The Loss of Broberg and Holloway Gripe Thread

[Tarus]

What made Broberg and Holloway leave is that Jackson didn't sign them. They were all too happy to stay Oilers. They were given more and more opportunity. So will Savoie

Jackson thought he could outsmart the situation by spending all the cap space and then just telling his RFAs they had to accept way less than what they were worth. I'm on Broberg and Holloway's sides on this one.

The usage and development of both of them was fine. With Savoie it's fine. Maybe this time, when Savoie has to be re-signed, we sign him.

What? Broberg had a standing trade request that was never removed from November onward. His agent reportedly shut down any contract negotiation talks with the Oilers until the summer, and by then St.Louis was already sniffing around. Holloway reportedly had to be convinced to sign the offersheet, but has stated since that he did actually want to move on for better opportunities.

That's one player that wanted out, and one player that was lukewarm about staying at best. A far cry from "They were all too happy to stay Oilers"

 

[Zguy370]

What? Broberg had a standing trade request that was never removed from November onward and his agent reportedly shut down any trade negotiation talks with the Oilers until the summer, and by then St.Louis was already sniffing around. Holloway reportedly had to be convinced to sign, but has stated since that he did actually want to move on for better opportunities.

That's one player that wanted out, and one player that was lukewarm about staying at best. A far cry from "They were all too happy to stay Oilers"

Disagree. Broberg in particular was jerked around long enough, he was never given a fair chance, the few times he was up, he was he was always on a short leash for any little minor miscue and benched or demoted again and again, Vinny D was the preferential choice over him.

He was coming into his own, showed it in the playoffs, but this org was too dumb to realize that. No kidding he wanted out, he saw the writing on the wall, his career was being held back with this team. I too believed he would of preferred to stay an Oiler, but it was evident the situation, just didn't allow for it here.

 

[Oil53]

Saw Kesselring and Holloway live on the Condors.Holloway looked like McDavid and Kesselring was by far their best dman.Said after the trade to Arizona that we would regret losing him.Holland,to me,was another dinosaur hire whose
Over ripen policies are not effective anymore as young prospects are much better than 20 years ago.He could have signed Broberg and Holloway earlier but chose not too.JJ at fault also for not forcing it.We have what we have now so time to move on.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Agree with this. They slow played both Broberg and Holloway for years when they deserved more playing time.

And in hindsight, the way they are performing with greater opportunity, means this management group f***ed up so bad. It's criminal.

But we just had to overripen them! That was the expert strategy of four time cup champ Ken Holland! And we all know that having a bunch of rings means you know a thing or two about winning.

 

[McShogun99]

Saw Kesselring and Holloway live on the Condors.Holloway looked like McDavid and Kesselring was by far their best dman.Said after the trade to Arizona that we would regret losing him.Holland,to me,was another dinosaur hire whose
Over ripen policies are not effective anymore as young prospects are much better than 20 years ago.He could have signed Broberg and Holloway earlier but chose not too.JJ at fault also for not forcing it.We have what we have now so time to move on.

Holland had that pre cap mentality. In the cap world you need those guys contributing during their ELC to build a stronger team. He wasted young players ELC’s in the minors and by the time they got a shot at the NHL they were on their second contracts. We’ve thrown away a lot of good prospects over the last 10 years in a desperate attempt at winning the Cup. Now we have an older, smaller and slower team with virtually nothing in the pipelines.

 

[Stoneman89]

Not a trade though--a sale. Pocklington had run his financial empire into the ground. It was all debt financed anyway so lets call it the junk bond empire. Funny how that stuff tends to implode. At least Peter avoided jail, Bruce wasn't so lucky. He did some hard time in the slammer.

The trade was like the day Kennedy was shot. Everybody remembers what they were doing when they heard the news.

$15 million today would essentially buy you 1 year of Drai and 1 year of Kapanen.

