Oilers 21-22 Year in Review Part 2 - Jay Woodcroft's Oilers

 As I mentioned at the end of my Part 1 of the year in review, Dave Tippet was fired on Thursday February 10th, 2022 and Jay Woodcroft (along with assistant coach Dave Manson) was promoted from the Bakersfield Condors to become Edmonton's interim head coach. As with any new HC, the team wanted to impress Jay. The Oilers played 9 games in February under Jay, and they went 6-3. They won 5 straight games right out of the gate, then lost 2 straight, won one, then lost one to end the month. However, despite the change in coach, the stats say the Oilers were still playing Tippet hockey. The Oilers scored 33 goals (3.77 GFPG) in those 9 games, but allowed 25 (2.78). Powerplay was still struggling, scoring 6 goals on 28 opportunities (21.4%), and the penalty kill wasn't much better killing off 27 of 36 penalties (75%). 

The month of March saw some minor improvements to Edmonton's play. The Oilers played 15 games in the month of March, and their record was 9-4-2. They scored 63 goals in those 15 games (4.20) GFPG) and allowed 48 goals (3.20 GAPG). The powerplay and penalty kill also saw minor improvements, as the powerplay went 12/52 (23%) and the penalty kill went 37/47 (78.7%).

April comes around and this is really where Jay's system starts to pay dividends, not only just for the players, but for the fans as well. The Oilers played 14 games in the month of April to finish their campaign, going 11-2-1. They scored 53 goals in that span (3.78 GFPG) and allowed 33 goals against (2.35 GAPG). Powerplay was clicking at 25% (8/32) and the penalty was stellar, going 92.5% (37/40), probably the best month of the year for the PK. When all was said and done, Jay had done his job. He got the Oilers into the playoffs despite being 5 points out when he was hired. Here is how Jay finished the regular season after he was hired.

GP: 38
Record: 26-9-3
Goals For: 149
Goals For Per Game: 3.92
Goals Against: 106
Goals Against Per Game: 2.78
Powerplay: 26/112 (23.2%)
Penalty Kill: 101/123 (82.1%)

Jay's coaching and style allowed the Oilers to make the Western Conference Finals in the playoffs. Despite being swept by Colorado, it was a close series with 3/4 one-goal games essential (I say that because Colorado did score on an empty net in Game 1). Jay was well worth the call-up (despite Ken Holland admitting he didn't want to do it) and earned himself a contract extension with Edmonton. It'll be interesting to see how the Oilers play under him next year. 

Up next in my series, I'll be doing a year review/preview for every member of the Edmonton Oilers squad. Not sure how I'll release them, but I'll figure something out. Maybe do it alphabetically or something. Anyway folks, take care, have fun, and Let's Go Oilers. 

Oilers 21-22 Year in Review Part 1 - Dave Tippet's Oilers

To the casual hockey fan, the 2021-2022 campaign for the Edmonton Oilers was fairly successful. The Oilers finished 2nd in their division for the 3rd year in a row, exorcised some playoff demons by getting past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2017, quickly dispatched the Calgary Flames in the first playoff edition of the Battle of Alberta in 31 years, and made it to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2006, despite losing in 4 to Colorado.

And yet, Oilers fans know that the 21-22 campaign was a tale of two teams. The Dave Tippet Oilers, and the Jay Woodcroft Oilers. Let's start with Dave Tippet's Oilers. The month of October was very good to Edmonton. The team played 7 games and won six of them. In those 7 games, Edmonton scored 29 goals (4.14 Goals For Per Game) and allowed 19 (2.71 Goals Against Per Game). Their powerplay was number one in the NHL clicking at 48% (11/23) and their PK was stellar operating at 90% (18/20). That being said, this is only a 7 game sample size, so not much to go on, and even then, even in these 7 games, there were a few ugly aspects to Edmonton's game. November saw some alarming trends begin to form in Edmonton's game. The Oilers went 9-4 in the month of November. They scored 51 goals in 13 games (3.92 GFPG), but they also allowed 40 (3.07 GAPG). Their powerplay went 12/38 (31.5%) and their penalty kill went 36/42 (85.7%) Overall at this point in the season, Edmonton has won 15 of 20 games, goals for is at 77 (3.85 GFPG), goals against is at 59 (2.95 GAPG), powerplay is 23/61 (37.7%) and their penalty kill is at 56/62 (87%).

