Connor McDavid is progressing from injury more quickly than expected

Man, it's great to hear this. I will soon have a reason to follow hockey again closely.

Though no one would offer a firm date for McDavid’s return, at this rate the betting is that he could be back in the Edmonton Oilers lineup in mid-to-late January, rather than the early March return originally forecasted by the team.

“He’s ahead of schedule,” Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli confirmed from Detroit on Thursday. “He’s been in the pool, been lifting weights… There are no soft tissue injuries, which is important. When you get a break like that, oftentimes there is accompanying soft tissue injuries. That slows down the recovery.”

The Oilers are playing right now against the Pittsburgh Penguins and holding a surprising lead. I am in New Jeresy and ready to head back to Ohio and get back into the groove of following the Oilers each night.

I want this card

Connor McDavid Upper Deck Young Guns. It's the sports card of the year. Now, does anyone have $300 I can borrow?

Magical Hockey Night

[Blue Jackets 5, Phoenix Coyotes 2]

[NHL.com] [Puck Rakers]

I finally saw the Columbus Blue Jackets get their first home win of the season, in mid November. Last night I went to R-Bar before the game, looks like an awesome hockey bar. Way too packed to look around, I am hoping to return when no one is in there. 

Loved the urinals at R-Bar, with the rivals of the Blue Jackets posted on them. 

I truly enjoyed the seats last night more than I have really at any of the games I've been at. I could really see the play develop up high. It was just a perfect view and a nice chilly night at the arena. I love that feeling when there's a nip in the air at the arena. You know you're at a hockey game. 

The awful tragedy in Paris the night before prompted for a moment of silence. I have to say, it was weird being at a major pro sporting event the day after. I am thankful to God that no incidents happened. 

The finest of DFS NHL lineups I'll ever post, a 72.7 on Fanduel. It wasn't in a tourney. Nathan Mackinnon went top shelf in Montreal twice in the same 18 seconds. 

I can always say I say Ryan Johansen score a goal. He played a good ballgame last night.



Also tallying goals were Anthony Duclair and Oliver Ekman-Larrson.

And of course, they blared this awesome somng on the loudspeakers.

Nooooooo! God No

As far as I'm concerned, hockey season may have ended tonight. This is absolutely fucking horrible. The Oilers are completely cursed.

Halloween Night Heartbreak in the Battle of Alberta (Flames win 5-4)

[Event Summary]

[Cult of Hockey]

It was a weird night, featuring many weird goals. The Oilers once again got behind early because of the poor play of Goalie Cam Talbot; and overcame a 4-2 deficit behind the phenomenal play of Taylor Hall and Leon Draisatl to tie the game 4-4.

The game ended in complete heartbreak when Michael Frolik scored this strange goal from basically behind the net to complete his hat-trick. That happened with nine seconds remaining in the game.

It's a shame, because it wasted an effort from Taylor Hall who scored a goal and had two assists. Connor McDavid's point streak ends at seven games after a goal that he had an assist on was waived off.

It could have been a memorable, special hockey night in Edmonton. Instead, just a frustrating heartbreak that had me turning off the game.

Leon Draisatl had two assists and a goal. He's done some serious damage in two games.

Puck Daddy Talks about NHL Figures from Imports Dragon

I already have my Connor McDavid on preorder.

Puck Daddy has a good feature on these NHL figurines.

TSN: McDavid better than we thought?

Travis Yost of TSN writes a really nice article about Connor McDavid's humble beginnings:

Everyone knew Connor McDavid would be good. Great, even. But perhaps we need to calibrate even our short-term expectations for him in Edmonton. If McDavid’s this comfortable after just 10 games at the NHL-level, where is he going to be by year two? Scary thought, that.

And the first two comments on the article are kind of cool:

Oilers beat Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in an incredible comeback from 3-0, Leon Draisatl debut

Draisatl was the first star with two goals in his NHL debut.

[Event Summary]

[Cult of Hockey]

Connor McDavid was once again the top story when you look at five things Sportsnet focused on from a busy night in the NHL. Even with Leon Draisatl making his NHL debut and scoring two goals, including the game winner. 

Here's McDavid's assist to Pouliot, which tied the game:

McDavid now has points in the last seven games. He has five goals and seven assists. Here was the other assist that he and Darnell Nurse were involved in.

And of course, the Draisatl game-winner:



It was like Rocky cutting down the Russian in Rocky IV. The Oilers have hung a second loss on the Canadiens in what was a tremendous hockey game. Carey Price is apparently now human. Connor McDavid, is not. The Oilers are now 4-7-0 and perhaps they will now reach a turning point in their young season.

On Saturday night, another Battle of Alberta in Edmonton.

Some NHL DFS Success

Had this bad boy entered in a tournament just before action got started.... and wouldn't you know the tournament was filled. Really sucks, and DFS in general really sucks.

