I wanted to see how references to marijuana I could fit into that title. How’d I do? Nice to see Canada getting with the times. Mind you, it’s not for me. I tried it and it didn’t really do anything for me apart from make me hungry and tired and irritated because I was too tired to eat. We’ll see if we can toss a few more references into this post to make it a bit more entertaining.
There are two things that have bothered me since the end of the game versus Winnipeg until now.
- The hate on for Jason Garrison
- The unrelenting love for the PP from the MSM
Now both have been good and bad and what I mean by that is Jason Garrison is a 34-year-old PTO signing. He was brought in to play sparingly in my opinion. I’m of the belief that the primary reason was to add a more veteran presence to the locker room and to be a mentor to Evan Bouchard and the other young defenders on the team.
And the powerplay has been excellent so far but I’m not so sure if it’s all down to the all-lefty system.
Garrison did not have an amazing game last night (nor did his partner Matt Benning… Again). Adam Lowry basically made Garrison his bitch on both his goals. But the funny thing about hockey is that one play can make or break a game and it was Jason Garrison that kept the puck in the Jets zone enabling the Oilers to score the game-tying goal.
Had Jason Garrison not stopped that puck and given it to McDavid, we might be having a much different conversation right now. It doesn’t hurt to find some positive in an ocean of negative every now and then.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idNAIirb1s0
As for the all-lefty powerplay, the Oilers are 4th in the NHL (4/12 for 33.3%) and that is out-bloody-standing compared to where they were last season but if you look at each goal scored with the man-advantage this season for Edmonton, you have to ask yourself, how many are really a product of the all-lefty system.
- Goal 1: Milan Lucic scores after McDavid rushes the puck into the Devils zone, circles the net and finds Lucic in the slot.
- Goal 2: RNH moves the puck down low to Leon who fires a pass cross-crease to McDavid who awkwardly backhands it through Lundqvist somehow.
- Goal 3: Leon carries the puck out of the Oilers zone and passes to a streaking McDavid who blazes past the Jets defense and beats Hellebuyck on the backhand.
- Goal 4: From the high-slot, Nuge rings one off the post, the puck bounces around the slot a bit and then finds its way to McDavid’s stick, Connor buries it easily.
So out of those four goals, which one(s) do you think is(are) a product of the all-lefty system?
I’m going to say goals no.2 and 4 because there was some set up required and the secondary goal was to get the puck over to McDavid. I believe that they might be using RNH as the primary shooter in this scheme as he’s been set up quite a few times already and hit the post on at least two, maybe three occasions. Teams seem to be leaving him alone as they cover McDavid and Nuge has got a very deceptive wrist-shot.
MAKING COCO
How many of you made it out to the premiere of Making Coco at Rogers Place? I erroneously mentioned in a blog that the premiere was on Tuesday. My bad.
I’m really looking forward to watching this documentary as I felt Adam Scorgie did an outstanding job at setting the bar for not just hockey documentaries but sports documentaries in general.
Ice Guardians was one of the best docs I’ve seen in a while and so I expect more of the same from Making Coco.
Don’t spoil it for me but I wonder how close the doc will be to Grant Fuhr’s book, Grant Fuhr: The Story of a Hockey Legend?
I’m reading it right now and really enjoying it. It’s a pretty easy read as Bruce Dowbiggin sets the stages for different times in Fuhr’s life and then Fuhr comments on them throughout each chapter.
Game 5: September 13, 1987 – Canada 6 USSR 5 is a great chapter since that hockey game is widely regarded as one of the best games ever played. Learning how Fuhr felt going into that game having so many off-ice distractions going on in his life was so eye-opening.
If you think you’d be interested in picking up a copy, you should click this link.
Full disclosure. If you do click the link above or any other ad on my site, I’ll get a few bucks for referring you and I’d be eternally grateful because every buck I get from this site goes right back into my family be that for clothes, education, groceries, or even funding flights back home to Canada.
I’m really trying to make a go of this working from home thing and any support I get from you through the website, I know I appreciate so much, and I’m pretty sure my kids and wife as well. So thank you in advance!