December is where Edmonton's season almost completely derails. A combination of bad play, injuries, and covid, reduced the team to a shell of it's former self and it shows. The Oilers played 11 games in December and went 3-7-1. They scored 31 goals (2.81 GFPG), but allowed 41 goals (3.72). Their powerplay, which had basically been carrying them all season long, was a putrid 18.7% (6/32) and even their penalty kill was killing them at 71.8% (23/32). It also doesn't help that Dave Tippet missed time due to Covid, missing three games from December 14-18. Overall, December hurt Edmonton badly. Their record went from 15-5 at the beginning of December, to 18-12-1. Goals for was at 106 (3.41 GFPG), goals against was at 100 (3.22 GAPG), their powerplay was down to 31.1% (29/93) and their penalty kill had dropped to 81.9% (77/94).

In January, the only thing that improved for Edmonton, was their record (4-4-2). Everything else? It just got worse and worse. Edmonton scored 29 goals (2.90 GFPG), but allowed 35 (3.50 GAPG). Their powerplay was a putrid 13.6% (3/22), whilst the penalty kill was an abysmal 59.2% (16/27). On January 31st, the Oilers were sitting at 22-16-3. They had scored 132 goals in total (3.21 GFPG), but had allowed 135 (3.29 GAPG). They had scored 32 powerplay goals on 115 opportunities (27.8%), and they had killed off 93 out of 121 penalties (76.8%). However, the Oilers had made a move to try and fix their declining offense. On January 27th 2022, the Oilers signed Evander Kane to a one-year deal. He would score his first goal as an Oiler on January 29th 2022, recording the first goal of the game in a 7-2 victory over Les Canadiens de Montreal. 

Dave Tippet would only last three games in the month of February. In his last three games, the Oilers went 1-2. They scored 6 goals (2.00 GFPG), and allowed 11 (3.66 GAPG). Their powerplay went 2/8 (25%) and penalty kill went 6/8 (75%). Dave Tippet was fired on February 10th 2022, and Jay Woodcroft was named interim head coach. At the time of Dave Tippet's firing, here is how the Oilers looked.

Dave Tippet's Oilers

Record: 23-18-3

Goals For: 146

Goals Against: 146

Goals For Per Game: 3.31

Goals Against Per Game: 3.31

Powerplay: 34/123 (27.6%)

Penalty Kill: 99/129 (76.7%)

Truthfully, it seemed like the Oilers were playing a bit better in the last few games of Tippet's time with Edmonton. However at the time of his firing, the Oilers were 5 points out of a playoff spot, and in a year where it was either "2nd round or bust", the change needed to happen. Next up, I'll take a look at how the Oilers were under Jay Woodcroft, how his attitude and coaching style completely changed the Oilers season, and how he helped them go from outside looking in, to 8 wins away from a cup. 

Game Day Recap - Game 1

Welp...that could've been worse.

The Oilers started their 2018-19 campaign with a stumble and fall. It was an embarrasing effort to say the least. Every single thing that happened last year in a loss, happened in this game. Let's recap.

Stop me if you've heard this one before. The Oilers allowed the goal of the game, on the first shot of the game. Yup. Kyle Palmieri made it 1-0 Devils just 58 seconds into the game. Thankfully the Oilers would tie it a few minutes later. Hands up if you had Milan Lucic scoring the first goal of the Oilers season? Nobody? Didn't think so. On their 1st PP of the season, Connor McDavid decided to ignore the PP strategies and just took the puck into the offensive zone himself. He was flying, skating behind the net, and passed out front where Lucic burried his 1st of the season. So yeah, that must be a confidence boost for #27. Sadly, that's was as close to "being in this thing" as the Oilers would be. Period 1 ends with the scored knotted at 1 a piece.

Period 2 was the worst period of Oilers hockey I've seen in my 12 years of being a fan. Outscored 2-0 and outshot 10-3, the Oilers didn't register a shot on goal until the 17 minute mark of the 2nd. 17 minutes and they never had 1 shot on net. Even when the score was 3-1, Talbot was the only reason it was kept to that score at the end of the 2nd. Kyle Palmieri got his 2nd of the game, making it 2-1 and that was followed up by Travis Zajac making it 3-1.

Period 3 wasn't a whole lot better. Zajac potted his 2nd of the game making it 4-1 and that's where I shut it off. I followed on Twitter, catching a bit about where Leon Draisitl potted his 1st of the season off a feed from Milan Lucic and McDavid. I don't care who scored the empty netter for the Devils.

