Should Oilers' Stuart Skinner dish it back to Panthers' crease crashers, Bennett and Tkachuk?
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'You tell the officials but if they won't deal with it, you do. I haven't noticed Stu doing it but if you really want to get players, uh, undivided attention you tap them in the right spot, and a lot of that stops,' said Fuhr, who went through lots of issues in the Battle of Alberta days and later when he played for Mike Keenan's St. Louis Blues.
And where would that spot be?
'You get a stick under the cup (athletic supporter) and the message gets sent. Word gets around. They're less likely to plant themselves there,' said Fuhr.
As we said neither Fuhr nor Skinner are in Hextall's league or former New York Islanders goaltender 'Samurai' Billy Smith as pain distributors in the crease area. Goalies can't lose focus, of course. Watching the puck is more important, but, sometimes, maybe there's a pound of flesh to pay?
'It's annoying (opposing players taking liberties) but if they're too big a pain with their backside in your face, they're always vulnerable,' said Fuhr.
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Should Oilers' Stuart Skinner dish it back to Panthers' crease crashers, Bennett and Tkachuk?
So should Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner take matters into his own hands when fallen on or hassled in the crease, when he keeps seeing Florida's Sam Bennett or Matthew Tkachuk? Maybe… Grant Fuhr, as placid as they came when playing net, says goalies do have to send the odd message and it's often in the form of some lumber to a tender area. We're not talking going all Ron Hextall here, but we're three games into the Stanley Cup Final and the annoyance on Skinner isn't going away. 'You tell the officials but if they won't deal with it, you do. I haven't noticed Stu doing it but if you really want to get players, uh, undivided attention you tap them in the right spot, and a lot of that stops,' said Fuhr, who went through lots of issues in the Battle of Alberta days and later when he played for Mike Keenan's St. Louis Blues. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. And where would that spot be? 'You get a stick under the cup (athletic supporter) and the message gets sent. Word gets around. They're less likely to plant themselves there,' said Fuhr. As we said neither Fuhr nor Skinner are in Hextall's league or former New York Islanders goaltender 'Samurai' Billy Smith as pain distributors in the crease area. Goalies can't lose focus, of course. Watching the puck is more important, but, sometimes, maybe there's a pound of flesh to pay? 'It's annoying (opposing players taking liberties) but if they're too big a pain with their backside in your face, they're always vulnerable,' said Fuhr. 'I might have gotten a couple of Calgary guys and in St. Louis when I had my knee fallen on by (Nick) Kypreos, we got a couple of their guys with a little more vim and vinegar than usual. Did Nick mean to fall on me, yes? Did he mean to hurt me, no? We've had lots of conversations about it over the years,' said Fuhr, who said Kypreos apologized for the play after Fuhr's knee was ripped up in the Leafs-Blues playoff series. 'Back in my day, Dougie Gilmour would pretty much sit in your lap all day, John Tonelli liked to park himself there… it's normal in the playoffs. It's on purpose, they try to make it look accidentally. They're purposely falling on you. If a defenceman even touches an opposing player today, they fall. Doesn't seem to matter what direction the goalie falls… funny thing is the opposing player finds you,' said Fuhr. 'It used to be a tough spot in front of the net, of course, with defencemen. You didn't want to go there. Now guys stand in front of the other goalie because there's no price to pay (just a penalty),' he said. Fuhr can't fathom any goalie change for Game 4, like giving the ball back to No. 2 Calvin Pickard who won six straight before he was hurt against Vegas. 'Stu had one average game so, yeah, I'd put him back in. He always bounces back. His numbers in Game 4 of series are phenomenal and if the Oilers do lose Game 4, and they're down 3-1, then you've got the option to go with the other guy,' said Fuhr, who figures you go with your No. 1 and Skinner was caught up in the maelstrom in Game 3, along with everybody else. 'I mean, the Oilers in Game 3… they played a different game than I've ever seen them play. They played Florida's game, with all the pushes and such after the whistles. The Oilers are a speed team, not standing around in scrums after every whistle,' said Fuhr. 'The Oilers got sucked into it early, Florida's a chippy team and everybody knows it.' OK, we get it that Wes McCauley and Francis Charron, went over the top with their far-too-zealous penalty calls in the first 20 minutes before things got out of hand in the third period in Game 3. It was not a good look for the officials, even if they felt they had to keep the game under control, early. But, if you are from Oil Country, it's rose-coloured glasses stuff to think Charron was responsible for the 3-1 goal by Sam Reinhart. Florida captain Aleksander Barkov efficiently directed Oilers defenceman John Klingberg into Charron who was pinned along the side boards in the Oilers end. Barkov maybe could have gotten a holding call on the play but not sure where Charron was supposed to go when the puck popped free and Reinhart quickly deposited one past Skinner. Was he supposed to dig a hole and climb in? Fans pay their big money to sit near the glass, often so they can rag on the opposing players, but the ticket doesn't come with a beer shower. That was a low-life move by that Florida fan in a Panthers jersey emptying his glass of beer on Oilers forward Kasperi Kapanen as he was going down the tunnel after being tossed out in Game 3. The fan should be kicked out for Game 4, at the least, and the club should be fined for lax security, like the Oilers were in 1996 when a drunk fan came down to the glass behind the Calgary bench and dumped a beer all over Flames assistant coach Guy Lapointe. The Oilers were fined $20,000 for poor fan containment. The late Sasha Lakovic, who died at 45 of brain cancer was playing for the Flames at the time and tried to climb the glass to get at the fan. Lapointe was mad, too, but later wished the beverage was more to his liking. 