News Article: Oilers "culture change" a big reason for historic start

[MaxR11]

Oilers 'culture change' big reason for historic start

"There's a culture change within the room where all everyone cares about is winning," defenseman Darnell Nurse said, "and that's all that really matters."

Gregor mentioned as well, he speaks with some of the Oilers and they said a big difference in the turn around this year is buy in, accountability and general culture.

There's more resilience this year. More buy in, more valuing and importance on keeping pucks out of the net. That attention to detail and urgency and effort on the D side has really made Kosko and Smiths job a lot easier. They face a lot of shots but the shots are easier to manage. Opposing players getting blocked out on rebounds and net front presence. Better consistency in back checking and urgency to regain possession of the puck.

The culture has changed as well as far as development of players. Not rushing guys who aren't ready. This will be huge going forward. I think why we couldn't develop many good players was more about development than actual drafting. I have faith in Holland's grinding patient culture and what it will do for our future prospects.

Another article: JONES: McDavid, Draisaitl driving Oilers culture change

“People in Edmonton need to shut up about players not scoring because then they start to cheat to score. The Oilers are playing the right way. Let it play out now. The wheel has turned in Edmonton,” said the observer, who did not wish to be identified because he’s talking about somebody else’s hockey team and that tends to be frowned upon.
“Now it’s a work-based team. The Oilers are building a culture based on work and checking that’s resulted in winning hockey games for a long, long time in this sport.
“Their best players do it and the others have no choice but to follow. It doesn’t matter who comes in, they have to follow it. The Oilers are winning now because they are willing to check the puck back hard.
If you are willing to check to create scoring chances, you win all the close games. That’s what winning teams do. And that’s a culture change in Edmonton.”

Click to read more...

 

[McDNicks17]

Didn't even have to look at who posted this.

 

[guymez]

Hey man...I actually agree with some of your thinking around culture but I think that you might want to consider giving the culture thing a break.

 

[belair]

Yep culture. McDavid only playing a couple minutes in the third period of his six point night resonated with me. But locker room culture isn't really a talking point unless it's completely toxic.

 

[Mr Positive]

I don't really believe it but I could be wrong.

Getting Smith, who has been great, has taken pressure off of Koskinen and allowed him to succeed, and I'd say Koskinen worked on his game as well.

And maybe just as important, Ethan Bear. He's not our best Dman, but his monster summer of training has yielded us another top 4 defender, keeping Benning and Russell in a position to succeed. And of course, our D was starving for a puck mover. Bear is good at it.

And our win loss totals have been impacted by our bottom six. When healthy, they have helped our PK.

Also the Neal traded added some talent, and removed a distracting presence (lucic). If there is a culture change, that's it.

But to me it is mostly a skill upgrade

 

[Jepprey]

Systematically they're better. That has made everybody looked better. the past couple of years, our defense has been leaving guys open in the slot and left Cam/Mikko or whoever was in net hanging. We do not see that anymore. They have less trouble with zone exits as well, the puck is being moved quickly instead of Russell Nurse Larsson standing behind the net only to panic and ice the puck.

 

[BlackDogg]

How does Hall fit in with this?

 

[Snowpants]

eh accountable not really not when Benning still play so much

 

[harpoon]

I don’t get the quote attributed to Nurse. Sounds like he’s saying the players didn’t care about winning in past seasons. That’s not culture, that’s just stupid. And theft of Katz’s money.

 

[Mc5RingsAndABeer]

I can't wait for Hall, with his MVP-calibre play, to take our culture to the next level.

 

[McDNicks17]

I wonder if the team is better because they have better players, a better coach and are using a better system?

"Nah, it's because of the culture."

 

[Oil Dood]

eh accountable not really not when Benning still play so much

Benning is not as bad as you think, he is not a top four guy(I think he is slightly overpaid but not by much) but the puck generally stays out of our net and it does not seem to matter who he is paired with. I like him in the bottom pair.

