Edmonton Oilers

[archited]

The biggest single problem is the lack of line integrity... long ago the Oilers should have settled their lines on compatible and familiar line mates. Experimentation at this late date in the season is foolish.

 

[AntonK]

Well, I’m a little ornery after the last two losses, especially losing against the leafs
On the flipside tonight, the team has a chance to burn off some frustration give the Flames a good beat down.

 

[AntonK]

FFS. The team played well enough to win, but 4 goals on 24 shots. that’s not good enough.

 

[scyeg]

Time for a coaching change. I didn't think it was the right move to fire Woodcroft when they did, mainly because the team still had great underlying numbers and was going through a period of bad luck mixed with awful goaltending, but this is different. The Oilers are completely middling under Knoblauch this season. Other than the PP, the stats do not point to a team that will find its way back to the cup final or even have much playoff success at all. Terrible D structure, an awful PK, and a complete lack of understanding of how to construct his lines other than putting 97 and 29 together the minute they are down in a game. Benching Mangi the other night after what had been his best period as an Oiler was a perfect encapsulation of how poorly Knoblauch has handled his players. How are these bottom 6 guys ever supposed to play with any confidence when a single mistake ends up costing you your spot in the lineup? There's no direction with the bottom 6, and it seems there's no plan. 97 and 29 are going to be completely run ragged by the time the playoffs come with the amount of minutes he's playing them.

Coaches change all the time in pro sports, it's not unusual. The Olympic break is the perfect time before another season is wasted.

 

[JNO1]

^ Yup. There better be a serious "come to Jesus" meeting(s) between Jackson/Bowman/entire management team and the entire coaching staff asap to get this figured out. Simply inexcusable for them to be in the position they are in at this point in the season. Their first 3 games after the Olympic break are against ANA, LA and SJ, 3 teams that are right behind us in the standings, and if they continue their p!$$ poor play they will be out of a playoff spot by the end of Feb.

 

[AntonK]

I’m legit concerned about them even making the playoffs. When they lost to Minnesota I was like, okay, second best record in the league, but the Leafs? and even worse, the Flames
I don’t expect them to fully compete hard every night when the regular season is only a slow dance, but they better not miss the playoffs and they better not play this way in the playoffs.

 

[IanO]

It's only Feb. March/April Oilers are a diff team.

 

[kcantor]

It's only Feb. March/April Oilers are a diff team.

You're remembering last year and the year before and ignoring the fact that even Draisaitl is saying this is a different - and he doesn't mean better - team than last year and the year before.

 

[johnnyboy]

Their first 3 games after the Olympic break are against ANA, LA and SJ, 3 teams that are right behind us in the standings, and if they continue their p!$$ poor play they will be out of a playoff spot by the end of Feb.

Good thing they always come out of their breaks like a shotgun. /s

 

[IanO]

 

[AntonK]

It's only Feb. March/April Oilers are a diff team.

Agreed, and that’s what I’m hoping for. Let’s face it, the past two years the Oilers haven’t been tearing it up in the regular season, but they are doing it in the playoffs. Almost all of their series have started on the road and they’ve won almost all of them.

 

[kcantor]

An interesting tidbit from Steve Simmons’ column in today’s Journal:

“A small piece of Olympic hockey trivia: When Team Canada beat Germany at Albertville in 1992, Eric Lindros won the game with a shootout goal. Sean Burke was in goal for Canada. The last shooter for Germany was Peter Draisaitl, Leon's father.”