Positives:

1. McDavid - gets 2 points tonight and looked as good as he always does. Not much to complain about.
2. Lucic - After how last season ended, Lucic was looking for anything to get him going this season. He had a decent preseason with 3 points in 4 games, and he followed that up with 2 points tonight. He was physical, he was making smart passes, and he was engaged. Probably the best Oilers player on the ice bar-none.
3. It's over - nothing more to say here
4. It's only 1 game - 81 left to go, there is time to iron out a few things. But not much.

Negatives:

1. The effort - This team was garbage. I'm tired of making excuses. There is 0 excuse for how they played tonight. Getting 0 shots on net for the first 17 minutes of a period? Inexcusable. Not have having a decent looking PP? Inexcusable. Getting beat to every puck and losing every puck battle? Inexcusable.
2. Defence - Complete and utter shit. Nurse and Benning especially.
3. PP - What are they thinking? The PP looked like shit. Utter crap. No actual strategy, no actual purpose. The only reason they scored once was because McDavid decided to skate the puck in himself.

Let's hope they turn things around, fast.

Pacific Division Preview

It's the most wonderful time of the year. When the coaches are coaching and everyone telling you, your team will suck. It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Yes my friends, it's that time of year again. Training camp opened today and holy crap, what a day it was, highlighted by the trade of Erik Karlsson to the fucking Sharks (because NHL). With the preseason set to get underway here in the next few days, and only 23 days until Regular season puck drop, I'm here to do my preview of the pacific division. Go through each team, give my thoughts on them, and then make my picks for the playoffs. We'll be doing this in alphabetical order, so let's get to it.

1. Anaheim Ducks:

Those damn dirty Ducks. Most fans in the NHL can stand this team. Come playoff time, they're one of the dirtiest teams in the league, constantly hacking and slashing the opposition with little to no consequences. That being said, their still a good team who can never be counted out. Sure Getzlaf and Perry are older, Bieksa and Kesler probably won't play for a while, but their young guys of Ritchie and Rakell, Montour and Manson, along with star goalie John Gibson, give the Ducks a team to respect.

2. Arizona Coyotes:

At this point, it's practically a cliche to make fun of the Coyotes. A team that was forcefully dragged out into the desert, gone through multiple problems with ownership, and even had a bad situation with Shane Doan 2 seasons ago. However, the Coyotes are starting to turn heads, at least my head. They have a few young players to be excited about. Clayton Keller is a gem, Dylan Strome is still improving, and Anti Raanta is starting to come into his own as a starter. I still think Barret Hayton is a bit of a stretch, but watch out for the Desert Dogs in a season or 2.

3. Calgary Flames:

As an Oilers fan, it'd be easy for me to dump on them...so I will. Calgary is going to not have a good season. While their forward lines did indeed improve, they've brought in too many ex-hurricanes, in Peters, Lindholm, Hannifin, and Ryan. Yes because nothing says success like bringing in players and coaches from a team that hasn't made the playoffs since 2009. On top of that, their defence is weaker now (though Hannifin will get better) and they're once again relying on Mike Smith to be a brick wall, praying to the hockey gods that he doesn't get injured.

4. Edmonton Oilers:

No preview needed, because this is an Oilers blog. All I'lll say is that Oilers make the playoffs.

5. LA Kings:

The Kings always baffle me season in and season out. They have some horrible contracts, but the players aren't that bad. They sneak into the playoffs, then win the Stanley Cup. Their biggest off-season acquisition was Ilya Kovalchuk, but Kovalchuk hasn't played in the NHL since 2012 (ironically losing to the Kings in that Cup Final). Still, the Kings have the likes of Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar, and Jonathan Quick who always keep the Kings competitive.

6. San Jose Sharks:

I expect them to win the Pacific, if not the for the fact that they have Marc-Edward Vlasic, Brent Burns and now ERIK KARLSSON. On top of that, the Sharks seemed to have reformed Evander Kane and have a wealth of prospects and depth to help them should an injury occur. Their moves suggest their going for the prize, trying to win one for Pavelski and Thorton.

7. Vancouver Canucks:

Most Canucks fans are entering new territory. For the first time in, what, 18, 19 years, Henrik and Daniel Sedin will not be suiting up for an NHL season. Both announced their retirement last season and so the Canucks are forced to start anew without their superstar Sedin twins. Brock Boeser was a nice surprise for them this year, but their still a few years off from playoff contention sadly.

