Post-Game Talk: Poor discipline and poor reffing is a bad combination

[BlackDogg]

 

[Bryanbryoil]

No joke. Just pass it around in the d zone until the kings push.

Get a one goal lead and don’t move the puck up until the pressure comes.

1-3-1 will get solved right away. Not sure why more coaches don’t do this.

The fans booing the oilers not moving up quickly was hilarious. Just a dumb fan base

That really took the cake. The Kings are doing the equivalent of a rope a dope and their fans are booing us for a lack of action? f***ing clowns.

If there's no room to skate up, start firing pucks at their players in the neutral zone. Make them pay for playing that type of hockey. The flip side would be icing the puck more when you have your best faceoff guys on the ice. Play Bjugstad with McDavid, ice the puck and then try to win the draw and start a quick transition. It's not ideal to start in your own end, but if you can't get through the 1-3-1 at ES you have to be creative.

 

[Drivesaitl]

The 'Bettman" conspiracy is just ridiculous. Go on basically any teams board on any given night and you will read the exact same whining and complaining as you have here.

"Bettman wants us to lose", "The refs have something against us", blah, blah, blah

I honestly can't believe the amount of people who actually think the league doesn't want to promote McDavid further for the sport. Get a grip people and use some common sense

Oh, and if the Oil do actually lose this series, no doubt the cut and paste coach excuses the every other coach from the dawn of time has been attributed to, Woody will also, as if he's the only coach who does this while ALL the other team's coaches NEVER do this

Has it occurred to you that the NHL may just want long series and more games? Look around. Its what they get. More gate, more TV slots, more advertising. First round NHL playoffs has been seen by league and owners as just an automatic cash cow. Only thing that surprises me is they don't run to a 24 playoff team format but I'm sure that kind of thing is in the mail.

NHL taking its cues from the WC. "hey lets just have 48 teams in here in the WC and people will soak it up"

Three hosts, 48 teams and 104 games: How the 2026 FIFA World Cup will work | DAZN News US

The North American-based tournament will be the biggest one yet.

www.dazn.com

Gee, I wonder why they're doing this..

 

[BlackDogg]

I've seen every angle of it now I think and I don't think there was high stick contact on that play. It was a good goal

I'm not even mad about that.goal it's the rest of the game

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Oilers definitely got the raw deal of the refs so far, but it wasn't from a memo that was delivered in a briefcase handcuffed to an agent who later shredded it in a remote and dark office

That’s fair I agree.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

If the NHL was 1/10th as popular as the NBA in the States, there would be a betting scandal uncovered that puts the Tim Donaghy investigation to shame. Ever since Bettman mandated artificial parity in the NHL in order to ensure American teams received the benefit of the doubt and then some, this league hasn't even tried to hide its blatant match fixing. He goes on and on and on about parity which is hilarious to me as there is no professional sports league in the world with 20+ teams where it should exist to this degree if things are actually legitimate. Yes, hockey has more random luck based occurences in it than other sports but not to this degree.

And now with the all-out gambling push that you can't go a second without seeing when watching an NHL game, we're not supposed to believe what's in front of our own eyes when refs clearly have a mandate to call the game differently depending on the team playing? Los Angeles' hockey team is pathetic... an unskilled, embellishing, boring as f*** squad that would have no chance of attracting new fans in a non-traditional market. The NHL is either too lazy or too inept to actually make a franchise like that appeal to demographics in a market where they are option number 10 or 12 so they take the easy and illegal way out instead.

All sports leagues are corrupt to an extent but this one is next level. Gary Bettman needs to be removed before it will ever improve.

It's hilarious that people will claim an NHL game couldn't be rigged because "lolz just no way it could be" when it was literally proven in court that NBA games were rigged. A ref in a much more popular sport actually went to jail for betting on games, back when betting was 1% as accessible and plentiful as it is today.

You can anonymously place a bet with crypto currency on your phone in 30 seconds using an offshore sportsbook. Any ref with half a brain is never going to get caught, but I wait with delight for the first stupid one to trip over his dick. Arguably Andy Van Hellemond shaking down refs pre-game for cash to cover gambling debts should have been the NHL's first Donaghy scandal, but the NHL and the media that licks their bag did a great job of making that story vanish in a week.

