So where do you lay the blame? I understand it happening to a team in a certain moment with a specific set of personalities, but a decade+ of dysfunction has to be ownership, doesn't it? Not being an Oilers fan I have no idea, but a player of Looch's talent, no matter how slow he is getting ought to be doing much better than he is this year.
I definitely think there was a bias trickle down effect that started with ownership... they put such a high priority on speed and skill for years. when that skill was gretzky and kurri and coffey it was ok... they won
but then that skill became names like carson and satan and lesser names and the team stopped winning
meanwhile the guys had the well deserved nickname boys on the bus... and was considered to be a party team. rumors of excessive partying was going on
this set the team identity... once that group of winners moved on... the team started to have ownership problems. peter puck became a crook. then the team was community owned without any real money behind it. sather left and new management was weak.
the team was almost a victim of past success... speed and skill won so they kept going for more and more... but the league was a rougher league. the club began to be pushed around a lot.
some heavyweights were brought in... guys like louie debrusk and georges laraque... but these guys wanted to be players not goons. the team started having a reputation that their hws wont protect their guys
this was never a team that did scrums after the whistle. they would rely on 1 guy to fight for the team
I guess its a combination of locker room leadership and management but it only really changed one year when pronger and Michael peca came to town. having 2 iconic leaders with that much power changed it. and then both guys couldn't get out of town fast enough.
Andrew ference is one of the strongest off ice leaders... and he was destroyed by this experience. shut right up.
I'm really not sure how to change it... but I think you need to go the pronger/peca route to even try. boston did the same thing ourselves when we had to let thornton/Boynton/raycroft go. we brought in 5-6 outsiders all in a year who were all known as strong locker room voices
if a locker room gets too hurt it takes several players working together from the outside to bring in a new culture