The Rugged Soul of the Oilers

by Lowetide

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colieo_87

Loved the picture and back story of Billy the goat LT and zero. You’re poor mother and made me reminisce of back in 2000 and living on Quater section, 2km south of lac la biche.

We had neighbour’s that had cattle and a lone warrior alpac that was mean and spit you. I learned the hard way trying to feed it.

So one evening mom was cutting the grass. The alpaca was near the fence, so I decided to feed it some grass. Mom came over and I asked if she wanted to feed it but she was disinterested. ” oh come on mom I pleaded” and mom finally replied fine. Everything was going well so she told me to fetch it a pale of water.

So I go running to out well. Fill up the 5 gal pal and as im walking back getting close to mom. I hear her upset and cussing and she grabs that pale and whips the water at that alpaca.

I looked at mom and she has spit in her face and hair with a green hinge. Next it was me getting a tuning in. You little brat you knew it was going to do that she replied has i was running away. 🏃‍♂️

On a side note this.

This alpaca doesn’t fair much longer. He was put down 3 weeks later and the weirdest part is its journey passed through both sides of family and ends after ending up and my great uncle tonys place. The alpaca head butts Tony in the face and Tony had these thick 1980s style glasses on and they break just under his eyes ans around his nose.

Tony went back in that house and grab the gun and its lights out for Mr alpaca.

813.52Ran

Turns out, Uncle Tony was much meaner than the alpaca in the end.

Last edited 19 days ago by 813.52Ran
colieo_87

Very true and minor detail I over looked 😶

winchester

I’m late to the party, but love the bold theme today as you might guess. I like the phrase “rugged soul”

And it’s a group effort. Never back down belief. Stand up for each other. And win the puck, win the battle at any cost. If it means a penalty, take the penalty, support the man who stands in there. As the hockey saying goes “ it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, so long as you answer the bell”

I listen to so many theories about why Oilers lost these past two years. And there it is, they got out battled by some good hockey players with nasty attitude.

I heard Declan say “did McDavid really show up?” Because he was held pointless.

If you can skate, suffocate, hook and hold, you can stop McDavid. Count on it happening again this year. Count on it. So what’s the plan to counter?

I love the defence, like the goalies, love the youth coming in, love Center ice talent, but would work on that rugged edge.

Some Great posts today

Scungilli Slushy

Great post. Although I don’t agree about centre. They have two centres, some guys that can ‘get by’ at C but not when it counts, and old slower fellow, and no certain 4C

They need a real and effective 3C and one of Philp or Lazar to lock down 4C

OriginalPouzar

Stauff today saying he doesn’t think the Oilers are done. He thinks they are going to shed a contract before the season, look to accrue and acquire a top 9 forward with size in-season.

He did implied Janmark as he said Henrique has the NMC so its likely not him.

Lazar or Philp on the roster over Janmark saves close to $700K – so prob $3.5MM at the deadline (of course, as we saw last season, in-season injuries really hurt the ability to accrue).

Reja

I think a lot depends on Howard and Savoie rookies seasons go myself expect both to be in the Calder conversation especially if Howard gets PP1 time. Savoie may get 25 seconds of PP2 and a opportunity to pot a couple on the SH 2 squad if he’s given the green light with the conservative coach K.K

OriginalPouzar

Bob was implying the move to open up some cap space would occur prior to the season – its got to be Janmark.

You never know as the season goes on but it would be shocking to see Howard on PP1 early without injuries (probably a few).

From all accounts, the personnel on PP1 will not be changing, at least to start.

I have little doubt Savoie will get camp reps on the PK and likely will start on PK2/3.

Solly

Thanks as always LT for keeping hockey interesting and engaging during the summer slum. We are indebted to you.

Here’s my summer thoughts…

While I agree that we don’t need coke machines anymore, we certainly also don’t need 3 lines of Yamamotos either.
FLA is big, mean and nasty…in all areas of their roster. There’s a reason they’re the champs right now….which is the refs. Hahahaha.

