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Edmonton Oilers


angryjay93

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Edmonton Oilers


Team Overview: As Petr Klima goes, so does the Edmonton Oilers. While the supporting cast may be respectable with the likes of Dave Manson, Bill Ranford, and Kevin Todd, the team is completely reliant on the all league talents of Klima, getting the most out of him is the key to succeeding with Edmonton.

Forwards: The main issue with the Oilers forward unit is that every player aside from Klima has a weakness that keeps them from being an upper echelon player. Craig Simpson and Doug Weight lack speed. Todd Elik, Shane Corson, and Todd lack skills. Zdeno Ciger lacks a distinguishing feature, the list goes on and on. All that can be done is to find a way to mix and match parts that keep the team competitive.

Thunder and Lightning:
Simpson-Klima-Todd

Craig Simpson: 8 weight, 3/3 skating, 4/5 shot, 4 sth, 3 pass, 4/3 aware, Shoots: R

Simpson’s biggest asset is his 4/5 shot, keeping him on the left wing is best so he can unleash his right handed slappers. What helps further aid his goal scoring abilities is that he is fairly smart with his 4 off awareness, he seems to often times be in a decent spot to unleash a potent one timer. As mentioned earlier though, every non-Klima has a weakness. Simpsons problems compound each other, hes slow and heavy. At 3/3 skating and 8 weight, Simpson cant be relied upon to be lugging the puck up the ice consistently nor be relied upon to help out much on defense aside from the occasional poke check.

Petr Klima: 7 weight, 5/5 skating, 4/5 shot, 5 sth, 3 pass, 3/2 aware, Shoots: R

Without Klima in the middle, the team loses its best goal scoring option. Klima has that rare blend of speed and shot power, possessing 5/5 skating and a 4/5 shot. One-timing isn’t a strength of Klima or the Oilers in general, Klima possess only a 3 off awareness and no player on the entire roster is better then a 3 passer. Fortunately though Klima is a 7 weight, which allows him to be a very effective 1 on 1 deke artist. That’s really the key to this team, the offense is typically created by Klima, whether he slashes his way through the opposing defense, unleashes a slapper, or attracts the defense and dishes it off to Simpson for a quick one-timer. With other teams, its usually wise to attack with different players to keep defenses on their heels, with Edmonton, its wise to attack in different ways with Klima.

Kevin Todd: 5 weight, 3/4 skating, 3/2 shot, 3 sth & pass, 3/3 aware, Shoots: L

The defensive conscience of the line and the whole team, Todd needs to use his 5 weight and 3/4 skating to assert himself on the opposing teams most dangerous weapons or down low on the forecheck to pressure the defense. Aside from that though, Todd’s strengths are limited to his ability to rush the puck up the ice, but a question has to be asked, then what? With a 3/2 shot and 3 passing, Todd cant be feared as a great set up man or sniper, he is more or less useless as a goal scoring threat once he gets above the faceoff dots.

This Is the most balanced line Edmonton possess, Simpson can compliment Klima in the goal scoring department and Todd can be relied upon to aid Klima in back checking and body checking. Despite our best efforts though, this line is still susceptible to fast, light, and skilled lines.

Klima All:
Todd-Klima-Ciger

Todd-Klima-Elik

Zdeno Ciger: 7 weight, 4/3 skating, 3/3 shot, 3 sth & pass, 3/3 aware, Shoots: L

The definition of mediocre, 4/3 speed, 3/3 shot, 3/3 aware, 3 passing, and 7 weight. Zdeno Ciger looks like nothing special. But there is some sort of intangible about him that is obvious after using him for a while. He’s just consistent, and he seems to be in the right spot more often than not.

Todd Elik: 7 weight, 3/4 skating, 2/3 shot, 3 sth, 2 pass, 3/3 aware, Shoots: L

Although less skilled than Todd, Todd Elik does possess 3/4 speed and 7 weight, which allows this to be the fastest line Edmonton can produce. With his 2 passing and 2/3 shot though, it will be far from the most skilled line.