Jail eventually found Puck though too. Both he and McNall were shysters.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/peter-pocklington-ex-edmonton-oilers-owner-gets-jail-time-1.1862204

 

[MoontoScott]

Jail eventually found Puck though too. Both he and McNall were shysters.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/peter-pocklington-ex-edmonton-oilers-owner-gets-jail-time-1.1862204

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/peter-pocklington-former-oilers-owner-wins-appeal-of-probation-breach-conviction-1.3137911

The case drug on for years but according to this CBC release his conviction that you refer to was overturned by the the higher district court in California in 2015. It isn't clear but I don't think he ever served any jail time. The case was not related to the Oilers but rather to fraud in California relating to a mine (and other things).

 

[midnightcopper]

The people who say that these guys and the others we lost wouldn’t have had the same opportunity here …you realize that makes the Oilers look worse right ? It’s not an “oh well”, it’s the that management just let these guys walk for older, more expensive and worse players, AND they don’t value the young players when they have them.

Savoie got 3 games with a leash so tight he couldn’t breathe. We’re gonna jerk him around too for the next 2 years until he gets opportunity elsewhere? Don’t forget, we also traded NHL ready Kesselring for a few games of Bjugstad who was useless while he was here, who immediately stepped into a top 4 role with Arizona/Utah, while Vinny D was getting exposed vs LA and Vegas in ‘23. That’s 2 top 4 dmen, a top line winger in Holloway, a 2nd line winger in Foegele, all DEVELOPED BY THE OILERS, traded away in 2 years. This organization is infuriating and incompetent.

It's a train wreck no matter how you spin it. And for a Gretzky thread...well, no matter how you want to spin that one...Zero cups for him after Edmonton.

 

[McShogun99]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/peter-pocklington-former-oilers-owner-wins-appeal-of-probation-breach-conviction-1.3137911

The case drug on for years but according to this CBC release his conviction that you refer to was overturned by the the higher district court in California in 2015. It isn't clear but I don't think he ever served any jail time. The case was not related to the Oilers but rather to fraud in California relating to a mine (and other things).

I was 10 when Gretzky got traded and I remember people in the city were boycotting all of Pocklingtons business outside of hockey. I wonder if that cost him more in the long run then the 15 million he got from the Gretzky sale.

 

[aggressive forecheck]

What? Broberg had a standing trade request that was never removed from November onward. His agent reportedly shut down any contract negotiation talks with the Oilers until the summer, and by then St.Louis was already sniffing around. Holloway reportedly had to be convinced to sign the offersheet, but has stated since that he did actually want to move on for better opportunities.

That's one player that wanted out, and one player that was lukewarm about staying at best. A far cry from "They were all too happy to stay Oilers"

Were these reports from Stauffer or Friedman... did you make this up or did they.

Either way if you could provide confirmation of these reports I would love to see it.

 

[ChaosT83]

Under the radar, the Blues did a great job in supporting Broberg. The current Blues defense roster is Colton Parayko, Justin Faulk, Philip Broberg, Cam Fowler, Ryan Suter, and Nick Leddy. There are many playoff teams who would go to war with that defensive core in the playoffs. Beyond that, there's a wealth of experience the young defenseman has learned from the vets on the Blues roster. Old Man Suter's knowledge of defense is a treasure trove for Broberg to absorb.

The Blues have been one of the best defensive teams if not the best since their coaching change. Broberg's now averaging over 20 minutes a game for the Blues and I don't think it's a coincidence he's taken his game to the next level in part because there's a lot of good defensive veterans around him.

 

[harpoon]

Mr. Two Posts. The f*** does this guy think he is. Begone.

 

[aggressive forecheck]

Under the radar, the Blues did a great job in supporting Broberg. The current Blues defense roster is Colton Parayko, Justin Faulk, Philip Broberg, Cam Fowler, Ryan Suter, and Nick Leddy. There are many playoff teams who would go to war with that defensive core in the playoffs. Beyond that, there's a wealth of experience the young defenseman has learned from the vets on the Blues roster. Old Man Suter's knowledge of defense is a treasure trove for Broberg to absorb.

