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

[MikeS24]

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.

Ok so he was on the bench when they chanted that. I was confused at first. Man, that is SAVAGE lol.

Knob. What a doorKNOB

You should have pulled him after goal 2. He didn't have it. What is the point of pulling him then?

 

[Patch101]

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 st top 20 teams and they were nowhere near NHL. .896 in 1988 was decent, not in 2025.

I'm not defending him, really I'm not. My point is that he's a backup.
That's it. Both of them are.

Top64, not a top 32.

 

[Old Boys Club]

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.

I think we can still sympathize with him - he's been placed in a role he's not able to do. I feel bad for the person, not the player. He's no doubt being eviscerated on every platform and most likely feeling it personally as well.

 

[MessierThanThou]

Its really bad advice if it was. you can't be displaying that in team sports. Especially in hockey. Quickest way to end an NHL career is to offer a disposition that you just don't care, it doesn't bother you. Like I said the dope can't read the room. I'm sure the Oilers bench were livid when he started chuckling and figuring it was funny. Ask yourself if you can even have that disposition on a team possessing a McDavid, or a Drai, or a Messier. Mess would've kicked his ass by now.

You have more patience than I do.

I'm done being mad at him. This is year 3. He doesn't have the focus, basic ability or basic speed for an NHL starting goaltender job and that's something he just can't help. I don't think he's going to stay in this league for much longer when he leaves the comfort of this organization. He'll go on one of his prolonged slumps and other teams won't have the patience to wait for him to recover.

You and I knew he wasn't the guy after losing us the Vegas series two years ago, but the team still trusted him with another chance. He stumbled, then dropped the ball again last year. Started this season worse than ever, then recovered slightly but was still a mess. We called for a new goalie almost all season, especially at the deadline, nothing was done, fans of other teams and the stupidest people on here rejoiced, and this is what we're stuck with.

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.

We win the last two Cups with better goaltending. I have zero doubt about that. I also have zero doubt that people will say decades from now that the decision to play Stuart Skinner in the 2023 and 2024 postseasons was the biggest mistake the organization made during McDrai's prime. Again, Dan Cloutier will be a distant memory and Stuart Skinner will be be the first name anyone remembers when people talk about "bad goalies on good teams." I hope, for his sake, that he can carve out a decent career and salvage his reputation, but it will not happen here. We aren't going to wait around for him to "mature," nor should we. Connor and Leon deserve a better goalie NOW.

 

[Patch101]

Listening to Knobs post-game was gross.

No system change needed, just elevated play.

Did you watch the game my guy? You gatta adjust.

 

[McDrai]

Listening to Knobs post-game was gross.

No system change needed, just elevated play.

Did you watch the game my guy?

He has no answers. We need more of a vocal coach like Tocchet. I think he would be great for this group

 

[Oilhawks]

Listening to Knobs post-game was gross.

No system change needed, just elevated play.

Did you watch the game my guy?

I think (hope) he's cooked after this series

Guy lost the room after he kept trotting out "fragile team" to the media during their downward spiral after the 4 Nations

 

[Old Boys Club]

Listening to Knobs post-game was gross.

No system change needed, just elevated play.

Did you watch the game my guy?

Not sure how anyone could watch that putrid PK system and not want to change it. It's made me ill since game one this season.

 

[Soundwave]

I think (hope) he's cooked after this series

Guy lost the room after he kept trotting out "fragile team" to the media during their downward spiral after the 4 Nations

I think it'll be mainly up to McDavid and Drai if he is kept on.

Honestly I think Tocchet is a better coach and likely available and has an actual pulse and doesn't let shit slide from players (he'd have torn a strip off Bouchard multiple times by now). That Vancouver locker room was just a shit show for other reasons.

 

[Patch101]

I think (hope) he's cooked after this series

Guy lost the room after he kept trotting out "fragile team" to the media during their downward spiral after the 4 Nations

Remember when MacT changed the entire system play against Detroit.
That was Magic.

Its doable.

 

[Ibanez]

Listening to Knobs post-game was gross.

No system change needed, just elevated play.

Did you watch the game my guy? You gatta adjust.

Him and nugent Hopkins go to the same school of intensity and give a shit

They both flunked out

 

[Drivesaitl]

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.

We want woderick!

Some here will get that.

edit: nobody got it.