8. Vegas Golden Knights:

How do you decide the path of a team that makes the Cup Finals in their inaugural season? The answer is, you don't. The Knights defied all the odds, broke all the rules, and set the standard for expansion teams. The addition of Max Paciorety and Paul Statsny keep their scoring up, and Marc-Andre Fleury is still a god in net. It'll be interesting to see how they do in their second season.

So with all of that said and done, who do I think makes the playoffs? Well here is my top 3 for the pacific.

1. San Jose - They've got too much talent to not win the pacific.
2. Edmonton - McDavid and company will rebound. They did it two seasons ago, I see them doing it again.
3. LA or Vegas: Honestly, the 3rd spot is up for grabs. Vegas was riding an emotional high last season, so they'll come back down to earth slightly, and the Kings are well, the Kings.
Wildcard. Anaheim: While the Ducks will drop off, they'll still be a good team. If a pacific team makes it into the wildcard slot, it'll be Anaheim.

So yeah, that's my pacific preview. Nothing too complicated, but it's not supposed to be lol. Now let's get this hockey season underway already!

Cam Talbot

Welp folks, it's here. The dog days of summer. The most boring time to be a hockey fan. Most of the NHL action is over with. The off-season has ground to a halt, with only some signings and stuff being announced. However two recent articles over at OilersNation have got me wanting to write something. The first, was about Evan Bounchard's defensive "deficiencies". My response to that article?

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I fucking quit.


Not even a new season and some of the people have already turned on him. This is a new low even for you assholes!"

Needless to say, I was pretty ticked off. But that's not what this post is about. No, no, no, no. Today I'm writing about an article on ON, posted 2 hours ago; titled High/Low: The Goalies.

Now I HATE when someone writes an article about a goalie, especially on ON, for three reasons.

1. They complain about how Talbot plays:

As a former goalie myself, I get infuriated when goalies make stupid mistakes. Whether it be making a ill-advised trip out of their crease to grab a loose puck behind the net, or trying to catch a center ice dump-in from center ice in their glove, resulting in the puck ending up in the back of the net. However, aside from a few hiccups, I saw no issue with Talbot's play last season.

2. They try to argue that Talbot is a career backup goalie:

Now I'm not going to post what I wrote on OilersNation about Talbot's stats. It'd be long, and quite frankly, it'd be tedious (copy and paste I know, but I'm lazy). So I'm just going to post my totals for him. Keep in mind, MY stat tracking went back to the 2009-10 season when he was playing at the U of Alabama. Over an 8 year career of playing goalie at the CHA, AHL, ECHL, and NHL levls, Cam Talbot has played a total of 403 games. In that span, he has won 194 games, lost 165 regulation games, and lost 30 Overtime games. In that entire time, he has a 2.50 GAA, and a .918 SV%. If you're still unconvinced that Talbot is a starter, let's take a look at some comparables.

Cam Talbot - 2.50 GAA, .918 sv%
Frederik Anderson - 2.54 GAA, .918 sv%
Brayden Holtby - 2.41 GAA, .919 sv%
Tuuka Rask - 2.26 GAA, .922 sv%
Sergei Bobrovksy - 2.44 GAA, .920 sv%

So if Cam Talbot "isn't a starting goaltender", then none of these other guys are.

3.  Goalies, as a whole, are hard to pin down from season to season (more on this below). 

When I was listening to the Steve Dangle Podcast, talking about that crazy day on June 29th 2016, special guest, Andrew Berkshire, said something interesting. That goalies are hard to track because their stats are massively impacted by the team in front of them. He used Tuuka Rask as an example. For reference, Rask had a 2.56 GAA and .915 sv% in the 2015-16 season. A downgrade from the 2.11 GAA and .927 sv% he had put up the previous 3 seasons.

So no, I don't think Edmonton should get rid of Cam Talbot. His career speaks for itself and last year was a down year for him. Plain and simple. He hasn't lost his touch, he hasn't suddenly forgotten how to play goalie. He had 1 bad year. Cam is a wonderful goalie, and he has put together good stretches of play for us before. I'm happy to have Cam back between the pipes and I look forward to him shutting the naysayers up. And I'll happily wear my Cam Talbot jersey, loud and proud!

Grading Chiarelli's Off-season

Welp we've reached the worst part of the NHL off-season folks. The "deadzone" as I like to call it. The time between now the and the start of training camp is one of the most boring times for hockey fans, because the madness of the draft, development camp, and free-agency is now over. Sure, there are plenty of free-agents left, but the good times have come to an end, at least until September. So with this "deadzone" now in effect, we hockey fans, bloggers, writers, and insiders have to keep busy somehow.

