Hitchcock calls out team.

[traparatus]

Hitchcock sure didn't have a problem talking the talk when he was hired. He had solutions to everything. It's his job to work with the players, convince them to play with full effort and follow a system. What has he done since arriving in Edmonton? Increased McDavid's ice time?

How is firing some guy from the front office who players have absolutely no interaction with, going to make them play harder? Same Oilers' fans who were screaming for McLellan to get fired are full of sympathy for poor Hitch. How about poor 'little' Hitch does his job?

 

[Hit the post]

Messier wants to be GM, his last chance to become one

He was essentially one for the 97/98, 98/99, and 99/00 seasons.

 

[EdmFlyersfan]

The locker room has no accountability, Oilers need a Pronger type of leader to right the ship...Mcdavid and Drai obviously don't have the ability to do so.

 

[Pizza the Hutt]

Blame the owners lol

All the players have been changed, coaches have been endlessly swapped, management replaced.

What is the one constant keeping this team so terrible - and toxic? how many players have come out and said something was wrong?

There is something rotten in the state of Rexall.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

Even with better 'effort' last night, they weren't beating the Sharks. They're clicking on all cylinders right now and have a much better roster.

 

[the mcdavid era]

Hitchcock aka Snorlax is not the right coach for this team or any team for that matter. You see how bitter he was and how he threw players under the bus? That doesn't inspire success. Snorlax also yells at players all the time apparently. Players don't really like him.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Then blame Chia for destroying the team, not the owner.

But the most important person to blame is McDavid. He's not a leader. If he can't step up and inspire his team mates he's nothing but a follower.

Jeez, put Toews on that team with McD and Drai and they would be first in their division.

Yeah everything was just fine in Edmonton before Chiarielli was hired...

 

[haveandare]

Hitchcock aka Snorlax is not the right coach for this team or any team for that matter. You see how bitter he was and how he threw players under the bus? That doesn't inspire success. Snorlax also yells at players all the time apparently. Players don't really like him.

Yeah, he's not right for this team at all imo. I forgot who it was exactly but some Rangers player or prospect said that a friend of his was called up to STL under Hitch for a few weeks and literally did not have a single face to face interaction with the coach. AV is/was the same way. The era of the coach being some aloof old man is coming to a close imo.

Having said that, Hitch isn't the first person to say that the Oiler's have a serious cultural problem in terms of not having the right priorities. There's likely a lot of truth to that and it's being compounded by not having the right type of coach.

They need to identify who among the players are the ones pushing or enabling this kind of behavior and lose them. They should also look to bring in some character heavy vets with talent who can step up and be effective leaders for guys like McDavid, Drai, Klefbom, etc. Even if those guys aren't leaders themselves, that's okay, not everyone has that skillset. They're talented players and should be able to thrive in a better culture.

 

[haveandare]

Then blame Chia for destroying the team, not the owner.

But the most important person to blame is McDavid. He's not a leader. If he can't step up and inspire his team mates he's nothing but a follower.

Jeez, put Toews on that team with McD and Drai and they would be first in their division.

The most important person to blame is the only person who makes them even half decent?

Not everybody is or can be or has to be a leader. He scores 100+ points, he holds tremendous value. He doesn't make himself captain and the go-to leader, a coach presumably is responsible for that type of thing, and a GM as well in that they can get the right types of personalities if the current players don't have them. If McDavid isn't that type of personality, that's fine. Other people are. Find and acquire them to be leaders and let McDavid be the best player in the world, which he is.

 

[NeverForget06]

The locker room has no accountability, Oilers need a Pronger type of leader to right the ship...Mcdavid and Drai obviously don't have the ability to do so.

While I do somewhat agree, there are few leaders who could make Ty Rattie and actual first line player or Kevin Gravel or Matt Benning a reliable 2nd pairing dman.

You can say all the right things, but at the end of the day if you suck you suck. No motivational speech is going to change that.

 

[CaptainCrunch67]

Hitchcock aka Snorlax is not the right coach for this team or any team for that matter. You see how bitter he was and how he threw players under the bus? That doesn't inspire success. Snorlax also yells at players all the time apparently. Players don't really like him.

No coach is the right coach for this team. They bought in player coaches, they bought in teaching coaches, they probably had a coach in there that gently hugged all the players and told them that everything is alright, then the team quits on the coaches.

