Post-Game Talk: Oilers play well but still lose 3-2

[Replacement*]

People don't know what to do when they can't blame the losses on Dubnyk.

Enough scapegoating. There's not 1 problem with this team. It starts at the ownership and goes right down to the in-game management by the Rexall crew. It ALL sucks with a handful of bright lights interspersed amongst the junk. This team is hockey's equivalent of the Salvation Army.

Dubs would've got lit up like a Christmas tree in this one. The score was 3-2 instead of 6-2 because of Bryz.

End of story.

Wins in Anaheim just aren't realistic. For any club.

 

[Hynh]

How is it possible to have been in a 'rebuild' for as long as we have and have no elite level--or even close to elite level--defensemen? Even Calgary's defense blows ours away: Russel and Giordano are much better and complete defensemen than anything we have. Ference is our most consistent, and on most of the top teams in the league he'd be a #5 guy. Even the Islanders were able to draft Hamonic and MacDonald, again two guys I'd take over anyone on this team. The level of incompetence to draft defensemen in this organization is astounding.

Klef and Nurse are a good start (that's about 5 years late), but damn...

2006: An absurdly terrible draft for D. Petry is just one of 4 D to play more than 180 games in the NHL

2007: Reached for Plante (who was a bad skater and carried by Alzner), traded the 30th and 36th picks to move up to pick Riley Nash. Some undersized, fast skating, high scoring D is picked 43rd and becomes somewhat okay.

2008: Took Eberle using the last piece of the Pronger trade. Oilers' 1st, 2nd and 3rd belong to Anaheim because of the Penner offersheet.

2009: Took the highly rated LW with size and some solid scoring. 3 of the next 4 picks were D, Kulikov being the best of the group. The D of note drafted in the second round are just now starting to push into the NHL.

2010: Hall was well clear of Gudbranson. Pitlick was regarded as a first round pick for his two way game while Justin Faulk was regarded as a late first/early second for his offense and skating. Marincin is a solid looking pick but not exactly elite.

2011: RNH managed to clear Larsson by the draft but it was much closer than Hall. Brodin appears to be the top D of the draft. The Oilers loaded up on D but no D past the first round have broken through for any team yet.

2012 and 2013 are still way too early to even attempt to judge.

Moral of the story, always blame Lowe. He blew the 2007 draft (compare Gagner, Plante and Riley to Montreal's haul of McDonagh, Pacioretty and Subban and realize that Montreal drafted 7 spots later on average) and the 2008 draft through the Penner offersheet.

 

[KarmaPolice]

July 3rd, supposedly, then traded to CGY for a 5th round pick. Missed opportunity like 201341, right?

Yeah, Fedun isn't Lidstrom, he's not going to solve the team's problems. Ugh. I just want to see a win or something, but this franchise saps the hope out of you like nobody's business. A little shiny new toy syndrome, a little hype machine.

At the very least, it would be a good story. It would give us SOMETHING to feel good about, and perhaps even give the rest of the guys on the team more motivation (not likely, but who knows). After the accident he had, to come back from that and be able to play NHL hockey would be a nice little glimmer of positive light that we could latch onto, and give us a bit more emotional attachment again. So many people are emotionally detaching, and I don't blame them. Fedun would be something to rally behind. We're not going anywhere this year anyway; call him up and play him. Give us a positive story to grasp on to. This fan base needs it in the worst way. I don't think he'd be a world beater, but I think he'd be at least as good as Larsen, and can still develop. It makes sense to bring him up. In other words: it likely won't happen--not unless/until there's some heavy injuries on D.

 

[Kepler 186f]

Did Eakins really say he thought they deserved a couple of points? Has to be a smokescreen. The Ducks didn't even break a sweat. They did enough to win. Period. They didn't even look the slightest perturbed when Gagner tied it up. More just a shrug of their collective shoulders and off to score another one.

 

[NewBoysClub97*]

It's way passed the point where losses bug me. I really don't care at all. When I seen that the Ducks went up 3-2 that late I just said "ok whatever" lol.

How anybody can care anymore surprises me. I expect disappointment from this team and org.

 

[Taylorhall4]

I just wanna see some playoffs :/

 

[I am the Liquor]

I just wanna see some playoffs :/

Watch the other Oil in town.

 

[Taylorhall4]

Watch the other Oil in town.

