So the Oilers find themselves in a 2-0 hole headed back to Edmonton for the third game of the Stanley Cup Finals, which will be played Saturday night. While not the position in which they’d like to be, the Oilers have not been outmatched in this series and it would be a mistake to count them out.

Aside from all of the things that Carolina did right in game two (and there were many, from goaltending to shot blocking to a sizzling PP), the most glaring aspect of Edmonton’s game was the amount of bad penalties they took. The Oilers have taken way too many needless penalties throughout these playoffs (Matt Greene has been the worst culprit in each series), but it really hasn’t caught up to them until Wednesday night. Carolina has a deadly power play and although Edmonton’s PK has been tremendous throughout the playoffs, when you continually play with fire you’re going to get burned. Needless to say, the Oilers got torched in G2.

When breaking down the stats thus far, it’s tough to ignore the work that Rod Brind’Amour has done. Aside from scoring the GWG on the Conklin-Smith miscue near the end of game one, Brindy has been absolutely unconscious in the face-off circle (28-6 in G1, then 10-10 in G2). While the Oilers did a much better job in the second game than the first, RB still managed to win many of the key draws – including on the back-breaking Stillman marker with seconds left in the middle frame.

One of many things the Canes are doing exceptionally well is what the Oilers have long prided themselves on – blocking shots. In that first game it was 17-15 in favor of Carolina, while game two saw a much larger advantage (24-7).

Cam Ward has been nothing short of brilliant and picked up the shutout in G2. In fantasy leagues we can’t even be sure he’ll be the starting goalie for the Canes for all of next season, but in these playoffs he has been sensational. The funniest part of his run, from the standpoint of a poolie, is that even if you picked Carolina to get to the Cup Finals, you probably didn’t even have Ward as your team goalie.

On the flip side, there has already been a lot written about the Roloson injury so I’ll leave that alone. Jussi Markkanen actually played a fine game Wednesday and I’d have no hesitation going back with him Saturday if I had to make the call. Only one of the goals was really his fault (the second one should have been stopped before it got between his legs) and it’s up to his teammates to keep throwing the puck at Ward and getting on the scoreboard. Remember – the Oilers not only came back from a 2-0 hole to San Jose, but they also solved a goalie in Toskala that had been just as hot as Ward is now.

On the plus side for Edmonton has been the explosive talents of Ales Hemsky. His GTG in G1 was brilliant and the way he was dangling in various parts of G2 was breathtaking. It can’t be emphasized enough how valuable this guy could become in fantasy leagues. A 90-point season is within his grasp and if he could find a way to squeeze in one more shot per game he could reach the 30-35 goal plateau on an annual basis, which could also raise his point totals into the 100 point range. He more than doubled his shot total from ’03-4 (87) to ’05-6 (178), so if he can continue that learning curve and hit the 250-275 SOG mark, watch out.

QUIRKY STATS

There are a few interesting statistical similarities between the Canes and Oilers in these playoffs aside from their style of play on the ice.

For instance, each team has enjoyed a seven game winning streak in the post-season. The coincidence doesn’t end there though.

Carolina started their run after opening the playoffs with a pair of losses to Montreal; not a bad feat after being down 0-2 in a series.

The Oilers, amazingly enough, also started a seven-game winning stretch after being down 0-2 in a series. Edmonton dropped the first two games of the San Jose series.

After the first game of the Finals, Carolina had 59 total goals for with Edmonton scoring 58 times. The Canes allowed 48, while Edmonton had only 47 goals enter its net. Those stats have obviously tilted in Carolina's favor after the lopsided 5-0 win.

Although the Stanley Cup Finals are in full swing, fantasy leaguers are already looking toward a highlight of the off-season: the entry draft.

Whether you’re in a keeper league or are just looking to get a head start on next season, you’re likely looking to compile as much information as possible to determine how it will affect fantasy hockey.

When you break it down, being successful in any fantasy sport really depends on your ability to translate the information you see about any given player and convert that into a fantasy worthiness factor.

The more efficiently and effectively you can decipher the information, the higher your odds become of being competitive and winning your league.

On the weekend of June 24th, NHL teams will gather in Vancouver for the annual entry draft. Many fantasy leagues will also be using that event to begin drafting their own prospects from the 2006 crop so they can develop the prospects on their own fantasy farm teams.

The emails have already been coming in for weeks now. Which prospects should we take? Who is going to make an impact in fantasy leagues next year or down the road?

