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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hey, it's Bob Stauffer. I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to Oilers Now ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. And welcome, everybody. Hour number two of Oilers Now. Our spotlight conversation this hour is coming right up with Brian Lawton. Oilers Now Spotlight for our friends at Cowan Graphics, trusted for over 80 years to bring your brand to life. Proudly Canadian.
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You can catch exclusive video clips, highlights, and more on the Oilers Now X Account 880 Cheds YouTube channel proudly presented by Legacy Heating and Cooling. All right, let's go to our Oilers Now headliner today. It is Brian Lawton for Wilhock Beef Jerky. Others can try to imitate, but nobody can duplicate the great flavor of Wilhock Beef Jerky, only available in L.A., Leduc, Alberta.
Hello, Brian Lawton. How are you doing? Fantastic, Bob. How are you? I'm not fantastic. I was hoping to be in Vegas tonight in between Game 1 and Game 2. You know what I'm saying?
I know exactly what you mean. It hurts.
It does, and I'd like to get, without any commentary from me, your assessment on why the Edmonton Winners lost the series and what it means.
Well, I don't think there's anything new I can add. I've read every single thing that people have said, and for the most part, You know, the goaltending wasn't exceptional for me. I think the depth, you know, was not there this year. I felt like it put a lot of pressure on Dreisaitl and McDavid. Obviously, McDavid was seriously hurt, as were other players.
And you've got to give Anaheim a lot of credit. They're a big, young team that skated just young enough not to really recognize the moments in terms of being nervous. I felt like Anaheim played better once the playoff starts than they did their last 12 games. And that really shocked me. And I had to imagine it shocked the Oilers a little bit as well, who were hurting.
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Chapter 2: What insights does Brian Lawton share about the Edmonton Oilers' playoff performance?
He's playing in a team game. He's trying to do everything he can. But at the end of the day, I've never asked him this, but I would imagine if I was as good as he was, which I never was, that winning would be a much higher priority than money. I felt like he backed that up. I told you initially at that time I didn't love the short term because it did put a lot of pressure on the club.
All right, well, you spoke about winning, and I'm just going to play you a clip from Saturday's presser with Connor McDavid. Here it is. I want to win, and I want to win here in Edmonton. That's my focus. You take him at his word, Brian. I want to win, and I want to win in Edmonton. Any reason not to take him at his word?
No. Connor McDavid, in my opinion, and I'm only guessing, is dying to win in Edmonton. The team that drafted him to where his legacy not only started, hopefully finishes, but he wants to win in the worst way. That's evident.
So here's the deal. They were an average team. They won half their games this year in the regular season. I had somebody say to me today, Stoff, here's the deal. You know, it's this simple.
You had a scenario where it was like the coaching staff coached to win the game that night, and there was no long game, and in the process didn't end up developing additional players into the bottom six, especially on forward because Stan kind of addressed the D, Stan Bowman, by going out and getting Connor Murphy. Is that too harsh of a criticism?
And was it further exasperated by the fact that they had the injuries at center?
It was definitely further exasperated by what happened health-wise down the stretch. But I, you know, I raised this as something that I thought as early as December. You know, the season is a marathon. It's not a sprint. There's a lot of things that need to happen right now with a salary cap. Not like it used to be in the early 2000s when you could have like six Hall of Fame players on your team.
The talent is more evenly dispersed. In today's game, it's more critical than ever that you think in terms of each line. And your fourth line needs to be able to beat their fourth line. Your third line needs to be able to hold the other team's first line on some occasions in a playoff series in check.
It's not like the Detroit Red Wings or the Colorado Avalanche in the early 2000s when you literally could just go out and buy what you want. There was no salary cap.
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Chapter 3: How does injury impact a team's performance in the playoffs?
The rules were different. In today's world, every single signing matters. And if you're off just a little bit where you don't get full value, then it hurts your club. Edmonton starts every year with a massive advantage.
They have two of the top four forwards in the league, and they have one of the top... I'll be overly gracious to the rest of the league, which doesn't see it the way I do, but one of the top ten defensemen in the league in Evan Bouchard. And people have to remember... It's not the mistakes you make. It's how do you do when you're out there?
And Evan Bouchard is a massively positive player for the Edmonton Oilers, regardless of what anybody says. That's the unemotional, just bare bones, first principle thinking, drip it down to what it is. He is a top 10 defenseman in the NHL. That's a lot to start with. Edmonton's coming back with that next year. And I understand what you said initially. You're not doing fantastic.
I can't imagine anybody else is there, and yet I can't see any reason why they can't turn this around over the summer, be a fresher, healthier team next year. and be right back where they were last year, marching towards the Stanley Cup final.
Would you go out and try to re-sign Murphy and re-sign Dickinson and re-sign Kapanen, or would you go for a bigger play?
I would definitely want to re-sign Connor Murphy. I thought he played exceptional. Kapanen, I wouldn't go crazy on because now you've got to get into ā You literally have to be into evaluating the players like him against him and then figuring out what it's going to cost you and seeing what type of value you end up coming with.
We have breaking news in the National Hockey League. Start the conspiracy rumors right now and conspiracy theories. The Toronto Maple Leafs have won the NHL lottery.
oh poor vancouver that is is that right am i i don't want to get ahead of ourselves here the maple leafs will select april fools no it is not april fools so the leafs were like they have won the lottery they were fifth and they've won the lottery right wow so now vancouver's two or three can you believe vancouver You've got to figure Gavin McKenna's going to Toronto now, isn't he? Come on.
You have to figure. I felt like he would have went to Vancouver. I feel like there's, honestly, I feel like the Leafs would have been fine. There's five really, in my opinion, really elite players, even past five. It's a good draft, a really good draft. But Gavin McKenna, I believe, will be the first pick. There's a couple of players I don't want to say publicly.
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