Thoughts on McLellan

[ZJuice]

I just think the Nuge would be an alright defenseman

 

[Replacement*]

Playoff range? They were in "Playoff range" for a day then spiralled out of control, including some very heartless losses to a beatable Flames team. They ended the season 10 points out of a playoff spot, which over the course of a full season probably would've been about double that.

This is kind of silly. Splitting hairs. We're well out of a playoff spot right now if one properly considers how many clubs stand between us and a playoff spot and have games in hand.

There was also no wild card spots when Krueger was here and as stated all games were against WC opponents.

So in Krugers season the team finished with 45pts, a mere 3 pts below technical .500.

This year we are already 4 games off that pace in only 37GP.

Now consider that our record against WC this season is 6-13-2.

krugers year it was; 19-22-7


We had better performance and coaching the lockout year and its not even close.

 

[sepHF]

best coach we have had for a very, very long time.

I am more than impressed with McLellan. he is a true pro, and as mentioned you can really see him rubbing off on Hall.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

This is kind of silly. Splitting hairs. We're well out of a playoff spot right now if one properly considers how many clubs stand between us and a playoff spot and have games in hand.

There was also no wild card spots when Krueger was here and as stated all games were against WC opponents.

So in Krugers season the team finished with 45pts, a mere 3 pts below technical .500.

This year we are already 4 games off that pace in only 37GP.

Now consider that our record against WC this season is 6-13-2.

krugers year it was; 19-22-7


We had better performance and coaching the lockout year and its not even close.

The West wasn't as deep then as it is now (Columbus had the same number of points as the final playoff team that year if you want some context) Dallas wasn't the powerhouse it is now, and we somehow managed to finish ahead of Nashville.

The Oilers also had the WORST home record in the West that year (9-11-4) whereas this year we're a very respectable 10-5-1. The road play will come.

The only thing the Krueger team did better was special teams. The Oilers won 3 out of their final 12 games that year after they made it into a playoff spot, and in all but one of those games they scored a goal or less. Many losses here to the Ducks and Kings. Seem familiar?

 

[cbzblaze]

These young players have been surrounded by bad coaching for awhile now.
It's gonna take longer than normal for coach McLennan to get all the bad habits that they have developed over the years, out of their games.

This has been the first year in a very long time, that they have played with some structure.
It may not have translated in the standings but the improvement on the ice has been huge this year.

Let's face it, a D lineup consisting of fayne, Schultz, gryba, Nikitin isn't gonna win u many games.
A healthy lineup will see better results as the year goes on.

When mcdavid went down, the goal became, keep our heads above water.
The team has done that so far, if we can play .500 next 2 weeks, we will be fine.

 

[Bangers]

I think McLellan's an excellent coach and, as a result, the team actually resembles an NHL team for the first time in 3 years.

On the other hand, one of McLellan's weaknesses (from SJ fans) was his inability to change his system.

We're now halfway through the season and the PP is a mess, and RNH, Pouliot and Lander are all having much worse seasons than under Nelson. Obviously, some of that is on the players (and it could be a combination of injuries and Lander not being good enough), but the PP at the least really needs to improve.

 

[Pressure]

I think he's been our best coach in quite some time. Having said that, Justin Schultz has to be moved and if he isn't before or during the trade deadline then I have no words why he's being showcased. TM has made the right moves and allotted the right minutes to everyone besides Schultz. He's a tremendous liability everywhere on the ice.

 

[McShogun99]

Mcllelan has years of experience and a proven track record. We haven't had a coach of this caliber in years. It's not his fault that he was given the worst defence core in the league. You have Nikitin, and Ference that shouldn't be in the league anymore, Schultz is good for 1 bad goal against per game and 2 rookies playing big minutes. Technically he only has Sekera and Klefbom.

 

[cbzblaze]

I think he's been our best coach in quite some time. Having said that, Justin Schultz has to be moved and if he isn't before or during the trade deadline then I have no words why he's being showcased. TM has made the right moves and allotted the right minutes to everyone besides Schultz. He's a tremendous liability everywhere on the ice.

I don't like Schultz much either but playing him less means playing gryba, Nikitin and fayne more.
His ice time is more on the oilers lack of D depth, than on TM's preferences.
In an ideal situation, Schultz would be playing 3rd pairing minutes, but sadly we don't have that luxury right now.