 

[McBigYak]

I’m not one for conspiracy theories but I am leaning toward the refs not wanting to give us special team advantage due to our historic power play, McDavid factor and the need to create maximum views by having a 6 or 7 game series where all the games are close.

I have rarely seen a team cave in another team 5 on 5 and lose out on power plays. This whole season, (counting regular season and postseason) the best we have done against LA in terms of power play advantage has been to tie them in power plays. The league wants this to be a close series and rivalry and they’ve done a good job of that so far. Draisaitl stated it nicely when he mentioned that he doesn’t know what the standard is anymore in regard to penalties in this postseason. It’s a different rule book when facing the Kings. We can’t have the special teams advantage as that would be an auto win for us and likely a 4 or 5 game series.

Draisaitl knows there is a standard to not slash a guy and scream in his face after you've scored a goal.

It's a bullshit penalty, but he knows that COULD be called. So why do it? Dumb. Beyond dumb.

 

[BlackDogg]

I've seen every angle of it now I think and I don't think there was high stick contact on that play. It was a good goal

I think it does now looking at this. Right near the end.

 

[Heavy Dee]

Not that is needs rehashing but this is the best clip I have seen.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I’ve been an insane hockey nut since birth but I am feeling the same, to the point where I’m considering this coming year as being the last year I hold season tickets.

I’ve simply lost faith in the integrity of the game.

For me the domino fell with the CFL. So many results seemed contrived and with a pass interference flag in that sport you can entirely make winners and losers. Throw one team 2-3 favorable calls and it makes for an easy 10pt or more swing. If its an endzone PI put the ball on the 1.

Plus the sticker price doesn't match with the league quality and I can't support that name change for anything.

Just wait till the Oilers are renamed Edmonton Green Energy thingy

 

[elmeroil]

I’ve been an insane hockey nut since birth but I am feeling the same, to the point where I’m considering this coming year as being the last year I hold season tickets.

I’ve simply lost faith in the integrity of the game.

Yeah I feel you 100%. When I lived in Edmonton between 98 - 2012 I went to so many games. Even when they were a 7th 8th place team it was so fun. The 06 run was amazing and then of course we had the bad years.

The horrible video review vs the Ducks in round 2 still pisses me off and then everything reffs/reviews since. They have really screwed up the league/game. I've consistently stayed up late in Ontario to watch but the desire has been fading. It really is a shame having McDavid and Drai and experiencing this now.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

Not that is needs rehashing but this is the best clip I have seen.

When Grapes is calling out the refs, you know it's bad.

 

[Da McBomb]

Gonna be hard to win this series trying to beat the Kings, refs, and the NHL war room.... and with Nuge, Hyman, and Kane MIA

 

[belair]

I’m not one for conspiracy theories but I am leaning toward the refs not wanting to give us special team advantage due to our historic power play, McDavid factor and the need to create maximum views by having a 6 or 7 game series where all the games are close.

I have rarely seen a team cave in another team 5 on 5 and lose out on power plays. This whole season, (counting regular season and postseason) the best we have done against LA in terms of power play advantage has been to tie them in power plays. The league wants this to be a close series and rivalry and they’ve done a good job of that so far. Draisaitl stated it nicely when he mentioned that he doesn’t know what the standard is anymore in regard to penalties in this postseason. It’s a different rule book when facing the Kings. We can’t have the special teams advantage as that would be an auto win for us and likely a 4 or 5 game series.

If we were given the benefit of doubt and penalties were called legitimately based on the flow of the game, this series would be 3-0 based on the success of our PP just in this series.

A 5v3 from the Doughty hit would've iced the game. A goal that would've put us up 3 in game one? Curtains. But that isn't what puts people on the edge of their seats in the American markets.

No conspiracies. Just game management. And one ref has already been caught on a hot mic admitting to its existence.

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

There is no Bettman conspiracy. That type of shit is where it gets silly.

