Post-Game Talk: Devils 5 Oilers 2 - welp

[rboomercat90]

Blaming the players is the biggest cop out ever. That's like a manager blaming the employees he hired for their crappy work. I've worked with some dumbass people (I've spent 17 years in the army, I've worked with guys who stuck his hand into a air conditioner because he wanted to see how deep the hole went), but when I get tasked to do something, the blame falls on me when it doesn't get done properly. It does not matter that I'm saddled with incompetency sometimes (I'm sure sometimes I'm the incompetent one), I have to find what my guys & girls are good at and focus on their strengths to get the job done. We've watched this coach long enough to know that he isn't trying to find what works with his players, he's trying to make his players do what he thinks works (which at this point would require a DeLorean going 88mph).

I keep bringing up the “blame the players” thing because I was flabbergasted when they said it. I don’t recall ever hearing the management of a sports team saying that publicly before. It was as if management was declaring an us versus them war. As much as I hated the OBC, they never sunk to that level. I don’t know how you fix this without purging everybody.

 

[Missing smitty]

I keep bringing up the “blame the players” thing because I was flabbergasted when they said it. I don’t recall ever hearing the management of a sports team saying that publicly before. It was as if management was declaring an us versus them war. As much as I hated the OBC, they never sunk to that level. I don’t know how you fix this without purging everybody.

Totally agree. You can tell when a business is floundering, because all the higher ups are blaming everyone but themselves. At this point, Katz should be ashamed of himself, but he probably just sits around in his money house drinking with Gretzky....

 

[Panda Bear]

I still don't understand how McLellan kept his job.

 

[North]

I still don't understand how McLellan kept his job.

Upper management seems to respect him a great deal but I think he has only so much cover before they let him go.

 

[McShogun99]

RNH isn’t playing center.

I’d bet he ends up playing half his time during the year at center. You will see constant switching of him and Leon as 2c. Plus if Mcdavid or Draisaitl get injured then he will be back to center.

 

[The Panther]

I still don't understand how McLellan kept his job.

Hmm. Possibly he's kept his job because:
(a) He has coached NHL teams to 8 winning seasons in 10 tries, including an almost .600 career percentage, putting him above about 98% of coaches in history.
(b) The Oilers "fire everyone" philosophy of 2008 to 2015 resulted in the worst period in the franchise's history.

Yes, McLellan has a strange attachment to Matt Benning and to putting Lucic on the power-play (but McLellan didn't sign Lucic to $7 million per season).

But let's wait for more than one game before firing everyone. Okay?

 

[Missing smitty]

Hmm. Possibly he's kept his job because:
(a) He has coached NHL teams to 8 winning seasons in 10 tries, including an almost .600 career percentage, putting him above about 98% of coaches in history.
(b) The Oilers "fire everyone" philosophy of 2008 to 2015 resulted in the worst period in the franchise's history.

Yes, McLellan has a strange attachment to Matt Benning and to putting Lucic on the power-play (but McLellan didn't sign Lucic to $7 million per season).

But let's wait for more than one game before firing everyone. Okay?

How do you explain last year? It must be the players?

 

[RegDunlop]

Hmm. Possibly he's kept his job because:
(a) He has coached NHL teams to 8 winning seasons in 10 tries, including an almost .600 career percentage, putting him above about 98% of coaches in history.
(b) The Oilers "fire everyone" philosophy of 2008 to 2015 resulted in the worst period in the franchise's history.

Yes, McLellan has a strange attachment to Matt Benning and to putting Lucic on the power-play (but McLellan didn't sign Lucic to $7 million per season).

But let's wait for more than one game before firing everyone. Okay?

Agree
But his recent track record ain't pretty and he alone is responsible for many mistakes along with
Chia.
God help us if the other hanger-ons are involved too.

 

[Panda Bear]

I don't give a hoot about his accomplishments in San Jose at this point.

He is entering his fourth season with the club. We looked worse last season than the season prior, and he was unable to right the ship.

It's one thing to give a coach a free pass if they barely miss the playoffs with a capable group, and another to give a free pass for a team that horribly underperformed.

McLellan's persistence with his powerplay symbolises his inability to get the most from this group of players

Unless there's some huge turnaround where we suddenly and consistently play good systems hockey, he's not a good fit for the club.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I still don't understand how McLellan kept his job.

Chia gets a pass?

Worst trade of the millennium.

Devils have two better D than anybody we have and we gave them a league MOP.

 

[oobga]

I keep bringing up the “blame the players” thing because I was flabbergasted when they said it. I don’t recall ever hearing the management of a sports team saying that publicly before. It was as if management was declaring an us versus them war. As much as I hated the OBC, they never sunk to that level. I don’t know how you fix this without purging everybody.

Top to bottom this org is full of people that refuse to take blame for anything. From Lowe all the way down to McLellan. And 100% agree with you about the narrative the Oilers org was pushing last year. It was all the players, Talbot failed us, depth failed us, the D all failed for various reasons. No worries oilers fans, as long as the players do their fair share here and follow McLellan's genius game plan, this year is gonna be spectacular. If it doesn't work out, well, you know already who to blame.

 

[Laineux]

A terrible game to watch. NJD showed the kind of pace and speed that is required to hack it in the NHL in 2018-2019, and Oilers are terribly far behind the curve.

 

[harpoon]

How do you explain last year? It must be the players?

Name the players that played to their potential last season.
McDavid, uh, I guess Nurse and RNH, uh .... maybe Russell?

Coach has his flaws. No one would debate that. But when given a mediocre lineup to start with, and then facing a bunch of injuries and personal tragedies, you need everyone pulling their hardest. If you think the squad we saw last year was 'everyone pulling their hardest' you must have just started watching hockey.

Chia gets a pass?

