Friedman: Hitchcock on the verge of resigning?

Kimota

ROY DU NORD!!!
Nov 4, 2005
39,195
14,070
Les Plaines D'Abraham
The Oilers are like the Trump campaign. Just when you thought it could not get any worse...

If there is really a chronic effort problem on this kind of scale they basically need to burn everything down and start over (obviously keeping McDavid). How can you bring up your prospects into such an environment?

Culture change is hard. This is not something that can be fixed by one or two trades. Would anyone care to guess who is not part of the problem?

the Trump campain turned into the greatest triump, I don't see that happening with the Oilers. :D
 
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Apathetic

Registered User
Oct 29, 2010
1,198
386
Downtown
Poor Oilers? Half their fan base was just squawking last week about how they could still make the playoffs and go a few rounds lol. I just hope this finally shakes the fans from their terrible delusions of grandeur and helps them realize that they cheer for the worst run franchise in pro sports history. I cant feel bad for them until they've finally come around to this.

Uhh wut? The Oilers definitely have more delusional fans than most fanbases but 80-90% of the Oilers fans I know have been extremely pessimistic since January and have said even if we made the first round we would be blown out by San Jose / Calgary. I get that the delusional ones are generally the outspoken ones but I think you are misreading the pulse on the fanbase, I know multiple long time season ticket holders who aren't renewing and are fed up, ones who I never thought would give up their seasons tickets.
 

Sysreq

Registered User
Apr 9, 2015
2,950
1,208
Honestly, they should just blow it up at this point. Trade McD and Drai for a king’s ransom, get a few more 1st from TDL rentals, RNH, Nurse, etc. Start from the bottom drafting character players. Guys that just never quit. Build from the back to the front. Don’t just amass these great forwards, but actually build a team, with an identity, and an actually plan.
 

HairyCanary

Registered User
Feb 16, 2019
37
40
They did this before by trading Eberle and Hall and people blamed Chiarelli for it. What happens if they trade all their guys and they still lose?

They will always lose unless Katz dies or sells the team. That's pretty much it. People can say that McDavid leaving would be the death knell to his apathy, but if he's gone this long without giving even a solitary damn, what else can they do? We're talking about an organization that is so far gone from reality that it's essentially solipsism on steroids here, one that has yet to mentally leave the time it was actually relevant as something other than a punchline.
 

Bank Shot

Registered User
Jan 18, 2006
11,338
6,859
Honestly, they should just blow it up at this point. Trade McD and Drai for a king’s ransom, get a few more 1st from TDL rentals, RNH, Nurse, etc. Start from the bottom drafting character players. Guys that just never quit. Build from the back to the front. Don’t just amass these great forwards, but actually build a team, with an identity, and an actually plan.

That's the worst idea I have ever heard.
 

StevenF1919

Registered User
Oct 9, 2017
4,312
5,234
Edmonton
Poor Oilers? Half their fan base was just squawking last week about how they could still make the playoffs and go a few rounds lol. I just hope this finally shakes the fans from their terrible delusions of grandeur and helps them realize that they cheer for the worst run franchise in pro sports history. I cant feel bad for them until they've finally come around to this.
The most delusional fanbase in the NHL. The majority of the fanbase was still supporting Chia as late as last offseason.
The team had success when Hitchcock started. What changed?

Klefbom getting hurt I know about. Are the players working as hard now as they were at first? Does the team need something like a sports psychology department maybe?
Not getting a .930 sv% as well as a sky high sh% changed. They were playing worse under Hitch in those first 10 games than they were under TMac's last 10 games. PDO is a funny thing.
 

HairyCanary

Registered User
Feb 16, 2019
37
40
The Oilers will never get better until Katz dies or resigns as owner by selling the team. Hitchcock leaving will solve nothing, and will only result in another OBC patsi paving the way for McDavid's eventual departure, and if people think Katz wouldn't let him go; Katz literally bilked the city for billions for his new arena just so he could have flashier digs to sniff the OBC's jocks in - anyone who thinks he'd do anything other than show McDavid the door if he so much as thought of wanting out is crazy.

Edmonton should have went with Therrien, just for the press conferences alone.

When it comes to conferences, McTavish was the best at 'em. Comedy gold right there. "Visually to me," "visually better," "bold moves," - what more do you need?
 

3074326

Registered User
Apr 9, 2009
11,575
10,971
USA
They did this before by trading Eberle and Hall and people blamed Chiarelli for it. What happens if they trade all their guys and they still lose?

Chiarelli got blamed for getting horribly bad return. I'm sure Oilers fans are fine getting rid of the toxic players, but when the team is in worse shape after removing the toxicity, the GM 100% deserves the blame.
 

HairyCanary

Registered User
Feb 16, 2019
37
40
Chiarelli got blamed for getting horribly bad return. Oilers fans are fine getting rid of the cancer, but when the team is in worse shape after removing the cancer, the GM 100% deserves the blame.

Katz is the cancer, and Chia et al are the symptoms. Chia dun goofed, but I can't really blame him as much as I can the guys who allowed him to dun goof in the first place.

There's a reason teams like the Spurs, Patriots, Warriors et al have cemented their legacies, folks - their owners are smart enough to get the hell out of their own way.
 

3074326

Registered User
Apr 9, 2009
11,575
10,971
USA
Katz is the cancer, and Chia et al are the symptoms. Chia dun goofed, but I can't really blame him as much as I can the guys who allowed him to dun goof in the first place.

There's a reason teams like the Spurs, Patriots, Warriors et al have cemented their legacies, folks - their owners are smart enough to get the hell out of their own way.

I don't disagree, but those moves were terrible and put the team in a worse place. The guy who made the decisions sucked at his job, and ultimately that blame goes up the chain. But Chiarelli was the GM who made those deals and deserves blame. Sure, not all of it.
 

HairyCanary

Registered User
Feb 16, 2019
37
40
I don't disagree, but those moves were terrible and put the team in a worse place. The guy who made the decisions sucked at his job, and ultimately that blame goes up the chain. But Chiarelli was the GM who made those deals and deserves blame. Sure, not all of it.

Oh, certainly, he does deserve blame - he singlehandedly doomed them to another decade of failure.

But, I pin more blame on the guy who let him do what he did in the first place, a guy who has learned nothing from the previous decade of failure. I mean, come on, would Keith Gretzky have a job right now if he wasn't Wayne's brother?

The fact of the matter is that nothing will change in Edmonton because there's no incentive to do so. They can get rid of all the GMs and coaches they want to, but until their owner dies or sells, they're pretty much SOL.
 

Whiston532

Registered User
Dec 27, 2010
1,731
2,309
Edmonton
You simply can’t single out any one person. Chia was an absolute disgrace and booting him into unemployment where he belongs was the right move. But he wasn’t the only person that needs to go. We can cycle our players, coaches and GM. But it’s clear that the organization has never stopped being the toxic environment that caused this mess to begin
 

La Bamba

Tier 2 Fan
Aug 23, 2009
9,414
5,771
This organization is cursed

I think you could theoretically fire everyone and hire a completely new staff and they would still suck
 

EdmFlyersfan

Registered User
Feb 20, 2007
4,549
2,736
Edmonton
I always wonder when Gretzky Messier, Lowe MacTavish, etc retire from management if Weight, Marchant, Gagner, Smyth, Etc will be in power with Katz's kid as the owner ...so the wait is not 3-4 years but 60+ years
 
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