So today, I'm going to be doing a grading of Peter Chiarelli's off-season so far with Edmonton. An off-season that I feel, has been very profitable for Peter. In this grading, I'm going to be looking at 6 "categories" for the various events Peter has had a hand in. They are, coaching changes, trades, the draft, the re-sign phase, and free agency. Now of course, Chiarelli could still make a signing or a trade. Which is fine. I'm only grading him up until July 5th at 9:43 am ET. I will be giving grades out of 5, because a number grading is easier than doing A+, A, A-, etc. Let's get started.

Coaching Changes:
Grade: 5/5
Reason: Peter's first order of business this off-season was improving the coaching staff behind the Oilers bench. He and most of the fans (myself included), seem to give a vote of confidence to Todd McLellan, but not the assistants that failed miserably with special teams. Jim Johnson was fired, Ian Herbers went back to UoA, and Jay Woodcroft was depromoted (I use this term, because I don't know if going from NHL assistant coach to AHL head coach is a promotion or a demotion) to the head coach of Bakersfield. In their stead, the Oilers hired ex-Flames head coach Glen Gulutzen (recieved with mixed reviews), Manny Viveiros (who coached a good Swift Current Broncos club), and Trent Yawney (who has a track record of running a good PK and developing defencemen). While it is unclear what the actual strategy for these four is (the feeling is that all 4 will work on the special teams equally), this makes up for a strong bench...at least on paper. Hopefully it will lead to NHL sucess.

Trades:
Grade: 5/5
Reason: Peter Chiarelli has made 3 trades since the end of the regular season. On June 8th, Chiarelli sent a conditional 7th round pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Nolan Vesey. Nothing more than a depth move really. Then on the 2nd day of the draft, the Oilers moved up in the draft, acquiring the 61st overall pick from Montreal. In exchange, Edmonton sent the Habs the 71st and 133rd picks. They used the 61st pick to select goaltender Olivier Rodrigue. Mere hours later, the Oilers once again made a deal with Montreal, acquiring goalie Hayden Hawkey in exchange for a 5th round pick in the 2019 draft. All three of these trades are small, depth moves that make sense for the organization, the most important being in selecting the #1 ranked goalie in this years draft (Rodrigue).

Draft:
Grade: 5/5
Reason: Really just for the Bouchard pick. While almost all Oilers fan dislike Peter Chiarelli for his trading resume, they don't generally complain about his drafting. That's because, Peter Chiarelli is usually pretty good at a draft table and this year was no exception. Granted there was some tension in Oil Country in regards to the Oilers 10th overall selection, and the fear it might be moved. But Peter waited and waited and waited, and was rewarded with the chance to select one of Evan Bouchard, Noah Dobson, or Oliver Wahlstrom. While some fans would've liked Edmonton to select Dobson or Wahlstrom, they really can't go wrong with the Bouchard pick. The Oilers would continue their solid draft by selecting Ryan McCleod at 40th and moving up in the draft to select Olivier Rodrigue.

Re-Sign Phase:
Grade: 4/5
Reason: This one is hard for me to do because of my own views on Chiarelli vs the rest of fans views on him. Yes I am aware that Strome and Nurse still need new contracts, but Peter Chiarelli has signed three players. Mikko Koskinen, Drake Caggiula, Matt Benning. The Koskinen signing was met with, understandable, hesitance. Koskinen hasn't played in the NHL, his stats aren't spectacular, and his contract is a bit pricey. It's one of these moves that could either work out and be OK, or burn out and be bad. Only next season will tell. Caggiula was met with A LOT of hate from Oilers twitter. The big problem with this signing was a mix of both the contract value and Caggiula himself. My personally? I like it. Yes Caggiula isn't a top 6 player, but it's not his fault McLellan and Co. kept putting him there. Benning's contract extension was more well received, but there were still some critics. Again, I don't mind this deal. He's still young, he's still developing, plus he'll be seeing more minutes when Bouchard gets sent back to London.

Free-Agency:
Grade: 5/5
Reason: Peter Chiarelli didn't have much money to work with heading into this years free agency. As such, signing a big fish free agent like JVR, Tavares, or Neal was impossible. So instead, Chiarelli focused on players who could help his team. And he struck gold with two former Oilers draft picks, Kyle Brodziak and Tobias Reider. Both players were signed to reasonable, team friendly contracts, both can help the Oilers improve their PK, and both can contribute offensively. Again, smart solid signings.

