Post-Game Talk: Can we leave Stu in a California Closet?

[Arty Spooners Bsmnt]

Yup. I saw it, too, and was f***ing LIVID. I couldn't believe he was smiling and laughing. This guy does not have the mentality of a great athlete. I don't think he hates losing, at all. Which all of the greats do. I don't care what bullshit sports psych "coping" mechanism that might have been, the optics are f***ing horrible. Guy is a loser. Seeing him laughing just cemented that for me even more.

I couldn't believe it, I backed it up twice to make sure. His team would be pissed at him if it was beer league.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I don't think anybody believes a much better goalie will automatically make all of that better, but there are other nuances.

A goalie who plays solid can boost everybody's confidence. Do you think players play the exact same way when they see every other shot go in? Yes, some are atrocious defensive breakdowns too. It's not just black and white.

Both can be true. They need a MUCH better goalie, but they also need to play MUCH MUCH better in front of him.

We win Game 1 with actual goaltending. Flat out. The other aspect is when your weak ass goaltending is causing you to chase from behind every game its much much harder.

 

[Soundwave]

Nuge has to be the most overrated player in franchise history. The guy has made a career out of being invisible. Just a ghost out there most nights and always has been.

The worst thing about it all is watching McDrai go through this. Two of the greatest warriors the league has ever seen seemingly wasting the prime of their careers. This series isn’t over and even if it is, there’s still time. But not as much as there used to be.

The funny thing was getting all excited about getting Nuge no.1 overall in that draft, lol. Landeskog was a much, much better player. The Flames got a much better player in Gaudreau in the same draft, pulling that out of their rear ends in the 4th or 5th round or whatever, lol.

The only plus to it is drafting RNH and Yakupov basically led us into getting Draisaitl and McDavid.

 

[Dirty Mind]

Look at him smiling as they chant it. Like the man thought it was a compliment. Bro. You were getting roasted like a rotisserie.

 

[guymez]

I don't think anybody believes a much better goalie will automatically make all of that better, but there are other nuances.

A goalie who plays solid can boost everybody's confidence. Do you think players play the exact same way when they see every other shot go in? Yes, some are atrocious defensive breakdowns too. It's not just black and white.

Both can be true. They need a MUCH better goalie, but they also need to play MUCH MUCH better in front of him.

I dont believe that a goalie makes that much of a difference with professionals doing their job.

I mean would a better goalie have caused Nurse not to skate out along the boards near the blueline on LA's second goal?
Would a better goalie have caused Bouchard to not just stand there and and compound Nurse's dumbass play by puck watching while Byfield skates in on Skinner and roofs the puck completely uncontested?

Would a better goalie cause the entire team sans McDavid to create more offence?

I could go on and on.

Goaltending is one element of the game and it obviously matters but there is just too much wrong with this team right now.

The defence is something I was worried about all season....just hoping Ekholm wouldnt get hurt because I didnt trust Bouchard and Nurse to carry the load.
Now we are seeing exactly why they cant be trusted.

 

[Soundwave]

Look at him smiling as they chant it. Like the man thought it was a compliment. Bro. You were getting roasted like a rotisserie.

Eh, he's not a very good goalie, but I think that was tearing him up inside. That's like one of those "you got your pants pulled down in front of all the girls in high school" type of moments where you don't even know what to do.

This front office and local media deserve that 100% though. They deserve to have that blow up in their face.

 

[Old Boys Club]

Not to beat the dead horse about how much I hate reddit, but I bet the stupid Oilers thread is filled with comments and nerdy redditor 'quips' about the stupid harmonica band shit. So annoying... god I hate that site and the lame people that post there.

 

[Patch101]

I appreciate that. But like, how else is one supposed to feel?

There are 62 spots and his average ranks for the top goaltending metrics is outside of that. I'm sure he's a great guy and I wish him well, but we're trying to win a pro sports championship, not have a good Thursday night with the boys at our beer league game.

I understand that's how you feel, but I don't agree.
I believe he's NHL backup material.

That's totally ok if you don't agree with that, and I understand what your saying.

