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Arizona Coyotes 2015 Opponents: Edmonton Oilers

By William Grigsby

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In this new series, Howlin’ Hockey will be looking at all 29 opponents the Arizona Coyotes will be facing this new 2015-16 season.

We’ll see how well they did against each team, and the forecast for this season.

So, let’s get started — with the Edmonton Oilers.

2014-15 record: 24-44-14, 6th in the Pacific Division. Did not make the playoffs

How the Coyotes did against the Oilers last season: 5-0-0

Schedule this year against the Arizona Coyotes: Thursday, 11/12/15 Home, Sat. 1/2/16 at Edmonton, Tuesday, 1/12/16 Home, Sat. 3/12/16 at Edmonton, Tuesday, 3/22/16 Home

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Notable Additions: C Connor McDavid, G Cam Talbot, D Eric Gryba, D Andrej Sekera, LW Lauri Korpikoski, C Mark Letestu

Notable Subtractions: C Derek Roy, C Boyd Gordon

Coached by: Todd McLellan (1st season)

Who’s in Net: In June the Oilers traded picks to the NY Rangers for Cam Talbot. At age 27, Talbot has just 57 games of NHL experience, but the Oilers hope that he can handle the load. Ben Scrivens, who was the starter last year, should be the backup. Talbot did well in a backup role in New York and now must step up to a starting role.

Quick thoughts about the Oilers:

  • They have not made the playoffs since 2006, but their fans think that Connor McDavid is Superman AND Batman.
  • While Andrej Sekera will help on the blue-line, they still need additional help. You can’t just score, you must defend.
  • They will have four over-all number one picks in the lineup this year with other high draft picks. It is crazy that they have not excelled further. This year may show some progress, but don’t count on it.
  • New Coach Todd McLellan seems to be the right man but there are a lot of pieces of the puzzle which must fit just right.

Why the Oilers will win the Stanley Cup: McDavid may hoist the Cup, but not this year, or next, or the following year.

Why the Oilers won’t win the Stanley Cup: They have to learn to play better defense, and have their star forwards play a two-way game. A prime example of this is Taylor Hall. He can score, but he doesn’t cover his man, resulting in a defensive letdown, which leads to losses. Perhaps McLellan can work with these kids, and get them on the same page.

Three Things We Like About You:

  1. You’ve got to love a team that has been to the mountain-top (1980’s), and then to the depths (2000’s)
  2. As Arizona Coyotes fans we are happy that you are in the Pacific Division, because we really didn’t beat too many other Pacific Division teams much last season. Undefeated sounds good, but with McDavid we don’t think it will happen this season. He’s that good.
  3. We love to spot you a two or three goal lead early, so we can come back and win the game. Doing it in overtime is also especially rewarding, as we can gloat about catching you, and putting you in the loss column…again.

Three Things We Don’t Like About You:

  1. We had a much  better chance of winning the lottery than the Oilers, but yet they defied the odds. How did they do that?
  2. The team has so much offensive firepower, why not share some of it with us?
  3. We hate those long road trips to Edmonton. It always seems like it is freezing cold there, and we are from the desert. Anything below 60 degrees, and we get our parkas out. What parkas?

Prediction: It’s going to be fun watching what happens in Edmonton this year with Mr. McDavid showing off his hockey talents. They are a year or two off before the hockey Gods bless them with all the success they should have already displayed. We think it’s going to happen, but we have not clue what year.

Next: Arizona Coyotes With Connor McDavid In The Lineup

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