How long can you take it until Oilers Mngtmnt busts out and says enough is enough????

[oilexport]

Chiarelli has said that he wants time to see what the team is and what the players can do. That was kind of messed up with the injuries to Eberle, and then Yak/McDavid/Klefbom. At the least, I would expect that he wants to see if McD and Eberle have chemistry before deciding who is most likely the "core" going forward.

That's the big picture and I'm fine with it. There are some minor deals (scrivens/kassian) that take place everyday. Get a defenceman that can play 3rd or fourth spot (yes, it's possible). We don't need excuses every year while every other team makes these moves. Simple minor trade to shore up the defence when klefbom got hurt and the 6 game win streak does not turn into a mess. Chia was focused too much on long term. Nothing but excuses for a decade now....wake up already, not sure even bettman and the rest of the NHL wishes the team stayed here.

 

[Mr Positive]

Maybe Chia has been distracted with big time deals like Hamonic so he won't do little ones that might give the team a bit of a boost in the short term. He might also be eyeing this coming offseason as a key one in terms of trades and moreso with signings so he doesn't want to make moves that tie his hands later on.

 

[Gord]

The team is light years better than the last few years. Nobody on this board honestly thought the Oilers were going to sniff playoffs this year, so why are you upset? For the most part they're going toe to toe with the top teams and playing much better hockey. Not Chia's fault he was burdened with some of the dead weight players, which will be taken care of this summer and more roster moves made

and when I open the paper the oilers are visually close to last place yet again.
6 games under .500 and statistically one of the worst teams in the league in every category.
hard to be happy with "losing less bad".

 

[oilexport]

Maybe Chia has been distracted with big time deals like Hamonic so he won't do little ones that might give the team a bit of a boost in the short term. He might also be eyeing this coming offseason as a key one in terms of trades and moreso with signings so he doesn't want to make moves that tie his hands later on.

Hard to believe a small or mid range trade would hand cuff him later on. He decided that playoffs and culture change were a write off and it's a huge mistake. Same thing happens every year.

If it was clear to everybody involved that losing is not acceptable, a small deal happens after the klefbom injury. Many people saw that injury as a key downfall when it happened. He was clearly a top 3 dman that we could not replace. Schultz and nurse became overworked real quick after that and Schultz looked real bad.

 

[sundaysleftovers]

Again, it's really easy to lose sight of this, but right now we have 39 points.

After 45 games last year, if my math is right, we had 29.

That is tangible, quantifiable improvement, and that's with just was many, if not more, injury problems as we had last year.

you bet! 29 points, took 55 games to reach 39 points. This year 45 games, 39 points.

Chia has made a bunch of changes(on and off the ice), every player earned their spot on this roster. Just because you have a big contract doesn't mean you're entitled to a spot on the big club. Culture change, no more free rides. A few more tweaks and we be a contender. I like the direction we're heading. I know being patient and watching losses sucks but it isn't like years previous. Here come the Oilers! Hurry back McDavid

 

[Gret99zky]

45 games played.

8 regulation wins.

 

[Nevins]

Don't worry, (lowe/Mac-t/tambo/Chia) will wave his magic wand in the off-season, everything will be better next year.

you mean next Christmas....

 

[BlackDogg]

45 games played.

8 regulation wins.

That sounds so much worse than 20%!

 

[Frank the Tank]

Small deals can have large impacts. It's clear that something needs to be done with this team, especially the defense. The playoffs are an afterthought, this is a good time to build for next year. Bring players in and get them acquainted with the players and system and have a good start next year.

If you just bring in a bunch of players in the off-season... Well, you saw what happened this year.

I was responding to your comment about how plan A shouldn't be waiting to make a major move in the off-season. If now we are taking about minor deals, then, yes, Chiarelli should be looking for something that may have both an immediate and long-term impact; however, we witnessed MacT try a bunch of small in-season deals and they weren't the solution either so I wouldn't consider those Plan A options. Perhaps this is all debating about semantics?

 

[rboomercat90]

45 games played.

8 regulation wins.

This is the stat that suggests this team isn't any better than any of the other teams we've watched over the last several years. They've been better at the gimmick hockey, that's about it. They aren't any better at the real hockey.

 

[nexttothemoon]

I know there's some improvement in this team... and not just the Eakins/MacT propaganda type of "progression and visually better" bs.

They are a better team.. but facts are they are on pace for 70 pts and are DFL in the West yet again.

