Speculation: Are We Fans Being Set Up Again With Late Season Success?
- Thread starter OilTastic
- Start date
McPuritania
LucicDestroyedHaley
5. New POHO
6. New GM
7. New Owner
8. New scouting staff (amateur, and pro)
9. Main board scraps and cap dumps for our only decent players.
and if I am not mistaken ...didn't a win on the final game of the year 8 years ago against Van knock us from 5th to 6th ? if we wouldn't have won that game the fifth place team that year won the lottery ...and Patrick Kane ...where as we got Sam I am instead
Last yr was a repeat of 07.
07 cost us Kane/Alzner. Regulation lost = Alzner / OT Loss = Kane
last season cost us Ekblad.
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What success? We are still a sub .500 hockey team. Jesus Christ himself couldn't coach this team into the playoffs. Nelson is doing a great job getting Yakupov and Schultz back to some form of reasonable hockey although Schultz is still deeply flawed, but the confidence with both is coming back.
We have a tough schedule ahead. Mactwit is kidding himself if he thinks this team is in any remote way a consistently competitive hockey team.
We have a tough schedule ahead. Mactwit is kidding himself if he thinks this team is in any remote way a consistently competitive hockey team.
Up the Irons
Registered User
yeah, but I think the organization wanted Draisaitl the most anyway. Ekblad is probably the best, but we needed the C more. If Drai works out (and there is no reason to think he won't) its not nearly as head slamming as Gagner instead of Kane.
I'll join the chorus. How can anyone possibly be optimistic? The only reason the Oilers might climb out of 29 is that Arizona/Toronto has entered full on tank mode. The fact that a brief stretch when the oilers aren't playing historically bad has people optimistic is sad. There should be no optimism.
100% correct.
The only way this team moves forward is if Lowe, MacTavish and Howson get swallowed by an earthquake this summer. We know Katz would rather chew his own foot off than fire his buddies that he worked so hard to buy. He's like a rich kid in high school who had all the gear, had the nice car, and still nobody liked him.
Realistically, I see only one way to get rid of management with an owner that is this stubborn. Nobody will like it, but here it is.
- The fans put Katz in the penalty box for multiple seasons by not buying tickets or jerseys, and make him see huge losses on his income statement. If he wants to continue to employ Team Lowe, make him leverage himself to do it. This would have to be done for at least two years, because Katz will undoubtedly try to blame the ticket sales people at first. It couldn't possibly be Lowe and MacTavish! But he has to see losses pile up and pile up and pile up, and keep hearing that the team can't sell tickets because Kevin Lowe is too toxic to the fans.
- Stop throwing jerseys on the ice, and just return them to the Oilers office. If someone organized a day where hundreds of fans simply showed up at the Oilers offices and gave back their jerseys, hats, towels, carpets, DVDs for free, it would send a much stronger message. "Here, take this back. I don't care what you do with it. I don't want it." It's not worth getting yourself banned from the rink over (funny how jersey tossing is a safety risk but the Teddy Bear toss isn't? hmmm), but it would be worth it to see the looks on their faces with hundreds of jerseys being thrown into their office lobby.
- Start embarrassing them at the rink. I hate throwing jerseys on the ice but that's the only thing that seems to have gotten their attention so far. That being said, there are other ways. Chant "Lowe Must Go", "Katz Sucks", "Same old ****", "Clean House", "Mac-T goes", whatever. It has to be loud and it has to be a lot of people. Fans got the team's attention when they stopped showing up even though seats were paid for, which IMO is the number one thing that got Eakins fired. We all know the Oilers place a premium on fans who show up to the games, right or wrong. For fans who still go, the message would be very loud if it came from them.
- Bombard them with phone calls. Call the Oiler office and say "I bought tickets to 4 games in the last 3 years, and I won't buy another one until these idiots are gone." If you're not buying season seats anymore, tell them it's because of chronic mismanagement.
