What will the day bring? Will it be sunny and bright? Will it be overcast and gloomy? Or will we get a storm that will delay everyone’s day and turn us into puddles at five tonight?
Edmonton is a substantial city, but it’s really a bunch of little settlements branching out from the main road. The main road carries information, some of it factual (borrr-ing!) and some of it possibly true but wildly entertaining (that’s the good stuff!).
So, Edmonton, are you ready?
THE ATHLETIC
- New Lowetide: Why can’t the Oilers win a trade in the Connor McDavid era?
- Lowetide: Midseason review of Oilers reasonable predictions for 2021-22
- Lowetide: What to expect from Dylan Holloway in Bakersfield and Edmonton this season
- DNB: Connor McDavid supports Oilers’ pursuit of Evander Kane.
- DNB: Ken Holland speaks
- Lowetide: Forget the Connor McDavid bump, Jesse Puljujarvi is the real deal after all
- Lowetide: Should the Oilers sign Evander Kane and what would it look like?
- Lowetide: What’s the gap for Oilers between now and the 2016-17 playoff team?
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: Will this be another lost season?
- Jonathan Willis: Oilers forward lineup isn’t deep or good enough
- DNB: Time for the Oilers to move on from Mikko Koskinen
- Lowetide: If Oilers plan a coaching change, why stop there?
- New DNB: Exploring how the Oilers can get back on track
- Lowetide: Long December has Oilers fans looking for reasons to believe
- Lowetide: A complete review of the Bakersfield Condors’ 2021-22 season to date
- DNB: For Oilers’ Kailer Yamamoto, the goal has always been to belong with the best
- Lowetide: 7 AHL trade targets that could immediately improve Oilers’ NHL forward depth
- Lowetide: Oilers top 20 prospects, winter 2021
CHANGE
Oilers fans are anticipating change today, the team’s losing streak certainly enough to ignite a coaching change, recall or trade. I can think of several other things that would be welcome (“we’ve hired an entire analytics department, and they have the biggest offices!”) but if there’s a media avail today, coming on the heels of Saturday, there’s a strong chance we all know the purpose of the conference.
Change brings hope, but over time that hope is often dashed. It starts ‘hey kids, dig the first takes, ain’t that an inspiration’ and the phones hum and the Al Gore rattles. A strong run comes when Sinatra sings against Nelson Riddle’s strings and then takes a permanent vacation.
At some point, it gets back to hard nose the highway.
The thing I’m not fond of is it can change the progress made with young, emerging players. Here, let me give you an example. On the second to last game of the 2008-09 season (Craig MacTavish benched some guys for the final game), the Oilers ran these lines and pairings:
- Ales Kotalik-Shawn Horcoff-Ales Hemsky
- Patrick O’Sullivan-Sam Gagner-Robert Nilsson
- Steve McIntyre-Kyle Brodziak-Dustin Penner
- Ethan Moreau-Andrew Cogliano-Fernando Pisani
- Denis Grebeshkov-Tom Gilbert
- Sheldon Souray-Steve Staios
- Theo Peckham-Taylor Chorney
End of season, final MacT season, and we see that Horcoff-Hemsky still hold sway and the coach is still trying to juggle Gagner, Brodziak and Cogliano at center. Some nice veterans on the wing, Kotalik was productive (seven goals in 19 games) and one could hope he’d hang around and be the third 20-goal man (Hemsky, Souray) the following year.
Young players trying to find their way included Gagner, Cogliano, Brodziak, Ladislav Smid, Theo Peckham and Zack Stortini. You can see what the future under MacT might have turned out.
Now, let’s fast forward to the following season (2009-10) and exciting opening night:
- J.F. Jacques-Shawn Horcoff-Ales Hemsky
- Patrick O’Sullivan-Mike Comrie-Ryan Stone
- Dustin Penner-Gibert Brule-Andrew Cogliano
- Ethan Moreau-Sam Gagner-Zack Stortini
- Denis Grebeshkov-Tom Gilbert
- Sheldon Souray-Steve Staios
- Ladislav Smid-Lubomir Visnovsky
Pat Quinn wasn’t a fan of Sam Gagner, preferring Mike Comrie. Gagner finished second in scoring for the Oilers at the end of the season. He also wanted physical players on every line, so Ryan Stone and Jean-Francois Jacques got the push over Dustin Penner and Ethan Moreau. He also didn’t like Lubomir Visnovsky, who was an extremely valuable puck mover.
It was not a good match of coach to roster and lasted just one year.
OILERS FIVE-ON-FIVE (FWDS) SINCE DECEMBER 1
The Oilers ended November at 15-5-0 and have posted a 3-10-2 record since. The team is No. 5 in the Pacific Division in winning percentage and incredibly a short winning streak (say four games) would move them up the table handsomely. You know what? That’s what we said around the deadline in 2012-13, and that didn’t work out. This is serious stuff. One thing worth monitoring is five-on-five scoring by forwards since December 1 (15 games in that span, I’ve listed those who played five or more games).
- Brendan Perlini 4.20
- Connor McDavid 2.24
- Kyle Turris 2.03
- Kailer Yamamoto 1.89
- Colton Sceviour 1.81
- Zach Hyman 1.75
- Leon Draisaitl 1.63
- Ryan McLeod 1.37
- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 1.36
- Jesse Puljujarvi 1.32
- Warren Foegele 0.91
- Zack Kassian 0.85
- Tyler Benson 0.74
- Devin Shore 0.69
- Derek Ryan 0.50
So there’s a lot here. Perlini is on a tear, hasn’t been as noticeable because the team isn’t winning. McDavid is McDavid, the only concern Oilers fans should have is that this is wearing on him. The big bets of summer aren’t working and these are difficult days for everyone in the organization but the expectations of 97 are Herculean on normal days. This poor run over the last six weeks could shake the Oilers to their foundation if things continue, and yet an easy fix (find a goalie, ladies!) doesn’t appear to be in the plan.
Sceviour and Hyman are delivering enough to get a checkmark lately, Draisaitl slowed down in December but we expect an increase in activity over the days to come. McLeod, Nuge and Puljujarvi needed an extra point somewhere to pump up the total a little, but there’s no cause for concern. Foegele and Kassian need to deliver a little more, nice to see Benson on the board and I think we know Shore lands around here. Derek Ryan has had a tough season, full stop.
OILERS BLUE FIVE-ON-FIVE ON-ICE GOALS (SINCE DECEMBER 1)
- Duncan Keith 10-6 (62.5)
- Slater Koekkoek 5-3 (62.5)
- Tyson Barrie 8-9 (47.1)
- Cody Ceci 7-10 (41.2)
- Evan Bouchard 11-16 (40.7)
- Darnell Nurse 6-9 (40)
- William Lagesson 4-6 (40)
- Kris Russell 4-6 (40)
- Markus Niemelainen 1-3 (25)
Duncan Keith is showing well and it’s over several weeks, that’s a positive sign. If he can rescue Tyson Barrie (in 35 minutes together, the tandem is 2-0 goals and 19-12 shots) that’s a big positive. Ceci should come around, he’s been playing in some bad luck over the last six weeks. I’m a little worried about Evan Bouchard. The player is fine, but it feels like the coaching staff is losing confidence and the Saturday night pairing with Lagesson no doubt hurt both men in the eyes of the coaching staff. Expect to see plenty of Koekkoek this week, and I wonder if Kris Russell finds his way back into the lineup soon.
LOWDOWN WITH LOWETIDE
It’s going to be a busy day on the Lowdown, beginning at 10. You plan a show and then it sometimes gets sidetracked. So, we’ll spend the morning reviewing the Saturday loss and options available, and Jason Gregor is scheduled to join us at 11. TSN1260. This week could be crazy, and maybe it’ll be less than expected. Either way, plenty to talk about, 10-1260 text and @Lowetide on twitter. Talk soon!
Hey LT, just wanted to say that your article on the Athletic about Oilers trades was an absolute banger! Well done!
Thanks!
So, on schedule to close out the month:
Florida
Calgary
Vancouver
Nashville
Montreal
Ottawa
Lots of winnable game, question is can they do it?
The skaters will show up for Florida pretty sure. Mostly…
Goalie is another question altogether.
Nashville is the other toughie, and normally in the other four I’d say we should be favoured… but normal packed up and went somewhere nice for the winter.
If I’m the staff I’m planning some ultimate tomfoolery though before the Florida match and see if I can get the boys going into the game light and not tight.
Yup, the full range of outcomes (next game and to round out the month) is on the table. Definitely hope there’s some effort put into keeping them loose.
Woody on with Stauff (as always on Monday). Summary of thoughts:
1) After getting back from Abbotsford on Monday, through the week starting losing people – 12 (players and staff) in protocol. Both assistant coaches in protocol so Sylvan Rodrigue helped run the D (and another guy helped with the forwards).
2) On Wed, almost everyone tested positive – they got tested twice that day and some found out they had false positives. I do remember reading this and its why there was question if Skinner was going to get to Edmonton in time to play on Sat.
3) Stalock came in last week, cleared a few hurdles prior to starting to practice including a physical. Has practiced full time since. He’s missed a lot of time so they are easing him in as far as reps in practice, etc. He’s been working hard.
4) Rodrigue had a good performance against San Jose – wasn’t overly taxed but was there when they needed him
5) Good position on back-end with Broberg and Niemelainen back. Over last few days some more are in Covid protocol now but
6) Niemelainen was physical in his first game in a month. He was a bit rusty on some things.
7) Broberg is moving the puck well and spoke of the PP assist I have described.