Its easy to roll out the usual injuries/tough schedule/travel excuses... but they are used each and every year and at some point the team just has to be able to actually WIN games regardless of the predicaments they are going through.

Injuries happen to every team... decent/good teams have the depth to cope.

Tough schedule... well that's malarkey really... there's 29 NHL other teams out there and every game you play is "tough"... it's not going to get easier as they are already in the weakest division and can't seem to beat the other mediocre teams in that group.

Travel... same thing every year... it's a difficult travel schedule, but nothing can be done when your team is the farthest north of any league team.

It just seems like there's always a convenient excuse to trot out to help rationalize the losing... if only there wasn't as many injuries, or the refs didn't pick on them, or they didn't play so many road games when the rodeo is in town.... and it goes on.

70 points and last place isn't good enough... and that's what they are heading towards.

They are a little bit more entertaining than last season... so that's "something" but until McDavid comes back this is still a mediocre team to watch and the entertainment value is still pretty mediocre as well.

 

[Zaddy]

I know there's some improvement in this team... and not just the Eakins/MacT propaganda type of "progression and visually better" bs.

They are a better team.. but facts are they are on pace for 70 pts and are DFL in the West yet again.

Its easy to roll out the usual injuries/tough schedule/travel excuses... but they are used each and every year and at some point the team just has to be able to actually WIN games regardless of the predicaments they are going through.

Injuries happen to every team... decent/good teams have the depth to cope.

Tough schedule... well that's malarkey really... there's 29 NHL other teams out there and every game you play is "tough"... it's not going to get easier as they are already in the weakest division and can't seem to beat the other mediocre teams in that group.

Travel... same thing every year... it's a difficult travel schedule, but nothing can be done when your team is the farthest north of any league team.

It just seems like there's always a convenient excuse to trot out to help rationalize the losing... if only there wasn't as many injuries, or the refs didn't pick on them, or they didn't play so many road games when the rodeo is in town.... and it goes on.

70 points and last place isn't good enough... and that's what they are heading towards.

They are a little bit more entertaining than last season... so that's "something" but until McDavid comes back this is still a mediocre team to watch and the entertainment value is still pretty mediocre as well.

Exactly. I'm so sick of hearing all the excuses being made for this team, even by its own fans. No one should be remotely okay with how this team has performed the last few years and that includes this year. This team needs to be better regardless of circumstances. It's shocking that the arena isn't empty yet considering for how long this has been going on. People making excuses for this team is what keeps filling Katz' pockets.

 

[OilerPensfan97]

I don't like to be a spelling nazi, but ffs, it's "Management", not "Mngtmnt". Honestly.

 

[BudBundy]

What bothers me most is still the utter failure in the subtle but critical areas of play. As a group, this is still the worst group of forwards in the NHL for not simply driving to the net and staying there when they don't have the puck. Endlessly poking around the perimeter is standard operating procedure. They have improved somewhat, but they still lose their man on the backcheck. The D corps is still the worst in the league and keeping players to the outside, making life miserable in the slot, and tying of sticks. As a group, they also struggle under any forechecking pressure. Retrieving the puck when dumped into our zone and turning it back up ice seems routine for other teams, but is an adventure for us. It frustrates me to no end.

Eberle, Purcell, Lander, have to go, at minimum. Bigger, faster, more aggressive needs to be the mantra. Schultz, Fayne, can GTFO.

Hall is a driver. He's not perfect, but the amount of crap this gem gets is beyond reason. I would hate to trade Nuge and still firmly believe he's banged up. Hall, Drai, Nuge, McD, Nurse, and Klefbom are the core. And can be a Cup quality core at that.

 

[Seachd]

I don't like to be a spelling nazi, but ffs, it's "Management", not "Mngtmnt". Honestly.

Managetment.

 

[Stoneman89]

I think this organization has used the injury card as their big excuse nearly every year for the last 6 years. Getting tired of it. As others have said, every team has injuries. They're a part of the game, a big part of it. The thing that separates the good teams from the bad ones is the depth of the replacements for those injuries, and the ability of those left behind to elevate their games to compensate. The Oilers have always been a complete failure in both of those departments.

 

[Up the Irons]

you bet! 29 points, took 55 games to reach 39 points. This year 45 games, 39 points.

