Oilers

[travel_dude]

And the media jumped all over him, calling it a collection of fiction.

The strange thing is that blame was always on one guy for not making the playoffs.

Petry because he wasn't the man.

Schultz because he was the man, but for some reason wasn;t.

Hall was a locker room cancer.

But he was traded for cap reasons.

But he wasn't.

Eberle for not showing up in the playoffs.

Traded for cap reasons.

But then that wasn;t the reason.

Strome for not being Eberle.

Then he wasn;t supposed to.

 

I get the frustration and we see it here too.

In EDM, all they care about is McDavid winning the scoring title or MVP.

Anyone that can play with him is a brilliant signing for Chia.

Then they go on that a plug could play with him.

Russell is loved until he's hated.

Lucic is not pulling his weight, yet they love when he hits someone blindside.

Kassian is a douchebag, and a terrible player, yet he's a hero for trying to fight Tkachuk.

 

The Hitch bump is fortunate timing.  Start an unknown goalie against tired or lesser teams and get some wins.  The team gets some confidence and plays some more games against tired or beat up teams.  Back in the playoff picture.  This season they had two winning streaks and one losing streak.  Luck and McDavid involved in 60% of your goals only lasts so long.

[Cowtownguy]

We all anticipated the Hitch bump. The question is whether they can turn things around over the long term. I would never believe that a team could acquire so many great assets and keep losing, but Edmonton shows that it is possible. I wonder if Hitchcock was hired more to assess what is happening with their team.

 

It appears as though former General Managers inculcated a culture where players were overpaid, and overpaid too early in their careers. I cannot believe that they were partying until 3:00am or 5:00am as Ferrence suggests. When they were accused of not paying a $10K bar tab in Calgary a few years ago, I was more struck that they were partying like that during the playing year. I thought that sort of thing had largely disappeared among the new generation of players who organize their lives around the game.

[travel_dude]

20 minutes ago, Cowtownguy said:

We all anticipated the Hitch bump. The question is whether they can turn things around over the long term. I would never believe that a team could acquire so many great assets and keep losing, but Edmonton shows that it is possible. I wonder if Hitchcock was hired more to assess what is happening with their team.

 

It appears as though former General Managers inculcated a culture where players were overpaid, and overpaid too early in their careers. I cannot believe that they were partying until 3:00am or 5:00am as Ferrence suggests. When they were accused of not paying a $10K bar tab in Calgary a few years ago, I was more struck that they were partying like that during the playing year. I thought that sort of thing had largely disappeared among the new generation of players who organize their lives around the game.

 

Hitch brings a boring style of hockey that can win games, assuming you have enough high-quality D to implement his systems effectively.

I've watched some games where they seem to play both sides of the puck, but others where they abandan defense in favor of getting shots away.  Other than McDavid, they are a team devoid of great talent.  Draisaitl is really good when he wants to be, but seems half-hearted at times.  Nuge is probably their only 200 foot player, but he is better at offense.  They have very little depth on the back end.  When Benning subs in the top 4, you are in big trouble.  Since they are unwilling to trade away a 1st or a good prospect (what, other than Bouchard), they won;t be making any trades to improve the team's depth on D.  

 

You look at Buffalo, who tanked a few years and is finally reaping the rewards.  Not a complete team, but closer to one.  They won't be winning anytime soon, but neither will EDM.
.  

[Fins&FIre15]

Just watched the whole schpeel about mcdavid getting held and hooked.

 

Are they ****ing serious? Its no different for any superstar player that plays in todays game. The highlight package they showed from the canucks game is no where near as bad as some of the stuff gaudreau has had to deal with this year.

 

And the bloody media attention this is getting is straight ****ed. Like the oilers need more excuses and free passes...

 

They go 8-1-1 or whatever in their last 10 games, and the moment they lose the complaints come out...jesus.

 

Go eat another cheesburger, fatty.

[rickross]

9 minutes ago, Fins&FIre15 said:

Just watched the whole schpeel about mcdavid getting held and hooked.

 

Are they ****ing serious? Its no different for any superstar player that plays in todays game. The highlight package they showed from the canucks game is no where near as bad as some of the stuff gaudreau has had to deal with this year.

 

And the bloody media attention this is getting is straight ****ed. Like the oilers need more excuses and free passes...

 

They go 8-1-1 or whatever in their last 10 games, and the moment they lose the complaints come out...jesus.

 

Go eat another cheesburger, fatty.

