How do you tell an impossibly patient fan base that they need to exercise more patience? Its hard not to be sympathetic with Edmonton Oilers fans right now. They have endured at least three separate rebuilds, which varied in degrees of futility. An off-season of expenditures and the furthered development of a few of their young superstars at least created an avenue for the Oilers to finally emerge from hockey darkness. Then, the team ran off a 7-19-5 start to the season, and here we are again, talking about the draft lottery in December in Edmonton. The team fired head coach Dallas Eakins on Monday morning, likely for the same reasons that applied in Ottawa – the front office felt or feels as though that coaching has been a drag on the collection of talent, and that the current roster should be outperforming its 0.61 point-per-game pace. Whether its a defence of Eakins or a defence of MacTavish, though, theres one thing to consider about this years Edmonton Oilers team – theyre better than teams in the past. Its extremely important to note a couple of things here: one, the bar has been set so pitifully low, its hard not to be better; two, this isnt suggesting that the current team is any good – just simply an improvement over teams of yesteryear. First, lets look at the score-adjusted possession numbers for the Oilers since the 2008-2009 season. One would assume that this years team, who has won just one of their last sixteen games, would be one of the franchises worst in recent history. 50% is break-even here, signaling a team that basically controls possession as much as their opposition does over the course of a season. As you can see, Edmontons been abysmal for seemingly forever. But, this years team is probably the first team thats not getting absolutely smoked at 5-on-5. And remember, we care about possession because (a) its a repeatable skill; that (b) is a strong predictor of future goal-scoring (and, consequently, winning hockey games). A quick look at this graph, and its hard to ignore that the teams made definitive improvements for the first time at controlling play from a territorial aspect. Its still ugly, but less ugly than what were accustomed to. So, how exactly is an improving possession team getting absolutely slaughtered in the standings? Thats tied up in the percentages. Lets look at Edmontons PDO over the years. Remember, PDO is simply the sum of the teams shooting percentage and save percentage, expressed as a whole number like 1000. 1000 is where most teams regress to long-term, because both shooting percentages and save percentages are primarily luck-driven, or largely out of the teams control. Ive chosen to use a 25-game moving average to smooth out wild game-to-game fluctuations. Ive also provided a vertical cut-off line to signal the start of the 2014-2015 season. As you can see, theres really no pattern here. The teams probably spent a bit more time under the 1000 mark than above it, primarily because the goaltending has been so shoddy for years. But, for the most part, PDO bounces around in Edmonton like it does everywhere else. I know this because I look at the last five low points – identified for your convenience through those red-colored arrows – and watch PDO continually regress back to the league average. However, whenever a number is absurdly low – as is Edmontons 9670 PDO right now – I think it always warrants further investigation. I have heard the shot quality arguments the same as anyone else, that the goaltending simply cant be that bad, and that the team is quite possibly hanging out the goaltender to dry. Heres a third graph/table to consider: hexagonal bin plots provided by War on Ice to illustrate shot distance against and shooting percentage against Edmonton this season. Intuitively, one would think that if the team was hanging the goaltender out to dry, there would be a surplus of shots against from dangerous areas. On both graphs, you have red and blue bubbles. Red is bad – on the left graph, it means a higher than average propensity of shots are being generated from that area, and on the right graph, it means a higher than average propensity of shots are being scored from that area. Blue is good – on the left graph, it means a lower than average propensity of shots are being generated from that area, and on the right graph, it means a lower than average propensity of shots are being scored from that area. I dont think this is a cut and dry argument – its one way to look at things. But, in this one way to look at things, I think you want to point the finger at poor goaltending. Thats not to say the defense has been good – again, we know Edmontons still a negative possession team, and theres a very real possibility that some of the regular skaters are negatively influencing scoring through poor defensive