Pre-Game Talk: Fragility

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

I thought being a veteran team meant not being “fragile”, words our coach has used multiple times postgame when describing this teams pathetic performance.

Now we’re being treated to ““We're not getting a whole lot of offence unless 97 or 29 are on the ice”. Stop me if you’ve heard those words before from an Oiler coach over the years.

Older. Slower. And it has looked like that since preseason Game 1. Sure they had a good run from mid November to Jan 23, their last win where they looked good doing it was vs Vancouver. But the league is still ramping up in those months. Once players return from the Christmas break and again the ASB / 4N things ramp up yet again and in the last 20 games of the season, yet again.

The Oilers seem to have hit their peak 5 weeks ago and simply look incapable of the next gear that other teams are hitting. They are a step behind on the ice and in their decision making.

They’ve got 20 games to figure it out or it’s going to be a loooooong summer here in Edmonton - but perhaps with so many older players, a long summer is what they need to recharge the batteries after 3 extended seasons.

Not sure the TDL fixes what ails this team. Old, slow and tired are what kills the wildebeests out in the wild and it might kill the Oilers.

Hopefully it’s more mental than physical and they can somehow will themselves back to the level of play they were at in last years playoff run.

What say you?

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[Mr Kot]

I swear to God if they fire another coach before cleaning house...

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Oilers already gave up a breakaway to Caufield during the warmup

 

[Arpeggio]

Time to stop playing Klingberg. Things really went to shit when he started playing. THAT'S the problem!

Honestly the entire team is playing like trash, fans who think this is from the mental drain of playing with poor goaltending are completely wrong in my opinion. They straight up stopped playing defence for ten minutes last night. They're not scoring any goals. The best player on the team doesn't have an even strength point for 11 games.

It goes deeper than the goaltending. They have a lot to figure out.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Oilers already gave up a breakaway to Caufield during the warmup

Ah, another young and fast team. This will go well.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

It goes deeper than the goaltending. They have a lot to figure out.

While goaltending is crap this is true. Getting a goalie isn’t the cure all fans hope. When your best player is often your worst defensive player and the supporting cast and PK are invisible with shoddy D zone coverage, a sheet of plywood covering the net isn’t going to make a difference.

 

[NeverForget06]

Time to stop playing Klingberg. Things really went to shit when he started playing. THAT'S the problem!

Honestly the entire team is playing like trash, fans who think this is from the mental drain of playing with poor goaltending are completely wrong in my opinion. They straight up stopped playing defence for ten minutes last night. They're not scoring any goals. The best player on the team doesn't have an even strength point for 11 games.

It goes deeper than the goaltending. They have a lot to figure out.

3-7-1 since he joined the squad

 

[Lewy]

Klingberg turns like an ocean liner.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Different options in goal, needed as soon as possible.

I don't care if they give up on Stu and he wins a Vezina somewhere else, new options for this team.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

 

[rboomercat90]

Different options in goal, needed as soon as possible.

I don't care if they give up on Stu and he wins a Vezina somewhere else, new options for this team.

Stu is a helluva lot closer to needing to figure out what his life is going to be after hockey than he is to winning a Vezina somewhere else.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Stu is a helluva lot closer to needing to figure out what his life is going to be after hockey than he is to winning a Vezina somewhere else.

The Devon Dubnyk cliff is in his future it seems.

 

[rboomercat90]

The Devon Dubnyk cliff is in his future it seems.

Dubnyk never had the arrogance and lack of awareness Stu has. Skinner has convinced himself he’s an elite goalie and the reason he can’t stop a puck is someone else’s fault. I never saw that attitude in Dubnyk. Dubnyk had some good years after he left here, there was some talent there. Skinner relies on being big and hoping the puck hits him some times.

 

[K1984]

The Canadiens are a team that we have selectively chosen to no show against for years now, regardless of how well or poorly we are playing at a given time.

I fully expect to be embarrassed again. They work hard, we don't.

