Line Combos: "It Sucks When We Get Split Up" Eberle to Ralph

[Oil In My Veins]

So, with Eberle making that quote after the game today, is he sending a message to coach Krueger that he better not split them up?

Is this a good thing for him to say publically or does it matter?

Frankly I'm glad he came out and said this and I hope Krueger is listening.

The kids need to stay together, they're turn over machines and have a natural chemistry on the ice.

Edit: and by kids I mean HAll - RNH - Eberle

(Mods feel free to move this if there's a thread going already I didn't see)

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[Ol' Jase]

Hall-RNH-Eberle
MPS-Gagner-Yak

Let it ride all year, psuedo playoff run be damned. Let these six play together, period.

 

[smokersarejokers]

Hall-RNH-Eberle
MPS-Gagner-Yak

Let it ride all year, psuedo playoff run be damned. Let these six play together, period.

Amen.

Trade Hemsky at the deadline...and Belanger if anyone wants him.

4-93-14
91-89-64
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[Trafalgar Sadge Law]

I don't think the chemistry is there, but they're 3 of the 4 most talented players on the team. They can often "skill their way to production" if you know what I mean, like they did tonight.

 

[Insta]

I think it did have a bit of a message to him there. Tons of people here were screeching about how they need to be split up as well, so I'm sure no one will blame Ralph. (ya right)

 

[Suxnet]

They were playing like **** together before, so who cares what he thinks.

 

[OttawaOilers]

Well I'd f***in' think so, eh? lol.

Whatever, worse things have been said. Truth shall be told.

It's in the obvious though.

 

[Mr Forever]

Just because they're best pals and they want to play together, doesn't mean they're god together.

 

[cpsman]

Just because they're best pals and they want to play together, doesn't mean they're god together.

Just because they aren't god, doesn't mean they aren't good together. They may not be god mode, but they can sure go beast mode at times.

 

[Oil In My Veins]

They were playing like **** together before, so who cares what he thinks.

Based on his comments tonight I think that it's fairly obvious that they love playing together though so maybe we should let them grow together?

They're going to go through some serious highs and some serious lows along the way but that will all be part of the fun of the ride

They cycle the puck better than any other line combo's but do give up a lot in their own end. It's going to be some give and take while they learn.

 

[Supermassive]

Earn it.

 

[Oil In My Veins]

Earn it.

I guess the way I'm looking at it is this, what other options do they have that's better?

They have the best chemistry of any of the Oilers lines don't you think?

 

[nullterm]

Earn it.

Exactly.

They played crap together to start the season. Hall was better with Horc & Hemsky. RNH & Eberle both were lost in the woods.

I'm sure Krueger would have loved to have the three together red hot, but they have been cold together most of the season. Zero issue with how Krueger has handled that line this season.

If they want to stay together then they had better keep up the effort and keep out the stupid dangles that never work even on journeyman defence.

 

[The Perfect Human*]

I guess the way I'm looking at it is this, what other options do they have that's better?

They have the best chemistry of any of the Oilers lines don't you think?

Agreed, but they're also the easiest to shut down once teams start line-matching against them with their more physical D+F. It's the reason that line was split up earlier in the year.

But who knows, now that RNH/Ebs are starting to look like they have their groove back it might be enough to push them over the top against the more physical units. To be honest, apart from some random lucky bounces, it's not like they were generating sustained pressure in the offensive zone tonight.

They got lucky against one of the bigger, better shut-down units in the NHL (Pietrangelo-Russell, Backes-Steen-Stewart), but generated no actual offensive pressure with zone time. It's rare that you have success this way in the NHL (off of pure rushes).

They're also quite prone to getting hemmed deep in the opposition zone, making it easy for opposition transition to turn into odd-man rushes. Another reason they were split up earlier in the year.

They looked good together tonight - but if they play like they did before over the next 2-3 games I see things being mixed up really fast.

 

[McDrai]

So he's basically saying that the rest of the team sucks lol
This is true for the most part...

 

[The Perfect Human*]

So he's basically saying that the rest of the team sucks lol
This is true for the most part...

I wonder why MPS-RNH-Ebs was never tried as a unit.

Jones-Gagner-Yakupov would have been hellacious, but the offensive potential of an RNH-centered line like that far out-does a Gagner one.

If both kid lines persist and look half-decent down the stretch, it makes Horcoff a major buy-out candidate for this off-season.

You buy-out Smyth, Horcoff, and let Jones walk and basically re-construct your 3rd line through UFA this off-season.

You could literally steal Vancouver's if you wanted. Offer up 2M to each of Higgins, Lapierre, and (random winger) and you get a $6M 3rd line that would be one of the better ones in the league.

I'd re-sign Brown and Petrell and let them play with Lander on the 4th line to begin next year.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

They had chemistry together they just weren't getting the bounces earlier in the year. It happens, if they can stay together and go on a bit of a roll then they need to be kept together and Paajarvi-Gagner-Yakupov needs to be reunited. Hemsky can either be dealt or play on Horcoff's line.

 

[Moonlapse Vertigo]

If you go by how they were controlling the games and how many chances they were generating early on... keeping them together is a no-brainer. One problem: The results weren't there and they couldn't put the puck in the net.