We definitely still need grit on this roster though IMO. At least one guy that’s not going to take any crap while dishing it out. Maybe even two.
We have skill for miles, we are fast enough, we are young enough, we are experienced enough…but we are not nasty enough (our goalie tandem isn’t helping either – imagine if we had Bob and they had Skinner, would we have won it?). When Hyman went down as our leading hitter, and Kane gets tempered/neutered by officiating…the rest of our team just wilted.

And that’s the thing, sometimes it’s just that one guy (or two) that gets the rest of the team to play on the edge. We still need that right now…Freddy is not that guy. Perry was that guy and we are going to sorely miss him. What an absolute stud of a hockey player.
LA too…ouch.

Go get Klim Kostin signed to a PTO right now! The fit is so perfect. We need what he has and there’s not much out there right now for options.

P.S. -Burns signed dirt cheap, why not us? Perfect fit for us. Bowman dislikes age I think. I think we missed out on a plug and play/solid vet. Hell, he played forward before….put him on McD’s wing for a while!
-Do not trade Janmark, Henrique should go instead. Janmark is a very useful and dependable player still for cheap. I’d take a lop-sided deal to get rid of Henrique and his salary.
-Sign Podz to 5 years x 2.5mil. Said it before and I’ll say it again.
-Delay signing Ekholm…that injury may be the career killer. Maybe you sign him for cheaper later on too.
-Sign Walman. I’m ok with 8 years.
-I would sign/trade for a Dman that can deliver pain, on top of signing Kostin. We have to be able to intimidate at will. Our D is so soft it’s painful to watch sometimes. Maybe we trade Ekholm for another big veteran that plays meaner?
-I’m keeping the goalies to start. If Samsonov comes on a PTO, great! Otherwise, wait until a better/proven goalie shakes loose during the season.

OriginalPouzar

Go get Klim Kostin signed to a PTO right now! The fit is so perfect. We need what he has and there’s not much out there right now for options.

No real harm in a PTO but its impossible to imagine Klim Kostin making the Oilers opening night roster. Yes, was a good Oilers, a couple nice heaters in his time here but he’s been a below replacement level NHL player on two bad team since (and before he arrived in Edmonton to start with).

The Oilers currently will need to cut at least one established NHL player so how does Klim make this team? We know that exhibition season performance means essentially nothing – he could Perlini the exhibition season and it wouldn’t mean he’s ready to score in the NHL again.

How does he beat out Kapanen or Lazar for the roster?

There is also opportunity risk if he’s added – I’d rather see Samanski and Hutson and Jarventie and the like getting the reps.

Reja

Bowman team did a impressive job turning over every rock on this planet from Tomasek to Samanski to Leppernen to Hutson the surprise return of Jarventie . I think we actually see the hard work of the scouting. department rewarded by these players not only some of them making the team but a few of them having a impact. There’s a new Sheriff in town and this is his team he’s quietly brought in 2 chomping at the bit 21 year-olds a peak Tomasek a healthy Federic-mangiapane. I do think the biscuit will go to everyone and we have at least 7 20 goal scorers. How many 20 goal scorers do you foresee? Let’s see McDavid-Draisaitl-Hyman- ????

OriginalPouzar

-Do not trade Janmark, Henrique should go instead. Janmark is a very useful and dependable player still for cheap. I’d take a lop-sided deal to get rid of Henrique and his salary.

Henrique isn’t waiving his NMC (Stauff implied that again today) and there are league min players signed on this roster that can be just as useful as Janmark. This is a zero offence player that, last year and playoffs, was not nearly as reliable defensively as prior – he’s $600K over-capped

-Sign Podz to 5 years x 2.5mil. Said it before and I’ll say it again.

Anything $2.5MM and below and I give him as much term as we can get.

-Delay signing Ekholm…that injury may be the career killer. Maybe you sign him for cheaper later on too.

Agreed and, even without the injury, he’ll be 36 to start an extension, no need to do this a year ahead.

-Sign Walman. I’m ok with 8 years.

This is must sign and I think there will be sticker shock as I think the AAV could get near $7MM for a medium term deal.

