Pre-Game Talk: Oilers @ Predators. Time to smash.

[tardigrade81]

6:00 start time. Neat

 

[ManofSteel55]

We were embarrassed last game. I expect everyone to come out hard tonight.

 

[brentashton]

We were embarrassed last game. I expect everyone to come out hard tonight.

Might be difficult to skate.

 

[BlackDogg]

6:00 start time. Neat

Man that's early.

 

[KlefDown]

Oilers fans need to do something about Mark Spector

im serious, get this guy out of our city

 

[Drivesaitl]

Not even gonna watch this game. Getting tired of the ups and downs with the club. I might PVR and watch later. Until the team can determine how it wants to play, and with any consistency theres not much point viewing. First year in awhile where I don't find the game enjoyable.

 

[bone]

All the Preds have to do in order to win this game is to wear Green Jerseys. I'm surprised our rivals to the South haven't caught on to this strategy.

Interesting theory on jersey colors. Similarly Minnesota this year is 4-9-3 against teams that have any yellow/gold in their jersey being outscored 68-47, but 10-0 vs. teams that have orange in their jersey (47-22 in scoring).

Also 0-2 vs Florida who had yellow before but now is more coppery than yellow, but maybe it applies to copper as well. Maybe Edmonton should bring back the copper and blues to finally beat Minnesota. They are below .500 against only 7 teams in the league, 6 of which have yellow or copper in their jersey.

 

[ZJuice]

Since I live in Alabama, Nashville is the only Oilers game I go to. So far we're undefeated in all of the games I've been to. Last game was 2 years ago 2 weeks before COVID lockdown and we pounded the absolute shit out of them. Tonight, I'll be sitting right behind the Oilers bench. Take my f***in energy boys LFG!

Make sure to yell in Jesse’s direction that you love him and that Spector is a hack!

 

[tardigrade81]

Man that's early.

Ya. Not loving that considering I’m off tomorrow

I’m still drinking and watching it but still

I also have this sandwich for good mojo

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Not even gonna watch this game. Getting tired of the ups and downs with the club. I might PVR and watch later. Until the team can determine how it wants to play, and with any consistency theres not much point viewing. First year in awhile where I don't find the game enjoyable.

Man you put up with the team for 15+ years of suck and this is where you bow out? Look, I'm not exactly rosy about the team's chances but it seems to be a weird spot to just stop caring. If they flame out in the playoffs again then I would be fully on board with this.

 

[joestevens29]

Man you put up with the team for 15+ years of suck and this is where you bow out? Look, I'm not exactly rosy about the team's chances but it seems to be a weird spot to just stop caring. If they flame out in the playoffs again then I would be fully on board with this.

Every year same thing

 

[Drivesaitl]

Man you put up with the team for 15+ years of suck and this is where you bow out? Look, I'm not exactly rosy about the team's chances but it seems to be a weird spot to just stop caring. If they flame out in the playoffs again then I would be fully on board with this.

Didn't say anything about bowing out. What I'm saying is I'm not going to subject myself to watching in real time, and if they stink up the place again won't watch at all.

I probably end up PVR the game. Just getting tired of the team being all over the map one game to the next.

 

[bone]

Not even gonna watch this game. Getting tired of the ups and downs with the club. I might PVR and watch later. Until the team can determine how it wants to play, and with any consistency theres not much point viewing. First year in awhile where I don't find the game enjoyable.

Take a breath. They just came off a 6 game winning streak. I know you're concerned the offense is drying up, but a bit of a correction should be expected as they were averaging 5 goals a game over a 12 game stretch prior to the SJ game.

Yeah, Tuesday was a stinker against a team that we've put out stinkers consistently for 18 years, but the game before they played pretty decently whether you feel Colorado took it easy on them or not.

This still isn't a team that's ready to compete for the Conference title, we know that, but the highs and lows this year aren't any more extreme than they've been for the last 20 years, it's just that the highs are getting higher which makes the lows feel lower.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Every year same thing

I won't lie, getting swept by the Jets ate a lot of my passion for this team. Another unceremonious exit and I just don't know.

But we're still in it until we're not.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Didn't say anything about bowing out. What I'm saying is I'm not going to subject myself to watching in real time, and if they stink up the place again won't watch at all.

I probably end up PVR the game. Just getting tired of the team being all over the map one game to the next.

