Injury Report: Oilers 12 Step Program.

[MaxR11]

That epic fold just reinforces the fact that we are more than one player away from being a real contender. If we blow the bank for Hall, are we getting past the Jets? If past them, past the Leafs? Let alone the Avs or Lightning? We aren’t good enough, we wouldn’t have been good enough. The difference is we still have our first rd pick.

Exactly, I cant even imagine how badly a team like the Avs or Vegas would mangle this group. 4-0 sweep with blowout games. Oil would run home, tails tucked between their legs.

 

[Little Fury]

Last night really hurt. Not gonna lie.

But... worst since 1982? No, not hardly... Gretzky was traded when?

I'm trying to be objective here... but I actually can't agree that this is any worse than our (nearly identical) three-goal collapse against Anaheim in 2017. We'd have taken a strangle hold on that series in convincing fashion. Similarly, last night would have sewn doubt in the Jets.

but here we are... gutted. I don't worry as much about what this does to me... my wife will forgive me for my silence and rumination last night, I couldn't move for 15 minutes... yeah, it ruined the weekend, but she wasn't much happier.

I do worry about the psyche of this club though. I think we are absolutely ruining McDavid and Draisaitl... and maybe I'm imagining it, but I think both are prone to negative thoughts. I mean, McDavid just doesn't blindly throw the puck up those boards under normal circumstances.

I don't see realistically how we can restock and build a winner by next season and if we don't, I worry that we'll have cultivated another group of jaded, loser-attitude, young players... this time including a generational one. What a waste of talent.

I apologize for those that were frustrated with the lack of moves at the deadline. You were right... we should have reinforced this team.

Between October and the TDL, the Habs added Toffoli, Perry, Anderson, Edmundson, Allen, and Staal. Not all of those guys have been great, but it goes to show that an aggressive GM can get a lot done and the oilers have the cap room and trade assets to make some moves.

The problem is I don't trust Old Dutch and the pro scouting staff to make the right calls given that they've whiffed on almost every move they've made to date.

 

[bucks_oil]

That epic fold just reinforces the fact that we are more than one player away from being a real contender. If we blow the bank for Hall, are we getting past the Jets? If past them, past the Leafs? Let alone the Avs or Lightning? We aren’t good enough, we wouldn’t have been good enough. The difference is we still have our first rd pick.

Oh I hear you... I made those same arguments. I'm just mighty concerned about the trauma of that loss on the guys on this team that we do want to keep around. I mean, McDavid panicked with that puck and folded... I don't ever want to see that happen again. Once those things happen they can rattle your confidence.

If we bow out gracefully in the second round, that would be an entirely different story, but a first round loss is going to leave a scar, and I'm worried it won't be the "learning from mistakes" kind.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

@Drivesaitl Not quite sure where this one ranks in Oilers ignominy. But if I make a list and really think long and hard over it I rank it at the end because in my mind this team was not going further than the 2nd round anyway and I had the Jets in 7 - in other words I really wasn't sure we would even win this series with the lack of depth and talent in all positions.

Gretzky trade - this one unnecessarily ended an era, all because Pocklington was a POS fraudster and lousy businessman.
Steve Smith own goal - this one ended a string of 2 Cup wins with a sure 3rd straight. Plus I was in the building that night.
Losing Game 7 to the Canes - after so many lean years, McTavish decided not to win the game and instead coached not to lose and lost.
Miracle on Manchester - This one was unbelievable and perhaps the series choke of the all time.
Anaheim meltdown - We were heading to the 3rd round and the team looked poised to perhaps win it all.
2014-15 season - This was it for me. I was not renewing my seasons tickets after a decade of ineptitude but we won the McDavid lottery and they sucked me back in.
Jets meltdown - Brutal terrible loss but honestly was not expecting the team to go anywhere in the playoffs anyways. But it still is a massive choke.

So I am not going to lose a lot of sleep over last nights game.

This off season Holland can literally rebuild the bottom 6 and bolster the D. I always said after Chiarelli was let go that 2022-23 was going to be the year we start contending for real. Not even next season but we will go further next year so I remain positive - for now.

As for this series, we beat them 6 straight in the regular season so there is no reason we cant beat them 4 straight in the playoffs. Smith just needs to hold his ground and we need to take the shotgun away from our players who insist on blowing our own feet off every single game at the worst possible times.

