Post-Game Talk: Holland dithers, Oilers lose

[Ibanez]

Where are the forwards? Easy to criticize the defensemen here, but a Nuge is boxed out by a forechecker, Connor is past the red line and who knows where the third forward is.

You aren’t wrong on this. Breakout is about everyone.

 

[GMofOilers]

You aren’t wrong on this. Breakout is about everyone.

Woodcroft would have EK ringing it up the boards to the forwards at the far blue line

 

[brentashton]

This has been one of my main takeaways lately. The forwards aren't getting back defensively. Too many odd man rushes where the forwards aren't actually covering for a pinching D, 3-on-2s because a forward makes a gamble at the offensive blueline with a minimal chance of success, and the opposing forward entering the zone finding a trailer (often the 4th man into the zone) who has beaten the Oilers forward up ice. If the forwards aren't doing their jobs defensively it makes it hard on the D.

The forwards are also flying the zone creating huge gaps so the breakout pass from the D is getting picked off too much. How many times did the Oilers turn the puck over in the neutral zone last night? The system needs to tighten up. Part of the reason for success when Woody took over last year was because the team was actually playing well defensively and was effective getting the breakout started with quick short passes.

Good observation. It’s been an issue for sometime. It still amazes me that so many of us that are arm chair coaches can see this happening. Obviously it’s there for other NHL teams to pick up on too. I’m not sure what Woodcroft is trying to accomplish with this system approach with the resources he has on that rosters. The defense struggles to make those type of precise tape to tape passes at that length, with pressure. I guess he’s trying to capitalize on skating speed of the forwards, but clearly the risk/reward isn’t working.

 

[Ibanez]

Good observation. It’s been an issue for sometime. It still amazes me that so many of us that are arm chair coaches can see this happening. Obviously it’s there for other NHL teams to pick up on too. I’m not sure what Woodcroft is trying to accomplish with this system approach with the resources he has on that rosters. The defense struggles to make those type of precise tape to tape passes at that length, with pressure. I guess he’s trying to capitalize on skating speed of the forwards, but clearly the risk/reward isn’t working.

Sometimes I think woody is more arrogant and stubborn than his personality projects.

I do wonder if he was super freaking annoyed about Vinny having to go down….

 

[GMofOilers]

I remember when Drai was a dominating force out on the ice, only seen a few games where he just doesnt move his feet.

This whole year he hasnt moved his feet, so lazy, doesnt want to back check, doesnt want to even move in the O zone, just stands in his spot, its bad.

At this point he is just a PP specialist, a pure product of the PP, and this isnt just a small sample size, this is 55 games into the season.

I miss the old Drai, have we seen peak Drai?

 

[brentashton]

Sometimes I think woody is more arrogant and stubborn than his personality projects.

I do wonder if he was super freaking annoyed about Vinny having to go down….

I just finished listening to 32Thoughts Friday Podcast and they were chatting about Woody’s lack of poker face the other day when he said that Yamo was playing last night.

It got me thinking exactly what you say, in retrospect, that perhaps the smugness was actually annoyance at what GMKH was having to do to accommodate Yamo‘s return.

If anything, last night puts pressure on GMKH to get the roster figured out post haste. I support Ken, but this has got be nailed down. I won’t say it cost them last night’s game, but I will contend that it impacted it negatively.

 

[HockeyGuy1964]

Up 4-1 after 1.
Lose 5-4 in a shootout.
HFBoard logic, blame the GM.

 

[Sanchez]

Up 3-0 and 4-1 and they lost. The saving grace is they are getting Bettman points. Can't believe how shitty they are in shootouts. Draisaitl attempt was terrible; missed the net! OT lately they can't seem to finish teams. Vinny better be back in lineup for next game; shouldn't have been sent down. Holloway too though he needs to play more and if it's down in Bakersfield instead of 4th line up here then so be it. Really frustrating past 2 weeks since all star break.

 

[ZJuice]

Up 4-1 after 1.
Lose 5-4 in a shootout.
HFBoard logic, blame the GM.

I see blame going everywhere.

Here’s my incomplete list of blames seen in the past 12 hours:
Holland screwed us with the cap situation that had us playing 11-6 (this seems like it would be a funny joke amongst other GM’s)
The locker room is dealing with flus/tummy bugs
Nurse
Ceci
Nurse-Ceci pairing
Bouchard
Barrie
Kulak
Draisaitl is hurt/lazy
Kane still healing (not blame but an excuse)
McDavid depressed because no Karlsson
Yams
Janmark
Woodcroft - big ego head, doesn’t know more than one breakout system, too weak on stars, practices are easy peasy
Manson - the D is trash in front of their net

 

[brentashton]

Up 4-1 after 1.
Lose 5-4 in a shootout.
HFBoard logic, blame the GM.

