Even the best, in any profession or walk of life, have ups and downs.
But in entertainment industries such as sport, it is that very combination that can provide both crippling heartache and unbelievable highs.
The Edmonton Oilers and their fans have experienced both, and on back-to-back nights no less.
That and more in this edition of…
9 Things
9. While Saturday’s game was far from perfect it was highly entertaining. And its soundtrack was provided by Jack Michaels on Hockey Night in Canada. His performance over the end of the third period and OT was top-level. No play-by-play man can hit and then hold that “extra gear” longer than Jack.
8. We will get to observations from Evan Bouchard’s special night in a few moments. But Saturday’s performance tied a unique record now co-held with my favourite player of all-time. The only two NHL Defencemen to record six points and eight shots on goal in a single game are Bouchard and…Bobby Orr.
7. It has been a big success story down in AHL Bakersfield this season. And while the exiting young prospects get most of the ink (and deservedly so), all organizations need “glue guys”. Seth Griffith has signed a two-year AHL extension which will keep him in the Condors’ nest through 2027-28.
6. Edmonton has two of the best puck possession guys in the business. In a post by Meghan Chayka, going into weekend action Connor McDavid was sixth in the entire NHL at 2:41 per night. Evan Bouchard was eighth at 2:36. Quinn Hughes, incidentally, is first at an amazing 4:04. More on McDavid and Bouchard and a very special Saturday in a minute…
5. The line of Jack Roslovic, Matt Savoie and Ike Howard was frequently dangerous against the Capitals. I was unsure how this game would go. The Capitals are a big, strong team and I wondered if this trio would be able to effectively compete in a physical atmosphere more similar to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, when all teams ratchet up the physicality. I was pleased with what I saw.
4. The Edmonton Oilers have a plan as they head toward the Olympic break and the NHL trading deadline. The club’s pro scouts and management spent a chunk of last week together pouring over the team’s needs and targets to potentially address and fill those. My personal list would include a veteran 5-6 D-man with some size and cycle-busting abilities. But I think the organization sees a Top 9 forward as a bigger item on their list. And the cap situation may mean they can afford one or the other…but not both.
3. I am still hot over the instigator penalty handed to Vasily Podkolzin the other night versus New Jersey. Sharp Oilers watcher Rob Suggitt found that of 175 fighting majors assessed in the league this season, only fifteen of them have resulted in the two-and-ten call that went against the Oilers. The New Jersey player delivered the high hit on Connor McDavid that sparked the altercation and it was his gloves that came off first. In the end, though, it was just another (bad) example of how this league is not willing or apparently even interested in protecting its stars. The instigator rule should be used to stop players from being “jumped,” which I can get on side with, and not replace players policing the game themselves.
2. Evan Bouchard played NHL game number 400 Saturday. I have come to be at peace with Bouchard’s game. At the height of his offensive powers there are few better than him at his position today. I have seen him defend well at critical times versus tough competition. If I were granted a wish, it would probably be that his lows (such as Thursday) were not so low. But would that come at the cost of his highest heights (such as Saturday)? And would you be satisfied with that trade-off in the end? I am not so sure I would be. I ultimately land on this answer: It would be almost criminal to clip Bouchard’s wings. We may yet not know just how good he can be. And speaking of good…
1.My Cult of Hockey colleague David Staples and I had a good conversation on Thursday’s post-game podcast about Connor McDavid. We agreed that it was perhaps McDavid’s worst game of the year. We were also quick to agree that this guy has often carried this franchise. And that McDavid was just two games separated from some of the best hockey David and I have ever witnessed him play. Having slept on it a bit, I woke up with two main thoughts on Saturday morning: One, that all great players will occasionally have “those” nights where you just do not have “it.” They are human. And two, that sometimes when you try that much harder to stop the walls from crumbling around you…they crumble even faster!
I do not know anyone credible who will ever question Connor McDavid’s GAS meter, or his desire to win at all costs. And while simplifying your game in those moments is probably the right advice, it is much easier said than done. And the other guys on the ice competing against you have some say in the matter as well. It is a tough damn league.
But then McDavid will set his jaw and turn it on as we saw Saturday, reaching intoxicating highs. And in the process, both he and Evan Bouchard can all but erase our memory banks from games when they were merely mortal.
It is why we watch, sometimes in awe…to see the game played at the highest level imaginable.
By the best in the business.
Leavins Cult of Hockey
Recently, at The Cult…
STAPLES: Evan Bouchard with historic performance in Oilers win over Caps
LEAVINS: Edmonton Oilers cannot solve Jake Allen, Devils
Bruce McCurdy, 1955-2025.
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