News Article: "Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tired of getting Oilers coaches fired"

[Panda Bear]

Krueger had no preseason! We only played the West! And if you launch the retort that every Western Conference team was disadvantaged in not playing the East, well, that's not true--the Oilers have had an above average record for a Western conference team against the East.

He adopted the simplest tactical system possible, which was man-to-man marking in our d-zone and having the wingers cover the points. He knew the team had numerous deficiencies, so he let the wingers cheat in their zone for breakout passes. I guarantee you that he knew the team had structural issues.

He had two assistant coaches. And not just any assistant coaches, but Kelly Buchberger and Steve Smith. Let that settle in: a rookie head coach in the NHL (albeit with extensive international experience) had less assistant coaches than other teams, and his assistants were Buchberger and Smith.

The team was bad and imbalanced. It had the Belanger Triangle. Our big playoffs reinforcement was Jerred ****ing Smithson.

I guarantee that Krueger would have had the team looking better in his sophomore season with a proper preseason to implement a better tactical system.

 

[KlefDown]

iirc, Kruger was only 6 or 7 points out of a playoff spot by the time trade deadline came around and the only acquisition MacT made was Jared freaking Smithson.
not only did he have a shortened season, he had a GM who never believed in him. I bet MacT never intended to keep him around.
I'm happy he's happy at Southampton now.

 

[Stoneman89]

No, no he did NOT. They were remotely close to the 8th seed at the 35 game mark then lost 10 in a row and looked absolutely dreadful in doing so. 2 fluke wins at the end of the season skewed the goal differential numbers. They were FAR from a couple of wins away.
Once the unsustainably hot PP died down, they tanked, [B]probably the worst 5 on 5 team of the Katz era which is saying A LOT.[/B] They run and gunned their way to some victories. Otherwise, they were just as much a mess as any of the other Katz era teams. This team was headed straight into the tank and would have been right in the thick of the MacKinnon chase if it was a full season.

Where were all these Krueger supporters when this board was tearing him to shreds "Wreck It Ralph" "Ralph Malph" and other adoring phrases to describe this apparently good head coach were littered all over GDT's during his tenure?
Maybe you were one of his supporters, I don't know, but I do know that at the time of his firing, most were content.
Didn't like the way they handled his firing but he wasn't a good NHL coach that season. Likeable for sure and ran a good PP but system play was non-existent.

Oilers 5 X 5 play during Krueger's year was 18th in the league - just below middle of the pack. They were 19th the year before, 27th the year before that, 27th the year before that, and 17th the first year Katz took control of the team, 24th the year after Krueger left, and 26th last year. I keep hearing how bad we were 5 on 5 that year, but the stats keep saying otherwise comparatively speaking.

http://www.nhl.com/stats/team

 

[Stoneman89]

RNH absolutely has long stretches of games where he is not feeling confident, driving the play, or feeling comfortable with the puck. His passenger stretches of the past where he had looked like a shadow of the player we saw in Rookie season have been somewhat disguised by Eberle and Hall driving the play. That Nuges rookie season is still his production Pts/G benchmark is interesting.

Not feeling confident or comfortable does not mean his is not trying hard. That is a mistake that many people make with young players. Actually, they're probably giving more effort than a vet since they haven't learned the so-called shortcuts of play yet. Coupled with playing with a wonky and then recovering shoulder for a couple years, playing the most important forward position on the team with nothing for backup and you get the expected result. Not sure why people are ragging on him. I think he's going to have a great breakout season this year.

 

[Stoneman89]

I have to admit that I wasn't pleased with the Krueger hiring or with what he was doing the first 20 games of the season but he grew on me. That Oiler team with all its holes, injuries and young players were still able to remain competitive and were tied for 8th at the TDL. In hindsight getting rid of Krueger was the best move possible since Eakins set the franchise up for the next 15 years by getting us Draisaitl and Mcdavid.

Kind of how I perceive it as well, although the last 2 years I nearly completely lost all interest in the team thanks to Curly and Mallas.

 

[Replacement*]

Not feeling confident or comfortable does not mean his is not trying hard. That is a mistake that many people make with young players. Actually, they're probably giving more effort than a vet since they haven't learned the so-called shortcuts of play yet. Coupled with playing with a wonky and then recovering shoulder for a couple years, playing the most important forward position on the team with nothing for backup and you get the expected result. Not sure why people are ragging on him. I think he's going to have a great breakout season this year.

