Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Scrutinized Beyond Belief

Rob Schremp has had 2 solid but unspectacular games for the Oilers this preseason, yet by the sounds of many fans, you'd think that he has been playing like an ECHLer at best.

Yeah he's not ultra gritty, yeah he's not Selke material, but you know what? The kid creates chances for his teammates. He got on the scoreboard tonight with a secondary assist off of a solid read and pass to Dustin Penner in the slot resulting in a Liam Reddox rebound goal.

He played with Reddox and Lefebvre on a line, and he gift wrapped a pass from behind the net onto Lefebvre's stick right in front of the net. Is it his fault that his linemates aren't converting on his passes? I think not, and while we haven't seen him looking for his shot nearly enough, he is still contributing without costing his team defensively.

Let's remember folks, most rookies don't come into their own until they get some games under their belts. Schremp has set up numerous linemates in 2 seperate games. He is doing his part. Yeah, it'd be great for him to have a 3 point night including potting his 1st goal of the preseason, but he's making his mark while not throwing up red flags.

Once he gets some chemistry with regular linemates, and isn't worried about getting the old plane ticket out of camp, people will get to see what the kid is fully capable of. Until then, we will be seeing flashes of brilliance, hesitation, and a player looking to please the coach with his play more-so than playing his own game.

Cut the kid some slack, when the smoke clears the Oilers will be better for it.

2 comments:

Paper Designer said...

Actually, I thought he looked genuinely great in the second game. He was making great plays, and looking like someone who could generate some chances even without high-end teammates. The only thing that worried me is that I'm not sure he's great at carrying the play into the offensive zone. I think he'll be fine as long as he's put on a line with a couple of other skaters who can advance the puck a bit more, but I don't think you'll want to see Schremp try to single-handedly set up his team in the offensive zone.

He's looked like the best of the forwards battling it out for a spot so far, IMO.

Bryanbryoil said...

He is actually superb at carrying the puck in WHEN he is willing to dump the puck in when neccessary. Not Hemsky good, but every bit as good as Nilsson or Gagner. The difference between him in Springfield last year and this pre-season, is that he is trying waaay too hard to make an impression. He actually reminds me of Nilsson while he was in Springfield last year, forcing the play, going 1 on 3. He needs to settle down a bit and play his game. However I agree, the kid creates on the ice, even a blind man should be able to see that (well apparently not according to the reviews that he's gotten by some).