Course he does. You know how it works.
The truly laughable thing is that everyone screaming for the coach's head seem to be forgetting that he serves at the pleasure of the GM. If you think the coach is junk, well, that's just another failure to lay at the feet of Chiarelli.

 

[Missing smitty]

Name the players that played to their potential last season.
McDavid, uh, I guess Nurse and RNH, uh .... maybe Russell?

Coach has his flaws. No one would debate that. But when given a mediocre lineup to start with, and then facing a bunch of injuries and personal tragedies, you need everyone pulling their hardest. If you think the squad we saw last year was 'everyone pulling their hardest' you must have just started watching hockey.
Course he does. You know how it works.
The truly laughable thing is that everyone screaming for the coach's head seem to be forgetting that he serves at the pleasure of the GM. If you think the coach is junk, well, that's just another failure to lay at the feet of Chiarelli.

I'm not giving Chiarelli a pass either. They both suck, but you can't say the problem is the roster until they play for a different coach. Just because I'm anti-McLelland doesn't mean I'm pro-Chiarelli, plus I absolutely detest the blame the players argument. It's a cop out for failed management.

 

[StevenF1919]

How many coaches in the league would take this team to the playoffs? The roster is a disaster and the coach is the last of our problems. Scotty f***ing Bowman wouldn't even make the playoffs with this group of players.

 

[MessierII]

How many coaches in the league would take this team to the playoffs? The roster is a disaster and the coach is the last of our problems. Scotty ****ing Bowman wouldn't even make the playoffs with this group of players.

Vegas just went to the finals with Nate Schmidt as their #1 D man and William Karlsson as their #1 centre. I’m pretty confident in saying this roster is perfectly capable of being competitive.

 

[harpoon]

plus I absolutely detest the blame the players argument.

Yeah, I get that. Its self serving as hell when the coach or GM busts out that excuse.

But as fans who watched the games can we not agree that this team had a boat load of passengers last season?

How is it that pros who have played the game all their lives can't make a zone entry? How is it that they can't move the puck out of their own end with some degree of competency? How is it that they can't make crisp passes? How is it that they let in the first shot of the game thirteen times? How is it that they have such woeful special teams? Do they really need some guy in a suit to tell them how to play the game they've been playing since they were three? Its embarrassing.

I find it weak for management to 'blame' the players. But on the other hand the players lose the games on the ice. I just think the coach is one of the last guys who needs to shoulder the blame for the dreadful season the Oilers turned in last year. And honestly, if he is so bad, why doesn't the GM fire him? I think its because the GM knows he handed the coach a losing roster from the beginning and then they got decimated by injuries, Larsson's tragedy, and having a bunch of guys just cashing their checks. Not excusing McLellan. Just saying that imo his culpability is less than the GM, less than the owner and less than the guys who lost the games on the ice.

 

[MessierII]

But as fans who watched the games can we not agree that this team had a boat load of passengers last season?

I wanted to highlight this because the one thing that is 100% on the players is their level of compete and how hard they work night in night out. When you outwork the opposition in the nhl and buy in to the system any roster in the league currently can win. Vegas proved that. You outwork the opposition every night you will win more than you lose. Klefboms “They were hungrier that we were” comment made me sick to my stomach.

 

[StevenF1919]

Vegas just went to the finals with Nate Schmidt as their #1 D man and William Karlsson as their #1 centre. I’m pretty confident in saying this roster is perfectly capable of being competitive.

Vegas has 3 dmen better than anyone we have, a good bottom 6, and wingers who aren't career AHLers/raw rookies. Without McDavid this is the worst team in the league. We're a one line team, and that's being generous considering two thirds of that one line won't do shit away from Connor.

 

[MessierII]

Vegas has 3 dmen better than anyone we have

Their top 3 was Schmidt, Theadore and Miller. Those 3 are all really better than any of Klefbom, Larsson and Nurse?

 

[harpoon]

Klefboms “They were hungrier that we were” comment made me sick to my stomach.

He should replace the 'we' with 'me'. Klefbom is the poster boy for lazy entitled play out there. He's not the only one by a long shot, but he needs to step the f*** up this season ... big time.

 

[StevenF1919]

Their top 3 was Schmidt, Theadore and Miller. Those 3 are all really better than any of Klefbom, Larsson and Nurse?

Yes. Klefbom is the only player better than those guys, and only when he's healthy and playing at 100%. Nurse has yet to play consistently well over a full season and Larsson is a one-dimensional #4. All 3 of those Vegas guys know how to move the puck. There's not a single player in our back end outside of a healthy Klefbom that knows how to make a breakout pass.

 

[harpoon]

Vegas has 3 dmen better than anyone we have, a good bottom 6, and wingers who aren't career AHLers/raw rookies.

They also got amazing goaltending from every guy they put in net right up until they lost in the semis. At one point they were on their third string goaltender and he was putting up big performances for them. We had a guy who let in the first shot thirteen times, and a back up who was less than great.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I wanted to highlight this because the one thing that is 100% on the players is their level of compete and how hard they work night in night out. When you outwork the opposition in the nhl and buy in to the system any roster in the league currently can win. Vegas proved that. You outwork the opposition every night you will win more than you lose. Klefboms “They were hungrier that we were” comment made me sick to my stomach.

Maybe Klefbom doesn't show up in the big games, even in his own country, even in a showcase game for him playing his only, ever, NHL game in his home country.

The quote is always going to be a tag line as long as he's an insignificant player.

 

[StevenF1919]

They also got amazing goaltending from every guy they put in net right up until they lost in the semis. At one point they were on their third string goaltender and he was putting up big performances for them. We had a guy who let in the first shot thirteen times, and a back up who was less than great.

Agreed, although that goaltending isn't sustainable and we're already seeing Fleury falter.