Darnell Nurse's Debut Spoiled by two late goals

[Event Summary]

[Cult of Hockey]

Everyone was highly anticipating the debut of Darnell Nurse, and he did not disappoint. In fact, Nurse and Connor McDavid were probably the biggest highlights on the night for the Oilers.

What I'll remember from this game, is Nurse's unbelievable slapshot to give the Oilers the lead on his first career goal; and Connor McDavid's sick stick moves that almost juked Devan Dubnyk out of his skates. Nurse also showed exceptional fire and speed.



McDavid logged his 5th assist of the season on a Taylor Hall goal, Hall's fourth of the season. It seems like McDavid is just scoring every game. This has gone on well over a week now. Hall also added his fourth assist.

There is some talk - and lack of evidence - that this incarnation of the Oilers in 2015-2016 is no better than past iterations. Edmonton is 3-7-0 and has Montreal coming to town off a loss tomorrow night. This is enormous trouble, and the Oilers will need a strong homestand to turn the season around; or it could be another lost year in this final season at Rexall.

No Goal, Eh?

[Event Summary]

[Cult of Hockey]

A day later, but it doesn't make things any easier. 

With Justin Schultz and Griffin Reinhart shelved with injuries, Darnell Nurse has been called up to make his debut with the Edmonton Oilers. 

Last night wasn't without it's usual fireworks - Connor McDavid logged yet another point. He just keeps scoring, as noted around the blogosphere. 

It was due to McDavid's explosive speed:

Those @cmcdavid97 wheels... 🚀 #LAKvsEDM pic.twitter.com/pJkZLGoNc9

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 26, 2015

In nine games, he has five goals and four assists. Absolutely incredible start to his career. And of course later in the game he was robbed of a dramatic goal; what could have been my most dramatic moment as an Oilers fan.

The Oilers head to Minnesota tomorrow night to take on the Wild.

Man, the Oilers got FUCKED tonight in Edmonton

Well, this is horrible. Went from what could have been my greatest Oilers memory ever (McDavid tying the game with a goal with 3.6 seconds to go), to this:

Looks in... https://t.co/X9zQf9Rr6t

— Jason Gold (@JayGold85) October 26, 2015

The NHL has a "Situation Room" blog:



I am disgusted right now. Could the NHL use some logic here? The puck was in the glove. The glove was in the net. Are you kidding me?

Oilers fall to 3-6. Brutal.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are off the Schneid

[NHL.com Recap]

[Puck Rakers]

[Event Summary]

Two Boone Jenner goals to get them off and running and 31 Seregei Bobrovsky saves, and the Blue Jackets are finally in the win column after a Saturday night 4-3 win in Colorado.

"We're not going to do it overnight," Dubinsky said. "We played some good hockey tonight. We took some penalties and put ourselves in a little bit of trouble, but we didn't quit. It's an effort we were accustomed to before this year started and it was nice to get back to that.

"You celebrate it. It's been a while since we've had this type of feeling in the dressing room, so we'll celebrate it."

Jarome Iginla scored and had a real nice game, also adding an assist and ending up +1 to be the third star of the game. Ryan Murray added a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets.  

Picked up NHL '16 for Playstation 4

There's Connor McDavid scoring his first goal of his career for me. Right now he has four goals and I believe four assists. I played two games tonight and lose to the Wild in overtime and got beat by the monstrous Canadiens after getting up 2-0. I'm 4-6-1 thus far. 

I'll continue to update things as my season goes along with the PS4 Oilers. 

UPDATE: on Sunday morning the Oilers lost in Edmonton on PS4 5-4 in OT to the Flyers after tying it up with like :20 seconds to go. They're 5-6-2 on the year in my franchise. Connor McDavid scored goal number seven.

McDavid scores his fifth goal on a Friday Night Hockey Night

Connor McDavid logged his fifth goal of the season, and also tallied his third assist. The points are starting to pile up now. It wasn't his prettiest goal; but it counted on the power play.


Mcdavid also logged an assist on this pretty play.

The Oilers lost 7-4. Evgeny Kuznetsov logged a hat trick. Taylor Hall had an assist, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal. Rough night for Anders Nielsen. Here are the player grades from the Cult of Hockey blog.

Other hockey things from the day:

1. I picked up EA Sports NHL 16. I am 2-3 with the Oilers so far. McDavid has no goals so far. It's pretty fun. I've played a lot of installments of this game through the years. 
2. Holy shit Canadiens, now 8-0 and absolutely bludgeoned to death the Buffalo Sabres by a score of 7-2. 
3. Jimmy Roberts passed away. 
4. Hockey Day in Canada is Saturday February 6th. The Oilers play at Montreal at 2:00 that day. 
5. Also noticed the Oilers play on New Years eve at Rexall, and on January 2nd at 4:00 ET. 
6. They play on Thanksgiving Eve and Black Friday. 
7. Huge hockey night again tomorrow night; the Blue Jackets are in action with an 0-8-0 record at Coloardo. 
8. I found this DFS Hockey site today. 
9. Spent some time reading about Howard Morenz the other day on a cool site about Hockey Legends. 

