Post-Game Talk: Welcome to the Boneless Oiler Ranch

[Messrules11]

He does. He's been a play killer. Which is why he was removed from the top six often last season. And when that happened, he pouted.

Nugent-Hopkins criticism is warranted, but he's a valuable special teams player. And in a down year he's still going to end up in the 60 point range, which is his career average. Kane? I'm not sure passable is the line I'm drawing for someone I'm paying >$5m to play with Leon Draisaitl.

That being said, what's done is done. Those guys are gone. And if Kane wants to come back early, tying the team's hands at the deadline, he'd better be f***ing ready.


The worst part of it is that he's not going anywhere if he doesn't want to. So what are you trying to accomplish following the Ralph Krueger playbook with this player?

He’s under contract to play for the Edmonton Oilers, how the f*** is that tying the teams hands?

Nuge is also on the 3rd line, the pk is ranked 26th and on the pp anyone can do whatever it is he does (basically a back pass to Bouch) but go ahead and give him the special teams props.

 

[rboomercat90]

Well in Knob's defence, he can claim that it does work. He did make game 7 of a SCF in his first season as a head coach with the same exact system.

This team was much more physical last year.

 

[Soundwave]

This team was much more physical last year.

Not really. Knob's system is what it is, he doesn't believe in going out of position to hit. Woodcroft's teams were more physical (remember Desharnais cross checking Stone's back, lol), but that version of the Oilers was also far less disciplined and ended up often chasing and getting caught out of position.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

Knoblauch saying they’re a fragile group, but then Knob post game “Look what you guys made me do! Do I have to bench Jeff Skinner again to get you guys to play better because benching him is the only thing keeping me from benching some of you guys who deserve it. But I have to keep benching him because one time I got him mixed up with Stuart and Jeff was getting ready to play goal, which probably wouldn’t have been worse than Stu when you think about it, but you get the point.”

 

[Morpheus]

 

[Messrules11]

Not really. Knob's system is what it is, he doesn't believe in going out of position to hit. Woodcroft's teams were more physical (remember Desharnais cross checking Stone's back, lol), but that version of the Oilers was also far less disciplined and ended up often chasing and getting caught out of position.

So how come they don’t hit when they are in position to hit?

 

[MessierII]

The team as a whole from the top down just isn’t emotionally invested in the season right now. Draisaitl is the only guy trying out there.

 

[Wewillrise]

Adversity is good, I’m a lot more invested now

 

[Tobias Kahun]

He’s under contract to play for the Edmonton Oilers, how the f*** is that tying the teams hands?

Nuge is also on the 3rd line, the pk is ranked 26th and on the pp anyone can do whatever it is he does (basically a back pass to Bouch) but go ahead and give him the special teams props.

Because if Kane comes back before the end of the season when he could spend more time healing/recovering, the oilers can’t add a 5m player at the deadline.

Pretty obvious to anyone who pays attention to teams exploiting LTIR loopholes

 

[Soundwave]

The team as a whole from the top down just isn’t emotionally invested in the season right now. Draisaitl is the only guy trying out there.

They care, they're just tired of always having to make up for the same flaws every year. Other top teams don't have to do that, if there's some massive problem in team make up other teams go out and address the issue without it being allowed to linger on for like 2-3 years (or in the Oilers case sometimes 5+ years lol).

 

[MessierII]

They care, they're just tired of always having to make up for the same flaws every year. Other top teams don't have to do that, if there's some massive problem in team make up other teams go out and address the issue without it being allowed to linger on for like 2-3 years (or in the Oilers case sometimes 5+ years lol).

The flaw is they collectively play like one of the worst teams in the league for stretches. Not just some players all of them.

This team has the highest ceiling and lowest floor of any “good” team I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if it’s a mental thing a locker room thing or what but I’ve never seen anything like it in my lifetime.

 

[Messrules11]

Because if Kane comes back before the end of the season when he could spend more time healing/recovering, the oilers can’t add a 5m player at the deadline.