Exactly! It was such a pathetic attempt by Ken Hitchcock (who is actually an older  real life version of Family Guys’ Peter Griffin). He knows his career revival rides with McD...because who wants to get fired AFTER coming out of retirement? He’s acting like the league has some conspiracy against McD...like he hasn’t led the league in scoring the past 2 years. I dunno, he sounds desperate because a team figured out how to shutdown his meal ticket. Lol...he’s probably thinking this could be the easiest Jack Adams award he’d ever win

[travel_dude]

8 hours ago, rickross said:

Exactly! It was such a pathetic attempt by Ken Hitchcock (who is actually an older  real life version of Family Guys’ Peter Griffin). He knows his career revival rides with McD...because who wants to get fired AFTER coming out of retirement? He’s acting like the league has some conspiracy against McD...like he hasn’t led the league in scoring the past 2 years. I dunno, he sounds desperate because a team figured out how to shutdown his meal ticket. Lol...he’s probably thinking this could be the easiest Jack Adams award he’d ever win

 

It normally backfires.

The Wideman effect wasn't fixed (still isn't).

Burrows was labeled as a whiner, and it stuck.

 

The more McDavid says (embarrasing the refs after a shootout, complaining, sarcastic stuff on ice), the more he will get that label.  Sorry bud, but you aren't getting a call on a "breakaway" just because someone is skating with you.  The league is trying to get a balance between letting them play and dangerous hits (hacks to hand, charging).

[cross16]

Funny thing about the "Hitchcock" bump is nothing he has done has had an impact. They are getting unsustainable goal tending and scoring at a higher rate than previous (higher shooting percentage)

 

Enjoy it will it last Oilier fans because that bubble gonna pop. 

 

 

[travel_dude]

2 hours ago, cross16 said:

Funny thing about the "Hitchcock" bump is nothing he has done has had an impact. They are getting unsustainable goal tending and scoring at a higher rate than previous (higher shooting percentage)

 

Enjoy it will it last Oilier fans because that bubble gonna pop. 

 

 

 

Considering their recent run was there best chance to gain ground on the rest of the West, it hasn't worked.

Ducks, Flames, Jets almost identical records.

Sharks lost a couple more, but still in there.

[conundrumed]

On 2018-12-18 at 1:27 PM, cross16 said:

Enjoy it will it last Oilier fans because that bubble gonna pop. 

Starting to look like this was vastly understated.😕

Should get Banksy to the new arena to repeat the fun in Wales, but a tire fire “snowing” ash on the Oilers.

 

 

[Heartbreaker]

Welcome to Edmonton, Bud! 

Love. 
 

 

[cross16]

Really have to admire Chiarelli. Has an incredible ability to make a high volume of moves without actually making his team better. 

[bronco73]

well at least we finally got Manning back for the McDavid hit.

 

Honestly though, I just hope these are finally the moves that get Chiarelli's Hash Rate fired.  He's a bloody trash fire.

[The_People1]

Yet, i'm picking them to make the playoffs this year.  I think they will squeeze in as the second wild card team.  I feel we will get a Flames vs Oilers first round.

[Khrox]

4th best forward on the team for a defenseman that can barely play third pairing. Seems legit. To top it off, Cag is apparently really close to McDavid (good friends, and even went to school together) while Manning broke McDavids collarbone and then made fun of him for it. How long before McDavid requests a trade? Like, this is the third time one of the players McD wants on the team got traded (Strome, Maroon, and now Caggiula). Also, Edmonton needs to dump salary soon, because if Sekera comes back from LTIR they are 3.3 mil over the cap 

[travel_dude]

14 hours ago, cross16 said:

Really have to admire Chiarelli. Has an incredible ability to make a high volume of moves without actually making his team better. 

 

If you had no clue about hockey or the players, you might think they were designed to improve the team.

Have little depth on the blueline, yet Sekera and Klefbom will return end of January.

Trade for 3 D-men.

All seem to be reclamation projects.

Yeah, what could go wrong with that?

Spooner downgrade.

 

Even the paid hacks are startng to wonder what's going on.  Actually ask tough questions.

You would think they would tie his hands behind him back rather than letting him use the phone.

Manning is the most curious trade.

Lack of scoring depth and trade away one guy that actually "had" the ability to score.

This isn't even a tank move, as it gets them little usable assets.

[travel_dude]

New Oilers.

Petrovic -1

Manning -1

 

Hitch 6L in a row.

[Cowtownguy]

On 2018-12-31 at 10:12 PM, travel_dude said:

New Oilers.

Petrovic -1

Manning -1

 

Hitch 6L in a row.

Their performance is so amazingly predictable. They get a Hitch bump followed by 6 losses. They broke the 6 game loss recently. 

[travel_dude]

3 minutes ago, Cowtownguy said:

Their performance is so amazingly predictable. They get a Hitch bump followed by 6 losses. They broke the 6 game loss recently. 

 

Cali swing.

"Easy" game against the Kings who are never a pushover.

They don;t score a lot but also don;t give up a tone.

B2B against the Ducks.

Good luck scoring on Gibson.

