The tough schedule to start may have been the best thing to happen to the Oilers this year

[Cloned]

Why?

• More pressure on the coaching staff to make tough lineup decisions (scratching Benning and Kassian early on, amongst other things)
• Forced the players to buy in early and work hard to avoid being embarrassed; they weren't able to "ease in" to the season like last year
• Gave the team confidence when they were actually able to beat Winnipeg
• Gets a lot of the tough games out of the way early when the team is mostly healthy and some of their opponents are still "easing in" to the schedule

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[Joey Moss]

It's early but that 3rd period against Winnipeg might be one to look back on as a turning point in the season.

 

[Jepprey]

It's only the best thing because they did so well. It's not the best thing if we start out 3-6 or something nasty like that. lol.

 

[oil85]

It's early but that 3rd period against Winnipeg might be one to look back on as a turning point in the season.

That lost would have had Todd fired. Quite amazing at the turn around.

 

[rboomercat90]

I was ready to write this team off after two games. Not because they lost but because they looked so lifeless doing it. It looked like a continuation of last season. The fight they showed in the Winnipeg game started to change my mind. The effort has been there in every game but those first two games. That’s good enough for me. I don’t expect them to win every night but I do expect them to work hard enough to be worth watching.

I’ve also backed off on the coaching staff for now as well. I’m not a big fan of Mclellan. I don’t think he’s strong enough strategically to win against a good team playing well in the playoffs but he has them playing well now and that should be good enough to keep his job for the time being. I think we’re also starting to see the impact of the new assistants. Nurse has looked very good in the last few games. Most of the other defensemen look improved too. Gotta think that’s on Yawney. Not sure what Gulutzan does but he looked emotionally involved today when he chased Draisatl down the tunnel to bring him back to the bench. Not used to seeing emotion from Oilers coaches and it’s nice to see.

It’s just nice to see some results from these guys after not seeing much for a long time. I’m not sure if the tough schedule inspired it or not but I think the two ugly losses to start with a string of tough opponents to come may have sparked the urgency to get these guys going.

 

[Up the Irons]

So much of it goaltending.

But, the point is well taken. The urgency was at deathcon 5 right off the hop. It definitely affected coaching decisions.

 

[guymez]

So much of it goaltending.

But, the point is well taken. The urgency was at deathcon 5 right off the hop. It definitely affected coaching decisions.

Show me a good team that doesn't rely on solid goaltending.

 

[Mr Positive]

I'd agree about the pressure on everyone to have to step up, but in a way there would be less pressure too. If you can put at least some blame for a bad start on the tough opponents or the jet lag from the Europe trip then it might help with that. Last season we started with an easy-ish schedule and sky high expecations, which gives sky-high pressure to succeed, and then losses feel really bad. For us, almost no one predicted that we would have a good start. No expectations = no pressure.

Mind you, someone like Chia or Tmac would still have pressure since they could be fired. I'm mainly concerned with the psychology of the players

 

[EchoesoftheEighties]

It's early but that 3rd period against Winnipeg might be one to look back on as a turning point in the season.

Connor probably threatened to demand a trade after those first two periods.

 

[Satire]

Early in the season still, but I have been really happy with the effort level of this team since the game in Winnepeg. They're in it every night. Even the 3-0 loss against the Preds was a good game from the Oil. If they play like this for the rest of the reason they will make the playoffs and may even make some noise.

 

[ThePhoenixx]

It's only the best thing because they did so well. It's not the best thing if we start out 3-6 or something nasty like that. lol.

The point is that they did do well.

What a strange reply.

 

[syz]

I mean, they're not out of it yet.

Chicago (6-3-2) x2, Minnesota (6-2-2), Washington again, Tampa (7-2-1), Colorado (7-3-2) coming up... at least they get Detroit and Florida in there, but that's it.

 

[JBear]

I think part of it, among par goaltending and the other points brought up, is Connor may be more vocal in the dressing room and could have shown his frustration towards the team after the first two games.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

I think the extended team bonding from the Euro trip and games on the east coast has gone a long way in shaping the club as well.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Special teams and goaltending sunk us last year along with a healthy dose of overconfidence, injuries and a lack of depth.
This year our special teams are winning games for us rather than costing us games, goaltending has been good enough to eke out some wins thus far, the team is not playing like each game will be a cakewalk, we have yet to be derailed by injuries, and we have a tad more depth than last year.