 

[MikeS24]

I wouldn't be surprised if that's just something his sports psychologist told him to do. Smile when you have negative thoughts or feel overwhelmed. I honestly feel sorry for Stu here and I wish him well on a fresh start with a new franchise. It was time to move on from him in November when he was actively costing us games.

He should never dress in an Oiler jersey again, not just for the sake of our team's success, but also for his mental health.

I have a feeling he won't be very long for this league.

As much as he pi**e sme off, I genuinely do feel sorry for him (and I talk too much sh** about him I even feel bad at times).

He is a hometown boy. He was thrust into this role. Business is business though. Hey, at least he has already made a few million bucks. I know the guy probably feels like absolute sh** right now.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Yup. I saw it, too, and was f***ing LIVID. I couldn't believe he was smiling and laughing. This guy does not have the mentality of a great athlete. I don't think he hates losing, at all. Which all of the greats do. I don't care what bullshit sports psych "coping" mechanism that might have been, the optics are f***ing horrible. Guy is a loser. Seeing him laughing just cemented that for me even more.

Yeah. Also His little bopping thing that he does whenever clap your hands or some other ditty comes on. like WTF, You a bobblehead?

Guy should just be playing mariokart with the mariohat.

its like Skinner is amused during games he's getting broke ass beat.

As if to mock me the California Closets commercial had just been on. Telecast f***ing us over too. yeah, shitcan that commercial forever, You're not making sales off it, trust me....haha

 

[Soundwave]

As much as he pi**e sme off, I genuinely do feel sorry for him (and I talk too much sh** about him I even feel bad at times).

He is a hometown boy. He was thrust into this role. Business is business though. Hey, at least he has already made a few million bucks. I know the guy probably feels like absolute sh** right now.

That has to be pretty crushing for him for sure. Don't think I can remember in recent history a crowd clowning on a goalie that hard.

That was like constant Skinner chants, and then the "We Want Skinner" chant on top of that, lol. The funny thing is Sportsnet I think refusing to even acknowledge the chants.

 

[Oilhawks]

Well this sums it up nicely...


A truly disastrous off-season of decisions.

Dude is one of the best (if not the best) Oilers youtubers.

And he also gets it RE goaltending, mentions that Skinner wasn't good enough since the collapse vs Vegas

 

[Oilhawks]

As much as he pi**e sme off, I genuinely do feel sorry for him (and I talk too much sh** about him I even feel bad at times).

He is a hometown boy. He was thrust into this role. Business is business though. Hey, at least he has already made a few million bucks. I know the guy probably feels like absolute sh** right now.

 

[McDrai]

Well this sums it up nicely...


A truly disastrous off-season of decisions.

Great summary. I also agree with him that this team is getting swept. We’re cooked (from management, to coaching, to Skinner)

 

[MikeS24]

I dont believe that a goalie makes that much of a difference with professionals doing their job.

I mean would a better goalie have caused Nurse not to skate out along the boards near the blueline on LA's second goal?
Would a better goalie have caused Bouchard to not just stand there and and compound Nurse's dumbass play by puck watching while Byfield skates in on Skinner and roofs the puck completely uncontested?

Would a better goalie cause the entire team sans McDavid to create more offence?

I could go on and on.

Goaltending is one element of the game and it obviously matters but there is just too much wrong with this team right now.

The defence is something I was worried about all season....just hoping Ekholm wouldnt get hurt because I didnt trust Bouchard and Nurse to carry the load.
Now we are seeing exactly why they cant be trusted.

In the end, goaltending is just one of many issues. I agree with pretty much everything you have been saying. The team has looked atrocious for the most part all around.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Is Pickard vs Skinner's win loss ratio entirely meaningless this season?

Funny time for this guy to be back here. Wasn't he gone for a couple mths? Suspicious. of course absolving goaltending again and blaming something, anything, else. This was the poster that "needed more time to determine if Schwartz was really a problem here"

 

[MikeS24]

That has to be pretty crushing for him for sure. Don't think I can remember in recent history a crowd clowning on a goalie that hard.