The main strengths of these two lines is that with Todd playing the LW, no substitution will have to be made when going on the penalty kill. With Ciger, a slight weight advantage is gained at the cost of a little offensive fire power. In Elik, speed is gained, the lines aren’t as balanced, but it builds up some other strengths instead.

Other Options:

Shayne Corson: 9 weight, 4/4 skating, 3/2 shot, 4 sth, 3 pass, 3/4 aware, Shoots: L

A real heart and soul player, Corson brings some speed and tenacity to a lineup. His weight will hinder him though and his putrid shot ratings will make him all but useless as a goal scoring threat. In blitz league though, this guy can be a real s**t stirrer.

Doug Weight: 6 weight, 3/3 skating 3/3 shot, 4 sth, 3 pass, 3/4 aware. Shoots: L

Sort of a happy medium between Todd and Elik, and by happy, I mean utterly boring.

Forward Rating: 6/10

Defense: This just might be the easiest defensive pairing to make in the entire game, Igor Kravchuk and Manson are the pairing, there is no other way around it.

Kravchuk-Manson

Igor Kravchuk: 9 weight, 4/3 skating, 3/2 shot, 4 sth, 3 pass, 3/4 aware, Shoots: L

As far as lumbering heavyweights go, Kravchuk is a pretty decent guy to throw into the fray. The extra uptick in his agility makes him fairly easy to use despite his weight and this allows him to be fairly effective in protecting the middle of the ice with his hooks and poke checks. He also has just enough of a passing skill set to help Klima spring into transition, not bad for a #2 defenseman on a mediocre team.

Dave Manson: 9 weight, 4/4 skating, 5/1 shot, 4 sth, 3 pass, 3/5 aware, Shoots: L

The more gifted of the two Oiler rearguards, Manson can be a fairly dominating force on defense despite his heavyweight status. With a 5 rating in checking and his pristine defensive awareness, Manson should do a bang up job of cleaning up house in front of Ranford. Throw in his blistering slap shot and above average skating, Manson is able to dabble into the offensive game almost as effectively.

Very much so on the heavy side, but also on the smart and skilled side. As long as we dont pretend they're Petr Svoboda or Chris Chelios, this duo should do more than hold its own against most teams.

Other Options:

Brian Glynn: 11 weight, 3/3 skating, 4/1 shot, 2 sth & pass, 2/3 aware, Shoots: L

Fat...ass. He's got the 4 shot power though, smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Chris Joseph: 10 weight, 3/3 skating, 3/1 shot, 3 sth & pass, 3/1 aware, Shoots: R

Ever wanted to see what 3/1 awareness looks like on a d-man? Throw Joseph out there and find out.

Geoff Smith: 9 weight, 4/3 skating 1/1 shot, 3 sth & pass, 2/3 aware, Shoots: L

A rather nimble defenseman, Smith has solid passing ratings to go along with it. The lowest rated defenseman on the roster just might be the best sub available, go figure.

Defense: 6.5/10

Goaltending:

Bill Ranford: 4 weight, 4/3 skating, 4 puck control, 4/4/5/4 save, Catches: L

Don’t let the average rating fool you, its watered down by low awareness. Ranford has it where it really counts, 4 passing and 4/4/5/4 save ratings. He is one of the most coveted goalies in the league after Roy, Belfour, and Fuhr. His only weakness is 4/3 skating, but at 4 weight, it limits his sluggishness in net with the manual goalie.

Goalie Rating: 7.5/10

Final Word: Against top tier teams, its an uphill battle, even if Klima goes off in a game. But against anyone else, the Oilers have enough presence in their own zone and offensive firepower to consistently keep up.

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If I may be so bold, Edmonton is on the top 5 heaviest teams in the classic rom. Out of all the best players on the starting line, only Kilma is the guy to go to at 187 pounds. Many of the other guys are heavy as heck and there aren't many options besides the ones AJ has found. Still there are some options to choose.

