Oilers

[travel_dude]

Though it's not official yet that they are eliminated, the Oilers have to go 9-1-0 over their last 10 games to reach the "projected" 89 point cutoff.

Considering they are a .493 win rate for the season, that seems a tall order.

Even their most recent streak is .600.

Media is still talking about ther chances of getting in.

Time to pack up the hockey gear and get the clubs out.

[Cowtownguy]

2 hours ago, 420since1974 said:

I counted 24 jersey jabs, 10 rights and 4 lefts thrown by Gabriel, 19 rights thrown by Lucic.

Neither of them landed every punch, but I feel that Gabriel made Lucic appear rather unimpressive.

Agreed. It was a good fight, just not anything amazing. I guess when you are breaking into the league with the plan to possibly take on Lucic, you make sure you know what you are doing. The true fighters in the league have improved a lot since the 1970s and 1980s. They balance well, throw others off balance well, actually mix in different types of punches (Probert was awesome at that though), and appear to try and manage energy more efficiently. 

[Cowtownguy]

2 hours ago, travel_dude said:

Though it's not official yet that they are eliminated, the Oilers have to go 9-1-0 over their last 10 games to reach the "projected" 89 point cutoff.

Considering they are a .493 win rate for the season, that seems a tall order.

Even their most recent streak is .600.

Media is still talking about ther chances of getting in.

Time to pack up the hockey gear and get the clubs out.

Undoubtedly sir. In fact, some might suggest that this is a very tall order indeed!

Those tools don't have a chance. I just wish they had gone on a longer run to keep some hopes alive.

[ABC923]

On the bright side, they could go on a run and finish just below the cutoff, leading to a low probability of a draft lottery win.

[conundrumed]

Here's a laugh, 420 knows this because I told him this story while we were driving to Carty's most hospitable home.

On NHL Radio, proceeding NJ hanging 6 on the hapless Oilers after us hanging 9 on NJ on the front end of the B2B.

It was Koulias and...can't remember...

I paraphrase, but it was a 10 minute laugh-fest:

"So how about 97's comments after the Devil's beat the Oilers? "We overlooked them".

You overlooked them? You're the Edmonton Oilers, teams overlook you. I can see the Lightning having an off night against a bad team. They can say they overlooked them. You're the Edmonton Oilers, there isn't a team in the league that YOU can overlook.

What do you mean you overlooked the Devils? You are the Devils".

If anyone else caught that segment, feel free to chime in.

I laughed my Hash Rate off.

Especially the tone they carried, equal measure disdain and chuckling at McDavid's comment.

[travel_dude]

1 hour ago, conundrumed said:

Here's a laugh, 420 knows this because I told him this story while we were driving to Carty's most hospitable home.

On NHL Radio, proceeding NJ hanging 6 on the hapless Oilers after us hanging 9 on NJ on the front end of the B2B.

It was Koulias and...can't remember...

I paraphrase, but it was a 10 minute laugh-fest:

"So how about 97's comments after the Devil's beat the Oilers? "We overlooked them".

You overlooked them? You're the Edmonton Oilers, teams overlook you. I can see the Lightning having an off night against a bad team. They can say they overlooked them. You're the Edmonton Oilers, there isn't a team in the league that YOU can overlook.

What do you mean you overlooked the Devils? You are the Devils".

If anyone else caught that segment, feel free to chime in.

I laughed my Hash Rate off.

Especially the tone they carried, equal measure disdain and chuckling at McDavid's comment.

 

That's the problem with the room up there.

After they made the 2nd round and blew the lead to the Ducks in game 7, they came into the next season thinking they were God's gift.

They weren't and the coach actually had to tell them they were not that good.

A year later they are the same or worse.

 

I thought Lucic had a bad year last year.

10-24-34 down from his typical 50+ points.

This year he'll be luck to get 25 points, sitting at 5-13-18.

 

Please Oilers, get over yourselves.  You are not that good.  Lucky if you can hold a lead.

Just because you used to beat us (well, a few wins over the last 3 years) doesn;t make you a good team.

Fire coaches.

Fire GM's.

Let me see......

Same cronies in the luxury box.

The 80's are done.  Move on.

 

[Cowtownguy]

23 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

 

That's the problem with the room up there.

After they made the 2nd round and blew the lead to the Ducks in game 7, they came into the next season thinking they were God's gift.

They weren't and the coach actually had to tell them they were not that good.

A year later they are the same or worse.

 

I thought Lucic had a bad year last year.

10-24-34 down from his typical 50+ points.

This year he'll be luck to get 25 points, sitting at 5-13-18.

 

Please Oilers, get over yourselves.  You are not that good.  Lucky if you can hold a lead.

