Your views on Dallas Eakins so far - Part II

[Klimando Kostani]

Something Stauffer said really left an impression on me today. He said from the start of the training camp until now-whenever he would watch the Flames practices, and even morning skates, he would think that they practice too hard and too fast. That they're gonna burn themselves out.

Lo and behold- they're the hardest working team in the league, while being the least skilled. The season is almost over, yet they're actually playing better now-while teams are fighting for their playoff lives-than they were at the start of the year.

Everything we heard points to the Oilers practices and skates being lackluster. As soon as teams dial up the intensity, the Oilers have no clue or hope. I wasn't alive in the 80's, but I remember people saying that the Oilers of the 80's would practice twice as fast as most teams actually played-which was why they were so good once they hit the ice vs another team.

You can't practice soft and expect to win in the NHL.

Exactly and this practice of weak practice flies in the face of everything Eakins said at the start of the year.

We are the exact opposite of everything he said that we would strive to be.

The only last hope I have for his coaching is that we were derailed by goaltending to start the season. We spent too many months trying to get the finer details of whatever ******** he's got going on. Starting next season most people will have their jobs down pat and our practices can become less of a classroom and more of a battlefield.

If not for that hope I don't know what would keep me watching

 

[T-Funk]

I'm just really curious why Eakins preached all this compete, intensity, and hard practices, and yet we get the furthest thing from that since day 1.

^^oh see above lol

 

[Soundwave]

Eakins is too afraid to push the players too hard in practise, afraid it might cost him an extra game or two and that could be the difference in him getting fired or not IMO. I think that's his thought process.

I remember early in the season he said the travel in the West was so hard that he had to ease up on practices.

 

[AJGass4]

Our team is gong show.

We don't have any work ethic and it shows game in and game out. For a bunch of guys being paid to produce at a high level, I wonder at what point in time that is going to start to happen.

How can MacT be pleased with this coach? When Calgary outworks you game in and game out, there really is something wrong. I don't care if we get beat but we better show up.

Far too many games this year there is only one team competing and it ain't us.

 

[missinthejets]

Although I'm sure we all agree with him to some degree, I'm not sure it should be him talking about it so candidly, especially with 9 games left to play. Just weird for a coach that lead a team to 29th place is talking about how the player mix is no good and needs to be fixed and is talking about all his summer plans of fixing it along with the GM.

Whether it is true or not the head coach absolutely can not come out and say the team isn't good enough. How on earth is he supposed to motivate them when he's already thrown them under the bus? There are some things that are just a huge do not do as a coach and saying your team isn't good enough is one of them. His job is to convince the team that they can win even if they have a **** roster. Don't give them excuses before you start. He's done as a coach. When he has to resort to blaming the roster it's clear he's out of ideas.

 

[Sloth Slothersons*]

The team should just do away with all practices. It makes them too tired for the games.

 

[CornKicker]

The team should just do away with all practices. It makes them too tired for the games.

100% i would argue that the one on one time with buchy and smith actually make them worse

 

[oobga]

I'm just really curious why Eakins preached all this compete, intensity, and hard practices, and yet we get the furthest thing from that since day 1.

^^oh see above lol

I think Eakins is more focused on stuff in the gym and diet. That's the approach he is taking to turn his players into guys that can play 25 mins+/night. From what I've heard, during practices a large amount of time (much more than what other teams spend) is spent on Eakins going through his genius game plan.

I really have to question if Eakins understands what it actually takes to be successful in the NHL. Doesn't matter if you can play 25 mins if you're spending all that time following a stupid game plan and you aren't practicing the right ways in a high intensity fashion how to compete in battles on the ice.

 

[Klimando Kostani]

I don't know if the numbers come out but in the preseason when they do the physical testing I wonder if our players numbers will have dropped. That would be sad coming from a coach who said that we wouldn't be a fun team to play against because compete and bla bla bla

 

[PumpkinBombX]

So as i see it, we're 10 wins out of a playoff spot and should finish that way.

If Dubnyk had even played the same as last season that's 5 wins right there. (first thing that comes to mind is the very first game of the season, was an easy win that Dubs lost).

I don't think another coach could have got us the other 5 wins though.