 

[AM]

When somebody sticks a mike in your face and asks you questions, what comes out dosent necessarily mean much depending on the individual.

I think there is better leadership, for multiple reasons and their core group is a year older, probably the main one.

 

[Delicious Pancakes]

Oilers 'culture change' big reason for historic start

"There's a culture change within the room where all everyone cares about is winning," defenseman Darnell Nurse said, "and that's all that really matters."

Gregor mentioned as well, he speaks with some of the Oilers and they said a big difference in the turn around this year is buy in, accountability and general culture.

There's more resilience this year. More buy in, more valuing and importance on keeping pucks out of the net. That attention to detail and urgency and effort on the D side has really made Kosko and Smiths job a lot easier. They face a lot of shots but the shots are easier to manage. Opposing players getting blocked out on rebounds and net front presence. Better consistency in back checking and urgency to regain possession of the puck.

The culture has changed as well as far as development of players. Not rushing guys who aren't ready. This will be huge going forward. I think why we couldn't develop many good players was more about development than actual drafting. I have faith in Holland's grinding patient culture and what it will do for our future prospects.

Did you mean to post this thread a month ago? The article is from October 13th.

Clearly the Oilers turnaround has now been proven to be a result of zombification and bathroom related flushing. Get with the times.

 

[NeverForget06]

A culture of special teams strategy that actually works maybe... that and a culture of having two goaltenders who are competent

Edit: Also this article is from the first week of the season! What took you so long

All jokes aside, they do seem to be mentally different this year. Whether that has to do with "culture," or just competent management and coaching is up for debate

 

[Cloned]

I wonder if the team is better because they have better players, a better coach and are using a better system?

"Nah, it's because of the culture."

Technically that can all be considered part of the culture.

 

[Jet Walters]

As a microbiologist I'm a big fan of cultures.

 

[Cloned]

As a microbiologist I'm a big fan of cultures.

What’s your professional opinion on the zombification of RZH?

 

[Jet Walters]

What’s your professional opinion on the zombification of RZH?

Crap. I'm caught in a lie. Truth be told I'm not a microbiologist. I'm just a regular biologist. I guess what I'm trying to say is that technically I just grow weed, so I'm really not qualified to talk on that subject. Still love me some culture though.

 

[OilerTitanFan]

How does Hall fit in with this?

He's going with to the flames with the rest of our past rejects like Lucic, Reider, Talbot and Davidson. He'll fit in well with that losing culture.

 

[Porkleaker]

Crap. I'm caught in a lie. Truth be told I'm not a microbiologist. I'm just a regular biologist. I guess what I'm trying to say is that technically I just grow weed, so I'm really not qualified to talk on that subject. Still love me some culture though.

Uhm, that's botany. Maybe you just smoked too much of your product and were craving some of the cultures in yogurt?

 

[oobga]

Goaltending that doesn't collapse every game. Special teams that aren't micromanaged by the most stubborn coach in the league. Swapping bad 4th liner Lucic for a 20+ goal scorer. And a little luck to start the year while our bottom 6 were not able to get a single thing done. I give these things more credit for winning than "culture". Culture is always good when the wins are coming, and questioned when things go bad.

Still need to add to this lineup to be a real contender. No culture powers are going to make up for needing some more skill on the wings.

 

[iCanada]

I thought a month ago, when this article came out, you were telling us our team had a shit culture, @HK97.

I am confuse.

 

[Porkleaker]

He's going with to the flames with the rest of our past rejects like Lucic, Reider, Talbot and Davidson. He'll fit in well with that losing culture.

Do you really want Calgary getting a guaranteed 1st overall pick though? Really though, Calgary has nothing to offer, or nothing they'd part with.

 

[3IR]

same story every time we go on a good run.

Culture matters, but it loses its important feel when everyone and their mother is writing an article on how the culture has changed every single year and the results are the same. Culture seems to improve when you win games, so I'd hope the culture feels better right now. I hope we finish as strong as we've started, but all it takes is an ugly oiler esque stretch for the culture to suddenly be to blame again.