A lot can still go sideways if the special teams go cold, Talbot plays like he did against Pittsburgh, the team gets overconfident or the injury bug strikes as we still don't have much depth but so far it's working.

But like @syz says, they are far from out of the woods and need to keep the pressure on.

 

[missinthejets]

Two years ago the team had a never say die attitude and fought through all sorts of things, last year they tucked their tails when things were tough. This year they seem to be back to battling through everything, which is the best sign of the teams mental state.
Confidence is everything.

 

[Mcnotloilersfan]

I think this team is going to get a lot of points in division this year. There is a lot to like after the first 2 games.

1) Bending, but not breaking. Like 2 years ago. This team doesn't sulk when something bad happens, they go right back out and get it back!
2) Transition. I assume the credit to this goes to Yawney, but our dmen are moving the puck much more efficiently out of the zone.
3) Unsung hero's. Kris Russell is a great example of this, and if he plays like this all season, 4 million earned!
4) The forcheck. This team is getting the puck in deep and cycling well, wearing down even the best defensive cores in the league.

There are positives going forward as well. We have some intriguing callup options this season including Marody, Benson, Bear and Jones. Hopefully Sekera returns and makes our bottom pairing more trusting out there.

 

[Jepprey]

The point is that they did do well.

What a strange reply.

How is it strange? Didn't I say that exact thing in the first sentence? lol.

 

[rboomercat90]

I think this team is going to get a lot of points in division this year. There is a lot to like after the first 2 games.

1) Bending, but not breaking. Like 2 years ago. This team doesn't sulk when something bad happens, they go right back out and get it back!
2) Transition. I assume the credit to this goes to Yawney, but our dmen are moving the puck much more efficiently out of the zone.
3) Unsung hero's. Kris Russell is a great example of this, and if he plays like this all season, 4 million earned!
4) The forcheck. This team is getting the puck in deep and cycling well, wearing down even the best defensive cores in the league.

There are positives going forward as well. We have some intriguing callup options this season including Marody, Benson, Bear and Jones. Hopefully Sekera returns and makes our bottom pairing more trusting out there.

Too bad those divisional games don’t start for another three weeks.

 

[t0nedeff]

Benning got scratched for like 1 game came back and continued to play horrid than got hurt and Mclellan had no choice but to play someone else. Benning isn't hurt and of course he pulls right back into the line up I don't think the coaching staff or atleast Mclellan in particular has had anything to do with tweaking the line up to where it needs to be the players have just played good in spite of his behind the bench strategies.

 

[McShogun99]

Talbot is playing reliable hockey right now. When a team trusts their goalie then they don’t play as tight. There really hasn’t been many goals scored this year that you can only blame on goaltending this year.

 

[Aceboogie]

Its perfect for me. If they get slaughtered in the first 10-15 games, I would be pretty confident they wont be challenging for playoffs and could focus on other things vs watching the Oilers

If they do good in the 1st 10 games, Id be confident they are for real and could watch them alot not having to worry about the regular implosions we saw in prior years.

Get the hard stuff over now

 

[Mcnotloilersfan]

Too bad those divisional games don’t start for another three weeks.

They'll just have to keep doing what theyre doing until they get there.

 

[nexttothemoon]

2018-19 NHL Summary | Hockey-Reference.com

They've had the toughest schedule so far in the NHL and their results... adjusted for difficulty of schedule are 7th best in the league.

I agree... facing a difficult schedule (after the underperformance they had last season) basically forced a "no f***ing around" attitude right from the start.

Coaches, players and management should rightfully all be on the hot seat and wins and a competitive team every game is what's needed... not just "visual" progress and moral victories where you compete well but lose over and over.

The team is putting up pts and actually winning games and I think that intense pressure from the start hasn't hurt. They know they have to produce or be essentially buried from the outset with little chance of recovering once they get too far underwater.

It looks like they took a few games to get their footing and are coming into each game where they know they have to compete hard for 60 minutes to win.

Are they actually playing 60 minutes of strong competitive hockey every game? No, I think it's very hard to keep that up for 60 minutes each and every game BUT I think they are playing with more intense dedication to that "60 minutes of hard hockey" philosophy and it's paying dividends as opposing teams are not quite as easily able to roll over them even when they do lose.

If they keep up this brand of play they'll at a minimum be a competitive team that at least has a good chance to win each game they play versus any opponent and that's all I can really ask for.

 

[AM]

Every circumstance you find your team in can be viewed as a benefit as long as you look at it like that.