Do the Oilers have it too easy with the Local Media?

[Da McBomb]

Seeing some of the things unfold in Toronto and all the tension between players, management, and the media got me thinking about the Oilers situation and the local media here. Do you think the Oilers, particularly Oilers management, have it too easy with the local media? You would figure after all these years of losing and the same excuses from management year after year, they would be getting more heat from the media. But to me, it seems like the local media is afraid to push buttons, ask tough questions, and criticize the Oilers. For example, nobody questioning MacT's crazy assertion at yesterday's press conference that Nikitin is a top 4 dman. It seems to me that the media just lets alot of things slide here. It sure would be nice to see some of the media represent the fan base here and grill management with some tough questions and call them out. Am I being unreasonable thinking the media here is too 'management friendly'?

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[Pointteen]

There are rarely tough questions in Edmonton.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

The Oilers seem to blacklist any sort of negative press.

Or maybe that the Press is just so tired of everything Oilers that they put minimal effort into their work, much like the Oilers themselves.

It could be one of those scenarios where we're just so used to hearing stupid things from management that we're immune to it.

 

[WayneGreatzky]

There are rarely tough questions in Edmonton.

This. Media is too afraid they'll get blacklisted and lose access to the team.

The Sun writers seem to have a little more guts when it comes to calling them out but the Journal writers are lapdogs basically

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

remember the last time the Oilers media actually asked a tough question? Lowe lost it and began spouting about his Six Rings and that "half the teams in the league what take our roster" garbage...

 

[Seedling]

Absolutely. The media here did start to have some push back at the start of the year and then Eakins got canned, but now they are placated and really seem to not be telling it the way it is, except for John MacKinnon.

There are far too few guys saying that the OBC has to go. Nothing has changed.

 

[pox]

its a mixture of Lapdogs and people scared of being blacklisted

 

[Soundwave]

Yes for sure.

If Lowe/Mac T were doing the same thing in Toronto, Montreal, or even Vancouver they would get eaten alive by the press.

I think even in Calgary there would be much more push back ... Sutter took a lot of grief there even though he had the team in the playoffs for several years.

Dare I say it, no NHL team is more coddled by its local media than Edmonton. Maybe in markets where no one give a crap and they have like two beat reporters following the team.

 

[Da McBomb]

Watching some of the press conferences through the years is like watching 'The Interview' where Oilers management is Kim Jong Un and the whole interview is structured to what they want. Its sad really.

 

[Beerfish]

Typical media question:

Or perhaps, if Bob is asking a Q:

 

[SometimesY]

Hard hitting Principe, asking other teams leading questions trying to get some quotes on Oiler positives. That is our media.

 

[Board Gordon]

Ryan Rishaug.

I have nothing but bad things to say about this guy.

One of the most disturbing media guys in this town along with Bob "Stuffer" and Gene "Pun" Principe.

Rishaug is a joke. The way he handled the Larionov/Yakupov situation made me sick. He gave Yak harder questions than MacT or Lowe will ever see. It really upset me to see him treat a player like that. Unbelievable.

To be honest, I can't think of any other specific things he's done besides his recent "impatient fans" quote but good god I dislike the guy

 

[Soundwave]

Mark Spector is about as tough as it gets for the local media

Lowe/Mac T would be eaten alive in Toronto.

 

[Tarus]

Absolutely yes, it's not even in question. The media around here were viewed as lapdogs 10 - 15 years ago, and it's only gotten worse. The instances they say anything critical are easily remembered because they rarely rock the boat, and frequently outright shill for the organization.

They're just far too comfortable, and far too cozy with the people running the franchise. The lone dissenting voice a decade ago is now virtually the disinformation minister for the franchise, and half of them just copy/paste the Oiler press releases with a few tacked on notes.

 

[Mr Positive]

I don't follow all of the media out there, but the vast majority of it seems very fair. I don't think most GMs or coaches really have to sit there and be grilled after every game, and I do see some tough questions now and then during pressers. There was that great Mark Connolly interview recently. I like online media too, like Lowetide, and most of them will give very reasonable opinions, and very often very critical of management and ownership. I don't see all the stuff out there though or watch the interviews generally.

However, in no shape or form should we be wishing we had Toronto's media presence. That is an absolute cancer. It seems over there you are bound to be well known as a player, and either as a god or as a villain. Maybe we could have a bit more of that, but personally I don't care for it, especially the tabloid trash type of bashing that regularly goes on there. I don't know the whole picture with that media, but the bit I do see is not great.

 

[Tarus]

Hard hitting Principe, asking other teams leading questions trying to get some quotes on Oiler positives. That is our media.

He's not a reporter, he's a presenter for the Oiler's broadcasts.

Expecting him to ask hard questions is the equivalent of expecting Ryan Seacrest to grill American idol contestants.