Pretty obvious to anyone who pays attention to teams exploiting LTIR loopholes

He has a contract, injuries are what they are, recovery time is what it is. Vegas is hated for circumventing cap and justifyably so. It’s hilarious that some here can’t get their head around that.

 

[Soundwave]

The flaw is they collectively play like one of the worst teams in the league for stretches. Not just some players all of them.

This team has the highest ceiling and lowest floor of any “good” team I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if it’s a mental thing a locker room thing or what but I’ve never seen anything like it in my lifetime.

The flaw is they've been trying for 5 years to win something with makeshift goaltending.

It doesn't work.

If you did this to Vegas or Winnipeg or whoever you think is a team that has it all figured out they would fall apart after a year or two of it. Here it is non-stop.

We have a generational player and an MVP caliber player too ... but it's tied to the worst management team maybe in pro sports (Dallas Mavericks who may or may not be trying to purposely get their team moved not withstanding).

So these wild ups and downs (like a toilet seat as Holland once said) are actually probably normal. You have insane highs, but it will come with insane lows also.

If this team had better management, they'd have 1 or 2 Cups already.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

He has a contract, injuries are what they are, recovery time is what it is. Vegas is hated for circumventing cap and justifyably so. It’s hilarious that some here can’t get their head around that.

Probably because we’d like to take advantage of a loophole for once.

If Kane wants to come back early even though he most likely won’t be ready, he can sit out the rest of the year and get traded in the offseason

If he comes back early instead of letting his team add a pretty good piece at the deadline to improve the odds at a cup, it shows how selfish he is.

 

[Messrules11]

Probably because we’d like to take advantage of a loophole for once.

If Kane wants to come back early even though he most likely won’t be ready, he can sit out the rest of the year and get traded in the offseason

If he comes back early instead of letting his team add a pretty good piece at the deadline to improve the odds at a cup, it shows how selfish he is.

Selfish, he has a f***ing contract, maybe it’s on the GM not the player. Or maybe some fans need to take a look at themselves and see who is the selfish ones.

 

[MessierII]

The flaw is they've been trying for 5 years to win something with makeshift goaltending.

It doesn't work.

If you did this to Vegas or Winnipeg or whoever you think is a team that has it all figured out they would fall apart after a year or two of it. Here it is non-stop.

We have a generational player and an MVP caliber player too ... but it's tied to the worst management team maybe in pro sports (Dallas Mavericks who may or may not be trying to purposely get their team moved not withstanding).

So these wild ups and downs (like a toilet seat as Holland once said) are actually probably normal. You have insane highs, but it will come with insane lows also.

If this team had better management, they'd have 1 or 2 Cups already.

You love to hyper focus on one thing and pretend that if they solve that one thing everything will be great.

I’m not sure how you can watch this stretch or the start of every season and go “oh yeah if we just had goaltending here we’d be good”

Like what the F are you watching? Skinner isn’t making the 18 guys in front of him play this way. Lots of teams get bad goaltending for stretches and manage to look semi competent in other facets. Let alone teams like ours.

No these types of ups and downs are absolutely not normal.

 

[Soundwave]

You love to hyper focus on one thing and pretend that if they solve that one thing everything will be great.

I’m not sure how you can watch this stretch or the start of every season and go “oh yeah if we just had goaltending here we’d be good”

Like what the F are you watching? Skinner isn’t making the 18 guys in front of him play this way. Lots of teams get bad goaltending for stretches and manage to look semi competent in other facets. Let alone teams like ours.

The whole team is poorly constructed in general, but running two low cost back ups in what's supposedly a "Cup or bust" window is the most egregious.

And yes, goaltending filters down to the entire team. If you don't believe your goalie can get the job done, then you do start to play differently. You belief in being able to win it all goes kaput and when you lose belief you're in trouble in pro sports (any sport doesn't matter). These guys are not robots and hockey isn't like NFL football where different aspects of the team are completely different (offense, defense, kickers, etc.).

There is NO Cup Window if Stuart Skinner is not a franchise capable starting goalie. That was the whole f***ing deal, that he would grow into that by now after experiencing a Cup Final. He hasn't done shit this year, so we are right back to square 1.

