Bob talks the Leon Draisaitl news (3/17/26)

0:00Hey, it's Bob Stoffer. I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to Oilers Now, Add Free, on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Baseball is back, and the first pitch is on Netflix. The New York Yankees, led by seven-time all-star Aaron Judge, head to the San Francisco Bay to take on Raphael Devar's San Francisco Giants. This season kicks off with one exclusive opening night game. Watch MLB, opening night, the New York Yankees versus the San Francisco Giants. Live on Netflix, Wednesday, March 25th at 8 p.m. Eastern 5 p.m. Pacific. Two teams, one cup. The prime time stage is set for the TGL presented by SoFi Finals, Los Angeles Golf Club versus Tiger's Jupiter Links. Keep up, it's playoffs. Tune in Monday, March 23rd, 9 p.m. Eastern on ESPN 2, and Tuesday, March 24th, 7 p.m. Eastern on ESPN, and on the ESPN app. Welcome back. Happy St. Patty's Day, Bob Stoffer with you, Anice, Jessica, Roger's Place.

1:01While the St. Patrick's Day, I know we got the young gun, back at the 880 Chad Studios Aden Ganaway. How you doing? I'm good, Bob. How are you? Good. A number of years ago, we were in Pittsburgh, and St. Patrick's Day was on a Saturday, okay? Okay. And the Oilers had a matinee on Sunday against the Penguins, but it was going to be the Canadians and the Penguins on the Saturday. And at the time, they had just moved into the new building. And so we were staying down by closer to the, you know, there's the three rivers, obviously, closer, not on the other side of the bridge where the ballpark is, but down by the river and walked up. And let's just say there was some day drinking going on pretty early that day. Oh, yeah. There was some people definitely inebriated around, I would say 12, 12, 30 in the afternoon.

2:01So I didn't, I'm like, okay, well, you don't get for them, they're having a good time. We went to matinee and walked back from the arena. And it was like 15 degrees Celsius. So it wasn't cold in any way, shape or form. And there were people passed out in the streets. They have one hell of a party in one hell of a St. Patrick's Day party in Pittsburgh. Like, they were going hard. There was a lot of people. Everyone was wearing green. Some guys looked green. I know in Boston, they fill those cartons with just liquor and then mix it with food dye and they call it a bog or something. Yeah, yeah. You ever do a yacht down there? Did you ever do like a, I don't want to get you in trouble here. Dad works. You ever do a yuck of last party back in the day? I don't even know what that is. Yeah, that's where you got like a huge, you know, basket and you dump a whole bunch of different type of booze in there and get a different fruit.

3:03We had one in 88 with Suga, Reforestation, Pete Gomerun, Lawrence Taylor, and the company. And we decided we wanted to go see a band at the time again in Hay River, okay? So we're up near Steen River, Alberta, and now this is, you know, this is before legalized drugs. I think there might have been a couple people in camp that maybe had brought some stuff up. I never got it. I never, I didn't smoke it and I was, but I certainly enjoyed drinking. And anyways, there were only a couple of us standing by the time we got to the time we began. Like that's how everybody on the bus got and it was, it was quite something. And it reminded me on the bus ride back is everybody had passed out slash fall asleep of what I saw that day in Pittsburgh. All I got to tell you is my appreciation for Pittsburgh had greatly increased ever

4:03since then. Like I was like, you know what, Pittsburgh is my type of city. They know how to get after it. I think they're St. Paddy's day, Jack, if Jack were listening, he'd probably text me. I think they have like one of the, like New York's Chicago and Pittsburgh, I think have the three largest St. Patrick's Day celebrations in the United States. It was awesome. I mean, people were, no, it was a Saturday, it was a Saturday, but, you know, they got started a little bit early and went all day to say the least. There you go, just to give you a little bit of color. And over the course of our experiences on the road, that's still this. We've had George LaRocke on the show. Brian Lotton will join us today at 435 and at 505 to talk about the NHL draft because there's been some movement there and a little bit of the impact of judging NCAA players versus guys that are currently playing in major junior, a long time NHL scout was supporting it now in the pro hockey group, Jason Buchle.

