Oilers 9-8-2 under Hitchcock

[Royal Thunder]

Detroit for one imo

True, teams like Detroit and Arizona are feeling the effects of not having any true high end talent. But they still each have a half dozen decent forwards and their depth blows Edmonton away. I guess it depends how you weigh superstar talent vs depth, but I would put all 3 of those teams toward the bottom.

 

[vendetta]

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.

Thru this hot streak they do. It’s the only way they win games is unsustainable goaltending. And goals against called back. They won’t be getting these Blum es all year is what I’m saying

 

[Bonzo111]

Go Oil!

 

[McDNicks17]

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.

I think McLellan's coaching style of loading up the top line and basically ignoring the rest of the team made the depth look a lot worse than they are.

Guys like Lucic, Brodziak and Kassian aren't world beaters, but they're going to look a lot more like NHLers and actually contribute to winning games when you tell them to go out there and play a physical, heavy forechecking style instead of expecting them to play the speed, skill game you've told the rest of your lines to play.

 

[KCC]

Thru this hot streak they do. It’s the only way they win games is unsustainable goaltending. And goals against called back. They won’t be getting these Blum es all year is what I’m saying

You keep saying this like they are the only reason. Watch the actual games and you will see because you are clearly not. there are numerous other stats to back up their play not just goaltending and it has been mentioned already. At this point you are hell bent on hoping edm collapses or something. Lol.

 

[TheDoldrums]

This recent hot streak has convinced me that Chiarelli has the team on the right track. He's clearly the right man to lead this team back to glory. Honestly, an extension for him might be in order.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Not surprised. They were always better than their record. Just needed more structure so that McDavid didn’t have to win every single game on his own and the defensive play needed improvement.
McDavid, Drai and RNH is a great group of centers.
They are a playoff team imo.

 

[Tkachuky]

The Oilers played pretty good last night vs Flames, I’ll give them credit for that. As a Flames fan, that was a close game given our circumstances but the oil deserved that win.

 

[Paralyzer]

Thru this hot streak they do. It’s the only way they win games is unsustainable goaltending. And goals against called back. They won’t be getting these Blum es all year is what I’m saying

LOL only 2 goals have been called back this year for the Oilers. Wanna know how many were called back from Edmonton? At least 8 separate occasions. Possibly more. I call BS on that statement

 

[Sam Spade]

Detroit for one imo

Except for the obvious player I would easily trade the Wings roster for the Oilers roster. Speed alone makes it better than the snail roster the Oilers throw out there every night.

 

[AngelDuck]

It was a good hire. Hitch is teaching some of those terrible players how to defend finally

 

[Saltcreek]

This recent hot streak has convinced me that Chiarelli has the team on the right track. He's clearly the right man to lead this team back to glory. Honestly, an extension for him might be in order.

I know this is a joke but there is literally no one who wants this to happen

 

[Soliloquy of a Dogge]

Thru this hot streak they do. It’s the only way they win games is unsustainable goaltending. And goals against called back. They won’t be getting these Blum es all year is what I’m saying

This is such a simplistic and narrow minded view of things it doesn't even deserve a reply. Yet, here we are.

The Oilers are playing stiffling defense and not allowing very many high danger chances. The goaltenders are making big saves when they need to. The numbers may not be sustainable at the level Kostko is playing at but what's also unsustainable is the horrendous conversion of high danger scoring chances the team is failing to convert on.

And what is this nonsense about goals being called back contributing to their success? The goal last night was clear goaltender interference and the offside goal against LA was clearly offsides. Not determining factors in their success, no matter how much you want to spin this BS narrative.

 

[Paralyzer]

I know this is a joke but there is literally no one who wants this to happen

He won't be signed a contract extension, but it will save him for 1 more year if the Oilers make the playoffs. Even if they Oilers miss it by 1 point, he will be fired.

 

[Bronson]

Parity in the league is a lot higher than most fans want to admit so it's not surprising that a good coach has put the Oilers together. Trotz is doing the same with the Islanders right now, while lesser coaches like Mike Yeo and Dave Hakstol have turned what looked like true contenders into crap.

 

[Sugi21]

Well he lit a fire under the team that’s for sure and one thing he’s been doing that Tmac never did and that’s give Koskinen starts over Talbot!!!! Koskinen deserves the same credit as Hitch with turning the ship around so far!!!!

 

[Gordon Lightfoot]

Do you always make such poorly thought out embarrassing posts?

That's kind of his thing. A Bruins "fan" who wants Lucic back because of the punching and also thinks Bergeron sucks.

 

[Edmonton East]

Another big test on Tuesday!

Lol this article is awful. Sure, system might have changed, but all this picture shows is that the top guy in the slot for the Oilers is incompetent. Who is that?

 

[ManofSteel55]

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

There's a "Lolz, Edmonton sucks" thread here at least once a week, so why not a "Lolz, Edmonton doesn't suck today" thread?

 

[A91]

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

Us nearly meeting in the 16-17 playoffs was such an exciting feelings. Can't wait for a Lames-Oilers series.

 

[Coffey]

There's a "Lolz, Edmonton sucks" thread here at least once a week, so why not a "Lolz, Edmonton doesn't suck today" thread?

Those aren’t as fun for Oiler detractors.

 

[wasunder]

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.

I agree, the Flames recent years have been nothing to gloat about. I'm just optimistic about our teams success this year.

 

[CupofOil]

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

Interesting that you have no problem with the million Oiler bash threads that exist on the main boards. So predictable, and sad.

 

[twostroke27]

I think Hitch has them playing a game that is more suitable for their roster. A trapish style with heavy back pressure works a lot better for them because A) outside a couple players, they're big and slow B) they've proven that a run and gun system doesn't work because of the reasons from A. I also noticed they have pretty good puck support and they are making shorter passes on breakouts, which helps a lot since most their dmen aren't overly good at longer first passes. It certainly hasn't hurt that their goaltending seems to be much better for the time being either.

I'm actually quite curious to see how this pans out over the rest of the season. So many teams seem to be focused on a higher pace of play and I think that the Oilers system could really put a monkey wrench in a lot of teams strategy. Good for them. Oilers fans have suffered enough over the last decade and a bit.

 

[oobga]

This recent hot streak has convinced me that Chiarelli has the team on the right track. He's clearly the right man to lead this team back to glory. Honestly, an extension for him might be in order.

This is the nightmare of many Oilers fans right now.