Post-Game Talk: Montreal - where the people are beautiful and Oilers hockey is ugly

[CupofOil]

Every week I keep saying the same thing about my fantasy football team, I have multiple top 10 guys at every position, and every week something comically goes wrong. At some point (like now) one just has to accept it’s one of those years. Not at that point with the Oilers yet, but 25% of the schedule being completed isn’t insignificant. Another 10 games of this puts me in real worry mode.

I agree, if we're headed towards Christmas or so and these scoring issues continue to persist then it'll be legit time to worry. With that said, they're still in the thick of the playoff race despite pretty much everything from special teams to scoring up front going wrong so I think they'll be fine.

 

[Soundwave]

Okay? Does that somehow excuse the lousy efforts?

I mean they had the Leafs game in the bag until Bouchard basically threw the game for the team and even then they fought back with an EN goal to at least get a point. That's on Bouchard, not team effort.

The Habs game is just a let down, but this team is in the middle of a massive offensive funk.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

I mean they had the Leafs game in the bag until Bouchard basically threw the game for the team and even then they fought back with an EN goal to at least get a point. That's on Bouchard, not team effort.

The Habs game is just a let down, but this team is in the middle of a massive offensive funk.

I honestly don't think they played all that great in Toronto. Even without Bouchard's mishaps they had a golden opportunity to put the Leafs away and just coasted through. They only showed urgency when they were losing.

The Leafs are at least a good team but getting shut out in Montreal is unacceptable.

 

[Soundwave]

I honestly don't think they played all that great in Toronto. Even without Bouchard's mishaps they had a golden opportunity to put the Leafs away and just coasted through. They only showed urgency when they were losing.

The Leafs are at least a good team but getting shut out in Montreal is unacceptable.

They were on their way to winning the Leafs game though, what do you want? Extra style points?

Bouchard threw that game in the garbage and he's lucky the team fought back and got a point.

It's basically PP execution and Bouchard that are the culprits in both losses, not effort.

 

[Stoneman89]

I'm not really seeing a lack of effort. I see teams reading the McDavid to Hyman plays and Knob is not countering with anything.

Our PP is doing the same exact thing from 15 games ago as it is now.

We're losing games because of this.

There is definitely a lack of effort and concentration at lot of times this year. The fact that we get next to nothing for PP's in the first place, speaks to not getting enough offensive zone play and simply not bearing down enough.

 

[guymez]

I agree, if we're headed towards Christmas or so and these scoring issues continue to persist then it'll be legit time to worry. With that said, they're still in the thick of the playoff race despite pretty much everything from special teams to scoring up front going wrong so I think they'll be fine.

I agree with this but the question for me is why is everything going wrong?
If the answer to that is because the team just hasnt been able to find consistent efforts then that bodes well.

Still though this team lost a significant amount of team speed from last year and it isnt going to be a faster team without changes.
The girt will get better once Kane gets back but even with Kane in the lineup this is a soft team.
That has to change as well.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

They were on their way to winning the Leafs game though, what do you want? Extra style points?

Bouchard threw that game in the garbage and he's lucky the team fought back and got a point.

It's basically PP execution and Bouchard that are the culprits in both losses, not effort.

I mean, you'd think they would've been a little angry about Nurse getting cheapshotted but... you know. And they've been blowing third period leads a lot lately. The results speak for themselves. Had they actually executed with some urgency, even while ahead, they win that game going away. Waiting until you're losing to start trying is not a strategy that's going to win you many games.

 

[CupofOil]

I agree with this but the question for me is why is everything going wrong?
If the answer to that is because the team just hasnt been able to find consistent efforts then that bodes well.

Still though this team lost a significant amount of team speed from last year and it isnt going to be a faster team without changes.
The girt will get better once Kane gets back but even with Kane in the lineup this is a soft team.
That has to change as well.

I think it's just a slump and bad luck, combined with guys not paying the price to get into prime scoring areas often enough. I think this will ramp up as we get into the meat of the season or.....maybe not I guess. Only time will tell but I can't imagine that the drought throughout the lineup from players that are universally better than this throughout their careers will continue.