I really do not want to sign him for 8 years given he’ll be 30 when it starts – if it is 7-8 years, its got to get the AAV down below $6MM.

Gerta Rauss

https://www.nhl.com/news/beau-akey-set-to-give-his-all-in-bid-for-eventual-spot-on-edmonton-oilers

 A healthy Beau Akey is an elite skater, he can break the puck out well and he has offense,” Oilers senior director of player development Kalle Larsson said. “In junior hockey he was a two-way defenseman, leaning a little bit more towards offense. I think in pro, he’ll be a two-way defenseman that will need to be more reliable defensively

DVD with a piece yesterday on Beau Akey

OriginalPouzar

I’m expecting a real “development season”.

Many 20 year old d-men graduating from the CHL to the AHL go through a real period of adjustment and on-ice struggle. I expect Akey to start the season as 3RD behind Regula and Brown and will be looking for his first-second half splits and a material uptick in TOI, goal share, etc.

Scungilli Slushy

Just caught a bit of the Lowedown, LT and Declan debating about people blaming which players for the team not being able to win in the finals. Ending up at it’s not just one or two players

It’s a bit of everything. But to me it starts at the top, once you are gifted a generational player (of which there aren’t many, like on or two a generation, hence the title, despite media calling any good player one these days). Time is of the essence. It’s different than being a regular team. Everything is about enhancing that player and making him able to take them over the top. I haven’t seen that since Connor was drafted, until now

I have commented many times that after looking into it, teams that win the Cups now are active traders. They get their top talent in the draft, and go find the pieces needed to build a championship team. They don’t waste time, because players aren’t in prime forever, and chances to do it are not guaranteed

Our own team did exactly that 40 years ago. Sather was a great horse trader, and he soon found the wingers that would allow Gretzky to hit his highs. He built a devastating second line based on two players, and got the third to augment them. Gretzky was traded for, Messier Anderson Kurri Tikkanen drafted. They had a couple of GOAT drafts, that usually doesn’t happen, and if it doesn’t you have to find good deals

Sather also knew how to coach them to be the group that they became. His leadership and tactics were so good it happened quickly. Al Arbour built an amazing group on the Island. More recently Bowman and Quenneville in Chicago, Brisebois and Cooper in Tampa. Zito and Quenneville/Maurice quickly turned Florida around, Zito made a lot of deals to do that

Soon after Holland was hired I felt it was a mistake, perhaps from day one I don’t recall. It starts at the top. The main reason was his career stage, he has been given his laurels, many not really things he did but inherited i think, and the last years in Detroit didn’t bear the signs of a top GM. He has nothing left to prove, like anybody in the NHL he wants to win, but the urgency and drive to learn and adapt aren’t there. No team in any sport becomes great and wins things without the entire organization driving and building toward it

Bowman has 3 Cups but is also much younger and definitely has something to prove after what he went through. Holland is also a poor trader, his son said a few deals that didn’t pan out made him too cautious, which lent to his inactivity and obvious and easy obvious choices. In any deal for a more prominent player he got worked

His coaching choices were obvious and didn’t move the needle enough. That combined with that he couldn’t round out the team to help the coaches and do it with the pace that the situation called for has brought us here. He was mediocre, but that wasn’t what a team with Connor McDavid and Leon needed. So lucky with Leon, nobody was predicting what he has become. So that goes one rung higher and to whoever was advising (avoiding LT’s moderation list)

If they had hired a different GM than KH, one that was more driven and with better vision, I think they would have a Cup at this point. Actually more than one. Bowman has been far more active on many fronts, and has filled some holes Holland didn’t, still more to go. Connor and Leon need the right wingers. They need a third line that is better to help when Connor and Leon get shut down, which has happened in later games in the finals twice. Maybe that doesn’t happen with the right mix. The team has been lacking scoring in prime shooters for too long. They need another goalie to upgrade the tandem. They need some RD. They need more goat and less lamb. Most of this should have been long done

SKOilerFan

As long as “Coli” Campbell is heading up officiating there will be a need for Bully Goats, even more so when they transition to manipulated NHEntertainment in playoffs

judgedrude

When I first saw the photo, what came to mind was “What a great picture of Lowetide. Whose the handsome young lad in the white shirt beside him?” Then reading the text, I replaced Billy with Lowetide thereat of the way, and it seemed to fit (“knowing” the author through these pages)

The point is, LT you are the GOAT in the Oilogosphere. If they accepted people from non-traditional media in the Hall, you would have my nomination… And I’m sure many more from other posters here.

