Thursday, November 13, 2008

The Oilers Blow

18 minutes of good hockey followed by 42 minutes of crap hockey. This team has no line chemistry, the amount of players that look lost, disinterested, or ineffective far outnumbers the players that are getting the job done. When you can count the players that are playing well on one hand, you have some serious issues.

This team is near the cap, has 3 goalies, has no chemistry, nor have they had any chemistry since training camp. This team is a disaster on ice, if it wasn't for show stopping goaltending performances this team would be sitting in a draft lottery position.

Horcoff, Cole, Penner, Visnovsky, Gagner, Cogliano, Nilsson, Gilbert, Grebeshkov, the list goes on for players that are underperforming.

At what point does the Oilers management look to make some changes? This club is beyond an AHL callup or 2 to give the team a spark. It's time for some big name players to get their asses parked in the pressbox. Too many players comfortable with lapse play and effort. It is rather obvious that Mactavish isn't getting the most out of his players. It's either the coach that needs to go, or Lowe fesses up that he has done a craptacular job of building this team. There's no inbetween, either MacT is underperforming as a coach, or Lowe did so as a GM.

Nothing has changed since the start of the season, how much longer do we have to put up with this crap? What will the excuse be this year if we miss the postseason? Key injuries haven't been an issue like it was the last 2 seasons. What is the excuse now?

Oh yeah, and a special shout out to the Oilers fans who were neutered compared to the Leaf contingent. When you have an opposing teams fan base chanting "na na na na na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye" you were made an ass of. This teams fanbase is overrated, outside of the postseason the teams fans are quiet compared to some other markets.

Although, I guess it'd be hard to take pride in that loose bowel movement that the team splattered on the ice tonight.

10 comments:

hunter1909 said...

Last night I watched the first 2 periods of the Boston Montreal game.

The best game I've seen all season, or am likely to - both excellent TEAMS.

The Bruins could easily make the finals, and even win it if this game was anything to go by. Every line from 1st to 4th functions beautifully. Everyone knew their roles. They play Bruins hockey...tough, and skilled.

The Habs kind of blew after the 1st, but you know they're going to be back, next time. Even losing, you felt that they could have come back against a lesser team.

Then it was time to watch the Oilers v Leafs. What a fucking diffrence! Two clueless teams, each vying to see which other one was more interested in losing the game. Oilers stumbling to a 1 goal lead, then...bingo the Leafs scored 2 and I turned the thing off. because win lose or tie, I knew the Oilers stink.

Sorry fanatical Oilers loser fans, your team is lousy. No identity. Oilers hockey, the kind I used to see in the 80's is dead. The Oilers, that great team, are in mothballs. They're now just a moribund collection of individual players, none of whom are particularly great other than Hemsky.

Shawn fucking Horcoff??? A 3rd line center on any good team. period.

For the past 3-4 seasons how many times have the players been run out of town, and new ones brought in, while a mediocre core was rewarded for ...what???...with silly contracts. Now you're got Horcoff, Penner, Staios, Pisani, et al sucking the life out of the cap. Hossa? Give me a break. How do they afford to pay Hossa?

MacTavish is a loser. A vain, aloof, and not particularly talented coach. I remember 2006, watching a practice on TV. Pronger was telling everyone what to do, not MacTavish.

I don't need to be PC about this anymore. Actually, yes I do. Not that I care, but I tend to get banned off of lame assed boards who think a slug like MacT is actually worth seriously discussing as a coaching option. Let him go find another team to fuck up.

Oilers have no system, no identity. They're a no more than a mediocre at best team that plays to the limits of it's opposition. Totally incapable of establishing command of a game - because there are no real leaders out there. And if there are, the coach is a fool. Sucking the life out of the Oilers.

Kevin Lowe is no better. What's he actually accomplished for the Oilers? One year of Chris Pronger. Crappy draft picks like Jesse Niinnimmaki and actually going out of his way to avoid drafting Parise, for a pair of slugs. Mikhnov being treated like shit, when he actually got over here. Offer sheets at crazy prices.

Imagine losing 4 1st round picks, for Vanek. Lowe is a moron. period. Schremp being tortured, just so the 3rd string fakes currently running this hicksville franchise can feel good about how they destroyed a round peg who goes against the grain of their block headedness.

Mactavish looks like a wax dummy behind the bench. If I were playing for a fool like MacTavish I would sooner hand the opposition breakaways, just to get him fired. So would any good player. Of course they weren't going to take Cherapanov. What would they do with a skilled player?