8) Good contributions from guys with lesser pedigree/draft wise but are really stepping up. Deharnais, Kemp, etc.
9) Kesslering is taking a step (something else I have noticed and mentioned)
10) Bob asked who is closer, Broberg or Niemelainen, as far as recall. Woody said it depending on need. Both are now comfortable with NHL pace of play, know what’s needed and in good places when recalled. Niemelainen’s physical dimension sets him apart – he’s working on puck play and reads. He’s a great guy for PK and physical element. Broberg is more of a puck transporter/puck mover. Both have proven they can play
11) How much has Dave Manson played a factor? Cannot say enough about Manson. When trying to find the right fit (in the hiring process), Woody wanted someone that was different than him, a different voice, different experiences. He is “my left tackle” – puts fires out for me – takes care of things before I know about him. His voice is listened to. He has a presence when he enters a room. His experience helps relate to the different type of d-men we are trying to develop as he had many different skills as a player.
12) This week: Game on Wed and then a home and home with San Jose on Sat/Sun. People still going in to protocol but guys are also coming out. Had a good practice today and are set for one tomorrow.
Nice update! Get Niemelainen back here stat! One of a very few on our roster who plays physical. We are a soft team and that needs to be addressed if we ever want to succeed in a playoff series (or even get to playoffs!)
Really like what he said about Manson.
Should be the Oilers D coach at this point IMO
I served him lunch once
I am convinced people will listen to him. Fear is a powerful motivator. And I guarantee the D will be physical
I can’t be the only one interested in knowing the context of your comment…
You have to be kidding
No not at all; I’d love to hear more about your interaction with Woody.
The details of the interaction are fascinating to me (and myriad others, I’m sure).
Lol. was it woody or manson you served? And was he very scary? And was your fear of him a good motivator to to serve him well? I think those are the questions Gretz is actually asking!
Agreed
This says a lot (good) about Woodcroft as well as Manson I think.
Thanks for passing all this on OP.
If you’ve ever heard Dave Manson’s voice you’ll know how different it is. Fear of god. One time at the lake there were a string of break-ins to cars. A guy tripped off an alarm and out came Dave in a wife beater and a bat with his husky voice. Never seen someone run that fast.
A couple of nuggets from Frank Seravelli just now.
Not sure if this has been reported earlier but he says Holland had a deal in the offseason in place for Darcy Kuemper…a Ist and Samorukov before Sakic swooped in and topped it.
He also says the Rangers are in hot pursuit of JT Miller and are willing to part with multiple assets to re-acquire him.
Also of note Timo Maier scored 5 goals for San Jose this afternoon.
Holland’s “close” trades becoming public gets my spider senses tingling. Kevin Lowe era Oilers always had trades like this leaking. Now, I’m sure the Oilers were in on Kuemper, but it’s more likely imo Holland had a chance to offer more and declined.
That’s my take. Wise or not, we can discuss, but for me the Markstrom story (Oilers offering more, and then the player choosing Calgary instead) has more of the ring of truth.
jmo.
Perhaps.
The eventual trade was a 1st, Connor Timmins and a conditional 4th round pick in 2024.
I guess Arizona must have been more inclined to Connor Timmins than Samorukov, considering the Colorado pick would have less value.
That’s probably fair. I’m always suspicious of the Oilers framing trades/trade rumours after the fact.
Trying to safe face, they are? So to say, “if it wasn’t for the price, we would have that piece we do desperately needed!” (While simultaneously blowing cap space on the Keith deal…)
Timmins looked great coming into the draft. Had had a good WJC too. He was ahead of Dima at that time, which was to be expected considering their different birthdays. Had a lot of upside but his progress has been derailed somewhat by concussion.
But perhaps most importantly in ARI’s eyes… he’s a RH shot.
Sometimes the deals you don’t make
Sporting a .908 on that team. Nope.
That’s a function of the way the team plays.
If you score 4+ goals per game, league average goaltending is sufficient.
Of note, the Avalanche just won their 14th straight game at home.
Sure for regular season
Not gonna work against the monsters of the East in the playoffs
Yeah after spending a first and a good prospect on goaltending Sakic is gonna have to upgrade his goaltending is probably not sitting well with him right now
And I’m glad we didn’t throw away a 1st round pick on one year of Kuemper
Would you rather not make the playoffs?
Yup
The overwhelming evidence suggest that 1st round pick will not make an impact on the Oilers fortunes for 3-5 years.
What do we know about that period?
Holland…likley gone.
Tippet…gone for sure.
Draisailtl…contract expired.
McDavid…almost expired.
At what point are you in “win now”mode’?
Is it always a few years away?
Think of the lotto chances we will have!
I think it’s hard to think of now and the future. But there must be some sort of balance right?
He will be just fine.
Kuemper has a GAA of 2.72
Francouz has a GAA of 2.94
The Avalanche score 4.25 GF/G
By way of contrast:
Smith – 3.76 GAA
Koskinen – 3.19 GAA
Skinner – 2.93 GAA
The Oilers score 3.34 GG/G
So not only do the Avalanche have a goal differential of +40, the Oilers have a goal differential of 0.
As the famed hockey pundit Craig McTavish opined many years ago, it’s what you score minus what you give up.
The Avalanche are elite on offence and are significantly better than the Oilers in GA/GP.
No doubt the Oilers would be better if they had Kuemper instead of Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail.
The rub is can you carry loose light defense and high offense through the playoffs?
Doesn’t usually happen past a round right? Not even with elite goalie play.
But Avs were supposed to win the cup this year
And they got a rental meh goalie who will want a Grubauer contract
Yes a far better strategy is to have 3 goaltenders who can’t stop a beachball, hang on to your draft picks, miss the playoffs and burn yet another year off the contracts of your best players.
Works every time.
Remember that time Sakic got goalie of the future Jonas Johansson or did you Ty Dellandrea that one
Just something I have been thinking about quite a while.Yes we have two of the top players in the NHL ,but I wonder how many of the lesser players do not chime in to try to solve issues because of a status issue.What I am saying is I think we have a weak young leadership group and the rest are hesitant about rocking the boat adding input.Mcdavid may be great leader someday,same with Leon but at this time this combination is not working at all,not blaming them,its just the situation.No one expected this,I would call it team dynamic imbalance.
I think you know as much about Connor as a leader as I do.
So as to say: nothing.
As a for example, this was just posted by OilersNation on their TikTok account.
Is this a poor leader?
https://www.tiktok.com/@oilersnation/video/7054277697932954886
It’s TRUE we know nothing. But I bet he has excellent leadership skills. And I also bet those leadership skills will grow, change, develop over the next 5 years.
I was thinking about his age in context to normal careers where we work to say 65 years old, thinking at 25 hes a young buck. But in reality this workforce often only works till what, 35 years old? And they often start by age 20. For him age 18. Hes a 7 year vet, in a league where poeple last 15 years. So hes not actually young in his biz.
I honestly find it interesting how the team plays during McDavid absences. It’s almost like a bunch of them realize that they are in fact NHL hockey players…
I remember the younger bulls going that process when playing with Jordan. I think this is coaching.
Add that to the fact he’s been head and shoulders above everyone since forever. So his whole hockey career prior to the NHL has been replete with expectations and the burden of leading the pawns and knights.
None of us know,but the results show there are leadership issues on the team,to think all is ok would be knave.
My statement was more concerned with unbalanced leadership.
I just tend to think that these cherry picked narratives about leadership are from outsiders with no actual knowledge of what transpires in the room and on the bench.
This whole trope about Connor being frustrated with JP on the bench vs WPG during the playoffs last year.
Like Brendan Shanahan never voiced displeasure with teammates. Groan.
You do not have to be in the room to see a team that folds with even a small amount of adversity.All I know is the group seems to get no direction from the coach,or team leadership.Maybe behind the scenes they display this but it does not show on the ice at all.
I wish I had an easy answer from the lack of pushback standpoint, because I see the same thing just like everybody else.
Truth be told, that’s a problem that precedes Connor’s tenure.
It’s the same reason ChiaPete went and procured Manning and Petrovic. Whoops.
Maybe Getzlaf was the right target after all, I don’t honestly know.
We need better players, and different archetypes throughout the roster so there’s some resilience on the ice at all times.
But that also ignores the deployment deficiencies.
We’ve certainly got a hot mess to clean up, in the Oilers aisle. And fast.
Shanahan?
Who cares what Shanahan said to anyone? Ever.
I wonder something similar but not because of the leadership from the players. It’s more that the other roster guys either don’t have enough of a defined role or are only put on the ice to give the top players a rest. It’s like the mentality is don’t screw up and let the best players handle it.
Not sure this is the case obviously, just thinking of what the mindset might be when you’re playing very little and the coach obviously only trusts two guys to put up offense. Could be a chicken or the egg problem.
This is all on the Coach.
How does Kulikov go from being very good in Jersey to very Coocoo like for us to being excellent this season
while lack of G sucks the D gameplay is also bad
Who you play with matters…a lot.
Between the quarantine and the compact rescheduled games there were only 10 games to get used to a new team, a new system, a main goalie that handles the puck a lot, and a backup that doesn’t.
Still, hope he did more.
Kulikov was very good for the Oilers in the regular season. He has like a 58% goal share and a 55% expected goal share.
He bobbled the puck in transition a few times for giveaways in the defensive zone and people remember the big mistakes.