I have to agree with Kravchuk/Manson. There are no other good guys to have as your starters and the rest of the bench guys are fatties. At least these two guys have some redeemable qualities and you have to compensate by mastering the poke check, the holding grabs and of course, positioning.

Ranford looks pretty good; he's on the opposite spectrum of the overall if he go by Smoz' word on CuJo. XDDDD

Edited by RedWingDevil
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Very nice summary AJ, Todd at LW is the way to go! Your forward combos are definitely the options to try.

The only addition to make is using Glynn on defense instead of Kravchuk. Glynn has a good slapshot, and he doesn't feel much slower then Kravchuk. I'd also say Simpson doesn't feel that slow either and is usually solid overall.

Edmonton is affected by the weight bug (Todd, Elik, Simpson), so we'll wait to hear about Smoz's feedback on them.

-Evan

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  • 1 month later...

Weight Bug Fix Analysis

The Oilers are helped quite a bit by the weight bug fix ("WBF"), since most of their skilled players are heavy.

Forwards

Klima is at that average 7 weight spot, so isn't affected by the WBF. He's still the best player on the team by far.

Corson, though still possessing a disappointing 3/2 shot, becomes an incredible 9/4 checker (10.1 effectiveness). He also has 4 speed, so can easily chase down the puck carrier. He should generate lots of turnovers, and hopefully be able to hit Klima with his 3-rated passing.

Simpson and his 4/5 shot are now a much better option, due to his 8 weight. He still can't check due to his 2 checking rating (6.9 total), and he's slow, but your opponents probably won't be able to knock him down with their forwards, so use him to blast shots from the top of the faceoff circles.

Defense

This is where Edmonton really benefits from the WBF.

This team has FIVE respectable defensemen (9+ weight, 3+ checking, 3+ speed and agility, and 3 passing)

Manson is one of the best D in the game, with 9/4 checking, 4/4 speed, and a powerful, if inaccurate, 5/1 shot.

You'll probably want to keep Kravchuk as your 2nd D, just because of his 4 agility. However, if your opponent's forwards are heavy and Kravchuk's having a hard time knocking them down with his 8.9 checking effectiveness, you've got 3 other options:

Luke Richardson (11/4 = 11.6), Brian Glynn (11/3 = 10.4), and Chris Joseph (10/3 = 9.6)

Edited by smozoma
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For some reason, I can't seem to be able to make good dekes with Klima. It takes a bit of mastering him to be able to score more effectively. He's a big man's Pat Falloon, with his high speed and stickhandling, but it takes work to use him well.

Corson's a hitman and he's got some use as a decent passer. Simpson could probably suprise a few guys despite the fact that he's slow thanks to his accurate shot.

Manson and Kravchuk make a good pair of d-men, pretty coveted in Blitz.

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  • 5 years later...

CB Notes

Forwards

Craig Simpson: Despite gaining some utility in the defensive department Simpson is probably best employed as a LW due to the fact that Klima is just too good of a C to move out of that spot. His style will remain largely the same regardless of the new developments.

Petr Klima: Klima retains his all league status as a 1 on 1 option and will continue to be the focus of the Oiler game plan. A bit more caution should be used when trying to slice through heavier opponents as they now have some recourse against Klima. On defense Klima can use his plus skating to track down the likes of Pavel Bure and Jeremy Roenick with a C-B check.

Kevin Todd: Already a pretty fringe type player, Todd hasn't been done any favors with the CB check. The only reason Todd remains employable on the wing is due to the fact that he brings some checking diversity to the Oilers. In games against heavy teams Todd can still run around and wreak some havoc. He will run into issues on offense when trying to lug the puck up the ice.

Zdeno Ciger, Todd Elik, and Doug Weight: These modestly rated middleweights wont experience too much change in their performance, not that it was anything to rave about before.

Shayne Corson: While Corson has evolved from mere afterthought to a competent grinder, he still has no obvious position in which to plug him in. His shooting excludes him from the center discussion and he isn't enough of a distributor to be a great winger. One option is to just let Klima take care of the offense completely and deploy Corson and Todd on each wing as a pair of guys just looking to make the opposition miserable.