The Blues have been one of the best defensive teams if not the best since their coaching change. Broberg's now averaging over 20 minutes a game for the Blues and I don't think it's a coincidence he's taken his game to the next level in part because there's a lot of good defensive veterans around him.

Never mind Holloway, if the Oilers would have held onto Broberg they would have been contenders every year McDavid and Draisaitl remained Oilers.

Add Holloway to the mix and they would have won multiple championships.

Many posters here haven't figured this out yet. Over the next decade they'll come around. It's going to painful. It's going to be rotten.

I'd love to be proven wrong but I see the franchise as too damaged from these offer sheets to win a single Stanley Cup now.

The next franchise crippling error, overpaying Bouchard. I can see the mistakes a mile away.

I was the biggest Broberg supporter on this board by a long shot, and loved Holloway as well. I was extremely vocal about the players. I was chased off this board just as your two newest young stars were chased out of Edmonton.

 

[McShogun99]

Never mind Holloway, if the Oilers would have held onto Broberg they would have been contenders every year McDavid and Draisaitl remained Oilers.

Add Holloway to the mix and they would have won multiple championships.

Many posters here haven't figured this out yet. Over the next decade they'll come around. It's going to painful. It's going to be rotten.

I'd love to be proven wrong but I see the franchise as too damaged from these offer sheets to win a single Stanley Cup now.

The next franchise crippling error, overpaying Bouchard. I can see the mistakes a mile away.

I was the biggest Broberg supporter on this board by a long shot, and loved Holloway as well. I was extremely vocal about the players. I was chased off this board just as your two newest young stars were chased out of Edmonton.

When the offer sheets happened I wanted the Oilers to look at the big picture and match both. Instead they looked at just this year as an all in year and gave up on the future for some shitty draft picks they used for Frederic and Jones.

 

[Arty Spooners Bsmnt]

Arvidsson, Skinner and Podz to date: 32 goals 70 points. McLeod, Holloway and Foegele: 63 goals 148 points.

Why did we change 25% of the line-up from a Stanley Cup finalist team when all they needed was a better goalie?

 

[Stoneman89]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/peter-pocklington-former-oilers-owner-wins-appeal-of-probation-breach-conviction-1.3137911

The case drug on for years but according to this CBC release his conviction that you refer to was overturned by the the higher district court in California in 2015. It isn't clear but I don't think he ever served any jail time. The case was not related to the Oilers but rather to fraud in California relating to a mine (and other things).

Well, at the very least, he SHOULD have gone to jail.

 

[timekeep]

I was 10 when Gretzky got traded and I remember people in the city were boycotting all of Pocklingtons business outside of hockey. I wonder if that cost him more in the long run then the 15 million he got from the Gretzky sale.

Pocklington didn't use too much of his money, he usually stole from somewhere else like a bank or Gainers pension.

 

[aggressive forecheck]

The Oil gave it all away. I remember every poster that wanted Broberg gone. There were a lot of them and they were determined.

Every excuse under the sun then the most unlikely event happened, a double offer sheet. Now we can watch the players' careers unfold in St. Louis.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Pocklington didn't use too much of his money, he usually stole from somewhere else like a bank or Gainers pension.

He also stiffed every company he ever dealt with that he had contracted. So many firms here that never got paid, never saw a dime, for services rendered. But far from isolated.

Somebody else commented that Puck may have lost more than he gained in terms of business, with the Gretz trade. While this is interesting, Puck had already sown his way out of this market and in this business community. He was already on borrowed time. But he wasn't somebody that would think in those terms. He was short term oriented and would burn bridges not even thinking of the costs involved. If there was short term benefit in an ill advised move or stiffing somebody he'd take it. He'd justify it too as darwinian. Perhaps ironically.

 

[Drivesaitl]

The Oil gave it all away. I remember every poster that wanted Broberg gone. There were a lot of them and they were determined.

Every excuse under the sun then the most unlikely event happened, a double offer sheet. Now we can watch the players' careers unfold in St. Louis.