I wouldn't put it on the GM either.
He put certain players in an opportunity to suceed and they couldn't pull it off. So he went out and fixed those things.
Scrivens and Hendricks were HUGE to this team, and Marincin was the other great addition.

If anything I see Hall, RNH, and Yak playing really good defensive hockey.

A lot of people thought Schultz needed to learn D, which isn't true. What Schultz actually learned this year was to be able to play over 20 min a night. If they had kept him at his 16 min like last year he would've looked better. Instead now he can play 22 min a night, play in his own end, and is now able to join rushes as well. (At 16 min he could do that, at 22 min it took him 60 games to learn.)

I see Eberle finishing checks now, which i don't think i've ever seen before.

Hall has all the sudden become a great 2 way player.

What I like about Eakins is that he understands the simplest thing in hockey, which about 1/2 the coaches in the league don't understand: Whomever wins the puck battles will win the hockey game.
Even that 3-0 win against San Jose where they got like 100 shots. The Oilers were winning puck battles. RNH schooled Thorton on the boards and won a puck battle at a key time. It was like that all game, in spite of the shots.

What I don't like about Eakins is that he tries to force every play into a puck battle. The Oilers have all this speed, and he wants to slow the game down and force a puck battle, where it doesn't need to happen in the first place.
I don't know, maybe that's his plan. Struggle this year, learn these things then next year play to the strengths, but when you're in these situations then you know what to do?


Back to those 5 extra wins we need:

It comes down to our centers.

RNH, although at times looks dominant, didn't have a good enough season. Thankfully there are many junior aged players older than he is. So i expect him to start being the top line center we need. If he can be a 70-75 point player next year, i think that translates to a few more wins. (Thats about the extra points he needs to turn his -16 into a + as well. 8 extra ES points.) But since Dubnyk was traded he's actually only -1. Since then he hasn't been that good offensively (13 pts in 25 games) So i would say he's actually improved a lot defenisvely, and should be a plus player next year.) RNH is 29th among points by centers. He needs to at least get to the middle of the pack next year for 1st line centers, which i think he will.

Gagner can play in the top 6 on some teams but this isn't one of them. I look at it like Hemsky. He's also a top 6 guy, but the Oilers were actually an improved team without him because it allows Yak/Perron to play in the top 6 where they belong and opens a spot on the 3rd line for an energy guy. When Gagner leaves he might improve on another team as well. But yeah the Oil need a big 2nd line center. Having a -26 center (-7 in 25 games since Dubnyk traded, which pro-rated is basically as bad) won't win you any hockey games. Again, I actually like Gagner's skill set, but it's not suited to this team. If he was replaced it would be addition by subtracting.

If Mac T is able to replace Gagner with a 2nd line C who is better defensively that would be the biggest move he could make. He wouldn't even need to replace the points. Gagner is about a 50 point guy with 60 point potential. A 35-50 point C who can be even at least less than a -10 on the year. (Like Martin Hanzal fits that bill)

RNH just by being RNH and developing should have no problems being a plus player next year. If they replace Gagner with someone who can at least be -5 on the year, that's 10 wins easily. Add another 5 or more on goalies, and all the sudden the Oilers go from 29th to about 13th place. (where phoenix is sitting now).

All that without coaching really mattering at all.

Again I think Eakins could do a better job of using the Oilers speed, but teaching them to win battles, and not be afraid to have them in first place, I think is paying off.

Other than that I think he's a scapegoat for the poor play of Dubnyk, needing Schultz and Nuge to develop me (which they have), and the poor play of Gagner

 

[Up the Irons]

don't worry about Eakins, guys. Like the entire lineup, management chose him not for what he is or has done, but for what they think and hope he will become.

treating one of the most important positions in the organization the same way you treat a draft pick. brilliant.

 

[Oi'll say!]

There's a stat called SRS (Simple rating system) on this site:

http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/EDM/

SRS is a stat that takes into account goals differential and strength of schedule for all teams each season.

It's a useful stat in showing how good a team is relative to every other team in the league each year and you can basically compare season to season performances using this stat as well.

