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Jared Coreau (third period)

Michigan Live LOADED: 09.19.2013

717265 Detroit Red Wings

Red Wings' backup goalie Jonas Gustavsson determined to bounce back from rough season

By Ansar Khan | akhan1@mlive.com

on September 18, 2013 at 7:03 AM, updated September 18, 2013 at 7:05 AM

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings appeared to have made a significant upgrade to their backup goaltending position last summer with Jonas Gustavsson, someone to spell Jimmy Howard regularly.

But the Monster pulled his groin after playing only 19 minutes in relief of Howard in the season opener. That set the tone for a rough season.

Gustavsson, 28, is determined to bounce back, after training harder than he ever has in the off-season. He started only four games in the 48-game lockout-shortened 2013 season, watching the final 27 games, regular season and playoffs, from the bench.

The Red Wings need more from Gustavsson during a full 82-game season. Howard is a workhorse, but the club would prefer he didn't play more than 60-to-65 games, especially during a season in which he might be traveling to Sochi, Russia, as a member of the U.S. Olympic team.

“It's about performing as good as possible, and when I get the chance to play try to help the team, and when I'm not playing support the team because I feel like we have something good going and I'm happy to be a part of it,'' Gustavsson said. “No matter what part that is I'm going to try to make the most of it.''

Gustavsson stopped 21-of-23 shots in two periods of action Tuesday in his preseason debut, a 2-0 loss at Chicago.

A regular training camp and exhibition games (there were none last season) should help Gustavsson, who has a history of early-season groin issues.

“When I started my preseason work it was a lot about working all those small muscles to prevent from being injured,'' Gustavsson said. “Now coming in, you can't think about not getting injured, you just got to go 100 percent and try to become a better goalie every time you're on the ice.

“I feel like I've been doing everything I can in the off-season to give myself the chance to be healthy.''

That includes, for the first time, working with a personal trainer back home in Sweden. He also spent some time in Detroit in July working with Red Wings strength and conditioning coach Pete Renzetti.

“That was good for me to have a guy that pushes me on days when you're not so excited to go to the gym,'' Gustavsson said. “I just felt like I wanted to do something different than I'm used to.''

Coach Mike Babcock is counting on seeing a different Gustavsson.

“He better have had a good summer and he better grab hold of something,'' Babcock said. “I'm going to watch. He knows and I know you got to grab your own piece of the pie. If not, someone else eats it.''

Gustavsson appeared in only seven games (2-2-0, 2.79 goals-against average), but his .879 save percentage was an eyesore.

“We were in a tough battle for a playoff spot and Jimmy was playing unreal all season,'' Gustavsson said. “You can't be too down, it's a team game. You got to play your part. Then you got to be the goalie that's tough to score on in practice and go 100 percent there because that's going to help you and your teammates.''

Michigan Live LOADED: 09.19.2013

717266 Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers need the New Crosstiniaks to take over on the fourth line

September 18, 2013. 8:42

Posted by:

David Staples

Ten things the Oilers must do to make the playoffs (Part 2)

In Part 1 of this Cult of Hockey series, we focused on how the Oilers have to find depth defenders and how the teams young stars must step up as leaders and refuse to lose. Today in Part 2, we look at the need to get solid forechecking out of the fourth line and as solid goaltending from Devan Dubnyk as it got last season.

cult of hockey

#8 Thing: The fourth line must successfully forecheck

It’s been five years since the glorious spring of 2008 when the Oilers actually went on an extended winning streak and actually had a fourth line that could help the team, not cripple it.

At that time, newcomer Curtis Glencross — acquired from Columbus for Dick Tarnstrom — combined with Oilers draft picks Kyle Brodziak and Zack Stortini to form a trio nicknamed The Crosstiniaks, a group with enough size, aggression and skill to consistently pressure the opposition in their end.

I liked the name, as it evoked some barbarian horde, sweeping across NHL rinks, causing mayhem.