Just because you used to beat us (well, a few wins over the last 3 years) doesn;t make you a good team.

Fire coaches.

Fire GM's.

Let me see......

Same cronies in the luxury box.

The 80's are done.  Move on.

 

I have never understood how that works. How can people think they are God's gift despite an obvious record of being the opposite (a dog's gift?). I always figured that the arrogance was a defence mechanism or something.

 

Lucic is kind of interesting to watch. I have never quite known how to interpret drops in play. Lucic is obviously slower, less intense, and less productive than ever. He doesn't seem to make up for it in ways that only he can. So, a Smith isn't going to fight, Brouwer wasn't really a scrapper etc. Lucic could easily still smack others around. So, it makes me think that as some players age, they just lose interest. I doubt you find many older players anymore who have the intensity of some of the older guys in the 70s and 80s. Lanny got a second shot here after playing for the Leafs with Sitler. Not going to find many Lannys anymore. Doubt you have many John Tonellis either.

[Cowtownguy]

Oh, I forgot to mention this. I actually, honest to God, met a guy today who still holds out hope that the Oilers can make it. 

[The_Tribal Chief]

And i honest to god Think im gonna win the lotto 6/49 without buying a ticket

[cross16]

Might want to re-think the whole Nicholson should run hockey ops plan the Oilers are working off of...

 

 

[sak22]

And perfectly timed to take the attention off of how bad the Oilers are, the Sens come out West to make the Oilers fans happy that they aren't quite in the worst shape.

[conundrumed]

22 hours ago, cross16 said:

Might want to re-think the whole Nicholson should run hockey ops plan the Oilers are working off of...

 

 

That is, I'd like to say "incredibly" poor taste, buy I don't think that cuts it.

So it's wasn't McLennan's fault, it wasn't Chiarelli's fault, it's Toby Reider's fault.

This is a new low(e) even for the Oilers.

You completely humiliate the player? Wow.

[The_People1]

On 3/21/2019 at 3:14 PM, cross16 said:

Might want to re-think the whole Nicholson should run hockey ops plan the Oilers are working off of...

 

 

 

Some things should be kept behind closed doors but it's funny when execs have slips like this and reveal too much truth.  I mean, of course Rieder sucks. Who would sign him after a season like this one?  It doesn't even need to be said.

[CheersMan]

2 hours ago, conundrumed said:

That is, I'd like to say "incredibly" poor taste, buy I don't think that cuts it.

So it's wasn't McLennan's fault, it wasn't Chiarelli's fault, it's Toby Reider's fault.

This is a new low(e) even for the Oilers.

You completely humiliate the player? Wow.

Bob introduced the world to Toby Rieder yesterday, never heard of the player till now.

Sounds like the kid was unaware of his huge responsibility, which was to carry the Oil into the playoffs.

The finger pointing will go on for months as the train wreak comes to rest.

Still waiting for the results of the water test results to come in. That should clarify a few things.

Bob should focus his attention on the important things like coordinating tours through the shiny new building.

 

[conundrumed]

[DirtyDeeds]

On 2019-03-21 at 6:46 PM, sak22 said:

And perfectly timed to take the attention off of how bad the Oilers are, the Sens come out West to make the Oilers fans happy that they aren't quite in the worst shape.

And the Sens proceed to beat the Oilers in overtime...

 

[Khrox]

On 3/22/2019 at 3:21 PM, The_People1 said:

I mean, of course Rieder sucks. Who would sign him after a season like this one?  It doesn't even need to be said.

It's not that Rieder sucks. It's that he has a career high of 16 goals, 37 points (2 years ago). And Edmonton signed him expecting those numbers. You don't sign 4th liners and expect 15 goals 40 points out of them, you're only gonna disappoint yourself. Especially when the depth of the team is as bad as theirs.

 

[The_People1]

10 minutes ago, Khrox said:

It's not that Rieder sucks. It's that he has a career high of 16 goals, 37 points (2 years ago). And Edmonton signed him expecting those numbers. You don't sign 4th liners and expect 15 goals 40 points out of them, you're only gonna disappoint yourself. Especially when the depth of the team is as bad as theirs.

 

 

But you know what gets me the most?  It's that shouldn't the Oilers let the new GM make that call?  Is Bob Nicholson saying he's meddling in GM duties even after he hires a new GM this summer?  Come on right?  That's more telling than anything else.  He should say he will let the new GM decide on all roster moves and leave it at that.

[Khrox]

3 hours ago, The_People1 said:

Is Bob Nicholson saying he's meddling in GM duties even after he hires a new GM this summer?

Probably. You forget that even some of Chia's decisions were made for him by Nicholson and the Brain Trust they have back there (including MacTavish, Lowe, etc..). Including that genius Koskinen signing (one of the more recent ones).

