Post-Game Talk: A bad defensive performance

[Shaquille Oatmeal]

Fellow Holland bros, I need some advice. My wife’s boyfriend got mad at me when I said I wouldn’t charge my No vote in the Fire Ken thread, so he burned my signed copy of the NHL Guide & Record Book and then snapped all my Hockeytown DVDs in half. My question is, what should I do to apologize for my behaviour? He’s a cool guy and I don’t want him to stop coming over to hang out just because of what I did.

 

[frag2]

It's not about needing a partner to make him look good... but let's examine who the guy has got as partners most of the last few seasons.... rookie Ethan Bear, Tyson Barrie, rookie Evan Bouchard, and now Cody Ceci. Who among those should be on the top pairing of a team? Nurse has been asked to baby sit guys hard and people gonout sitting on Nurses play.

If he only did babysit...guy has a penchant to join the rush or leave the zone even before some of the forwards.

 

[Ninety7]

It's not about needing a partner to make him look good... but let's examine who the guy has got as partners most of the last few seasons.... rookie Ethan Bear, Tyson Barrie, rookie Evan Bouchard, and now Cody Ceci. Who among those should be on the top pairing of a team? Nurse has been asked to baby sit guys hard and people gonout sitting on Nurses play.

If you’re getting paid 9.25 then you elevate players around you, similar to draisaitl and Mcdavid.

And it’s hardly baby sitting when the baby sitter is making the same mistakes as the baby

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Also beat Florida Washington and Tampa recently. Played a great game the night before vs the best team in the league. Can't win them all, no team does that.

It’s embarrassing to read.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

Here's a disturbing stat:
Oilers record at Reunion Arena (Dallas' original rink):
1-14-1 (tie)

Oilers record at American Airlines Center:
9-22-2 (OTL)-1 (tie)

Total: 10-36-2 with 2 ties.

I'm actually thankful they salvaged one point on this two game trip. Games in Dallas are pretty much scheduled regulation losses.

 

[North]

If you’re getting paid 9.25 then you elevate players around you, similar to draisaitl and Mcdavid.

And it’s hardly baby sitting when the baby sitter is making the same mistakes as the baby

And to be clear while Ceci wasn’t great yesterday, he is the one who has settled the pairing not Nurse.

 

[CookiesAndMilk]

Nurse is a low end number 1. He is not worth 9.25 but he's also not some jabroni defender that we picked up at a rodeo in Shelbyville. Some nights he plays well above 9.25, some nights he doesn't. That game happened to be one of those nights. We have to live with that contract, no need to bitch about it after every bad showing from Nurse.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

I recall there being some debate about the thin mountain air and its affects. I ain't no scientist but going from a city 1609 meters above sea level to another which is 131 meters above sea level on back to back nights may have had something to do with it. The team looked depleted mentally and physically in the third.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

If he only did babysit...guy has a penchant to join the rush or leave the zone even before some of the forwards.

He and Bear formed an effective pair I thought.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Two streaks that only these 2 teams had were broken last night

Prior to this game, Dallas was the only team in the NHL that hasn't given up a short handed goal, until they saw McDavid and Kane on the PK

Then not long after they score 2 quickies, and hand the Oilers their first loss of the season after scoring first; the only team undefeated in that statistic almost the entire season

Of course it's Dallas. Last time we played them, everyone witnessed Miro Heiskanen brick wall McDavid all game. Well, he was injured last night, yet they still got the W. They've had the Oiler's number ever since the damn 90s. I think they eliminated Edmonton in the playoffs Six seasons straight. They earned the reputation as the Oiler Killers, and that curse still lives on. They're literally the only team I do not want to face in the playoffs

Astute. Because Dallas are a different beast in the playoffs as we've seen and they have one of the most complete D Platoons in WC. Plus being a Vet team that can play a sensible airtight game when they are moved to. The problem with Dallas basically being theres a lot of big bodies, and aged bodies, and 82 game seasons are long. They don't have enough to play well every 2nd night thru the season. But that club can dig down in playoffs.