But the reffing is horrible. No doubt about it.

That said, Oilers have had plenty of opportunities to remove reffing from the game. Their wingers in the top 6 have been absolutely useless. Every one of them. Kane, Yamo, Nuge, Hyman. Nuge costs the team the game yesterday with a dumb, dumb slashing penalty that he knows is going to get called 100% of the time.

Even though Draisaitls unsportsmanlike conduct was a f***ing awful call, why do it? Like you know the reffing is a joke, so why even put it in their hands?

The reffing is not going to change. So change the variables that you can and stop taking bonehead, ridiculous f***ing penalties or you lose the series. It's pretty simple.

Blaming the refs is a sack of shit excuse from a team that should be better. The officiating is bad league wide. This is not an isolated issue to the Oilers.

The league is run by millionaire owners.

How do you think you get to be a millionaire? By obsessing over profits.

The first thing Gary wanted to do was make the NHL more entertaining -and dynamic and basically more like Basketball-- due in part to concussions I assume---but also due to NBA having massive network deals that the NHL wanted to get into.

So they expanded the league and started the parity wagon and fiddled with crap to try and open up the ice and favour American market revenues as much as they could to get the network contracts.

Now they are looking at the NFL fantasy and gambling revenues and trying to keep parity for that too? Maybe?

Oh well. Maybe one day millionaires will learn to care about integrity---but thats not how you get to that position.

 

[Drivesaitl]

It's hilarious that people will claim an NHL game couldn't be rigged because "lolz just no way it could be" when it was literally proven in court that NBA games were rigged. A ref in a much more popular sport actually went to jail for betting on games, back when betting was 1% as accessible and plentiful as it is today.

You can anonymously place a bet with crypto currency on your phone in 30 seconds using an offshore sportsbook. Any ref with half a brain is never going to get caught, but I wait with delight for the first stupid one to trip over his dick. Arguably Andy Van Hellemond shaking down refs pre-game for cash to cover gambling debts should have been the NHL's first Donaghy scandal, but the NHL and the media that licks their bag did a great job of making that story vanish in a week.

Several NFL players for decades have been speaking openly about game rigging and fixing and all that seems to create is more interest and people spending thousands of bucks to go to a superbowl to see Rihanna dance around in a Teletubby outfit while the whole broadcast lectures about false virtue. The shark jump went right into orbit

"Theres one born every"

People just lining up saying take all my money.

If you're an older person you've even seen in one lifetime how pro sports went to a middle class thing and taking the family out to see a game, eat hot dogs, and cheap entertainment and family bonding. Now its take out a mortgage on house, buy STH or playoff tickets, spend more on parking then games used to cost. Spend more on a beer than a hockey ticket would cost, and then be in an environment that resembles bar except you paid tons to be in that shit show atmosphere instead of just walking in for free.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

It's hilarious that people will claim an NHL game couldn't be rigged because "lolz just no way it could be" when it was literally proven in court that NBA games were rigged. A ref in a much more popular sport actually went to jail for betting on games, back when betting was 1% as accessible and plentiful as it is today.

You can anonymously place a bet with crypto currency on your phone in 30 seconds using an offshore sportsbook. Any ref with half a brain is never going to get caught, but I wait with delight for the first stupid one to trip over his dick. Arguably Andy Van Hellemond shaking down refs pre-game for cash to cover gambling debts should have been the NHL's first Donaghy scandal, but the NHL and the media that licks their bag did a great job of making that story vanish in a week.

I've said it once and I'll say it again.

Watch "Flagrant Foul" which is the Tim Donaghy documentary then ask yourself after if there could even be a 25% chance of this happening or something similar happening in the NHL.

Guaranteed it'll be more like 90% or higher.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Not that is needs rehashing but this is the best clip I have seen.

Is that a tweet from the actual Don Cherry?

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Yeah I feel you 100%. When I lived in Edmonton between 98 - 2012 I went to so many games. Even when they were a 7th 8th place team it was so fun. The 06 run was amazing and then of course we had the bad years.