 

[ToeMcDrag83]

So is that why they all started started half-***ing it when they were put on different lines? Gonna pout by playing like **** because they're not playing together?

I'm not a fan of rewarding their crappy play this year (with the exception of of maybe Hall) by giving them exactly what they want by playing together. All of a sudden seeing them playing like they give a **** just drives me insane, knowing even 3-4 games from them like the one tonight would have us in a playoff spot easily.

Which name seems more important with a comment like that, the one on the front of the jersey or the one on the back? Eberle: "Nice, nice, Nuge is my center again... go on, Ralphy.. oh, Jonesy on the left? Yeah this ain't gonna work, I'll prove it."

I'd be pissed if I was Kreuger. How can a team be coached successfully when it seems like the kids have no respect for the man until he puts them on a line together? And what message does it send to the rest of the team, every player can be held accountable except Hall-RNh-Ebs? Eberle at the very least has deserved a wake up call benching at some point during this season, but instead he gets Yak's spot on a successful line in MPS-Gags-Yak, and gets to play with his Three Amigos after the efforts against St. Louis (our home game) and Nashville where he killed damn near every chance his line had to sustain offensive pressure.

But hey, we won a game right? Guess everything's back on track..

 

[belair]

Better to 'it' suck than 'we' suck, eh Jordan?

If you scored two goals every game, there might be a little less of an argument.

 

[Oil In My Veins]

Exactly.

They played crap together to start the season. Hall was better with Horc & Hemsky. RNH & Eberle both were lost in the woods.

I'm sure Krueger would have loved to have the three together red hot, but they have been cold together most of the season. Zero issue with how Krueger has handled that line this season.

If they want to stay together then they had better keep up the effort and keep out the stupid dangles that never work even on journeyman defence.

Personally I think that had more to do with Hall being Hall than anything else. I don't think Hemsky really has any chemistry with anyone myself and Horcoff is Horcoff.

If you want to make them "earn it" which I agree with, and the kid line isn't going then you can cut their ice time as a line and make them earn it that way.

Eberle talked about a story where they (RNH, Hall, Eberle) had got together and watch a bunch of video on the Sedins in Van and how they cylce the puck and worked on it as a line together.

These guys love the game and are going to figure it out. Why not let them grow together as a line and roll with the lines that are going on each given night.

These guy are just learning to play the game at this level and are going to look invisible on many nights just because it isn't there, not because they don't care or aren't trying.

 

[Sheikyerbouti]

Krueger gave them a hella long leash to start the season and they had nothing but possession to show for it, but I agree.

Tonight four world class players just won a game flat out. It shows, along with Eberle's statement, that frustration is being correctly directed towards towards the lack of a 23 man roster. We need to surround these kids with experience.. I think that is even more important than size in the top six

 

[The Perfect Human*]

The Oilers are essentially a rush team.

We're not a team that can create off of zone time, if indeed we are able to establish it. All 4 lines are capable of generating some in-zone time, but never is there a good scoring chance generated from it. Most, if not all, of our ES offense comes off the rush.

That's not necessarily a bad thing when productive, except it means we don't possess the puck as long as we should, making for opposition puck time and chances (which is why we are always perpetually out-shot, a league-worst -6.2 shot differential/game).

To be a zone-possession team, you need puck-possession players. Taylor Hall, MPS, Horcoff - these guys are that type of player. Off of pure skill alone, RNH also approaches this status.

Eberle, Gagner, Yakupov, Hemsky - these guys are not players for zone-possession play. These are all players who are talented offensively but only capable of producing off the rush. Yakupov's game is so immature at this point that it's hard to say if he'll ever become a zone-possession type. Looking at how Tarasenko developed from 2010-now gives me hope that Yakupov can do the same.

Hall + RNH are special in that they can play both ways (probably why they went 1st overall).

 

[Sheikyerbouti]

The Oilers are essentially a rush team.

We're not a team that can create off of zone time, if indeed we are able to establish it. All 4 lines are capable of generating some in-zone time, but never is there a good scoring chance generated from it. Most, if not all, of our ES offense comes off the rush.

That's not necessarily a bad thing when productive, except it means we don't possess the puck as long as we should, making for opposition puck time and chances (which is why we are always perpetually out-shot, a league-worst -6.2 shot differential/game).

To be a zone-possession team, you need puck-possession players. Taylor Hall, MPS, Horcoff - these guys are that type of player. Off of pure skill alone, RNH also approaches this status.

Eberle, Gagner, Yakupov, Hemsky - these guys are not players for zone-possession play. These are all players who are talented offensively but only capable of producing off the rush. Yakupov's game is so immature at this point that it's hard to say if he'll ever become a zone-possession type. Looking at how Tarasenko developed from 2010-now gives me hope that Yakupov can do the same.

Hall + RNH are special in that they can play both ways (probably why they went 1st overall).

Great post. Just from some hundred or so words you've shown that you can assess the weakness in our approach better than the people in charge.

We are essentially rebuilding like Pittsburgh to play like Detroit.

 

[zeus3007*]

Just because they aren't god, doesn't mean they aren't good together. They may not be god mode, but they can sure go beast mode at times.

RNH and Eberle were holding Hall down earlier in the year. The sad thing, is that Ebs and RNH could use this as a b.s. excuse for why they had bad years. I hope they are more mature than that.