 

[CookiesAndMilk]

I recall there being some debate about the thin mountain air and its affects. I ain't no scientist but going from a city 1609 meters above sea level to another which is 131 meters above sea level on back to back nights may have had something to do with it. The team looked depleted mentally and physically in the third.

That reminds me of the discussion about sleep patterns (?) that were responsible for a series of losses some seasons ago. Good times.

 

[TB12]

I recall there being some debate about the thin mountain air and its affects. I ain't no scientist but going from a city 1609 meters above sea level to another which is 131 meters above sea level on back to back nights may have had something to do with it. The team looked depleted mentally and physically in the third.

That's actually the easier way to go. They weren't at altitude long enough to get any adaptive advantages, though. The real issue was apparently they didn't get into their hotel in Dallas until 4 am. The sleep science (and yes, some pro teams have sleep scientists to help them properly travel) would definitely say the Oilers were at a major disadvantage heading into the game. If that makes a person more or less likely to excuse some of their gaffes in the 3rd period, well, YMMV.

 

[tardigrade81]

Lol end of world in here. Wow.

This is nothing

Should have seen how my office reacted when I opened a tin of sardines. Holy shit……. They weren’t happy lol

 

[Drivesaitl]

I recall there being some debate about the thin mountain air and its affects. I ain't no scientist but going from a city 1609 meters above sea level to another which is 131 meters above sea level on back to back nights may have had something to do with it. The team looked depleted mentally and physically in the third.

They played badly in the 2nd as well. Just that Koski was saving the club with good stops for the longest time. Koski was keeping the game from getting away on us.

Just going to mention what a great goal the Stars 3rd goal is. Their breakouts are interesting. They must practice a lot and unlike a lot of clubs the Stars feign who is getting the puck before they hit the line, to gain zone. They do misdirection, side passes, back passes, no look passes, anything to hide which player is going to be hitting line. Hintz was setup to hit the line gap with speed, and did easily untouched going between Yama and Shore. Yama completely blew his cover there and was spun around in a circle. That was like a brilliantly executed football play hitting the gap for a TD. Its the risk of trying to play up to the blueline like that and a perfect way to defeat that scheme. You won't ever find better.

Now this is the Stars without any superstar forwards. Yet they develop pretty brilliant breakout patterns and execute them well. Their breakout, and how they mix it up and use boards and hit all kinds of sets was confusing us all night.

 

[CookiesAndMilk]

This is nothing

Should have seen how my office reacted when I opened a tin of sardines. Holy shit……. They weren’t happy lol

Pair it with a bucket of garlic and you have the meltdown of HFOil after a loss

 

[Drivesaitl]

Yeah… if he needs a partner to make him look good, then he’s not worth 9.25m. Sorry.

Supposed to be a leader, yet he iced the oilers out for as much as he could. f*** that noise. I know he doesn’t owe us anything, but Jesus Christ you’d think he would at least be insightful enough to realize how crippling that contract is to a team.

What a joke of a post. Yeah, Nurse should be doing charity work for the OIlers. Unlike any other player in pro sports he should be coming to the Oilers office giving filthy lucre back.

As others have mentioned Nurse earned all of what he's getting paid. The contractual situation, and the team situation of Nurse being absolutely needed, and the show me contracts led to the pay.

 

[WaitingForUser]

What a joke of a post. Yeah, Nurse should be doing charity work for the OIlers. Unlike any other player in pro sports he should be coming to the Oilers office giving filthy lucre back.

As others have mentioned Nurse earned all of what he's getting paid. The contractual situation, and the team situation of Nurse being absolutely needed, and the show me contracts led to the pay.

Yep that and the market was set by Chicago signing Jones last summer. Whether we agree with the market price or not that it now the going rate for Top pair d men in the league. Unless you are Tampa or Boston and can somehow pay guys way less and get them to agree to it. See the latest Lindholm deal.

 

[Canovin]

Yep that and the market was set by Chicago signing Jones last summer. Whether we agree with the market price or not that it now the going rate for Top pair d men in the league. Unless you are Tampa or Boston and can somehow pay guys way less and get them to agree to it. See the latest Lindholm deal.

