The Oilers have now played their 20th game of the year, and we are one quarter of the way through the season. Here are a bunch of notes and facts about the first twenty, and a comparison to the previous [horrible] seasons.
- The Oilers have scored 50 goals. After 20 games last year the Oilers had scored 49 goals.
- 47 pucks have gone past Oilers goaltenders this year, while last year at this time the Oilers had allowed a whopping 82 goals against.
- Without that 9 goal outburst against Chicago the Oilers would actually be greatly below their goal output from last year. On the other hand, they have shown staggering improvement defensively over this time last year.
- In 2009-10 the Oilers had scored 58 and allowed 63 after 20 games.
- The Oilers have put 505 shots on goal this year (25.25 SF/G), and allowed 586 (29.3 SA/G)
- Edmonton sits in 10th place currently, which is the better than the previous two seasons after 20 games. The Oilers had won all of 5 games last year at this time, so 10 wins is like a revelation.
- Oilers' records after 20 in the years since the lockout:
2005-06: 10-9-1 (Stanley Cup Final)
2006-07: 11-8-1 (Did Not Qualify for Playoffs)
2007-08: 7-12-1 (DNQ)
2008-09: 9-9-2 (DNQ)
2009-10: 8-10-2 (DNQ)
2010-11: 5-11-4 (You get the idea)
- Number of Western Conference teams that were outside the playoff picture on November 21 but ended up making the playoffs since the lockout:
2005-06: Anaheim, San Jose
2006-07: Calgary
2007-08: Calgary, Nashville
2008-09: St. Louis (14th in the West on this date, but made it), Columbus
2009-10: Vancouver, Nashville
2010-11: Nashville, Anaheim, San Jose
That's just 12 teams in six years that have made the post season after not being in on November 21. The good news for the currently 10th place Oilers is that there's at least one team each year that got in after being on the outside. The bad news is that only two outside teams make in per year on average, and Vancouver is all but guaranteed to be one of them this season.
- Points for Ryan Smyth this year: 20. After 20 games last season: 7-5-12
- Points for Taylor Hall this year: 14. After 20 games last season: 4-5-9
- Points for Jordan Eberle this year: 18. After 20 last season: 4-8-12
- Points for Shawn Horcoff this year: 12. After 20 last season: 7-7-14
- Points for Tom Gilbert this year: 10. After 20 last season: 3-2-5
- Points for Magnus Paajarvi this year: 1. After 20 last season: 2-4-6
- Points for Eric Belanger this year: 3. After 20 last season: 4-6-10
You win some, you lose some. Overall there's improvement everywhere. Plenty for beleaguered fans to be happy about.
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