And he's doing nothing different then T-Mac did when he got sick and tired of the players not showing up to play garbage.

There doesn't seem to be very much pride or work ethic in that room.

 

[Bounces R Way]

"Not going to be fixed overnight" might be the most colossal understatement of the year.

 

[Soundwave]

San Jose is probably the best team in the West, the result was predictable.

Chiarelli thought that building a slow, lower skilled team and betting the farm on Lucic, Larsson, Griffin Reinhart, was the type of team you're supposed to build around McDavid.

He was dead wrong. There's not really a lot that can be done in the immediacy until a GM is brought in that actually brings some additional speed/skill to the roster.

The gamble on Hitch was you could play that 1-0, 2-1 grind style of hockey, but that doesn't work in the modern NHL anymore I don't think and certainly not with a team that young. Maybe 10 years ago.

 

[DFC]

If he's saying the players don't "want it," that's on no one but the players. Chiarelli made some bad decisions, but this is deeper than that. This is a culture of losing and not caring that has been passed down from one generation of players to the next (and the next and next).

 

[DFC]

Hitchcock aka Snorlax is not the right coach for this team or any team for that matter. You see how bitter he was and how he threw players under the bus? That doesn't inspire success. Snorlax also yells at players all the time apparently. Players don't really like him.

Every coach is the worst coach. Every GM is the worst GM. The pattern in Edmonton continues.

 

[Soundwave]

If he's saying the players don't "want it," that's on no one but the players. Chiarelli made some bad decisions, but this is deeper than that. This is a culture of losing and not caring that has been passed down from one generation of players to the next (and the next and next).

Replace any two forwards with the "supporting cast" McDavid and Draisaitl have and you would see similar results IMO.

How many teams can say in almost 4 years of work the best forward their GM added to the roster that wasn't basically inherited is Alex Chiasson?

Seriously? What other manager in the NHL can you say that about?

Chiarelli is the worst GM since Milbury.

 

[DFC]

Replace any two forwards with the "supporting cast" McDavid and Draisaitl have and you would see similar results IMO.

How many teams can say in almost 4 years of work the best forward their GM added to the roster that wasn't basically inherited is Alex Chiasson?

Seriously? What other manager in the NHL can you say that about?

Chiarelli is the worst GM since Milbury.

Except this has been going on a hell of a lot longer than 4 years. Every GM is the worst GM. Every coach is the worst coach. Repeat repeat repeat. There's something really wrong with the culture in that dressing room. Hitch talked about valuing skill over hard work, and how that never works out, and I think that pretty much gets to the root of the problem.

It's been like 25 years since they've been anything more than a fringe team, minus one or two lucky one-offs.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Every coach is the worst coach. Every GM is the worst GM. The pattern in Edmonton continues.

Consistent pattern are Lowe McTavish and Howson.

Been there for nearly 2 decades. Overseeing all of this.

 

[Soundwave]

Except this has been going on a hell of a lot longer than 4 years. Every GM is the worst GM. Every coach is the worst coach. Repeat repeat repeat. There's something really wrong with the culture in that dressing room. Hitch talked about valuing skill over hard work, and how that never works out, and I think that pretty much gets to the root of the problem.

It keeps going on because the root of the problem is never addressed ... they get 2 or 3 good forwards who are kids, put all the pressure on the kids to make up for poorly built rosters, which basically means one good scoring line and then the GM is unable to build a competent team around that.

It's like a fat person who thinks they're fat due to a curse or genetic condition or "the universe being against me" all this other stuff and the only answer they want to here is what new diet fad or excercise craze or magic pill will work for them.

They don't want to hear the ugly, simple truth that they need to cut down their f***ing calories and stop with the Oreos for breakfast. They want you tell them some magical new fad that is going to make them thin instead, they don't want the ugly, unglamorous but simple answer.

It's too simple of an answer. But that fact is, it's also true, you will never lose weight until you reduce your caloric intake below what your body burns off, doesn't how many different magical trends you try.

Same with the Oilers ... they will never be good until you get a GM in there that can win trades and draft OK at minimum. It's not a "curse". Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

 

[DFC]

It keeps going on because the root of the problem is never addressed ... they get 2 or 3 good forwards who are kids, put all the pressure on the kids to make up for poorly built rosters, which basically means one good scoring line and then the GM is unable to build a competent team around that.

