Oilers now 13-12-1: THE THREAD THAT'S FUN FOR EVERYONE

[ffh]

Just relocate them to Houston already….

That would be the 2nd oiler team to leave Houston eventually if this happens.

 

[HockeyVirus]

Damn, oilers have been getting ripped on a ton already this season on these boards.

I love giving it to them as much as the next guy, but it’s only been a handful of games, give them a break.

You weren't on here over the offseason were you? Anyone whoquestioned them as anything other than cup favorites were ripped on.

 

[57special]

Well, as a MN fan I am not going to gloat, with our playoff record. EDM is one of those teams that has enough talent to make the playoffs, if not more than that, but they lack any semblance of commitment to D right now. Year after year after year you hear their fans complain about how they never have a good goalie, or enough defensive D, but you'd think that the penny would drop, and they would realize that playing balls out offense, and cheating on D, is not a recipe for success. Even the old Gretzky Oilers always had some good defensive players like Kurri, Tikannen, Messier.

The team responded to Woodcroft last year, but if this goes on they'll have to fire him and get a guy who will install a defensive system, rather than let the big two run the team. Trotz is the type of guy needed, though he's otherwise engaged, but someone like him, who has enough cachet to demand respect from the players.

McDavid and Draisaitl's stats would take a hit, but they would still get loads of points on the PP. I know that players like Hyman, McLeod, Ekholm, and RNH would respond to a defensive approach is asked, maybe even Nurse(who is talented, but lost right now). The big question(s) are;

1- Will Mcdavid sacrifice his stats(a bit) and play a D conscious game?

2- Will Drai do the same?

 

[Score08]

Tanking for bedards cousin.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

People have short memories. For large chunks of the last two seasons even the Oiler fanbase was wondering if they would make the playoffs, well into the season. Example, last year on March 11 they were pacing as a 97 point team, which would be 2 points more than the last playoff qualifier. They then took 29/30 points and people only remember the end point total. In that span they also had 7 games against bottom 5 teams.

They are a very Jekyl and Hyde team. They'll have a terrible quarter of a season, then a world beater quarter of a season. Some game changers allows them to cover some warts but not really cover them, succeed despite them. They'll be a playoff team again this year, prone to swings.

 

[LivingRentFree]

Luckily for the Oilers they happen to be in the worst division in sports. Now pair that with the amount of powerplays they are about to be spoon fed, you’ll see a quick turn around. The league wants McNugget and Frysaitl to get their points.

 

[banks]

They're a flawed team. Without McDavid, they're a bad and flawed team.

Yes, there's a chance they miss the playoffs.

 

[Cup or Bust]

Every team goes through a slump every season, it could be that the Oilers are having their slump right now or maybe their problems will continue. Time will tell. I don't think they will miss the playoffs but the point of this season should not be just to make the playoffs anyway. Even if they make the playoffs if they cannot improve their defense/goaltending the season is still a failure.

 

[MCR74]

You weren't on here over the offseason were you? Anyone whoquestioned them as anything other than cup favorites were ripped on.

This.

 

[thefutures]

Atleast the Oilers dismantled on of the best calgary teams in recent memory... guess they can always hang their hat on that

 

[VivaLasVegas]

You weren't on here over the offseason were you? Anyone who questioned them as anything other than cup favorites were ripped on.

Tru dat. The expressions of optimism ("Cup Or Bust!") were hard to understand, since this is basically the same Oilers team whose putrid defense was exposed in last season's playoffs.

Recalling Einstein's definition of stupidity as being the repeating of the same experiment and expecting a different result.

 

[jackjohnson]

This is pretty much every team's thoughts. "If we can just trade away this overpaid and over rated player for an unrealistic return, our team will be great". Problem is that Garland is not returning a top 4D man.

Did not say trade only Garland to get top 4D it's more about cap space for Canucks. Garland and Myers should get traded to accomodate that trade.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Division is still pretty bad, they should be able to pick up some points throughout the year pretty easily

 

[Sasha Orlov]

I hear they’re relocating

 

[jackjohnson]

Way too early in the season to do a post-mortem.

Well the Oilers seem to not have shown any signs of improving so it's not too early imo. If they go 1-10-1 they might as well kiss the playoffs goodbye. They haven't even faced a challenging team yet and McDavid is injured. I would be worried if am an Oilers fan. Canucks fans also were like this last season, saying its too early when we had a bad start and then we missed the playoffs. Better to get a good head start then to play catch-up late in the season.

Division is still pretty bad, they should be able to pick up some points throughout the year pretty easily

You say that confidently when they got spanked twice by those terrible Canucks lol Also LA and Vegas are not too shabby.

 

[jackjohnson]

Luckily for the Oilers they happen to be in the worst division in sports. Now pair that with the amount of powerplays they are about to be spoon fed, you’ll see a quick turn around. The league wants McNugget and Frysaitl to get their points.