Lots of ways this could go. We have an owner that's as rich as he is stubborn about this. I'm starting to think the only way upper management goes is if they're smashed out by the fans. Disappointingly, that could take years.
stratedge
My relationship with the Oilers is abusive.
Set up for what? They're still less than .500 with Nelson behind the bench. Them not going on double digit losing streaks anymore is kinda nice, but it's nothing in the realm of success.
Raab
Registered User
- Oct 6, 2007
- 18,085
- 2,777
You'd have to have been on LSD to think that we were ever contenders in the last 7 years. This team is flawed and until the defence is fixed were not making the playoffs.
OilTastic
Embrace The Hate
^not me....i'll put it another way....are we being set up by management to thinking we have yet again turned the corner, and with a few moves in the off season, we'll be contenders.... 
Raab
Registered User
- Oct 6, 2007
- 18,085
- 2,777
^not me....i'll put it another way....are we being set up by management to thinking we have yet again turned the corner, and with a few moves in the off season, we'll be contenders....
We are a few moves away from being contenders. We need 4 things IMO: #1 Center, #1 Dman, #2 Dman, #1 Elite Goaltender. If we had those we'd be contenders.
The problems arise when fans don't realize that MacT just basically shuffles the deck from the season before. For example our 2013/14 roster looked something like:
Hall-RNH-Eberle
Perron-Gagner-Yakupov
Hendricks-Gordon-Hemsky
Smyth-Arcobello-Jones
Marincin-Petry
Schultz/Ference-Schultz
Fraser/Belov-Potter
Dubnyk/Scrivens
Now look at this years roster and tell me its much better
Hall-RNH-Eberle
Pouliot-Draisaitl-Yakupov
Perron-Arcobello-Purcell
Hendricks-Gordon-Joensuu
Klefbom-Petry
Nikitin-Schultz
Ference-Fayne
Scrivens/Fasth
Not much difference between the rosters IMO. Add in that we've traded Perron and are most likely trading Petry and you can see why our team is stuck in the same place every year.
I think the premise of the question is false. It is very wishful thinking using the term 'late season success' for anything the Oilers have done recently.
The team being over .500 in all games from Jan 1 onward seems like a rough surrogate for late season success, or at least success in the later part of the season.
The last time an Oilers teams was .500 plus from Jan 1 onward in any season was 2008-09. Hmmm...
TheGuyInTheChair
Registered User
- Sep 21, 2014
- 1,311
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The 23rd team in the league is 1 point under .500, the 24th team is 1 point above. Comparatively, the Oilers are playing better, but .500 is a fairly low bar of success.
I am the Liquor
ABK
- Oct 15, 2008
- 40,456
- 5,501
Wrong drug. LSD opens the doors to perception.
Bath Salts would be a good example for your purposes.
DethOfDragnz
Registered User
The Oilers still have a lot of problems. Size and toughness is still a problem, lack of veteran players that actually have a decent skill level. Goaltending is still questionable. Are biggest negative is a much lacking defensive core. Since the rebuild started Oilers fans have been wanting to see a upward swing the Oilers getting better and better each year building to, hopefully, a steady playoff contender. Instead it has been bottom of the barrel virtually every year with our best since the rebuild a 20th spot finish. I think though that we are about to start the upward swing. Bad coaching bad management and the band aid approach that has really kept the team at the bottom looks like it is ending and I think we have enough drafted talent that if utilized right we could start making the strives that should have started a few years ago. Were not going to be a playoff team come next year unless some miracle happens but Oiler fans and hockey enthusiasts may actually believe we are starting to turn the corner come next year.
KeithIsActuallyBad
You thrust your pelvis, huh!
Despite the fact the Oilers won their last game it illustrated the myriad of problems the team still has. They got outshot and outplayed by a considerable margin and only won because Scrivens played great. When teams bring their best game the Oilers stand little chance of competing.
For a sobering thought, we are still 5-23-9 against the West and haven't beaten 4/6 of our divisional foes (and only once have we won in regulation against the division). Even Buffalo has more wins against the West than we do.