The market was set by Seth Jones. But Nurse didn't have to agree to 9.25M. He got greedy. Look at Morgan Rielly, he signed for 7.5M.

 

[missinthejets]

If you’re getting paid 9.25 then you elevate players around you, similar to draisaitl and Mcdavid.

And it’s hardly baby sitting when the baby sitter is making the same mistakes as the baby

And nurse hasn't done that? He made Bear look good (and people claimed it was vice versa) he made barrie look good, he made Bouchard look good for a while, now suddenly Ceci looks real solid (and again I see people saying it's ceci making nurse look good)
That's pretty good evidence nurse can make his partners look good. But nurse has been a polarizing guy for as long as he's been here and he always is a magnet for criticism.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

That's actually the easier way to go. They weren't at altitude long enough to get any adaptive advantages, though. The real issue was apparently they didn't get into their hotel in Dallas until 4 am. The sleep science (and yes, some pro teams have sleep scientists to help them properly travel) would definitely say the Oilers were at a major disadvantage heading into the game. If that makes a person more or less likely to excuse some of their gaffes in the 3rd period, well, YMMV.

So if they got into the hotel by 4, settled into rooms...maybe asleep by 5 or 6? Just in time for rush hour to start with horns honking and just street noise in general. I'm not even mad they lost. As I said above in a separate post, games in Dallas are practically scheduled losses.

A major problem I've noticed lately though (and @Drivesaitl among others have mentioned it) is the number of low number odd man rushes they give up (2 on 1s or breakaways) every game. Even on the powerplay, they seem to be giving up shorthanded odd man rushes. That's gotta be fixed.

Excited to see Kulak help the defense out. Sounds like he'll help take the pressure off the young guys and the old guy.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

no he didn't lmao

It's beyond me how you can hate on Nurse (who makes about the same this year as Keith AAV) but think Keith is a good player
he's far worse at bleeding shots against, failing to move the puck and just overall at the game of hockey

I mean I agree Nurse is better than Keith but your takes on Keith have been “lmao” since it was rumoured we were getting him.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

The market was set by Seth Jones. But Nurse didn't have to agree to 9.25M. He got greedy. Look at Morgan Rielly, he signed for 7.5M.

I love this whole argument.

“Didn’t have to agree to it”

One of the dumbest arguments you see on here

 

[Ninety7]

What a joke of a post. Yeah, Nurse should be doing charity work for the OIlers. Unlike any other player in pro sports he should be coming to the Oilers office giving filthy lucre back.

As others have mentioned Nurse earned all of what he's getting paid. The contractual situation, and the team situation of Nurse being absolutely needed, and the show me contracts led to the pay.

Why not? Plenty of other guys have taken discounts to make their teams competitive, see McDavid.

By all means, nurse is within his right to squeeze every penny from the organization, but you damn best be sure that he will get criticized making that amount of money. And rightfully so.

It’s not his fault for signing the contract given to him, but it’s damn sure 100% fair for people to criticize his play when he’s making boatloads of money, which he isn’t living up to.

 

[bobbythebrain]

It's not about needing a partner to make him look good... but let's examine who the guy has got as partners most of the last few seasons.... rookie Ethan Bear, Tyson Barrie, rookie Evan Bouchard, and now Cody Ceci. Who among those should be on the top pairing of a team? Nurse has been asked to baby sit guys hard and people gonout sitting on Nurses play.

Might want to look at who Hedman has had to play with all these years.

Nurse happily took ALOT of money from the organization. He needs to be better than he currently is. Like a full tier better

 

[K1984]

Nurse is a low end number 1. He is not worth 9.25 but he's also not some jabroni defender that we picked up at a rodeo in Shelbyville. Some nights he plays well above 9.25, some nights he doesn't. That game happened to be one of those nights. We have to live with that contract, no need to bitch about it after every bad showing from Nurse.

I think the minutes and being the only defenseman on the team that can at any point reliably play in all situations is wearing on him. I'll give him that excuse.

However, a lot of the mistakes are mental and he needs to sharpen up. He has been flat out awful for about a month now.