Latest news with #Walman
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jake Walman: Do Red Wings Fans Still Care?
All eyes are on Edmonton. Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final is scheduled for Wednesday June 4th. However, on Tuesday a host of players participated in Media Day. One of those players was former Detroit Red Wings defender Jake Walman. Advertisement Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. The Hockey News had the pleasure of participating in the event. I was able to speak to Walman during the event. Trending Red Wings Stories 3 Special Red Wings Prospects That Are Untouchable 3 Special Red Wings Prospects That Are Untouchable It's time to do work. Every Former Red Wings Player In The Cup Final 3 Red Wings Prospects Ready For The Big Leagues Could Jonathan Toews Become Latest Ex-Blackhawk to Jump to Detroit? Ex-Red Wing Jake Walman Perfect Fit With New Team 4 Free Agent Defenders Yzerman Has To Actually Avoid 4 Free Agent Defenders Yzerman Has To Actually Avoid The shiny new object is not always the best one. Advertisement He spoke at length many topics: what it felt like to be traded to the Edmonton Oilers, Connor McDavid, who he was cheering for last year, Stuart Skinner, a recent interaction with some Oilers fans and more. Do Red Wings fans want to read more content on Walman? What kind of things are you interested in reading about from the availability? Caleb Kerney (@CKerneyWriter) on X Caleb Kerney (@CKerneyWriter) on X I spoke to Jake Walman today at the NHL Media Day ahead of Game 1 of the #StanleyCupFinals. Walman said that his mom's uncle is Jake LaMotta. Jake LaMotta is the boxing legend who was portrayed by Robert DeNiro in Raging Bull, a film directed by Martin Scorsese. #LetsGoOilers Let us know in the comments what you would like to read about. And vote in the poll to let us know your thoughts! Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites.
Edmonton Journal
4 days ago
- Sport
- Edmonton Journal
'Don't poke the bear': Did Oilers ace d-man go too far taunting Panthers player?
Article content After Tomas Nosek took the delay of game penalty near the end of overtime, Jake Walman let him know about it 😬 — B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 5, 2025 Was Walman's taunting of Nosek too much? That's how former Oilers d-man and Spittin' Chiclets podcaster Ryan Whitney saw it. 'He's played incredible but I didn't like this,' Whitney said of Walman. 'Take the PP and move on. Don't need to be testing hockey gods/karma with that.' Added Bill Horosz of the On the Prowl: Florida Panthers Den podcast, 'Don't poke the bear. Too late you already did.' Others saw Walman's action in a different light. On his 32 Thoughts podcast, Sporsnet's Elliotte Friedman noted Walman and perhaps also Oilers d-man John Klingberg had provoked Nosek. 'They made sure to get into Nosek's space on the way to the penalty box,' Friedman said, noting that this was something players on Toronto and Carolina hadn't done in the playoffs, never firing back as the bully boys of Florida kicked sand at them. But Edmonton is a different beast, Friedman said. 'Edmonton is making a point of saying, 'Normally, you guys are the ones who set the physical and verbal tone. You get others you get under other skin. We're coming at you with this too.' They're saying, 'We're not letting Florida do all the talking. We're doing some of the talking here too.' '
New York Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Panthers forecheck vs. Oilers breakout: The matchup that will likely decide the Stanley Cup Final
EDMONTON — It is the matchup that most likely will decide this year's Stanley Cup Final. In one corner of the ring, there's the Florida Panthers and their aggressive forecheck, which produces turnovers and mayhem. And well, ultimately, offense. In the other corner of the ring, there's the Edmonton Oilers and their mobile blue-line corps, adept at quickly retrieving pucks and feeding the team's high-octane forwards in transition. Advertisement Something's got to give. 'There's lots of teams that can play the game every way. We're just not one of them,' Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Tuesday on the eve of Game 1. 'We got to play it one way.' 'If they're going to forecheck hard, perfect. Perfect,' Oilers D coach Paul Coffey said. 'Because we'd better be skating and moving the puck.' The Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman turned coach has been at the heart of the Oilers' philosophical approach on the blue line since the day he went behind the bench in November 2023, preaching holding onto pucks and trying to make plays instead of just ripping pucks off the glass. 'If you watch our practices, every single day, we work on that,' Coffey told The Athletic in his office at Rogers Place. 'You can't put a pass on a player's stick as an NHL player? You shouldn't be in this league. From Day 1, that was about a confidence thing.' All of which is why when Oilers general manager Stan Bowman went out to bolster the blue line this season, he didn't look for defensive, shutdown types. He doubled down on what he already had, adding two more puck-movers in John Klingberg and Jake Walman. 'Our identity is being a good puck-moving team,' Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said Tuesday. 