Oil Spills: A podcast on the Edmonton Oilers
143 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 4 years ago - ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsPodcast by Edmonton Journal
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Episodes
Oilers' backslide a throwback to last season's disappointing performance
November 13, 2018 00:00 - 13 minutesThe Edmonton Oilers have come crashing back to earth after a good showing in October, when they posted a 6-4-1 record while beating strong teams such as the Winnipeg Jets, the Nashville Predators and the Washington Capitals, the defending Stanley Cup champions no less, along the way. Heading into their Nov. 13 home game against the Montreal Canadiens, the Oilers had lost four games in a row in rather convincing fashion, harkening back to memories of last season’s adrift squad. Host Craig El...
Oilers now have options on right wing
November 05, 2018 00:00 - 25 minutesThe carousel at right-wing keeps turning for the Edmonton Oilers, with Drake Caggiula catching fire in back-to-back games and hanging onto a spot on the top line alongside star Connor McDavid, even though Ty Rattie — the regular on McDavid’s right-hand flank — was ready to return to the lineup. So there’s that, and there’s also the strong play of a couple of others on the right side, Alex Chiasson and Zack Kassian, who for the moment are entrenched on the second- and fourth lines, respective...
Goaltending gives Oilers chances to win
October 30, 2018 00:00 - 51 minutesThe goaltending’s been the big thing lately for the Edmonton Oilers. While many things have gone right for the Oilers, particularly in their last four games, to go 6-3-1 in their first 10 games of the season, the play of starting goalie Cam Talbot as well as backup Mikko Koskinen in his single appearance have backstopped the team to its winning record. Remember: many a pundit and average fan on the street weren’t giving the Oilers much of a chance to win games in October, much less come ou...
'Heart of the order' will push Oilers
October 23, 2018 00:00 - 23 minutesIt’s the heart of the order for the Edmonton Oilers in October — three games in a row against some of the NHL’s heavyweight teams — and the big question is how they will do against them. If last Saturday’s game against the Nashville Predators, a shutout loss, is any indication, the games against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Washington Capitals and the Predators again will prove thought tests for an Oilers squad that has bared its flaws. Oil Spills podcast host Craig Ellingson talks to NHL b...
Oilers desperately seeking beast-mode Draisaitl
October 15, 2018 00:00 - 21 minutesLeon Draisaitl, the centre of the Oilers’ second line that includes wingers Milan Lucic and Kailer Yamamoto, has failed to muster offence with his even-strength linemates to start the new NHL season. So it comes as little surprise the idea of once again moving Draisaitl onto Connor McDavid’s wing — something the Oilers have done in the past to generate goals — has come up again in the media as an option for head coach Todd McLellan, who has summarily dismissed it. The team wants Draisaitl...
Pressure already on Oilers in return to North America
October 10, 2018 00:00 - 23 minutesNHL beat writer Jim Matheson has been on the road with the Edmonton Oilers for the last week and a half, starting in Germany, where the team played an exhibition game in centre Leon Draisaitl’s home town of Cologne, followed by their regular-season debut in Gothenburg, Sweden, against the New Jersey Devils, a 5-2 loss. And now, the Oilers will make their debut on North American ice on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018, facing the host Boston Bruins — a potentially tough matchup as are most of their ga...
Oilers finalize roster as they hit Europe
October 02, 2018 19:41 - 41 minutesThey’ve made the big jump across the pond, and now the Edmonton Oilers are preparing for a big challenge to start the N-H-L season — four games on the road, with the first one in Sweden, all against what should prove to be stiff competition. That’s this backdrop for the Oilers as they continue to make final adjustments to the lineup, such as waiving players such as Pontus Aberg, who was claimed by the Anaheim Ducks on Monday, and trading defenceman Jakub Jerabek, who they had waived on Sunda...
Yamamoto making Oilers’ forward decisions tough again
September 25, 2018 00:00 - 30 minutesDecisions, decisions. The Edmonton Oilers are about halfway through training camp, and while the NHL team has made a number of roster cuts already — sending players in bunches back to junior clubs and to the minor league in Bakersfield for the AHL team camp — the hard work deciding who stays and who goes starts now. The Oilers have three pre-season games left before they depart for Europe, where they’ll play an exhibition in Cologne, Germany, before starting the 2018-19 season in Gothenbu...