 

[Cloned]

I think we can still sympathize with him - he's been placed in a role he's not able to do. I feel bad for the person, not the player. He's no doubt being eviscerated on every platform and most likely feeling it personally as well.

Generally speaking the more a person gets paid, the more scrutiny they have to handle. It just comes with the territory. It doesn’t mean we have to sympathize with him.

 

[Oilhawks]

Remember when MacT changed the entire system play against Detroit.
That was Magic.

Its doable.

People crap on MacT, but he was a million times the coach this fraud is. I don't see it, unfortunately.

 

[Dirty Mind]

I'm done being mad at him. This is year 3. He doesn't have the focus, basic ability or basic speed for an NHL starting goaltender job and that's something he just can't help. I don't think he's going to stay in this league for much longer when he leaves the comfort of this organization. He'll go on one of his prolonged slumps and other teams won't have the patience to wait for him to recover.

You and I knew he wasn't the guy after losing us the Vegas series two years ago, but the team still trusted him with another chance. He stumbled, then dropped the ball again last year. Started this season worse than ever, then recovered slightly but was still a mess. We called for a new goalie almost all season, especially at the deadline, nothing was done, fans of other teams and the stupidest people on here rejoiced, and this is what we're stuck with.



We win the last two Cups with better goaltending. I have zero doubt about that. I also have zero doubt that people will say decades from now that the decision to play Stuart Skinner in the 2023 and 2024 postseasons was the biggest mistake the organization made during McDrai's prime. Again, Dan Cloutier will be a distant memory and Stuart Skinner will be be the first name anyone remembers when people talk about "bad goalies on good teams." I hope, for his sake, that he can carve out a decent career and salvage his reputation, but it will not happen here. We aren't going to wait around for him to "mature," nor should we. Connor and Leon deserve a better goalie NOW.

****ing preach. Literally nodding my head in agreement lol

 

[PitkanensGitch]

The few of us who aren’t blatant homers saw this coming from a mile away.

Wanted Skinner to play well and the D to step up in the absence of Ekholm. Ekholm had already been a shell of his former self this year. Lost our two best prospects. Replaced Foegele and McLeod (who I didn't even like) with far worse options at similar prices.

We downgraded in every aspect, and with the inclusion of injuries and hampered players we are nowhere close. This was shown in our SRS rating plummeting while the Kings skyrocketed. They're outplaying us bad. Again, Kuemper back up to a .920 as expected while our goalie flounders.

The guys coming back from injury struggling as any rational poster expected.

I know we're only posting on a forum, and some may take it as dooming, but more of you need to be realistic and unbiased while we try to have rational discussions about the shortcomings of the club and what we can do to improve. Nobody benefits from living in a state of delusion when you say the Kings haven't improved and we haven't dramatically gotten worse.

They're a damn good team. Crazy seeing Foegele playing this style of hockey after what we got out of him as well. I mentioned Byfield coming out of his shell and a handful of posters attacking me bringing up he had the same amount of points. Guy is a force with like a 58% CF in the season. That whole team plays the right way and he's learning from Kopitar and Danault how to play both ends of the puck.

They might not have McDavid and Draisaitl but they work much harder and they're all bought in. We have nothing past two players.

Skinner laughing like that was either a mental break down or him resigning himself to the fact he is Koskinen. Remember the announcement that Koskinen was leaving for the KHL while we were just getting into the playoffs? Seeing him knowing he was done in the league but still hanging around, even playing games for us? That was surreal. This feels like that. There's no way in hell Skinner plays with us next year and it is crazy seeing it happen in real time.

Fire management. Fire every single person involved in our pro scouting department and start again. Seeing Fiala, Kuzmenko, Foegele all thriving there among others while looking at Skinner, Arvidsson, etc utterly floundering when the games matter sums this up well.

 

[Patch101]

People crap on MacT, but he was a million times the coach this fraud is. I don't see it, unfortunately.

Who, in playoffs, comes out and literally says ... no system play change needed. Either he's bluffing or he's never played Chess in his life.

Like I wouldn't do that in Beer league, and I will 100% change shit up if I see the opening.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Everyone is mad as Skinner and the fake insider tells them what they want to hear

I know the connection if anybody wants to know. I know her source.