But, unfortunately, not everyone thought highly of the group. Some felt The Crosstiniaks just got lucky and were especially certain that gritty Glencross could not keep up his high percentage shooting. Oilers management evidently wasn’t sold either, as Glencross was allowed to slip through the Oilers fingers and sign in Calgary. One year later, the dependable Brodziak was traded away for two mid-round picks, then Stortini, the biggest and toughest but least skilled of the trio, was cut.

Since that time, the Oilers fourth line has seen the likes of Colin Fraser, Eric Belanger, Lennart Petrell, Ben Eager, Steve MacIntyre, Darcy Hordichuk, Mike Brown, Jerred Smithson, a rookie Anton Lander, Chris VandeVelde, Jean-Francois Jacques, Gilbert Brule, Liam Reddox and Ryan Potulny. They have all spent considerable time on the fourth line, some of them playing marginal hockey, most of them playing utterly atrocious hockey, even by NHL fourth line standards.

It’s no stretch to say that one of the main reasons the Oilers have been such a failed hockey team in recent NHL seasons is due to the play of the fourth line, along with management’s inability to correct for the mistake of letting go of Glencross and Brodziak.

This year, to win as much as they lose, the Oilers need a new version of The Crosstiniaks. Lander played well enough in the AHL playoffs to make a believer out of me. He’s got a chance to provide the kind of unspectacular but steady forechecking and backchecking play that Brodziak did. Newcomer Will Acton is also in the mix at centre.

On the wings, some combination of Jesse Joensuu, Ryan Jones, Linus Omark, Ryan Hamilton, Ben Eager, Tyler Pitlick, Mike Brown and Ryan Smyth needs to click.

If Lander can be Brodziak, the next big issue is who can play the role of Glencross, providing the skill to this line? The highly-skilled and gritty Omark isn’t a bad bet, or maybe some combination of Jones, Joensuu, Hamilton and Smyth will provide the necessary skill.

If Omark is the guy, that might even make room for a Stortini-type enforcer such as Eager or Brown on the other wing.

Perhaps the best bet is Eager, Lander and Omark.

The Eaglandarks? The Eagomders? If the trio succeeds, we’ll have plenty of time to figure out a nickname.

#7 Thing: The goaltending must not decline

In 2013, Oilers starting goalie Devan Dubnyk had the 13th best save percentage of the NHL’s 37 starting goalies (20 or more games played).

Now save percentage isn’t the only way to measure goaltending, but it’s the best way we have right now, and Dubnyk’s save percentage indicates he out-performed his team last year.

He was good enough to be a goalie on a playoff team, even if his team wasn’t good enough to be in the playoffs.

Dubnyk, 27, is a huge man who plays a solid positional game. He’s not the fastest or most spectacular goalie. He lets in the odd soft goal, but who doesn’t? He’s no Jonathan Quick, he’s not re-inventing the position, or calling up memories of Grant Fuhr, Dominik Hasek or Bernie Parent, but if plays as well as he did last year, the Oilers have a real shot. If he plays better than that, if he gets hot and enters the Top 10 for save percentage for example, the Oilers will have a much easier time winning.

If Dubnyk does falter, the good news is the Oilers signed a credible back-up in Jason LaBarbera, who had the 11th best save percentage in the entire NHL, though he only played in 15 games as the back-up in Phoenix. LaBarbera, 33, was nonetheless a strong signing by the Oilers, a decent goalie who can likely step up for a stretch of games if Dubnyk gets hurt or goes cold.

Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 09.19.2013

717267 Edmonton Oilers

Richard Bachman looks like a keeper in net for Edmonton Oilers farm team

September 17, 2013. 10:45 pm

Posted by:

Jim Matheson

When the Edmonton Oilers lost farm team goalie Yann (Can) Danis in the off-season to a whopping $325,000 AHL contract to play for Philly’s affiliate in Adirondack, Kari Lehtonen’s Dallas backup Richard Bachman fortuitously fell into their lap. \

It rated one line on the transaction wire and only a couple of paragraphs as a local story in July, but off Bachman’s outstanding work against the Jets in Winnipeg Tuesday, it looks like Oklahoma City Barons head coach Todd Nelson will have a big-game keeper in the AHL team’s lineup.

And the Oilers can call on Bachman if anybody goes down.

