Friday, November 14, 2008

I Call Shenanigans

So let me get this right, the Oilers roll with 3 goalies to start the year, they acquire Steve MacIntyre via waivers, and Rob Schremp's NHL dream is stalled. A dream that followed an AHL Allstar appearance, going down to California to work hard with Chad Moreau so that he could improve on his biggest weaknesses.

Camp rolls around, Schremp has a respectable camp, nothing too great or too bad. He should've been better, but he wasn't. His grandfather passes away, he takes time to grieve the loss. He comes back to officially find out that his NHL dream has been dashed once again. He goes down to Springfield, leads them in points and ES points while being a +2 and their best player on most nights.

MacIntyre gets hurt, the Oilers then claim Jesse Boulerice. Spot gone once again. Robert Nilsson once again falls out of favor with Craig Mactavish, now the dynamic kid that was a driving force late last season has been relegated to low man on the totem pole playing with Kyle Brodziak and Zack Stortini.

For those that pay attention to Oilers prospects, they will know that when Robert Nilsson was traded to the Oilers organization, he went to Wilkes-Barre Scranton and teamed with Rob Schremp, they had what may have been their best stretch of AHL games.

Together Nilsson went for 4-13-17 in 14gp. and Schremp went for 6-9-15 in 14gp. Why on God's green earth would MacT want to reunite these 2? Why would he want to give Nilsson another skilled player to play with? Why would he want Schremp to have a familiar face to welcome him to the NHL?

The Oilers recall Liam Reddox. The diminutive but chippy player with some skill who came out of nowhere last season to become a solid AHL player. At the end of Saturday, Reddox was my 5th ranked forward in terms of a callup and the 6th ranked player overall. This is spitting in a players face if I have ever seen it.

At this point, I am ready to cheer the Oilers onto defeat just so that we can rid ourselves of this coach. I did it in '06-07 in the dive for 5, and I am doing it again. For this team to take the next step, we need a new mindset and a new coach.

8 comments:

hunter1909 said...

MacTavish is now, functionally insane.

I hope the Oilers get hammered in the next 2 weeks, lose every game 10-0.

It's up to the players. They can do it!

Anonymous said...

Reddox has 5 more goals and one less point that Schremp (in 2 more games) while playing a chippy, defensively responsible style. Sounds like a better fit for the fourth line to me.

Schremp had a mediocre to poor camp IMO and has had a good but not overwhelming AHL start. He has zero goals and is a small and soft playmaker.

It's not shenanigans, it's probably the right call. You can claim it's all MacT's fault and make excuses, but Schremp has yet to truly dominate the AHL (except possibly when with Nilsson). Until he does, I doubt he spends a lot of time in the show (barring NHL injury).

doritogrande said...

Last time I checked, Tambellini was the GM of this team, and not MacTavish. MacT is not responsible for getting a player here or sending one away. He's responsible for coaching the ones that are here. So don't blame MacT because your boy isn't batting cleanup.

The thing that bugs me is that we're replacing a defenseman with a forward on the big team. With Smid out for god knows how long with a concussion, we need that 7th D-man. Say what you want, our D-men are a fragile bunch when you consider the history of Souray and the injury troubles of Strudwick and Grebeshkov already. This team needs Peckham a lot more than it does Schremp right now.

hunter1909 said...

Any way you slice it, the Oilers are being run like a gong show.

After last night I'm willing to blame MacTavish for 9/11.

Bryanbryoil said...

Yes, and I'm sure that MacT had absolutely NO input into the callup. Why would a GM ask his coach what he feels that he needs? It's ultimately the coach who's job is on the line.

Reddox is an alright player, has a worst +/- than Schremp, Potulny, Brule, Spurgeon, and Trukhno.

He may have more goals, but he has not been anywhere near as dominant at Schremp when Schremp is at his best.

To be fair I haven't seen much of the Falcon's last 2 games, however it is beyond ridiculous that this team would rather play skill with scrubs than play skill with skill.

Hopefully it was MacT's doing and it fails, and his job can be flying out of town on the same plane that Reddox will be flying out on when he's sent back down.

Bryanbryoil said...

BTW-WTH ever happened to your best player on the farm getting the call? Why work hard and improve for the team when they apparently don't give a crap about you?

doritogrande said...

It was never about who the best player on the farm was. It was the best player for the specific role. We've still got a glut of offensive talent in Edmonton, we need a mucker. And that sure as hell ain't the Hockey Jesus.

Bryanbryoil said...

Then why not give Sestito a shot? Better yet, let's keep MacT as far away from Sestito as possible before he ends up as our 2nd line center in Edmonton. Just watch MacT play Reddox in a top 6 role.