MacTavish is so fucking stupid he'd have benched Gretzky until he learned how to check better.
That's about it. Oilers are a first rate, third rate team. They're never going to get better, not with the losers in charge of this team. Not now. And not ever.

Bringing in more new new players is like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. And we all know how that ended up.

This 2008-09 Edmonton Oilers try to sell themselves as rock stars. But what they really are, is a small town bar band. Camping it up because no one seems to know the difference.

It makes me want to puke.

rant over.

Bryanbryoil said...

Hunter1909 "Two clueless teams, each vying to see which other one was more interested in losing the game.

I don't need to be PC about this anymore. Actually, yes I do. Not that I care, but I tend to get banned off of lame assed boards who think a slug like MacT is actually worth seriously discussing as a coaching option. Let him go find another team to fuck up.

Bringing in more new new players is like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. And we all know how that ended up."

Agreed, there has been so much player change that it's well beyond the players at this point, and anytime that you only have 4 or 5 guys showing up every night it's time for a coaching change.

This team needs change, no one is listening to the coach kids and vets alike.

hunter1909 said...

Frankly, I wouldn't have been surprised had you deleted that last post.

For me, seeing the excellence of the Bruins moments before the pathos of the Oilers drove something home once and for all.

Too bad they're not running a reality tv show "behind the scenes at Oilers head office", because it's something I'd be way more interested in than the current "team", lol.

oilerdago said...

Not sure that I lay all this at the feet of MacT just yet. But there are a couple of things - especially after the poor game against TO.

A lack of a 3rd line Center. Either MacT does not trust in Pouliot/Brodziak or they have not shown it. I know that 78 was upset about being thought of as a Carboneau last spring but that's exactly what is missing. It's having a bad ripple effect on the team too because...

They don't kill penalties. With face offs now in the killing teams zone it's a bad domino effect - lose draw, team gets possession and scores. How we miss even a Reasoner who could win those critical face offs and would put his body in front of a puck (not seeing a lot of blocked shots this year either). Also...

Too many guys playing out of position. Trying to play Cole as a LW when he's a RW; Pisani as a C and now a LW when he's a RW; Pouliot as a wing when he's a C; putting Souray and Visnovsky on the same PP line when their strength's are both the big shot from the right hand side. It just goes on and on. And finally...

Average goaltending. That's what it is right now.

This team has to make some trades and it can't keep acquiring similar skill/position players. Time to shake things up. And I guess that's why I lay more of this at the feet of K-Lowe than MacT right now.

Thanks for letting me ramble BB.

Bryanbryoil said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bryanbryoil said...

Hunter1909-"Frankly, I wouldn't have been surprised had you deleted that last post."

I will not condone personal attacks on my blog, but this is a very frustrating time to be an Oilers fan and as long as there aren't any laws being broken, it's all good as long as we don't turn the place into rant nation ;)

OD-I agree that we have too many similarly skilled players, however MacT often times likes to play teh same skill sets with eachother instead of mixing and matching them.

The only way for us to tell if it's MacT or Lowe (or both) that have screwed over this team is with a coaching change.

If a new coach with an actual NHL coaching pedigree can't get this team going, then it all falls in K Lowe's lap.

hunter1909 said...

"Too many guys playing out of position. Trying to play Cole as a LW when he's a RW; Pisani as a C and now a LW when he's a RW; Pouliot as a wing when he's a C; putting Souray and Visnovsky on the same PP line when their strength's are both the big shot from the right hand side. It just goes on and on."

If this was a poker game I'd love to be in it...all of these show symptoms of someone who is completely and hopelessly failing to realise the situation - MacTavish as things stand right now would have problems ordering a bottle of milk.

Until he's fired, the Oilers are doomed. And once he's gone, then take a good hard look at Lowe.

Bryanbryoil said...

MacT has to go, if the team doesn't turn it around then Lowe should let Tambellini do whatever the hell that he wants because we need someone else calling the shots.

Troy said...

I keep thinking to myself and telling all Oil fans that will listen, "Hey they haven't played a good game and yet they are still over 500. Just give it some time." But the more I think about it the more I realize that the signs of another 5 game losing streak are beginning to accumulate. In another two weeks, we well know where this team stands. If the inconsistency continues then MacT must go.

Bryanbryoil said...

Troy-We all know that it's coming, and we all know that the coach will remain the same. This must be how Cuban's have felt under Castro, no matter what you do you wake up to the same SOB year, after year, after year. Shakes head.