Bachman, who played for current Edmonton Oil Kings coach Derek Laxdal’s ECHL Idaho Steelheads in 2009-2010, will be banished to the AHL on cut-down day, before the Oilers’ league-opener with the same Jets at Rexall Place because Jason LaBarbera was signed to be Devan Dubnyk’s back-up.

But Bachman won indelible points with Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins after the Oilers’ 3-2 loss when he kept it from being 6-0 after two periods.

He made seven or eight tremendous saves in Winnipeg on Tuesday night, most of them in the second period.

He looked, well, like an NHLer, which he was for 32 games as Lehtonen’s caddy the last two years. He’s a rarity today, a goalie well under six-feet tall (five-foot-10, 175 pounds), but he can play.

“We know he’s a good goalie, but that was a surprising performance,” Eakins said. It came against 70 per cent of the Jets’ opening night lineup, with Blake Wheeler, Andrew Ladd and Brian Little missing up front, but that’s about it.

He got the 60 minutes, with LaBarbera wearing a ball-cap on the bench. His last full game was Dallas’s last league game, last April against Detroit, so there was some rust.

He played half a game in Calgary last Saturday, but faced only six shots. He had that many in the first three minutes of the second period in Winnipeg.

Bachman signed with the Oilers, knowing the score, that LaBarbera had signed a one-way deal for $1 million.

He’s on a two-way, making $225,000 in OKCity and $650,000 if he plays with Eakins’s team.

“Obviously the contract is what it is (two-way), but I want Edmonton to know I can do the job too,” he said.

Bachman spent seven years with Dallas after they drafted him 120th overall in 2006.

“You get comfortable with the organization that drafts you at 18. Obviously, there’s a comfort knowing every single face,” he said. “But you go to another team and you build new relationships, it’s a fresh start with a different perspective. It’s a great way to grow.”

So who will be Bachman’s backup in OKC? That’s a troublesome area.

Olivier Roy, who was lit up by Calgary last Saturday in half a game, is the titular No. 2, but he doesn’t look like he can push Bachman or that he’ll be an NHLer down the road unless goalie coach Freddie Chabot can work wonders with the kid.

Tyler Bunz is likely going to be the No. 1 in Bakersfield in the ECHL.

Edmonton Oilers' defenceman Philip Larsen, left, grabs the puck away from Calgary Flames forward Mike Cammalleri during first period NHL pre-season hockey action in Calgary, Alta., Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013.

Edmonton Oilers’ defenceman Philip Larsen, left, grabs the puck away from Calgary Flames forward Mike Cammalleri during first period NHL pre-season hockey action in Calgary, Alta., Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013.

Call me crazy, but if Eakins plays defenceman Philip Larsen 15 seconds short of 24 minutes against the Winnipeg Jets, he’s making the team unless he falls off the map in the last few looks he gets in pre-season.

Only fellow blueliner Jeff Petry played more than the former Dallas D-man who came in the Shawn Horcoff deal.

Truth is, Larsen could be ahead of Denis Grebeshkov right now on the depth chart, and I’ve got Grebeshkov pencilled in for an automatic defence spot.

***

First look at U.S. world junior hero defenceman Jacob Trouba on the Jets defence.

It looks like the raambunctious, right-shooting right D will be making their back-end.

Canadian world junior forward Mark Scheifele, their first-round draft in 2011, sent back to junior the last two years, had a good game, too, with four shots.

Only nagging thing: for a big kid, he has trouble staying on his feet, although he’s improved his balance from his draft year. He still needs work on it.

Scheifele or Olli Jokinen will be the No. 2 centre with Evander Kane and Devin Setoguchi. Kane left in the third period Tuesday with stomach cramps.

***

He’s trying to make the Oilers and they badly need his size in the top nine but he only deserved a C on a game report card. He can’t afford dips in his play.

**

The Winnipeg crowd saluted Eakins early in the game with a short montage on the Jumbotron.

It was just short of a standing O for Eakins. He greatly appreciated the reception.

