News Article: Friedman: Everybody is feeling the heat of Oilers’ start

[Gord]

ugh, this was actually the 1st game in years (prior to McDavid draft) that I wanted them to lose. Of course, the head of the snake stays, all thanks to Connor McDavid. This team is pretty damn good on paper, but the product on the ice looks lost, slow, with a complete lack of confidence. I hope they already started the process of scouting for a new coach, the right coach for this team. And not Gulutzan, he's a good #2 but we need someone with the ability adapt and be creative

there's your problem. thinking the team is pretty damn good on paper.

to me, on paper the team is adequate at best. another year where the only hope is over performing players and rushed rookies.

 

[joestevens29]

there's your problem. thinking the team is pretty damn good on paper.

to me, on paper the team is adequate at best. another year where the only hope is over performing players and rushed rookies.

Our defense still isn't good. They were suppose to be moving the puck quicker to the forwards and that just isn't happening. Yawney wanted them to stop those passes to their defensive partner before coming up ice and they haven't stopped yet.

I think we can be fine with our forwards, but we need those d moving the puck quicker.

 

[VainGretzky]

A lot of doomsday talk in here with a 1-2 record , starting off in Europe was not good for the team , a lot of travel and a lot going on. McDavid being in on all goals is statistically a good sign as we seen in pre season the team was getting alot out of Yamamoto Pujujarvi and Rattie these players will be contributing sooner than later.I would step off the ledge till around 20 game mark if team is 5 or 6 games below .500 than you can step back on it . I think Oilers will be 2-3 games over .500 by then

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

That year
As everyone said a million times that year was an aberration. Look at the garb ge team we have this year that your BFF chairelli has built.

How bad do thinks have to get for you to take off your rose colored glasses?

The team looks awful yet again and chairelli a awful moves have crippled the team.

do you even care to know the initial post?
the initial post was:

. Can you name one good move that Chia made so far.

to which I answered the question

me saying "Chiarelli has made good moves" has nothing to do with rose-colored glasses

 

[TFHockey]

A lot of doomsday talk in here with a 1-2 record , starting off in Europe was not good for the team , a lot of travel and a lot going on. McDavid being in on all goals is statistically a good sign as we seen in pre season the team was getting alot out of Yamamoto Pujujarvi and Rattie these players will be contributing sooner than later.I would step off the ledge till around 20 game mark if team is 5 or 6 games below .500 than you can step back on it . I think Oilers will be 2-3 games over .500 by then

Well, if we look at our first 10 games:

EDM - NJD (Road, Sweden) L
EDM - BOS (Road) L
EDM - NYR (Road) W
EDM - WPG (Road)
BOS - EDM (Home)
NSH - EDM (Home)
PIT - EDM (Home)
WSH - EDM (Home)
EDM - NSH (Road)
EDM - CHI (Road)

Six road games and mostly playoff teams. That is a brutal start to the schedule. If you're hoping we are 2-3 above .500 after 20 games, we'd have to light it up in the next 10.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

A lot of doomsday talk in here with a 1-2 record , starting off in Europe was not good for the team , a lot of travel and a lot going on. McDavid being in on all goals is statistically a good sign as we seen in pre season the team was getting alot out of Yamamoto Pujujarvi and Rattie these players will be contributing sooner than later.I would step off the ledge till around 20 game mark if team is 5 or 6 games below .500 than you can step back on it . I think Oilers will be 2-3 games over .500 by then

Having the entire offense run through McDavid is NOT a good thing. If you contain McDavid you win the game. Who else is going to score? Ryan Strome?

 

[VainGretzky]

Having the entire offense run through McDavid is NOT a good thing. If you contain McDavid you win the game. Who else is going to score? Ryan Strome?

Did you even read my post .... obviously not

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Did you even read my post .... obviously not

You said it's statistically a good sign because of things that happened in preseason.

Of course none of those preseason things have carried over to the regular season other than McDavid doing what he does.

