Wild 4 Oilers 3

[TheRebuild]

Not to worry, Craig is still on it.

God I hope not. The only thing he's fit to do is change the ink cartridges in the printers. I don't even want that guy answering phones. Outside of drafting Nurse (which looks to be a good pick), every single thing he did as a GM turned to **** in less than a year. EVERYTHING. He rivals Milbury in terms of sheer terribleness.

 

[gwiz999]

The bottom 6, 95% of the D (except Schultz) and all goalies have been swapped out over the past three years.

As one former player said "I don’t know how to explain it. If somebody knew, they should step up and help them, but they haven’t figured it out yet. Maybe it’s just the kids. They have to step up and lead the team to the playoffs. They’ve been there for a long time and it’s their time, you know. They can’t only blame older guys or change their fourth line. They’ve got to start leading the team to the playoffs. Be leaders. That’s probably the one thing. But they are all great guys and I had a great time and hopefully they will turn it around and get into the playoffs. People deserve it there, you know. It’s a hockey city. People love their hockey and it’s painful."

 

[Philly85*]

I really feel for the guys cuz it's clear they're improved and are continuing to improve but they've gotten a bit unlucky so far, not to mention at least 1 or maybe even 2 of the losses on their record so far should've been W's.

I just hope the team isn't too demoralized and continue to push on forward. They need to start beating some of these better teams to maintain their sanity and give them some positive reinforcement and tangible proof they're on the up.

 

[LaGu]

Last season Lander managed to produce with anyone, Fraser, Miller, Hamilton, Hall and even Purcell. That was significant and he didn't seem to care who was on his wings.

I do remember him pointing out that it was easy to play because he always knew where to be and what to do in Nelson's system. In the WHC with Sweden he played top line minutes and with those players he just needed to focus on keeping up, which he did.

FTR I don't think Lander has looked horrible so far. Yesterday I would have said he was ok. Nothing more nothing less.

He is so far best faceoff guy and in the top 30 in the league, if compared to players with > 100 FO on the year, and above 60% on the PP FO% which is good. Good PK but that isn't news.

I don't know, I guess I see it differently than some but I simply cannot understand why he's being singled out. He needs to do more, he needs to get some points, but I don't think last year some strange magic. That was Lander playing really good, right now he is ok with a minus for no points. Add a goal and a couple of A's to his record and suddenly it would look quite decent.


Otherwise I loved McD and Nurse. It almost seemed as if both Nurse and Klefbom got a confidence boost after his goal. After that they looked great. A few more games, don't come back yet Schultz!

 

[frag2]

God I hope not. The only thing he's fit to do is change the ink cartridges in the printers. I don't even want that guy answering phones. Outside of drafting Nurse (which looks to be a good pick), every single thing he did as a GM turned to **** in less than a year. EVERYTHING. He rivals Milbury in terms of sheer terribleness.

He'll probably advise management to buy Lexmark printers...great value

Last season Lander managed to produce with anyone, Fraser, Miller, Hamilton, Hall and even Purcell. That was significant and he didn't seem to care who was on his wings.

I do remember him pointing out that it was easy to play because he always knew where to be and what to do in Nelson's system. In the WHC with Sweden he played top line minutes and with those players he just needed to focus on keeping up, which he did.

FTR I don't think Lander has looked horrible so far. Yesterday I would have said he was ok. Nothing more nothing less.

He is so far best faceoff guy and in the top 30 in the league, if compared to players with > 100 FO on the year, and above 60% on the PP FO% which is good. Good PK but that isn't news.

I don't know, I guess I see it differently than some but I simply cannot understand why he's being singled out. He needs to do more, he needs to get some points, but I don't think last year some strange magic. That was Lander playing really good, right now he is ok with a minus for no points. Add a goal and a couple of A's to his record and suddenly it would look quite decent.


Otherwise I loved McD and Nurse. It almost seemed as if both Nurse and Klefbom got a confidence boost after his goal. After that they looked great. A few more games, don't come back yet Schultz!

Because Lander showed promise late last season and during the preseason. This year, he's been average to below average. I'm beginning to think perhaps the late season surge and preseason can be attributed to him being on same line as Hall and battling scrubs respectively.

 

[Lewy]

He'll probably advise management to buy Lexmark printers...great value



Because Lander showed promise late last season and during the preseason. This year, he's been average to below average. I'm beginning to think perhaps the late season surge and preseason can be attributed to him being on same line as Hall and battling scrubs respectively.

This team is desperate for Mike Grier. Purcell vs. Grier?

 

[KlimasLoveChild]

This team is desperate for Mike Grier. Purcell vs. Grier?

I'd take Jason Smith over Fayne right now...View attachment 85695..still looks mean..

 

[McGoMcD]

I really feel for the guys cuz it's clear they're improved and are continuing to improve but they've gotten a bit unlucky so far, not to mention at least 1 or maybe even 2 of the losses on their record so far should've been W's.

I just hope the team isn't too demoralized and continue to push on forward. They need to start beating some of these better teams to maintain their sanity and give them some positive reinforcement and tangible proof they're on the up.