Here's the SRS ratings for every Oiler season since they entered the NHL in 79/80:

Season SRS Coaches
2013-14 -0.8 D. Eakins (25-39-9)
2012-13 -0.22 R. Krueger (19-22-7)
2011-12 -0.32 T. Renney (32-40-10)
2010-11 -0.87 T. Renney (25-45-12)
2009-10 -0.76 P. Quinn (27-47-8)
2008-09 -0.16 C. MacTavish (38-35-9)
2007-08 -0.07 C. MacTavish (41-35-6)
2006-07 -0.43 C. MacTavish (32-43-7)
2005-06 0.15 C. MacTavish (41-28-13)
2003-04 0.21 C. MacTavish (36-29-12-5)
2002-03 0.12 C. MacTavish (36-26-11-9)
2001-02 0.34 C. MacTavish (38-28-12-4)
2000-01 0.32 C. MacTavish (39-28-12-3)
1999-00 0.22 K. Lowe (32-26-16-8)
1998-99 0.02 R. Low (33-37-12)
1997-98 -0.13 R. Low (35-37-10)
1996-97 0.03 R. Low (36-37-9)
1995-96 -0.78 R. Low (30-44-8)
1994-95 -0.92 G. Burnett (12-20-3), R. Low (5-7-1)
1993-94 -0.52 T. Green (3-18-3), G. Sather (22-27-11)
1992-93 -1.19 T. Green (26-50-8)
1991-92 -0.12 T. Green (36-34-10)
1990-91 0.06 J. Muckler (37-37-6)
1989-90 0.42 J. Muckler (38-28-14)
1988-89 0.33 G. Sather (38-34-8)
1987-88 0.91 G. Sather (44-25-11)
1986-87 1.06 G. Sather (50-24-6)
1985-86 1.25 G. Sather (56-17-7)
1984-85 1.25 G. Sather (49-20-11)
1983-84 1.51 G. Sather (57-18-5)
1982-83 1.26 G. Sather (47-21-12)
1981-82 1.33 G. Sather (48-17-15)
1980-81 0.01 B. Watson (4-9-5), G. Sather (25-26-11)
1979-80 -0.25 G. Sather (28-39-13)


This season is on pace to be the 4th worst season in Oilers history.

The worst was 92/93 when Ted Green was in his 2nd season as HC. He lasted 24 games into the next season after that historically bad season before being relieved of his duties on the bench by Sather.

The 2nd worst season was the infamous shortened season of 94/95 where George Burnett lasted all of 35 games and was replaced with Ron Low for the last 13 games of that year.

The 3rd worst season was 10/11 with Tom Renney in his 1st year as HC. He Lasted one more full season.


That brings us to this... currently the 4th worst season by an Oiler team in terms of the SRS stat.

Renney improved in terms of SRS markedly from his 1st year to his 2nd... going from -.87 to -.32. Krueger further improved to -.22 last season and now this Eakins-led Oilers team has floundered down to a -.80 SRS rating once again... very near to the level of the team in that first year with Renney.

This is a reasonably objective and unbiased stat that does a good job of accounting for the strengths of schedule in various years.


Just one more way to look at the performance of this team led by Eakins and how it compares to past versions of this Oiler franchise

Nice post.

Illustrates how frustrating the Krueger firing/Eakins hiring was quite well. The team was on the upswing under Krueger and then plummeted like one of les nessman's turkeys when he left.

I'm sure that losing the golden horc played a part but it's not like our depth at center fell off the map when he left. Gagner played the most toi/g of any fwd here last season and RNH was 3rd. Horc was 5th.

 

[Oi'll say!]

So as i see it, we're 10 wins out of a playoff spot and should finish that way.

If Dubnyk had even played the same as last season that's 5 wins right there. (first thing that comes to mind is the very first game of the season, was an easy win that Dubs lost).

I don't think another coach could have got us the other 5 wins though.

I wouldn't put it on the GM either.
He put certain players in an opportunity to suceed and they couldn't pull it off. So he went out and fixed those things.
Scrivens and Hendricks were HUGE to this team, and Marincin was the other great addition.

If anything I see Hall, RNH, and Yak playing really good defensive hockey.