 

[Drivesaitl]

@Drivesaitl Not quite sure where this one ranks in Oilers ignominy. But if I make a list and really think long and hard over it I rank it at the end because in my mind this team was not going further than the 2nd round anyway and I had the Jets in 7 - in other words I really wasn't sure we would even win this series with the lack of depth and talent in all positions.

Gretzky trade - this one unnecessarily ended an era, all because Pocklington was a POS fraudster and lousy businessman.
Steve Smith own goal - this one ended a string of 2 Cup wins with a sure 3rd straight. Plus I was in the building that night.
Losing Game 7 to the Canes - after so many lean years, McTavish decided not to win the game and instead coached not to lose and lost.
Miracle on Manchester - This one was unbelievable and perhaps the series choke of the all time.
Anaheim meltdown - We were heading to the 3rd round and the team looked poised to perhaps win it all.
2014-15 season - This was it for me. I was not renewing my seasons tickets after a decade of ineptitude but we won the McDavid lottery and they sucked me back in.
Jets meltdown - Brutal terrible loss but honestly was not expecting the team to go anywhere in the playoffs anyways. But it still is a massive choke.

So I am not going to lose a lot of sleep over last nights game.

This off season Holland can literally rebuild the bottom 6 and bolster the D. I always said after Chiarelli was let go that 2022-23 was going to be the year we start contending for real. Not even next season but we will go further next year so I remain positive - for now.

As for this series, we beat them 6 straight in the regular season so there is no reason we cant beat them 4 straight in the playoffs. Smith just needs to hold his ground and we need to take the shotgun away from our players who insist on blowing our own feet off every single game at the worst possible times.

Thanks for your list. Like I said to me this is the biggest hit for me because it happened now during a pandemic, isolation, reduced alternative things to do, reduced contacts with others so that its easy to feel like a sitting target for this latest bit of Oilers pain.

So that I see it as the worst due to all the corollary circumstance.

I think the Smith goal was different, jmo, because that was a time of plenty, of celebration, and the team had already won two cups and I thought they weren't going to win it all the time. Of course there was a lot of rumors of substance problems and excess with the club. Success corrupts, and the SI article later confirmed all that. Another way of looking at is that loss, the way it happened, woke the club into 3 more championships. It might have been the slap they needed, and it happened early in playoffs, not much ventured, and so that the team was fresher in subsequent seasons.

Carolina. Nah, because the club exceeded my expectations drastically. Even in the final. When we lost Roloson, and game 1 in the final I figured we would lose. It was hard to imagine winning with other goaltending that had let us down all season. Particularly after watching Conklin be his typical goof in net self losing that same game. The Oilers came from behind 3-1 in the series. Could they have won, sure, it was a big hit, but..

Anaheim for me was a bit different because I didn't expect success that season. Unlike many people here You'll remember I DESPISED Chiarelli, hated the Hall trade, and frankly I wasn't on board. I expected failure. Again the club exceeded my expectations.

This year I was expecting much more than a quick first round exit. I expected the club to be able to beat Winnipeg, a club they had beat all season, not to lose all 3 of the first game and the 3rd in painful fashion.

Gretzky trade. Again rumors had been swirling so much in that decade. Not just trading Gretzky but trading the whole club flat out. Anybody remember the financiers tried to put together a straight up trade of the Oilers roster for the terrible Leafs roster that would have had Puck pocket a ton of money. That rumor persisted for awhile. Besides which I figured it out. The 88 W, I just noted Gretz was acting differently that final win, and Janet was so much not an Edmonton girl. It was the Pronger situation years before Pronger. No way Janet was going to settle for Edmonton. He was gone as soon as he stopped dating Vicky Moss. Sad times. But I could see that one coming a mile away.

But anyway this is now, so the present always feels like it hurts more. Reality is as fans we've been through ringers so many times.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Thanks for your list. Like I said to me this is the biggest hit for me because it happened now during a pandemic, isolation, reduced alternative things to do, reduced contacts with others so that its easy to feel like a sitting target for this latest bit of Oilers pain.

So that I see it as the worst due to all the corollary circumstance.

I think the Smith goal was different, jmo, because that was a time of plenty, of celebration, and the team had already won two cups and I thought they weren't going to win it all the time. Of course there was a lot of rumors of substance problems and excess with the club. Success corrupts, and the SI article later confirmed all that. Another way of looking at is that loss, the way it happened, woke the club into 3 more championships. It might have been the slap they needed, and it happened early in playoffs, not much ventured, and so that the team was fresher in subsequent seasons.