It's not even the fact they lost that concerns me about the 1-2 start... They didn't even belong on the same ice surface against the Devils and Bruins.

 

[Little Fury]

A lot of doomsday talk in here with a 1-2 record , starting off in Europe was not good for the team , a lot of travel and a lot going on. McDavid being in on all goals is statistically a good sign as we seen in pre season the team was getting alot out of Yamamoto Pujujarvi and Rattie these players will be contributing sooner than later.I would step off the ledge till around 20 game mark if team is 5 or 6 games below .500 than you can step back on it . I think Oilers will be 2-3 games over .500 by then

Looking at the schedule, there's a pretty good chance the Oilers might be looking at 5 wins out of their first 20. Breaking even will probably take a miracle.

 

[VainGretzky]

You said it's statistically a good sign because of things that happened in preseason.

Of course none of those preseason things have carried over to the regular season other than McDavid doing what he does.

It's not even the fact they lost that concerns me about the 1-2 start... They didn't even belong on the same ice surface against the Devils and Bruins.

 

[VainGretzky]

Lol you're funny do you really think a home opener in Europe is the sum of the whole season , do you really think the team is only going to get offence from Just McDavid You use a one game sample against NJ well I guess we must than use the one game sample against Rangers and proclaim the team will have stellar Defence and goaltending rest of season ... Really hard to take you serious at times

 

[VainGretzky]

Looking at the schedule, there's a pretty good chance the Oilers might be looking at 5 wins out of their first 20. Breaking even will probably take a miracle.

Do you want to wager on this ?

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Lol you're funny do you really think a home opener in Europe is the sum of the whole season , do you really think the team is only going to get offence from Just McDavid You use a one game sample against NJ well I guess we must than use the one game sample against Rangers and proclaim the team will have stellar Defence and goaltending rest of season ... Really hard to take you serious at times

If you watched last season nothing in the games we've seen so far is new. I don't think the season opener is the sum of the whole season, I think the previous season with minimal upgrades is the sum of the season. The team often struggled last year to score when McDavid was on the ice, and the bottom 6 provided very little offense in most games.

It's good that they won against NYR otherwise this place would need a quarantine. But they still struggled to produce anything when 97 wasn't on the ice. I hope they play better in Winnipeg because that will be another stiff test.

 

[Little Fury]

Do you want to wager on this ?

Have you actually looked at the schedule? 9 of the next 17 on the road. Only 5 against clubs that didn't make the playoffs last year (including two against Chicago who are looking much improved). The way the Oilers are playing, .500 after 20 is a tall order, 2-3 games over is a pipedream.

 

[VainGretzky]

Have you actually looked at the schedule? 9 of the next 17 on the road. Only 5 against clubs that didn't make the playoffs last year (including two against Chicago who are looking much improved). The way the Oilers are playing, .500 after 20 is a tall order, 2-3 games over is a pipedream.

repeat do you want to wager that Oilers have 5 or less wins in the 1st 20 games , and a little over 1/2 road games in next 17 is not scary

 

[Little Fury]

repeat do you want to wager that Oilers have 5 or less wins in the 1st 20 games , and a little over 1/2 road games in next 17 is not scary

Not really, because I'm not saying they will, only that the chances of them doing so is high.

And it's fewer, not less.

 

[rboomercat90]

I am not here to promote Mr. Lowe here, just saying that Lowe did some good moves on his short time here, unlike PC

Lowe was the architect of the decade of darkness. He was a complete disaster. It’s okay not to like Chiarelli, what he’s done here hasn’t worked. You can rip him on his own merit. To suggest Lowe made any kind of positive impact in comparison is ridiculous and pointless.

 

[Little Fury]

Lowe was the architect of the decade of darkness. He was a complete disaster. It’s okay not to like Chiarelli, what he’s done here hasn’t worked. You can rip him on his own merit. To suggest Lowe made any kind of positive impact in comparison is ridiculous and pointless.