I mean that's like... basically any NHL team though. They're not going to be great every game but they're also not going to be shit every game either.

 

[tardigrade81]

Take a breath. They just came off a 6 game winning streak. I know you're concerned the offense is drying up, but a bit of a correction should be expected as they were averaging 5 goals a game over a 12 game stretch prior to the SJ game.

Yeah, Tuesday was a stinker against a team that we've put out stinkers consistently for 18 years, but the game before they played pretty decently whether you feel Colorado took it easy on them or not.

This still isn't a team that's ready to compete for the Conference title, we know that, but the highs and lows this year aren't any more extreme than they've been for the last 20 years, it's just that the highs are getting higher which makes the lows feel lower.

This about sums up my thoughts. I guess it depends how people look at the season….. if you’re still expecting us to compete for a Conference title and go to the Cup, then I can see why some are upset. I however, am not expecting that at all. I am however expecting a series win against the Kings and then give a great second series against whoever we play. We were embarrassed by Minnesota…. That’s been happening for a while now. Even if we had to play them it wouldn’t be till the third round of the playoffs. I think we match up very well against Colorado, LA, St Louis.

Every team has their kryptonite. For us it’s Minnesota. For the Penguins it’s Rangers. Bruins it’s usually the Devils. Devils can suck bad and still split the season series against the Bruins lol.

 

[Oilhawks]

Take a breath. They just came off a 6 game winning streak. I know you're concerned the offense is drying up, but a bit of a correction should be expected as they were averaging 5 goals a game over a 12 game stretch prior to the SJ game.

Yeah, Tuesday was a stinker against a team that we've put out stinkers consistently for 18 years, but the game before they played pretty decently whether you feel Colorado took it easy on them or not.

This still isn't a team that's ready to compete for the Conference title, we know that, but the highs and lows this year aren't any more extreme than they've been for the last 20 years, it's just that the highs are getting higher which makes the lows feel lower.

The bolded is 100% why it feels worse the past few years. The DoD was hopelessly painful but you got used to it, there was a lot of drama, for sure, but it felt more ‘expected’ in a way. I expected them to lose to Minnesota so I wasn’t too bothered by it, unfortunately

 

[K1984]

Take a breath. They just came off a 6 game winning streak. I know you're concerned the offense is drying up, but a bit of a correction should be expected as they were averaging 5 goals a game over a 12 game stretch prior to the SJ game.

Yeah, Tuesday was a stinker against a team that we've put out stinkers consistently for 18 years, but the game before they played pretty decently whether you feel Colorado took it easy on them or not.

This still isn't a team that's ready to compete for the Conference title, we know that, but the highs and lows this year aren't any more extreme than they've been for the last 20 years, it's just that the highs are getting higher which makes the lows feel lower.

Bingo.

Despite the result against the Wild, I'm not even really that mad. At least not as mad as I would normally be after a 5-1 loss.

I didn't feel like that loss was lack of effort, lack of focus, etc. The loss to this degree can basically be pinned on Keith and Bouchard deciding that they were going to take a break from being NHL players for an evening. Without that pair soling themselves it's maybe 2-1 or 3-1 Wild. The shit kicking we took against them a few weeks ago was a full team night off, this one not so much IMO.

The Wild just execute a style of play in the neutral and offensive zones that is krpytonite for the Oilers in every which way. It just is what it is. We just have to hope we never have to play them in any critical games.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Ya. Not loving that considering I’m off tomorrow

I’m still drinking and watching it but still

I also have this sandwich for good mojo
View attachment 530825

Damn haha want some bun with your meat? That thing is packed!

 

[T-Funk]

The bolded is 100% why it feels worse the past few years. The DoD was hopelessly painful but you got used to it, there was a lot of drama, for sure, but it felt more ‘expected’ in a way. I expected them to lose to Minnesota so I wasn’t too bothered by it, unfortunately

Yeah that Minnesota game is the expected result every time. The highs being higher lately is part of the reason why the lows suck so much, but this team should really know better by now to not half-ass games. It SEEMS like the Pittsburghs and Chicagos on their trajectory of getting better and eventually the cups had a lot less setbacks. The Oilers just miss something intangible. Was it the direction to collect gentlemanly, management-friendly players for so long? Seemingly always putting D and goaltending on the bottom of the list? Anyhoo, the Oil need to exorcise (exercise lol) some demons this playoffs.