Chia has made a bunch of changes(on and off the ice), every player earned their spot on this roster. Just because you have a big contract doesn't mean you're entitled to a spot on the big club. Culture change, no more free rides. A few more tweaks and we be a contender. I like the direction we're heading. I know being patient and watching losses sucks but it isn't like years previous. Here come the Oilers! Hurry back McDavid

They r definitely better. And the absence of McD and Klefbom are significant, but their absence has exposed what remains. The original core is still near the bottom of the league. Adding McD and Klefbom will not bring them up 25 spots (which is what we want).

It will take more than a few tweaks.

 

[Mc5RingsAndABeer]

and if Hall or Sekera were injured at all this season, we would be even worse, ...that's a silly argument

problem lies in lack of depth a D and some players having off years

-RNH not taking a step is very disappointing
-hot and cold Eberle
-Lander forgetting how to play hockey
-too many rookies at D in the line-up
-inconsistent goaltending

we seem to have excuses all the time like "tough schedule" or "we haven't played a lot of home games" but that shouldn't matter

It's not a silly argument. The Oilers are first in the league AINEC for injuries.

It's impossible to rebuild a d corps in one summer. It takes years of drafting, FAs, and trades to do it. Unfortunately MacT was a complete moron so we had nothing to build off of. All of his defensive acquisitions were utter failures.

 

[Halibut]

Eberle, Purcell, Lander, have to go, at minimum. Bigger, faster, more aggressive needs to be the mantra. Schultz, Fayne, can GTFO.

Hall is a driver. He's not perfect, but the amount of crap this gem gets is beyond reason. I would hate to trade Nuge and still firmly believe he's banged up. Hall, Drai, Nuge, McD, Nurse, and Klefbom are the core. And can be a Cup quality core at that.

If Nuge is going to end up a 3rd line center or pushed to the wing I'd rather keep Eberle because he produces and so does everyone around him. Same reason you keep Hall, even if he is slumping right now. Should have traded him 2 months ago when his value was highest.

 

[Gone]

I don't like to be a spelling nazi, but ffs, it's "Management", not "Mngtmnt". Honestly.

Nazi is a proper noun, so should be capitalized.

Do not worry though, KLowe cannot spweell eather.

 

[hawks889]

I think this organization has used the injury card as their big excuse nearly every year for the last 6 years. Getting tired of it. As others have said, every team has injuries. They're a part of the game, a big part of it. The thing that separates the good teams from the bad ones is the depth of the replacements for those injuries, and the ability of those left behind to elevate their games to compensate. The Oilers have always been a complete failure in both of those departments.

They have there puppet Stauffer repeating the same thing over and over about the injuries, but in reality, deal with it. You cant do anything about it, and have to other players step up. In the end results are the only thing that matters, and visually better gets old.

 

[OilTastic]

Maybe Chia has been distracted with big time deals like Hamonic so he won't do little ones that might give the team a bit of a boost in the short term. He might also be eyeing this coming offseason as a key one in terms of trades and moreso with signings so he doesn't want to make moves that tie his hands later on.

i'm still pretty sure that Chia has been on Hamonic all season and has made a good offer. but i suspect that Snow is dragging his feet due to the fact that Hamonic has not *demanded* a trade and that Snow has been stubborn about wanting an equally talented d-man back, which likely isn't going to happen. i'm guessing that this is the reason why Hamonic isn't here right now, that and the fact there could be better offers from elsewhere too.

 

[Mc5RingsAndABeer]

They have there puppet Stauffer repeating the same thing over and over about the injuries, but in reality, deal with it. You cant do anything about it, and have to other players step up. In the end results are the only thing that matters, and visually better gets old.

That's the legacy of MacT and Lowe. When you have such horrible management up top, you end up with zero depth despite a decade to develop some.

 

[frag2]

It's not a silly argument. The Oilers are first in the league AINEC for injuries.

It's impossible to rebuild a d corps in one summer. It takes years of drafting, FAs, and trades to do it. Unfortunately MacT was a complete moron so we had nothing to build off of. All of his defensive acquisitions were utter failures.

Injuries does not excuse the average to below average play from most of our players.

 

[NewBoysClub97*]

@Woodguy55: Just regulation wins since Klef went out: Oil 1-8-6. One real win vs Jets where Oil were outshot 30-4 in final 30min & Talbot stole the win

@Woodguy55: Since McDavid went down it’s 4-15-13. Think about that for a minute. 4 regulation wins, 13 ties.