Hitchcock calls out team.

[unicornpig]

ill fix this in 8-9 games, or did he mean years? what an idiot, retire already.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

I feel bad for all of the players. 95% of them are giving an honest effort every night and they're just completely and utterly overmatched. It's sickening that they're getting the blame for this mess.

Connor needs to demand a trade this offseason. That team won't be competing for at least another 5 years.

I think it's funny you've become a Yotes fan and they haven't improved a lick lol

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Does anyone really care anymore?

This is a yearly thing now in Edmonton

 

[StevenF1919]

I think it's funny you've become a Yotes fan and they haven't improved a lick lol

I think it's funny that it took you until this season to realize Chia wasn't good at his job.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

They constantly try new coaches and nothing ever changes... Outside 3 guys, this team doesnt have anybody that they can trade that can help this team make significant changes... So maybe they need to think outside the box and only have 1 untouchable guy and have everyone else on the block

So basically tell the league that RNH and Drai are available... Nobody really cares about the rest of the roster except McDavid obviously.. But he isnt going anywhere

 

[StevenF1919]

They constantly try new coaches and nothing ever changes... Outside 3 guys, this team doesnt have anybody that they can trade that can help this team make significant changes... So maybe they need to think outside the box and only have 1 untouchable guy and have everyone else on the block

So basically tell the league that RNH and Drai are available... Nobody really cares about the rest of the roster except McDavid obviously.. But he isnt going anywhere

Draisaitl and Nurse are 2 guys who can likely fetch returns much greater than what they're actually worth. Draisaitl sucks without McDavid and Nurse is awful defensively and racks up secondary assists.

 

[Gio4PM]

Are you even an Oilers fan?? I can't remember all the details but Gulletsan basically tore the players a new one last year and threw his stick into the upper deck which resulted in a 10 game winning streak putting them back in a playoff spot before the players quit on him (it's a weak character team). We basically got a top caliber head coach for the price of an assitant (while Calgary still pays him head coach $$$!)!

Wait, you are laughing at Calgary paying GG "head coaching dollars" (which I believe was at the very low end of head coaching salaries) without mentioning that McLellan is still being paid the fourth highest salary in the league (and will get it next year too), plus whatever Hitch is getting?

Also "top calibre"? Really?

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

I think it's funny that it took you until this season to realize Chia wasn't good at his job.

you still paying his salary with your season tickets though?

 

[ThreeOfAPerfectPair]

Bobby chimes in with some sensibilities.

 

[SlickShot]

That's nothing new. Edmonton coaches have been calling out their team for years.

 

[Viqsi]

Consistent pattern are Lowe McTavish and Howson.

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

Lowe and McTavish. Howson was over here for quite some time, and actually managed to pull the Jackets most of the way out of the abyss MacLean left us in. Made it easy for Kekalainen to finish the job.

 

[Todd from Leduc]

The stick throwing incident where he got a temporary bump, then the team completely fell apart on him. He's a terrible coach he had no understanding of the players when it came to game planning, and the players tuned him out.

And I'm absolutely not an Oil fan, however I watch tons of Edmonton games because I watch a ton of hockey, and that Oilers team has very little work ethic and determination. They play like a team that would rather be golfing. The fact that you called Gully a top caliber head coach is hilarious by the way, I nearly did a spit take with my coffee.

His bottom 6 were AHL caliber, Matt Stajan was still playing regular minutes despite not being an NHL player for the last 3 seasons. Gulletsan got fired because the prim adonna’s forced the GM. Calgary’s loss is our gain!

 

[MessierII]

Yeah, the old guard has undoubtedly had some influence in the chronic dysfunction here. They are the common denominator, and to be at this stage having fired and re-hired and embarked on x number of "rebuilds", it's outrageous that Nicholson stood before the city and its fans - season ticket holders - and inferred that a change at the top level is off the table. EVERYTHING should be on the table.

That said, for the immediate intervention, getting rid of Lowe et. al will have no effect. That's an off-season move among others.

The problems in my mind are such: 1 questionable roster, 2 player mis-management (meaning having players in the wrong slots, playing erong minutes, etc.), and 3 player effort/players doing their own thing without team buy-in. And they're all coming into play.