 

[SoftDumps]

Let's call a spade a spade. This thread isn't about McLellan, it's about how much you dislike Schultz. Do you honestly believe that McLellan has lost or is about to lose the locker room over his handling of Schultz? When Taylor Hall looks around the room do you think he would rather see Schultz getting ice time or would he rather see fat Nikitin/glacial Fayne/quicksand Gryba or cluster f**k Hunt eating up minutes?

Love this. I might roll with these nicknames for awhile.

 

[Stoneman89]

These young players have been surrounded by bad coaching for awhile now.
It's gonna take longer than normal for coach McLennan to get all the bad habits that they have developed over the years, out of their games.

This has been the first year in a very long time, that they have played with some structure.
It may not have translated in the standings but the improvement on the ice has been huge this year.

Let's face it, a D lineup consisting of fayne, Schultz, gryba, Nikitin isn't gonna win u many games.
A healthy lineup will see better results as the year goes on.

When mcdavid went down, the goal became, keep our heads above water.
The team has done that so far, if we can play .500 next 2 weeks, we will be fine.

As nice as it will be to see the chosen one back, it isn't going to solve our main issue, and that is getting the puck out of our own end. His production will be limited by the success we have in moving the puck. We badly need Klefbom and Davidson back, and then a whole lot more. This defence needs to be fixed.

 

[Stoneman89]

Oof that's pretty scathing. I don't think Krueger was ever really that effective, especially 5-on-5 where the Oilers were the worst team in the league.

Wrong. They were 23rd that year in 5 on 5 stats.

http://stats.hockeyanalysis.com/teamstats.php?db=201213&sit=5v5&disp=1&sortdir=DESC&sort=GFPCT

Matter of fact, our 5 on 5 play under Krueger remains (tied for) the "best" out of the last 7 years.

2009-10 - 30th
2010-11 - 29th
2011-12 - 23rd
2012-13 - 23rd
2013-14 - 29th
2014-15 - 28th
2015-16 - 27th

 

[sportsdynasty]

because say whatever you want but as an offensive threat Schultz is Oilers' best bet.

Schultz is Oilers worst offensive threat. A forward, Klefbom, Davidson, Sekera, Nurse are all more offensively talented than Schultz.

 

[Stoneman89]

The West wasn't as deep then as it is now (Columbus had the same number of points as the final playoff team that year if you want some context) Dallas wasn't the powerhouse it is now, and we somehow managed to finish ahead of Nashville.

The Oilers also had the WORST home record in the West that year (9-11-4) whereas this year we're a very respectable 10-5-1. The road play will come.

The only thing the Krueger team did better was special teams. The Oilers won 3 out of their final 12 games that year after they made it into a playoff spot, and in all but one of those games they scored a goal or less. Many losses here to the Ducks and Kings. Seem familiar?

You have no proof of the bolded, just a hope. Dallas is better now, so what. Blah, blah, blah. Vancouver was better then. So was San Jose. Detroit was in our division.

The western conference has been a tough conference for a number of years. The fact we finished near .500 playing exclusively in it, with ZERO training camp, with a team that boasted such luminaries as Corey Potter, Theo Peckam, Marc Fistric, "Pegleg" Whitney, and rookie Schultz anchoring the defence and Eric Belanger, Jared Smithson, a one shouldered RNH, and a still green Hall and Yak is actually quite remarkable.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

You have no proof of the bolded, just a hope. Dallas is better now, so what. Blah, blah, blah. Vancouver was better then. So was San Jose. Detroit was in our division.

The western conference has been a tough conference for a number of years. The fact we finished near .500 playing exclusively in it, with ZERO training camp, with a team that boasted such luminaries as Corey Potter, Theo Peckam, Marc Fistric, "Pegleg" Whitney, and rookie Schultz anchoring the defence and Eric Belanger, Jared Smithson, a one shouldered RNH, and a still green Hall and Yak is actually quite remarkable.

Oh Lord, now I'm being derided for being positive. Go figure.

That season was an illusion. The Oilers completely folded down the stretch losing some very winnable games.

 

[Stoneman89]

Oh Lord, now I'm being derided for being positive. Go figure.