The key word for any poolie when it comes to 18-year old kids needs to be patience.

ALL IS NOT AS IT SEEMS

Although this year’s NHL rookie crop was bountiful in fantasyland; that was an optical illusion and one that will not be repeated again next season.

For starters, we had the lockout that held back one season’s worth of players coming into the NHL.

Then have a closer look at the 2005-2006 rookies.

There are clearly not many prospects that come along with as much talent as 18-year old wonder kid Sidney Crosby. Alex Ovechkin, another amazing youngster, was the first pick from the 2004 draft and was already 20 years old this season.

Dion Phaneuf had a couple of extra years to develop and dominate at the WHL level after he was drafted ninth overall in 2003. Kari Lehtonen was the second overall pick from the 2002 draft.

Henrik Lundqvist, dubbed King Henrik in NY for his phenomenal play during the regular season, was a seventh round pick way back in 2000. He took years to hone his craft in the Swedish Elite League. Brad Boyes was a first rounder, but back in 2000.

Jussi Jokinen turned 23 this year and was a sixth round pick from 2001. Petr Prucha is 23 and wasn’t even drafted. Marek Svatos? Seventh round in 2001.

The point here is simple – the number of prospects that can actually come in and make a splash on any fantasy roster right after being drafted are few and far between. While there is some incredible talent available early on in this year’s draft, there aren’t likely going to be any Crosby-level immediate impact players.

I say “aren’t likely” because anyone who has looked at any prior draft year knows scouting is far from an exact science. The first rounds are littered with guys who couldn’t carve their own niche at the NHL level and the later rounds are just as full with players who proved the scouts wrong.

BUT HERE'S WHERE IT GETS INTERESTING

There is an interesting twist to that theory though, thanks to the new rules in the league which have allowed for a faster and more free-flowing, offensive brand of hockey to be played.

It’s quite possible that we might actually see a higher number (not huge, but possibly more than past years) of younger prospects making the jump to the bigs more quickly than in the past.

It’s not that a bunch of 18-year olds will suddenly now be able to step into the big leagues and score 80 points; rather, it could be more along the lines that instead of taking three or four years to be “NHL ready", we could see more kids ready in two or three years.

It may seem like a subtle difference, but it’s one that could make a noticeable ping on the fantasy Richter scale.

New draft picks still generally need to work on their defensive games and will have to do so when they’re either returned to junior or go off to college; but because there are less demands in the new NHL related to the physical stature and nature of a player (ability to fight through the clutching and grabbing, etc), it’s possible that more youngsters will be given the opportunity to develop at the NHL level if their skating is already at or close to the level it needs to be in order to keep up to the quicker pace of the pros.

Combine that with the salary cap restrictions in place on teams and there might actually not be a better time – at least in terms of player development – to be coming out of the draft.

Having said all of that, it’s not realistic to expect any of the class of 2006 to step into the NHL next year and put up Crosby-like numbers. If you have a farm system and can wait for the development of these players then great, but don’t expect results in single season leagues next year.

HOW WILL THE PIECES FALL?

Erik Johnson looks like he’ll be a franchise-type defenseman in both real life and fantasy, but he’s going the college route to start with and it’ll be several years before his fantasy value is realized. On a side note, how great would Pittsburgh fans feel if he fell to them with the second overall pick? The Pens already have two franchise forwards in Crosby and Malkin, plus a cornerstone goalie in Marc Andre Fleury. Adding Johnson to build the defense around would be the icing on the cake for that team’s future.

Then there are several great centers available (Kessel, Staal, Backstrom, Toews, Mueller) and a host of stud forwards that would love to play with them. Pittsburgh, as mentioned, has the second pick and both Crosby and Malkin can play the wing. If St. Louis goes with Johnson first overall, then whichever center ends up on PIT seems to get a huge fantasy boost for that reason alone.

Washington has the fourth overall pick and Ovechkin, Semin and Fehr are all tremendous talents looking for a quality pivot. How about Columbus in the sixth slot? Gilbert Brule is already a top center prospect in the organizational depth charts, but with both Nash and Zherdev there on the wing Columbus would have the makings of two highly productive (and eventually highly expensive) lines when you add in whichever (likely) center they get.

But again, prospects and patience have to go hand in hand in fantasy. Let’s see which team takes which player and examine what they have in store for their development (will the player be given a chance to win a job at camp right away, or are they going to be immediately slated to return to junior or college no matter what?) and then slot their short and long term pool value accordingly.