A win vs MTL tomorrow would work wonders. Beat a team that is 9-1, that would help a lot.

 

[Red Deer Rebel]

God I hope not. The only thing he's fit to do is change the ink cartridges in the printers. I don't even want that guy answering phones. Outside of drafting Nurse (which looks to be a good pick), every single thing he did as a GM turned to **** in less than a year. EVERYTHING. He rivals Milbury in terms of sheer terribleness.

... and he managed to turn that decision into more eye-rolling stuff with his story about how he ran into Nurse's grandfather at the urinal, and took that as a "sign" he should draft Nurse.

Thank goodness Nurse's grandpa had a double double about half an hour before our pick, or MacT likely would have screwed this one up too.

 

[Tarus]

The bottom 6, 95% of the D (except Schultz) and all goalies have been swapped out over the past three years.

As one former player said "I don’t know how to explain it. If somebody knew, they should step up and help them, but they haven’t figured it out yet. Maybe it’s just the kids. They have to step up and lead the team to the playoffs. They’ve been there for a long time and it’s their time, you know. They can’t only blame older guys or change their fourth line. They’ve got to start leading the team to the playoffs. Be leaders. That’s probably the one thing. But they are all great guys and I had a great time and hopefully they will turn it around and get into the playoffs. People deserve it there, you know. It’s a hockey city. People love their hockey and it’s painful."

Yes, the D and bottom six has been overhauled, by Mactavish. All he really did was clean out Tambos trash and replace it with new trash that Chiarelli has to clean up. The team isn't going anywhere as long as they have dead weights like Fayne out there actively dragging their teammates down.

The guys in the top six are actually pulling their weight and contributing to helping the team's chances of winning, especially Hall, Mcdavid, and Yakupov. It's a team sport though, and they will only ever be as good as their weakest link allows them to be, and they have a lot of weak links that need to be replaced.

 

[LaGu]

He'll probably advise management to buy Lexmark printers...great value



Because Lander showed promise late last season and during the preseason. This year, he's been average to below average. I'm beginning to think perhaps the late season surge and preseason can be attributed to him being on same line as Hall and battling scrubs respectively.

A part of definitely has to with Hall, same as his WHC had to do with Loui and Forsberg. The rest I think is the system and there I think he will improve.

Fraser and Purcell had their fair share of nights of last season.

 

[SometimesY]

These posters suggesting we 'don't panic', I agree. Imagine this game with Hendricks, Reinhart and Eberle. If they replace three players it's a win. Call up Draisaitl and we have a hell of a team. There is deadweight on a lot of teams, we will look better and better every year.

Nice goal by Nurse.

 

[Replacement*]

The Oilers had 10hits last night. This just the game after Mclellan tore a strip off players and met individually with them for having no shots/no hits boxcars.

Basically there was limited response throughout the lineup to this.

Some that did respond, Yak with 4 shots and a hit. Sekera the same.

These are simple numbers, but somewhat indicate a players involvement in a game.

Nuge, who was invisible had zero hits in the game and took 1 shot. He verged on being a passenger in this game.

Lets also look at the *progress* of this player. Nuge so far this year has a paltry 5pts in 10GP. He has a shockingly low 16 shots on net to this point and still managed to lead the team in missed shots with 9. For Nuge, who's shot accuracy was considered impeccable that's an oddity that needs to disappear quick.
His faceoff % is 44.8% He's thrown only 5 hits all season.

Heres what I think has happened. Nuge is trying to assimilate all the things he's being told and make right decisions that he's forgetting to play his game. He's taking himself out of the game with timid play. Last year for instance Nuge really increased his level of physical play and this has all but disappeared this year.

This is a top pick player right now who is generating zero offense, has a lot of GA despite reduced matchups (McDavid line is now clearly getting top marking) and has been responsible for multiple GA. Not nearly good enough for a player of this calibre. The lack of performance of Nuge last night would be a significant part of why we lost the game.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

These posters suggesting we 'don't panic', I agree. Imagine this game with Hendricks, Reinhart and Eberle. If they replace three players it's a win. Call up Draisaitl and we have a hell of a team. There is deadweight on a lot of teams, we will look better and better every year.

Nice goal by Nurse.

Unfortunately injuries are part of the game. It would speak greater things of the team if we won in spite of injuries.

 

[McDeathbyCheerios*]

Unfortunately injuries are part of the game. It would speak greater things of the team if we won in spite of injuries.

True but we have dead weight that is on the roster most nights.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

True but we have dead weight that is on the roster most nights.

That's the case for a lot of teams, the Oilers just simply aren't good enough to overcome it.

 

[Pressure]

Said it a million times before, I hate RNH and Hall together. Despise it. RNH cannot play with Hall, he tries to dominate the puck too much and RNH is so crafty he should be carrying the play with a puck possession player like Eberle.

Can we PLEASE move Hall with Lander?

 

[Raab]

If RNH was half as good as some people on here think he is we would be above .500. RNH is 22 and has been in the league for 4 years. It's time for him to start stepping up.

 

[frag2]

The Oilers had 10hits last night. This just the game after Mclellan tore a strip off players and met individually with them for having no shots/no hits boxcars.

