Discussing the McLellan postgame

[Suxnet]

Smid was just amazing, passing the puck back and forth to Petry until Petry took off and did something with it.

So? He was never a puck mover. He may have fallen off hard, but he was an excellent shutdown dman here.

 

[oilinblood]

One thing I've noticed is McLellan has throughout mentioned that there is a handful of players on this team not pulling their weight consistently. Every time we have a piss poor effort, he'd call out what seems to be the same guys.

We know Schultz is a part of that, I wonder who else. I mean, we're significantly into this rebuild yet we have far too many nights of piss poor effort. We've changed coaches and landed one other better ones in the NHL, so it's not 'lost the lockerroom' or anything like that, but rather the players. I do wonder if it is one(or more) of the original young guns considering all the changes.

Is the answer Horcoff?

Horcoff is the cancer. He drags the entire team down.

 

[voxel]

Don't you make me post the Ristolainen 2014-15 and Nurse 2015-16 warrior charts again.

Buffalo didn't ruin Risto and Edmonton isn't ruining Nurse.

Risto looked like the best Buf D by a country mile some games (like Klefbom did). Nurse does not.

When we admit our failures? Yak is near bust territory. Jultz is just dumb (forget soft - don't care). Ebs is a complimentary player. And we have one healthy NHL D-man in Sekera and he's nothing special either.

This team deserves to be near the bottom - too many players gifted slots and few earned.

 

[oilinblood]

I got free tix to the Anaheim game last week. Free...Red Seats....and I had to ho and hum over if I was going to waste my time with going to the game. A few expensive drinks later, it was still a waste of time.

People just sit there, on their phones disinterested in the game being played in front of them. Everyone sits like a drone, glancing at their phones from time to time.

The games are so boring. I heckled a few times, calling Kessler a bum but nobody says anything or talks. they just sit there.

Even when they sucked in the 90s it was a bit more entertaining with the fans. People used to heckle and people jeered at the bad guys.

Oh well.

90s were entertaining. I became a fan in what i thought would be the teams worst years. It was awesome to watch their rise...and entertaining.

PASSION is entertainment. PASSION is contagious and carries over to the fans. They werent allstar teams. You had a goalie who could get red-hot in CUJO (and was flailingly dramatic) you had a decent defense who had some bruisers and some young offense talents --WHO COULD ALSO BRUISE OPPONENTS, you had a couple stars WHO COULD BRUISE OPPONENTS, you had a third and fourth line THAT ALWAYS FINISHED THEIR CHECKS.
There was a shift in the third p[eriod against Colorado where the 3rd line went out and hit, and hit, and hit. People started clapping becAUSE it is now rare to see that in one shift. in the 90s OIlers THAT HAPPENED ALL GAME. EVERYONE, top centre, 3rd liner, FINISHED THEIR CHECKS.

Now it seems like guys dont check unless they want to kill the guy or think they can make a highlight hit.
DEFENSE is about checking. CHecking is a big part of the game. NOT KILLING GUYS...checking them. making them pay for posession. making their shifts painful. toughening your own team (consistently in the highest in the league for man games lost)

(flashback2008)I remember a goal by Modano vs us. Souray had the left wall and good position. Modano had speed and just accepted a pass and was going to try to beat Souray to the outside. This is SOURAY we are talking about...and this is 2008. ....
PEOPLE ASK ME...AT WHAT POINT DID IT GO WRONG. WHERE DID THE OILERS START FAILING...
Before Modano EVEN accepts that pass...Souray is positioned to end the attack. He has a good gaP...is moving to the boards. Modano accepts the pass... and as a viewer you know the play will be dead in 0.26 seconds.
BUT NO...Souray... STOPS and waves his stick at Modano..modano passes him (I STILL RECALL ON THE REPLAYS THAT MODANO WAS SURPRISED HE DIDNT GET CHECKED) Modano builds more speed...cuts to tthe net unchecked and alone.
Scores

That was the moment i never forgave Souray for. And i look back on that moment as the Oilers becoming a team that i no longer was familiar with


Players that have impressed me
McD
Leon
Poop
Nurse
Klef
Davidson
Talbot


If Hall stops reversing pucks in the D zone (somethign THAT INFURIATES ME) i like him too

I like Nuge...but i never see his skills anymore. I like Eberle but i dont see the guts anymore, i dont see the investment.

