In response to NeelyOrrBourque's comment:

In response to Bookboy007's comment:

OK, Let's make this interesting. I'll buy you 2 $25.00 Boston Bruin T-shirts of your choice if the Oilers don't finish as the 3rd seed, or if they finish below the 3rd seed, but don't get to the 2nd round.

IF the Oiler's finish 3rd seed or higher you buy me two. IF the Oiler's make it to the Final you buy me 3. I think since I'm the one making the boldest predictions & you have more ways of winning I think I should get the extra T-shirt if I end up right. Deal? Or has your attitude changed now that the Oil added Fistric? lol

The 84' Oilers had Grant Fuhr in net. Devan Dubnyk is no Grant Fuhr, yet. We'll see, but the Oilers of 1984 took a lot of chances knowing they had Fuhr back there.  

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Actually in 84' Andy Moog was the winnng SC goalie. ;-)

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Did he play the deciding game? I think Fuhr played the majority of the games, or did they co-tend ? 

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Yes, because Grant got injured in game 3 of the SCF.

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All righty then. 84' was a long time ago, lots of partying in those days. ;)

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Stoner!!! lol

In response to SanDogBrewin's comment:

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Ummm do I have to type up all the goalie's that won a series against the B's in the past 30 yrs? Steve Penny in 84' is certainly one that comes to mind right off the top of my head.

Young team. New coach. 1 week camp to get a system in place. Short season. Suspect D and goalie.

No way they get close to a whiff of the Finals this year. Lucky to make the playoffs.

In response to NeelyOrrBourque's comment:

[/QUOTE]Ummm do I have to type up all the goalie's that won a series against the B's in the past 30 yrs? Steve Penny in 84' is certainly one that comes to mind right off the top of my head. [/QUOTE]

Thank you for ackowledging my point. Several times Roy was great in the regular season against the Bruins the got beat in the playoffs. Also Sir Patrick had horrible regular season stats then turned it on during the post-season.

Bruins recently had problems with Price but were able to solve him when it counted.

In response to NeelyOrrBourque's comment:

And I could have sworn I hear somewhere that Shultz was having a brutal season, must have been someone else. My bad. I don't follow AHL hockey, or care at all about the Oilers.

There's just no chance, in my opinion, that the Oilers are going to make a cup run. They are likely going to be up in the league leaders in offence, but adding Justin Shultz and pretending he's going to fix their porous defense is a huge stretch in my opinion. Yeah, he's an offensive weapon from the point, but was offense really this teams problem? Was the RNH-run power play really a problem? Last season it was amoung the best in the NHL, probably the best when RNH was healthy, and they finished dead last.

I think you're much more likely to see Ryan Nugent Hopkins being one of those frustrating players who puts up ~100 points, like Stamkos. (whatever the quivalent is during the shortened season) and barely earns a positive +/-.

See, not only is the defense of the oilers bad, but they don't even have the two-way center types that can help out down-low.  (I may be biased in this, I know that Sam Gagner has a relatively good +corsi rating for two seasons in a row, meaning when he's on the ice the oilers are netting more shots at their opponents net than their opponents are directing @ Dubnyk). But I really think a Rock on defense and good two-way play is essential for winning in the NHL playoffs. There's only so much all these wings can do to help on d.

The Thing that the oil will have that will put them in the playoffs I think is youth, they are young and unlikely to come into the season out of shape. They are going to score a lot of goals. Great. But as far as I'm concerned none of their offensive stars are difference makers on defense.

The gap is small in the NHL during the regular season, but the gap in the playoffs is basically non-existant. They are going to need a more physical presence and solid two-way play to put them over the top. When they get that... look-out. multiple cup run inc.

In response to SanDogBrewin's comment:

[/QUOTE]Ummm do I have to type up all the goalie's that won a series against the B's in the past 30 yrs? Steve Penny in 84' is certainly one that comes to mind right off the top of my head. [/QUOTE]

Thank you for ackowledging my point. Several times Roy was great in the regular season against the Bruins the got beat in the playoffs. Also Sir Patrick had horrible regular season stats then turned it on during the post-season.

Bruins recently had problems with Price but were able to solve him when it counted.

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 Lol Roy was a bad example to use. In the modern era Patrick is the only goalie besides Price to have a losing record against the B's. In both the regular season & play-offs.

In response to Bisson1's comment:

In response to Olsonic's comment:

In response to seobrien's comment:

I love your pick Nite! If you look at my prediction thread from 9/5 I had the Oilers going to the conference finals...People are quick to point out what they dont have..What they do have is players like Hall,RNH, Eberle, Yakupov...etc..Is it enough? Who knows, but late last season people were making fun of my Kings in the Finals prediction...