Overall, he was very good.
while he had good GF numbers he didn’t play very well and was a healthy scratch in one of the postseason games
it was definitely not just a few big mistakes
The D are completely dependent on the forwards supporting them. Goalies are dependent on the lot
We are seeing the same crap now
There are no good passes when no one is there, it’s stretch or glass
Also coaching and what they are being asked to do
Maybe he was banged up?
Going through some personal stuff?
All kinds of reasons for what amounts to pretty small sample size downbeat
I don’t agree that he didn’t play well and didn’t agree with the healthy scratch. YMMV!
This team needs a friggin goalie.
A team will never be able to turn the corner unless their tendy can make saves. That is all.
This notion of playing Konovalov reeks of desperation (I get it, believe me) and will produce predictable results. He needs more time in the AHL, and for that matter, so does Skinner.
Agreed
Skinner has the size and reflexes, but his technique isn’t stable yet
That is the key, play the key basic things consistently. Angles, sealing the post, staying up long enough, looking around traffic, especially rebounds
LT, Any word on Klefbom, not just the obvious selfish reasons but overall health?
It’s been some time since an update, I haven’t heard any real news since the fall on Klefbom.
Well, if there’s any good news it’s that our 2nd round pick this year is looking really safe, particularly since Holland can’t trade it for a bad rental.
Let me tell you a tale about the Edmonton Oilers:
A former dynasty once upon a time considered to be one of the very best; the team has sunk to the point where needing to get a coach in a big hurry to save the season, the AHL dude who is doing a great job and proved his worth over a 2 game test already doesn’t even rate consideration.
Instead its all about Torts, Babcock etc.
Rinse and repeat.
Not that I disagree but some coaches are a lot better with developing players than with full time pros
Are you talking about Gully or Woody?
Wild score last 4 games with goalie pulled and 11 this season
why can’t we do that ?
We used to be 6v5 assassins. The mind boggles.
Because Tippett is brain dead and has the tiniest player in the league as your net presence. Need to have Foegele or Kassian to cause havoc in front of the net J.P just doesn’t have it in him to bend the rules and tie up the D in front of the net. This leads to chaos where deflections and greasy goals happen. When’s the last time we scored a greasy goal Holland has put together the nicest team in the league and we all know where nice guys end up.
Kassian doesn’t cause havoc in front of the net – I can’t recall him every really doing that.
Jesse actually does cause havoc in front, just by being so big, rangey and strong.
So why don’t we have ever score with the Goalie pulled? What’s your answer its obvious to me. I know your in love with Yamo but he’s not the right fit to stand in front of the net when the Goalies pulled. Tippett should be fired immediately for continuing to try putting a square peg in a round hole.
The likely answer is the Oiler players on the ice are exhausted after playing huge minutes in the game.
As a big man, I’ve noticed Draisaitl is out of gas at the end of games.
I’ve noticed it too. He takes shortcuts and cheats for unlikely turnovers when he’s at the end of games. I’m sure fatigue plays a role in this.
I didn’t say anything about Yamamoto nor scoring at 6 on 5 – I spoke to your position that Kassian causes chaos in front of the net which I don’t believe is the case at all
We all know you and several other people don’t like Kassian but I’ll take him as a front net presence with the Goalie pulled over Yamamoto 7 days out of 7 and twice on Sundays.
This has nothing to do with Yamamoto as a “net front presence” but with a statement of Kassian causing Havoc in the net front – something I can’t remember ever seeing.
Watch the tape against Ottawa and who’s trying to stand in front of the net that gets easily pushed out of the way so the D has clear view of the play. This isn’t the first time he’s used Yamo as the 6th attacher he is effective maybe the reason you don’t notice him is because he doesn’t do anything.
Guess Wednesday we hear the decision on Evander Kane from the NHL
Suspended for the remainder of the season?
No clue . He has stated he didn’t do anything wrong . No clue what exactly the rules are besides in Canada at the time I believe it was 10 days quarantine, in the States 5. He obviously tested negative to get on a plane or drove across the border and would have had to have proof. But that also said maybe he somehow got a fake test done , to go with his fake vax card.
Be interesting, and possibly if he had all the proper papers with the 5 day on that side and 10 on this side , maybe he gets nothing.
But if he did use another counterfeit document, he will be gone for the year
If I’m not mistaken, in order to fly in to Canada, a person that had a positive test, needed 15 days before they could do so (11 now but 15 at the time).
I truly hope the contract termination is factored in to any supplementary discipline from the NHL.
I want this player on the ice for the Oilers.
There are so many what ifs…maybe he drove across, maybe he flew, maybe he walked, or maybe he took a boat bypassing customs all together. So many unknowns. Better to wait and find out for sure than to guess. I guess. So many accusations. I can’t find much information. Maybe I’m not looking in right places, but is there real solid information that he did for sure cross? I find it weird that the laws for crossing can be so very different depending on the method used. Very strange considering that just over 20 years ago (prior to 911) I could cross without any ID at all at some locations. The world is unrecognizable in so many ways.
Kane will be on Leon’s line to start the game against the Flames. Book it!!
LMAO just what they need at this point of the season. Team players!
1- Oilers go Yellowknife cold, sink from 1st to 8th in the Division
2 – Oilers manage to blow a “must win” game
3 – With every reason and need for the team to want to play as soon as possible, the next game is almost next weekend
Question: Who’s running the pitchfork and tar concession?
You & Verdink
Had a weekend off from officiating, so it was nice to sit on the couch with my youngest boy and cheer on our favourite team (oldest one is a Flames fan; paternity test is pending). Had a few thoughts/observations, YMMV:
1) I’m still bullish on Skinner, I think he’s got a future in the league. He may have been trying too hard vs Ottawa, I’m not sure, but for 40 minutes he and the rest of the team looked halfways decent;
2) this team is SAWFT. There’s no pushback when the opposition starts leaning hard, especially on the top guys. It’s interesting (in a sad way) to see how far the pendelum has swung from the Chiarelli era (Lucic, et al) to today’s version of the Oilers. As a result, it’s easy to understand the interest in Evander Kane, but this should have been identified as an issue last offseason when we had cap space to do something about it;
3) it’s been said quite a bit, but it bears repeating: pro scouting is a real problem area for the current regime. I like the job that Tyler Wright and the amateur scouting department has been doing in procuring talent all through the rounds, but I’m tired of watching the Oilers serve as a retirement home for past-their-prime players (see Turris, Kyle), or to see bad bets made on players (Koskinen over Talbot). Be better, pro scouts;
4) it’s amazing how quickly all that cap space disappeared, and yet we have the same issues roster-wise;
5) I like Tippett as a coach, good Sasky boy, and a week ago I would have defended him, but…..if you’re not going to give him a contract extension, and the team is playing this poorly, why on earth is he being kept on? You’re going to have a new coach next season anyway, pull the ejection handles already. Overplaying the big guns didn’t work last playoffs, and it’s not working now. He looks like he’s been on the front lines too long, and that 1000 yard stare is telling;
6) I’m tired. Tired of the COVID, tired of the battle that is life, and tired of flawed Oilers teams being run by out-of-touch management. I’m also tired of the turnover with this team, but something has to give here.
Sorry for the rant, but I’m also tired of trying to answer my 12 year old when he asks “Dad, what happened to the Oilers? They were doing good.”
There is also a danger that the team just tunes out the coach knowing he’s a dead man walking.
Human nature.
This is happening in real time why do you think Holland’s hanging out at Pebble Beach. Once your on that first tee box with a couple of Corona beers in you with lime ( supposedly keeps Scurvy away) life is good and you forget about everything while your scrabbling for par.
Not a rant.
3) seems to be the biggest problem.
…
This is why you should never teach your children math… or how to read.
I would play Konovalov against Florida – he has played 111 KHL games and 10 AHL games. He should have the smaller ice angles figured out now. He has more pro experience than Skinner and the team’s Koski confidence appears very low.
Konovalov must have some expectations to play in the NHL pretty soon, he is making $70,000 on his minor league salary – he is 23 on his 4 pro season.
Start a rookie with a .900 save percentage in the AHL against the hottest team in the NHL? Sure, let’s torch another Russian prospect this season.
From various accounts, the toughest position play as far as transitioning from a large ice surface to a smaller ice surface is goaltending – I’m not sure the statement that he should have the angles “figured out” is accurate.
As far as expectations, I’m sure the kid knew very well he was fourth on the Oilers’ depth chart coming in to this season (5th if you included Stalock).
I would think he had zero expectations of playing NHL games this season but is taking the next logical step.
The fact he’s been on the NHL roster for some days, collecting a larger paycheque, is probably more than he expected, comp wise for this season.
He knows this will take some time.
Many rinks in the KHL are NHL-sized.
I stole this from HF Boards (truthfully not a site I’ve been to any more than 6 times in my life, probably) credit goes to this guy:
Amazing Kreiderman
@StatBoy_Steven
He took the time to research and update this info from a graphic someone made in 2019 and made the effort to modify that graphic.
Consider thee to be enlightened 😀😀
Yes, knew that and, yes, it is a good point.
At the same time, Yaroslav’s home rink was a large ice so he would have played all his home games on a large and probably around 50% of his away games on the large ice (and probably moreso in his previous years).
Yes and there were fewer NHL-sized rinks in the past, my point was that the smaller rink size isn’t alien to him. Now you’re making (inspire is the actual word, lol) me do a whole bunch of other digging to quantify his actual results, but that will be for another day….
50% 12 of 24 are NHL sized.
Fantastic find. Thanks for posting it here.
I’d give him a start too, but more from a “why the hell not at this point” mindset.
