Post-Game Talk: Steelcroft: (Not) Far From Home

[Cloned]

I saw that, but you deserved it

I was supporting you, buddy.

 

[Cloned]

I think Keith will look a lot better with the woodcroft system.

His first step doesn't keep up sometimes but with the center working in the NZ this will help funnel attackers into the dmen more, taking some creativity out of zone entries.

It’ll allow him to focus more on sealing off one specific area since there should be support wherever he isn’t.

 

[CupofOil]

I was supporting you, buddy.

I saw that, and you didn't deserve it

Fixed

 

[Cloned]

Fixed

 

[Messrules11]

Where did this Steelcroft nickname come from? It’s so lame.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Where did this Steelcroft nickname come from? It’s so lame.

Wood for Woody.

 

[Heavy Dee]

One thing that had been perplexing me under Tippet is the time Bouchard got on the PK. Ceci has been a pretty good PK player for a lot of years, I found it odd that you would put out someone so young whose game is more aligned to an offensive D man on the PK before the veteran that is a known PK commodity. And this reduces Bouchards offensive chances. Ceci was on his way to his lowest PK time since his rookie year. It is almost like Tippet just sent out whomever was paired with Nurse. No rule says you have to do that the last tow seasons Ceci's PK time was not with his regular partner. It just seemed so odd.

Last night Ceci saw ~ 7minutes, Bouchard none on the PK. This would seem to be the proper deployment based on the players strengths.

Agreed. I think as bad as Tippett was, Playfair was worse.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

@5 Mins 4 Ftg & @Cloned
This is in regards to the Woodcroft post game interview 5 Mins posted:
I really like how he phrases things. "We're asking the team to play...", not "telling", not "demanding". I think the team finally has a sense of purpose and direction with Woodcroft and Mason.

@Drivesaitl
You're not alone, I was confused why Quick didn't get the start either. He's made a career out of beating the Oilers for fun. 24-9-5 with a 2.02 GAA and .924 save percentage lifetime.

You can tell Holland really didn’t want to fire Tippett. Not a good look running a team with your feelings rather than your brain.

As I like to say, he was thinking with the wrong head. He had such a hard on for his old buddy Tip and a hard on to maintain that track record of "never firing a coach mid season" he lost track of the on ice product and how bad it was suffering. They look like a completely different team and that's with Woodcroft and Mason being tossed into the fire with not much prep.

If Woodcroft could somehow get Kassian going too along with Niemelainen's crushing hits, All of a sudden we are no longer a soft team.

I really believe Tippett neutered this team. Kassian is the kind of guy who feeds off throwing hits. Manson made a career out of being a tough as they come defenseman. He will encourage him to play his game and I think we'll see a renewed Kassian.

You mean when the poster told me to "go to bed" and I'm the inappropriate one? Come on now.
f*** off was probably a little extreme though and I shouldn't have said it, in retrospect, but it was late and I was getting lambasted with angry responses.

A ridiculous comment that was also shared by a few other posters that committing that the penalty in a tied, tight checking, game late in the 2nd was a bad penalty so yeah, I struggled with being told to "go to bed" just because posters disagreed with me and now you're calling my opinion "ridiculous" just because you disagree with it.

It was a valid opinion. I like Kane showing toughness but that was not the time or place for it IMO. Lemeiux baited him into it and it could have cost the Oilers the game in a game where scoring chances were few and far between.
If Kassian had done that, I bet a bunch of posters would have called him a bonehead etc. because he's on the hated list currently but with Kane being the new guy, perspective is different.

Anyway, lets move on. I have my opinion and you have yours. BTW, you see how I didn't call your opinion "ridiculous". There's a way of having a civil exchange even through disagreement.

Very well said and spot on with the Kassian cross-reference. Lemieux is a little punk bitch who definitely deserved a bloody nose but thankfully the Oilers killed off that powerplay. That was a big, big kill. Had LA scored, they would have went full lockdown mode like when they were up 1-0 and we saw how difficult it was for the Oilers to generate any kind of attack. The slashing call was a pretty weak call I thought. Loved how Kane made sure the mic was live before letting the ref (and the building) know about it. I'm pretty pumped for Kane to help set up the gwg and add an empty net insurance goal.

 

[Cloned]

Agreed. I think as bad as Tippett was, Playfair was worse.

At least Holland was “smart” enough to get rid of both.

 

[Drivesaitl]

The two bolded statements kind of contradict each other. They got outplayed but the game could have gone either way?

