Have the Oilers tuned out Hitchcock?

[Perfect_Drug]

NHL Caliber defense we can make the playoffs with
Klefbom - Larsson
Sekera - Russel
Nurse - Petrovic

Lottery Calibre defense that rivals the dark days.
Nurse - Larsson
Jones - Petrovic
Gravel - Manning


No team in the entire league can win with 3 of their top 4 injured. Especially when they weren't a standout group to begin with.
We are in rough shape till our D gets healthy.

 

[Soundwave]

This has been a problem for over a decade. How are they still not ready for games?

The roster sucks. It sucked 10 years ago and it sucks today.

You can't keep blaming it on "culture" when it's now like three different iterations of this so-called rebuild. Gagner-Cogliano-Hemsky-era, then Hall-Eberle-Yakupov-era, now McDavid-Draisaitl era ... there's no one even left from the team from 4 years ago except maybe Nugent Hopkins.

So either this is all Nugent Hopkins' fault, lol, or more logically, the Oilers still cannot build a proper team due to bumbling management that fails at getting the good players on the roster enough help.

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

whoa whoa double post

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

whoa double post

 

[Stoneman89]

I went through the PGT, I could have sworn I read something someone heard on the radio that also referenced it but I clearly misinterpreted, my bad and I own that one fully.

There's the one post on page 8 of the GDT but it's hearsay. However, given their dog**** performance against a team that sat at the bottom of the league when they were in LA for two days (they had a practice Friday morning in LA), the circumstantial evidence is enough for me to say yes, that was likely a factor to the entire team's performance, not just one or three players. If you want a source or a link, I advise you ask the person who posted it where he/she heard it. I'm taking it as face value because the way they played as a team, I have zero doubt that's what their problem was.

I'm not backing off my original post, my point still stands they don't give a **** they're in a playoff battle otherwise they'd put some consistent effort in especially having two days off between games against teams below them in the standings.

It's not a coaching issue, it's a player personnel issue (which is nothing new).

Not playing well because they didn't give a crap or are mentally unprepared is a whole lot different than having a dip in performance due to drinking and partying. Same result mind you, but totally different way to get there. Neither are good, but the first one should get people suspended. Unfortunately, people throwing out these rumours and stories out there based on heresy and what they say is circumstantial evidence doesn't lend any credence to the source or the bringer of that source.

 

[Stoneman89]

Everyone always says teams or players have tuned out the coach but has anyone thought maybe just maybe it's not the coach and perhaps maybe they are pretty much protesting towards the GM? I mean his last move alone of signing manning is utter dog sh!t move .

In all honesty I can't believe anyone in the Oilers management let that trade go thru

Hitch praised Chia publicly for both of those trades.

 

[Stoneman89]

NHL Caliber defense we can make the playoffs with
Klefbom - Larsson
Sekera - Russel
Nurse - Petrovic

Lottery Calibre defense that rivals the dark days.
Nurse - Larsson
Jones - Petrovic
Gravel - Manning


No team in the entire league can win with 3 of their top 4 injured. Especially when they weren't a standout group to begin with.
We are in rough shape till our D gets healthy.

And here we go again with the injuries get us a pass theory. How do those injuries explain a complete lack of focus, readiness, disorganization, and compete level in last night's game by the ENTIRE team, especially after a supposed big win 3 days earlier. Let it go, man.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Hitch praised Chia publicly for both of those trades.

Then he’s a fool.

 

[Zerotonine]

Hitch praised Chia publicly for both of those trades.

You think he is going to publicly say anything but something positive .

 

[Soundwave]

I don't think it's a bad group of guys or they're lazy or whatever.

They want to win, probably want it too bad, there's just too many players being asked to do more than they're capable of doing and if you do that long enough, frustration and demoralization sets in when the results go south.

You can say you're a positive person all you want, but let me put you in a job where I'm asking you to do more than you're capable of and your feedback is lots of losing (negative). After a few months of that, you're likely going to be dejected.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

Not playing well because they didn't give a crap or are mentally unprepared is a whole lot different than having a dip in performance due to drinking and partying. Same result mind you, but totally different way to get there. Neither are good, but the first one should get people suspended. Unfortunately, people throwing out these rumours and stories out there based on heresy and what they say is circumstantial evidence doesn't lend any credence to the source or the bringer of that source.

Yes I agree. I'm not one to normally believe everything I read or see or hear...just like you asked me, I want to see proof. This is one of those times though where the whole team was embarrassingly bad and I'm giving the benefit of the doubt. If it was 2 or 3 players who looked like ass and random poster X said "oh yeah, they were out late" I'd be taking that one with a grain of salt. But just seeing how damn awful they were as a whole and where they were for 48+ hours, it's definitely plausible.