If you are referring to my post above, his roster move to remove a player who has performed well at playing shut down defence to get an injured forward player back in the lineup did have an impact on the game and outcome. They played a roster body short as well. I also posted that Woody break out system is frustrating and not working.I’m not blaming GMKH for the full on loss. There’s lots of that to go around coaching and execution. All I am saying is that it played a part and it would be good if the team could start removing some of these contributing factors, one by one.

 

[HockeyGuy1964]

If you are referring to my post above, his roster move to remove a player who has performed well at playing shut down defence to get an injured forward player back in the lineup did have an impact on the game and outcome. They played a roster body short as well. I also posted that Woody break out system is frustrating and not working.I’m not blaming GMKH for the full on loss. There’s lots of that to go around coaching and execution. All I am saying is that it played a part and it would be good if the team could start removing some of these contributing factors, one by one.

No, I'm talking about the poll & a bunch of responses on the 1st page.

 

[rboomercat90]

I just finished listening to 32Thoughts Friday Podcast and they were chatting about Woody’s lack of poker face the other day when he said that Yamo was playing last night.

It got me thinking exactly what you say, in retrospect, that perhaps the smugness was actually annoyance at what GMKH was having to do to accommodate Yamo‘s return.

If anything, last night puts pressure on GMKH to get the roster figured out post haste. I support Ken, but this has got be nailed down. I won’t say it cost them last night’s game, but I will contend that it impacted it negatively.

I’m wondering if (hoping) Holland needed to get Yamamoto back in the lineup because he’s working on a deal to move him out.

 

[Ibanez]

I just finished listening to 32Thoughts Friday Podcast and they were chatting about Woody’s lack of poker face the other day when he said that Yamo was playing last night.

It got me thinking exactly what you say, in retrospect, that perhaps the smugness was actually annoyance at what GMKH was having to do to accommodate Yamo‘s return.

If anything, last night puts pressure on GMKH to get the roster figured out post haste. I support Ken, but this has got be nailed down. I won’t say it cost them last night’s game, but I will contend that it impacted it negatively.

Time is definitely ticking to make the fixes needed.

I see blame going everywhere.

Here’s my incomplete list of blames seen in the past 12 hours:
Holland screwed us with the cap situation that had us playing 11-6 (this seems like it would be a funny joke amongst other GM’s)
The locker room is dealing with flus/tummy bugs
Nurse
Ceci
Nurse-Ceci pairing
Bouchard
Barrie
Kulak
Draisaitl is hurt/lazy
Kane still healing (not blame but an excuse)
McDavid depressed because no Karlsson
Yams
Janmark
Woodcroft - big ego head, doesn’t know more than one breakout system, too weak on stars, practices are easy peasy
Manson - the D is trash in front of their net

I mean that’s actually a pretty decent list. Good compilation hehe

Up 3-0 and 4-1 and they lost. The saving grace is they are getting Bettman points. Can't believe how shitty they are in shootouts. Draisaitl attempt was terrible; missed the net! OT lately they can't seem to finish teams. Vinny better be back in lineup for next game; shouldn't have been sent down. Holloway too though he needs to play more and if it's down in Bakersfield instead of 4th line up here then so be it. Really frustrating past 2 weeks since all star break.

Pretty sure his attempt was a direct “f*** you” to both woody and the league. He really hates the shootout

You have to think the league goes to 10 mins 3 v 3. There will be so few shootouts lol

 

[Lacaar]

The score was close but the game wasn't.

They haven't figured out how to break the 10 game cycle.

the game before Campbell cost them a point.. tonight he saved them one.

They just can't get a majority of the roster to play well for any stretch of hockey. It's just musical chairs of who and how many will have a poor showing. It takes a team to win but only a single player with a bad night to lose.

 

[RandomGuy79]

Up 4-1 after 1.
Lose 5-4 in a shootout.
HFBoard logic, blame the GM.

Yup, I blame our GM for not filling the obvious holes in our roster.

 

[Stoneman89]

Up 4-1 after 1.
Lose 5-4 in a shootout.
HFBoard logic, blame the GM.