“It’s a place where I spent a lot of time,” Eakins said. “(Owner) Mark Chipman and (former Moose GM) Craig Heisinger were second to none. I have a soft spot in my heart for Winnipeg.”

***

He’ll likely be sent back to the WHL club before their season- opener Friday, Sept. 20, at home against the Calgary Hitmen, but at least he got a game in.

He played just 8:50, but he scored in the third period and bulled his way around the slot earlier in the final frame, forcing a delay of game penalty on the Jets.

If he takes anything away from the game, it’s this: Moroz is a big junior player. He’s a run-of-the-mill size-wise NHLer, sometimes trying to navigate through a land of giants.

“Different animal out there when you’ve got (Dustin) Byfuglien bearing down on you,” Moroz said.

Byfuglien sent Oilers winger Ryan Hamilton through a door to the right of the Jets net in the first period.

“I guess they forgot to latch it. He (Hamilton) seemed in shock,” said Byfuglien.

Moroz’s goal came off a pass from Philip Larsen, who had a wonderful game. “

Right on the tape. I was able to shovel it in there,” he said.

***

“There’s something there with that kid. We just have to see if we can bring it out,” said Eakins.

Pitlick has battled injuries in OKC after being a second-round draft pick and has had acres of trouble scoring.

He factors in as a fourth-line NHLer, if he makes it because he’s a powerful skater, who can hit.

He should be sticking around longer for another exhibition or two.

***

This ‘n that: You can expect Cameron Abney to be farmed to OKCity. He only played seven minutes on a fourth line. Centre Ryan Martindale (9:49) might be joining him, although he did assist on Moroz’s goal and was considerably more noticeable than Abney … Sam Gagner, who played in Calgary last Saturday, didn’t create much as the No. 1 centre, even though he played 21 minutes … Mark Arcobello got more ice (17:44) than Anton Lander (14:11) in a battle of Oilers centres, if you wondering about coach’s preference.

Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 09.19.2013

717268 Edmonton Oilers

Pitlick gets second chance to improve on first impression with Oilers

Rookie still a candidate for third- or fourth-line energy role

By Joanne Ireland, Edmonton Journal September 18, 2013

Vancouver — When Tyler Pitlick was tapped on the shoulder again, one night after playing for the Edmonton Oilers in an NHL exhibition game against the Winnipeg Jets, he purposefully obliged.

The Oilers needed forwards to double up, with injuries sidelining Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (shoulder), Jujhar Khaira (undisclosed) and Andrew Miller (ribs).

For Pitlick, it was another chance to leave a good impression, so he skated out on Wednesday for another pre-season game, this time playing alongside Mark Arcobello and Jesse Joensuu in a 4-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

The Oilers wasted no time setting the tone. Jordan Eberle tucked a wraparound in off Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo at 4:49, defenceman Martin Marincin got a goal through traffic, then David Perron put one in off the far post by the time the game was just seven minutes and 38 seconds old.

Jonesuu gave Edmonton a 4-0 cushion with his second goal of the pre-season, whipping in an Arcobello rebound before the Canucks’ Brendan Gaunce batted in a rebound that got past Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk at 13:06.

The last two periods were scoreless.

Joacim Eriksson took over for Luongo for the final period, while Dubnyk went the distance for the Oilers, turning away 25 shots.

Edmonton’s next test goes Saturday against the Canucks at Rexall Place. There will be more cuts before then.

“It’s always good when they want to take another look at you,” said Pitlick, a 21-year-old native of Minneapolis. “I’ve been feeling pretty good out there.”

Selected in the second round of the 2010 NHL entry draft, Pitlick is in his third pro season.

He readily admits that his sophomore campaign with the Oklahoma City Barons was not his best. The winger, who has the speed and wherewithal to play the body, started out toward the bottom of the depth chart because of the NHL lockout, then missed three weeks with a concussion only to sit out another two months with a knee injury. He played just 44 of the American Hockey League club’s 76 regular-season games.

But he played all 16 playoff games, chipping in a pair of goals and four assists.

By the time the Oilers got to Vancouver, Pitlick was one of the few Barons still in the mix. Earlier Wednesday, Edmonton re-assigned defenceman Brandon Davidson and wingers Cameron Abney and Kale Kessy to the AHL Barons. Winger Mitch Moroz was returned to the Edmonton Oil Kings in the Western Hockey League.