'But if you don't have the defensemen who can make those good plays and pass the puck up to the forwards, you're not a puck-moving team. So I think it was great additions in Klingberg and Walman.'' Both of them have flourished under Coffey and both have found their stride playing in a system that preaches what they do best. 'You've got to make plays. I said to our D from Day 1: 'You want the forwards to like you? Put it on their stick,' Coffey said. 'If you can't skate and you can't make a play, I'll get someone that can. It's very simple. These guys are NHL players. Somewhere along the way, they were their team's top two or three defensemen. Then they get here and they get put in a box. And they're not allowed to be that guy anymore, and they lose their confidence. Which is the biggest thing. So I just encourage it.' Advertisement Walman's eyes lit up Tuesday when asked about Coffey's impact on his game since coming over in a trade from the San Jose Sharks in early March. 'Yeah, it's been great. Definitely a different voice than I've ever been coached by,' Walman said. 'Does it in a different way. But it's a lot easier. You know what to expect. Gets his point across. He wants us to hold onto the puck. I feel like I've been able to develop some little parts of my game with him. It's been great and I think it's going to be great for my career going forward.' But that Oilers' blue-line mindset is going to be tested in this series. Nobody does it like Florida. 'They want to rim pucks in; they stack the rim with two forwards,'' said one Eastern Conference head coach, who requested anonymity. 'If Edmonton can bump it behind the net, Florida's F3 will pressure that and their D will pinch any pucks on walls.'' And from a Western Conference head coach: 'It will be hard for the Edmonton D corps to break out pucks, and the amount of time they will spend defending during the series versus Florida's heavy O-zone commitment. The downside to Florida's strength is that they give up odd-man rushes, and Edmonton has the elite skill to capitalize on those compared to most teams.' Bingo. Think back to Florida's opening two games against Toronto in the second round. That's as vulnerable as the Panthers have looked during their dominant playoff run. The Leafs were quick enough getting pucks going the other direction in those two opening wins that Florida's overcommitment on the forecheck led to counter-rush chances. The Panthers adjusted after those two games, but there's no question in my mind the Oilers' coaching staff would have watched that closely. Maurice said going from the Tampa Bay first-round series to the Toronto series was a major shift in style, and the Panthers weren't quite ready for it. Advertisement 'It was a major shift going into Toronto — just the systems are all completely different,' Maurice said. 'We struggled with that for the first game or two. It was a big change. Our forecheck is good because we make the right decisions at the line. We don't dump every puck. I don't want them to dump every puck. But we're also not going to try to make a play at the line every time, and over time, players have got a pretty good idea of what's coming next. He's going to put that puck in deep, or there's a play to be made. 'If you can figure that part out of what you're doing, you get to a fairly high percentage of being right and you play faster. That way, you forecheck a little faster. We were late on our forecheck in the first two games in Toronto. … Our decisions had to change. We kind of figured it out.' When Florida's forecheck is at its best, which it has been for most of these playoffs, it means forwards are completely in sync. Said Panthers center Anton Lundell on Tuesday of what their forecheck looks like at its best version: 'I just think we all know what we're doing. We move our feet all the time, which is probably hard for the other team to defend or even be able to get out of the D-zone because we're on them all the time.' Lundell also sees parallels between how the Maple Leafs and Oilers play, which should help Florida. 'Yeah, I feel like there's some similarities to Toronto: high-end skill forwards, fast forwards,' he said. 'But even last year in the Final, we saw what Edmonton had. They've got fast, great players. You have to be aware all the time on the ice, especially when the top players are on the ice.'' Because Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and Edmonton's top forwards will be looking to go, go, go, and counter-attack once their blueliners take possession of the puck. Advertisement The question is, will the Oilers' blueliners struggle to make those plays because of the pressure the Panthers put on them? 'Hopefully, part of that game plan is counterattacking that,' Walman said. 'We know they're aggressive, but hopefully we can get them out of position a little bit and jump by them. That's the biggest asset that we have, is being able to move our feet and getting by it. Hopefully, we can turn that into a positive for us.' Our Oilers beat writer, Daniel Nugent-Bowman, asked Ekholm what he learned about defending against the Panthers last year that can be applied a second time around. 'You've got to be alert at all times, and especially on their forecheck,' Ekholm said. 'They come hard, with a lot of guys and a lot of bodies. (You have to) be quick going back for pucks. … When you play a team that's that strong on the forecheck, it's about making that one play or win that one battle that can make you make the next play. Then, things seem to open up more. You've just got to be alert out there and anticipate the next play before it even happens.' Having played them a year ago in the Cup Final helps prepare Edmonton for what's coming at them starting Wednesday night. 