A lot of people thought Schultz needed to learn D, which isn't true. What Schultz actually learned this year was to be able to play over 20 min a night. If they had kept him at his 16 min like last year he would've looked better. Instead now he can play 22 min a night, play in his own end, and is now able to join rushes as well. (At 16 min he could do that, at 22 min it took him 60 games to learn.)

I see Eberle finishing checks now, which i don't think i've ever seen before.

Hall has all the sudden become a great 2 way player.

What I like about Eakins is that he understands the simplest thing in hockey, which about 1/2 the coaches in the league don't understand: Whomever wins the puck battles will win the hockey game.
Even that 3-0 win against San Jose where they got like 100 shots. The Oilers were winning puck battles. RNH schooled Thorton on the boards and won a puck battle at a key time. It was like that all game, in spite of the shots.

What I don't like about Eakins is that he tries to force every play into a puck battle. The Oilers have all this speed, and he wants to slow the game down and force a puck battle, where it doesn't need to happen in the first place.
I don't know, maybe that's his plan. Struggle this year, learn these things then next year play to the strengths, but when you're in these situations then you know what to do?


Back to those 5 extra wins we need:

It comes down to our centers.

RNH, although at times looks dominant, didn't have a good enough season. Thankfully there are many junior aged players older than he is. So i expect him to start being the top line center we need. If he can be a 70-75 point player next year, i think that translates to a few more wins. (Thats about the extra points he needs to turn his -16 into a + as well. 8 extra ES points.) But since Dubnyk was traded he's actually only -1. Since then he hasn't been that good offensively (13 pts in 25 games) So i would say he's actually improved a lot defenisvely, and should be a plus player next year.) RNH is 29th among points by centers. He needs to at least get to the middle of the pack next year for 1st line centers, which i think he will.

Gagner can play in the top 6 on some teams but this isn't one of them. I look at it like Hemsky. He's also a top 6 guy, but the Oilers were actually an improved team without him because it allows Yak/Perron to play in the top 6 where they belong and opens a spot on the 3rd line for an energy guy. When Gagner leaves he might improve on another team as well. But yeah the Oil need a big 2nd line center. Having a -26 center (-7 in 25 games since Dubnyk traded, which pro-rated is basically as bad) won't win you any hockey games. Again, I actually like Gagner's skill set, but it's not suited to this team. If he was replaced it would be addition by subtracting.

If Mac T is able to replace Gagner with a 2nd line C who is better defensively that would be the biggest move he could make. He wouldn't even need to replace the points. Gagner is about a 50 point guy with 60 point potential. A 35-50 point C who can be even at least less than a -10 on the year. (Like Martin Hanzal fits that bill)

RNH just by being RNH and developing should have no problems being a plus player next year. If they replace Gagner with someone who can at least be -5 on the year, that's 10 wins easily. Add another 5 or more on goalies, and all the sudden the Oilers go from 29th to about 13th place. (where phoenix is sitting now).

All that without coaching really mattering at all.

Again I think Eakins could do a better job of using the Oilers speed, but teaching them to win battles, and not be afraid to have them in first place, I think is paying off.

Other than that I think he's a scapegoat for the poor play of Dubnyk, needing Schultz and Nuge to develop me (which they have), and the poor play of Gagner

This is a nice summary of pretty much every bad assumption made on this site:
Dubnyk was the only reason the Oilers were losing
the Oilers' mini non-sucking streak was because Eakins' system was coming into effect (using the shutout against the Sharks as an example lol)
Gagner's improved play had something to do with DD, and his size eliminates him from being capable of being a 2nd line center.

I can't figure out if this is all tongue-in-cheek or if you're serious...

The whole team is healthy now and the center position has been upgraded and the Oilers still need to rely on astounding goaltending to fluke off wins. They have looked absolutely terrible for the last 15 games and all credit for any wins goes to Fasth and Fasther. That's really bad.

 

[McDeathbyCheerios*]

This is a nice summary of pretty much every bad assumption made on this site:
Dubnyk was the only reason the Oilers were losing
the Oilers' mini non-sucking streak was because Eakins' system was coming into effect (using the shutout against the Sharks as an example lol)
Gagner's improved play had something to do with DD, and his size eliminates him from being capable of being a 2nd line center.