That's really all I got for tonight.

Columbus Blue Jackets fire Todd Richards, John Tortorella named Head Coach

Todd Richards is out, John Tortorella is in. Tonight is Torts' debut and it will take place up in Minnesota.

Here is a look at Tortorella's (his name is a pain in the ass to write) career record from coaching stints in New York, Tampa Bay, and Vancouver.

I've now heard Torts say a couple times that he doesn't know who the Blue Jackets are or what his players' names are.

[Event Summary]

[Cult of Hockey]

Last night's goal by Connor McDavid - his first at Rexall wearing the most beautiful sweaters in the NHL - was without a doubt my favorite of his career so far. He pretzel'd Peter Mrazek so badly, it had me giggling out loud. 

It was his fourth goal of the season, and he now has six points on the season. He has recorded a point in three straight, and four games out of five.

McDavid had another really good game last night. From the Edmonton Journal player grades:

#97 Connor McDavid, 7. Came to life in a brilliant second period where he showed his stick skills and elusiveness, both on one play on the game winner which he buried with a superlative deke after first gaining separation from the defender with a sophisticated roll. That was the third breathtaking goal McDavid has been involved in over the past 3 games, and is already beginning to become something of a habit with the wunderkind. Made a superb move and pass to Letestu for a chance that really should have been buried. Got to another puck in the offensive zone where he leaped to avoid the defender while simultaneously taking the most efficient line to the puck. Also drew the (rather lame) penalty that led to the first Oilers goal. Played just 15:36, including a little bit of time on the PK where he acquitted himself well. I’m tempted to give him an 8 but will soon run out of room once he hits his true level. He’s got many games in his future that will be greater than this one.

Like they said he was on the PK towards the end of the game, which I thought was kind of amazing.

Cam Talbot was awesome; it wasn't all about McDavid on this night. Talbot stopped 28 of 29 shots at Rexall last night. The lone score by the Red Wings was a Tomas Tatar marker with 6:49 to go in the game.

The Oilers have won now three games in a row. That hasn't happened many times since I've been running this blog.

Oilers beat Vancouver in Overtime, at Vancouver

[Event Summary]

Connor McDavid set up Nail Yakupov early to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead, it was McDavid's second assist of his career, and he now has five points in four games. 

Anders Nielssen played really well in his second game of the season, and the Oilers sent this game to overtime.

In overtime, the Oilers took the game for their second road win over a division rival in a row on back to back nights, to improve to 2-4 on the season, heading home for a long homestand. 

There would be no need for a shootout.

The game winner goes to Lauri Korpikoski. The assist from Andrej Sekera.

Re-watched the Oilers game from last night, and came up with a hot taek: McJesus is a goddamn monster on the ice.

— Michael Clifford (@SlimCliffy) October 19, 2015

The pressure he puts on the ice is unreal. The puck he stripped when chasing behind the net isn't supposed to happen in the NHL. He's 18.

— Michael Clifford (@SlimCliffy) October 19, 2015

Columbus Blue Jackets tickets will be easy to come by this winter

Man, the Blue Jackets are bad.

They're now the only 0-6 team in hockey, the worst record by a longshot. Last night's loss in Chicago by a 4-1 final was just a total defeat. If you want to read about it, head here.

I'm interested in the Blue Jackets because their state of the art arena is right up the road from my home and they're my most local connection the NHL. All of my colleagues and friends who have interest in the sport are interested in the Jackets. And that interest right now is completely dead.

Usually right now the Jackets need a quick start to steal and thunder or air time in the market from the Ohio State Buckeyes football program. And they haven't done that. They're losing in embarrassing fashion night over night. Seregi Bobrovsky is a shell of his former self, giving up around five goals per game.

There are rumors that Todd Richards is on the hot seat already. This just doesn't bode well for a team that needed to turn things around.

Connor McDavid Dominates first Hockey Night in Canada; Oilers win hist first Battle of Alberta 5-2

[Event Summary]

[Edmonton Journal] [Cult of Hockey]

Just as some are talking about blowing up the Edmonton Oilers. Maybe the pressure is finally off now. 

Connor McDavid was named the first star on enemy ice in his first Battle of Alberta; how very special. He scored two goals and recorded an assist. He was a really good save away from what would have been his second goal of the night and a hat trick on the night. He has four points now in five games. His first goal was absolutely beautiful. He finished. 

His second goal of the night put it away:



That came after he fed Nail Yakupov for the first assist of his career, a linemate whom we think that he'll turn into a star.

Taylor Hall was the second star, and he played all night like a man possessed. He recorded what went down as the game-winning goal for his 2nd tally of the season. He also recorded two assists, drawing multiple penalties, and skated all over the ice with command, leadership and power.

Scoring was kicked off by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the first period. All four first overall picks scored tonight. The OILERS are on Sportscenter right now as I type this. That's the first time in years.

This might go down as McDavid's finest game all season long. It was my first great Connor McDavid memory.