Are we just gonna pretend like 2005-06 didn't happen or...?

 

[bone]

Well, if we look at our first 10 games:

EDM - NJD (Road, Sweden) L
EDM - BOS (Road) L
EDM - NYR (Road) W
EDM - WPG (Road)
BOS - EDM (Home)
NSH - EDM (Home)
PIT - EDM (Home)
WSH - EDM (Home)
EDM - NSH (Road)
EDM - CHI (Road)

Six road games and mostly playoff teams. That is a brutal start to the schedule. If you're hoping we are 2-3 above .500 after 20 games, we'd have to light it up in the next 10.

The next ten after that are:

Wild (Home)
Blackhawks (Home)
Red Wings (Road)
Capitals (Road)
Lightning (Road)
Panthers (Road)
Avalanche (Home)
Canadiens (Home)
Flames (Road)
Golden Knights (Home)

If the Oilers can keep their head above water for the first ten games (i.e. at least 8 points), the next ten wouldn't be out of the question to make a small run earning 13-14 points.

The reality though is that I can't see the Oilers keeping their head above water these first 10 games unless anyone other than McDavid can figure out how to score.

 

[bone]

Are we just gonna pretend like 2005-06 didn't happen or...?

That was a fun run, but that was still an eighth place team. His moves shortly after the CBA was signed and his deadline-period acquisitions did wonderful to set up that run. However, everything else after was a disaster including his GM hires once he was "promoted" out of the GM chair despite seeing the team progressively get worse over the couple years after that run.

 

[oXo Cube]

That was a fun run, but that was still an eighth place team. His moves shortly after the CBA was signed and his deadline-period acquisitions did wonderful to set up that run. However, everything else after was a disaster including his GM hires once he was "promoted" out of the GM chair despite seeing the team progressively get worse over the couple years after that run.

This is a little bit off topic but no it wasn't. That was a first place team that spent 3 quarters of the season fighting through .880(!) goaltending.

Lowe definitely got a little full of himself after that year, though.

 

[bone]

This is a little bit off topic but no it wasn't. That was a first place team that spent 3 quarters of the season fighting through .880(!) goaltending.

Lowe definitely got a little full of himself after that year, though.

Was Lowe not part of the decision making that had them start that season with .880 goaltending?

Again, full credit for his in-season moves that year. His in season trades were some of the best we've seen in a long time. But the team that started that year still had quite a few flaws.

Opening night roster had this on defense:

Pronger, Bergeron, Cross, Smith, Staios, Ulanov.

 

[Little Fury]

That was a fun run, but that was still an eighth place team. His moves shortly after the CBA was signed and his deadline-period acquisitions did wonderful to set up that run.

He kept the team competitive pre-lockout on a shoestring budget and built a extremely good team that would have been among the topo seeds if they had average goaltending.

However, everything else after was a disaster including his GM hires once he was "promoted" out of the GM chair despite seeing the team progressively get worse over the couple years after that run.

They went from 71 points the year after he run to 88 points the following year (the second best finish in the last 12 seasons) at which point he was kicked upstairs.

 

[rboomercat90]

Are we just gonna pretend like 2005-06 didn't happen or...?

That playoff run was a lot of fun but it did set us up for a long run of failure. We can debate whether or not it was worth it. What can’t be debated is it gave lifetime jobs to people who haven’t earned them since. In that context, I’d love to pretend 2005-06 didn’t happen.

 

[oXo Cube]

Was Lowe not part of the decision making that had them start that season with .880 goaltending?

Again, full credit for his in-season moves that year. His in season trades were some of the best we've seen in a long time. But the team that started that year still had quite a few flaws.

Opening night roster had this on defense:

Pronger, Bergeron, Cross, Smith, Staios, Ulanov.

And that defense was statistically the best in the league.

That the goaltending was ridiculously bad is on management, but that's one flaw not quite a few.