That was like constant Skinner chants, and then the "We Want Skinner" chant on top of that, lol. The funny thing is Sportsnet I think refusing to even acknowledge the chants.

One thing I did not understand.

Shouldn't the crowd be chanting that AFTER he is pulled and goes to the bench?

Or was that chant when he did get pulled and his smile was just after a bronx cheer?

I didn't want to listen to any media. I wonder what GYB podcast thought about tonight

 

[Da McBomb]

Its not sold out as we speak, either game. It sure isn't going to be after these two games. The fans are sensing a lot is off this season and people I talk to haven't been thrilled since the offseason. There hasn't been the euphoria this time around.

Oilers can still come back but it would be winning the battle and losing the war. At best this is now a long series. At worst a short one.

If there was ever a better message to send to Katz... not selling out a playoff home game on a weekend would be it.

 

[AlbOilFAN]

I love piling on the guy. It was a terrible look.

I think he was sooo angry when that happened, he just smiled at it. It was a bad reaction to it. I don't actually think the guy was having fun. It was more like a pyscho smile lol

I honestly don’t feel bad for him, I bet you, if you ask him, he’ll probably blame someone else.
He’s a arrogant piece of shit, he can enjoy the shout out, he had against San Jose.

 

[Oilhawks]

Dude is one of the best (if not the best) Oilers youtubers.

And he also gets it RE goaltending, mentions that Skinner wasn't good enough since the collapse vs Vegas

I'd add. This guy is a million times better than any of the media that get paid to talk about this team

 

[Drivesaitl]

Look at him smiling as they chant it. Like the man thought it was a compliment. Bro. You were getting roasted like a rotisserie.

Its a weird thing when you're feeling Kings fans more than your own starting goalie. I'm like giving him the gears and so are they....ummmm.

They were laughing at his reaction too. Was getting Monty Pythonesque out there.

Could you imagine if the Org was even thick enough to start this loser at home again?

maybe our crowd starts jeering him again too. What would it take for this org to ever get the message?

 

[Ritchie Valens]

He was top 60 in the nhl for save %. .896
Good enough to be an NHL backup, not starter.

You gatta remember that the average save % was .900 this year.

This is supposed to be a Stanley cup contending team. Your starter and backup can’t be sub .900. There was a stat around mid-February that had Skinners stats against the top 10 teams and they were nowhere near NHL. .896 in 1988 was decent, not in 2025.

 

[Soundwave]

One thing I did not understand.

Shouldn't the crowd be chanting that AFTER he is pulled and goes to the bench?

Or was that chant when he did get pulled and his smile was just after a bronx cheer?

I didn't want to listen to any media. I wonder what GYB podcast thought about tonight

They've been chanting "Skiiiiiiiner" since game 1 actually, it just turned into a gong show in game 2 with the Bronx cheer thing and then the crowd chanting "We Want Skinner" with Skinner on the bench, lol.

 

[Drivesaitl]

As much as he pi**e sme off, I genuinely do feel sorry for him (and I talk too much sh** about him I even feel bad at times).

He is a hometown boy. He was thrust into this role. Business is business though. Hey, at least he has already made a few million bucks. I know the guy probably feels like absolute sh** right now.

He's playing with himself right on the plane home right now.



<mariocart>



I have to say that to avoid infraction.

he doesn't feel shit about this. "I'm getting paid"

 

[Cloned]

As much as he pi**e sme off, I genuinely do feel sorry for him (and I talk too much sh** about him I even feel bad at times).

He is a hometown boy. He was thrust into this role. Business is business though. Hey, at least he has already made a few million bucks. I know the guy probably feels like absolute sh** right now.

Don’t feel sorry for him.

He gets paid handsomely to be a hockey professional and the least he could do is take his craft a little more seriously. I’m not saying he needs to be Mr. Serious like Toews was or a fitness freak like MacKinnon is, but at least train properly to refine what skills you have and keep your playing weight at a certain number so that you have the agility and quickness to play your position properly.

And maybe don’t laugh when your team is down 4 goals in a playoff game because you couldn’t stop a beach ball.