They're both pathetic

 

[I am the Liquor]

They're both pathetic

Lol wut?

http://www.whl.ca/standings/show/ls_season/last/subtype/1

 

[timekeep]

Watch the other Oil in town.

They're both pathetic

Are you getting 'other Oil' mixed up with Esks?

 

[harpoon]

This would be a 4-2/5-2 loss with Dubnyk. That 5 minute PP would've been an automatic Ducks goal from the point. Bryz gave us a chance.

The one that got me thinking was the save on Palmieri as he came around from behind the net with some speed and tried to go upstairs short side. Bryzgalov gave him nothing ... I was thinking that's a goal on Dubnyk most nights. Score was 1-1 too I think.

 

[McspOiler]

I lol'd then cryed when i realized this was completely true

 

[JohnnyCanuck604]

Moral of the story, always blame Lowe. He blew the 2007 draft (compare Gagner, Plante and Riley to Montreal's haul of McDonagh, Pacioretty and Subban and realize that Montreal drafted 7 spots later on average) and the 2008 draft through the Penner offersheet.

^This is the Oilers problem, you guys have drafted high 7 years now and apart from your top picks have nothing to show for it. Its not just about how your drafting but how you develop those players, IMO the Oilers rushed Hopkins into the line up in a attempt to push for the playoffs, he needed time to grow and to bulk up, but instead he got hurt his 1st and 2nd year, I wont be surprised if he gets hurt again.

Also doesn't help management changes coaches every year, theres no direction from management and it shows in the way your team plays. Kruger should of been given a real opportunity to work with your kids, he was on to something, Eakins spent all preseason working on that swarm defense, and has since abandoned it with no real defensive coverage, I dont see any puck support coming out of your own end, half your forwards cheat out of the zone looking for odd man rushes which is why you guys turn it over in the neutral zone so much. Throughout the line up your forwards are small and in the west thats a death sentence along the half wall where all the top western teams play offense and defense.

All this falls on the shoulders of management, so until theres a shake up, up top you cant expect different results. There is no quick fix here for this team, they need to hold on to the youth they got and move guys like Hemsky, Gagner, Smyth, Jones, Gordon, Joensuu, Ference, Petry, Potter and N. Shultz and bring in some kids hungry for a opportunity to play that has a combination of grit and skill.

I wish the Oilers, Flames and Jets canturn things around, because the playoffs just aren't the same when so many Canadian teams are out.

 

[harpoon]

Good defenders are out there - we haven't been able to find one.

Well, we had Souray when he was still a first pairing guy in this league. Nasty too. Never stand there and let Nuge get roughed up like the ******* on this team do. But we were so interested in drafting first, and censoring the right of people to speak the truth, that we paid him to go away.

If we added Souray and Penner to this team we'd be miles further down the road. Thanks for nothing Tamby.

 

[Gret99zky]

http://imgflip.com/gifgenerator

 

[Tarus]

2006: An absurdly terrible draft for D. Petry is just one of 4 D to play more than 180 games in the NHL

2007: Reached for Plante (who was a bad skater and carried by Alzner), traded the 30th and 36th picks to move up to pick Riley Nash. Some undersized, fast skating, high scoring D is picked 43rd and becomes somewhat okay.

Moral of the story, always blame Lowe. He blew the 2007 draft (compare Gagner, Plante and Riley to Montreal's haul of McDonagh, Pacioretty and Subban and realize that Montreal drafted 7 spots later on average) and the 2008 draft through the Penner offersheet.

Why would anyone bother blaming Lowe for that draft?

Plante was a classic Predergast pick(suspect toolset, no toolbox), Riley Nash was a close family friend of future head scout Stu Mcgregor.

The GM doesn't fly around scouting these players when they aren't picking top 3, it's the scouting staff who gives the information that decides who the picks will be.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

^This is the Oilers problem, you guys have drafted high 7 years now and apart from your top picks have nothing to show for it. Its not just about how your drafting but how you develop those players, IMO the Oilers rushed Hopkins into the line up in a attempt to push for the playoffs, he needed time to grow and to bulk up, but instead he got hurt his 1st and 2nd year, I wont be surprised if he gets hurt again.

Also doesn't help management changes coaches every year, theres no direction from management and it shows in the way your team plays. Kruger should of been given a real opportunity to work with your kids, he was on to something, Eakins spent all preseason working on that swarm defense, and has since abandoned it with no real defensive coverage, I dont see any puck support coming out of your own end, half your forwards cheat out of the zone looking for odd man rushes which is why you guys turn it over in the neutral zone so much. Throughout the line up your forwards are small and in the west thats a death sentence along the half wall where all the top western teams play offense and defense.