Sizing up the Oilers defence
September 18, 2018 00:00 - 30 minutesDarnell Nurse has finally signed a new contract with the Edmonton Oilers. It’ll be a big boost for the N-H-L team’s blue-line as Nurse played some important minutes for the club last season. He’ll slot into the team’s top four and take some pressure off prospects such as Ethan Bear, Caleb Jones and recent first-round draft pick Evan Bouchard. Host Craig Ellingson talks to hockey writers Jim Matheson and Derek Van Diest all about the Oilers’ defence and the challenges the players face as ...
Oilers prospects in first for training camp
September 11, 2018 00:00 - 39 minutesThe gang’s almost all here! Edmonton Oilers prospects have reported to rookie camp ahead of the opening of main camp later this week. It features the likes of Evan Bouchard, the Oilers’ first-round draft pick this past June, as well as other hopefuls who have an opportunity to make an impact and get a longer look as the team readies for the season. Tyler Benson, the Oilers’ second-round pick two years ago, is playing in his first pre-season games after missing action the past couple of Septem...
Oilers plug a hole as Sekera injury strikes
August 28, 2018 00:00 - 37 minutesWith Andrej Sekera lost for a few months after tearing his Achilles tendon this summer, the Edmonton Oilershave signed free-agent defenceman Jakub Jerabek to fill his spot — at least at training camp, where the NHL team will see ho stands out and deserves that sixth spot on the blue line. Prospects Ethan Bear, Caleb Jones and the oilers’ most-recent first-round pick, Evan Bouchard, will also likely be in the mix. Is adding Jerabek the right move? Podcast host Craig Ellingson talks to Edmonton...
Hockey in August puts spotlight on deep 2019 NHL Draft pool
August 14, 2018 00:00 - 25 minutesIt’s officially been summer going on two months now, but almost 10,000 people packed the lower bowl of Edmonton’s Rogers Place this past week for an international hockey tournament featuring a bounty of 17-year-old top prospects. The Hlinka Gretzky Cup, under a variety of names including the Air Canada Pacific Cup, the Nations Cup and the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, is a major pre-season showcase of under-18 prospects. A big question surrounding the tournament was whether fans would turn...
Studying Evan Bouchard
July 24, 2018 00:00 - 43 minutesAs we enter what·s typically a quiet period of the year for the Edmonton Oilers and the NHL · it is summer, after all · we are coming off recent news of the team signing their first-round pick last month, Evan Bouchard, to a three-year entry level contract. As has been the case with the franchise particularly over the last dozen years, such high picks have been getting long looks at training camp and in exhibition and have seen NHL playing time right away. Can we expect Bouchard to get the sa...
Waiting on that Darnell Nurse bridge contract
July 06, 2018 00:00 - 26 minutesThere’s still one major fish for the Edmonton Oilers to sign, and that’s restricted free agent Darnell Nurse, the defenceman who has shown much promise on the back end and who could very well blossom into a top-pairing NHL blueliner. But right now, the Oilers aren’t in a position to sign Nurse to a long-term deal, so look for them to come to terms on a bridge contract — something shorter-term, like two years, and worth say 3 to 4 million per season. And what else can the Oilers do to add to t...
Little for Oilers to spend heading into NHL free agency
June 29, 2018 00:00 - 37 minutesHost Derek Van Diest talks to Edmonton Oilers beat reporters Jim Matheson and Rob Tychkowski about the NHL’s free agency period, which starts Sunday, July 1, 2018. Not that Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli is licking his chops, pen and chequebook in hand, to give out some fat contracts this time around. No, the Oilers will be looking way, way down the list of available free agents in search of forward depth, to the likes of Kyle Brodziak, Jason Chimera and Tobias Rieder — all former Oil...
Oilers at 10th, what should they do with their pick at the NHL Draft?
June 18, 2018 00:00 - 41 minutesHost Derek Van Diest talks to Edmonton Oilers beat reporters Jim Matheson and Rob Tychkowski about the Edmonton Oilers at this year's NHL Draft in Dallas, particuarly what the team should do with their first-round, 10th overall draft pick. Should they keep it or trade it? If they keep it, what sort of player should they target? They also talk about the possibility of the Oilers trading forward Milan Lucic, who is coming off a disappointing season with plenty of time left on his expensive cont...
