look at the last ten games--does it show the oilers are changing personality?

[Fixed to Ruin]

It will be interesting to hear what reasons Nuge, Hall and Eberle give for not playing in the world championships in Prague in may

if I am not mistaken--Hall has turned down the offer all of his career so far

One thing I liked about Smyth he loved the game and wearing the Canadian jersey--Hall and the other guys--not so much

Hall played in the World Championships in 2013.

Eberle played in 2010 & 2011

 

[millpoo]

It will be interesting to hear what reasons Nuge, Hall and Eberle give for not playing in the world championships in Prague in may

if I am not mistaken--Hall has turned down the offer all of his career so far

One thing I liked about Smyth he loved the game and wearing the Canadian jersey--Hall and the other guys--not so much

Hall went to the WC in 2013. He played under HC Lindy Ruff and it was a complete debacle for player and team. Source

 

[thadd]

Scrivens and Fasth destroyed Eakins just as much as his coaching.

How can you blame the goalies given the track record of our goalie coaches and the d-men we've got?

On many nights our goalies get so little help from the d-men that they may as well be playing in the Columbus at the all-star game.

 

[Halibut]

Feelings are for your Momma!

Touchy feely thoughts are a waste of time!

You have given Zero support for your FEELINGS!

We know the oilers forwards experienced a29% drop in production.

We know Goalies faced a a closer shot distance with Eakins forward pinch and D yielding the Blue.

We are .600 against the west teams under Nelson.

Ha hilarious! A 10 game string where the team manages to play up to the amazing level of .500 hockey. Sorry obviously I was totally wrong and everything is right in this organization!

Even Eakins managed a short spell earlier in the year where the team won a few games, probably had a winning streak at some point either this year or last that puts what's happened so far under Nelson to shame.

 

[AM]

Ha hilarious! A 10 game string where the team manages to play up to the amazing level of .500 hockey. Sorry obviously I was totally wrong and everything is right in this organization!

Even Eakins managed a short spell earlier in the year where the team won a few games, probably had a winning streak at some point either this year or last that puts what's happened so far under Nelson to shame.

Well if you watched the games you would know why they have that opinion.

 

[Halibut]

Well if you watched the games you would know why they have that opinion.

Sorry seen it before many times. Teams take us lightly because we are so bad and we manage to sneak out a couple wins and everyone thinks we're better now.

 

[Captain Catatomic]

Sorry seen it before many times. Teams take us lightly because we are so bad and we manage to sneak out a couple wins and everyone thinks we're better now.

Well we aint Eakin out wins any more thats forsure

 

[Tyrolean]

Come March and crunch time, Oilers will lose regularly again.

 

[thadd]

Come March and crunch time, Oilers will lose regularly again.

Correct me if I'm wrong... but don't we almost always play a bit better than expected (since the down years started) past March when it doesn't matter anymore?

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

It really matters very little in the grand scope of things how this team does when the playoffs are already miles away.

Playing when it matters is what I want to see, unfortunately we won't see that until October.

 

[Beerfish]

How can you blame the goalies given the track record of our goalie coaches and the d-men we've got?

On many nights our goalies get so little help from the d-men that they may as well be playing in the Columbus at the all-star game.

How can you blame the goalies? How about because they have stunk most of the season? The oilers defense has been let down by utterly soft goals as much as the other way around. This years tending is about as bad as it was last year. Mostly terrible.

 

[Halibut]

Correct me if I'm wrong... but don't we almost always play a bit better than expected (since the down years started) past March when it doesn't matter anymore?

It all depends on the matchups. Some teams already have a playoff spot locked up so they dont bother others are in a chase and play hard or there are teams like the caps before the all star break who need the win but get up and then look ahead to the next game. Lots of teams lose focus when they are up against a team this bad.

 

[Fourier]

Full credit to Nelson since he took over, he's done a good job in the short amount of time he's had since taking over for the pathetic disaster that was the Eakins/Mact duo.(not that it was much of a hurdle to clear though )

My point is more that wins and improved performances have to be taken with a huge grain of salt when it comes to a team that mathematically eliminated from the playoffs before Christmas. As per my previous points, there are just a lot of factors that can conspire to paint a very misleading picture of what the team is capable of when there is zero pressure on a team to do anything other play out the string.

Any short term success needs to be approached with caution. But I don't think it can be simply dismissed as there being no pressure because of being eliminated from the playoffs. I'd even argue that the losing streak resulted in a team under immense pressure.

 

[dustrock]

How can you blame the goalies? How about because they have stunk most of the season? The oilers defense has been let down by utterly soft goals as much as the other way around. This years tending is about as bad as it was last year. Mostly terrible.

Yup Dubnyk was horrific last year. I expect it was mostly a pressure/confidence thing. The D was also horrid last year.