Carolina. Nah, because the club exceeded my expectations drastically. Even in the final. When we lost Roloson, and game 1 in the final I figured we would lose. It was hard to imagine winning with other goaltending that had let us down all season. Particularly after watching Conklin be his typical goof in net self losing that same game. The Oilers came from behind 3-1 in the series. Could they have won, sure, it was a big hit, but..

Anaheim for me was a bit different because I didn't expect success that season. Unlike many people here You'll remember I DESPISED Chiarelli, hated the Hall trade, and frankly I wasn't on board. I expected failure. Again the club exceeded my expectations.

This year I was expecting much more than a quick first round exit. I expected the club to be able to beat Winnipeg, a club they had beat all season, not to lose all 3 of the first game and the 3rd in painful fashion.

Gretzky trade. Again rumors had been swirling so much in that decade. Not just trading Gretzky but trading the whole club flat out. Anybody remember the financiers tried to put together a straight up trade of the Oilers roster for the terrible Leafs roster that would have had Puck pocket a ton of money. That rumor persisted for awhile. Besides which I figured it out. The 88 W, I just noted Gretz was acting differently that final win, and Janet was so much not an Edmonton girl. It was the Pronger situation years before Pronger. No way Janet was going to settle for Edmonton. He was gone as soon as he stopped dating Vicky Moss. Sad times. But I could see that one coming a mile away.

But anyway this is now, so the present always feels like it hurts more. Reality is as fans we've been through ringers so many times.

Makes good sense.

As Oiler fans we have built up a lot of scar tissue over the years haven't we lol.

 

[rboomercat90]

Have been a fan since day 1, over 40 years now, and last night was pretty crushing. Not quite Miracle on Manchester crushing, but closer to the collapse against the Ducks in 2017, although I think that was worse. The absolute worse loss for me was game 7 in 2006. Game 6 was such a high, the barn was the loudest it’s ever been, and we played as perfect a game as I’ve ever seen. To go from that high, to the low of game 7 was tough. It ate at me for months. But that’s what we sign up for when we pledge our allegiance to a sports team. You get the good with the bad, the highs and the lows, and all the inbetweens. As bad as last night was, I woke up today looking forward to the game, hopeful as always that we will win. I’m a lifer, and I’ll never quit supporting my team, even if there are days like yesterday that are just devastating.

I’d say last night was worse than the collapse to the Ducks. We lost 2 games in that series due to ignored goaltender interference infractions. It was easy to absolve the team for what happened. This series is all on them though, nobody else to blame it on. These guys aren’t what we hoped they were and that’s what stings.

 

[BlackDogg]

In the PGT my first post, first question is if this team is cursed? Now I don't actually believe that. It just feels like it. I mean its a series of hundred or so events that have happened with this club, butterfly wings, intentional tanking, on purpose being the worst club, endless first picks, mocking Smyth tears, Gretzky trade, Peter Puck, all that. If this was music you't think it was the Rolling Stones and that they did make a deal with the devil at the crossroads and we're paying ever since...heh.

I mean if fans feel this what do McDrai feel by now? seriously. Anybody thrown a TV out of their room yet? I wouldn't blame them. from the looks of Holland and Tippett yesterday something big happened even before the game. People were talking about it. Both looked like they've seen a ghost. Its uncanny, but maybe some shit hit the fan between game and 1 and 2. There was speculation Katz finally told people off. I dunno. It sure looked like something drastic had occurred well before gametime.

Isn't Kevin Lowe still.around? Feel like another billboard might help

 

[Satire]

The loss against Anaheim hurt a lot more because it felt unfair. To some degree the boys deserved what they got last night.

I had the Oilers in 7 to begin this series. I still think it's possible they do it. They have their story in their own hands now. Either they fold like a tent, or there's a slim chance that they pull of a miracle and carry that into the 2nd round.

As a fan of the team, I'm always going to cheer for the 2nd outcome and believe our guys can pull it off.

 

[Ck1]

Been a STH since 95 and I have never been angrier then I was last night. These past 10 yrs have been hard to renew each year but every offseason there’s always something that’s just enough to pull us back in and every year at the end of the season your left wondering do I renew again ? Unfortunately I have my seats for next year something I now wish I didn’t have. But like all fans I wonder what will transpire this offseason and how it will play out next season and will I find myself debating on renewing again. Like every fan I’m controlled by my emotions at that moment in time.