Those Amazing Vegas Golden Knights
June 01, 2018 00:00 - 44 minutesHost Derek Van Diest talks to Edmonton Oilers beat reporters Jim Matheson and Rob Tychkowski about the Vegas Golden Knights, the NHL expansion team that is in the Stanley Cup final in its first year of play against the Washington Capitals. They talk about the construction of the Golden Knights roster, how the team’s success might change the way other teams assemble theirs and how they look at salary structures, and about the entertaining home-ice production at Las vegas’s T-Mobile Arena. The ...
Oilers' spring hunt for defence
May 18, 2018 00:00 - 36 minutesThe Edmonton Oilers signed Swedish defenceman Joel Persson, who played for the Vaxjo Lakers in the Swedish Elite League last season. Will Persson help the Oilers in their quest for an offensive, puck-moving right-shot defenceman, or will he be another European who struggles to make an impact at the NHL level? The Oilers have gone down this road before with the likes of Yohann Auvitu, Anton Belov and Philip Larsen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oilers' big deal for new backup goalie
May 03, 2018 00:00 - 29 minutesHockey writers Jim Matheson and Robert Tychkowski talk to sports editor Craig Ellingson about the biggest news this week in Oilersland, the signing of Mikko Koskinen, a Finnish goalie who has spent the past six years in the KHL and who will be 30 years old by the time training camp rolls around in September. Who is the guy and why sign him to be the backup to push starter Cam Talbot? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oilers and the NHL Draft Lottery: What are the chances?
April 25, 2018 00:00 - 43 minutesNo. 1 overall. Could it happen to the Edmonton Oilers again? Yes it could. Three years ago, the Oilers won the 2015 NHL draft lottery with 11.5% odds of gaining the right to choose Connor McDavid first overall. This year, the Oilers head into the 2018 lottery holding the ninth overall pick. They have a five per cent chance of winning the first overall pick, and shots at moving up to second or third overall — or dropping back to 10th, 11th or 12th. If the Oilers win one of the lotteries, they ...
Oilers coaching future uncertain
April 13, 2018 00:00 - 38 minutesQuestions about the Edmonton Oilers’ coaching staff linger following season-ending media conferences held by the team’s brass. Head coach Todd McLellan and his staff weren’t declared safe in their jobs — not that anyone thought they were given the Oilers finished well back of the NHL playoff pack this year after last year’s promising campaign. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Which Oilers season is the aberration?
April 05, 2018 00:00 - 32 minutesThe end of the Edmonton Oilers’ season is here and the questions that have been dogging the team all season remain. Why did the Oilers stumble this year and finish almost 30 points behind last season and out of the playoffs? Is this season or last season’s run into the post-season an anomaly? Is this the most disappointing season in the Oilers’ NHL history? Should anyone be fired as a result? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Connor McDavid for NHL MVP?
March 29, 2018 00:00 - 24 minutesHockey Hall of Fame writer Jim Matheson talks to sports editor Craig Ellingson about Connor McDavid, the Edmonton Oilers captain who has been scoring at a torrid rate for more than a month, averaging almost two points a game in the month of March alone, and has vaulted into the NHL scoring lead. But how far should that scoring prowess, among his other qualities as a leader, teammate and ultra-skilled hockey player take him when it comes to voting for the league's most-valuable player award, ...