The horrible video review vs the Ducks in round 2 still pisses me off and then everything reffs/reviews since. They have really screwed up the league/game. I've consistently stayed up late in Ontario to watch but the desire has been fading. It really is a shame having McDavid and Drai and experiencing this now.

Yep. I used to follow the other teams closely, hockey pools, the whole bit. Now just the Oilers and with sports gambling taking over and Bettman only interested in propping up franchise values while telling us the game is in a good place, well my time is slowly coming to an end. If the sport doesn’t have integrity it’s just theatrics on ice.

 

[T-Funk]

Even the TV replays we had access to immediately show the arc interrupted. Reaaaaaallly basic physics taught in Grade 9/10? Wait...do refs have to complete High School? (Before anyone gets upset, I don't care if people finish HS or not, just that they could have missed vital knowledge for this goal review)

 

[Weitz]

We’d still be leading this series if our top 6 wingers showed up.

Unfortunately because they haven’t and the terrible officiating we are losing and will lose the series if they don’t do anything. Hyman, Kane, RNH, and yamo have been absolutely terrible. Mcdavid hasn’t been good either but he can’t do it all.

 

[BlackDogg]

 

[McBigYak]

The league is run by millionaire owners.

How do you think you get to be a millionaire? By obsessing over profits.

The first thing Gary wanted to do was make the NHL more entertaining -and dynamic and basically more like Basketball-- due in part to concussions I assume---but also due to NBA having massive network deals that the NHL wanted to get into.

So they expanded the league and started the parity wagon and fiddled with crap to try and open up the ice and favour American market revenues as much as they could to get the network contracts.

Now they are looking at the NFL fantasy and gambling revenues and trying to keep parity for that too? Maybe?

Oh well. Maybe one day millionaires will learn to care about integrity---but thats not how you get to that position.

The oilers have consistently been a top 5-8 team in terms of operating income in the National Hockey League over the last while. To suggest the league is unfair to Canadian teams because they want bigger US markets still in the playoffs is a bit odd, considering teams like Toronto/Montreal/Edmonton are some of the highest earners in the league.

If this is about profits, the NHL would do well to KEEP Edmonton and Toronto in the playoffs. Yet, both fanbases think there is some conspiracy theory here to eliminate them.

The reffing is awful, don't get me wrong. But this isn't some screw job organized by the league. The conspiracy theory shit is just embarrassing and a bad look for the fanbases of both teams. The Oilers did it to themselves last night.

 

[bobbythebrain]

Has it occurred to you that the NHL may just want long series and more games? Look around. Its what they get. More gate, more TV slots, more advertising. First round NHL playoffs has been seen by league and owners as just an automatic cash cow. Only thing that surprises me is they don't run to a 24 playoff team format but I'm sure that kind of thing is in the mail.

NHL taking its cues from the WC. "hey lets just have 48 teams in here in the WC and people will soak it up"

Three hosts, 48 teams and 104 games: How the 2026 FIFA World Cup will work | DAZN News US

The North American-based tournament will be the biggest one yet.

www.dazn.com

Gee, I wonder why they're doing this..

Has it occurred to you that the NHL may just want long series and more games? Look around. Its what they get. More gate, more TV slots, more advertising. First round NHL playoffs has been seen by league and owners as just an automatic cash cow. Only thing that surprises me is they don't run to a 24 playoff team format but I'm sure that kind of thing is in the mail.

NHL taking its cues from the WC. "hey lets just have 48 teams in here in the WC and people will soak it up"

Three hosts, 48 teams and 104 games: How the 2026 FIFA World Cup will work | DAZN News US

The North American-based tournament will be the biggest one yet.

www.dazn.com

Gee, I wonder why they're doing this..

Colorado lost 4 games last year. If the league was EVER gonna heavily monetize on a team LOSING some more games, it would have ensured more Col losses for odds makers
So there goes that theory.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Just wait till the Oilers are renamed Edmonton Green Energy thingy

The Edmonton Wind Farms.
The Edmonton Solar Panels.
The Edmonton Renewables.
The Edmonton Sustainable Energy.
The Edmonton Recycles.

The names just roll off the tongue.