There was a post I think by Jonathan Willis a couple of months ago showing a vast improvement from the D in terms of limiting shots/goals in the slot area. The Oilers had one of the worst records in the entire league for allowing goals from the point.

In the first 15-20 games, how many times did the Oilers get let down by our goalies allowing a terrible, terrible goal?

 

[Aerchon]

I do see a difference, a big difference for me. I used to turn off Eakins team after sometimes even one goal against because I could SEE the guys give up in their posture, skating, and their overall play. I have actually lately watched more than a few full games from start to finish without fast forwarding.

The hockey I am seeing being played from the Oilers right now is actually worth watching. I could not say that for practically the whole time Eakins was the coach.

I dislike the fact we have officially entered the rebuild of the rebuild and are sellers and not buyers again this year. Nelson will not get the support of Mac T the way Eakins did. I don't think he will anyway, so he will have to do more with less.

McEichle can not save this team so I hope we see that change come from within.

 

[Aerchon]

Sorry seen it before many times. Teams take us lightly because we are so bad and we manage to sneak out a couple wins and everyone thinks we're better now.

This is very true.

Plus we have Schultz/someone on D crapping out a juicy defensive breakdown once a period.

Plus we have hit and miss goaltending.

But.

The team is visibly better in the last month than the rest of the year. They are actually trying for a full 60 minutes no matter what the score is. That's a big step in the right direction.

 

[McArthur]

How can you blame the goalies given the track record of our goalie coaches and the d-men we've got?

On many nights our goalies get so little help from the d-men that they may as well be playing in the Columbus at the all-star game.

hard to see past the numbers on both guys before and after coming to Edmonton. Especially Scrivens in the season he had playing in LA. Great defense can lead mediocre goaltending to championships. ie. Chris Osgood. Great defense stems from 5 guys playing out of the same playbook and a coaching staff to keep it all together.

my question...?

How many of those games (5-4-1) had MacTavish on the bench still? Any? Because they didn't win a single game with MacT on the bench.

 

[Klimando Kostani]

hard to see past the numbers on both guys before and after coming to Edmonton. Especially Scrivens in the season he had playing in LA. Great defense can lead mediocre goaltending to championships. ie. Chris Osgood. Great defense stems from 5 guys playing out of the same playbook and a coaching staff to keep it all together.

my question...?

How many of those games (5-4-1) had MacTavish on the bench still? Any? Because they didn't win a single game with MacT on the bench.

Also possible is that mactavish spotted a few players hurting our ability to play a composed team game and moved them out.

Might be what happened with Perron, I know we all like to think of him as a gritty veteran who we need a million more of but he has been traded twice in two years and the team that he came to us from wasn't shy in mentioning he didn't fit their system.

Maybe Craig is on it?

 

[Mr Positive]

It really matters very little in the grand scope of things how this team does when the playoffs are already miles away.

Playing when it matters is what I want to see, unfortunately we won't see that until October.

This is very true, but I think everyone would like the team fix its issues now so we start next season on the right foot. If our team finishes awfully, then it really isn't clear if a free agent prize would even help us or not, and he probably wouldn't consider us anyway.

 

[Halibut]

This is very true, but I think everyone would like the team fix its issues now so we start next season on the right foot. If our team finishes awfully, then it really isn't clear if a free agent prize would even help us or not, and he probably wouldn't consider us anyway.

They need to fix the team no matter if we finish well or not. That's the danger of reading to much into the fake success we've had and they've done it to many times before. We've got a #3 pick coming in so it's ok if we only have 2 nhl centers with experience. Our young D prospects are coming along so we're ok if we just bring ina couple thid pairing d-men.

 

[McArthur]

Also possible is that mactavish spotted a few players hurting our ability to play a composed team game and moved them out.

Might be what happened with Perron, I know we all like to think of him as a gritty veteran who we need a million more of but he has been traded twice in two years and the team that he came to us from wasn't shy in mentioning he didn't fit their system.

Maybe Craig is on it?

I hated to watch Perron play with Yakupov, something Roy seems committed to doing. Its too bad we weren't deeper at center. might have had an easier time spreading talent around on the wings.

 

[Pressure]

Hall went to the WC in 2013. He played under HC Lindy Ruff and it was a complete debacle for player and team. Source

And Ruff's assessment of Hall was spot on. No defence, doesn't play the right way and terrible turnovers. I remember this clearly when he was benched. So what happened since then? Well pretty much the same thing here as there. Scores points though.

 

[bone]

It will be interesting to hear what reasons Nuge, Hall and Eberle give for not playing in the world championships in Prague in may

if I am not mistaken--Hall has turned down the offer all of his career so far

One thing I liked about Smyth he loved the game and wearing the Canadian jersey--Hall and the other guys--not so much

You are mistaken, last year was the first time he turned down any offer to play on any Canadian team. Based on injuries it was the right call. Turning it down again is probably also the right call if he is wearing braces on both knees.