Summary:
Total Grade:24/25
Reason: Peter Chiarelli had a few goals coming into this off-season, and I think he accomplished them all. He wanted to improve the Oilers special teams and he did that with the assistant coach hires as well as the additions of Brodziak and Reider. He wanted to get a RHD who could quarterback a powerplay, and he did that in nabbing Bouchard at the draft. And he wanted to contribute to the depth scoring of the team as well as bring players back who he thinks can help them. Of course, this is something we as Oilers fans have seen before. They make moves in the off-season, pitch them as smart solid moves, and it generally blows up in their faces come hockey season. This year though, I believe it. The moves that Chiarelli has made are smart, solid moves that can pay dividends (at least on paper).Hopefully these will pay off. Because if they do, Peter might be loved in Oil Country again.

Defending my choices

So a couple of days ago, @TheOilKnight & @DirtbagDonny on Twitter, had asked us Oilers fans about our top 3 pet peeves in today's NHL. Naturally I replied with this

"Jeez there's so many things. Here's my 3.
1. Officiating. It's been beaten to death, so I'll leave it at that.
2. Pre-game stuff...particularly with Vegas' being so damn long. It's a hockey game, not a friggin talent show!
3. Social media and how it impacts players and coaches."

And this is a decent list that they went through in Episode 7 of their show, "Late Night with the Oil Knight". And they agreed with me on 2/3 of these, which I don't mind. However, I feel the need to now go more in-depth on them.

1. Officiating:

Originally, I meant how the officiating has become a joke. How the coaches challenges have taken the "flow" out of the game, as well as how they enrage fan-bases because of a) how they're done, b) how long they take; and c) how they seem to get it wrong 75% of the time. This past weekend I was talking with my uncle on Canada Day about officiating and I mentioned how it seems kind of unfair to the refs when it comes to making a mistake. It's like the league won't allow them to go back on a decision or admit they messed up. A good example of this would be Game 5 between Toronto and Boston these past playoffs. On the play, Boston recieved a delay-of-game penalty because the puck went out of play. In real-time speed, it does look like it didn't hit anything going into the stands. However upon review, it was shown that the puck hit the glass before it exited the rink, therefore nullifying the penalty to Boston. However the refs didn't change their mind, even though the evidence was quite clear. I maybe in the minority on this, but how come a ref can't go on the PA and say "I made a mistake"? If the NHL thinks it'll make the game go longer, keep in mind that the coaches challenges already do that. If the NHL thinks it'll make the officials look incompetent, again, the coaches challenges already do that. Again, it would be nicer for them to a) get calls right and b) admit to making a mistake when things are clearly shown to them.

2. Pre-game stuff:

This one I take issues with heartedly. As I stated above, it's a hockey game not a talent show, although you could argue that the"talent show" is the actual game itself. No what I meant by this was two things. Anybody who follows me on twitter, knows I was pretty pissed at all of Vegas' pre-playoff game shenanigans. The actual presentation itself wasn't bad, but it just took too long, to the point where I would tune in at the time the puck is supposed to be dropped, and yet I'm sitting there watching a GOLDEN KNIGHT SLICE A CF-18 HORNET IN HALF! The second thing I meant by this was that some teams, *cough Oilers cough* don't do much for the pre-game show. Some teams *cough Oilers cough* come out onto the ice, PA guy announces the starting lineups, they sing the anthems and then drop the puck and game on. Yes it's short, but it's not sweet and it's quite dull. I mean what happened to the flaming oil derrick? Bring that shit back! Do SOMETHING to make it better. I like simplicity, I like quick and easy, but when you make it too quick and easy, it's not fun and quite boring.

3. Social media and how it impacts players and coaches:

Okay this one I'm going to have to explain, big time. Social media has made our lives better. We can connect with people easier, get news updates as they happen, and follow along with current events easily. But at the same time, it's also allowed for more cyber-bullying, more people to spread their hate and nastiness, as well as the posting of incriminating photo's, videos and e-mails. When I wrote down this as a pet peeve, I was thinking about that picture of Gerard Gallant after he was fired by Florida. I hate seeing that because it's so embarassing for him to see. That picture is never going to go away. And yes he absolutely redeemed himself with how Vegas performed, but for the few months he was without a job, that picture probably haunted him. A picture that would've NEVER have surfaced 12 years ago. Social media has made it easier for people to spew hate towards a player (just look at the amount of people who said f*** you to John Tavares yesterday). Yes social media probably helps teams, coaches and players. But it also makes it easier for those coaches and players to receive hate online. Something that I can't personally stand.