'They're fast. They get on top of you. They're physical,' Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse said of the Panthers. 'So for us, (Paul Coffey) preaches, the first play you see is usually the best play to make. So he definitely preaches to make plays with confidence. That really helps our group just go out there and play and not worry about things. But a team that comes as aggressive and fast as they do, the first play is probably going to be the right play.' Said Klingberg: 'They have a lot of dogs on that team that are going to try to run you.' The key in Edmonton countering that is not just the defensemen making quick and correct reads on puck retrievals, but also making sure they're connected as five-man units, Klingberg said. Advertisement 'What you need to do to be successful — and I think what we're doing as a team — is you need to know where everyone is at,' he said. 'It's not just the D is going back for the puck, it's the forwards have to come back, and the center has to get low so you break out the puck as five. That's something this team is doing really well.' There will be times in this series when the Panthers' forecheck will have the upper hand. Other times, the Oilers' blueliners will effectively negate it. The question is which one happens most often. That's going to be this series in a nutshell. (Top photo of Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart forechecking Darnell Nurse in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final: Codie McLachlan / Getty Images)
Time of India
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Edmonton Oilers Jake Walman's random act of kindness wins hearts ahead of Stanley Cup final
Photo byWhat started as a routine trip to pick up essentials quickly became a memory the Stephens family will never forget. While running errands with their three kids, the Stephens family happened upon an unexpected surprise in the trading card aisle—Edmonton Oilers defenseman Jake Walman, casually browsing like any other shopper. The chance encounter turned magical as Walman not only chatted with the kids about hockey and video games but surprised them with gifts—transforming a regular Friday into something straight out of a feel-good sports movie. Edmonton Oilers defenseman Jake Walman buys trading cards for young fans in Sherwood Park Adam and Angela Stephens, along with their three children—Luke (9), Jake (7), and Emma (5)—were simply out shopping when their boys convinced them to swing by the trading card section. That's where they met Walman, who was browsing through cards himself. 'I was just kind of wandering around the store,' Adam told 'And there is Jake Walman picking up a tin of cards. He was just waiting and he started up a conversation, just being a nice guy.' Walman, a known Pokémon fan, noticed the kids looking through the hockey cards and asked if they were Oilers supporters. When they answered yes and shared their favorite players—Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl—Walman playfully asked if they had heard of Jake Walman. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Buy Brass Idols - Handmade Brass Statues for Home & Gifting Luxeartisanship Buy Now Undo 'My son said, 'My dad loves him, he was so happy when they traded for him,'' Adam recalled. What followed was a 10-minute conversation covering everything from Pokémon and Minecraft to, of course, hockey. With their parents' approval, Walman offered to buy each child a box of cards. For young Emma, who isn't into trading cards, he picked out a Minecraft stuffed toy instead. 'I like doing that stuff,' Walman later said. 'I think we're in a position to be able to do that kind of thing and make people's day.' The story—and photo—quickly went viral, turning the Stephens kids into mini-celebrities at their school, Lakeland Ridge. Their snapshot with Walman is even set to be featured on the school's Oilers wall before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. 'They all want his jersey now,' said Adam. 'My daughter won't stop saying the name Jake Walman. She named her stuffed animal after him.' Also Read: Top NHL prospect Matthew Schaefer returns from injury ahead of 2025 draft
Edmonton Journal
6 days ago
- General
- Edmonton Journal
Edmonton GM branded a 'loser' for failing Oilers at trade deadline, but how things have changed
Article content Walman is partnering with John Klingberg, a free-agent signed in January, to give the Oilers a strong second-pairing. The two are part of unit that features six defenders all highly skilled at breaking out the puck from Edmonton's end. On Stanley Cup Final media day Tuesday in Edmonton, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch pointed out that a key to handling Florida's aggressive forecheck is Edmonton's puck-moving d-men. 'They are a good forechecking team,' Knoblauch said of Florida. 'The best way to beat that is good puck movers. And there's one thing about just having a defenseman to be able to just get it out of trouble and get it out of the zone, but if we're continually just getting it out of those zone, we're giving the puck back, and then we have to defend and just defend, defend. It's not a good recipe. .. Our defense have been great at moving the puck.'
