Two Great Ones and a pretty rad shirt!
Thanks @ThatKevinSmith for the support! pic.twitter.com/J4h6GsmFGs
— BLH (Edmonton Oilers Enthusiast} (@BeerLeagueHeroe) January 12, 2019
That’s a pretty cool picture right? It’s not every day two of the most famous people in the world take a pic with a shirt you designed. Over to you Woodguy.
I’ve got a few minutes to throw together a quick post and so I’d like to talk about the horrors of blogging about the Edmonton Oilers…
Not really! We’re going to do up the mid-season awards but I’m going to do them for both the Oilers and the NHL.
So here we go!!!
Hart Trophy (League MVP)
NHL: Connor McDavid
Oilers: Brandon Manning er- I mean Connor McDavid
As if Calgary would be lost without Johnny Hamburger. Same goes for Kucherov. MacKinnon and/or Rantanen have a valid argument as does John Gibson. But McDavid pretty much hoists the Oilers onto his back every night in an attempt to get the 2pts for the Oilers.
I wonder if Elias Pettersson might hop into the conversation by the end of the year?
Norris Trophy (Best Defenseman)
NHL: Morgan Rielly (TOR)
Oilers: Oscar Klefbom
Rielly has the most even strength points amongst defenders (32) this year and he’s +26. Hard to argue with those numbers.
Some might say that Darnell Nurse should be voted as Edmonton’s defender of the year so far but I would argue that Klefbom’s absence has hit the Oilers harder than if Nurse were to go out. Oscar is a tad more important to the success of the team.
Selke Trophy (Best Defensive Forward)
NHL: Alexander Barkov (FLA)
Oilers: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
If I could I’d probably take Patrice Bergeron every year but he’s been dinged up a bit so far this campaign. Ryan O’Reilly is worthy as well. But I think Sasha Barkov doesn’t get the recognition he deserves for being one of the best defensive pivots in the game today. He’s an absolute stud.
As for Nuge, I’ll be honest, the Oilers don’t really have a lot of great defensive forwards on their team and they could really use a guy who excels on the other side of the puck. That said, Nuge is my vote because he’s the best two-way forward Edmonton has to offer. I hope that one day, Jesse Puljujarvi is that guy though.
Calder Trophy (Best Rookie)
NHL: Elias Pettersson (VAN)
Oilers: Caleb Jones
I don’t think that Pettersson has the Calder quite wrapped up. Rasmus Dahlin is on pace for around 40pts this season and that’s mind-blowing to me. An 18-year-old defender putting up 20 points is crazy to me, 40 is just unthinkable in today’s NHL.
Jones has come in here and filled in quite admirably for Klefbom. He’s been so good that I think the Oilers are going to have a hard time sending him down when Oscar returns in a couple of weeks. He’s basically made Matt Benning redundant.
Vezina Trophy (Best Goalie)
NHL: Andrei Vasilevski (TB)
Oilers: Mikko Koskinen
Vasilevski is one of my favorite goalies in the NHL. From the time I watched him at the World Juniors in Calgary to now, he’s been fantastic. Without him, I don’t think Tampa is one of the best in the league.
The same goes for Koskinen. He started the year on fire and if it weren’t for him, the Oilers would be in the Jack Hughes conversation more prominently. He’s slowed down since the injuries to Russell and Klef but so has the whole team.
Jack Adams Trophy (Best Coach)
NHL: Barry Trotz (NYI)
Oilers: Ken Hitchcock
The Islanders were a sad state of affairs before Trotz and Lamierello walked in. No goalie and John Tavares took his talents north to T.O. Right now they’re in a dogfight for 3rd place in the Metropolitan division. He’s gotten that team to buy into his message and he may very well have a team that’s to be reckoned with in the playoffs.
Todd McLellan had a similar run to the one Hitchcock has had since he was hired on Nov. 20th but the difference is, McLellan had a healthy roster to deal with, Hitch hasn’t. He’s gotten the most out of a team that McLellan couldn’t and his media avails have been “must-see”.
Who are your picks for the mid-season awards? Let us know in the comments!
BONUS: There’s a shirt sale on right now (1.12.2019) and so you should click one of the images below and head over to our TeePublic shop to get yourself some sweet BHL swag on the cheap.
I mean if it’s good enough for Kevin Smith and Wayne Gretzky, it has to be for you too!