5:04But let's get to it. We hooked up with Evan Tenoiter's head coach, Chris Noblock earlier today. This is before the release came out. On Leon Dryas' title being lost for the remainder of the regular season, here's our sit-down conversations. We've got the orders now. Audio Vault with Direct Workwear. The Oilers Now Audio Vault is brought to you by Direct Workwear in these type budget times. Direct Workwear is the superhero you're wallet deserves. Skew selection. Low prices at Direct Workwear. USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day like superheroes inside jicks or auto and home insurance. As USAA, you can bundle your auto and home and save up to 10 percent. Tap the banner to learn more and get a quote at USAA.com slash bundle, restriction supply. Kayak gets my flight, hotel, and rental car right. So I can tune out travel advice that's just plain wrong. Bro Skycoin. Way better than points. Never fly during a Scorpio full moon. Just tell the manager you'll sue instant room upgrade.

6:05Stop taking bad travel advice. Comparing hundreds of sites with Kayak and get your trip right. That advice. You talking to me. Kayak got that right. Chris tonight, the San Jose Sharks, you lost Leon Dry Settle on Sunday night against Nashville, but your team ended up ultimately getting a 3-1 victory. You've already told us this morning that Leon will not be in the lineup. How does that change the end is not having? I mean, last year you could make an argument he was maybe the best player in the league, certainly the best skater in the league, Conor Hellabuck won the MVP Leon game second. It's a significant loss. There's no other way to say it. There's no way around it. You know, you can be touched as the game. So many ways face offs, five on five scoring, and obviously the power play. And there's not one player that's going to replace the on dry settle. And it's going to be important that all our players step up a little bit. And we're going to obviously have to shut things down and focus on our defense.

7:06All right, Stan Bowman attempted to help you out. He went, brought in specifically two veteran players. One is a center, Jason Dickinson, who's well known for being a good two-way centerman that's strong defensively and can kill penalties and then Conor Murphy. I mean, you have history. You work with Conor's dad, Gordon Murphy, easy to sort of a shut down, right shot, the the Kells penalties. How has the team changed in your opinion with the addition of those two players? What have you seen since they've come to the orders? Two bigger bodies who both move pretty well. But obviously their game is about defensive play. And that's one aspect that we want to get better. We felt offensively. We were getting enough offer offensive chances, scoring of goals among anybody in any gel. What we need to do is get better defensively. And those two have helped us significantly in that area. And right now, I'm going forward. We're going to rely on them even more. Conor, I'm going to have to start again. He's kind of settled things down a bit in pipes, hasn't he? He's given us solid starts.

8:07I don't know if there's games that need necessarily stole, but his game has been very consistent and it's been very good. Chris, thank you for your time. Thank you. Here you go. That is Chris Knoblock, the head coach of the Evans owners to sit down one-on-one conversation. Now, Knoblock in his full media availability today, talked about the Oiter's Powerplay plans without Leon Drysettle. We're going to play around. We're going to play with around with it. I think the importance of winning that face off is part of it. But having the best five guys and who's going to work together, I think that we have a lot of good Powerplay guys that can play it, but it's just who's going to work well and move and read the play as well to know what McDavid's doing and Boushard and Heimann at the Nets, so it's, I think, and obviously we haven't had much time to work on it.

9:08Going forward, we'll have some morning skates that we can do that, but right now I think it's just trial and error right now. And Ryan Nugin Hopkins also spoke today about replacing Drysettle on the Powerplay. Yeah, obviously his playmaking ability is, you can't really replicate that, but in the way that he kind of brings Pucks in and can fend guys off and get you set up. That was another thing we kind of talked already about is just, we've got to find a way to get Pucks back. There's going to be a little more battling and winning those Puck battles, and I thought we actually did a pretty good job against a national once Leo was out of getting Pucks back and creating space off of that or creating opportunities, and that's going to be really important. So you're going to miss, especially on the Powerplay, it's more of an individual thing, and you're going to miss that big piece, but we have enough skill to be able to take