"I think the name of the game is to out gun your opponent & as bad as their d is. Their offensive output will be enough for them to win 6-4 games more often than not. "


Now that I look at it, they were only 20th in the league in goals per game @ 2.52, they let up 2.82 per game (23rd in NHL)

And a lot of their offense came from the Power-Play, where they converted on 20.6% of their PP's (3rd in the NHL)

The thing is, in the playoffs, a lot of times the whistles go away. That's a problem for Edmonton since their PP is so deadly. It's the same gripe that Tampa Bay had vs the Bruins during the cup run. The Defense gets more stifling, there is less room to operate in the corners. I just don't think all these young finese players are going to be a recipe for post-season success. They'll be good in the reg season though.

In response to Bisson1's comment:

First off I just want to say that I'm 14 and a half. Damn, I get all riled up when people forget that half year.

Also, I'm argumentative? I rarely argue on here and dislike conflict in general.

Feel free to ignore my posts if they bother you so much.

In response to NeelyOrrBourque's comment:

There defence stunk last year...There goaltending was suspect to say the least....They have Schultz and he is a very good rookie but when did that team learn how to play defence. A Team like the Bruins would grind those little guys. This is not the 82-84 Oilers. Not even close...Living out here in the sticks ( nice sticks though) of Alberta, I'll be getting a good dose of Oilers on TV and will look forward to seeing all their young guns play. Any team that plays them will do well not to go to the penalty box too many times.

In response to kelvana33's comment:

In response to NeelyOrrBourque's comment:[/QUOTE] I'd be worried sick, because the Bruins can't score on Backstrom!!!![/QUOTE]

During the regular season doesn't mean it is going to translate to the post season.

[/QUOTE]Ummm do I have to type up all the goalie's that won a series against the B's in the past 30 yrs? Steve Penny in 84' is certainly one that comes to mind right off the top of my head. [/QUOTE]

Thank you for ackowledging my point. Several times Roy was great in the regular season against the Bruins the got beat in the playoffs. Also Sir Patrick had horrible regular season stats then turned it on during the post-season.

Bruins recently had problems with Price but were able to solve him when it counted.

[/QUOTE] Lol Roy was a bad example to use. In the modern era Patrick is the only goalie besides Price to have a losing record against the B's. In both the regular season & play-offs.[/QUOTE]

I'm not contending your knowledge of past goalie performances, it is very good and more than likely better than mine. I'm just pointing out I would not be scared of Backstrom, for the Bruins, in the finals.

You may now return to your duties as the President of the Scotty Laughlin Fan Club LOL

I thought he picked the Kings and the Caps, with the Caps winning.

As I recall, kel picked King-Caps in the finals and took flack most of the year as neither team was what it was supposed to be.  Props where due...though a coaching change and the acquisition of Carter weren't exactly part of kel's plan.

In response to NeelyOrrBourque's comment:

"I got owned by nitemare38/NeelyOrrBourque.  I am a worm"

and I will leave it like that all summer.  If you lose, you will make your sig. line:

"I got schooled by Bookboy.  I should have known better."

Sorry no Defence = No cup ! They won't beat LA or Canuckleheads

In response to Chowdahkid-'s comment:

In response to SanDogBrewin's comment:

[/QUOTE]Ummm do I have to type up all the goalie's that won a series against the B's in the past 30 yrs? Steve Penny in 84' is certainly one that comes to mind right off the top of my head. [/QUOTE]

Thank you for ackowledging my point. Several times Roy was great in the regular season against the Bruins the got beat in the playoffs. Also Sir Patrick had horrible regular season stats then turned it on during the post-season.

Bruins recently had problems with Price but were able to solve him when it counted.

[/QUOTE] Lol Roy was a bad example to use. In the modern era Patrick is the only goalie besides Price to have a losing record against the B's. In both the regular season & play-offs.[/QUOTE]

I'm not contending your knowledge of past goalie performances, it is very good and more than likely better than mine. I'm just pointing out I would not be scared of Backstrom, for the Bruins, in the finals.

You may now return to your duties as the President of the Scotty Laughlin Fan Club LOL

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LMAO! Freakin smart ash punk!!

Ya know I don't have XM anymore...My new car came with Sirus with a 2yr free subscription. I keep telling Sirus everytime they call with new promotions that I'm not re-newing if they don't get NHL Home Ice! Which peeves me off, because Sirus USA gets it! But here it's only available in XM Canada. And new cars rarely come with XM now. 

And as far as Backstrom vs the B's go Sandog... I know you're not, but it's a superstition as a goalie & a Bruins fan that I have. More often than not....2011 excluded... If you have a goalie who's shiting the bed, not performing up to expectations, needs to make a name for himself , or if he once was a Bruin, but the Bruins traded him, or you just simply want him to have a great game? Then make him play against the B's in the play-offs. 

In response to Bookboy007's comment: