SupremeTeam16
5-14-6-1
Everyone knows that changes need to be made to then on ice personnel but I'm wondering what changes off the ice can be made to improve this sorry ass club. Below are some thoughts.
Management:
-Last off seasons shake up was a start but there is still a lot of fat trimming to do. Many of the guys in management are guys that are part of Lowe's regime and have been here throughout the losing. This is an area where we can exploit the fact that we have a rich owner willing to spend. We need to identify guys around the league in areas like player personnel and development, management, scouting. Find the people who are very good at their jobs and poach them.
Coaching:
- TM is 60 games in and we are still seeing a lot of terrible play. Lack of effort, sloppy execution and mistakes being made that peewee teams shouldn't make let alone an NHL team. He has to find a way to get these guys consistently playing smart, hard and with some pride.
- The systems and strategies have to improve. I look at a team like the Coyotes who have never been blessed with very talented players but they play the way you have to in order to win. This season they've added some young talented players but those players do what is demanded by the team. I find we have always catered to our young offensive players and try to play a style that suits them. Enough is enough they either play the type of hockey that wins at this level or GTFO. Our zone entries and PP are an absolute joke, a lot of it is on the players but a lot of it has to fall on the coaches. If Woodcroft can't make it work with what we have here maybe he has to be shown the door regardless of if he is one of TM's guys.
- I would also like to see them add a skills coach to the mix. Look at what Oates has done for Purcell this season, he could probably improve other individual games on the team. Someone who is more behind the scenes but works with individual players on the little things, on things that can make them better players. Maybe someone to teach the guys how to shoot the puck because it seems like nobody on this team can hit the net consistently. A lot of muffin shooters on this team. I honestly can't remember the last time someone on this team scored on a rocket shot, a real nice one timer or a real nice snipe from more then 10 feet out.
Medical, Training and Equipment:
-Again these are other areas that I believe should be reviewed, most of the staff are long serving members and it's not to say they are doing a bad job but we need to explore every avenue possible to get the best out of our team. Are there different medical techniques we can implement? Can we better educate our players on how to stay healthy? Can we mandate equipment changes like skate and hand guards? All things to be considered. A lot of times our guys look slow out or gassed, moreso then other teams, are there better ways to condition these guys, are we sure they are putting in the effort to be in the best condition they can? Management needs to provide every resource possibly available to these guys and make them understand that success hinges on them being in top condition and healthy, they are responsible for that and if they don't take it seriously then we don't want you.
- This is another kind of dumb one that is related to bad luck but it's absolutely insane the amount of broken sticks this team suffers. I watch a lot of hockey and it seems to me that the Oilers are one of the worst teams for breaking sticks, which is funny to me because there is barely anyone on the team who can shoot the puck hard it. Even in the game against Anaheim tonight I think I counted 4 broken sticks for the Oilers and not one for the Ducks.
I know a lot of this is just conjecture cause we really don't know what goes on in the day to day but really I think these are all areas that should be reviewed because if there is anything that can be done to help us win it should be done. That's my rant.
Management:
-Last off seasons shake up was a start but there is still a lot of fat trimming to do. Many of the guys in management are guys that are part of Lowe's regime and have been here throughout the losing. This is an area where we can exploit the fact that we have a rich owner willing to spend. We need to identify guys around the league in areas like player personnel and development, management, scouting. Find the people who are very good at their jobs and poach them.
Coaching:
- TM is 60 games in and we are still seeing a lot of terrible play. Lack of effort, sloppy execution and mistakes being made that peewee teams shouldn't make let alone an NHL team. He has to find a way to get these guys consistently playing smart, hard and with some pride.
- The systems and strategies have to improve. I look at a team like the Coyotes who have never been blessed with very talented players but they play the way you have to in order to win. This season they've added some young talented players but those players do what is demanded by the team. I find we have always catered to our young offensive players and try to play a style that suits them. Enough is enough they either play the type of hockey that wins at this level or GTFO. Our zone entries and PP are an absolute joke, a lot of it is on the players but a lot of it has to fall on the coaches. If Woodcroft can't make it work with what we have here maybe he has to be shown the door regardless of if he is one of TM's guys.
- I would also like to see them add a skills coach to the mix. Look at what Oates has done for Purcell this season, he could probably improve other individual games on the team. Someone who is more behind the scenes but works with individual players on the little things, on things that can make them better players. Maybe someone to teach the guys how to shoot the puck because it seems like nobody on this team can hit the net consistently. A lot of muffin shooters on this team. I honestly can't remember the last time someone on this team scored on a rocket shot, a real nice one timer or a real nice snipe from more then 10 feet out.
Medical, Training and Equipment:
-Again these are other areas that I believe should be reviewed, most of the staff are long serving members and it's not to say they are doing a bad job but we need to explore every avenue possible to get the best out of our team. Are there different medical techniques we can implement? Can we better educate our players on how to stay healthy? Can we mandate equipment changes like skate and hand guards? All things to be considered. A lot of times our guys look slow out or gassed, moreso then other teams, are there better ways to condition these guys, are we sure they are putting in the effort to be in the best condition they can? Management needs to provide every resource possibly available to these guys and make them understand that success hinges on them being in top condition and healthy, they are responsible for that and if they don't take it seriously then we don't want you.
- This is another kind of dumb one that is related to bad luck but it's absolutely insane the amount of broken sticks this team suffers. I watch a lot of hockey and it seems to me that the Oilers are one of the worst teams for breaking sticks, which is funny to me because there is barely anyone on the team who can shoot the puck hard it. Even in the game against Anaheim tonight I think I counted 4 broken sticks for the Oilers and not one for the Ducks.
I know a lot of this is just conjecture cause we really don't know what goes on in the day to day but really I think these are all areas that should be reviewed because if there is anything that can be done to help us win it should be done. That's my rant.