Also, the Oilers will be getting what I presume to be a healthy and rejuvenated Kane back in the New Year. That's no small addition.

 

[Soundwave]

I mean, you'd think they would've been a little angry about Nurse getting cheapshotted but... you know. And they've been blowing third period leads a lot lately. The results speak for themselves. Had they actually executed with some urgency, even while ahead, they win that game going away. Waiting until you're losing to start trying is not a strategy that's going to win you many games.

McDavid got cross checked in the face last year in the playoffs and there was no response. That's Knoblaugh's philosophy. In fariness to him the Oilers did suffocate Vancouver's offense in game 6/7.

 

[guymez]

I think it's just a slump and bad luck, combined with guys not paying the price to get into prime scoring areas often enough. I think this will ramp up as we get into the meat of the season or.....maybe not I guess. Only time will tell but I can't imagine that the drought throughout the lineup from players that are universally better than this throughout their careers will continue.

Also, the Oilers will be getting what I presume to be a healthy and rejuvenated Kane back in the New Year. That's no small addition.

A healthy Kane will help team toughness for sure.
Still though I dont think its enough.

A lot of older players with slow boots as well. How much gas will they have left for the playoffs?

I posted in another thread the average age of the Oilers bottom 6.
Once the playoffs start the avergae age will be 35 years old.
I cant see that becoming a positive for the team moving into the playoffs.

 

[CupofOil]

A healthy Kane will help team toughness for sure.
Still though I dont think its enough.

A lot of older players with slow boots as well. How much gas will they have left for the playoffs?

I posted in another thread the average age of the Oilers bottom 6.
Once the playoffs start the avergae age will be 35 years old.
I cant see that becoming a positive for the team moving into the playoffs.

The age thing is overblown. Ryan and Perry bring the average age up a lot and they're only 4th liners. Everybody else is in their late 20s to early 30s so I highly doubt that every single forward turned into a fossil overnight. I'm really not concerned about scoring long term, goaltending and defense on the other hand....and I know the defense has been largely solid under Knoblauch but with Nurse out for a while and the defense even when healthy, I have concerns about it going into a playoff stretch as is.
Skinner, even though I've been a defender of his generally, what are we going to get from him? Who knows.

Also, Kane is not just a face puncher to help with team toughness. He's a 20+ goal scorer even when not fully healthy like most of last year. He'll be refreshed and ready to go, that's a big add even at his advanced age.

Edit: You were talking about the bottom 6 with the age thing but the top 6 has been the biggest issue. Hyman, RNH, Skinner and Arvidsson combining for 9 goals through 17 games is unsustainable.

 

[guymez]

The age thing is overblown. Ryan and Perry bring the average age up a lot and they're only 4th liners. Everybody else is in their late 20s to early 30s so I highly doubt that every single forward turned into a fossil overnight. I'm really not concerned about scoring long term, goaltending and defense on the other hand....and I know the defense has been largely solid under Knoblauch but with Nurse out for a while and the defense even when healthy, I have concerns about it going into a playoff stretch as is.
Skinner, even though I've been a defender of his generally, what are we going to get from him? Who knows.

Every single bottom 6 player is in their 30s with 3 of them being 35 or older.
How is that overblown?

 

[CupofOil]

Every single bottom 6 player is in their 30s with 3 of them being 35 or older.
How is that overblown?

I added this after you quoted it.

Edit: You were talking about the bottom 6 with the age thing but the top 6 has been the biggest issue. Hyman, RNH, Skinner and Arvidsson combining for 9 goals through 19 games is unsustainable.

 

[I am the Liquor]

If they are gassing another coach then McDavid, Draisaitl, Nurse and RNH should do the press conference and explain why they need a new coach every season.

Sure, then they can say it’s probably because we don’t have a goalie

 

[guymez]

I added this after you quoted it.

Edit: You were talking about the bottom 6 with the age thing but the top 6 has been the biggest issue. Hyman, RNH, Skinner and Arvidsson combining for 9 goals through 19 games is unsustainable.

Yes...I would say that the top 6 is a bigger issue for sure.
That said I dont think we can pretend that the bottom 6 isnt an issue.

Safe to say that there are multiple issues with this team.
Perhaps we can agree on that.