Stickhandling through the entire Jets and Rangers teams to score were the worst things for McDavid’s game. It was a lot of fun to watch and laugh at the pathetic defending, but it should have been played down and not encouraged.
It seems contagious with Drai and Nurse also trying their hand at it.
Consider the play (and all the attempts to repeat it) from a team dynamics point of view. You are McD’s linemate. He is driving to the net through the middle with the puck on his stick. You are also driving, just a stride behind, but wide open because Connor has drawn everyone’s attention. The winger on the other side is also wide open. But the puck carrier elects to try a couple more moves and turns it over. Again, again, again, again.
How many times does this happen until a winger just stops driving to the open space for a pass and instead just trails behind waiting for the eventual turnover so he can start defending?
How much resentment begins to build because the winger knows they can’t and don’t dare say anything or find themselves booted from the most desired lineup position in hockey (McD wingman) to the fourth line?
This is a really bad take.
We are back to “the best players are the problem”.
Pointing out deficiencies that need to be rectified is not a bad take in any way.
Great leaders welcome the brunt of the criticisms; Great players take it upon themselves to make those around them better, even at the cost of their own boxcars/glory.
#LeaveYourEgoAtTheDoor
Not quite ready to judge McDavid with Caesar yet.
Worse, it describes things that never happen. McDavid very rarely tries to take the whole team on.
That’s a bit reductive. Obviously they are not the entire “problem”, but they are part of the problem.
I guess I would like to hear from you and everyone else who cringed while they read the golden boy being held to task: Why should he and Drai be above criticism?
Or I could just take your approach and reply: So it’s everyone else’s problem other than the best players? Also an unfair analysis and lacking the sophistication this situation calls for.
Through their God-given talents, McDavid and Drai are in the best position to carry this team out of this downward spiral. If they choose to look inward to see what they can personally do rather than outward at what everyone else should be doing, they are more likely to find answers that will end the freefall sooner.
I have no evidence that they are looking outward, but I have lots of evidence that fans are looking at everything but those two, most of which is not likely to move the needle. This includes all of Holland, Tippett, coaching staff, bottom six, adding a bottom pairing Dman, activating Kris Russell.
I’m sure there’s things McDavid and Drai can do better, but the best players on bad teams are not the problem.
The best way to get out of this spiral is to start playing like a team, and not as a bunch of individuals.
You’d think McDavid/Draisatl would dominate in 3v3 overtime but that hasn’t been the case either…
They are already “dead” by the OT. And the opposition doesn’t try to immediately score and drain even energy out of them in the first shift playing keep away, and then they don’t leave the ice, and then the oppositioni has them and the Oilers.
“Is McDavid letting the team down?”…
tick tock
I think part of the problem is the pressure that comes from being the leader or expected leader and not putting up the production that everyone is accustomed to. And not winning at a rate that everyone, especially McDavid himself has come to expect.
That pressure can lead to unnatural decisions and tunnel vision as he tries to “take the team on his back” further contributing to the problem. This is why getting out of a losing streak seems harder than it should be and why winning games in a winning streak seems easier than it should be. There are negative and positive feedback mechanisms respectively which amplify the forward or backward momentum.
Which is to say that scoring and winning will likely make this habit of occasionally trying to “force it” disappear. But it may take a conscious effort to correct the habit to start scoring and winning.
No, McDavid stickhandling to score against the Jets and Rangers were the worst things for the Oilers organization.
He and Draisaitl have been like a two-man Sisyphus for the Oilers, with the management and coaching of course being the boulder.
Or, if you play Hades, Bouldy 🙂
I don’t get this at all. McDavid has done this his entire career. And now suddenly other players think they can do it? Not even in the realm of possibility.
Isn’t McDavid (much) more often criticized for overpassing than being holding/shooting the puck?
Hasn’t he been top 3 in the league in assists each of his 6 full seasons?
I’m having trouble with this take too.
I can see where the frustration with McDavid and Draisaitl has been coming from lately … they’ve been getting lots of chances but have been too predictable and as a result those chances are becoming easier to defend.
McDavid keeps trying to beat the goalies from in close … he should shoot earlier, but he tries to deke the goalies out first which gives the d-men enough time to recover and get a stick on him.
Leon has fallen in love with his one-timer. He almost never takes any other kind of shot on net. He’s also become fond of button-hooking inside the blue line, instead of driving the puck hard to the net.
Yeah. Folks are frustrated with everyone right now.
Connor and Leon (among many others) are slumping at the moment. Things aren’t always rhyming, and with the team in the toilet everything gets second guessed. I don’t think there’s anything more to it myself.
So we’re back to blaming the good players again, amazing.
I get where you’re going here
But I would frame it differently. High skill plays are fine, the best part of the game for fans and players
What is wrong is impatience. Torts is a blowhard, but he is right (being an experienced coach) that Connor doesn’t ‘play the right way’. Leon doesn’t either at times
To lead the team well they need to play the system well. The others will follow. If they revert to solo kamikaze efforts and only looking for each other when they are put under pressure, and fail, that is what is destabilizing to me
They need to stick to the plan, make damn sure they’re winning their battles assignments and also the goal share
They both should be consistent out-scorers at this point, and there is enough help at wing compared to before
Do the basics first and eventually the higher skill will win out
They give it their all, but they still start forcing things especially after they cough a few up with weak defensive play. They are both prone to getting sloppy defensively
The good teams in any sport establish the strong base of play and start riffing off that
Riffing doesn’t work if the band is all over the place. It’s shit
So that circles back to why with the best group of players in years (except goalies) they still play this way. Where is the leadership (coaches and GM) to get them to play a more mature more patient game trusting the system and team mates?
The goalies have been poor, but a lot of the pucks fished out of the net have not been directly their fault even if a few have
Most teams don’t have Vasilevski. And he wouldn’t be him if Cooper didn’t have the ability to get the team to play as they do, bringing them back in line when they go off as all teams do at times
This is fantastic, thoughtful post….remenicient of when Yzerman and Modano learned to win.
Cheers
This is a really good post and (because it? ;)) rhymes with what I am trying to say.
These two men are going through a difficult time. When I look back at my life, it is during the most difficult times when I learned the most about myself that paved a better way forward. But it required looking deeply inward which I didn’t always do from onset of the challenge, especially when I was young.
Thanks
True what you’re saying
The goalies give away a goal virtually every game – just give the opponent a goal. This is death in a 3-2 league and crushes morale. When the team gets good goaltending like they did from Smith last year and Talbot a few years ago, they win a lot of genes.
Very interesting lines at practice today, I’m intrigued:
Ryan Rishaug
@TSNRyanRishaug
Hyman-Draisaitl-Pulj
Perlini-McD-Yamamoto
Foegele-McLeod-Kass
Shore-Ryan-Sceviour
Also, pairing at practice:
Nurse/Ceci
Keith/Barrie
Russell/Bouchard
Koekkoek/Lagesson
To tell you the truth, Russell back would be very nice. For me, he usually has a strong couple of games when first re-inserted back in the lineup.
In particular, my goodness could they use him on the PK.
I’m a big fan of the way Duncan Keith has played over the last stretch except he does seem to struggle on the PK (although I have a tougher time evaluating d-men on the PK so I could be wrong).
I have been banging Perlini’s drum for some time and he is showing something here.
Tippett should of rewarded Perlini with ice time to start the year he’s a streaky player that you ride like a rented mule while he’s hot. He probably has the second best one-timer on the team it was Tippett’s job to get him to a spot where he could use it.
Kind of don’t want to break up 13-71-18. Thought they looked pretty damn good Saturday.
+ 10
I think we will see 13-71-18 again at some point. And often, if they can produce.
Like John Shannon said on Oilers Now, paraphrasing,
With Draisaitl McDavid XXX
You get about 26 minutes of Draisaitl and McDavid.
With XXX McDavid XXX
and XXX Draisaitl XXX
You get about 56 minutes of Draisaitl and McDavid.
#SalvationLiesWithin
Well it should be 40 and that’s still 2/3 of the game
Haven’t had a chance to comment on this yet, but this post is an absurdly well-written commentary about the woes of our Edmonton Oilers. It’s a harrowing tale for sure.
https://theathletic.com/3073372/2022/01/17/lowetide-why-cant-the-oilers-win-a-trade-in-the-connor-mcdavid-era/
I would have stopped following these Oilers years ago if it weren’t for LT though I’m not even sure that’s a good thing. 🙂
Not a word out of place, LT!
Anyone anticipating change in the coaching or management today were setting themselves up for disappointment, in my opinion.
No offence to BaggedMilk, who I respect greatly, but, given the Holland avail last week, any press conference today was going to indeed have a real announcement and, in this day and age, there is no way any such announcement would not have been leaked between BM’s tweet yesterday and the end of the evening.
As far as vitriol towards Holland, etc. for being in California for their pro scouting meetings, really? If anything, the fanbase should be encouraged that, right now, today, they are meeting to discuss potential transactions.
The fact its down south means nothing. My goodness, talk about trying to find things to criticize.
These aren’t normal times, OP, that’s the problem. Keep in mind Holland has been MIA since last fall, and the Edmonton media had to beg him for a press conference where he talked about tying an onion to his belt, as was the style at the time.
Then they fall off the rails against Ottawa and it appears like rock bottom and Holland and the scouts are off enjoying themselves in Cali while I continuously slip to death on the sidewalks 🙂
You’re correct, completely, from a rational standpoint, but pro sports and rationality are not common bedfellows.
Holland has and will never feel heat like he’s going to receive if this team doesn’t turn it around and judging by their body motion this will not happen until there’s a Coaching change.
