nexttothemoon
and again...
Stecher is likely the 2nd smartest dman on this team (besides Ekholm)... once he's on a pairing with Nurse I think that 2nd pairing will be solid... or at least decent enough not to be "the main problem" with the team.
There's no reason Stecher should be healthy scratched on this team. Takes Oilers coaches and management a while but they will eventually come around to that realization as well.
It's also not just plug and play to get this offense going at the same rate it was last season... lots of changes in the lineup (on D and F) and no chemistry yet... people underrate and understate just how big of an effect roster turnover and personnel changes can have on a team.
The PK systems basically have to be learned from scratch by some on the team... forward lines have to gel... D pairings have to gel and learn each others traits. The team looked very disjointed and with no flow in preseason and that carries over to the regular season as well. It's not just an on-off switch to get going at 100% again.
I'm not shocked the Oilers shit themselves in game 1... I basically expected it against the best GA team in the NHL last season with Helly in net. I said I thought that this team would have struggles finding their offense at the same levels as last season and I still believe that,
Defensively it will take time as well... Emberson/Stecher/Dermott likely are just as good collectively on defense as Broberg/Ceci/Desharnais BUT it takes time for players to develop the chemistry and learn each others traits... so these first 5/10/20 games are likely going to be a roller coaster ride of ups and downs while this team develops it's chemistry again.
In net you have a very up and down Skinner as well... who can be awful one night and excellent the next... he's inconsistent and overall Skinner + Pickard is an average duo at best so the D and F have to be at their best for this team to go anywhere... but we knew that anyway from watching last year as well.
There's no reason Stecher should be healthy scratched on this team. Takes Oilers coaches and management a while but they will eventually come around to that realization as well.
It's also not just plug and play to get this offense going at the same rate it was last season... lots of changes in the lineup (on D and F) and no chemistry yet... people underrate and understate just how big of an effect roster turnover and personnel changes can have on a team.
The PK systems basically have to be learned from scratch by some on the team... forward lines have to gel... D pairings have to gel and learn each others traits. The team looked very disjointed and with no flow in preseason and that carries over to the regular season as well. It's not just an on-off switch to get going at 100% again.
I'm not shocked the Oilers shit themselves in game 1... I basically expected it against the best GA team in the NHL last season with Helly in net. I said I thought that this team would have struggles finding their offense at the same levels as last season and I still believe that,
Defensively it will take time as well... Emberson/Stecher/Dermott likely are just as good collectively on defense as Broberg/Ceci/Desharnais BUT it takes time for players to develop the chemistry and learn each others traits... so these first 5/10/20 games are likely going to be a roller coaster ride of ups and downs while this team develops it's chemistry again.
In net you have a very up and down Skinner as well... who can be awful one night and excellent the next... he's inconsistent and overall Skinner + Pickard is an average duo at best so the D and F have to be at their best for this team to go anywhere... but we knew that anyway from watching last year as well.