It was as evenly played as it gets. The Kings made some strong pushes each time after the Oilers scored but it was largely a hard fought game where chances for both teams were at a premium.
The Oilers lose games like this 90% of the time so they deserve credit for gutting it out despite wilting a bit at the end when the tired legs were showing. That building is ALWAYS tough to play in regardless of how good the Kings are. Something about that building combined with the Kings style of play grinds these games down which usually plays into the Oilers weaknesses but they held strong in this one.

This thing wasn't going to go from the shitfest that was being put out there under Tippett to perfect overnight but they are definitely showing signs of getting it together. Just look at hard they are on pucks and even more importantly, at pressuring the points under Woodcroft. Even the Kings announcers made mention of how the Oilers look different now. Still some rough spots but the improvements in system play are pretty obvious IMO.

Seen it before. As we've stated this team drags you in, and pushes you away. I need more time. To me this is the same club that just got a coach fired a week ago, again. So its going to take some time. tbh lately I'm finding the team aggravating, and by lately I mean the last few months of play. I think I'm getting too old for every game to be a nail biter. Maybe I just pvr the games and just watch knowing the result. Or not watching. Might be more enjoyable.

 

[nexttothemoon]

Whatever Woodcroft is saying is working... looks like the team is responding to his constant chatter on the bench.

Sure it's somewhat the case of a team wanting to show they aren't dogshit bad under yet another coach after the last one gets fired... which is why that "new coach bounce" often occurs... because players know the focus is now squarely on them with a new guy at the helm.

It's interesting to see if they can keep it up for the rest of the season though... or if they fall back into their old ways after 10/20/30 games.

Winning games is addictive though... who wants to answer the same tired media questions for the 500th time about why they think they lost yet again... players have a much easier time answering questions about winning... "we were the better team with better effort and better execution"... that's a much easier explanation to spit out there rather than digging for reasons they failed and about how and why they have to be better.

I think this team obviously should know by now from the past 2 playoff performances that they are likely going nowhere with the lack of defensive structure that they had... playoffs are a completely different animal and you can't just count on McDrai to drag the team to playoff series wins... that simply doesn't happen and the past 2 years is clear proof of that.

The only way this team has any chance in the playoffs is to play decent defensively and THEN the advantage of having 2 of the best forwards in the world is an actual scale tipping feature... instead of playing shit team defense and expecting McDrai to somehow steal wins... which doesn't happen in a 7 game series.

 

[fuswald]

Re all the Koekkoek negativity I'm wondering how Koekkoek might do with this new system. So far all our d have looked better. Maybe Tippett system was either too complex or not realy a system at all.

 

[Cloned]

Re all the Koekkoek negativity I'm wondering how Koekkoek might do with this new system. So far all our d have looked better. Maybe Tippett system was either too complex or not realy a system at all.

Definitely not too complex. Foegele and Smith have already said that Woodcroft has upped the level of detail.

 

[Drivesaitl]

You mean when the poster told me to "go to bed" and I'm the inappropriate one? Come on now.
f*** off was probably a little extreme though and I shouldn't have said it, in retrospect, but it was late and I was getting lambasted with angry responses.

A ridiculous comment that was also shared by a few other posters that committing that the penalty in a tied, tight checking, game late in the 2nd was a bad penalty so yeah, I struggled with being told to "go to bed" just because posters disagreed with me and now you're calling my opinion "ridiculous" just because you disagree with it.

It was a valid opinion. I like Kane showing toughness but that was not the time or place for it IMO. Lemeiux baited him into it and it could have cost the Oilers the game in a game where scoring chances were few and far between.
If Kassian had done that, I bet a bunch of posters would have called him a bonehead etc. because he's on the hated list currently but with Kane being the new guy, perspective is different.

Anyway, lets move on. I have my opinion and you have yours. BTW, you see how I didn't call your opinion "ridiculous". There's a way of having a civil exchange even through disagreement.

I was kinda surprised tbh but we all get there. The same poster said I was "making it up" last night saying I fabricated the whole thing when here you are confirming the exchange happened. I wouldn't have commented except the poster started going at me.

In anycase I don't know when "toughness" became punching somebody in the face while an official has already intervened in the situation. To me thats not something I validate. Want to fight, fine. Don't punch a guy in a bar when the bouncer is between you separating the parties. Kind of a dick move, just the way I see it, and I've defended Kane constantly here.

But in anycase I completely support your position. Its a discussion board. I didn't feel there was anything ridiculous about your posts.

Kane is a new player and like any he will be accorded a period of time and acceptance. The frustrations with players don't come until later. The new players here always get the easier ride from the fan base.