 

[Zaddy]

When Archibald took that penalty the writing was on the wall. I pretty much expected what happened to happen. It was inevitable. This is the Oilers. Been through this too many times. It's really deflating but losers are gonna lose. That's what this club is and has been throughout my entire fandom. All I got from all these years is one playoff series win. That's it. Funnily enough though that 16/17 team felt different to me. It felt like the boys were able to battle back no matter how bad things looked. They made mistakes but were always able to claw their way back. That team felt magical to me, well at least the closest to it since I've been a fan. But then Anaheim game 5 happened and yeah, that was it. Team went back to being the old Oilers the next year and as it became clear yesterday, that version is very much still alive and breathing. Really don't think this is going to change anytime soon.

This team still after all these years don't have the right mentality. They are still losers. They don't want it bad enough. The effort level on many nights are just pathetic. We all know they can be a very good team when they put in the effort, problem is that happens rarely. They coast by on the backs of McDavid and Draisaitl. It's infuriating to watch. But it doesn't seem to change no matter how many players are cycled through Edmonton. It's all the same. But I guess that's hockey. You're a loser until the day that you're not. Caps choked for years, Tampa could never get it done, same with the Blues, then all of a sudden they found some magic and were able to get over the hump. But it would be nice if this team could at least get past the first round on a regular basis, but last year we lose to a rebuilding Hawks team, and now it seems we're losing to a team we dominated in the regular season and on paper should be worse than us. But they're better coached, play a better game and they want it more.

I dunno, this team is just hopeless. I really haven't been that emotionally attached to them this year (too much going on outside of hockey) so this doesn't hurt that bad. The worst times is when you think they've gotten over the hump and then laugh you in the face and disappoint you again. But I don't believe in this team, not the way it is currently constructed. Too many passengers. Too many guys who are just happy to be in the league. Seems like a recurring problem and that this club attracts those types. Either we get those or we get guys who want it bad but just doesn't have the talent. Holland has to prove his worth this offseason and bring in the right guys that can elevate this team from a playoff team to a contender. We'll see what happens, I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Drivesaitl]

The thread is open should anybody want to share some thoughts after the elimination. While I felt the Oilers played a solid game 4, and deserved to W in both games 3 and 4. I'm OK with it being over. At least the Oilers went out on what I consider a higher note. The Oilers played a rock solid road game in game 4 (both games really outside of 3mins) Nurse was nothing other than heroic. I mean its astounding he played 62mins. More that he made hardly any mistakes in all that time. How does this guy not get more credit here and around the league. I've always figured he was an absolute stud. Drai was exceptional. I'll never forget one moment where he beats two jets, his stick is being held for several secs, and he still wins the puck. Typifies his determination. There was nothing wanting in his game in the series. What a shot as well in OT that Hellbuck just got a shoulder on.

Amazing how the Oilers played through with more jump than the jets despite shortening the bench. The irony is the winning goal was provided through Kyle Connor being too tired to get back. By his own admission, and I'm fine with Connor being the one to end the series. He's a classy player through and through and plays the game the right way.

I need to comment on one thing. Hockey is a cruel sport. The results, while devastating do not define everything. I was at 2 of the games in 97 when an upstart Oilers club dismantled the Dallas Stars. I was there when the Oilers came from behind 3 goals and Kelly Buchberger winning in OT. That wasn't the final nail, but it was a knockout punch that stunned the Stars who would go on to Win a cup. The game 7 with Cujo making stupendous stops and then Todd Marchant breaking out and beating Moog with a perfectly place laser was beautiful but for Stars fans would have been soul destroying at the time. These things occur in hockey, and we've been at both ends of them. The Oilers played that role in 97, and 98 and 2006, 2017 and vanquished clubs that expected to beat us. It happens.

The indicative thing is there was no give up on this squad. They played through and got better, far better, as the series progressed. I can't regret anything really about how the Oilers played in game 4. There were so many gutcheck performance. They just werent' getting the result and banging enough pucks home but plenty of effort and grit creating tons of chances. That the Oilers played that game 4 with as much verve as they did in a back 2 back after a terrible loss is testament to character. Which exists among several of our players.

If we had to end a season then last night was a good way to do it. I'm thankful that it wasn't game 3 ending the season.