Last edited 20 days ago by judgedrude
OriginalPouzar

I read here, there and everywhere about the rugged soul of the Oilers. Enormous worry about losing Evander Kane via trade, and not having enough Billy Goats in the lineup.

Of course, Evander Kane played zero games last regular season so we aren’t losing anything there. He was effective early in the playoffs but his game faded and, in the SCF, he could stop hi-sticking the opposition in the face and became close to unplayable due to penalties.

Trent Frederic played 7 minutes last regular season so we are adding a legit aggressive power forward – no, he’s not as vicious as Kane but he does have trash-talk swagger in his game and will definitely bang some bodies when he’s able to skate.

Nope, doesn’t have Kane’s goal scoring upside but he is a much more responsible 2-way player (defensive half boards and neutral zone puck responsibility are not issues), can play up and down the lineup in all three positions and might be able to help on the PK.

I have more than a little sympathy for those who worry about that side of the game. It’s important, and historically NHL teams have placed great importance on that side of the game.

It seems currently this is not a place of importance for the Oilers during the regular season but it becomes more important in the playoffs. Oilers were dead last in hits during the regular season and middle of the pack in the playoffs.

I do expect the Oilers to “care” about the regular season more this coming than last mind you.

When Zach Hyman delivered 28.6 hits-60 at five-on-five (No. 1 forward in the playoffs among the group who played 120+ minutes), that was the rugged soul of the Edmonton Oilers, right? Or is that somehow discounted because he is also skilled?

I believe he dragged the likes of Podz and others in to that fight a bit.

Heartbeat of the team.

Reja

In Chicago Bowman I believe went through a high proportion compared to the rest of the league of 200 pound plus forwards. Chicago was filled with a tonne of skill and could and would go mean if need be. Anyhow apparently the kid ( Samanski) is a near lock to make the Olympic team. Wouldn’t it be something If this kid has chemistry with Leon in Feburury and then give the kid a few games in the NHL if he looks solid at the Olympics and is playing well in Bakersfield.

MushedPeas

Big Buff was worth a dozen coke machines all by himself. And more than skilled. What a player, what a menace.

Victoria Oil

Everyday I’m Byfuglien.

Reja

When the youngster Messier held his stick like a lumberjack toe to toe with the Big Bird you knew better then to eff with this certified Ponoko resident.

Last edited 20 days ago by Reja
cowboy bill

I thought Mess was from St. Albert. Where exactly is Ponoko?

Scungilli Slushy

‘Ponoka’ had a mental institution, or has, I think it’s a joke about that

Scungilli Slushy

The things some folks down vote often makes no sense

cowboy bill

Oh, I get it Mark Messier is from a mental institution funny.

cowboy bill

Great write up today LT, not that they all aren’t, but this one stands out for me. Every team needs a Billy Goat it’s a distinguished part of team chemistry. They still haven’t acquired him yet; Bowman has got to turn over a few more rocks to find him. But he will, the guy absolutely has to be able to play and that’s why he’s so difficult to find. I don’t know if Leason or Kostin are the right mix. Maybe if they’re told to summon their inner Billy Goat one of them can fill that need. I think Nurse could fill the void, but he thinks he’s some kind of super star or something, he definitely needs to fall back to earth.

Scungilli Slushy

Frederic is like that, which is why Bowman got him and wanted to keep him. Need more though

cowboy bill

What is a herd of Billy Goats called? I’ll have to google it.

cowboy bill

Apparently, a group of goats would be identified as “a trip of goats”. Isn’t that a trip.