 

[rboomercat90]

Seeing some of the things unfold in Toronto and all the tension between players, management, and the media got me thinking about the Oilers situation and the local media here. Do you think the Oilers, particularly Oilers management, have it too easy with the local media? You would figure after all these years of losing and the same excuses from management year after year, they would be getting more heat from the media. But to me, it seems like the local media is afraid to push buttons, ask tough questions, and criticize the Oilers. For example, nobody questioning MacT's crazy assertion at yesterday's press conference that Nikitin is a top 4 dman. It seems to me that the media just lets alot of things slide here. It sure would be nice to see some of the media represent the fan base here and grill management with some tough questions and call them out. Am I being unreasonable thinking the media here is too 'management friendly'?

I agree the media is way too soft on these guys. Reading the three articles in the Sun today made me think I listened to a different press conference than they did. I've always respected Terry Jones, even though most on here hate him, but his quote saying that if you don't believe Mactavish saying "we're on the horizon of another great decade of Oilers hockey" then you might as well stop being an Oilers fan made my blood boil.

I'll give Jason Gregor some credit though, he went ballistic on his show when talking about Mactavish's comments about Nikitin. The rest of them though aren't doing a much better job than Mactavish or the rest of the Oilers so called brain trust.

 

[Beerfish]

I don't follow all of the media out there, but the vast majority of it seems very fair. I don't think most GMs or coaches really have to sit there and be grilled after every game, and I do see some tough questions now and then during pressers. There was that great Mark Connolly interview recently. I like online media too, like Lowetide, and most of them will give very reasonable opinions, and very often very critical of management and ownership. I don't see all the stuff out there though or watch the interviews generally.

However, in no shape or form should we be wishing we had Toronto's media presence. That is an absolute cancer. It seems over there you are bound to be well known as a player, and either as a god or as a villain. Maybe we could have a bit more of that, but personally I don't care for it, especially the tabloid trash type of bashing that regularly goes on there. I don't know the whole picture with that media, but the bit I do see is not great.

Yeah, who did the Oilers provide for Connoly to interview.


Absolutely no one has suggested that coaches or gms have to be grilled after every game but you are really out of touch if you think the reporting is fair. If the oilers group actually had to face some real questions a couple times a year that would be reasonable. The reaction to any even moderately tough question is often not at all professional or credible.

 

[Up the Irons]

no, OP, you are not being unreasonable.

I am still waiting (the moment has passed, so too late) for one reporter to ask Mact about his strategy of 'challenging' Petry with a one year deal, one year from UFA!!!! How was that supposed to yield anything but exactly what happened yesterday? The was assinine.

I just listened to Stauffer's one-on-one, bi-monthly, infomercial with Mact. He never even touched the subject of Nikitin and Mact's over-the-top opinion of him. Never asked him if he tried to trade Petry last summer, which was the textbook NHL GM play.

I do believe that the local sports medium is starting to treat the Oilers mockingly and with condescension (they are all saying they are incompetent), but the tough questions are still not coming.

 

[Soundwave]

I'll agree somewhat with the "worst is behind us" part, mostly because the cancer that was Eakins is gone.

But the "another great decade of Oiler hockey" stuff just makes me roll my eyes. Shut. The. ****. Up. Mac T.

To be honest I don't know if this core will ever been anything all that special.

Between Hall, RNH, Yakupov, Eberle, and Draisaitl the only one I see with true superstar ability is maybe Hall and he's injury prone and does some really stupid things on the ice at times. Good player, don't get me wrong, but Stamkos/Tavares tier he isn't IMO.

They're nothing like the 80s Oilers, so stop alluding to that.

They honestly may not even be as good as the late 90s Oilers.

Weight >> Nugent Hopkins
Guerin < Hall (closer than we'd want to admit though)
Smyth > Eberle
Niinima > any Oiler D right now
Mironov > any Oiler D right now
Cujo >>> any Oiler goalie right now
McAmmond > Yakupov (sorry as of right now this is true)

And the 90s group had far more heart/fight on top of that.

 

[Playa Hejda]

He's not a reporter, he's a presenter for the Oiler's broadcasts.

Expecting him to ask hard questions is the equivalent of expecting Ryan Seacrest to grill American idol contestants.

100% Gene gets a pass. He host the broadcast and provides some light background information. Stauffer is basically the same thing, but with more of a PR slant. He's just a sadder story because he came from the outsider radio station.

It's the TSN and print guys that need to be running with the infamous "6 cups" comment rather that just letting that (and 9 years of losing) go.

 

[Pointteen]

100% Gene gets a pass. He host the broadcast and provides some light background information. Stauffer is basically the same thing, but with more of a PR slant. He's just a sadder story because he came from the outsider radio station.

It's the TSN and print guys that need to be running with the infamous "6 cups" comment rather that just letting that (and 9 years of losing) go.

Yeah, Gene has been the best part of tuning into Oilers games for a few year. He is not a journalist. He is an entertainer.

 

[Seedling]

Donuts are back. Why rock the boat?

 

[oXo Cube]

They have been improving lately(Spector, TSN panel yesterday), but they were drinking the corporate kool-aid for years and are only now starting to come out of that shell and have a long way to go.

We will see if they keep it up or if they crawl back into Katz's lap the moment he gets angry about something one of them says.

 

[Da McBomb]

These press conferences.. do the Oilers control which reporters are allowed to attend? Or is anyone from the media allowed to come?