Holland hadn’t been MIA since last fall – he was on with Gregor within the last month and he does various radio spots and shows across the nation sporadically – i’ll see him Tim and Sid (or whatever its called now), sporadically, for sample.
I said it a week ago, the Oilers will get stomped by Florida, lose to Calgary and then they will fire the coach. It’s the Oiler way. Don’t address the real issues and do it much too late.
Classic observation, sadly.
Will be interesting to see OP.
Holland is on the record that the 1st is only in play if, at the deadline, we’re looking like we could go on a solid run in the playoffs.
BUT, he first formulated this ^ idea when we were winning.
Will he change his tune to “rescue” the team?
I mean the pressure to adapt away from his original position has to be enormous, no?
Good question. Winning or losing, has he ever traded a 1st for a rental?
Plus losing is a great reason NOT to trade the 1st for a rental.
If a goalie trade happens I expect it will happen without the 1st going the other way.
Would you trade a 1st (lottery protected) and Koskinen for Varlamov?
Yes (+) / No (-) ?
Would Lamoriello? If no, comment and suggest what we would have to add?
The answer is I don’t know.
But I would point out, Varlamov has a 3 yr SV% of .917 on a team that plays pretty tight defensive systems under Barry Trotz. This suggests that he would probably be a .900 to .910 on the loose Oilers team.
Here’s part of the Goalie Voodoo. If the Oilers solidified their defense and systems play, Varlamov would have value. He would have a chance to succeed. But this is not the situation at this point in time imo.
He’s 33 (will be 34 in April), was a 1st Round pick (23rd OV). I don’t think he’s Elite. I don’t think he’s ever been a Vezina finalist. Don’t think he’s ever won anything. Could be wrong.
I’m not great at guessing, but I’ll give it a go. I think the ask from Lamoriello would be a 1st and a lesser prospect.
If you want Koskinen going the other way the ask might be as high as the 1st and a legit prospect like Samorukov. Not good value imo
That’s a fair point.
No, he’s not ideal. It’s not like he’s a Nedeljkovic that’s young, free and would have been the perfect solution.
I tried to find a goalie that’s likely to be available, has some success, and isn’t a rental. Let me know if you can think of anyone else meeting that criteria.
Hey Ryan.
Not a good example, but I think Toronto brought Jack Campbell in as a back-up at league minimum salary.
” Jack Campbell and Kyle Clifford were traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs by the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday for Trevor Moore, a third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft and a third-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft.
Campbell, a 28-year-old goalie, is 8-10-2 with a 2.85 goals-against average and .900 save percentage for Los Angeles this season as the backup to Jonathan Quick. Toronto goalie Frederik Andersen has a neck injury, and backup Michael Hutchinson is 4-9-1″
Or, Why not a rental?
I would like MAF, but tt’s been rumored MAF doesn’t want to leave Chicago (or the USA) and has a 10 team no trade list. So he’s probably out.
Not claiming Ned last year still really chaps my ass. Talk about an unforced error.
At this point, I’d say no to trading the 1st rounder for anything less than a steal of epic proportions in favour of the Oilers. the “Chiarelli level of lunacy” if you will.
It’s interesting. I get what you’re saying and under different circumstances I would agree…
If I were the Oilers GM, what would I do?
This is it though, we’re mostly capped out for this year and next, and either some of our promising prospects will arrive in time to save the day or they won’t.
But at this point, I think Holland, as the highest paid GM in the league, is derelict of duty if he doesn’t get a goalie.
We’re staring down a prime year of 29 and 97 in which we are increasingly likely miss the playoffs completely. That’s completely unacceptable.
What are you going to say to 29 and 97 when the Oilers miss the playoffs? It’s going to be better next year when you have Bourgeault on your wing and Holloway centering the third line?
For the record, I don’t love Varlamov and I don’t like this trade, but Holland has painted himself into a corner.
The big question is if Varlamov waives his NTC. I would consider it but only if Smith is going back the other way, that would free up enough cap to make this and next year work with Varlamov.
It’s a modified NTC with a 16 team list. Yeah, that could be an issue.
Trading for any goalie under Trotz will likely not work out.
Also hard to win a trade with Lou
Ken dealing with Lou wouldn’t be something I would look forward to.
Is there another Nedeljkovic this year somewhere?
It might be this guy.
https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=176778
So the solution to the Koskinen problem is to repeat the same thing??
but was shocked we didn’t pick up Ned on waivers when they took Forsberg and stated that at the time
The Koskinen “problem” was giving him a 3 year contract extension.
Vejmelka is on an ELC at $842 K and is an RFA at the end of the season.
It would cost essentially zero to take him for a test drive.
Acquisition cost. New contract for a guy. Hardly no cost.
with almost no track record
What is saving a season worth in your world?
getting a goalie with a lot of track record a fair bit
getting a goalie with 25 games track record to have the weight of the team on his shoulders. I’m sure that would not backfire at all
He’s made some timely saves when we played against him.
He’s an RFA at the end of this year. I’m not sure Arizona would want to trade him?
I think they will trade anything not nailed down.
They obtained him on waivers so don’t have much of an investment.
The main problem isn’t the goaltending. No goaltender can fix the main problem.
This is a masturbatory trade and a waste of assets.
What is the main problem, Zach Kassian and Tyson Barrie? 🙂
While I agree that there are many other problems (bottom six, deficient blue line, lack of cap space), Holland is pot committed to this roster.
There’s really no fixing the rest of this mess any time soon baring a retirement party from Keith at the end of the season.
When you’re pot committed, folding is not an option.
If we’re going to just let it burn, I’m not sure what happens next. trade requests? A new manger? Rebuild 10.0?
Are you arguing that 29 and 97 are going to be fine with missing the playoffs this season, going into next with no cap space and mostly the same roster, and hoping that Holloway or someone is ready to help?
I think the coaching change is as close to a certainty as it can get. We can quibble on the
‘when’ it will happen or the ‘who’.
For me, the biggest danger is the pressure on Kenny do to “something” -in season.( roster wise)
I have been talking about this for some time….but our last GM did some real ( even for Oiler management) funny things when the heat was on him.
Dangerous times for Oiler fans and Oiler prospects.
Holland has capped us out for years to come and trades our draft picks for fun. How did Bowman get a third and possibly a second out of Holland in the Keith trade. This trade makes zero sense now and the day it happened unless Keith is retiring.
Which McCurdy (whom I think of very highly) informs us is an approx. 0% chance of happening.
How does this trade make zero sense?
The Oilers’ traded a 7/8th defenseman and a 3rd round pick. In return they got a 2LHD and player that is basically a 3rd round pick.
YTD
Jones has played in 42% of CHB games has 3 points and plays 14:41 TOI
Keith has played in 75% of Oiler games has 9 points and play 20:39 TOI
The legend that Jones is a top 4 defenseman has not materialized nor has the legend that the CHB wanted Caleb to secure Seth.
To focus only on the cap hit only tells 40% of the story. To get Keith with 2 years of term was the key as Broberg and others needed time to mature in the AHL.
Can’t argue with you Reja. It’s a common refrain.
But I look at it like Holland was hired to run in a hurdles race.
Problem is he was asked to start 10 meters and 2 hurdles behind the rest of the pack.
Trying to make up an insurmountable gap can lead to some desperate tactics.
But your point is well taken. Rudimentary Ken is the wrong guy for two reasons: Rudimentary Analytics and No demonstrated success in the cap era. His 2008 success /roster was basically built pre-cap.
And worse yet, you can replace Ken if you like, but the fish rots from the head down.
The more things change….
They have a couple of practice days this week.
Can this team rediscover discipline, intelligent play, defensive conscience in that time?
You’d think by now they’ve fallen so low they’d actually give up playing by the seat of their pants and invest in structure, team play, and what the coaches are telling them. Finally.
But we’ll see.
I’d like to see a result like the one the Canucks got last night, and this team does seem to rise to the tougher opponents. But this team is also like a box of chocolates… you never know what you’re going to get on game night.
We wait.
“Can this team rediscover discipline, intelligent play, defensive conscience in that time?”
No. No they cannot. But you have hit upon the single largest conflict that is present in this Oilers locker room imo.
Dave Tippett has been begging this team to play defensively responsible hockey since he arrived. The leadership group have absolutely convinced themselves that playing firebrand hockey favors them .
It is a dangerous dichotomy.
Per Rishaug, Perlini in a white “top 6” jersey today.
That is one thing I’ve never loved about Tip, as he does put labels on things like this “top 6/bottom 6” and they wear different jersey’s, etc.
I’ve always hated the labels on players at all levels of hockey.
I couldn’t agree with this more, though this does seem to be a part of hockey culture.
But segregating the lines in this way, so that they have different identities, is a big part of the problem. The team needs to have an identity, a style of play, but they should all play the same way.
This has been a problem with the Oilers as long as I have been following them, and it has only gotten worse in the McDavid years.
It is bad for the quality of the team, because you talk yourself into thinking you have enough offensive players.
It is bad for the development of young players, since there are only so many places for them to play.
It is bad for team unity, since it is harder for players outside the top six to make a meaningful contribution.
Top six/bottom six is one of the worst ideas in sports.
And the team has issues playing as a group and being tight as a group
This is the problem with so many old school hockey guys
Completely out of touch with players now who the oldest of are millennials
They are socially oriented so creating any rifts is disruptive to how many of that generation were raised and schooled.