It's nice that the Oilers are good against the East and those count for just as many points as games against Western teams, but we are still the worst team in the West with only Arizona as competition, a team we didn't beat this year in 5 tries.
The team is still pretty poor down the middle, on defense, and especially in goal. My biggest worry is that management will think most of the team's problems are solved simply because Eakins is gone, and do little in the off-season to improve the most crucial parts of the team and we're talking about the draft lottery next Halloween.
Is the team better than it was under Eakins? Yes it is, but that speaks more to how bad Eakins (and the team by extension) was than how good Nelson is.
For a sobering thought, we are still 5-23-9 against the West and haven't beaten 4/6 of our divisional foes (and only once have we won in regulation against the division). Even Buffalo has more wins against the West than we do.
It's nice that the Oilers are good against the East and those count for just as many points as games against Western teams, but we are still the worst team in the West with only Arizona as competition, a team we didn't beat this year in 5 tries.
The team is still pretty poor down the middle, on defense, and especially in goal. My biggest worry is that management will think most of the team's problems are solved simply because Eakins is gone, and do little in the off-season to improve the most crucial parts of the team and we're talking about the draft lottery next Halloween.
Is the team better than it was under Eakins? Yes it is, but that speaks more to how bad Eakins (and the team by extension) was than how good Nelson is.
ScrillaVilla
Registered User
If there is even a single fan who thinks this team is anything other than a basement dweller for the next several years at least they need to give their heads a shake. We are a terrible team about to get a whole lot ****tier starting Monday. This isn't a team in transition to becoming a contender they're in transistion between this current rebuild and the next one.
The way I see it, this team has one decent center, 3 wingers, maybe 3 d worth keeping (About to lose one of them) and no goalie to speak of. If that's all you have after this epically long rebuild, as a fan, my expectations for next season couldn't be lower. So no, I don't feel we are being set up to expect a contender next season.
The way I see it, this team has one decent center, 3 wingers, maybe 3 d worth keeping (About to lose one of them) and no goalie to speak of. If that's all you have after this epically long rebuild, as a fan, my expectations for next season couldn't be lower. So no, I don't feel we are being set up to expect a contender next season.
Mcnofool6110
Re-defining Rock Bottom since '07
we have a great fourth line....
and sometimes semblances of a first...
Yeah, we're broke next season again. Austin Matthews looks good, though.
and sometimes semblances of a first...
Yeah, we're broke next season again. Austin Matthews looks good, though.
Let's look at the last few years from January onwards
2011-2012
17w/28L (0.377)
2012-2013
19w/27L (0.413)
2013-2014
16w-24L (0.400)
2014-2015
10w/14L (0.416)
So we were awful, got slightly better, went down again and we are currently at the best eon percentage we have had in a while with Hall hurt and a really shaky lineup.
That and in the losses the team is actually playing better, where in years passes we only looked decent in wins and ****** in losses
2011-2012
17w/28L (0.377)
2012-2013
19w/27L (0.413)
2013-2014
16w-24L (0.400)
2014-2015
10w/14L (0.416)
So we were awful, got slightly better, went down again and we are currently at the best eon percentage we have had in a while with Hall hurt and a really shaky lineup.
That and in the losses the team is actually playing better, where in years passes we only looked decent in wins and ****** in losses
Klimando Kostani
Registered User
All of those lineups were not contenders nor is the one for next year which looks like this:
Pouliot-RNH-Eberle
Hall-Roy-Yak
UFA-Lander-Purcell
Hendricks-Gordon-Klinkhammer
Klefbom-Schultz
NIkitin-Fayne
Ferrence-UFA
That said, our lineup was capable of many more wins that our record shows but we can't discount the negative effect Eakins had on everyone's play as well his strategies in general were terrible.
The potential lineup for next year looks better than last years, much better than the year before that, and is also much better than the lineup we have been playing with the last several games.
This lineup still needs key acquisitions and the emergence of LD and Nurse within the next 2 years but with Nelson or equally capable coach at the helm this lineup is at least watchable, which is all i'm hoping for next year.