'I'm more of a rum and coke guy,' said Lapointe. Is it possible the Panthers will also be getting a bill from the NHL because they didn't control their drunken fan? They should. BUILT FOR PRIME TIME Carter Verhaeghe's power play shot under the crossbar, on a hole the size of a pop-can lid in Game 3, was his 33rd-career playoff goal, and 12th game-winner. While Bennett, Brad Marchand, Barkov, Reinhart and Tkachuk get most of the Panthers' hype, Verhaeghe keeps rolling along. 'I remember when I watched a Tampa-Florida playoff game before I got hired, I didn't know who the hell this Carter Verhaeghe guy was,' said Florida coach Paul Maurice. 'But he kept jumping on the screen. He just operates incredibly well on a certain frequency. He needs the intensity of traffic and energy around him to get to a certain speed level. If the game was played 10 on 10, he would score 65 goals a year.' Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was once again absent at the Oilers full-team skate on Tuesday after he did the same before Game 3 in Florida, is an alarm bell. He was able to play both power play (5:48) and penalty kill(3:51) but only 5:55 at even strength in Game 3. 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Greer in Game 3. Walman got fined for it after Greer threw Walman's glove into the player bench. If you think those early goals in the first three minutes of the Cup Final are interesting stuff — Leon Draisaitl at 66 seconds in Game 1, Sam Bennett at 127 seconds in Game 2 and Brad Marchand at 56 seconds in Game 3 — you have to go back to the 1938 Leafs-Blackhawks Final to have that happen. So, 87 years. When teams lose in the playoffs, they usual think of lineup changes. Is it time to put defenceman Troy Stecher back in. He didn't do anything wrong to get taken out when Mattias Ekholm returned. Stecher famously said 'he's a better player than I am' when Ekholm got back on his horse. But, maybe Stecher for Klingberg, who was -3, in Game 3? Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don't miss the news you need to know — add and to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters . You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. 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Ottawa Citizen
11-06-2025
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Should Oilers' Stuart Skinner dish it back to Panthers' crease crashers, Bennett and Tkachuk?
So should Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner take matters into his own hands when fallen on or hassled in the crease, when he keeps seeing Florida's Sam Bennett or Matthew Tkachuk? Article content Grant Fuhr, as placid as they came when playing net, says goalies do have to send the odd message and it's often in the form of some lumber to a tender area. We're not talking going all Ron Hextall here, but we're three games into the Stanley Cup Final and the annoyance on Skinner isn't going away. Article content Article content 'You tell the officials but if they won't deal with it, you do. I haven't noticed Stu doing it but if you really want to get players, uh, undivided attention you tap them in the right spot, and a lot of that stops,' said Fuhr, who went through lots of issues in the Battle of Alberta days and later when he played for Mike Keenan's St. Louis Blues. Article content Article content 'You get a stick under the cup (athletic supporter) and the message gets sent. Word gets around. They're less likely to plant themselves there,' said Fuhr. Article content As we said neither Fuhr nor Skinner are in Hextall's league or former New York Islanders goaltender 'Samurai' Billy Smith as pain distributors in the crease area. Goalies can't lose focus, of course. Watching the puck is more important, but, sometimes, maybe there's a pound of flesh to pay? Article content 'It's annoying (opposing players taking liberties) but if they're too big a pain with their backside in your face, they're always vulnerable,' said Fuhr. Article content Article content 'I might have gotten a couple of Calgary guys and in St. Louis when I had my knee fallen on by (Nick) Kypreos, we got a couple of their guys with a little more vim and vinegar than usual. Did Nick mean to fall on me, yes? Did he mean to hurt me, no? We've had lots of conversations about it over the years,' said Fuhr, who said Kypreos apologized for the play after Fuhr's knee was ripped up in the Leafs-Blues playoff series. Article content Article content 'Back in my day, Dougie Gilmour would pretty much sit in your lap all day, John Tonelli liked to park himself there… it's normal in the playoffs. It's on purpose, they try to make it look accidentally. They're purposely falling on you. If a defenceman even touches an opposing player today, they fall. Doesn't seem to matter what direction the goalie falls… funny thing is the opposing player finds you,' said Fuhr. Article content 'It used to be a tough spot in front of the net, of course, with defencemen. You didn't want to go there. Now guys stand in front of the other goalie because there's no price to pay (just a penalty),' he said.