play. That said, on our ‘defensive graph (left), we see an Edmonton team thats actually done OK at limiting scoring chances in the low/middle danger areas in front of the crease. On the other hand, look at the right graph – Edmonton goaltending has stopped shots at a subpar rate at every area of the ice, including those of shots taken from outside of the scoring chance area. In summation: (1) Edmontons likely improved this season; (2) The teams improvement is being masked by brutally unfavorable percentages; (3) It is possible that subpar talent in net is partially contributing to the teams ugly PDO. And, unfortunately, (4): Edmonton, as a proximate result of the miserable start under Dallas Eakins, will miss the post-season. Again. Kurt Warner Womens Jersey .com) - The Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings are ready to put all the talk and hype surrounding their meeting at Dodger Stadium behind them. Nolan Cromwell Jersey . JOHNS, N. http://www.laramsfootballshops.com/todd-gurley-ii-jersey/ . His big 2-minute outburst in the fourth quarter Tuesday night is all that really mattered for the Dallas Mavericks. Darrell Henderson Jersey . - Skiing far more aggressively than in her season debut a day earlier, Lindsey Vonn was in provisional 10th place after the first 45 skiers in a World Cup downhill on Saturday. Jack Youngblood Womens Jersey .com) - Mike Conley scored 20 points with five assists to help the Memphis Grizzlies remain unbeaten with a 91-89 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Jered Weaver had no problem sitting through two long delays Sunday on his way to a 7-5 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. There was a 19-minute wait after lightning struck a nearby power substation, causing some lights to go out at Tropicana Field. Even before then, the Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher watched his team score five runs in a 46-pitch first inning off Rays starter Jake Odorizzi. "I played a little catch in the cage to stay loose, but I guess you cant complain too much when they put five runs on the board in the first," Weaver said. "It makes it a little easier." Mike Trout, who had three hits and stole a base, hit an RBI double to key the big inning, which also included an RBI single by Howie Kendrick after a 13-pitch at bat. "I dont remember that. That was yesterday," Kendrick joked after the game that took about four hours. "It was one of those things where the bases were loaded and you want to try to get something done. He was making good pitches, I was able to foul some off. Im glad it ended the way it did," he said. The Angels took two of three and handed the Rays their first series loss since early July. Weaver (12-6) gave up six hits and four walks, but only two runs in six innings. He is 4-0 lifetime at Tropicana Field and unbeaten in his last nine starts. Huston Street pitched the ninth for his sixth save with the Angels. It took 20 minutes for Odorizzi (7-9) to get the first out of the game. That came after two walks, Trouts double and consecutive singles by Josh Hamilton, Erick Aybar and Kendrick. "It started bad and didnt get any better in the first inniing," Odorizzi said.dddddddddddd. "You start a game like that, I didnt give our team any help at the start." The first of two sacrifice flies by David Freese and a double by Efren Navarro drove in the final two runs of the first inning. Trouts second hit and Freeses second sacrifice fly drove in runs for the Angels later in the game. James Loney, who has reached base in 22 straight games, had three hits and drove in two runs for the Rays. Tampa Bay left 12 runners on base. TRAINERS ROOM Angels: Outfielder Collin Cowgill (broken nose) could be activated from the disabled list in the next couple days. Rays: Catcher Ryan Hanigan (strained left oblique) felt soreness after his first rehab game Saturday with Single-A Charlotte and has been shut down for a week. ... Right fielder Wil Myers, out since May 31 with a broken right wrist, could start a rehab assignment Saturday. ON DECK Los Angeles: The Angels start a four-game stretch against the Los Angeles Dodgers with a two-game road series Monday night. The Angels have won 15 of the last 22 games between the teams. Tampa Bay: The Rays open a 10-game road trip Monday night at Oakland. Manager Joe Maddon and the Rays often set a theme for the teams road swings, and this one is James Bond formal wear. BOWDEN BALL College football coaching great Bobby Bowden threw the ceremonial first pitch. He won two national championships at Florida State. 13 MORE Kendricks at-bat in the first, which included 10 foul balls, was one of two 13-pitch at bats in the game. Logan Forsythe walked on the 13th pitch from Angels reliever Kevin Jepsen to load the bases in the Tampa Bay seventh. ' ' '