The Florida Panthers are a trip.

Last edited 20 days ago by cowboy bill
Scungilli Slushy

They are our new Islanders. Need to take them down, just like before

MushedPeas

I’m scared they’re our Oilers relative the 80s Flames: Always in the way, always a quarter step ahead.

MushedPeas

Oil now lack a pest imo.

Scungilli Slushy

Or two

John Chambers

The 2010-11 season was an important one for the Oilers insofar as it began the team’s transition over to the new core that consisted of Hall, Eberle, & Paajarvi. That team was thin on depth, thin on defense, and probably the softest I’ve ever seen. No bite besides a few 4th liners who could barely skate.

That season saw the Oilers get regularly dummied, with Ladi Smid getting beaten up by Sean Avery, and 19 year old Taylor Hall eventually getting injured in a scrap in Columbus.

That season the Oilers paid big tough Sheldon Souray to not play. For a team that pathetic defensively and with no snarl it made no sense. Tambellini ended up buying Souray out a year later, getting no asset in return while he played for Dallas then Anaheim.

What the hell were Lowe and Tambellini thinking? Sending a bunch of skinny rookies out to face the rigors of the NHL with only Steve McIntyre as their deterrent. No wonder management chased Lucic rainbows until they finally caught it.

Last edited 20 days ago by John Chambers
MushedPeas

Loved Big Sexy.

Shame how things went down.

MushedPeas

Holy smokes could he throw ‘em.

I don’t recall any fight where he doesn’t rag doll the guy.

Scungilli Slushy

He’s a huge man. I met him when he was playing in Kelowna. I’m not a small fella but I felt like it standing near him

Scungilli Slushy

Which means he was a teenager and still a beast

LMHF#1

That clique of the Oilers ‘C’ squad were absolutely ridiculous. Constantly set the team back with petty crap every time progress was made.

LMHF#1

Souray is the reason I hate Jarome Iginla and why I completely disagree with the respect he is given.

Being a stand up guy, #44 fought him. He should have used stick on neck and ended his career for what that joker did to him and then tried to claim wasn’t intentional.

Reja

That was the definition of a slew-foot yet you’ll see no replays on CBC. Sportsnet will never say a word out of place for the great never won a Stanley Cup Jarome.

Scungilli Slushy

Lowe was very emotional as a player which made him great, but also as a manager which didn’t help. Boy could we use a RS Souray these days

Buddy

What the hell were Lowe and Tambellini thinking?

They weren’t?

Scungilli Slushy

I’m with your line. Players that the coach won’t play when the chips are down are useless and should be upgraded. Most winning teams are tough. The Avs upgraded that and won a Cup. The winning Lightning teams were tough, the Knights were tough and dirty, the Panthers pure filth. Those teams could also play most of their players as they went, which is also important to stay fresh enough

A GM has to ice the best team he can, and upgrades aren’t always available or any potential deal a sensible one. For me I prefer not to use undersized players, especially on D, unless they are top offensive solid players, or talented and insane like Marchand. TO me they can’t contribute enough without those traits. Too easy to play against

I don’t see the Oilers D as soft. They aren’t particularly mean though, and I wouldn’t object to a billy goat or two back there, and up front. As it stands that could be added at 2 and 3 RD. At F I would look to adding some functional jerkyness to the bottom 6. I think that explains the bet on Clattenburg

Last edited 20 days ago by Scungilli Slushy
anonymous

Only problem is the Oilers can’t play that way. Using Maurice’s they’ll only call 4 penalties regardless would be modified to 10 to 12 for the Oilers. Knoblauch would have them reined in and playing in fear like the finals last year.

Scungilli Slushy

I think that they can, even if Kane couldn’t. They need to play more like that consistently, because trying to turn it on you could see many of them weren’t good at it and were high sticking. They also have to score more when they get a PP against teams with a good PK

MushedPeas

Yeah I saw Kadri as the clincher on COL’s cup-winning depth and determination. That and Makar becoming Makar. man.