If Nuge was the battler i remember from year 1...I keep him. He has been a ghost of that player. Eberle is danerous from anywhere but i dont see him BATTLE.

This team needs warriors. Nuge in his rookie year giving checks, picking pockets. Where did that stuff go? Where did the passion go?


The pieces are here to have a core...but the core has changed. If the return is right--Nuge, Eberle, Purse, Yak, all these guys can be had FOR GOOD RETURN. They are not part of the core that will win here. Hall and Drais dont go anywhere unless i feel im stealing the deal.

Another thing. I dont expect my forwards to play D...I want them to check. So if they are caught up ice to finish a hit. GOOD. But they better be finishing checks. Thats where i differ opinion with others. I dont expect wingers to help much on D. The D should be strong enough that opposition players respet them and that the D can turn the pucks quickly up ice. Nobody gets punished for playing us. That is a far cry from when teams used to hate coming to Edmonton. Days when teams knew it was going to be a night of 60 minutes in the trenches.

 

[Jet Walters]

90s were entertaining. I became a fan in what i thought would be the teams worst years. It was awesome to watch their rise...and entertaining.

PASSION is entertainment. PASSION is contagious and carries over to the fans. They werent allstar teams. You had a goalie who could get red-hot in CUJO (and was flailingly dramatic) you had a decent defense who had some bruisers and some young offense talents --WHO COULD ALSO BRUISE OPPONENTS, you had a couple stars WHO COULD BRUISE OPPONENTS, you had a third and fourth line THAT ALWAYS FINISHED THEIR CHECKS.
There was a shift in the third p[eriod against Colorado where the 3rd line went out and hit, and hit, and hit. People started clapping becAUSE it is now rare to see that in one shift. in the 90s OIlers THAT HAPPENED ALL GAME. EVERYONE, top centre, 3rd liner, FINISHED THEIR CHECKS.

Now it seems like guys dont check unless they want to kill the guy or think they can make a highlight hit.
DEFENSE is about checking. CHecking is a big part of the game. NOT KILLING GUYS...checking them. making them pay for posession. making their shifts painful. toughening your own team (consistently in the highest in the league for man games lost)

(flashback2008)I remember a goal by Modano vs us. Souray had the left wall and good position. Modano had speed and just accepted a pass and was going to try to beat Souray to the outside. This is SOURAY we are talking about...and this is 2008. ....
PEOPLE ASK ME...AT WHAT POINT DID IT GO WRONG. WHERE DID THE OILERS START FAILING...
Before Modano EVEN accepts that pass...Souray is positioned to end the attack. He has a good gaP...is moving to the boards. Modano accepts the pass... and as a viewer you know the play will be dead in 0.26 seconds.
BUT NO...Souray... STOPS and waves his stick at Modano..modano passes him (I STILL RECALL ON THE REPLAYS THAT MODANO WAS SURPRISED HE DIDNT GET CHECKED) Modano builds more speed...cuts to tthe net unchecked and alone.
Scores

That was the moment i never forgave Souray for. And i look back on that moment as the Oilers becoming a team that i no longer was familiar with


Players that have impressed me
McD
Leon
Poop
Nurse
Klef
Davidson
Talbot


If Hall stops reversing pucks in the D zone (somethign THAT INFURIATES ME) i like him too

I like Nuge...but i never see his skills anymore. I like Eberle but i dont see the guts anymore, i dont see the investment.

If Nuge was the battler i remember from year 1...I keep him. He has been a ghost of that player. Eberle is danerous from anywhere but i dont see him BATTLE.

This team needs warriors. Nuge in his rookie year giving checks, picking pockets. Where did that stuff go? Where did the passion go?


The pieces are here to have a core...but the core has changed. If the return is right--Nuge, Eberle, Purse, Yak, all these guys can be had FOR GOOD RETURN. They are not part of the core that will win here. Hall and Drais dont go anywhere unless i feel im stealing the deal.

