Oilers 9-8-2 under Hitchcock

[McDLT]

Nice for the Oilers.

 

[Unspecified]

Every time Hitch takes over a team there are posts like this. Give it time and they will be all defense and zero offense.

 

[MoistDadBod]

Of course he's winning, its not the playoffs.

He's got his name on the cup...

 

[2023FriendshipTour]

Every time Hitch takes over a team there are posts like this. Give it time and they will be all defense and zero offense.

The Oilers were already 0 offense before Hitch though.. They need to play the trap as after the first line there is 0 offense, so you just have to hope to god line 2-4 can go out and not get scored on. They executed well last night against a tired and depleted Calgary team and it was a game they should've and did win.

 

[Thenameless]

Hitch is a good coach, but the players have to be willing to buy-in to his system. Some players aren't willing to put in the type of work that he demands.

 

[qwerty]

There’s no denying Hitchcock is a good coach. But he’s the worst thing for hockey right now. The NHL is still in the business of entertainment and his boring style of play just inspires more teams to play a boring style game.

I didn’t mind watching the Oilers from time to time with McLellan, but not even McDavid could get me to watch this team now. The Blues game and yesterday’s game was downright awful hockey. Sadly there’s a lot of terrible shows on tv that beat Hitchcock hockey.

 

[oobga]

IMO, the Oilers were the only team that actually fired a stale coach that completely lost the room that has been out of ideas for >1 year. McLellan teed up a pretty sweet situation for a new coach and Hitch has made the most of it so far.

 

[Tad Mikowsky]

Um basing it
Off the oilers goaltenders aren’t gonna shatter records and finish with a .950 save percentage this year. It will regress eventually. And they don’t have the scoring to handle even slight regression

Talbot nor Koskinen have a .950 save percentage this year. So dunno where you’re getting that number from. I have a rough idea though.

 

[Cup or Bust]

It is a good 10 games. They have definitely improved their consistency and defensive play, but goal scoring is still going to be a major issue going forward. They need to score more non-McDavid goals.

 

[McDNicks17]

Big reason is also that they have 3 meters tall Koskinen in goal.

He's been decent, I guess.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Yeah I think the oilers are for real.

They've got some really solid defenseman who are now being properly utilized.

And they've got the game breaking offense to win a lot of close games.

 

[Paralyzer]

and they have gained -1 points on the three teams they're chasing in that time frame

way to go oilers, keep doing you

sharks don't count, don't @ me

 

[SullivanT]

It is a good 10 games. They have definitely improved their consistency and defensive play, but goal scoring is still going to be a major issue going forward. They need to score more non-McDavid goals.

Honestly it looks like that when you just look at the stats for the game but when watching the games it unbelievable how many high quality chances aren't going in for the Oilers. I swear (just from the eye test) Oilers have doubled their high quality scoring chances they were having under Todd but for whatever reason it's just not bouncing their way. If I were to guess there is no way if they keep playing like they are that some of these pucks don't start going in just with the law of averages saying so. Last night it was just spectacular goaltending that kept them off the board I though they could of easily had 3-5 more goals if not for the prefornance from Riddick.

In the meantime I'll take wins anyways we can feels much better getting the W in low scoring games then potting a bunch and walking away with a loss.

 

[McDNicks17]

Um basing it
Off the oilers goaltenders aren’t gonna shatter records and finish with a .950 save percentage this year. It will regress eventually. And they don’t have the scoring to handle even slight regression

If you look at underlying numbers, it doesn't look like something that is going to crash down.

Both Koskinen and Talbot have close to middle of the pack SV% on most types of chances, but the big difference is the Oilers are giving up only a fraction of high danger chances as they were before.

 

[McDNicks17]

Will this thread be posted each time Oil win a game? Gotta update that Hitch record.

It's got to be tough seeing the Oilers having a little success for for those whose entire human existence is based around hating the Oilers.

 

[LamorielloAndSon]

I wish the team was built better offensively, but honestly I’ll take 1-0, 2-1 games if it means winning.

It shouldn’t be hard to find players to complement the core that the oilers have

 

[Royal Thunder]

Honestly really impressed with what Hitch is doing with by far the worst roster in the league. Didn't think they had this in them.

 

[dookers9]

As a Flames fan, I hope the Oilers turn a corner and become a good team. I would love for a heated and relevant rivalry to spark up again.... As long as the Flames come out on top

Sounds great. But it sounds as though you're inferring that if the Oilers have been bad, the Flames have been good. They've been "better"...but have been fairly sketch themselves some recent years.

 

[Paralyzer]

Honestly it looks like that when you just look at the stats for the game but when watching the games it unbelievable how many high quality chances aren't going in for the Oilers. I swear (just from the eye test) Oilers have doubled their high quality scoring chances they were having under Todd but for whatever reason it's just not bouncing their way. If I were to guess there is no way if they keep playing like they are that some of these pucks don't start going in just with the law of averages saying so. Last night it was just spectacular goaltending that kept them off the board I though they could of easily had 3-5 more goals if not for the prefornance from Riddick.

In the meantime I'll take wins anyways we can feels much better getting the W in low scoring games then potting a bunch and walking away with a loss.

Exactly. A lot of these games where it was 1-0 or 2-1, should have been a lot higher. Rittich kept Calgary in it. If they had Smith in net, guaranteed it would have been 6-0 Oilers. Just too many high scoring chances to not see more goals incoming, provided they keep playing this way.

 

[SullivanT]

Exactly. A lot of these games where it was 1-0 or 2-1, should have been a lot higher. Rittich kept Calgary in it. If they had Smith in net, guaranteed it would have been 6-0 Oilers. Just too many high scoring chances to not see more goals incoming, provided they keep playing this way.

I mean can't say that for sure Smith has been lights out lately but you never know unless Smith has a game like he started the year lol. Still though pucks will eventually start going in it's just important for the the Oilers to be patient and keep the nose pointed straight

 

[snipes]

Honestly really impressed with what Hitch is doing with by far the worst roster in the league. Didn't think they had this in them.

Interesting, the depth isn’t great but they’re hardly “by far the worst roster in the league”.

 

[Royal Thunder]

Interesting, the depth isn’t great but they’re hardly “by far the worst roster in the league”.

After the first three forwards the forward corps is truly pathetic.

Who is worse?

 

[Cellee]

Interesting, the depth isn’t great but they’re hardly “by far the worst roster in the league”.

Who is?

Or are you just disagreeing with "by far"?

 

[snipes]

After the first three forwards the forward corps is truly pathetic.

Who is worse?

Detroit for one imo

 

[Future GOAT]

Honestly it looks like that when you just look at the stats for the game but when watching the games it unbelievable how many high quality chances aren't going in for the Oilers. I swear (just from the eye test) Oilers have doubled their high quality scoring chances they were having under Todd but for whatever reason it's just not bouncing their way. If I were to guess there is no way if they keep playing like they are that some of these pucks don't start going in just with the law of averages saying so. Last night it was just spectacular goaltending that kept them off the board I though they could of easily had 3-5 more goals if not for the prefornance from Riddick.

In the meantime I'll take wins anyways we can feels much better getting the W in low scoring games then potting a bunch and walking away with a loss.

True, the game against the Wild was one where a lot of their chances went in. Hopefully we'll see more games like that this year from them to go with some of the lower scoring ones where those chances don't convert like the game against the Flames.