It's like a fat person who thinks they're fat due to a curse or genetic condition or all this other stuff and the only answer they want to here is what new diet fad or excercise craze or magic pill will work for them.

They don't want to hear the ugly, simple truth that they need to cut down their ****ing calories and stop with the Oreos for breakfast.

It's too simple of an answer. But that fact is, it's also true, you will never lose weight until you reduce your caloric intake below what your body burns off, doesn't how many different magical trends you try.

Same with the Oilers ... they will never be good until you get a GM in there that can win trades and draft OK at minimum. It's not a "curse". Do stupid things, win stupid prizes.

I think it's deeper than that. Has any team had more busted prospects than Edmonton? Or prospects who fell a bit short of their potential? Like, even RNH as a #1 overall, as good as he is, is not really what people thought he'd be. That seems to happen over and over with this team. So is the problem drafting or developing/culture? We're way past the point of "bad luck."

 

[Soundwave]

I think it's deeper than that. Has any team had more busted prospects than Edmonton? Or prospects who fell a bit short of their potential? Like, even RNH as a #1 overall, as good as he is, is not really what people thought he'd be. That seems to happen over and over with this team. So is the problem drafting or developing/culture? We're way past the point of "bad luck."

It's not some mystical thing, and they developed McDavid, Draisaitl, Klefbom, Hall, Eberle, Petry, just fine and even RNH is one pace for like 75 points this year. So it's not just solely that. Yes their drafting is poorer than the average team because their management is worse than the average team but it's not some voodoo hex where no one they draft turns out good.

They have had plenty of good players develop alright out of the draft. They don't supplement any of those players with adequete help and that's on the management.

 

[DFC]

It's not some mystical thing, and they developed McDavid, Draisaitl, Klefbom, Hall, Eberle, Petry, just fine and even RNH is one pace for like 75 points this year. So it's not just solely that. Yes their drafting is poorer than the average team because their management is worse than the average team but it's not some voodoo hex where no one they draft turns out good.

They have had plenty of good players develop alright out of the draft.

Did they really develop all those players just fine? Hall didn't really take off, minus one year, until he left that room. Petry has likely been better in Montreal than in Edmonton. Klefblom's a good player. Eberle's a good player. But I don't think it's a coincidence that despite all the top ten picks they've had in the last, say, two decades, the only player who turned out great, while in Edmonton, is McDavid. Meanwhile Edmonton is the best place to look for a reclamation project (Dubnyk, Schultz).

 

[Soundwave]

Did they really develop all those players just fine? Hall didn't really take off, minus one year, until he left that room. Petry has likely been better in Montreal than in Edmonton. Klefblom's a good player. Eberle's a good player. But I don't think it's a coincidence that despite all these top ten picks, the only player who turned out great is McDavid.

Hall had two PPG+ seasons in Edmonton, Eberle for a freaking 22 overall pick I'd say did pretty well.

Draisaitl I would say is doing great too, dude is on pace for freaking 100 points.

The issue is you have dummy management past that that cannot surround those players with adequete support.

You tell me if you really think Milan Lucic + Adam Larsson (no offence D) + Griffin Reinhart + Ryan Strome is the "core" of players any sane GM would choose to be his signature, franchise defining moves to build around a player like Connor McDavid.

Like on which team did Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux or Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin ever get put on where that was their level of help and had success with?

*crickets*

Again this is like the fat person who wants to believe in voodoo curses and magic diet pills and fad devices like an ab-doer is going to get them thin, while steadfastly refusing to budget from a daily calorie intake of like 4000 calories a day. They're never going to lose weight. They can try whatever f***ing cross fit fad or whatever, until they change that aspect of their life, they're always going to be a fat ass.

 

[Phil120362]

It’s a symptom of it being a terrible roster.

Did he get a busy signal or a disconnected recording?

 

[snipes]

Did they really develop all those players just fine? Hall didn't really take off, minus one year, until he left that room. Petry has likely been better in Montreal than in Edmonton. Klefblom's a good player. Eberle's a good player. But I don't think it's a coincidence that despite all the top ten picks they've had in the last, say, two decades, the only player who turned out great, while in Edmonton, is McDavid. Meanwhile Edmonton is the best place to look for a reclamation project (Dubnyk, Schultz).

Forgot about Dr. Drai