How does one not be confident with your production capability playing with Hall and Eberle. Especially when the only expectation from this group was not competing but only obtaining production. This group has had one zone free bingo spot for years. At least Hall and Eberle managed to enjoy it.

Nuge needs to be better, so does Yak, so does...

 

[rboomercat90]

hehe, love how he goes out of his way to give props to Krueger who never got a fair shot. He had 1 armed Nuge, Gags and injured half the year Horcoff for C depth. He was forced to play rookie Jultz top minutes because MacT/Tambo agreed to give Jultz the best shot at hitting bonuses. Jultz completely burned out with >1 month to go and just turn into a river boat gambler only caring about getting his last goals/points for the 3M bonus but Kreuger had to keep on playing him. He was stuck with 2 useless assistant coaches who had their jobs protected by management. He had no training camp. And he only played Western Conference. I think he still managed more wins vs the West in his shortened season than Eakins did in 1.5 seasons.

That was MacT's biggest error by far. But as we all know, without Lowe being an idiot hiring his best bud and without Lowe's best bud being an idiot, we wouldn't have got McDavid.

Pretty good summary of Kruger's time here as head coach. Truth is nobody knows what kind of coach he was. His players were awful and he had very little preparation time in a lockout shortened season.

 

[Stoneman89]

How does one not be confident with your production capability playing with Hall and Eberle. Especially when the only expectation from this group was not competing but only obtaining production. This group has had one zone free bingo spot for years. At least Hall and Eberle managed to enjoy it.

Nuge needs to be better, so does Yak, so does...

Of course they need to be better, all of them. Doesn't mean he wasn't working his tail off before. The NHL is a tough league, no matter how talented you are. This isn't NHL 16 where you put those three together and kill everyone else all the time. These have been young players with no support. With McLellan, hopefully he'll now work smarter and in a better system.

 

[harpoon]

Had to laugh at this. As if to insinuate Nuge hasn't been playing hard since he's been here.

Not hard enough obviously. Dude has been making $6 million since he was 19. If I was signing the checks I'd be expecting a little more from my first round pick.
But I know that so many posters on here like to baby Nuge because he seems like their kid brother or something. If there's one Teflon player on the Oilers its RNH.

with no backup support until this year, battled through injuries, and a useless constructed team with a managment that had no clue.

Oh boo hoo. Everyone who has put on the sweater for the last seven seasons gets that excuse sir. Not just the players you like.

He's not giving weepy interviews. He was asked some questions and gave his opinion. I find his insight refreshing and interesting.

I'm glad you enjoyed his thoughts. I'll still stick with my characterization of his comments as weepy. And a little weak-minded as well, since you asked.

 

[Mr Positive]

Pretty good summary of Kruger's time here as head coach. Truth is nobody knows what kind of coach he was. His players were awful and he had very little preparation time in a lockout shortened season.

I think this is the best way to say it. There isn't enough proof out there that he was a terrible coach, but there isn't any proof that he was any good either. Well, other than having an edge over Eakins of course, but that's a low bar to set. Although, I don't much care for the bash-fest around Eakins either, and will just say the politic answer that Stauffer gives and say that "he just wasn't the right kind of guy for our group".

 

[Replacement*]

Not hard enough obviously. Dude has been making $6 million since he was 19. If I was signing the checks I'd be expecting a little more from my first round pick.
But I know that so many posters on here like to baby Nuge because he seems like their kid brother or something. If there's one Teflon player on the Oilers its RNH.

Oh boo hoo. Everyone who has put on the sweater for the last seven seasons gets that excuse sir. Not just the players you like.

I'm glad you enjoyed his thoughts. I'll still stick with my characterization of his comments as weepy. And a little weak-minded as well, since you asked.

Truth be spoken.

RNH is one of the first players who's game goes sideways at the moment that the opponent is a bit too hard to play against. Even at the AHL level and against better checking AHL efforts. When I see this guy playing hard and getting results against better teams performances instead of pitching 0-0-0 boxcars I'll get more excited.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Not hard enough obviously. Dude has been making $6 million since he was 19. If I was signing the checks I'd be expecting a little more from my first round pick.
But I know that so many posters on here like to baby Nuge because he seems like their kid brother or something. If there's one Teflon player on the Oilers its RNH.

Oh boo hoo. Everyone who has put on the sweater for the last seven seasons gets that excuse sir. Not just the players you like.

I'm glad you enjoyed his thoughts. I'll still stick with my characterization of his comments as weepy. And a little weak-minded as well, since you asked.

