game. It’s neither here nor there. Ference keeps practicing with the team which is nice but it keeps throwing off my lineup predictions, *shakes fist at sky*, but more Oilers are going down with injury. Gordon is done for the year with a wonky shoulder so things are looking great down the middle tonight!
Hall RNH Eberle Smyth Gagner Perron Hendricks Lander Pitlick Pinnizotto Acton Larsen
Klefbom Schultz Marincin Petry Belov Fraser
Fasth
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Out Of Body Experience. Whenever I hear about people having out of body experiences it’s on TLC and there was a near death operating room mishap or it’s on History Channel and extraterrestrial life was probing some poor sap’s nether regions to learn more about human life. I’m hoping on TSN it will be Klefbom, Fraser, Marincin, Lander, Pitlick, Pinizotto, Acton, and Larsen playing above their ability/experience level.
2) Kopitar. Eakins spoke about the Kings’ top pivot when he said “There's some nights when you're licking your chops a little bit when the offensive centreman is taking the faceoff in his own zone and you know you're probably going to get some action. With him, you're basically screwed at both ends of the ice." (Hat-tip to Tyler Dellow for the transcription). Kopitar is a possession wizard and more than capable in the offensive zone. Keep his name in mind later when we talk about some of the draft eligible kids. For now, the Oilers can just hope to break free from this guy.
3) Speed On Defense. The Fraser vs MacKinnon play is burned into my memory, probably forever. It isnt very often where I can legitimately say that I could look as effective on the ice as an NHL player, but that matchup could have been Matt Henderson, out of shape hockey blogger, vs Nate MacKinnon and it would have looked the same. Eakins has said Larsen will play more D than Forward. I wonder if it’s because that play was burned into his memory too.
Puck drops tonight at 7:38PM Mountain Time on TSN. Game On!
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