Another thing. I dont expect my forwards to play D...I want them to check. So if they are caught up ice to finish a hit. GOOD. But they better be finishing checks. Thats where i differ opinion with others. I dont expect wingers to help much on D. The D should be strong enough that opposition players respet them and that the D can turn the pucks quickly up ice. Nobody gets punished for playing us. That is a far cry from when teams used to hate coming to Edmonton. Days when teams knew it was going to be a night of 60 minutes in the trenches.

I remember back to a time when Mike Grier could whip the crowd into a literal frenzy with a board rattling shift. The whole team bought in and despite the general lack of "skill" on the roster the team won their fair share. Now Rexall is a morgue most nights and despite what MacTavish might think, people don't get too exited by these Fancy Dan forwards completing 9 or 10 passes in a row.

 

[AM]

I love how blunt and succinct he is. No long-winded tangents (Renney), philosophical nonsense (Eakins), or flat out ineptitude (MacT) with this guy...just straight-shooting zingers.

Ironic, did he zing himself?

Or do you still believe it is the coaching or the management?

 

[JordanGalhanth]

Ironic, did he zing himself?

Or do you still believe it is the coaching or the management?

...um, I don't believe it's coaching or management at all...not sure where you got that from.

 

[Throttlehead]

Exhibit A: Nurse. Being ruined as we speak.

Chances are you would be screaming for Nurse to be brought up 1/2 way through this season if he had been in the AHL.

Our trouble is depth, and its at every position.

In the trade threads its "trade Eberle, trade Yakupov for dmen, trade Hall for a dman". And our wingers will be who again?

This team is in shambles with depth and MacTavish didn't solidify any positions in his trades or acquisitions. Now we have this mess of building .. STILL.

 

[Oilfan2]

Chances are you would be screaming for Nurse to be brought up 1/2 way through this season if he had been in the AHL.

Our trouble is depth, and its at every position.

In the trade threads its "trade Eberle, trade Yakupov for dmen, trade Hall for a dman". And our wingers will be who again?

This team is in shambles with depth and MacTavish didn't solidify any positions in his trades or acquisitions. Now we have this mess of building .. STILL.

Laurent Brossoit

 

[ZJuice]

Laurent Brossoit

Nikita Nikitin

 

[fuswald]

Nikita Nikitin

Dallas Eakins. Check and mate.

 

[McDeathbyCheerios*]

Laurent Brossoit

Adding one prospect isn't solidifying anything.

Chia had to go out and get two goalies for this year.

 

[Draiskull]

Adding one prospect isn't solidifying anything.

Chia had to go out and get two goalies for this year.

MacT went out and got 2 goalies too..
Jury is still out is Scrivs+Fasth was any better than Talbot\Nilsson

MacT also changed the team look by swapping 11 active players within first 12 months.

Until we land a #1Dman you cant crown Chiarelli with anything.

 

[Draiskull]

Dallas Eakins. Check and mate.

pretty obvious by now that this team has\had issues far greater than bad coaching.

 

[Digger12]

pretty obvious by now that this team has\had issues far greater than bad coaching.

True enough, but IMO his dismissal of Krueger followed by his hiring of Eakins was by far MacTavish's biggest error as GM here.

 

[Stoneman89]

MacT went out and got 2 goalies too..
Jury is still out is Scrivs+Fasth was any better than Talbot\Nilsson

MacT also changed the team look by swapping 11 active players within first 12 months.

Until we land a #1Dman you cant crown Chiarelli with anything.

I don't think so. Nilsson may suck, but there is no comparison with Talbot compared to the other two slugs.

 

[slaman]

This is the one player where i think a lot of it is on him though. He didn't put the work in to get better and straight up said he didn't think he had a lot to work on.

Him and Marincin didn't do much to help themselves.

We did ruin Yakupov though.

I have never heard Yakupov say he needs to do things better... he always says he needs to keep doing what he's doing.

Agreed though - Schultz bears most of the accountability for his poor play in this case...

 

[StoveTopStauffer]

So? He was never a puck mover. He may have fallen off hard, but he was an excellent shutdown dman here.

He was pretty terrible at that the last time he was here. Only thing he was good at was clearing a crease which we could sure use but, not attached to the rest of the ineptitude.