Defense

Dave Manson and Igor Kravchuk: The two stalwarts pick up some extra hitting power, especially Manson with his 4 speed. He should be the more apt of the two at getting his hands on the speedy forwards in the league.

Brian Glynn: If a little diversity on the back line is warranted then Glynn is a solid enough choice with his 11 weight and average skating. Removing Kravchuk against one of the star 9 weight forwards may prove beneficial as the Oilers have no weight bug options in which to attack such a forward. The puck skills are a little concerning but Glynn should still be plenty useful.

Chris Joseph and Geoff Smith: Each are still useful in their own right, but are still merely PK or injury sub options due to having a similar weight to the starters.

Luke Richardson: 11 weight, 3/3 speed, 2/0 shot, 3 sth and pass, 1/3 aware, Shoots:L

Built in the same mold as Glynn, Richardson trades in shooting for some extra puck moving skills. With both options being left handed, it is merely user preference as to who to ice as the team bruiser.

Bottom Line

Sure, Edmonton has picked up a little utility as they now have the ability to put an 11 weight defender on the ice and plug Corson in on the wing to improve the team speed. These adjustments don't really change anything regarding the Oilers ability to compete. The team still relies solely on Klima for its offense and he is still more than capable of providing it.

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  • 1 year later...

Been playing a lot with these guys and really like Todd. He seems to cash on more chances than his 2/3 shot says he should. Could it be the vaunted "long stick" that goes along with 3/4 skating? Whatever it is, he seems to pot a ton of chances inside the circles and provides a nice balance with Simpson sniping on the left. Both wings have 4 speed and Klima is a world beater at C with 5/5 skating and 4/5 shot. His 5sth seems to offset his 7 weight as he controls the puck nicely and is a joy to handle. He's not out of control like the 6/6 skating Mogilny for a novice like me. I've messed around with Todd-Simpson-Klima and it's a nice change of pace for a period or so to catch the opponent off guard with Simpson in the middle, who seems to really set up well and snipe one-timers. You also attack more from the right and become better defensively on the left which has its advantages.

On defense, while a little heavy, both guys sport 4 agility and great awareness. Premium once said "make sure both dmen have 4 agility and make sure one has 2/3, 2/4, 3/5, 4/5, or 4/6 awareness". Manson answers the bell with 3/5 awareness, 4/4 skating, and he can fire a few howitzers a game wth his 5/1 shot. Kravchuck isn't quite as good but his 3/4 awareness, 4/3 skating, and 4/3 sth/pass are serviceable and he can pot a few chances with 3/2 shooting. Richardson is a defense 1st wrecking ball with good skating and puck skills. At 11 weight, 4 chk and 4 agr, he mashes in CPU mode and dominates the CB checking game.

Ranford is sneaky good! I personally put him as the #4 auto goalie in the game behind Roy, Belfour, and Fuhr. Just slightly ahead of Potvin and Soderstrom.

There isn't much depth on the team, especially on defense. Offensively, Elik, Weight, and Ciger are steady (Elik has the 3/4 skating and seems to sport the "long stick" but at 2 shot power, he doesn't seem to score as well as Todd). Weight is as vanilla as they come but at 6 weight, 3/3 skating, 3/3 shooting, and 3/4 awareness, he can contribute and is the 1st off the bench for me. Carson is interesting with the way he plays. With his 4/4 skating, 4 chk, and 9 weight, he lays people OUT in AI mode and with the CB check. He also tends to get back on D quickly with his 3/4 awareness. But as AJ pointed out, he's not a great shooter and he's a cream puff with the puck on his stick. If he could at least shoot, he might push Todd to the bench but he can't so he becomes my 2nd option off the bench followed by Elik then Ciger

Bottom line:

Todd is better offensively than advertised. Simpson, while heavy, can snipe the biscuit, and Klima is as good as anybody over 6 weight. Defensively they are quick and smart which forms a nice wall of protection in front of the Top 5 talents of Ranford. These guys are actually really good!

Edited by Brass Bonanza
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