Where does "It's Cup or bust!" now rank in Oilers'-quotation history-of-cringe?

[Moregoalspls]

I'm certain they win against the sharks. But part of me wants to watch it burn

 

[The Panther]

Regarding the actual "Cup or bust" quote, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Connor said it right after the final Vegas game last spring, and then Leon repeated it to journalists this pre-season (i.e., a month ago, or 20 years in Oilers' time).

There was also a great quote --- but maybe no paper-trail of it --- by Ken Hitchcock. Just before he was hired, he was chatting to Peter Chiarelli, and he said (I'm paraphrasing): "Give me three weeks and I can fix this team." But I can't verify it.

Oh! Another one I forgot is the autumn of 1982 when Grant Fuhr publicly called Oilers' fans "jerks".

 

[Moregoalspls]

Most fragile team ever. As soon as they get up they give up a softy and it's over. Like anyone watching can tell it's over

 

[The Panther]

Most fragile team ever. As soon as they get up they give up a softy and it's over. Like anyone watching can tell it's over

You forgot to add that they give it up 30 seconds after their own goal.

I have never seen any team --- Oilers or otherwise (going back to mid-1980s) --- so frequently give up weak goals only seconds after they themselves score.

 

[BlackDogg]

 

[Moregoalspls]

You forgot to add that they give it up 30 seconds after their own goal.

I have never seen any team --- Oilers or otherwise (going back to mid-1980s) --- so frequently give up weak goals only seconds after they themselves score.

Yeah they sit on a lead pretending they can defend. It's like some weird identity crisis

 

[Mr Positive]

It was a generic statement.

I'm not totally panicking on this yet. There have been teams who had to take a step back in regular season play before they won it all. Washington, St.Louis, Tampa. In the season St.Louis won they were last place in January.

 

[TheNumber4]

We can’t even verify if Connor said those words and were just going to run with it?

 

[Gordievsky]

Lots of things pissed me off with Lowe’s comment but I think what angered me the most was when he made his apology video a day or two later from his office there was a picture over his shoulder of him winning a Stanley Cup with the Rangers. The guy won 5 of them as an Oiler but the picture he decides to prominently display while apologizing for insulting Oiler fans was from the only one he won playing for another team. The guy was so clueless I was never interested in listening to another word he said.

100% agree with this post.

The thread is hilarious, great job by OP in compiling these. Most of them are humourous or cringy but all in good fun, but I have a crazy outsize reaction to the Lowe quotes. He brings on anger management issues in me, LOL.

He worked has ass off through the 80's, no doubt. But I remember a few other dudes ahead of him, in terms of importance to the team. Just a few. There might have been a few other bigger contributors on the Rangers team too.

To couple that incredible arrogance with his off-handed dismissal of a few hundred thousand Albertans who don't always have the disposable income to make it out to games was a bit hard to take.

I know he supposedly no longer has any hockey ops role. What does that say about your management contribution, Kev, that the OBC was so poisonous to the fans that the club went out of their way to emphasize that certain people were no longer making hockey decisions?

 

[sepHF]

We can’t even verify if Connor said those words and were just going to run with it?

he said it at the end of playoffs year end presser

they were asking him about moral victories and how they played well against Vegas and he said at this point in guys careers its cup or bust. AKA moral victories dont mean shit to this group

then it got transformed into McDavid saying at the start of the year or something, i dunno lol

https://x.com/OilersNation/status/1658542109471961088?s=20

 

[The Panther]

100% agree with this post.

The thread is hilarious, great job by OP in compiling these. Most of them are humourous or cringy but all in good fun, but I have a crazy outsize reaction to the Lowe quotes. He brings on anger management issues in me, LOL.

He worked has ass off through the 80's, no doubt. But I remember a few other dudes ahead of him, in terms of importance to the team. Just a few. There might have been a few other bigger contributors on the Rangers team too.

To couple that incredible arrogance with his off-handed dismissal of a few hundred thousand Albertans who don't always have the disposable income to make it out to games was a bit hard to take.

I know he supposedly no longer has any hockey ops role. What does that say about your management contribution, Kev, that the OBC was so poisonous to the fans that the club went out of their way to emphasize that certain people were no longer making hockey decisions?

Agree with you entirely. Lowe has had his share of great moments with the club, both as player and as manager, but his extreme out-of-proportion-to-his-own-role degree of arrogance regarding winning is just incredibly insulting and off-putting. With that presser, he basically said the organization doesn't care about 97% of Oilers' fans.

 

[BlackDogg]

"I promised Drai i wouldn't do this!!"

 

[AM]

It’s always cup or bust? And for 32 organizations it is bust.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

"Your walk and talk have to match"

Jay Woodcroft - Today

I honestly believe this guy works harder on his catch phrases than actually coaching the team.

 

[Old Boys Club]

"Your walk and talk have to match"

Jay Woodcroft - Today

I honestly believe this guy works harder on his catch phrases than actually coaching the team.

Probably practices them in the mirror for an hour while delicately coiffing his hair.