Feast or famine for Leon Draisaitl
March 22, 2018 00:00 - 19 minutesBeat writer Rob Tychkowski talks to sports editor Craig Ellingson about streaky Edmonton Oilers Leon Draisaitl, and why he's been hot and cold on the NHL scoring charts all season. For stretches, Draisaitl can score a point or better each game. That would be followed by strings of games in which he fails to put up any points. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oilers' trade targets and what to use as bait
March 15, 2018 00:00 - 45 minutesHockey writers Jim Matheson and Derek Van Diest talk to sports editor Craig Ellingson about the unclear course ahead for Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli when it comes to making decisions on personnel this coming off-season — namely who to trade and who to keep and develop in the wake of Ottawa Senators GM Pierre Dorion’s attendance at two recent Oilers games. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oilers in evaluation mode as they play out the string
March 08, 2018 00:00 - 15 minutesHockey Hall of Fame writer Jim Matheson talks to sports editor Craig Ellingson about the Edmonton Oilers playing out the string on the rest of the 2017-18 NHL season, with the team out of the playoff picture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Post NHL trade deadline show
March 01, 2018 22:16 - 28 minutesEdmonton Journal and Edmonton Oilers beat writers Jim Matheson and Rob Tychkowski join host Trevor Robb to discuss the moves Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli made prior to Monday’s NHL Trade Deadline and this period of evaluation the team has now entered as they wind down the season — a season that will not involve a trip to the playoffs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
NHL trade deadline hot stove
February 22, 2018 00:00 - 47 minutesA special edition of Oil Spills at this year's NHL trade deadline: Host Paul Chapman talks with Postmedia hockey writers Jim Matheson, Ed Willes and Michael Traikos about the upcoming NHL trade deadline. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oilers' attention turns to trades, changes
February 15, 2018 00:00 - 46 minutesHockey writers Jim Matheson and Derek Van Diest talk to sports editor Craig Ellingson about the trading landscape ahead for the Edmonton Oilers, who are effectively out of the National Hockey League playoff race. Before the summer hits, there's the upcoming NHL trade deadline on Feb. 26, which will almost certainly see Oilers forwards Patrick Maroon and Mark Letestu, both set to become unrestricted free agents in July, peddled to other teams. But it's not as though the Oilers don't need such ...
End of Oilers' season is certainly near
February 06, 2018 00:00 - 18 minutesHockey writer Robert Tychkowski talks to sports editor Craig Ellingson about what is looking to be the final stretch of meaningful games for the Edmonton Oilers as, while they have been playing better lately, the NHL team can't move up the standings in the quest for a playoff spot. With the NHL trade deadline less than three weeks away, the team will have to make decisions on who they might trade to best manage assets, moves that would effective signal the season, as far as chasing the post-s...
Usual suspects continue to smother Oliers' slim hopes
February 02, 2018 00:00 - 32 minutesHockey writer Robert Tychkowski talks to sports editor Craig Ellingson about the ailments that have been plaguing the Edmonton Oilers this season: their substandard special teams, both the power play and their weak penalty-killing efforts on home ice. Also: Goal-review glitches and the aftermath of backup goalie Al Montoya's refusal to speak to media before a game. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Are the Oilers at a tipping point?
January 22, 2018 00:00 - 33 minutesHockey writers Jim Matheson and Robert Tychkowski talk to sports editor Craig Ellingson about the struggles the Edmonton Oilers have on home ice and whether their poor performance against a lowly Buffalo Sabres squad could segue to immediate staff changes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oilers' bye-week boon or blues?
January 17, 2018 00:00 - 21 minutesHockey writer Jim Matheson talks to sports editor Craig Ellingson about the Edmonton Oilers coming out of their NHL bye week and how the club can try to build off momentum of their previous trio of games. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Is the Edmonton Oilers' spotty play just plain shoddy or is it necessary?
January 10, 2018 00:00 - 22 minutesHockey writer Robert Tychkowski talks to sports editor Craig Ellingson about the on-again, off-again performance of the Edmonton Oilers as they continue to show signs of improvement one game only to play horribly the next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oilers' playoff hopes barely flickering
January 01, 2018 00:00 - 38 minutesHockey writers Jim Matheson, Robert Tychkowski and Derek Van Diest talk to sports editor Craig Ellingson about the faint playoff hopes left for the Edmonton Oilers and where the blame should be cast for the failure of the team many were calling probable Stanley Cup contenders this year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
West-heavy schedule should make or break Oilers' playoff hopes
December 20, 2017 00:00 - 20 minutesHockey writer Jim Matheson talks to sports editor Craig Ellingson about the playoff hopes of the Edmonton Oilers being very much pinned to pivotal games against Western Conference opponents between now and mid-January. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Playing better but Oilers' crisis mounting
December 13, 2017 00:00 - 32 minutesHockey writers Jim Matheson and Robert Tychkowski talk to sports editor Craig Ellingson about the better play by the Edmonton Oilers, who face a strong lineup of teams after a promising three-game road trip, in which they collected four of a possible six points. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sputtering Oilers broken-record edition
December 06, 2017 00:00 - 34 minutesHockey writer Jim Matheson talks to sports editor Craig Ellingson about the continuing inconsistencies of the Edmonton Oilers, who can't gain enough traction to win enough games to claw back into the 2017-18 NHL playoff race. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Situation more critical as Talbot goes down
November 28, 2017 00:00 - 38 minutesHockey writers Jim Matheson, Robert Tychkowski and Derek Van Diest talk to sports editor Craig Ellingson about the injury to Edmonton Oilers goalie Cam Talbot and how the team needs to rally behind backup Laurent Brossoit and win games in early December to stay relevant in the NHL playoff chase. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sputtering at the point of unlikely return
November 21, 2017 00:00 - 23 minutesHockey Hall of Fame writer Jim Matheson talks to Craig Ellingson about the sputtering ways of the Edmonton Oilers a quarter of the way through the 2017-18 NHL season, which finds them five points out of a playoff spot at U.S. Thanksgiving. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A turnaround?
