Speculation: Are the Oilers tough enough?

[Spawn]

I'll even give you better odds.

I'll bet you that Yamamoto gets into a fight before the end of the season.

Avatar bet.

I think I've lost the plot of this conversation. Have a good one.

 

[Shaquille Oatmeal]

I think I've lost the plot of this conversation. Have a good one.

What if Yamamoto has one hand tied behind his back?

Geez... Nevermind

 

[Shaquille Oatmeal]

I think I've lost the plot of this conversation. Have a good one.

I actually hate to be rude. Have a good one.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

I wouldn’t say we need an enforcer or anything but I would say we need more nasty.

 

[DaGap]

Not an enforcer


We need Glencross, Marron, Hendricks, Grier, Smith

 

[Shaquille Oatmeal]

I wouldn’t say we need an enforcer or anything but I would say we need more nasty.

OMG!!! I totally agree. Why can nobody jump on board with the word 'enforcer'

Please @Bryanbryoil give us a proper definition of 'enforcer' just so we know what it actually is.

 

[FlameChampion]

I see guys sticking up for one another for the most part which is the biggest thing for me personally. I think this is a good team where the majority of the players are pulling on the same rope.

More size, physicality would be a welcome addition for sure but the player has to be able to play. I’d like to see a bit more chippiness/nastyness from the team in general which is why I kinda like what Benson is trying to transform into.

When in comes to Kassian in particular, I just don’t see the physicality consistently enough. He gets injured a lot too. For his sake, I don’t think he should be fighting, hes kind of lost that part of his game. I think the vision that some see of him isn’t the reality anymore, but thats my opinion.

 

[Fourier]

I don't see the concern over Calgary. They are not some physical juggernaut. Aside from Lucic, who do they have who is in any way intimidating. Gudbranson is the next guy down the line from Lucic and personally I'd be more than happy if he played a lot. He is exactly the type of defenseman that the Oilers can exploit. Zadorov is next, but again, he's not a guy I really think you should fear playing against.

As a team Calgary does not even play all that physically. They do have some pests but its not likie they have a bunch of guys throwing big hits all over the ice.

Going forward the Oilers have a few players with a significant physical component to their game. Holloway is one. So is Samorukov. Neither are fighters but both guys play hard and Samorukov can throw some thundering hits. But even now, I certainly don't see their top six being intimidated by physical play.

 

[Evilsports]

Part of me longs for the days of Big George, Gazdic, or Big Mac. It was satisfying back then to know that even though we weren't going to win a lot of games we could at least pound their nuclear deterrent into the ice with our nuclear deterrent.

Having said that I feel as though we are living what will someday be looked back at as the good old days. We win more games than we lose, we have the two best players in the sport, and there isn't a team out there that we can't beat on any given night.

When I look at the rosters of winning teams I don't personally see (m)any of them that have a noticeably dominant roster of glove droppers. I feel like the important thing is for a team to be willing to jump in for each other. We have a couple guys that will drop the gloves, I don't feel as though adding more will necessarily make us a more winning team.

I would like to see a bit more bite from our guys around our own crease and also when players take liberties with McDavid. At the end of the day though, having the most lethal PP in the league is going to go a long ways towards calming down other teams that are thinking about playing a tougher style against us.

 

[longtimeoilfan]

That's not an enforcer, that's a power forward. Think Tom Wilson and Josh Anderson.

I would love Tom Wilson on the Oil.

Edit: There was talk of the Oilers being interested in Crouse and Manson. I am on board with adding both. Still ok with the idea of trading Yams for Crouse. We need more toughness/physicality.

 

[Czechboy]

I don't see the concern over Calgary. They are not some physical juggernaut. Aside from Lucic, who do they have who is in any way intimidating. Gudbranson is the next guy down the line from Lucic and personally I'd be more than happy if he played a lot. He is exactly the type of defenseman that the Oilers can exploit. Zadorov is next, but again, he's not a guy I really think you should fear playing against.

As a team Calgary does not even play all that physically. They do have some pests but its not likie they have a bunch of guys throwing big hits all over the ice.

Going forward the Oilers have a few players with a significant physical component to their game. Holloway is one. So is Samorukov. Neither are fighters but both guys play hard and Samorukov can throw some thundering hits. But even now, I certainly don't see their top six being intimidated by physical play.

This reply is great!

I love the idea of playing the Flames and them giving Lucic, Zadorov and Gudbranson over 20 minutes each.lol No way we lose that game.

It was already mentioned on here.. the way to beat the Flames is to keep scoring. In a perfect world, build a lead and then drive Tkachuk into taking a stupid penalty.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

no more enforcers but we need more grit

soft teams like the Leafs got bullied in the playoffs by the Bruins, Jackets and Habs in recent years

 

[xoczar99ox]

I swear I heard this exact thing said before the Vegas game. Maybe I'm misremembering though.