 

[bone]

I'm thinking, if this season carries on anything like now, this latest cringe-quote has to be pushing into top-5 territory.

Here's what I got so far--all contending for the Hall of Fame:

Dallas Eakins: "Craig's on it!
Dallas Eakins: "Chop water, carry wood."
Dallas Eakins: "The perfect game is zero hits."
Esa Tikkanen, autumn 1991 after Muckler, Messier, Kurri, Beukeboom, Smith, Fuhr, Anderson, and (soon) Graves were all gone: "What happened to my team?"
Daryl Katz, c. 2010: "I think drafting and development is how teams quickly go from the bottom to the top. We're going to be a shining example of that."
Bob Nicholson, 2019: "There's something in the water here in Edmonton that we don't have right."
Steve Tambellini, re: Belanger: "You wanted your center, you got your center."
Pocklington, 1988 press conference: "Wayne came to me and asked to be traded."
Craig MacTavish, after 9th year of no playoffs: "Next year I would forecast as another development year."
Kevin Lowe, press conference: "We have two types of fans: we have paying customers and we have people that watch the game."
Kevin Lowe, press conference: "There’s one other guy I believe in hockey today, that is still working in the game, that has won more Stanley Cups than me, so I think I know a little bit about winning if that’s ever a concern."
Craig MacTavish: "Visually, to me, we're a better hockey team."
Ken Holland: "I looked at the guide and record book!"
Connor McDavid: "It's Cup or bust!'
Jay Woodcroft: "What we're focused on is the all-consuming pursuit of the next solution."

What did I forget?

What's your Top-5?

Standard of Play is a very common refrain of Jay Woodcroft's.

 

[bone]

Regarding the actual "Cup or bust" quote, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Connor said it right after the final Vegas game last spring, and then Leon repeated it to journalists this pre-season (i.e., a month ago, or 20 years in Oilers' time).

There was also a great quote --- but maybe no paper-trail of it --- by Ken Hitchcock. Just before he was hired, he was chatting to Peter Chiarelli, and he said (I'm paraphrasing): "Give me three weeks and I can fix this team." But I can't verify it.

Oh! Another one I forgot is the autumn of 1982 when Grant Fuhr publicly called Oilers' fans "jerks".

I actually think that quote was that he could fix Puljujarvi, though I also could be mistaken.

Another favorite of mine was year 1 of Eakins explaining the defensive results of his swarm.

"My bad. I assumed that we knew what traditional d-zone coverage was and it was clear that we didn’t.”

 

[Stoneman89]

Regarding the actual "Cup or bust" quote, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Connor said it right after the final Vegas game last spring, and then Leon repeated it to journalists this pre-season (i.e., a month ago, or 20 years in Oilers' time).

There was also a great quote --- but maybe no paper-trail of it --- by Ken Hitchcock. Just before he was hired, he was chatting to Peter Chiarelli, and he said (I'm paraphrasing): "Give me three weeks and I can fix this team." But I can't verify it.

Oh! Another one I forgot is the autumn of 1982 when Grant Fuhr publicly called Oilers' fans "jerks".

I think Hitch was talking about "fixing" Puljujarvi.

It’s always cup or bust? And for 32 organizations it is bust.

There are 32 teams in the league. If they all bust, does that mean that no one wins the cup?

 

[North Cole]

Holland in his limited tenue has had some all timers too:

"It's been up and down like a toilet seat"
"What, do you want me to get him for free?"
"Your feeling is that there’s a limited number of teams to go to and I could squeeze somebody, it’s hard to squeeze people in this league."
"I looked at the guide and record book"
About Duncan Keith's performance vs his cap hit: "Nobody knows, *picks up a literal f***ing crystal ball* nobody can look into these things and see the future"

View attachment 764785

Th facts he has that is goated tho. Haha.

A GM with a literal crystal ball on their desk is something I'd expect in a Dean Koontz novel.

 

[AM]

I think Hitch was talking about "fixing" Puljujarvi.


There are 32 teams in the league. If they all bust, does that mean that no one wins the cup?

One can only hope

 

[tfwnogf]

it's pretty damn cringe, especially with the whole started skating early in the preseason to show they were "serious" this time around

 

[McOilers97]

it's pretty damn cringe, especially with the whole started skating early in the preseason to show they were "serious" this time around

They were serious about wanting to win the cup, but what they didn't mention is that they planned to fold at the first sign of any adversity.

 

[TheUnusedCrayon]

Ken Holland " It's dollar in and dollar out" ....You don't say

Ken Holland" Green Bananas"

Jay Woodcroft " Taking care of the day's business"

The green bananas one gets my vote. Had me laughing in my car when I heard it on the radio.

 

[guymez]

Not sure how the phrase "cup or bust" ranks but after thinking about this for a few days I am quite convinced that statement was a product of very immature leadership.

Making that statement was the exact opposite of what needed to be said because making a public statement like that puts enormous unneeded pressure on the team.

That statement may be a significant part of the reason why this team is playing like they are holding their sticks too tight.

 

[McFlash97]

Oilers will still win the cup. Quote me.