Next game against the Sharks.

[Cowtownguy]

It will be interesting to see what the Oilers do later this year. Last night, Hitch basically argued that the team simply lacks intensity. He has been to the playoffs several times, and stated that this team just doesn’t expend enough energy to make it. Do you axe management again? Do you initiate a fire sale? How long can they expect to keep McDavid?

[travel_dude]

1 hour ago, Cowtownguy said:

It will be interesting to see what the Oilers do later this year. Last night, Hitch basically argued that the team simply lacks intensity. He has been to the playoffs several times, and stated that this team just doesn’t expend enough energy to make it. Do you axe management again? Do you initiate a fire sale? How long can they expect to keep McDavid?

 

Chia is just trying to keep his job.  He has a lot riding on this season, whether Burke believes it or not.

None of his most recent trades have worked out.

Ebele traded to NYI for Strome traded for Spooner

Spooner is getting scratched and little points

COnditional 6th traded for Wideman

Traded Wideman and a 3rd for Petrovic

Traded Garrison and Caggiula for Manning

Manning barely gets played over being a health scratch

 

With all this, the Oilers blueline is a mess.

The forward lines can;t score.

Lucic is a cap dump to another team at best

Rieder can;t score

Puljujarvi provides little

The rest are marginal players on any NHL team.

 

There are teams that would trade a top 2 D-man to the Oilers, but the cost would be crazy.

Nobody is going to provide a lifeline.

The only assets they have is picks, Bouchard, maybe Yamamoto, and Jones/Bear.

They could send Nuge, but that would dry them up even worse.

 

[The_People1]

I predict McDavid will average 29-minutes of ice time per game down the stretch.

[travel_dude]

4 hours ago, The_People1 said:

I predict McDavid will average 29-minutes of ice time per game down the stretch.

 

I hope, for his sake, they spread out the minutes.

Play those kind of minutes and they will lose more than they win.

He's dominant for 20 minutes a game, up to about 22.

After that, he's a liability because he makes mistakes or gets frustrated and takes penalties.

 

Currently, they are out of playoff contention, albeit not by much.  Two points out of a WC spot, but there are two other teams ahead of them as well.  Only 6 points ahead of the Kings for last in the West.

 

At some point, the Old Boys Club will start demanding a fire sale for draft picks.  Lose for Hughes.

Let them win enough to just be 1 point out of the playoffs.

[cross16]

I honestly believe, and this is not just because i'm a Flames fan, that the Oilers GM job might be the worst in pro sports. Turning this thing around is going to be incredibly challenging becuaes what exactly do you do?

 

Tank? - Seems easy but draft picks typically take 2-3 years and they would need multiple drafts. Are you prepared to wait 2-3 years? Is Katz? are your fans? I mean he's got a contract but how happy is McDavid going to be losing for another 2-3 years?

 

Be aggressive - sounds easy enough but they are currently projected to have about 14 million in cap space for 13 players and currently don't have a goalie under contract. You cannot build a roster through FA with that limited cap space. Can try trade but what do you have to give? Your farm system is bad, picks only have so much value and even then are you ok giving up picks and not aid a bad farm system?

 

Trade McDavid and or Drasaitl - again, sounds easy in theory but the hardest thing in the NHL to acquire is elite talent and you need elite talent to win. So great trade them but that just means you are not back to square 1 trying to find that talent again. 

 

McDavid provides both a blessing and cure for a perspective GM. The pressure and expectation will be to win now but given the state of their franchise that is going to be incredibly difficult to do. It would take some Ninja GMing to turn that place around in short order i think. 

[travel_dude]

That's the thing, isn't it.

Take a team with a bunch of 1st overall players.

Little experienced depth on defense.

Draft McDavid.

Sign Sekera.

Trade Schultz.

Trade picks for Rienhart.

Trade Hall.

Sign Lucic and Russell.

Trade Eberle.

 

The inability to recognize the holes in the roster and the talent avaailable in trade is why the team is where it is.  Tough hockey market with the highs and lows in a season.  Thinking that a single trip to the playoffs means there is no problems, so you can just trade away one of your leading scorers is foolish.  Considering that all the years of the Decade of Darkness didn't result in empty seats is a testament to desperate hockey fans.  Tell them you are doing a forensic audit of the team, but fail to actually do anything.  The fans deserve to be told the truth, and that is the team is not ready for the playoffs anytime soon.  A re-tool is necessary.  They have a couple od defensive prospects.  A few forward prospects that may turn into NHL players.  But, that's about it.  Pretty bare.  Puljujarvi and Bouchard are the only real notable players, and Pulju may have already been ruined.  Yamamoto seemed like he might be able to fugure it out, but too much too soon.  Needs at least a full season or two of AHL.  

[cross16]

I've lost words to describe this...