10:10advantage of opportunities and create some good looks, so it's going to be a little more work-based and shooting the puck a little bit more probably, and working off that. All right, again, I gave you the numbers earlier in the show. The Oilers last year, through the first 68 games, were six in the league in the power play, 25.6, and their final 14 regular season games last year, and not one of those games that they have both McDavid and Drysettle, they were at 17% in their final 14 games, which was 28th in the league during that stretch. They dropped them to 23.7, and 12 overall, of course, 17 right now is the number one power play in the NHL. We mentioned the Drysettle injury. He is out the remainder of the regular season with a lower body injury. The Oilers Nail injury reports brought to you by James H. Brown on Associates, Alberta injury lawyers. Trent Brown was a heavy hitter on the field at the Edmonton Eskimos and James H. Brown are heavy hitters of injury law. And so Drysettle, according to the team, done for the remainder of the regular season,

11:14lower body injury. Ty Emerson skated today. I think he'll skate again with the team on Thursday, probably due practice Friday. I wonder whether or not we're looking at a potential return Saturday against Tampa. He's out with an upper body injury. Matthias Yanmark had shoulder surgery. He has done for the year. Curtis Lazar, upper body injury. He is on LTIR as well. Ask her off the number one goal tender for San Jose is not available for tonight's game. He is out with a lower body injury. They do get Alex Weinberg back in the lineup. Again, that's our Oilers Nail injury report for James H. Brown and Associates. And we come back on Oilers now. We'll get to NHL today in our game day lineup report.

12:14We'll also have Oilers Nail Game Day trivia for our friends at program sports for 18 in the oil country. You're listening to Oilers now. You've been there, settling in for an evening of TV only to waste half the night scrolling. Enter Fire TV, entertainment with zero effort required. Fire TV serves up personalized recommendations from across all your apps. Not sure what to watch. Just tell Alexa Plus what you're in the mood for and she'll pull up the perfect recommendation. Problem solved. Stop the scroll. Start the show. Find what you're looking for with Fire TV. Subscriptions may be required. Subscribe, select major appliances for world pool, Maytag, and more. Get the job done right. Keep more in your pocket.

13:15That's Pro Saving Stays. Our best lineup is here at Lowe's. Valor through 327. Selection fair is by location. All supplies last. Oilers Nail Game Day lineup report powered by Bird Floor and Contract Aid. The name you can stand on. Book your free and home consultation today at Bird Floor and Contracting.ca. All right. Let's get to it. The episode order is coming, obviously. Early on dry satellite based on yesterday's practice, Conor McDavid with Matt Savoy and Zach Hyman. McDavid 18 goals 55 points, 35 career games against San Jose Plus 28. He leads the NHL with 114 points. Dickinson with R&H Jaroslik. Again, this is based on yesterday's practice. Samansky with put calls in and cap in and reek with Jones and Fred Rick on defense. Back home in Evan Bouchard. Bouchard leads all NHL defense, but by 9 points, 77 points is here. How about this against San Jose six goals, 25 points, 17 career games, and plus 22. Oh, by the way, those 17 games against San Jose, it's 15 and two.

14:16But they did lose the last one against the shark. Sternel Nurse and Conor Murphy. Dick Walman and Spencer Stashton. Conor Abrams starts in goal. And his career against the sharks three one and one and three point zero one goals against Savage. 899 save percentage. Edmonton second goals for 27 goals against first on the power play 26 of the PK 30th in save percentage. Sharks top line. Celebraini. He's a stud. Great young player. 95 points and 65 games this year. He's going to merit serious consideration for the MVP with Colin Graf and Will Smith. And then Michael Misa with Eclan into fully. Will Celebraini and Smith 19 and 21, Misa 19, Eclan 23, that's the core of their offense up front. They do get Alex Weinberg back. He'll center regenda and key for Sherwood Sherwood signing a five year extension 5.75 million. By the way, Sherwood against the oiders two goals and 14 career games. And they came earlier this year against Van. Vince Van Cooper for Edmonton and Sherwood was a big player that night scored the GWT.