Even AA here got a period of time where people were trying to support how inept he was. f*** he's awful in LA. My lord, the Kings have several kids they could slot in that are better, that make less miscues. Its a pleasure seeing AA as an opponent, lol. The board over there sure don't like Brown, AA, and Peterson right now. Which brings me around that the reality is that every fanboard probably has volatile and changing views. These games elicit all kinds of passion and strong feelings.

 

[McBooya42]

Jesse leads to attack zone time, which is what we want when McDacid is on the ice. Jesse's personal points are more of a bonus.

Yeah his possession numbers are actually quite good. Even better with McDavid of course, but so are McDavid's with Jesse.

 

[longtimeoilfan]

If Woodcroft could somehow get Kassian going too along with Niemelainen's crushing hits, All of a sudden we are no longer a soft team.

Agree about Kassian and Niem, but I still want 1 more physical player … like young Manson (albeit, not sure how keen he would be to play for his Dad).

 

[Drivesaitl]

Definitely not too complex. Foegele and Smith have already said that Woodcroft has upped the level of detail.

But it stands to reason that the worst forward on the team who still isn't contributing much, and that has struggled the most on the team and has just been here this season, knows less about what Tippett had done for this club than anybody else on the club.

I find his comments excuses for his own shit performance. My take is Foegele is brown nosing the new coach. Seen this type of game before. When he convinces me he's an actual player here,and an actual consistent working player here helping team I'll revise opinion. Foegele this season turned me from being favorable to the signing, to really despising the players lack of contribution. That sum swing takes a lot of bad play to get there.

Ryan was there too but to his credit started turning his game around a month ago. Not sure what happened, probably just got more healthy from concussions and Covid.

Its up to Foegele to turn this around through sheer effort. Nobody is going to do the work for him.

 

[Cloned]

Listening to Foegele’s pre game comments again and the amount of implied shade he throws at Tippett is hilarious.

 

[McDNicks17]

Yeah his possession numbers are actually quite good. Even better with McDavid of course, but so are McDavid's with Jesse.

68.8% xGF under Woody. Best on the team.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Yeah his possession numbers are actually quite good. Even better with McDavid of course, but so are McDavid's with Jesse.

Jesse could have a Selke like future. His contributions run way beyond the scoreboard. He's at least an all zone player who doesn't take any shortcuts in any zone. He's there for the rough ride fighting to be in the crease as well and hard to move out of there. Point shot goals, screens, deflections happen because of Jesse.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Listening to Foegele’s pre game comments again and the amount of implied shade he throws at Tippett is hilarious.

Maybe the player should look in the mirror. Just a thought. At the end of the day if Foegele is getting all this instruction and tools now there had better be some results. Otherwise its just talk.

I followed the Oilers for 50yrs. Theres always been players that could just talk instead of bringing it on the ice. Even the new coach isn't buying it. Foegele played 10mins last night. Because he just isn't bringing much.

 

[Cloned]

But it stands to reason that the worst forward on the team who still isn't contributing much, and that has struggled the most on the team and has just been here this season, knows less about what Tippett had done for this club than anybody else on the club.

I find his comments excuses for his own shit performance. My take is Foegele is brown nosing the new coach. Seen this type of game before. When he convinces me he's an actual player here,and an actual consistent working player here helping team I'll revise opinion. Foegele this season turned me from being favorable to the signing, to really despising the players lack of contribution. That sum swing takes a lot of bad play to get there.

Ryan was there too but to his credit started turning his game around a month ago. Not sure what happened, probably just got more healthy from concussions and Covid.

Its up to Foegele to turn this around through sheer effort. Nobody is going to do the work for him.

He’s got 2 points and is +2 under Woodcroft.

 

[nexttothemoon]

past 3 games...

Barrie +3
Foegele +2
Ryan +3
Broberg +2
Hyman +3
Nurse +5
Ceci +3

All those players were negative under Tippett.

Sure 3 wins is going to skew the +/- stats somewhat BUT it's a much better trend to start seeing those players start to be net positives out there rather than digging themselves deeper into the minus column.


Individually sure +/- is a flaky stat (especially in a small sample like this)... but teamwise it's basically very reliable as you outscore your opposition at evens and you are going to win your fair share of games with even average special teams.

 

[Cloned]

Maybe the player should look in the mirror. Just a thought.

Smith said basically the same thing, he was just more tactful about it (which is surprising because it’s Mike Smith lol).

And Smith has a longggg history with Tippett, so he is familiar with him.

 

[frag2]

Gotta love how Spec's last few articles, it's all because Oilers players 'get it' now, not because they replaced an idiotic coach that doesn't adapt with the times.

f*** Mark Spector