Pitlick went to Vancouver after an impressive outing against the Jets.

“There’s something there with that kid,” said head coach Dallas Eakins. “We just have to see if we can bring it out of him.”

With the Oilers intent on retooling their bottom six, the longer Pitlick is in camp, the better. He’s also certain he can be more productive than he has been, even if he’s cast in a more physical role. In the past two years with the Barons, Pitlick had only 10 goals.

In his only WHL season, Pitlick scored 27 goals in 56 games with the Medicine Hat Tigers.

“I think what they want me to do is be a guy who creates energy, a third-, fourth-line guy who will hit and use my speed to get in on the forecheck,” said Pitlick, who hadn’t played in Rogers Arena before Wednesday.

“But I still think I have some offensive upside. I can chip in there as well. My (offensive numbers in the AHL) definitely aren’t where I want them to be. I think I can improve on it for sure. A lot of it is just getting some confidence. They’ll get better.

“I just need to shoot more too,” he continued before the pre-season game. “Instead of looking to pass, I just need to fire as much as possible. The most important thing for me this year is to stay healthy, then I can build on playing better.

“But I’m treating this as if I’m fighting for a spot. I don’t know if they expected me to coming into camp, but I’m looking at it as an opportunity. If worse comes to worse (and he don’t make the Oilers for the opener), I want them to know I’m ready when they need me.”

Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 09.19.2013

717269 Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton Oilers prized pick, Darnell Nurse, impresses in game against Vancouver Canucks

September 19, 2013. 12:57 am

Joanne Ireland

If it turns out that Wednesday’s outing against the Vancouver Canucks was the last for Darnell Nurse this pre-season, the 18-year-old certainly left his mark.

Nurse played almost 23 minutes, second only to Justin Schultz, and once again showed why the Edmonton Oilers snapped him up with the seventh pick overall in the June draft.

He blocked shots in the 4-1 victory, broke up two-on-ones, and played with the kind of poise that is unusually for a rookie.

“That kid’s a hockey player,” said head coach Dallas Eakins. “Lots of compete in his game.

“When a player like that is out against unbelievable players like the Sedins, usually the young player will be very shy with the game and very defensive. He was on the war path. I thought he played one hell of a game.”

So too did goaltender Devan Dubnyk, who said the only unfortunate aspect of it all, is that the Oilers have enough defensive depth. They won’t rush Nurse if he can continue to excel with the Sault SteMarie Greyhounds, and represent Canada at the world juniors.

“I can’t believe he’s 18 years old,” said Dubnyk, who faced 26 shots in the victory. “He has this maturity about him on the ice. I’ve been so impressed with him.

“He plays hard, then you see his ability to create some things and jump up. You wouldn’t expect with the game that he plays. It’s too bad there’s not going to be a spot, because he’s certainly shown he could push for it if there was room.

“I’ve been beyond impressed with him all camp. It’s fun to have a young guy who wants to play defence.”

As for Nurse, he says he’s just soaking up everything he can, for as long as he can.

The Oilers play the Canucks again on Saturday, in Edmonton, and will do so with a smaller roster. Despite some of the strong performances on Wednesday, which Eakins said will make the cuts even tougher, the Oilers do have to get their numbers down.

There were still 41 players on the roster when they left Vancouver.

“As every day goes on, I just feel like I’m getting better and better,” said Nurse. “The biggest thing for me is to just take in everything I can each day, whether that’s learning from guys on the ice, or, just putting in the work in the gym.

“That’s really all you can do when you’re in my position. I’ve enjoyed every moment of it,” he continued.

“There have been some moments where I’ve had to step back and say how lucky am I do be in this position right now. That’s the biggest part of me just enjoying all of this.”

Oilers inject compete into game against Canucks

As far as Eakins was concerned, the highlight of the 4-1 win was the second period penalty kill that was the signature moment for the shot blockers. Nurse took one off the leg, Nick Schultz had one go off his head, and on it went.