*Please excuse some of the language in the post tonight. I tend to prefer the use of colorful language to the throwing of TV remotes through the TV.*
All I could do was chuckle when Colorado scored their first goal. I knew it was Jultz that was burned and I also knew that the rest of the game would be me tweeting about how much of tire fire he is. I’d love to have been in the meeting between Chiarelli and McLellan where they discussed the possibility of a Justin Schultz/Nikita Nikitin Pairing. By the way the team is deploying the two everyone must’ve been breaking out the champagne and cigars.
The Burger Baron summed it up perfectly tonight…
.@EdmontonOilers DO YOU REALIZE JUSTIN SCHULTZ IS STILL ON THE FUCKING #OILERS JESUS SHIT CHRIST YOU SADISTIC ASSHOLES WHY DO YOU HATE US
— BURGER BARON🍁 (@Burger_Baron) December 20, 2015
BB you say what we’re all thinking and there’s honor in that.
But why IS Justin Schultz on this team year after year? Every coach has utilized him in the same way resulting in the same disappointments. If the team is showcasing him, Jultz isn’t doing anybody any favours. I was wondering at what point is Brad Hunt a better option than Schultz? Surely Reinhart or Fayne would be better, no?
Finish this:
Justin Schultz is a lesson in…..#Oilers
— BLH (Edmonton Oilers Enthusiast} (@BeerLeagueHeroe) December 20, 2015
The replies…
@TheAndyBabic: over hyping?
@tsn75: being careful what you wish for.
@VicL011: making bad GM decisions.
@GoopyFunSeeker: A very generous organization giving him 4 years to prove himself and getting nothing in return.
There were quite a few entries but the gist of it was more or less agreeing with my eye’s assessment of Jultz’s performance.
With that said, Schultz did come out of this game with the best Corsi +/- (+17) and Fenwick +/- (+13) out of all the Oilers’ defensemen. So there is that… I’ll conclude with this: There’s no way that Schultz get’s anything close to what he’s being paid now by the Oilers this summer. There are and will be better options by the time July 1st rolls around and I would not lose an ounce of sleep if the Oilers walked away from Justin Schultz.
Taylor Hall’s line was balling throughout the whole game. 4/29/16 were responsible for 17 shots on the evening! If not for Varlamov this game would’ve been over in the first period. Edmonton outshot the Avalanche 40-29 but just couldn’t get more than one to beat the Russian.
Not leaving out Nuge’s line but I found them less prevalent. Eberle had 1 shot on net and Nuge was a -3. Pouliot’s return was pleasing though. He had one or two really nice chances to score. His size is very much welcome on the RNH line but I’m not sure the coach was happy with his offensive zone penalty…
If nobody is going to fight Gazdic why are we keeping him up? Yes, he’s a big body but he’s just lacking in the technical areas. Khaira is a better player all-round and performs the same duties. Just saying.
The line of John Mitchell, Jarome Iginla, and Alex Tanguay were the best with Girgorenko, McLeod, and Skille following them. I found that the rest of the Avs looked complacent. Also the Avalanche’s best d-pairing was Redmond and Guenin.
I suppose this is the Oilers getting a little bit of their own medicine after getting some hot goaltending during their 6-game winning streak.
Safe to say Talbot will be starting the next few games? #Oilers
— BLH (Edmonton Oilers Enthusiast} (@BeerLeagueHeroe) December 20, 2015
If Cam Talbot was looking for a sign, this is it. Nilsson’s play has petered off considerably as of late and tonight was the cherry on top. The net goes back to Talbot just in time to play the Jets and then have a layoff… lol. As Lowetide always says, goalies are voodoo and the Oilers are no different.
