Its a mistake engaging you ... I realize, but junk posts like this cannot go unchallenged.
1. Horcoff was a plumber. He was never worth the $5.5 extension the Oilers signed him to (with a NMC, lol), but he was like a son to MacT who groomed him in his own image from day one, and spoon fed him the best minutes he could dole out. That move was a disaster for the Oilers salary cap structure because who wouldn't pay a FOA like Hall more than a plumber like Horcoff. Then came Eberle and RNH who rightly demanded similar money. Bingo. Salary cap ****ed.
2. Horcoff was all about Horcoff. This was a guy who never took responsibility for anything despite wearing the C. He spent more time stroking his nose and trying to look senatorial in post game interviews than he ever did taking a hard look at his own weak play. That, combined with the way he gloried in his role with the PA make him a junk leader.
3. Horcoff is a verified drug cheat. In my experience with drug abusers, they never get caught the first time. I won't go ahead and leap to the kind of assumptions you are famous for on this site, but I think its fair to call his character into question.
1. Ference spent more time making sanctimonious posts on twitter than he did on the ice.
2. He was a known Eakins fanboy.
3. He was the first guy to skate to the bench when a team mate was getting pounded.
4. Who cares what he did ten years ago for a different franchise? Giving him the C was just another in a long list of Oiler blunders. In fact, even adding him to the team was a blunder.
You would think a poster such as yourself who claims to have insight into what makes a 'good' player would realize that development doesn't happen in a vacuum. It is absolutely fair to say that this franchise let down its lotto pick kids by giving them leadership that was well past prime and worse, self absorbed. Its staggering that you are unwilling to acknowledge the extent to which this impacted the young players on the team.