Point #1: Manning, Petrovic, Cave, Benning, Gravel, Brodziak, are all examples of players that shouldn't be in the NHL of are at best on the proverbial bubble. The game has either passed them by (Brodziak), or they're simply not skilled enough. Any game we have at least 2 of the above in the lineup, some nights all of them.

Point #2: Talbot, Koskinen, Lucic, Larsson, Puljujarvi, Russell, Rattie, Rieder, to some degree Nurse, and in some ways Kassian are examples of players incorrectly slotted into spots that require skills that aren't there to meet the minutes. Granted, Hitch has resorted to moving players all over the lineup, but the results speak volumes.

Point #3: Rieder, Larsson, Kassian, Draisaitl, Rieder, Lucic are not bought-in. Either through lack of confidence or belief in the system, or simply not investing the effort required.

That leaves McDavid, Klefbom (injured most of the year), Khaira, RNH, and Chiasson - 5 freaking players - who're properly slotted into roles with the team that suit their skill level and are committed to the team vision. Of course, as the burden of carrying the team weighs on them, each is vulnerable to stretch their play beyond their capacities and to eventually show a lack of buy in as well. By-product of fatigue.

So there you have it, imho, the reasons for our failures and the breakdowns of why they've occurred. A team with 5 properly utilized players is going nowhere.

Fancy that.

Regardless of what Hitch has to say or do.

Tell that to the islanders who have the same team - Tavares and are absolutely killing it. Hard work and buy in go a long way in this league. The Oilers have neither.

 

[Saskatoon]

Bobby chimes in with some sensibilities.

Yea its hard to say. But when you have your elite players floating on defense which leads to a goal against I feel like its more than just roster in Edmonton (Draisaitl on the Kane goal to be specific).

 

[CaptainCrunch67]

His bottom 6 were AHL caliber, Matt Stajan was still playing regular minutes despite not being an NHL player for the last 3 seasons. Gulletsan got fired because the prim adonna’s forced the GM. Calgary’s loss is our gain!

Please, please make this incredibly bad coach your head coach. He constantly misused the lineup, completely stiffled the top 6 with a stupid slow 80's style game. He wrecked Brodie beyond repair. He is a terrible coach. The fact that you think its your gain is hilarious. The Oilers hired a super dud to stand behind their bench as a possible replacement. The man is a clueless coach.

He makes Eakins look like a freaking genius.

If he becomes the head coach of the Oilers its the rest of the divisions gain.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

Tell that to the islanders who have the same team - Tavares and are absolutely killing it. Hard work and buy in go a long way in this league. The Oilers have neither.

People like to vastly underrate the value of structured defensive play and goaltending in order to write a narrative built around the value of hard work.

 

[ChurchOfMatthews]

Need more first round picks and they'll be fine...

 

[DecadeofDarkness22]

Man... anyone who thinks GG is a good coach is out to lunch, he was awful here in calgary. Just wait till you see him use Lucic on the PP every game all year.

 

[ffh]

He drafted McDavid how bad could he be.

 

[castle]

Need more first round picks and they'll be fine...

I think you meant to say first OVERALL picks.

 

[coo1beans]

I have never seen so many first overall and high end picks turn into nothing.

 

[Tom ServoMST3K]

Of course! The Oilers just need to try harder!

Why didn't anyone think of that! After all these years, all their problems - solved!

 

[McDrailers]

At the end of the year I can feel Hitch letting loose on the organization top to bottom on a verbal nuke. I for one cannot wait

 

[EdmFlyersfan]

It could happen, but his contract will not be extended and then Mark Messier will be GM and Esa Tikkanen will be the new head coach...with Moog, Jackson, Ranford, Nilsson, etc coming into "help"...which really means dinner with Katz.

At the end of the year I can feel Hitch letting loose on the organization top to bottom on a verbal nuke. I for one cannot wait

 

[McDrailers]

It could happen, but his contract will not be extended and then Mark Messier will be GM and Esa Tikkanen will be the new head coach...with Moog, Jackson, Ranford, Nilsson, etc coming into "help"...which really means dinner with Katz.

You’re joking and I know that but this organization would pull some dumb stuff like that. It’s just mind numbing the front office hasn’t been touched at all. We gone through this coach and that coach, GM after GM. Now the teams compete level is in question. What’s the only constant? Kevin Lowe and his gang of egotistical clowns