Not sure why people say Pacific is the worst division. Central has Colorado and what else?? Minny? Dallas? Winnipeg?? Chicago and Nashville are not good at all. Last season Pacific division teams made it far in playoffs.

 

[REALTALK81]

Panicking way too early on this. Oilers make the playoffs. This team is talking cup or bust and despite the early returns, they are determined to make some noise in the post season.

 

[BCNate]

McDavid is likely out for the next 4 or 5 games. They could be in a bit of trouble after that if they can't win a few of those games. Already 11 points behind Vegas, they will already be tough to catch. Vancouver is a much better team than last year, LA looks good as expected. As a Canucks fan, I am too well aware of how hard it is to make up ground once you fall behind early. Not saying they are in desperation mode, but the next few weeks are pretty big, especially if they don't get some wins on the board. You don't want to find yourself 10-12 points out in November.

The Oilers have the D and Goaltending of a rebuilding team, they should be a playoff team, but all that cup contender hype is nuts.

 

[LivingRentFree]

Not sure why people say Pacific is the worst division. Central has Colorado and what else?? Minny? Dallas? Winnipeg?? Chicago and Nashville are not good at all. Last season Pacific division teams made it far in playoffs.

Minny and Dallas are both good teams. Nashville is always a playoff threat.

 

[McOvechking]

I know it’s joked about a lot but if this keeps up players will start wanting out for real. No one’s playing in Edmonton for any reason other than to win a cup.

 

[jackjohnson]

Well, as a MN fan I am not going to gloat, with our playoff record. EDM is one of those teams that has enough talent to make the playoffs, if not more than that, but they lack any semblance of commitment to D right now. Year after year after year you hear their fans complain about how they never have a good goalie, or enough defensive D, but you'd think that the penny would drop, and they would realize that playing balls out offense, and cheating on D, is not a recipe for success. Even the old Gretzky Oilers always had some good defensive players like Kurri, Tikannen, Messier.

The team responded to Woodcroft last year, but if this goes on they'll have to fire him and get a guy who will install a defensive system, rather than let the big two run the team. Trotz is the type of guy needed, though he's otherwise engaged, but someone like him, who has enough cachet to demand respect from the players.

McDavid and Draisaitl's stats would take a hit, but they would still get loads of points on the PP. I know that players like Hyman, McLeod, Ekholm, and RNH would respond to a defensive approach is asked, maybe even Nurse(who is talented, but lost right now). The big question(s) are;

1- Will Mcdavid sacrifice his stats(a bit) and play a D conscious game?

2- Will Drai do the same?

I don't even think if Drai and McDavid focus defensively it will solve anything. You mentioned Nurse as being defensively responsible which is laughable as he is anything but that. Nurse, Ceci, Kulak, Bouchard and Desharnais are very mediocre in terms of playing defensively. Ekholm is the only one that is competent. Add to that the fact woodyboy doesn't employ a defensive first system and doesn't have everyone play defense as a committee or a 5 man unit when on the ice and you see the results you see today. All the goals scored shows couple of Oilers on ice always being clueless when it happens. The coach is also at fault imo. They need to change their coach first, get a good defensive system or structure and have players buy in and from there remove the players that don't fit into that system. That's how you improve the team but too bad GM Holland is also clueless regarding that. And as long as they have Campbell and Skinner as their goalie duo, they won't get far in playoffs. They should also look for a legit number 1 goalie not another backup.

 

[BKarchitect]

Not sure why people say Pacific is the worst division. Central has Colorado and what else?? Minny? Dallas? Winnipeg?? Chicago and Nashville are not good at all. Last season Pacific division teams made it far in playoffs.

Dallas is a powerhouse - right up there with Vegas and Colorado. Incredibly deep and experienced roster with frontline players at every level. They haven’t lost in regulation yet either

 

[Sergei Shirokov]

Woodcroft has been on the team for 1.5 seasons - it'd be pretty shocking they'd fire him after less than 2 seasons - especially with the same GM.

It's possible Holland gets fired and the new GM cleans house but it would be pretty surprising that Woodcroft gets hired and doesn't even last 2 seasons (after going to the 3rd and 2nd round).

I'm not advocating it, Woodcroft is the most likeable guy the Oilers have, but if your a supposed "cup contender" thats pissing the season away then a coaching change is the easiest way to shake things up. It'll take awhile longer to get to that point though.

I mean I can imagine them missing, but I can also imagine me winning the lottery..... so it's more of a day dream than a serious probability.

One can hope

 

[missionAvs]

Ehhh this is just a hot streak. They'll come back down to earth here soon.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

A team that wasn't good enough last year added Connor Brown, shrugged, and packed it in for the summer.

Nobody anywhere thought they'd be this bad, but there's an awful lot not going right at the moment. It'll come around but the question is do they make a stupid trade or fire someone before it does.

One thing the Oilers organization doesn't react well to is public embarrassment. If the Heritage Classic goes poorly on Sunday, I think we'll see a reaction.