Hard to take your post serious when he was in year 2 of his ELC at 19 not making $6 million per. He was making $6 million last season at least in AAV and will again this season, so if you want to critique his pay to his salary at least get the facts straight.

 

[McDeathbyCheerios*]

Hard to take your post serious when he was in year 2 of his ELC at 19 not making $6 million per. He was making $6 million last season at least in AAV and will again this season, so if you want to critique his pay to his salary at least get the facts straight.

*drops mic*

 

[Replacement*]

Hard to take your post serious when he was in year 2 of his ELC at 19 not making $6 million per. He was making $6 million last season at least in AAV and will again this season, so if you want to critique his pay to his salary at least get the facts straight.

Small quibble. He still looks 19. Any chance he shaves by 25?

This team has done a good job picking players that are testosterone challenged.

That said nuge was my pick too but would like to see a little more jam in his game eventually.

 

[GretzkytoKurri9917]

Small quibble. He still looks 19. Any chance he shaves by 25?

This team has done a good job picking players that are testosterone challenged.

That said nuge was my pick too but would like to see a little more jam in his game eventually.

My Picks for ratios

60 for Larsson
30 for Landeskog
8 for Couturier
2 for RNH

 

[GretzkytoKurri9917]

I remember not wanting the organization to pick RNH and taking a lot of heat from Fans on this board who seemed to completely fall in love with the pick.

 

[Mr Positive]

I remember not wanting the organization to pick RNH and taking a lot of heat from Fans on this board who seemed to completely fall in love with the pick.

I wanted Landeskog at the time, but in hindsight RNH was the best pick and I don't think it's close. He's going to be big for us this year. There's a reason he played the most minutes of any NHL forward last year except Tavares. He plays the game the right way. A pleasure to watch. Once he fills out his frame he will be a force (and the lastest pictures show he is getting very close to that).

and it was well known when we drafted him that we would be waiting for him to physically mature, unlike Landeskog. We chose the best long term solution and we will be reaping the benefits shortly

 

[McJadeddog]

Small quibble. He still looks 19. Any chance he shaves by 25?

This team has done a good job picking players that are testosterone challenged.

That said nuge was my pick too but would like to see a little more jam in his game eventually.

what the hell does that have to do with anything at all?

 

[GretzkytoKurri9917]

I wanted Landeskog at the time, but in hindsight RNH was the best pick and I don't think it's close. He's going to be big for us this year. There's a reason he played the most minutes of any NHL forward last year except Tavares. He plays the game the right way. A pleasure to watch. Once he fills out his frame he will be a force (and the lastest pictures show he is getting very close to that).

and it was well known when we drafted him that we would be waiting for him to physically mature, unlike Landeskog. We chose the best long term solution and we will be reaping the benefits shortly

Now the organization has an issue going forward with having McDavid,RNH,Draisaitl at the helm.All three belong at the center position and should be in the top 6.

 

[GretzkytoKurri9917]

Small quibble. He still looks 19. Any chance he shaves by 25?

This team has done a good job picking players that are testosterone challenged.

That said nuge was my pick too but would like to see a little more jam in his game eventually.

Not likely at this rate.

 

[KMart27]

iirc, Kruger was only 6 or 7 points out of a playoff spot by the time trade deadline came around and the only acquisition MacT made was Jared freaking Smithson.
not only did he have a shortened season, he had a GM who never believed in him. I bet MacT never intended to keep him around.
I'm happy he's happy at Southampton now.

Tambellini was the GM that traded for Smithson. MacT didn't become the GM until after the trade deadline.

I don't have an issue with the job Krueger did as coach but I think he was better suited as an assistant coach rather than as head coach. After the season he went to MacT, told him he needed an associate coach and then left for Europe. He should have stayed and been a part of the process.

 

[GretzkytoKurri9917]

RNH reminds me of a young Gretz as both had very low testosterone and couldn't grow peach fuzz to save their lives.

 

[GretzkytoKurri9917]

What gets me is that McDavid is only 18 and it seems he can already grow more facial hair than RNH.

 

[CupofOil]

I remember not wanting the organization to pick RNH and taking a lot of heat from Fans on this board who seemed to completely fall in love with the pick.

So? RNH is still the best player from that draft (Landeskog and Hamilton are arguable) so not sure what you're boasting about.

 

[GretzkytoKurri9917]

So? RNH is still the best player from that draft (Landeskog and Hamilton are arguable) so not sure what you're boasting about.

You've got it all wrong,Johnny Gaudreau is the best player from the Draft.