That season was an illusion. The Oilers completely folded down the stretch losing some very winnable games.

Lol. You can be derided for a lot of things on here, including not getting your facts straight, but being positive is not the issue here. Personally, I think TM is an excellent coach and a wise choice at this juncture. This is not a poke at him. You just needed some "clarification" on some of your myths from the 2012-13 season. The Oilers didn't lose "winnable" games down the stretch that year. They lost to teams with far superior talent, experience and size. The universe unfolded as it should have.

 

[Draiskull]

Schultz is Oilers worst offensive threat. A forward, Klefbom, Davidson, Sekera, Nurse are all more offensively talented than Schultz.

because you said so ? I posted stats and can probably pull up articles to support my claim. Do you have anything else besides hatred to back you claim?

I am not a Schultz fan but like I said before I hope McLellan gives him a shot playing wing before letting Chia waive him away.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Lol. You can be derided for a lot of things on here, including not getting your facts straight, but being positive is not the issue here. Personally, I think TM is an excellent coach and a wise choice at this juncture. This is not a poke at him. You just needed some "clarification" on some of your myths from the 2012-13 season. The Oilers didn't lose "winnable" games down the stretch that year. They lost to teams with far superior talent, experience and size. The universe unfolded as it should have.

So in other words they weren't very good and things normalized themselves?

 

[Stoneman89]

So in other words they weren't very good and things normalized themselves?

He didn't have a lot to work with and did a good job with what he had. Including the 5 on 5 that you blathered was worst in the league.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

He didn't have a lot to work with and did a good job with what he had. Including the 5 on 5 that you blathered was worst in the league.

Fine it was 23rd. Coincidentally that's around where the Oilers finished. Still not very good. The Oilers that year were buoyed by really good special teams (9th in PK and 10th in PP), but the fact of the matter is that when the heat was on the Oilers melted.

26th in Shots for and 29th in Shots against suggest a team that didn't get much and gave up a lot, and dead last in Faceoff wins.

 

[Stoneman89]

Fine it was 23rd. Coincidentally that's around where the Oilers finished. Still not very good. The Oilers that year were buoyed by really good special teams (9th in PK and 10th in PP), but the fact of the matter is that when the heat was on the Oilers melted.

26th in Shots for and 29th in Shots against suggest a team that didn't get much and gave up a lot.

Last I looked, in todays NHL, PP's actually were an important part of the game. These days, even more so due to lack of scoring. To dismiss them as "all we had was a good PP" is silly. Considering the crap to work with , it's amazing it turned out as well as it did.

 

[1990*]

McLellan Good:

-In-game ice time management; responds to the tone of a game and ratchets up or down a player's usage accordingly. Likes to run the "hot hand", and it has paid off about as much you'd think it would (i.e. Hendricks, Letestu, Korpikoski)

-Communication; is always in the ears of his charges, educating rather than obliterating.

-Patience/Leadership; again, I've seen him upset with officials, but he rarely lambastes his guys.

McLellan Okay:

-In-game strategy; this includes things like goalie pulls, timeouts and the like. Not terrible, per say, but he has been noticeably out-coached at times (Hartley in the first CGY game is a good example).

-Official management: Probably loses his calm a little more than he should with the zebras, and I think this has had a negative impact more than we'd like to admit. On the other hand, it's probably winning him points in the room.

McLellan Bad:

-Bench management: Has been caught for more TMM penalties than you'd expect from a coach of his caliber.

-Roster selection: He's admittedly doing the best he can with the talent available to him, but I find myself scratching my head at both goalie and defense choices on a nightly basis. Talbot should've started both of the back-to-back nights, in my mind; also, Nilsson had a brilliant outing earlier in the season, but Cam went in the next night. As with skaters, I think you have to roll with the hot hand on a game-to-game basis. The same goes for the D- Fayne, Ference, Nikitin, Hunt etc. all have their strengths, but I get the feeling TMac just goes with the one who seems most ready to play versus the one who has the skills that suit a particular opponent.

-Special teams: As boss of the bench staff, this one is on him. That powerplay is bad enough to cost other coaches their job. No excuse for it and it needs to improve. Also, our PK hasn't played above its potential.