Patrick O'Sullivan Faces LA

2008-09 Stats while with LA

62 GP

14 G

23 A

37 PTS

16 PIM

0.596 PTS/PG

2008-09 Stats while with EDM

16 GP

1 G

4 A

5 PTS

12 PIM

0.312 PTS/PG

2008-09 Stats Combined

78 GP	15 G	27 A	42 PTS	28 PIM

1.70 PTS/60
Corsi = +7.3*

A glimpse at Patrick O'Sullivan:

• Highest Corsi number on the team
• PTS/60 is 10th on the team
  
• TOI/60 is 9th on the team (but Visnovsky and Smid are injured, so he is now 7th)
• In terms of QUALCOMP and QUALTEAM he is just a John Doe
• GFON is 45 and GAON is 46 - practically a wash
  

Now, it's interesting to find Patrick O'Sullivan trailing Rob Schremp, JF Jacques, Ryan Potulny, and Zach Stortini in terms of PTS/60 - but then again, so is pretty much everyone else on the team. I'm guessing this is from a small sample size and not that accurate. But it does show one thing about Zach Stortini who's played quite a bit this season - he's pretty damn reliable.

The highest Corsi number on LA? Trevor Lewis at 20.1 and the pair of Tom Preissing and Anze Kopitar at 10.4 - but Lewis has spent most of his season in Manchester though.

What I seem to get from these stats is that Patrick O'Sullivan is not as great as I keep hearing that he's supposed to be - at least not yet. He has all the skills, but is he using them effectively? His points-per-game clip has dropped but I think some of that is attributable to coming to a new team. Is his frustration boiling over - or is it the new system? Who knows, but he has almost matched his entire season's output of PIM from when he was in LA in just 16 games here in Edmonton.

Current Lineup:

Kotalik - Horcoff - Hemsky
Nilsson - Gagner - O'Sullivan
Moreau - Cogliano - Pisani
Penner - Brodziak - Stortini

Souray - Staios
Gilbert - Grebeshkov
Peckham - Strudwick

O'Sullivan and Nilsson seem to have chemistry and have reignited the fire under Sam Gagner's ass. I'm still worried about the size of that line should we make the playoffs or even next season. As for Penner on the 4th line - that's just a total mismanagement of human resources.

Jacques and Stortini usually hem the opposition in their own zone and Penner is a 1st-2nd line player who is not that useful in a 3rd-4th line kind of role. Out of Penner/Nilsson/O'Sullivan/Kotalik you can only play 3 of them and right now it's not smart to play Penner on the 4th line where he is not effective: I think they should just play him or scratch him, and put Jacques in.

A Better Lineup:

Kotalik - Horcoff - Hemsky
Nilsson - Gagner - O'Sullivan
Moreau - Cogliano - Pisani
Jacques - Brodziak - Stortini

Souray - Staios
Gilbert - Grebeshkov
Peckham - Strudwick

Rewarding Mediocrity

Ethan Moreau is a great person, leader, hockey player, and father - without a doubt. The praises stop there, though.

According to many "advanced" statistics such as the ones being discussed by David Staples, Bruce McCurdy, and Jonathan Willis, it appears that Dustin Penner does more for this hockey team than Ethan Moreau.

Marty Reasoner loved it in Edmonton, did he get his just deserts? Ryan Smyth played his heart out and was a great leader too - look what he got in return for it. And yes, Ethan Moreau "leaves it all out on the ice," in colloquial terms, but what is "it" he leaves on the ice: what is this captain's legacy?

1. Injury-prone
2. Takes more penalties than he draws
3. Continues to fight even though management doesn't want him to
4. Leads by example (meaning, the Oilers don't have any intensity)

Ethan Moreau has always been one of my favorite players, but the time has come to ask the following quesiton: if the Oilers award medicocrity, what does that say about the organization in general? What does that say about Kevin Lowe, Kelly Buchberger ... Craig MacTavish?

And what does that say about Dustin Penner? If he really is playing better than his own captain, does he deserve the short end of the stick - or does Edmonton as a whole owe him big time for his mistreatment?

Sure, some may argue he is slow and he doesn't appear to be a very intense player. Nobody complained about Steve MacIntyre or Georges Laraque's speed as long as they did their jobs: winning fights. Slowness was just the reality, not something you could hold against them.

The advanced stats show that Dustin Penner has been doing his job and doing his job well - despite being the victim of line juggling night-in and night-out. If the Oilers media and Oilers fans were happy with Steve MacIntyre and Georges Laraque, why the double-standard when it comes to Dustin Penner?

Thinking on the many Oilers captains we've had - Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Shayne Corson, Doug Weight, Jason Smith - it leads me to think - how many unofficial captains have we had? Ryan Smyth, Steve Staios, Chris Pronger (yes, even him), Sheldon Souray - all come to mind. But those types of players will never be offered any incentive as captain, since the outcome in the new regime is a predictable one: Craig MacTavish and Kelly Buchberger will reward one of their own - a plugging, one-dimensional player like Ethan Moreau. Even if it means throwing Dustin Penner under the bus.