I digress on the subject...whether it's true or not, whatever-it's done, over with and in the past. It's a new day and another game. Let's see what kind of effort they put in tonight.

Lastly, I do apologize for being snappy at you in my first reply to you with the question I asked. That was uncalled for on my behalf. We're in this together as fans of the team.

 

[Dohilers]

It has nothing to do with the coach "losing the room." The team has consistently not shown up on a regular basis regardless of whether it's Hitchcock, McLellan, Nelson, Eakins, Krueger, Renney, Quinn, or MacTavish behind the bench. This is entirely on the players.

 

[RandomGuy79]

It has nothing to do with the coach "losing the room." The team has consistently not shown up on a regular basis regardless of whether it's Hitchcock, McLellan, Nelson, Eakins, Krueger, Renney, Quinn, or MacTavish behind the bench. This is entirely on the players.

We lack a player like Weight/Smith who can hold a players only meeting and tell the team to get their f***ing heads in the game and to wake the f*** up. I love McDavid more than anything, but he is not that kind of leader.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

We lack a player like Weight/Smith who can hold a players only meeting and tell the team to get their ****ing heads in the game and to wake the **** up. I love McDavid more than anything, but he is not that kind of leader.

Good point! I didn't even think to ask "where is the players only meeting".

I don't want to praise the Flames, but after the 9-1 drubbing against Pittsburgh, they had a players only meeting. Team has been on a mission since then.

 

[Dohilers]

We lack a player like Weight/Smith who can hold a players only meeting and tell the team to get their ****ing heads in the game and to wake the **** up. I love McDavid more than anything, but he is not that kind of leader.

Kids today don't really respond to being yelled at. You need to take them to a safe space, give them a hug, tell them everything is going to be okay, that they're good enough, smart enough, and gosh darnit, people like them.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

Kids today don't really respond to being yelled at. You need to take them to a safe space, give them a hug, tell them everything is going to be okay, that they're good enough, smart enough, and gosh darnit, people like them.

Isn't that the truth.

Don't forget to award everyone one of these, whether you finished first, last, somewhere in between or didn't finish at all.

 

[Dan Kelly]

Is there a coach the Oilers haven't tuned out the last 12 or so years?

 

[Pointteen]

Then he’s a fool.

Nah. Sometimes you just gotta blindly agree in public.

 

[thadd]

Some players have just tuned out the NHL. I don't think it has anything to do with the coach. They've tuned out being a winner and it has obviously greatly effected their level of consistency.

 

[Throttlehead]

It has nothing to do with the coach "losing the room." The team has consistently not shown up on a regular basis regardless of whether it's Hitchcock, McLellan, Nelson, Eakins, Krueger, Renney, Quinn, or MacTavish behind the bench. This is entirely on the players.

Thats not entirely true, they played as good as they could under Renney, Krueger and Nelson. They simply didn't have the horses to compete. Renney was fired to save face for Lowe, Krueger was fired because MacT knew everything and was going to show the league how awesome this new breed Eakins was. I have ZERO idea why Nelson was fired, maybe his suits weren't nice enough, or wasn't a Stanley Cup guy (and everyone knows that don't mean shyte).

 

[joestevens29]

Kids today don't really respond to being yelled at. You need to take them to a safe space, give them a hug, tell them everything is going to be okay, that they're good enough, smart enough, and gosh darnit, people like them.

Honestly this is what Yawney does with the defense. He doesn't bring up negatives and tries to re-iterate the positives that they have done.

 

[oXo Cube]

This board simply has unrealistic expectations about effort levels from pro athletes. Yeah, it's annoying when these guys take a night off for any reason, but the list of teams that don't lay the occasional egg is exactly 0 teams long.

The only coach this team ever actually tuned out is Dallas Eakins and that was for good reason.

 

[joestevens29]

This board simply has unrealistic expectations about effort levels from pro athletes. Yeah, it's annoying when these guys take a night off for any reason, but the list of teams that don't lay the occasional egg is exactly 0 teams long.

The only coach this team ever actually tuned out is Dallas Eakins and that was for good reason.

Well the team kinda laid an egg for a couple weeks. Some players have laid eggs for even longer.

 

[oXo Cube]

Well the team kinda laid an egg for a couple weeks. Some players have laid eggs for even longer.

No they didn't. They're just bad.

The Kings game on Saturday is what laying an egg actually looks like.

 

[joestevens29]

No they didn't. They're just bad.

The Kings game on Saturday is what laying an egg actually looks like.

Bad is one thing, but the three games over the xmas break that I went to guys were just lazy and unengaged. No one standing up for teammates, guys not skating back to the bench, guys not back checking. Guys just not doing anything.