15:22Dot Deck along with the good row and Zach O's stop check on defense. Formal leader John Klingberg with Orlov Ferraro will be of Nick Letti who spent some time down on the farm this year. Sam Dickinson their best young team and along with formal leader Vincent Dernay. Alex and the Jelkovich will start in goal for the San Jose Sharks, the Sharks 17 goals for second last 31st and goals against 18th on the power play, 18th on the penalty kill. They get badly out shot. They got one of the worst shot cheers and only 27th shot. So goal for 31st shots against their also poor in the face out circle 29. The orders are forth, but they're going to drop with dry saddle out of the lineup. We had off to NHL today for elite promotional marketing, your local branded merchandise specialist head to elite promo marketing dot com. And here's the young gun in Ghana nine games on the NHL slate today, five Canadian markets in total play tonight, including the oilers, all of them at home. The Montreal can ADNs host their old rival in the Boston Bruins Toronto Maple Leafs at

16:22home for the New York Islanders, Winnipeg Jets hosting the Nashville Predators and the Vancouver Canucks have the Florida Panthers. Bigger field condors are off until Friday when they play the goals in San Diego and the Edmonton oil kinks just three games left in their regular season. They'll play another one tomorrow night when the Calgary hitmen come to town. Think we're going to do the show here or we'll see, but I know I'm coming to the game here tomorrow night as well. There you go. That's NHL today for Drew and Gordon, the team of the late promotional marketing. You're invited to join new West travel on a 14 day tour through New Zealand in November from Auckland, sparkling shores to the adventure capital of cleanstown will explore the Bay of Islands and ride the scenic Alpine train through the southern Alps. Your trip includes flights with air New Zealand first class hotels, meals, local guided tours and entertainment for more information on the New Zealand tour, contact, new West travel at new West travel dot com, whatever happened to their prime minister, she had some

17:26pretty interesting comments during the pandemic, but that happened in a lot of the Western democracies to be frank was by the way, just wanted to think we did monitor the response yesterday and it was overwhelming in support for Edmonton and Calgary and remember it's a joint effort to get the world cup of hockey does not happen for a single market needed to team up and you know, if you're a Calgary and you don't like the oeters, that's fine, but sometimes the two cities need to work together. Our province needs to work together and I'm not a guy that is a Calgary sucks guy. I just I've never been an ABC guy, anybody but Calgary, I know that stick for some guys in the business, but and stick certainly for some down in Calgary, but this supersedes all those sort of regional robberies. We needed to come together, we came together, it happened and it's awesome and I was pleased

18:26to see the comments from the police chief today too. That was good. All right, let's do it. We are going to get to oeters now game day trivia. All correct answers entered to win a $50 gift card from problem sports where fans are family. Proam sports is Vasilie put Coles and signed jerseys, photos, pox and more and stock is fast becoming a very popular player. Visit them today in Edmonton or online at proam sports dot c a and where am I going to go with this? Here we go. Oh, how hard is this? It's not that hurt. Jack. Hmm. Okay. Mike Greer and Todd Marshon or two of the former oeters working for the hockey operations department of the San Jose Sharks, name the third. And here's your hint. He's been a fan favorite that became an Euler on this day in 1993. So this player was acquired by Glenn Sather on this day in 1993.

19:29And for some of you, he would have been your favorite Emmett and Euler player throughout much of the 1990s. And I will tell you this right now. He is one of my favorite American people of all time. So there's your hint. So Greer as obviously the GM and Marshon working for the hockey ops and San Jose form for letters, name the hockey operations advisor for San Jose that was acquired on this day in 1993 will have that for you when we come back after Thomas Dias, 880 news whether traffic update. Two good and co-coffee creamers are made with farm fresh cream, real milk, and contained three grams of sugar per serving. That's 40% less than the five grams per serving in leading traditional coffee creamers for a rich, delicious experience. So you enjoy your coffee hot, cold, bold, or frothy. Two good coffee creamers make every sip a good one. Two good coffee creamers, real goodness in every sip. Find them at your local croaker in the creamer aisle.