I liked Broberg at two points. Early, and then last playoffs when he showed he was ready. In earlier stints I'd been harsh on him. I was always a Holloway fan. But both Bro and Holloway had established by end of playoffs. With both I felt they were of value.

It is monumental losing both. if this was say the Calgary Flames it would be the two future best players on a team. Here they are overshadowed by a generational core.

What I don't fully follow either here from the fanbase is that Klefbom was pretty embraced, and desipite him having so much time where he wasn't able to play, and I don't feel he was ever totally realized in terms of his play. Don't think he ever got to it. But Brobergs Speed, and ability to make plays and reads at speed. In his career it will put him at a completely different level. My main questions with Broberg is could he adapt to NHL speed and physicality and absorb NHL punishment. With his man size coming into play he seems to have answered those question. Blues have two star players from us, imo.

 

[timekeep]

He also stiffed every company he ever dealt with that he had contracted. So many firms here that never got paid, never saw a dime, for services rendered. But far from isolated.

Somebody else commented that Puck may have lost more than he gained in terms of business, with the Gretz trade. While this is interesting, Puck had already sown his way out of this market and in this business community. He was already on borrowed time. But he wasn't somebody that would think in those terms. He was short term oriented and would burn bridges not even thinking of the costs involved. If there was short term benefit in an ill advised move or stiffing somebody he'd take it. He'd justify it too as darwinian. Perhaps ironically.

He was a dirtbag, should have went to jail but somehow avoided it and kept allot of that stolen money from the ATB as loads of assets in his wife's name. I recall a friends dad that worked at Gainers, he wanted to kill Puck, I truly believe he would have laid a huge beating on him if he ever got the chance.

 

[oilexport]

I supported keeping these players during the summer and have a few posts to that effect. Having said that, we must move on and worry about the here and now. Win with the best strategy, without these 2 vital kids we lost

 

[aggressive forecheck]

I liked Broberg at two points. Early, and then last playoffs when he showed he was ready. In earlier stints I'd been harsh on him. I was always a Holloway fan. But both Bro and Holloway had established by end of playoffs. With both I felt they were of value.

It is monumental losing both. if this was say the Calgary Flames it would be the two future best players on a team. Here they are overshadowed by a generational core.

What I don't fully follow either here from the fanbase is that Klefbom was pretty embraced, and desipite him having so much time where he wasn't able to play, and I don't feel he was ever totally realized in terms of his play. Don't think he ever got to it. But Brobergs Speed, and ability to make plays and reads at speed. In his career it will put him at a completely different level. My main questions with Broberg is could he adapt to NHL speed and physicality and absorb NHL punishment. With his man size coming into play he seems to have answered those question. Blues have two star players from us, imo.

I'd "like" your post for being honest, but the website is malfunctioning again. I'll give you one of these instead.

Remember, "one lie ruins a thousand truths."

I supported keeping these players during the summer and have a few posts to that effect. Having said that, we must move on and worry about the here and now. Win with the best strategy, without these 2 vital kids we lost

Honesty is the fastest way to prevent a mistake from turning into a failure.

Guess I'll miss this place after all.

 

[MessierThanThou]

Arvidsson, Skinner and Podz to date: 32 goals 70 points. McLeod, Holloway and Foegele: 63 goals 148 points.

Why did we change 25% of the line-up from a Stanley Cup finalist team when all they needed was a better goalie?

It almost seems obvious, yet so many people missed that as the takeaway from the playofs. It's like BowJack skipped all the games where Skinner collapsed and only saw the Dallas series and the three-game comeback where Florida more than likely let their guard down.

Their argument for keeping Skinner was that the SCF experience would help his growth as a goaltender, but they didn't assume the same of the young skaters who were there for the ride? Well, it turns out they guessed wrong. It was all the young skaters they let go who got better. Skinner got worse.

 

[Coffey]

Their argument for keeping Skinner was that the SCF experience would help his growth as a goaltender, but they didn't assume the same of the young skaters who were there for the ride? Well, it turns out they guessed wrong. It was all the young skaters they let go who got better. Skinner got worse.