I'm going to pick the 5-4 loss, as I'm pretty sure they don't give out any points for first period results. We played a man short the entire game. A game that went all the way to the 6th round of a shootout. Against a very tough opponent. Our top guys were burnt out by the end of the game. We've been forced to play an 11-7 system a lot of the season because our defence is so weak. Who's fault ultimately is this?

 

[brentashton]

No, I'm talking about the poll & a bunch of responses on the 1st page.

Understood. All good.

 

[SwedishFire]

The top six quit skating after the first period. Perhaps a leftover of being sick.


Ya, he's paid to be a 3rd/4th liner but is being forced to be a 2nd/3rd.

Same as Ceci. Paid to be a number 4, but is being forced to be a #2.

Barrie was ment to be the #2... but he and Nurse failed to hard.

If they get one more D like Chuchryn, then Barrie should go as #2

If a D is aquired, one D has also to go I think.

 

[ZJuice]

Rewatched the OT.
Nurse would be an incredible forward.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Just watched this game. Hmm.

I don't care about 3-on-3 overtimes or shootouts (just novelty nonsense; doesn't get you anywhere in playoffs), but the Oilers have to figure out two things:

1) How to defend a lead AT HOME
2) How to kill a penalty AT HOME

The Oilers are just a crappy team at home. 13 wins in 29 tries on home ice isn't good enough.

Finally, I don't get what Holland was thinking by throwing Yamamoto back in while people were sick. They ended up having to scratch Kostin and lost a player from the roster.

They clearly need Deharnais in the line-up, especially on the PK. And especially in a game vs. a high-scoring club like NYR.

Anyway, the good news is the Oilers are going on the road, where they're actually a good team.

So sitting yams also and going with 10 forwards and 6 D woulda been the answer?

 

[Messier11]

So stupid. Hate to thrown him under the boss after a generally good year last year, but what you did never saves you...it's what you are going to do.

Holland's screw up started in the summer. He didn't have a gun to his head to sign 13 or 56. Neither should be here. 56 really hasn't been here anyway. Had he not done that, we may have an extra $6M to do something with. Had we not signed Rem Murray we may have had a bit more. Just completely stupid. You figured he may have learned his lesson that he needed some money for the trade deadline rather than being in the position he is now in where he needs to use draft picks and prospects as his currency of choice.

This is NOT rocket science either. This is NOT a matter of 20/20 hindsight. An idiot could have understood this concept last summer. And to be stuck with the defence that we have, some attention needs to be given to Woodcroft and Manson. The same problem keeps popping up. If the personnel can't respond, then change some of the personnel or be more diligent in who you sign.

I hate to say this....the best thing that can happen here is they miss the playoffs and someone gets a sever butt whooping.

 

[Stoneman89]

Well, at least we're not collecting a bunch of pathetic Bettman loser points like the idiot team to the south of us.

 

[booyakasha]

I remember when Drai was a dominating force out on the ice, only seen a few games where he just doesnt move his feet.

This whole year he hasnt moved his feet, so lazy, doesnt want to back check, doesnt want to even move in the O zone, just stands in his spot, its bad.

At this point he is just a PP specialist, a pure product of the PP, and this isnt just a small sample size, this is 55 games into the season.

I miss the old Drai, have we seen peak Drai?

As long as we see peak Drai in the playoffs. I don't are that we have sub par Drai lately.

 

[Pass the Saitl Sauce]

This has been one of my main takeaways lately. The forwards aren't getting back defensively. Too many odd man rushes where the forwards aren't actually covering for a pinching D, 3-on-2s because a forward makes a gamble at the offensive blueline with a minimal chance of success, and the opposing forward entering the zone finding a trailer (often the 4th man into the zone) who has beaten the Oilers forward up ice. If the forwards aren't doing their jobs defensively it makes it hard on the D.

The forwards are also flying the zone creating huge gaps so the breakout pass from the D is getting picked off too much. How many times did the Oilers turn the puck over in the neutral zone last night? The system needs to tighten up. Part of the reason for success when Woody took over last year was because the team was actually playing well defensively and was effective getting the breakout started with quick short passes.

Too many times last night I noticed the forwards blowing the zone before our D even had possession, and the times our D got the puck it’s off the boards or intercepted. and mcdrai lines were the worst for this.

 

[9GWG9]

A few bounces and suspect/missed calls and viola.

Figure out who can score in the shootout bejeezus!