 

[bone]

Yeah that Minnesota game is the expected result every time. The highs being higher lately is part of the reason why the lows suck so much, but this team should really know better by now to not half-ass games. It SEEMS like the Pittsburghs and Chicagos on their trajectory of getting better and eventually the cups had a lot less setbacks. The Oilers just miss something intangible. Was it the direction to collect gentlemanly, management-friendly players for so long? Seemingly always putting D and goaltending on the bottom of the list? Anyhoo, the Oil need to exercise some demons this playoffs.

I think we each experience the occasional rock bottom with a team we love. For me, I went through one last year after Game 3, I literally was talking to myself for a couple hours and had convinced myself I'd never watch another game. Of course I got over it, but it did carry through Game 4 as I really didn't get too up or down as I still wasn't sure if I'd be fully back.

The previous one was the season ending press conference in 2015, but a few days later everything changed.

 

[Drivesaitl]

The bolded is 100% why it feels worse the past few years. The DoD was hopelessly painful but you got used to it, there was a lot of drama, for sure, but it felt more ‘expected’ in a way. I expected them to lose to Minnesota so I wasn’t too bothered by it, unfortunately

Different feeling. At times where Sam Gagner and Cogs and Nillson were our best hopes at least you knew they were trying, it was objectively the best they could do, and the team at least tried to work hard.

I mean fans SHOULD expect something of this generational laden club.

Now we have elites like McDrai and Nurse deciding when they show up. I mean its a given that any club with the 3, and adding players like Kane should be competitive. But the nature of this team seems to be not to fight. Something deeply flawed even beyond goaltending and D. It just doesn't feel like a team to me. I preferred the Oilers teams of the late 90's tbh. At least you knew what you were getting with guys like Smyth, Weight, Guerin, Cujo, J Smith.

meh I hate watching the preds to begin with. Maybe if it was a team that didn't hurt my eyes to watch.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Leon is the Preds daddy, hopefully he lights them up.

He could really use a big night to get on track as he has been pretty quiet on the scoresheet since missing a game due to injury.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Different feeling. At times where Sam Gagner and Cogs and Nillson were our best hopes at least you knew they were trying, it was objectively the best they could do, and the team at least tried to work hard.

I mean fans SHOULD expect something of this generational laden club.

Now we have elites like McDrai and Nurse deciding when they show up. I mean its a given that any club with the 3, and adding players like Kane should be competitive. But the nature of this team seems to be not to fight. Something deeply flawed even beyond goaltending and D. It just doesn't feel like a team to me. I preferred the Oilers teams of the late 90's tbh. At least you knew what you were getting with guys like Smyth, Weight, Guerin, Cujo, J Smith.

meh I hate watching the preds to begin with. Maybe if it was a team that didn't hurt my eyes to watch.

IMO Connor really upped his nastiness level against the Wild. I just think that we need to see a lot more fight from our bit players.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Yeah that Minnesota game is the expected result every time. The highs being higher lately is part of the reason why the lows suck so much, but this team should really know better by now to not half-ass games. It SEEMS like the Pittsburghs and Chicagos on their trajectory of getting better and eventually the cups had a lot less setbacks. The Oilers just miss something intangible. Was it the direction to collect gentlemanly, management-friendly players for so long? Seemingly always putting D and goaltending on the bottom of the list? Anyhoo, the Oil need to exorcise (exercise lol) some demons this playoffs.

This post SO MUCH and why I have trouble identifying with this club. If a team can't fight, in hockey (and I mean more than fighting) what can it do?

Its why I dislike a player like Nuge so much. I know he's a gentleman on and off the ice but the org was fine with moving out better players like Hall and Eberle and anybody else who were more vocal. It fits the Country club here to have nice smiling faces like Nuge Barrie. Brassard, Foegele, Hyman etc. Nice conducive guys but this is the bloodsport of hockey. Bit of a disconnect with this here club. Doesn't help that guys like Drai and McD can't fight either and that Nurse never does now.

When this org has players like Souray, with fire in their belly, they find the quickest excuses to get rid of them. I'd prefer having players that speak out more, demand more, from the org, each other, and themselves. Its also why I welcome so much the addition of a player Like Kane that will speak his mind. But the org only did that out of desperation to save the season.