November 14, 2017 00:00 - 31 minutesEdmonton Journal and Edmonton Sun hockey writers Jim Matheson, Robert Tychkowski and Derek Van Diest talk to sports editor Craig Ellingson on Nov. 16, 2017, about the better play by the Edmonton Oilers following a four-game road trip. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Gimme 2
November 06, 2017 00:00 - 22 minutesHockey writer Jim Matheson talks about the Edmonton Oilers' struggles at the beginning of the 2017-18 NHL season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Crunching Connor's contract
July 05, 2017 00:00 - 33 minutesHockey writers Jim Matheson and Robert Tychkowski, and sports columnist Dan Barnes, join host Craig Ellingson to talk about Connor McDavid's $100-million contract extension with the Edmonton Oilers, its effect on the team, and how it could impact contract negotiations with Leon Draisaitl. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
McDavid pay day
June 26, 2017 00:00 - 25 minutesHockey writers Jim Matheson and Robert Tychkowski join host Craig Ellingson to talk about the contract extension being negotiated between the Edmonton Oilers and star Connor McDavid, what moves the team might make during free agency and the prognosis of its 2017 NHL Draft crop of prospects. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The road to Vegas
June 17, 2017 00:00 - 21 minutesHockey writers Jim Matheson and Robert Tychkowski join host Craig Ellingson to talk about the NHL's Vegas expansion draft, the process of stocking the Golden Knights team and what it means for the Edmonton Oilers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Bumps on the road in back-to-back games
March 21, 2017 00:00 - 15 minutesHockey Hall of Fame writer Jim Matheson talks to sports editor Craig Ellingson about the Edmonton Oilers' play over back-to-back games on the road in Anaheim and Denver, where the Oilers lost one in a playoff-style clash (in Anaheim against the Ducks) and where they rebounded from a poor first two periods against the last-place Colorado Avalanche to win. Cam Talbot was pulled in both games and spelled off by a steady Laurent Brossoit in goal, and Connor McDavid put more distance between himse...
Cue excitement as NHL playoffs really come into view
March 14, 2017 00:00 - 23 minutesHockey Hall of Fame columnist Terry Jones joins Edmonton Sun and Journal sports editor Craig Ellingson to talk about the Edmonton Oilers' recent dominant offensive performances, how the prospect of the team making the NHL playoffs is becoming a very real thing and how changes to the Alberta clock could have a negative effect on the Oilers and the provincial rival Calgary Flames. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
All-Canadiens affair
March 06, 2017 00:00 - 42 minutesHockey Hall of Fame writer Jim Matheson and Montreal Gazette sports columnist Stu Cowan join Edmonton Journal and Sun sports editor Craig Ellingson to talk about the Edmonton Oilers, the Montreal Canadiens, the NHL playoff picture in both the Western and Eastern Conferences, the recent trade between the two teams that saw centre David Desharnais come to Edmonton and defenceman Brandon Davidson head to Montreal, the on-going and forever present phenomenon of Canadiens fans (and their Toronto M...
Navigating March to the NHL playoffs
March 01, 2017 00:00 - 23 minutesPostmedia hockey writers Robert Tychkowski and Derek Van Diest talk to sports editor Craig Ellingson about the Edmonton Oilers' heavy home schedule through the remainder of the 2016-17 NHL season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Targets at the NHL trade deadline
February 21, 2017 00:00 - 13 minutesHockey writer Jim Matheson talks to sports editor Craig Ellingson about who the Edmonton Oilers might and might not target by the NHL trade deadline on March 1, 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices