The Edmonton Oilers have lost 11 of their last 13 playoff games. You think Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and a few other players can pull off postseason excellence. That hasn't been happening.
The Oilers did defeat San Jose in the first round in 2017. Edmonton lost Games 3-5 in the second round with Anaheim after going up 2-0. The Oilers won Game 6 before losing Game 7. There was some terrible officiating but the team struggled.
Edmonton missed the playoffs in 2018 and 2019. They drew a #5 seed in 2020 but only won Game 2 against Chicago. Couple all of that with 4 straight losses to Winnipeg in 2021.
3 of the 4 games involved overtime, including triple overtime. The mistakes were small but costly. Josh Archibald in Game 3. Ethan Bear in Game 4. Edmonton could have, should have won those games.
Game 4 was a back-to-back for both teams. Winnipeg could have gone with Laurent Brossoit. Edmonton wouldn't go with Mikko Koskinen short of an injury to Mike Smith.
Nikolaj Ehlers missed the first 2 games for Winnipeg but scored 2 goals in Game 3, including the OT winner. Mark Scheifele scored 2 goals in Game 4. Kyle Connor added the game winner in triple overtime.
Under pressure, Winnipeg got things done and advanced. Edmonton needs to learn that skill to do well in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
PAUL STASTNYYYYYYYY 🚨
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 22, 2021
The @NHLJets take a 2-0 series lead! #ItsOn pic.twitter.com/XYNN9l2oAn
Good to be a player named Paul on a Canadian team in the 2021 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. Paul Stastny got the game winner early in overtime in Game 2 for the Winnipeg Jets.
The goal wasn't spectacular but the timing and screen were excellent. "No way he would shoot from there." Sometimes, they do.
Paul Byron's game winning goal in Game 1 for Montréal was spectacular. A short-handed goal for the Canadiens, where the team led the league in short-handed goals with 9 in the regular season. Someone scored on the struggling Toronto power play and the Maple Leafs didn't score.
Toronto's power play did a lot better in Game 2.
PAUL. BYRON. 😱 #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/vXnG7Q79rV
— NHL (@NHL) May 21, 2021
The clock is running out on NBCUniversal's time as the U.S. NHL gatekeeper. This could have gone badly or with a few good surprises.
Giving Game 1 of the Montréal-Toronto series to the NHL Network felt like a gift of good intention. Giving Game 3 of the Winnipeg-Edmonton series with a CBC feed on NBCSN was more about having regular announcers out of action.
The NHL Network isn't doing much with those gifts. They aren't showing anthems and Rogers Sportsnet intermissions. They are getting back to action after the period starts.
The dynamic would have been different if Gord Miller and Ray Ferraro (or Mike Johnson) had been available. Miller and Johnson are covering the World Championship in Riga, Latvia.
NBCUniversal had 5 Canadian simulcasts in the play-in round in 2020 with a lot more teams. The Calgaey-Winnipeg got 2 of them, Toronto drew 2 of them, and Vancouver had the other one. We were promised a Canadian feed for the Vancouver clinching game but that promise was broken.
The NHL Network intermissions are a decent crime thriller compared to the blank coloring book that is the NBC intermissions. The crayons are broken as well.
The Victoria Day doubleheader involved both series playing back-to-back games. None of the American series had back-to-back games. Either this was a gesture to punish Canadian teams for finishing later, a sweet gesture to give Canadians a holiday doubleheader, or the likeliest answer, both.
2021 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs preview for Canadian teams
Even if John Tavares had not suffered a concussion in Game 1, Tavares still had a significant knee injury. In hockey speak, Tavares had a upper-body injury (concussion) and lower-body injury (knee).
Given that Ben Chairot hit the knee of Tavares, Nick Foligno could have fought Chairot instead of Corey Perry. Then again, fighting isn't logical. Chairot and Edmonton's Zack Kassian got injured this season by winning fights.
There was no way Perry could have avoided hitting Tavares. We are desperately hoping that Tavares heals well and quickly.
We hate playoff hockey because there is much more senseless hitting and the finesse of offence disappears. Olympics hockey is better because there is more space and less hitting. Just play hockey. We know that won't happen.
You have been hearing the Tragically Hip into the breaks on the Canadian coverage. The group has a old/new album Saskadelphia coming out.
Ron MacLean did an interview with the Tragically Hip on Hockey Night in Canada. Kingston, home of the band, is about halfway between Toronto and Montréal.
The Tragically Hip will perform with Feist at the 50th Juno Awards June 6. This will be the first TV appearance for the group since the death of lead singer Gord Downie in 2017.
Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush will present the 2021 Humanitarian Award to the band.
2021 Stanley Cup playoffs scoreboard
The whole civic pride is part of the fun of rivalries. You knew the mayors of Toronto and Montréal would have a wager on the outcome of the Stanley Cup series between the Maple Leafs and Canadiens.
For Toronto Mayor John Tory and Montréal Mayor Valerie Plante, the mayor of the losing city will have to raise the winning team’s flag at their city hall.
Each mayor will donate $500 to their local team’s charity (MLSE Foundation for Toronto and the Montréal Canadiens Children’s Foundation). The mayor of the losing city will donate an additional $500 to the winning team charity.