And by all accounts they did push us around, and I don’t think they were even playing us nearly as hard as they could have.

 

[xoczar99ox]

Tell me this doesn't make you feel good when they stick up for eachother.

View attachment 485812

How old is that? Nurse is a skill guy now he got paid.

 

[xoczar99ox]

View attachment 485814

Lol. The more I watch it the more I think you might be right…hahahahaha!

 

[Beerfish]

We need rats not enforcers. The league over the last decade has 100% gone out of its way to let the rats do what they want and the hammer the hell out of any enforcer that takes them to task. More rats.

 

[xoczar99ox]

Ref goes in to save Tkachuk

Bennett comes in all like "No damn it!! He deserves an ass whoopin!"

 

[xoczar99ox]

I don't see the concern over Calgary. They are not some physical juggernaut. Aside from Lucic, who do they have who is in any way intimidating. Gudbranson is the next guy down the line from Lucic and personally I'd be more than happy if he played a lot. He is exactly the type of defenseman that the Oilers can exploit. Zadorov is next, but again, he's not a guy I really think you should fear playing against.

As a team Calgary does not even play all that physically. They do have some pests but its not likie they have a bunch of guys throwing big hits all over the ice.

Going forward the Oilers have a few players with a significant physical component to their game. Holloway is one. So is Samorukov. Neither are fighters but both guys play hard and Samorukov can throw some thundering hits. But even now, I certainly don't see their top six being intimidated by physical play.

The point is you can exploit a player like Gudbranson 5 times a game but it only takes him 2 seconds to run McDrai through the boards and the rest of our team and the refs will just stand around and watch.

 

[Shaquille Oatmeal]

Lol. The more I watch it the more I think you might be right…hahahahaha!

I don't care who you are, watching rat boy eat a knuckle sandwich is better than listening to a Mozart symphony. It's beautiful.

 

[McCombo]

Oilers should try to add skill more than anything. If a player is really good at hockey, but adds sandpaper that is fine (like Hyman), but just going for toughness is dumb. Chiarelli traded skill away for toughness and we all know how that ended. Oilers are now better team than 3 years ago, it is not because they are tougher, it is because they have better players in the line-up. And I still think they lack skill in defense and one more true top9 forward would help to push Kassian out of top9.

 

[McCombo]

I don't see the concern over Calgary. They are not some physical juggernaut. Aside from Lucic, who do they have who is in any way intimidating. Gudbranson is the next guy down the line from Lucic and personally I'd be more than happy if he played a lot. He is exactly the type of defenseman that the Oilers can exploit. Zadorov is next, but again, he's not a guy I really think you should fear playing against.

As a team Calgary does not even play all that physically. They do have some pests but its not likie they have a bunch of guys throwing big hits all over the ice.

Going forward the Oilers have a few players with a significant physical component to their game. Holloway is one. So is Samorukov. Neither are fighters but both guys play hard and Samorukov can throw some thundering hits. But even now, I certainly don't see their top six being intimidated by physical play.

Exatcly. Calgary isn't playing well because they have toughness and many have miss-conceptions about big physical defensive defensemens, that when they are on the ice you don't have nice time in front of their net.

High-danger chances for%

Tanev-Kylington 64.89%
Hanifin-Andersson 56.03%
Gudbranson-Zadorov 41.18%

Gudbranson-Zadorov pairing also start most often in the offensive zone 60.78%, so that is far from the explenation here. It is just that coke-machines usually aren't good at hockey. Sutter is trying to feed them easier situation because they bleed high danger chances against and have difficulties creating them. Exactly the sort of pairing I would like to see play as much against the Oilers as possible. You might get few bruises here and there, but NHL players are used to that anyways. They have played hockey all their lives, being cross-checked and hit is their job.

 

[GOilers88]

I would love Tom Wilson on the Oil.

Edit: There was talk of the Oilers being interested in Crouse and Manson. I am on board with adding both. Still ok with the idea of trading Yams for Crouse. We need more toughness/physicality.

I'd definitely be good with Manson on the back end.

 

[joestevens29]

no more enforcers but we need more grit

soft teams like the Leafs got bullied in the playoffs by the Bruins, Jackets and Habs in recent years

Is it bullying or just out worked? Seems the issue more is having hard working guys that aren't afraid to take/make a hit, aren't afraid to go into the corner, aren't afraid to forecheck, aren't afraid to get in front of the net etc...

 

[OilersSnowFan]

Is Jake debrusk an enforcer at all

 

[Shaquille Oatmeal]

Is Jake debrusk an enforcer at all

Nope. He's the guy giving up his lunch money.