Post-Game Talk: Oilers 4 Sharks 3 - Hitch a ride to McDavid

[Ritchie Valens]

Holy ****, Hitch's comments about Leon and Mclellan's comments of him are night and day.

Mclellan: "Leon sometimes skates only for Leon and not the team"

Hitchcock: "Leon has dynamic hands, he makes soft plays for a big guy and that's an awesome player to work with"

I was just going to comment on the same thing.

What a night and day difference. So refreshing to hear a coach actually compliment the skillset of his guys. So refreshing to hear a coach say a player needs to stop worrying about what he's not doing and go back to what made him successful.

 

[ghostnights]

Really pumped on his outlook

 

[Ritchie Valens]

Just to add ... the net effect of Hitchcock putting McDavid out there so often in the third is it forced DeBoer to continually use Vlasic-Braun instead of Burns and Karlsson. Burns ended up under 20 minutes tonight as a result of that.

It's been a while since we've had a coach who could single handedly change the course of a game by outcoaching his opponent. Enjoy it while it lasts.

No way. Three year extension for Hitch coming today.

 

[elmeroil]

I'll just leave this here....

 

[elmeroil]

I think Ethan Bear could excel under Hitch.

 

[WIOiler]

If I caught it right he was demoted from 2nd pair to 3rd pair as the game went on. I don't think Garrison is solution to 3rd pair either but Benning shouldn't be regular.

We need a 6th and 7th guy for sure. Benning and Garrison won't last with Hitch. At least he won't be afraid to replace them, I hope. I don't know with who (Bear?, Bouchard?, Jones?)

 

[ZJuice]

I know Hitchcock has this reputation of an extreme hard ass that makes you work or you get flogged to death.. but I don’t see it!

To me he seems like a quiet and reserved man. Does he send threats telepathically?

 

[Soliloquy of a Dogge]

I know Hitchcock has this reputation of an extreme hard ass that makes you work or you get flogged to death.. but I don’t see it!

To me he seems like a quiet and reserved man. Does he send threats telepathically?

It's that scary 'A' word we heard so much about. But one that never had any weight behind it because Todd refused to hold himself accountable for anything.

It amazes me that a couple posters are even comparing Todd's usage of Connor to Hitchcock's. The way he deployed McDavid in the 3rd was so refreshing and forced the Sharks to react. Teams never had to react to anything we did with Todd behind the bench because, well, we never did anything. In period adjustments, in between period adjustments... what kind of voodoo is this.

On another note, I do really hope the Sharks fire DeBoer and bring back Todd. I know it won't happen but that would be hilarious.

 

[StupidGenius]

We need a 6th and 7th guy for sure. Benning and Garrison won't last with Hitch. At least he won't be afraid to replace them, I hope. I don't know with who (Bear?, Bouchard?, Jones?)

Can't be Bouchard. Sending him to junior is a one way trip.

 

[GMofOilers]

Heard Bear got banged up again last night.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Can't be Bouchard. Sending him to junior is a one way trip.

Unless we are in the playoffs longer than London...

 

[Paralyzer]

I didn't get a chance to watch the game, but reading on here, it seems Hitchcock has already put some positives into the game. Took him 4 shifts to coach? That's pretty crazy lol. I hope he can really set the tone for the players. We definitely need a better structure under him and I do like the "Buy in or get shipped out" motto. I mean, it sucks for guys like Rattie and Benning and others who were treated like AHL fodder, but players need to be on their A Game. Enough of the coasting and assuming we'd win a game. I want to see us go full-out on every team from here on in.

 

[soothsayer]

Here I am, a wet blanket: there is just no way Hitchock had a measurable effect on the team's system last night. Maybe the team had some extra jump, but I'm kind of shaking my head at the notion that he came in like Mickey Mouse in Fantasia and started magically setting things right. The guy didn't even know players' names. I'd give it until after this road trip before making a judgement on his initial effect.

 

[trent_vinyl]

I'm still confused how Lucic had a great game. Is it by 4th line standards?

He had 2 SOG tonight, one was when he made a zone entry (surprisingly) and instantly tried a weak harmless slapshot. The other was on the same shift where his stone hands failed to convert a crease scramble. Other than that he was pretty dull. Still giving the puck away, still skating in molasses.

Wow, I thought he skated and competed extremely hard. He showed decent speed at times and worked hard on the back check. If he keeps playing like this, the goals will come.

 

[McJadeddog]

This team needs to be better with its 11 seconds of PP. Like come on..

Yeah, I'm surprised more people aren't talking about this. San Jose played a pretty clean game actually, so I'm not gonna say the refs were terrible or anything, full marks for San Jose for playing above board. But it is pretty rare that a team gets 11 seconds of PP time in a game.