There is also a food exchange: smoked meat sandwiches with a Leafs win and peameal bacon sandwich with a Habs win.
Foodies would root for a Toronto win since smoked meat sandwiches are the better pick.
The Edmonton-Winnipeg mayoral battle isn't about them eating food: wearing the opponent sweater and donating $200 to a local food bank. Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman issued the challenge. Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson gladly accepted.
.@NHLonNBCSports posted "Edmonton, AL" instead of "Edmonton, AB" You all were in the Alberta capital last summer in the bubble. A simple Internet search would have avoided the mistake. @NHL #StanleyCup
— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) May 20, 2021
We've seen U.S. outlets mess up U.S. postal codes because they make assumptions instead of looking up the information. States that begin with A and M can cause confusion but only if you assume.
Canadians know more about states than Americans know about provinces. Knowing Canadian geography is helpful to understanding provinces and where they are. Some Americans know Saskatchewan from the CFL Saskatchewan Roughriders; the province doesn't have a NHL team.
U.S. outlets have rarely carried the Battle of Ontario and before this season, the Battle of Alberta. Inter-provincial battles help define geography for the casual fan.
CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage
May 19 Game 1 Winnipeg at Edmonton 9p Alex Faust/Dominic Moore
May 20 Game 1 Montréal at Toronto 7:30p CBC feed
May 21 Game 2 Winnipeg at Edmonton 9p Alex Faust/Dominic Moore
May 22 Game 2 Montréal at Toronto 7p John Walton/Dominic Moore
May 23 Game 3 Edmonton @ Winnipeg 7:30p CBC feed
May 24 Game 3 Toronto @ Montréal 7p CBC feed
May 24 Game 4 Edmonton @ Winnipeg 9:45p John Walton/Jody Shelley
Dominic Moore is a good analyst while being a bit green on experience. We were impressed with Dominic Moore when NBCSN covered the Battle of Alberta. Jody Shelley is a former Canadian NHL player who works colour analysis for Columbus. Alex Faust and John Walton have been fine.
Fine is okay with us. The intermissions have been short on non-existent on the game we are watching. Rogers Sportsnet might have too much in its intermissions; NBCUniversal never had that problem.
We have had a decent number of Canadian feed simulcasts, especially compared to 2020. With other series ending early, there is sadly more pressure for NBCUniversal to produce more games.
Both NBCSN and the NHL Network aren't showing the anthems. Playoff time should mean anthems.
NBCUniversal had holes to fill this past weekend and used Ken Daniels on a game on Sunday. Daniels is the long-time TV voice of the Detroit Red Wings and used to work on Hockey Night in Canada. NBC has used Daniels every so often. We would welcome Daniels to call games from the Canadian series where NBC chooses to use their own announcers.
Keith Jones is one of the few from NBC that we respect, though being stuck in the studio means Jones can't add too much to the mix. Jones tied the Edmonton collapse in Game 3 to the senseless lower-body hit of Edmonton's Josh Archibald on Winnipeg's Logan Stanley. The power play did give momentum to the Jets.
Louie DeBrusk wasn't going to point thus out because his analysis is very basic and he isn't inclined to criticise an Edmonton player.
Patrick Sharp jumped in and pointed out that the hit was senseless at any time.
Archibald received a 1-game suspension.
You might think this is better delivered as a studio analysis than an in-game analysis, We figure mentioning that right away is smart analysis. The NBC crew treated that tidbit like a dog who can't let go of a bone, which is sadly part of what they do. The analysis was still strong.
Shockingly, even for NBCSN, no one mentioned Archibald or his suspension during Game 4 last night.
NHL notebook: Waiting to start the Stanley Cup chase in Canada
We are tracking CBC telecasts in the link above. The public broadcaster had American games 3 of the first 4 nights. Since then, CBC has had all-Canadian games including the Victoria Day doubleheader last night.
We knew Rogers Sportsnet West would go with the Edmonton-Winnipeg game last night if the Canadiens and Maple Leafs had gone to overtime. The CBC might have split regionally. Both games were being streamed at cbcsports.ca.
CBC promos are thin at best. The winter season is over and we don't have a fall announcement, like the upfronts on U.S. television. The NHL Network was so tight on not joining the action until after the period starts that we may have missed promos.
The #ProudlyAsianCanadian is about promoting online content. This also includes Blacks in the Prairies. Really interesting stories.
The Block is a new show weeknights at 7 pm on CBC Music (aka Radio 2).
The CBC Gem promo in the 1st period Sunday night in Winnipeg ran right after a Rogers ad, which is against the spirit of the CBC promos.
Montréal-Toronto Game 1: #ProudlyAsianCanadian; CBC Gem; Tokyo 2020 Olympics (2nd); CBC News app (3rd)
Edmonton-Winnipeg Game 3: CBC Kids Tokyo 2020 Olympics; CBC Gem (1st); CBC News app; 2021 Junos (2nd); CBC Listen app; CBC Sports app (3rd)
Toronto-Montréal Game 3: #ProudlyAsianCanadian (1st); CBC Gem; 2021 Junos (2nd); The Block (3rd)
Twitter capture: @sportsnet; @NHL; @canadian_xing
photo credit: Rogers Sportsnet/NHL
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