 

[Duke74]

Stu is a helluva lot closer to needing to figure out what his life is going to be after hockey than he is to winning a Vezina somewhere else.

California Closets!

 

[Soundwave]

While goaltending is crap this is true. Getting a goalie isn’t the cure all fans hope. When your best player is often your worst defensive player and the supporting cast and PK are invisible with shoddy D zone coverage, a sheet of plywood covering the net isn’t going to make a difference.

For the "goaltending isn't a problem" crew, how many years did you really think you could go with a back up goalie in net and not have the team reach a breaking point? Like did you honestly think this was going to work fine for another 2-3-4 years?

This is like the moron boyfriend who is lucky to have a knock out girlfriend, but he treats her like shit over and over again. Eventually he goes too far or keeps doing stupid things and then finds one day his girlfriend has up and left him.

The Oilers are pretty much reaching this point IMO. You can only do the same stupid shit over and over again before you hit a straw that breaks the camel's back.

 

[Soundwave]

Klingberg turns like an ocean liner.

Yeah, I like some of the plays he can make with the puck, but I don't think he is the answer here, not when Bouchard is also crapping his pants every 2nd/3rd game.

 

[Arpeggio]

I'd like to see

Henrique - McDavid - Hyman
Perry - Drai - Podkolzin
Skinner - Nuge - Arvidsson
Brown - Ryan - Janmark

Time to give Henrique a chance. Kapanen doesn't belong on the roster, him getting minutes over Skinner is absolutely insane.

 

[Messrules11]

Fragile. It just pisses me off when I hear Knob saying this shit. How is the oldest team in the league fragile, more like gutless if you ask me. Maybe if Knob coached them to take the body instead of roll over and die we would see a team that plays for each other.
Fragile, f*** off Knob, this shit is on coaching.

 

[K1984]

Fragile. It just pisses me off when I hear Knob saying this shit. How is the oldest team in the league fragile, more like gutless if you ask me. Maybe if Knob coached them to take the body instead of roll over and die we would see a team that plays for each other.
Fragile, f*** off Knob, this shit is on coaching.

This group was fragile and did this exact same thing under McClellan, Tippett, Woodcroft, and now Knoblauch. At most, this group will give the coach 12 months before they decide to do this. Doesn't matter how physical they are or aren't, doesn't matter who the coach is. This team will, no matter what, simply take weeks off and effectively be the worst team in the league for about a month each year.

I don't know how many more coaches we have to go through while seeing the exact same thing before its obvious that this is a massive cultural issue, not the coach failing to "rah rah" them enough.

 

[elmeroil]

Luckily the star goalie Skinner will get the next start!

 

[K1984]

Luckily the star goalie Skinner will get the next start!

Sadly, the best thing that could happen to the team is Skinner imploding.

A single strong start from him is going to give management and the media all the ammo they need to say "look, he's good again problem solved."

 

[Messrules11]

This group was fragile and did this exact same thing under McClellan, Tippett, Woodcroft, and now Knoblauch. At most, this group will give the coach 12 months before they decide to do this. Doesn't matter how physical they are or aren't, doesn't matter who the coach is. This team will, no matter what, simply take weeks off and effectively be the worst team in the league for about a month each year.

I don't know how many more coaches we have to go through while seeing the exact same thing before its obvious that this is a massive cultural issue, not the coach failing to "rah rah" them enough.

When you’re getting blown out in your own building most teams show some push back. But there we are acting ho hum, show some emotion ffs.

 

[K1984]

When you’re getting blown out in your own building most teams show some push back. But there we are acting ho hum, show some emotion ffs.

Welcome to 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and now 2025. We do this every single year, complete with zero pushback or emotion no matter how pathetic or embarrassing.

 

[Messrules11]

Welcome to 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and now 2025. We do this every single year, complete with zero pushback or emotion no matter how pathetic or embarrassing.

Pretty much, maybe Frederic and Kane will help drag this sorry bunch into the fight because Knobs no hit hockey sure as hell doesn’t.