[CheersMan]

10 hours ago, The_People1 said:

 

But you know what gets me the most?  It's that shouldn't the Oilers let the new GM make that call?  Is Bob Nicholson saying he's meddling in GM duties even after he hires a new GM this summer?  Come on right?  That's more telling than anything else.  He should say he will let the new GM decide on all roster moves and leave it at that.

It's an extremely risky move but Bob is drawing a line in the sand. He is saying that a forward player must score at least one goal in a calendar year to qualify for one of those fat Oiler extensions. There is still time for Tobi.

[travel_dude]

10 hours ago, The_People1 said:

 

But you know what gets me the most?  It's that shouldn't the Oilers let the new GM make that call?  Is Bob Nicholson saying he's meddling in GM duties even after he hires a new GM this summer?  Come on right?  That's more telling than anything else.  He should say he will let the new GM decide on all roster moves and leave it at that.

 

He needs to go back to food service and invent another over priced burger to offer the crowds.

I heard that he was being interviewed by one of the usual Oiler media and in the middle of being asked a tough qustion about who decides things, his cell phone rings with the automated "Darryl Katz calling" announced for everyone to hear.  You can't make this stuff up.

 

Blame the water.  Blame the GM(s). Blame the coach(s).  Blame the 3rd line guy.  Blame the former standout goalie.

Blame the guy that was traded for the the guy that was traded for Eberle. 

All we can hope as Flames fans is that the same continues.

Keith is the new GM for good.

Hitch is extended along with Gully.

POHO goes to MacT or KLow or some other cronie.

[rickross]

6 hours ago, Khrox said:

Probably. You forget that even some of Chia's decisions were made for him by Nicholson and the Brain Trust they have back there (including MacTavish, Lowe, etc..). Including that genius Koskinen signing (one of the more recent ones).

Bob Nicholson is not an experienced NHL executive. His stripes were earned running Hockey Canada, which is a different beast altogether. It’s obvious Side Show Bob has no idea how to “fix” the Oilers. Publicly blaming Tobias Rieder and the water in Edmonton for the Oilers failures is shameful. Chiarelli was an incompetent GM hired by an incompetent CEO. 

[sak22]

Reider has given the Oilers better value in terms of points than Lucic.  Lucic is looking at having a worse season this year than Brouwer did for us last year, while making 1.5m more.  What are these intangibles that this guy brings?  

[Thebrewcrew]

I really have no idea how the new GM can get them in the playoffs next year

 

They are currently in a season where all 3 of their best players are having career years and they are nowhere near a playoff spot. Draisaitl is a good player but he's not gonna be a perennial 100 point player. Not to mention Nuge Mcdavid and Draisaitl were all healthy all season, no guarantees that is the case next season.

 

They need multiple wingers. Chiasson is your best winger.. seriously? Maybe they keep him. They still have no top 6 LW on their team. Limited cap space and lots of NTC's. Maybe they land a Dzingel at a ridiculous AAV. Maybe they force Yamamoto, Marody and Benson onto the team along with Puljujarvi if he's still around

 

The backend is a mess. Klefbom can't stay healthy for a full season. Larson can't play well without Klefbom. Nurse has had a good season, but is he a 40 point defenceman or a 25 like last season, next season will say a lot about him. Sekera has had 2 serious injuries, 2 years left at 5.5 and a 16 team NTC, nobody is signing up to trade for that 33 year old. Then there's the possession sinkhole Russell, considering he was left unsigned 3 years ago until September, I can't imagine teams will wanna trade for him anymore now. 4x2 left on the deal and a 16 team NTC next season. Let me guess Bouchard is gifted a spot next season?

 

Then in net. Koskinen is paid like a starter with trade protection and he is so far from being a starter. Who backs him up, Shane Starrett? Good AHL season, but as an NHL team with playoff aspirations are you gonna trust a rookie to backup Miikko Koskinen? Free agent pool for backups isn't great either. 

 

Oiler fans I know point to the Flames turnaround. OK. Well the biggest reason was the Flames made a big trade from a position of strength to fill a weakness. Flames were fortunate to have tremendous depth on the backend allowing the CAR trade to occur. Oilers position of strength is at centre, most likely candidate is Nuge to move. While they could get a quality top 6 winger in return, I doubt they are deep enough to make that move. If they trade Nuge and for whatever reason still decide they need to play Draisaitl with Mcdavid when they are down 1-0  7 minutes into the first, then who's your 2nd line C? Former Toronto Marlie Sam Gagner? Oh what a spot to be in...

 

 

[travel_dude]

The Oilers get a pretty easy schedule for this week.

Play teams the night after we play them.

3 teams in a row like that.