I can't figure out if this is all tongue-in-cheek or if you're serious...

The whole team is healthy now and the center position has been upgraded and the Oilers still need to rely on astounding goaltending to fluke off wins. They have looked absolutely terrible for the last 15 games and all credit for any wins goes to Fasth and Fasther. That's really bad.

The season started good, in a way.
For being down 2 centers, Hall playing out of position and have Smyth on our top line, we were scoring tons and having good games however goal tending broke any of those early games we should of won. Confidence died a little bit and we started playing worse. On top of that, the teams in the league that start their seasons slow ramped up while we fell off.

Hall took a little bit to adjust going back to wing. Gagner and RNH dealt with coming back after injuries and have struggled all season because of it. The majority of the defense we signed in the off season played crappy. Larsen, Ferrence, Garbagekov, Belov. None of them could get close to top pairing minutes and half were a liability on the second pairing. Couple that with Smids bad season as well and our defense was a disaster.

The system Eakins implemented didn't work with what our team has so not only did the players have to learn a new system, they essentially had to try and fit in with the mold that Eakins wanted. Practices are easy and word has it most of the time its Eakins talking.

Ferrence gets the captaincy without playing a game which seemed to have a weird affect on the team and the locker room.

RNH and Yak have been going thru growing pains and Yak has been completely mishandled.

Eakins is awful dont get me wrong, but a different coach on the season and the only difference is maybe games we should of closed out, we would of won but we would still be bottom 5.

This team started the season with 0 top 6 centers, 0 top pairing defensemen, and a middle of the line backup and an ahl goal tender. Along with a rookie coach, a rookie gm, an awful associate coach and the same group of crappy assistants there was no way we were going to get better, or even win this season.

Here are things that need to change quick
- Eakins system is garbage he needs to go.
- Acton, Chabot, Buchberger and Smith need out as well, none of them have done the team any good
- We need to replace Gagner at center. I could see him play on the wing as it wouldn't show his awful d as much
- We need dmen who can play top minutes, badly.
- We don't need size who just need people who are willing to finish their god damn checks. If we had 6 Perrons in our top 6 we would be fine
- We need to drastically lower our shots against or else Scrivens is going to die before we finish next season.
- Surround Hall with line mates that can carry the play with him, he is only going to single handedly create offense so long before he leaves for greener pastures.

 

[oobga]

Nice foot in mouth night for Eakins. Talking before this NYR game about how he has it all figured out for next year and he knows exactly what needs to be done.

Also in this article he talks about the what-if of the Oilers being an Eastern conference team and how much better they might be:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/blogpost.htm?id=27867

Of course he forgets that the eastern teams are just not familiar with us and likely would make the necessary adjustments to keep us in the basement there too.

Then we proceed to get completely owned by an eastern team.

 

[GMofOilers]

Im going to go out on a limb and say this PP that Eakins is trying to force down our players throats isnt working!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[The Joker*]

Good coach. He knows exactly what he needs to do next year now.

 

[McJeety McJeet]

Good coach. He knows exactly what he needs to do next year now.

He's gonna resign and not recommend another coach?

 

[Up the Irons]

MacT, for the love of God, you can't let this go on. This coach is not working out. My god, this is a just out of control.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

9 times we've been shutout, 9 ****ing times. For a team filled with players drafted to be offensive players. This is pathetic, like I said if MacT can't realize the damage being done then he needs to gtfo too.

 

[Del Preston]

There is no reason to bring him back next season. He should have been turfed in November.

 

[Oiltankjob Fail]

There is no reason to bring him back next season. He should have been turfed in November.

Mac T is stubborn like he was as a coach Reddux on the 1st line . He wont fire him it will have to come from Lowe.

 

[Beerfish]

No way will he be fired at the end of this year. None. The very earliest you might see it is if the oilers have about 2 wins in their 1st 20 games next year.

MacT loves this guy because he is a mact mini me, he'll not fire his protedgy.

 

[ViCiieux]

We are so lucky to have him. The best coach in NHL hands down.

 

[Hockey Nightmare]

I think Eakins has them playing the way he wants and he won't budge from that until they play HIS game the way he wants. Forget whether THEY are suited to his game or not.