Oiler Fan Doing This - A Response to saneopinion
Posted 10:25 PM ET | Comments 0
OK I will bite on this a little bit.
First to a couple of the other Oilers posters who replied on sanes blog:
1. Tanguay was a good acquisition, especially since the Flames gave up a D-man who played what 10 games last year. I think he played more with Iginla down the stretch and was effective.
2. Second Kipper won't be going somewhere to market himself, the spotlight in Calgary if anything is too bright. IF he goes anywhere, it will be to a decent team in a non hockey market where he can disappear after games, not be recognized around town, etc.
Now to the original poster, lets remember what all these brilliant players got the Flames last year. 8th in the west and a first round stomping. These are not the 70's Habs. I'll point out a few of your absurdities. I qualify all this by saying the Flames will most likely finish ahead of the Oilers, they are a better team right now. It's not nearly as lopsided as you think, and I question if you really had a "sane and thought out opinion" when you wrote this.
1. Stoll vs Lombardi - This is close to a toss up, you could argue both sides, but to give Lombardi the edge because he stayed healthy in one season is dumb. Lombardi missed nearly all of a previous season with a concussion so just because he dodged that this year he's better. Good Job. I really question how sane this opinion is.
2. Where's Torres? This guy was our #2 LW last year. Only 34 points but better than either guy you mentioned. Do your research if you are going to write an article like this.
3. Defensemen - At this point you stop comparing by points, and start comparing by, what you think GM's would say, and you do throw in +/- I suppose. Granted Calgary has better defensive defensemen, but Edmonton's have more offensive upside. Aucoin has the potential to be bad.
4. Did I miss a rule change? Are we playing 40 minute games? You compare literally one more that 50% of the skaters that will actually play a game. That's 6F + 4D = 10/19 who dress. Sure the players you listed likely account for 2/3 of the ice time, but what about the other 15-20 minutes. Edmonton's checking line of Pisani-Reasoner-Moreau is better than the Flames checking line of, and I'm guess a bit here, Yelle-Nilson-Moss. Maybe not better at scoring, but better at checking other top lines. 4th line is pretty much a wash. Same with 5th and 6th d-men. Finally Garon is a more proven backup goalie than whichever talented kid from the farm Calgary brings up. He'll give the Oilers 15-20 solid starts, the Flames will be rolling the dice in the 8-10 games there backup plays. The west will be tight and this will make a difference.
5. Coaching - In the last 10 or so years, Keenan has destroyed 3 franchises. STL, VAN, FLA. Most of the damage was done as a GM, but lots of players don't like to play for him. The deepest he's taken a team was the conference finals in like 1997. This team had a guy wearing 99 playing center. You assistant couldn't hack it as a head coach and got axed after a year. MacT is well liked by his players for the most part. He took a #8 seed to the finals 2 years ago. The edge here should be to the Oilers.
6. GM - Saying that only one is respected is absurd. Kevin Lowe is very respected in the hockey world. Sure he ticked a couple guys off with the RFA offers, but saying he is not respected around the league is just false.
Look, over all you're right, Oilers fans can't right now say that they have a better team than the Flames, however if you are going to write a blog that critical, you better have your facts straight. Missing Torres, comparing forwards based on points alone, arbitrarily picking the Calgary defensemen, and only comparing half the team is simply not fair. Do the same for Flames vs Red Wings before last playoffs. Flames would have won almost every category. And we all know how that played out.
First to a couple of the other Oilers posters who replied on sanes blog:
1. Tanguay was a good acquisition, especially since the Flames gave up a D-man who played what 10 games last year. I think he played more with Iginla down the stretch and was effective.
2. Second Kipper won't be going somewhere to market himself, the spotlight in Calgary if anything is too bright. IF he goes anywhere, it will be to a decent team in a non hockey market where he can disappear after games, not be recognized around town, etc.
Now to the original poster, lets remember what all these brilliant players got the Flames last year. 8th in the west and a first round stomping. These are not the 70's Habs. I'll point out a few of your absurdities. I qualify all this by saying the Flames will most likely finish ahead of the Oilers, they are a better team right now. It's not nearly as lopsided as you think, and I question if you really had a "sane and thought out opinion" when you wrote this.
1. Stoll vs Lombardi - This is close to a toss up, you could argue both sides, but to give Lombardi the edge because he stayed healthy in one season is dumb. Lombardi missed nearly all of a previous season with a concussion so just because he dodged that this year he's better. Good Job. I really question how sane this opinion is.
2. Where's Torres? This guy was our #2 LW last year. Only 34 points but better than either guy you mentioned. Do your research if you are going to write an article like this.
3. Defensemen - At this point you stop comparing by points, and start comparing by, what you think GM's would say, and you do throw in +/- I suppose. Granted Calgary has better defensive defensemen, but Edmonton's have more offensive upside. Aucoin has the potential to be bad.
4. Did I miss a rule change? Are we playing 40 minute games? You compare literally one more that 50% of the skaters that will actually play a game. That's 6F + 4D = 10/19 who dress. Sure the players you listed likely account for 2/3 of the ice time, but what about the other 15-20 minutes. Edmonton's checking line of Pisani-Reasoner-Moreau is better than the Flames checking line of, and I'm guess a bit here, Yelle-Nilson-Moss. Maybe not better at scoring, but better at checking other top lines. 4th line is pretty much a wash. Same with 5th and 6th d-men. Finally Garon is a more proven backup goalie than whichever talented kid from the farm Calgary brings up. He'll give the Oilers 15-20 solid starts, the Flames will be rolling the dice in the 8-10 games there backup plays. The west will be tight and this will make a difference.
5. Coaching - In the last 10 or so years, Keenan has destroyed 3 franchises. STL, VAN, FLA. Most of the damage was done as a GM, but lots of players don't like to play for him. The deepest he's taken a team was the conference finals in like 1997. This team had a guy wearing 99 playing center. You assistant couldn't hack it as a head coach and got axed after a year. MacT is well liked by his players for the most part. He took a #8 seed to the finals 2 years ago. The edge here should be to the Oilers.
6. GM - Saying that only one is respected is absurd. Kevin Lowe is very respected in the hockey world. Sure he ticked a couple guys off with the RFA offers, but saying he is not respected around the league is just false.
Look, over all you're right, Oilers fans can't right now say that they have a better team than the Flames, however if you are going to write a blog that critical, you better have your facts straight. Missing Torres, comparing forwards based on points alone, arbitrarily picking the Calgary defensemen, and only comparing half the team is simply not fair. Do the same for Flames vs Red Wings before last playoffs. Flames would have won almost every category. And we all know how that played out.