They also have been raised to source information independently and via social media, so the grumpy prick, do it because I said so, doesn’t work anymore
If the coach is asking for a style that isn’t working and they don’t like, they will come to an opinion together and they will opt out, without necessarily souring on the person (coach) like the good old days
So things aren’t necessarily acrimonious but the room is still lost
These are of course generalities but it’s happening across all industries
At the end of the day the buck stops with the coach. Then the GM, etc.
Unfortunately Oilers culture of OBC has rotted the sinews of the organisation to the point where they are in 8th place in the Division despite having 2 of the best players in the world.
No accountability.
Now the 2 best players are halfway through their contracts, and naturally will be planning their exits to better managed teams. As a fan, it makes you feel sick to think about it.
I think Connor is the best offensive player in the world, but not the best player. He doesn’t have a full range yet, a rounded game, a playoff type game. 5v5 if he’s given room he destroys, if he isn’t he doesn’t always do that much. He looks dangerous, no points, and often gets scored on
For forwards it is still Syd, or Bergeron, or O’Reilly. It’s not about points it’s about winning. Leon at times is like them, a high end two way type, but still visibly shows frustration which is a maturity issue, and goes into periods of average personal play and sluggishness (he doesn’t ‘have’ to take super long shifts I’m sure)
Syd and the others don’t always have success, but they always try to play proper NHL hockey: tons of work, consistency, play any style, and attention to detail
It’s not a slight, it’s an observation that is seen by many especially outside the YEG
Agreed.
3rd line
Draisaitl McDavid Kassian
The practice jersey colour scheme predates Tippett.
Any idea if other teams do this? And if there’s a specific purpose?
What a sobering moment in this season we are experiencing right now!! We read “Skinner in protocol”, and we’re all upset. A ROOKIE goalie, coming off a solid .800 save percentage against the Senators going out is a huge blow!!
Let this sink in for a second.
Skinner had the fewest losses to project our hopes and dreams on though.
Can we start talking about the draft now?
Soon
Thank you
Yeah, I mean this year is well past done. Maybe they scrape into the playoffs (but looking pretty unlikely at this point). But even if they do, this team is nowhere near a Cup contender.
The die was cast in the summer with the ‘upgrades’ Holland made.
If Tippett isn’t going to be back next year, he should be gone now. Let Woodcroft run with it and then revisit. I guess canning Tippett and giving another long-term commitment (Babcock) would be way worse than letting Tippett play out the string, though.
The interim should be Gulutzan. Don’t disrupt Bakerfield this year.
Apropos of nothing, I was just looking at prospect scoring and noticed that Savoie has the 5th highest goal scoring rate in NCAA history (at least, what Quant Hockey has listed, which goes back over 20 years), behind only Caufield, Kyle Connor, Cammalleri and Reilly Smith. Interestingly, of those only Smith played in the NCHC, all the others played in the Big-10, which today isn’t as strong a conference as NCHC. The difference is large enough that Savoie’s .722 G/GP produces the exact same NHLe as Caufield’s .968 G/GP.
Anyhow, that’s pretty strong company to be in.
Broberg is T-22nd among 20 year old AHL defensemen for P/GP, one spot ahead of Tyson Barrie. Bouchard is at #20. Does he bring more offense than we thought on draft day?
Swedish defense are hard to pin down offensively.
Against his peers he’s always looked to be a dynamic player on offense.
Broberg made his nicest offensive play of the season on Saturday. Took a PP faceoff win, beat a man down the side boards, spun towards the middle for space and sent a cross-ice pass to Griffith for a goal.
It was great to see as Broberg hadn’t been quite as dominant/effective in recent weeks – ice time down, not all over the ice with the puck as much, etc.
Keith Gretzky did mention the other day that he was dealing with a bit of fatigue.
Makes sense given his first season in North America – different game over here.
There is always hope. There are some nice prospects coming down the pipe these days. Savoie, Petrov, and Bourgault.
I’m hoping that this Petrov, is reminiscent of the late great Vladimir Petrov, who was part of Tarasov’s great “Troika” along with Kharlamov, and Mikhailov.
We can only hope.
Yeah, the way things are trending this will be a very good team in 23-24, with guys like Holloway, Bourgault, Savoie, Petrov, Tullio and Broberg potentially added to the core of McDavid, Draisaitl, Hyman, Nugent-Hopkins, Puljujarvi, Yamamoto, Nurse and Bouchard. That’s real skill and depth.
The trouble is, the fanbase likely revolts before all that comes together. And the fear is that McDavid won’t want to wait either and will ask for a trade before we get there. There’s no easy answers, but trading high-end prospects for less than 100 cents on the dollar isn’t going to end well and Holland knows it. History, remember, will judge a trade based on a retrospective look rather than the needs at the time.
Nice posts, and this one in particular.
I would also note that, for me, I was most heartened by a Savoie assist last night where he was dogged on the forecheck, caused a turnover by a d-man that had clear possession, and set up a net front goal.
Its all but assured that he turns pro for next season – the question will be if he signs his ELC and burns this season or goes that ATO route to play for the Condors and signs his ELC for 2022/23.
In a dream world, Katz becomes Marcellus Wallace and sends the hockey version of Winston Wolf in to calm everyone down and get stuff done.
However, I have a feeling that Bobby Nicks is Butch Coolidge and he and Katz met in Maynard’s pawn shop and Bobby Nicks has something on Katz.
That is my most bizarre, yet plausible way that Bobby Nicks still has a job.
Well that’s some damn good writing.
Well as a fan, it sure does seem that the team is getting medieval on my…well, you know.
I believe that would make Koskinen the gimp
That would leave McDavid as Jules and Draisaitl as Vincent.
Vinnie: But you know what the funniest thing about (insert up-n-coming NHL team here) is?
Jules: What?
Vinnie: It’s the little differences. I mean they got the same shit over there, we got
here, but it’s just there’s a little difference.
Pretty sure McDavid is Honey Bunny and Drai is Pumpkin…
This is so good, I’m nearly speechless.
CrazyCoach is right. Our next hire has to be the man (or woman) described in Ezekiel 25;17
“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you.”
“Don’t worry Jules, I’m on the mother*****. Go in there and chill them (*#£¥*#) out, and wait for Paul Maurice, who should be coming directly”
This Florida game may be a turning if we see a pissed off team come out and play like world beaters and win. If they could pull off a W in this game , it could be a huge boost. We have not had much go right in the last several weeks, and it is like the hockey God’s hate us.
It really is time for a game where the bounces go our way and Mikko has the game of the year. WE can only hope.
JUST do not let in a softy to start the game, or the deflation mode on the bench will be catastrophic and it could be something we don’t recover from period this year .
Start the Russian 😉
Skinner in Covid protocol.
Le sigh. When everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. Do we have a team psychologist?
Florida has scored the most goals in the league.
What could possibly go wrong?
Start the Russian and pray he pulls a Tretiak.
We just cannot get a break. This team can’t get any bounces or anything positive right now . Shitty
They’re playing scared need to fire Tippett for a fresh start before the season is cooked.
I give the coach kudos for starting Skinner before last game.
I post for a week about Lagesson needing to play over Koekkoek.
WTF do I know?
What you don’t seem to know is that until Holland is fired nothing will improve.
Nothing
I think you’re right. The track record is long now.
I think lots of people felt the same.
Send Laggeson back down and Bring back Finding Nemo.
I was told the reason he was sent down was cap #’s. Well he needs to come back now.
Lagesson is better than Nemo right now, and it isn’t particularly close. Nemo has more potential, but isn’t ready.
I felt the same – that Lagesson had been unjustly maligned.
I’d go back to Lagesson-Bouchard and see what they can do.
It was bad, but Skinner was also real bad (COVID?) and there was some scrambly play by the forwards as well.
LT mentioned Nurse has gone back to dumping the puck too much – I wonder if this is because teams have videoed us to death and they know if they forecheck hard our D will have a difficult time.
Not that I’ve been right about this, but why not put Ceci w/Lags, Bouchard back w/Nurse and leave Barrie w/Keith?
All the right D were/are leaking goals against. So to save face, they protect Barrie the most of the three.
Keith is the best ‘protection’ for Barrie?
Nurse plays the hardest minutes. Lagesson is effectively a rookie. The default is Keith. Where can one hide Barrie and not make him look bad.
I dunno. Nurse is barely ahead of Keith in %TOI vs. elites (35% to 33%) and Keith gets far more Dzone starts.
I’ll remind you also that Barrie has been a 21+ minute a night outscorer for almost all of his career.
Mostly I was just surprised to see someone claim Keith as a better landing spot for a partner than Nurse.
Keith has all of a sudden put up 9 points at 5 on 5 and a 1.18 P/60.
He’s moving the puck well and is making plays.
IIRC 4 of the Dmen (including Keith) were over 1.0 P/60 at some point earlier in the year. Not a shock he’s back there now.
To somewhat support Godot’s point above, I checked the deployment from last game and Keith-Barrie got the ozone push while Nurse-Ceci got more of the dzone starts.
That’s an obvious thing to do with those pairs, but it’s a big departure for Nurse/Keith from the rest of the season (Nurse around 60%, Keith around 40% ozone starts). It fits also with Keith and Barrie having some nice offense in their games.
Keith was actually at 0.98 P/60 on Dec 1 and 0.92 on December 15.
From December 15 until today, he’s at 1.81 (Bouch at 1.83).
1.18 and 1.38 I think?
But yeah he’s been on a good run.
Hope he can keep it up while the rest of the team gets back on track.