Basically there was limited response throughout the lineup to this.

Some that did respond, Yak with 4 shots and a hit. Sekera the same.

These are simple numbers, but somewhat indicate a players involvement in a game.

Nuge, who was invisible had zero hits in the game and took 1 shot. He verged on being a passenger in this game.

Lets also look at the *progress* of this player. Nuge so far this year has a paltry 5pts in 10GP. He has a shockingly low 16 shots on net to this point and still managed to lead the team in missed shots with 9. For Nuge, who's shot accuracy was considered impeccable that's an oddity that needs to disappear quick.
His faceoff % is 44.8% He's thrown only 5 hits all season.

Heres what I think has happened. Nuge is trying to assimilate all the things he's being told and make right decisions that he's forgetting to play his game. He's taking himself out of the game with timid play. Last year for instance Nuge really increased his level of physical play and this has all but disappeared this year.

This is a top pick player right now who is generating zero offense, has a lot of GA despite reduced matchups (McDavid line is now clearly getting top marking) and has been responsible for multiple GA. Not nearly good enough for a player of this calibre. The lack of performance of Nuge last night would be a significant part of why we lost the game.

The pathetic thing is reading posters saying Nuge shoots less because Hall is shooting more. Maybe if Nuge was actually THAT smart or confident in himself, he wouldn't relegate all offence to Hall [and Eberle] all the time.

Nuge is Nuge and he is what he is. He's probably not going to be the Datsyuk-lite we thought he'd become. Unless he miraculously improves in his offensive game, he's just gonna be a smallish center that makes a few standout plays now and then but not consistent enough to be considered a threat.

 

[frag2]

Said it a million times before, I hate RNH and Hall together. Despise it. RNH cannot play with Hall, he tries to dominate the puck too much and RNH is so crafty he should be carrying the play with a puck possession player like Eberle.

Can we PLEASE move Hall with Lander?

Maybe Nuge just isn't that good? Have you considered that rather than pin it on Hall?

 

[ScrillaVilla]

So in your opinion teaching players how to win is completely doable in 10 games? Teaching players the little things that help a team win should happen almost immediately?
Acquiring players to help this process shouldnt be hindered by cap issues due to bad contracts like Nikitin, Purcell, Ference and Scrivens?

With all due respect I dont think your position is very well thought out.

No, but teaching players to win is something that should have been occurring well before they got to the nhl. We should be seeing some progression, but were not. Still getting shot differential-ed to hell, still losing games. My critique of your argument was that "culture" has nothing to do with it. We have a pretty good idea about what they need to do to win games, so how are they being taught these things (teaching methodology matters). And if that piece is taken care of, why isnt it showing up in games?

 

[Da McBomb]

I'm not worried about Nuge. Just look at the right wingers he's had to play with this year. And he's constantly going up against the other top lines. I think he's been awesome defensively.. did you guys see his 2 minute shift yesterday? He goes all out on defence. Once Eberle is back, we'll see his point totals increase.

 

[oobga]

That's funny because I said the same thing in the summer when everyone was penciling him in as our #1 rd. I said he was a slower skating, less gritty Nultz...... god damn awful...

Two plays really bothered me the other night. One he got beat wide and spun around completely losing his bearing and then kind of drifted into the slot like a lost puppy. He didn't cover anyone, didn't attempt to block a passing lane, just stood dazed and confused while Minny cycled the puck and passed it around.

On another occasion he got beat wide by the lw but through some miracle was able to recover and force him behind the net. Fayne then followed him ,within arms distance,along the boards all the way back to the blue line where the forward put on the breaks and started moving back towards the corner before passing off the puck. Fayne didn't engage him physically the entire time.:

Yeah, how he is letting guys get behind him in the neutral zone is very disappointing this year. He's let it happen a lot. And the lack of will to engage physically...sigh... I think we should be getting so much more in our end of the ice from a guy that contributes nothing on the offensive side.

 

[Replacement*]

Said it a million times before, I hate RNH and Hall together. Despise it. RNH cannot play with Hall, he tries to dominate the puck too much and RNH is so crafty he should be carrying the play with a puck possession player like Eberle.

Can we PLEASE move Hall with Lander?

I shudder right now to think what the offensive contribution of Nuge/Lander combined would be. Right now Lander looks completely incapable of even making a pass. I would say Lander has been a disappointment had I thought he was an NHL player in the first place. Ironically to your point the only time Lander has ever resembled being an NHL player was playing with guys like Hall.

Nuges problem right now is he initiates next to nothing. All of McDavid, Hall, Yak are taking the biscuit more and moving it up ice and creating chances. Nuge is doing little of that.

I don't recall spending a 3rd round pick on a checking center. Nuge was a first pick who at this point is looking very ordinary.

 

[Lacaar]

the most concerning thing I find about Nuge is his passing.

I remember his first year and even his Junior years.
He was one of the best passer's I'd seen.

Now days I don't see the vision and passing skill so much.
It's almost like he tries to make the safe play all the time and it crushes his offensive creativity. He hasn't figured out how to play defence without sacrificing and equal amount of offensive output.