 

[MessierThanThou]

We are carbon copies of each other. Never missed a game but that last two-three seasons, my interest dropped more and more, especially after the Vegas series and how the reffing was in that series. It just turned me off a lot and it became a reality from conspiracy theory Bettman’s end game is to never have a Canadian team win the cup as commissioner.

Then the Skinner shit show came to town and he just flat out sucks. I’d say Ty Conklin was a more reliable starter than him.

This season is what would happen if we never traded for Roli and chose go go all-in on Ty f***ing Conklin...only that team didn't have McDrai to steal them a playoff spot.

 

[Oilhawks]

The few of us who aren’t blatant homers saw this coming from a mile away.

Wanted Skinner to play well and the D to step up in the absence of Ekholm. Ekholm had already been a shell of his former self this year. Lost our two best prospects. Replaced Foegele and McLeod (who I didn't even like) with far worse options at similar prices.

We downgraded in every aspect, and with the inclusion of injuries and hampered players we are nowhere close. This was shown in our SRS rating plummeting while the Kings skyrocketed. They're outplaying us bad. Again, Kuemper back up to a .920 as expected while our goalie flounders.

The guys coming back from injury struggling as any rational poster expected.

I know we're only posting on a forum, and some may take it as dooming, but more of you need to be realistic and unbiased while we try to have rational discussions about the shortcomings of the club and what we can do to improve. Nobody benefits from living in a state of delusion when you say the Kings haven't improved and we haven't dramatically gotten worse.

They're a damn good team. Crazy seeing Foegele playing this style of hockey after what we got out of him as well. I mentioned Byfield coming out of his shell and a handful of posters attacking me bringing up he had the same amount of points. Guy is a force with like a 58% CF in the season. That whole team plays the right way and he's learning from Kopitar and Danault how to play both ends of the puck.

They might not have McDavid and Draisaitl but they work much harder and they're all bought in. We have nothing past two players.

Skinner laughing like that was either a mental break down or him resigning himself to the fact he is Koskinen. Remember the announcement that Koskinen was leaving for the KHL while we were just getting into the playoffs? Seeing him knowing he was done in the league but still hanging around, even playing games for us? That was surreal. This feels like that. There's no way in hell Skinner plays with us next year and it is crazy seeing it happen in real time.

Fire management. Fire every single person involved in our pro scouting department and start again. Seeing Fiala, Kuzmenko, Foegele all thriving there among others while looking at Skinner, Arvidsson, etc utterly floundering when the games matter sums this up well.

All that, and nothing about the coach that's in over his head. Not that any of that is wrong.

 

[Patch101]

This season is what would happen if we never traded for Roli and chose go go all-in on Ty f***ing Conklin...only that team didn't have McDrai to steal them a playoff spot.

Watch when Davo and Leon are old or have left, we'll finally have goalie.

Like the Flames now haha. There's a little goalie who pulls the teams into wins.

 

[PitkanensGitch]

All that, and nothing about the coach that's in over his head. Not that any of that is wrong.

How much time do ya got?

 

[Shizuka]

Generally speaking the more a person gets paid, the more scrutiny they have to handle. It just comes with the territory. It doesn’t mean we have to sympathize with him.

That should apply to all these pricks. Every one of them dressing. How many coaching changes have occurred now, with basically the same outcome? This group, for whatever reason, tunes out after a couple of seasons. Pretty damn shameful display by a bunch of guys paid millions to play a game, and can't muster even a bare modicum of professionalism in being prepared to play.

 

[Tarus]

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.

RNH wouldn't even go in the top 10 if they redrafted it now. All the scouts loved him at the time(Colorado basically stated it was "RNH and everyone else" in their behind the scenes draft war-room at the time, man they lucked out not getting the first overall), but it was all based on the belief that he'd put on weight and transform his junior tier powerplay specialist game into a dominant playmaking NHL pivot. Of course, that never happened, and it looks silly in hindsight that anyone thought that a timid, low motor person and player like RNH would ever reach those heights.

For all of Mcdavid's accomplishments, the carry job he did for RNH's career after Hall and Eberle were unceremoniously punted out of town might be the most astonishing.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

I'm not defending him, really I'm not. My point is that he's a backup.
That's it. Both of them are.

Top64, not a top 32.

That’s where we differ, I don’t even think he’d last in the KHL. He’s an awful goaltender.