All this falls on the shoulders of management, so until theres a shake up, up top you cant expect different results. There is no quick fix here for this team, they need to hold on to the youth they got and move guys like Hemsky, Gagner, Smyth, Jones, Gordon, Joensuu, Ference, Petry, Potter and N. Shultz and bring in some kids hungry for a opportunity to play that has a combination of grit and skill.

I wish the Oilers, Flames and Jets canturn things around, because the playoffs just aren't the same when so many Canadian teams are out.

I was with you except for the bolded players, we need more of these types not less.

 

[oilman9482]

Trade Hemsky and Gagner + a pick for McDonaugh and Brian Boyle. Problems solved.

 

[Still DRAI]

Trade Hemsky and Gagner + a pick for McDonaugh and Brian Boyle. Problems solved.

Think less "Hemsky" and more "Eberle++" if you're expecting McDonagh back.

 

[McJC]

Trade Hemsky and Gagner + a pick for McDonaugh and Brian Boyle. Problems solved.

If only it were that easy my friend

 

[nexttothemoon]

McDonagh won't get traded. It's not even worth speculating about.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

McDonagh won't get traded. It's not even worth speculating about.

It's true. They're likely losing Girardi this summer and Staal next summer. No way they're dealing Mac

 

[nexttothemoon]

I was just looking at the stats... I'm probably one of the biggest Yak backers here on the boards... but he's only been a plus player in 4 of 33 games. The rest he's been either minus or even.

I thought he actually had a decent outing vs the Ducks but again he was still a minus 1.

I'm certainly not in favour of dealing him away though because a lot of rookies take a while to "get" the defensive aspects of the game... plus those minuses are obviously shared by the other 5 players on the ice as well and not just on Yaks head.

No doubt he is awkward and unorthodox in some of his plays out there, you can see he doesn't make the correct decisions often enough and gets himself (and teammates) into trouble more often than he should. Unfortunately the team isn't good enough to make up for those shortcomings either.

I guess this is just an observation really... not really going anywhere with this except that I thought he had a decent game and was still a minus which can show the stats don't tell the whole story but obviously yes he has a long ways to go before you can say he's defensively solid.

 

[McGreat One]

I lol'd then cryed when i realized this was completely true

What's really starting to bother me about the team this year is that I'm beginning to realize that everything I believed in or defended about this team is turning out to be false. Over the past few years I've debated with other fanbases about many aspects of of this club and really stood by what i believed in, but the more the season progresses, the more I'm proven wrong and the more embarrassed I become.

I think back on when the Oiler's hired Kreuger and honestly believed at the time that it was the best move for the team and that he would be the guy to get this team to the next level. Then I remember arguing with Canucks fans that Dubnyk was a legitimate #1 goalie who could get the job done in Edmonton. Now it's even questionable if the guy would even make a decent backup goalie throughout the league let alone a franchise starter.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not giving up on him just yet, but I also remember debating with other fanbases that Gagner was more than efficient enough to be this team's 2nd line center. Now sometimes I feel more comfortable with Arcobello playing the role.

At the start of the year I completely ignored all the comments about how this team desperately needed a stud dman before we could even dream of making the playoffs. I truly believed that our depth on D would be enough to get the job done and that our dynamic offense would make up for any defensive deficiencies. Boy was I ever wrong about that one. So from now on when I feel the urge to start defending a certain player or the team in general I'm just going to save myself a lot of time by taking my right foot and gently inserting it into my big mouth before I make another fool of myself.

 

[AJGass4]

Our problem is that we have the worst defence I have ever seen put together in the history of the Oilers.

Ference - Not even close to a shut down #1 guy.

Petry - Still pretty green and is horrid some games.

Larsen - Makes more mistakes than good plays.

Potter - LOL

Grebs - LOL

J Schultz - Having an extremely rough year.

N Schultz - Whatever.

I don't care who plays forward, with this mixed bag of nuts, no one in the league could win with these guys out there. There is not one defensemen that you can count on to shut anything down. Doesn't matter who plays with who, they are horrid.

To piss me off even more, there was no need to trade Smid. First dumb move by MacT. Well, that and having Eakins getting out coached nightly makes things very depressing.