Goaltending, Getting Outshot, and "Scoring at Will"

Since last season (even before the shoulder injury), Shawn Horcoff has found a new home on the right side faceoff circle where he one-times everything Ales Hemsky throws at him. And apparently, he's pretty good at it.

It's mid-November and by now we're familiar with the fact that the Oilers get outshot in most games. Our goaltending has not been a problem this season thus far but the goaltending rotation has been - with 3 guys raring to prove their worth to the organization and each having played well and played poorly in separate stretches.

Will Garon start against Detroit in the rematch? Roloson has been playing well as of late and he will undoubtedly want a chance at redemption but traditionally when you play a team twice in a short time span you alternate goaltenders.

But now I must pose the question of whether getting outshot all the time is a "good thing" for the Edmonton Oilers, or whether its a "bad thing."

Good goaltending and timely goals
VS
Good goaltending and scoring at will

Edmonton @ Columbus - 11/18/08 w/ 7-2 WIN
The Oilers handed the Blue Jackets their own livers on a plate yesterday night when they beat them 7-2. Regardless, we were outshot 39-19 in this game - a total of 20 shots difference. This is an example where we simply outscored the opponent and featured superior goaltending. Penner was unleashed and the rest of the team including Pouliot and Gilbert came around and played great hockey.


Colorado @ Edmonton - 10/12/08 w/ 3-2 WIN
This game was considerably closer and the Oilers beat the season opener against the AVs with a heckuva performance from Penner. Garon played great in this game and simply kept the Oilers in it, being outshot 33-19. The secondary scoring was not around in this game, as Penner and Garon singlehandedly won this game.

Edmonton @ Detroit - 11/17/08 w/ 4-0 LOSS
The Oilers were outshot 41-21 - a total of 20 shots difference, in this game against the Red Wings, the night before the Columbus game. Except in this version, they don't score 7 goals - in fact, they don't manage one. Perhaps getting shut out by Conklin was enough, or whether the ass-whooping itself was enough to let set the team free. Who knows. The fact is that Roloson was hung out to dry against the defending champs in this game.

Two other links:

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=256461

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=256416

Conclusions:

The Edmonton Oilers are outshot in most games

The Edmonton Oilers play better when Dustin Penner has a good game

The Edmonton Oilers have good goaltending (given consistency as a prerequisite to personal success)

The Edmonton Oilers cannot afford to allow the Detroit Red Wings the space to outshoot them by 20 or more

Good goaltending doesn't always win games

That being said, there is still no answer as to whether the Oilers have been scoring timely goals or whether they are starting to finally "score at will." The next game against the Detroit Red Wings and subsequent games, whether or not we outshoot or get outshot by our opponents, will determine the answer.

Let's hope that this Columbus game is a sign of things to come.

GOILERS!

Will the Real Edmonton Oilers Please Stand Up: Win 7-2 Despite Being Outshot 39-19

Holy Smokes. The Oilers finally woke up. And in fine fashion, I might add.

I didn't watch this one because I was in class, but from what I hear, here's what happened:

Hemsky was a force all night

Penner was creating chances everywhere: drawing penalties, banging bodies, crashing the net, sniping wristshots...

Pouliot played like an NHL player, not an AHL callup - perhaps he is the guy who played with Sidney Crosby in Rimouski after all

Roloson was outstanding

Souray and Visnovsky played like the top pairing once again

Gagner played much better

Reddox continues to impress

I hope to acquire a copy of that game so that I can watch it for myself.

I have a few worries though. The Oilers were outshot 39-19. Horcoff said in the post game interview that the score didn't reflect how close the game was. Playing the devil's advocate, this could be the result of a few things:

A. Pascal LeClaire's ankle not being fully healed

B. The Oilers' superior offense

C. The Oilers' superior defense

D. The Oilers' superior goaltending

E. Luck

F. MacBlender finding the right chemistry, finally

G. The team waking up realising they had been shut out by Ty Conklin, of all people...

H. Unleashing the Penner within

I. Some combination of the things above

I know it reads a lot like a goddamn multiple choice exam, but I pray to God the answer is I and the combination is B,C,D,F,H, though if G is included it would help us get revenge against the Red Wings Thursday night at Rexall Place.

Maybe they woke up and realised that the loss of Fernando Pisani meant that the team would have to start putting in a group effort. Who knows.

There is doubt and rightfully so that we can win every game being outshot by 20 or more. Not every goalie not named LeClaire will give up 7 goals on 19 shots, unless the Oilers dynasty was revived tonight. Look to the Oilers putting the pedal to the metal against the Red Wings Thursday.

I will be in attendance with Suneil Parmar of Addicted to Oil and we will cheer on the Oilers from home ice. See you there hockey fans.