 

[McJadeddog]

Top pair kinda struggled out there tonight. Couldn't make any breakout passes, instead constantly shooting it out off the boards, and got beat a couple times. 3rd pairing also pretty bad.

Anyway, glad we got the first win right off the bat for the Hitch.

McDavid is so good, he totally went for that bank-in OT winner. Who needs luck when you're pure skill.

Kinda? lol. The only good pairing was the Nurse/Russel pairing, they had a lot of jump. The 1st and 3rd pairings were god-awful.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Nice to see them respond to all the news and what not with a win. I didn't see much, I assume we'll see a more focused and competitive team going forward.

Also nice that McDavid is just the best. I assume that Hitch saw McDavid & Draisaitl in OT and was thinking "Nice, so basically automatic OT wins here"

 

[Frank the Tank]

Holy ****, Hitch's comments about Leon and Mclellan's comments of him are night and day.

Mclellan: "Leon sometimes skates only for Leon and not the team"

Hitchcock: "Leon has dynamic hands, he makes soft plays for a big guy and that's an awesome player to work with"

I know Hitchcock has this reputation of an extreme hard ass that makes you work or you get flogged to death.. but I don’t see it!

To me he seems like a quiet and reserved man. Does he send threats telepathically?

That has always been Hitchcock's way - he'll grind you down on the ice and then throw roses on your grave. That phrase goes back to the '90s when, outside of 1997, the Stars would beat the Oilers early in the playoffs, and Hitchcock would say afterwards (to the Edmonton media) that it might be the Stars toughest series of the playoffs.

He knows how to play the Oilers beat writers and fans. I think he'll be tough on guys like Draisaitl and McDavid, and it will be for their best.

 

[McJadeddog]

As good as Koskinen played, he didn’t help his stats tonight finishing .880.

No, but were you concerned about the goalie at all? Now imagine how the players feel. "Net presence" is a real thing.

 

[Kranix]

That has always been Hitchcock's way - he'll grind you down on the ice and then throw roses on your grave. That phrase goes back to the '90s when, outside of 1997, the Stars would beat the Oilers early in the playoffs, and Hitchcock would say afterwards (to the Edmonton media) that it might be the Stars toughest series of the playoffs.

He knows how to play the Oilers beat writers and fans. I think he'll be tough on guys like Draisaitl and McDavid, and it will be for their best.

Or when he kept saying Robert Esche played great, Robert Esche played great. Wish I could find a clip of that.

 

[McJadeddog]

Bear was a liability last year in his own zone, he's worse than benning in his own zone.

Yeah, Benning is pretty bad, and has some major gaffs (as he did again last night), but Bear was absolutely terrible in his own end last year. Yes, his break out pass is 100 times better than Benning's, and yes, he can be used on the PP somewhat, but the rest of his game needs some pretty major seasoning. Let him sit in the AHL for the majority, or all, of the year. We're not winning anything this year anyhow.

 

[Frank the Tank]

Yeah, I'm surprised more people aren't talking about this. San Jose played a pretty clean game actually, so I'm not gonna say the refs were terrible or anything, full marks for San Jose for playing above board. But it is pretty rare that a team gets 11 seconds of PP time in a game.

Pavelski alone earned two easy calls against McDavid that the refs ignored. I can let that slide when they put away the whistles for both teams, but they made similar calls against the Oilers.

 

[thadd]

I dunno.....McDavids defense looked like it has regressed a bit in overtime there.

The way the puck went back and forth and back and forth and back and in for the OT winner really reminded me of the 80's. The game had 100% of my attention and I had no clue what was going on till the puck was in the back of the net. Looked like Drai and McDavid we're pushing the pace a bit too hard for them to control the puck or do anything with it but alas we get one of the most awesome plays of the week.

Pretty sure that was Klefbom on the ice with them. Whoever it was I was laughing as he was so far behind on the play that it seemed like it took an eon for him to catch up with them to celebrate the goal.

 

[harpoon]

One of the worst experiences of my life was dealing with Sharks fans during the playoffs.

I lived in SJ for a year back in the nineties. Can’t speak to current time, but back then the Shark Tank was a rink with a great atmosphere and the fans, while they didn’t seem to know a lot about hockey, were very friendly and loud.

 

[Shathar]

I know Hitchcock has this reputation of an extreme hard ass that makes you work or you get flogged to death.. but I don’t see it!

To me he seems like a quiet and reserved man. Does he send threats telepathically?

Take a look at that picture of him above. Look into his eyes. you tell me.

 

[McJadeddog]

That post game interview with Hitch was ridiculously good. Damn.

lol, yeah he didn't stop smiling. I don't like the hire on the whole, as its just shuffling deck chairs on a sinking ship, and he won't be here next year once Chia is fired. But it's nice seeing a guy fulfill what was probably a lifelong dream to coach the Oilers.