Since Dec 15, its 1.81 and 1.82
http://naturalstattrick.com/playerteams.php?fromseason=20212022&thruseason=20212022&stype=2&sit=5v5&score=all&stdoi=std&rate=y&team=EDM&pos=D&loc=B&toi=0&gpfilt=gpdate&fd=2021-12-15&td=2022-01-17&tgp=410&lines=single&draftteam=ALL
Gotcha.
Lagesson?
Think of it this way. The results could have been even worse if the coach did not do those two things
Potentially but this its reasonable to think the Oilers win that game with Mikko in net and/or Koekkoek at 3LD.
Players have bad games. It was just shitty that Lags and Skinner both had bad games.
I was extremely disappointed to see many in the EDM MSM take a gigantic dump on Skinner for not saving the season in one game. He had been bouncing around 1/2 North America for 2 weeks. But this is so typical of the MSM, take an easy target and kill it.
Terry Jones’ piece, in particular, was something else.
Holland et al heading to Napa for some serious Red Wine Summits
I have no issue with firing the coach, but I can’t see the new guy getting better results – without a change in goaltending. Maybe Tippet has somehow made Koskinen worse than he actually is, but I think we all know this isn’t true. In the last 10 games, the Oiler save percentage is .870, against a bunch of low scoring teams
This team would make Vasilevskiy look bad .
This may be true, but our goalies give the other team a free goal every game. No team can overcome this.
Tipps had a 3-1 lead on a team going into the 3rd that his squad had a clear mental advantage on even though the club hasn’t won a game with Tipps behind the bench in nearly 2 months now.. His game plan then proceeded to produce 5 3rd period goals against.
I’m sure there’s some coaches out there that no what time outs are, have game plans practiced and in place for properly defending a lead.. Could go on but Tipps seems like he’s looking to get fired.
Oh, come on, the game plan led to 5 goals against?
The game plan included a bad Lagesson decision in the neutral zone leading to a 2 on 1 against?
The game plan included Skinner trying a no look backhand pass behind his net?
The game plan included Bouch screen Skinner who gave up too much net at the same time?
The game plan included Ceci missing the stick lift and getting a highsticking PIM?
The game plan included an empty net goal against?
The defense and the forwards commitment to defense and battle is the problem more than the goaltending. And the coaching. Why are they coaching Koskinen and Skinner to play like Smith?
Every NHL goalie needs to be able to stop the puck behind the net and make plays with the puck. If a goalie can’t do it at all, they can’t play in the NHL.
They aren’t coaching them to play like Smith but coaching and practicing an important attribute for NHL goalies – they need to the work.
A goalie never leaving his net to help his d-men, puck recovery, defensive structure and transition is a non-starter.
Well then coach the D to get back faster. Because the forechecker is beating the D to get into position to intercept the pass before the D are in position to receive the pass.
I don’t like sending both D to the wings. If I’m coaching, one of my D better be coming back to the front of the net, And F2 better being hightailing it to the wall on the goalies backhand.
Gotta hand it to Zach Kassian; the guy knows how to sell newspapers.
In the middle of a post game presser, drops the phrase “The writing is on the wall”
https://www.nhl.com/oilers/video/post-raw–kassian-011522/t-281751750/c-10229542
Kassian’s a smart dude.
He’s conned the Oilers into giving him two medium length contracts for about $18 million total. So that probably qualifies as smart in one way.
He’s been around the league long enough to know what’s happening…or rather, what’s going to happen with this team.
My worry is that the upcoming Florida game is going to drive him a bit wonky. If the score is run up, I expect Kassian to start going bananas on some of the opposition.
May I ask why you would expect this of Kassian?
I can’t remember the last time Kassian “went bananas on the opposition” and, when he does, he’s protecting himself (i.e. Tkachuk incidents).
I expect Kassian to continue to do nothing at all.
Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) Tweeted:
My understanding is Ken Holland and his management and scouts are in California at pro scouting meetings this week. Don’t suspect any significant change is imminent, and that what he said at his avail last week on his coaching holds true right now as well.
https://twitter.com/TSNRyanRishaug/status/1483117219764600838?s=20
Kenny said last week he is 100% behind his coach.
Expect nothing on this front anytime soon.
If Tipp gets almost his full line up (i.e., his Smitty), and is still losing games, then expect the possibility of a coaching change in season.
IF the Oil continues to dive and miss the play-offs, it will be interesting to see if Katz then cuts bait on the remaining $10M for KH and guts this thing. But as we have all seen multiple times before this cycle goes like this…
New GM brings in “his guys” on and off the ice. Takes about 2 years, at which point it may as well be a complete re-build Ver.6.0
“New GM brings in “his guys” on and off the ice. Takes about 2 years, at which point it may as well be a complete re-build Ver.6.0”
This is the heart of the dilemma. Are you willing to bite the bullet, knowing full well it might precipitate the beginning of the end of the dynamic duo.
#EyesWideOpen
GMs often tell the media that they are “100% behind their coach” … then a few more losses occur, and the coach gets fired. The vote of confidence has long been known as the kiss of death for NHL coaches … why should Tippett be any different. If the Oiler lose the next two, the pitchforks will be out … Holland will try to save himself.
Baggedmilk started the press conference rumour and has since stated that his info was incorrect.
I would be shocked if there was a press conference/if anything meaningful happened today.
The Oilers have just lost 10+ games in a row and nothing has happened.
Adjust your expectations.
Katz has $10 million reasons not to fire Holland.
Tip is on an expiring contract and has survived this long. If he has not been fired yet it ain’t going to happen this season.
This is us.
I don’t disagree that this “expected change” is almost certainly not going to happen.
I doubt we’ll see a head coaching change but its within the realm of possibility. On the other hand, there is all but zero chance Holland is fired, in my opinion.
Of note, the Oilers have not lost 10 plus in a row.
It’s interesting that there is a clamoring for a deeper reliance on analytics on one hand while in there other many are trotting out Mike Babcock and John Tortorella as coaching options.
We need the specialists to bring us into the modern age! We also need guys who are known bullies to yell at our players and whip them into shape. We need a guy who’s got a shorter shelf-life than Evander Kane to bring some toughness to our dressing room! We need a guy known to publicly embarrass his players in front of their teammates, pitting guys against each other, to bring some edge to the room!
Man o man count me out of the sweepstakes for those two. Their times are done, their methods no longer suitable for a world that takes workplace abuse seriously.
In the summer bring on Woody, he’s earned his shot.
As I mentioned the other day, the one time in the last 30(?) years the Oilers went out of the box for a head coaching hire, it was Dallas Eakins.
We all like to dunk on Eakins but it was a brave choice that was unfortunately a catastrophic failure.
Now every coaching hire since has been safe, establishment choices (McLellan, Hitchcock, Tippett) – the boys Nicholson and Katz know from Team Canada.
They’re terrified of getting it wrong again, and are more willing to try a mediocre, uninspired apppoach out of fear of failure.
We absolutely should not be talking about Babcock and Torts, but given that we’re dealing with Katz, Bobby Nicks and Holland, we have to assume those would be the types of coaches they’d be looking at.
Would make a great Fan Poll, Given no other choices, who do you choose;
Babcock
Tippett
Tortorella
The correct answer is…. Spoil your ballot.
The cheating answer would be to write in an alternative name.
Everyone scrawl Woodsy
Tortorella is what this team deserves .
Tortorella.
But, Todd Nelson is #1 on my dance card.
I think people are just going for maximum shock value, and I can understand why. It’s an old-school approach, but it’s been known to work for short periods. I think the Oilers should be thinking longer term when making these decisions though. What’s that saying LT has? Something like “begin as you mean to go”?
Tortorella is NOT old school.
On first read, I though this said “bring on Woodguy, he’s earned his shot”. And I was thinking hell yes! If nothing else, the serving of fine whisky at games rather than overpriced beer should be worth the price of entry alone. And soon we might have the first rink built entirely out of wood.
Pretty sure no one Torts has coached has accused him of being “abusive” to his players. Even the players who he was hard on have defended him publicly.
He is awful to the media guys in the scrum though, and he can really get on the refs.
Babcock … this is speculative, due to the fact that he and Holland have a history together, and he’s just one province over. You just know Babcock is looking for redemption, after getting cancelled a bit in Toronto. It was interesting that aside from Franzen (and Mike Commodore, who’s been dissing Babcock on social media for years), no one else really said much pro or against Babcock. That being said, if we’re willing to put up with Kane if he could right the good ship Oilers, then we’d probably put up with Babcock if he could turn this thing around.
That being said … yeah, I’d like see Torts here … the 03-04 Lightning were a pretty top-heavy team with St. Louis, Richards and Lecavalier. Outside of Dan Boyle, the defence was nothing special (Kubina, Sarich, Lukowich, Sydor, Pratt). They had Khabibulin at the top of his game, but otherwise, there are a lot of similarities.
Clean house at the deadline this year, reload in the summer with a goalie and let Torts have a run with this roster.
“It starts ‘hey kids, dig the first takes, ain’t that an inspiration’ and the phones hum and the Al Gore rattles. A strong run comes when Sinatra sings against Nelson Riddle’s strings and then takes a permanent vacation.”
In the IT Business, the leading think tank The Gartner Group, created The Gartner hype cycle; a graphical presentation developed to represent the maturity, adoption, and social application of specific technologies.
It included; “The Peak of Inflated Expectations” followed by “The Trough of Disillusionment” which lead to “The Slope of Enlightenment” and finally “The Plateau of Productivity”
The modern day Oilers never seem to get past the first two phases.