A Nathan MacKinnon is going to murder this guy in a playoff series if we ever have to face a player like that and every guy in the locker room knows it.

 

[Louis Cypher]

Thank God for PVR and fast forward.

My beer league goalie would have made the save on the second goal and WTF was that flop on the other. I can't believe I'm wishing we had Costco Glovehand right now.

I'm certain 3 of our forwards would pass through waivers untouched. Poor Drai.

 

[brentashton]

Louie’s post game analysis is hilarious!

“ …they have to play better in the defensive zone and then in the offensive zone, but for me, the neutral zone is where they really have to play better!”

Well , it’s confirmed then.

Things are still good on the bus, the card table on the plane and at the team dinners.

 

[McFlash97]

Team full of bums nobody else wants on thier team. The supporting is showing why.

 

[CrazyJoeDavola]

So how come they don’t hit when they are in position to hit?

Because when asked last playoffs why the team wasn't physical, Knobby literally said he doesnt value hitting and that it's overrated, and that he'd rather have his team check with their legs. He's actively coaching the team to not be physical. For all the good that he's done, this huge flaw in his philosophy is sinking this team even more now that we brought in more soft players and shipped out the fast and physical ones. Hitting is the one easy thing that can spark a team that's come out soft and get them engaged, but our coach is against it, and I don't think we're ever going to get over the edge under this mantra.

We are going to limp into playoffs, get injured to hell, do nothing to wear down our opponents, and barely come out of the first series or two (if we're lucky) alive. And be running on fumes the rest of the way like we were last year. That, coupled with our zero depth scoring outside of McDrai, is going to make things nearly impossible unless those two go supersonic for an entire run. It's not happening again. They've played so much hockey. This team is f***ed unless we get some consistent help in our fwd group. Be prepared for one of those two to get hurt, and that's pretty much all she wrote when that happens.

This team is riddled with geriatric and slow washed veterans who want a free ride to a cup, and our stupid f***ing management team doubled down on that in the summer. Ggs

 

[nexttothemoon]

McDavid is -12 in his last 5 games... which pretty much more than offsets the 3 assists he's had in those 5 games. He's definitely off... either sick or injured or both.

Jeff Skinner is point a game in his last 4 games (only other player to be above point a game in that stretch is Drai)... and J Skinner is +1 in those games (only 1 of 5 Oilers in the plus column over that stretch)... yet J Skinner inexplicably sits due to coaching decisions.

Klingberg 2 pts and a +3 in his last 4 games and for some reason sits as well.


Oilers goalies with a combined 85.98% sv pct in those past 5 games.

Oilers being outshot by 6.8 shots per game over that 5 game stretch.

Oilers with a 53.9% PK over that same stretch of 5 games from Feb 5th to Feb 25. Worst in the NHL over that stretch.


Everything seems to be going to shit at the same time and coaching seems to be in the shitpile as well along with everything else.

 

[Duder54]

When C. Perry is one of the bright spots on this team, you know something has gone terribly wrong (and that's not a slight towards Perry).

Far too many players have regressed this season...

Hyman
S. Skinner
Bouchard
Henrique

The lack of success from the UFA signings makes losing Broberg and Holloway hurt even more.

Even McDavid, by his own standards, has looked downright awful at times this season.

Preaching to the choir, but if the Oilers don't figure this out soon, it's going to be a short playoffs this year.

 

[KCC]

All I care about is good work ethic and good habits. Neither of which this team is doing. But, when this team is moving their legs and giving a damn there is a reason why so many have picked them to win the cup. The problem is they can't afford to take nights off. And right now they have shut off their power buttons. lol

 

[Perfect_Drug]

This team plays like this everytime we have a break.

Off for the summer? Play like shit.

Allstar break? Play like shit.

10 days off between Conf finals and Cup finals? Play like shit

Off for summer? Play like shit

Off for 4-Nations? Play like shit.



This team is hates extended breaks. It kills our flow and rhythm.