#RollercoasterRide #GroundHogDay (specifically Balzac Billy)
“The Slope of Enlightenment” is “Advanced Analytics”
“The Plateau of Productivity” is LT’s “Efficiency Quotient”… AKA “The Balance Photo.”
Will Balzac Billy (AKA Daryl Katz) see his shadow???
Will Oilers fans experience an Early Spring Rising? Or are we fated to endure another six years of winter.
Has anyone actually heard anything or any confirmation of a media availability or a press conference today ?
Rishaug said Holland is out of town in scouting meetings (ha ha ha ha) so he would be shocked if anything happened today.
Unless Katz is going to punt him over Skype
Yeah. Guarantee you Holland becomes the Oilers Head Scout for the next 2 months.
#OnTheRoadAgain
#LeaveNoStoneLeftUnturned
#ClimbEveryMountain (As sung by the lovely old Nun)
#HidingInPlainSight
What about Nurse? 6-9 (40)
And Draisaitl? 9-17 (34.7)
Together with the injuries, and the goaltending, IMO those are the biggest stories in this slide.
It’s incredibly difficult for any team to overcome their best players being soundly outscored.
And this isn’t to say Nurse and Draisaitl are the problem, I have no doubt they’ll recover.
But IMO the teams best players do own a lot of this slide.
That’s actually why I’m more optimistic than most about the team, because we know these players can and almost certainly will be better going forward.
It’s a function of deployment, partially.
Or rather eating too many minutes.
Leon is gassed. He’s #1 in the league in toi/game. (forwards)
You can guess who’s second. (Mcdavid)
Nurse is second in TOI among d and hasn’t been passing well since breaking his finger.
1 game in 9 days?
It’s over the season. Draisaitl is averaging 46 seconds per game more than last year.
Unlike a lot of players on the TOI leaderboard, Draisaitl plays 42 seconds per game on the PK.
It’s a lot of minutes. In the law of diminishing returns, I believe his minutes are past the point of maximum yield.
Not suggesting dialing his minutes back a bit wouldn’t help but it’s worth noting that these players are all within a minute or so of his TOI/G
Brent Burns 36
Alex Pietrangelo 31
Kris Letang 34
Drew Doughty 32
At 26, you would think Nurse would have more stamina than the greybeards.
Prior to the Sens’s game, the Oilers were 50% goal share with McDavid and Drai off in the previous 10 games.
The bottom six had/has been doing just fine in my opinion.
The biggest two issues have been (1) as you note, the top 6 at 5 on 5, in particular, Drai’s swoon and (2) the HORRID PK.
D ice time is slightly easier than forward ice time.
Draisaitl is the most overplayed player in the league. Tippett has made himself into a fool with his player ice time deployment.
TOI is likely a contributing factor, that’s definitely fair.
Draisaitl did play almost as many minutes per game in his Hart season though and finished strong (though 71 games). He’s also played similar/more PK minutes in years prior to this.
Nurse is playing almost a minute more than last year (which was a career high), so fair enough. And for sure the broken finger isn’t helping.
He’s added a minute more in these last 15 games (vs Oct/Nov), presumably mostly due to injuries/Covid for the other LD. Hopefully his TOI comes down a bit even without any specific change in deployment plan.
I agree the usage isn’t helping, but I still feel like we should expect positive regression from those two regardless.
been down so long its beginning to look up to me…I really like Tippet but have a feeling he has also had enough and his confidence is reflected in our play and players…something has to give…
Are we worried about Nurse?
The expectation for him is a true #1 D man. Next yr he will start being paid like one ($9.25 MIl).
To me, he has to be better …. he has been solid-ish …. but that is not the expectation …
He has to play with more grit. When he was in junior he was a mean Dman , He definitely shows it every so often, but he needs to play a lot tougher .
He’s Grit already. Just needs to read play to the level he did last season. Add 14 flukey goals and BINGO: #1 D.
For a moment there I thought you were talking about Chychrun. He went on a goal-scoring tear last year too and now people think he’s Hedman.
You cannot do that when the team needs you to play 25 hard minutes per game, and you have to stay on the ice. Playing with grit means penalties.
HE broke his finger during this time. I don’t suspect even now that he is at 100%, but yes, definitely needs to be better, but lets give him a chance to get healthy.
He is being overplayed, significantly
But he is a 7 mil a year defenseman that we threw money at, but at least if you are going to overpay top of the lineup is at least defensible
Nurse should have been traded this past off-season.
Hopelessly over-rated.
What we see now is the real Nurse. Trade him at all costs.
Same with RNH.
Yes the solution is to get rid of the good players, never change.
Nurse iced the puck a few times last game which was frustrating but, other than that, he was fire last game, in my opinion. Just elite defending the rush, solid in the defensive zone structure game and involved in scoring chance creation throughout the game.
With respect to his passing being off, it was noted on here that he is coming off a broken thumb. I can’t remember who it was (sorry) but I felt like it was a good point.
I do feel Nurse has taken a bit of a step back this season in his own zone (mostly trying to do too much which leads to puck chasing) but I thought his game on Saturday was great.
All he has on the right side to play with is a rookie or two 3rd pairing D.
Ethan Bear is better right now than all the right D. Bouchard has more potential. I’d take Bouchard over Bear, but Bear over the other two.
Ceci is, almost inarguably, a legit top 4 d-man.
Bear would be in the mix in Edmonton, for sure, but with his recent player, there is no assurance he would play over any of the 3 current RD on the roster, on merit.
This is not correct. We’ve been over it, so I won’t bore you, but OP this just isn’t correct.
What isn’t correct? That goalies need to be able to stop rims and play the puck behind the net?
If that’s what you are getting at, with respect, I disagree (and don’t recall having been over this).
I agree is closer to a top-four defenseman than originally thought, not sure if he’s a second pairing blue but he can play there with good support imo.
But the idea that Bear would be a HS in Edmonton is a bridge too far imo.
I could very well seeing each of Barrie, Bouchard and Ceci playing over him on any given night. I could also see Bear getting the most TOI on any given night.
All of those d-men have proven to be able to play top 4 minutes with a good partner. All of them have also shown to struggle in certain areas at time.
I’m not saying I would take any or all of them over Bear (and I would rather have him over Barrie) but on any given night, he could bat fourth in that order.
FromThe Mamas and Papas – a hokey name for an act in any decade, to U2, and then the leap to Frank Sinatra and Nelson Riddle. Maybe more if I looked harder, but now I’m too busy crooning and dreaming a Summer Wind.
I thought it was a “Summer breeze” that was supposed to make me feel fine?
Through those tours with S+C, I had to listen to Summer Breeze every damn day for months on end until I felt sick;-)
Glad I could “help” you revive those timeless memories
If Holland fires Tipp and puts Gulutzan in place for the remainder of the season without any other changes, what is the message there?
No snark here, I’m trying to think it through – we all know the last 2 wins were with GG and I seem to recall some more evenly-spaced playing time, but when you fire the head coach and make no other changes, it seems like a half measure.
Hard to replace an entire coaching staff midstream and I get that.
Is it better to bring in a new head coach from outside, keeping the existing GG/Playfair/etc crew and just hoping for a superior focus and message from the head coach?
Or don’t bother doing that right now, just promote GG and wait until the summer for a full overhaul?
Fair question.
Any Coach worth pursuing is going to insist on naming his own staff.
Any internal solution will almost certainly carry the label “Interim” in other words TBD.
Holland is not firing Tip.
If it was going to happen it would have happened already.
There is a point when Holland no longer has the choice of doing nothing
nothing matters but firing Holland this morning , nothing.
the team needs to be gutted to its core
But finding an actual goalie would be a start
But expect nothing
Well. Can’t say i’m on board w gutting the roster. Still good pieces, after everything
Some potential Oiler ties to Mother Russia’s Olympic men’s ice hockey roster, as Anton Slepyshev is on their training camp roster, as is one-time Oiler training camp participant Anton Burdasov:
https://theathletic.com/realtime/9Exu6IDW48jL/
Oilers still hold Slepy’s rights although, of course, those expire this spring and he becomes and NHL UFA.
What a conundrum.
With our past history of “coaching carousel” even the hint of a coaching change raises the anxiety over a return of the PTSD.
And if “Hire an Analytics Dept” is the rallying cry, (and it should be) then the real trepidation sets in, because that’s not gonna happen under Holland or under Nicholson.
So it’s either replace the window casings right in the middle of our window of opportunity (cant see that ending well), or allow our leaky windows to bleed energy literally “out the window” Inefficiency as LT has labeled it. (cant see that ending well either)
In the olden days, the old timers had a phrase; “Time to bite the bullet”. It referred to “preparing for the pain”.
Personally, I’d vote to amputate. Realistically, I don’t see that happening. It’s not in the DNA of the Organization.
It would appear that our fate is tied to greatest force in modern sports. Chance.
What are the chances that the best 2 hockey players on the planet can draw to an inside straight.
When those same old timey guys found themselves in this situation in life, they had another phrase they tossed around; “Come on Baby! Daddy needs a new pair of shoes!”
So to answer the question posed above, Will it be sunny, will it be bright? There is but one answer. Que Sera Sera.
#ILLFated
Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but when I listened to Jay Woodcroft’s last presser I couldn’t help but think of what could be. A coach who inspires and builds up young players and conveys a sense of optimism is a beautiful thing.
I hope that Holland will at least give this roster a chance to play to whatever their capabilities may be. In the long run, hockey is a game won by teams not individuals. At the moment, the Oilers don’t seem like a team. Give them some hope and a goalie that stops a few more pucks and the second half of the season might be a lot more fun.
We could all do with a little wishful thinking right about now.