Rob Schremp is more receptive to criticism and working hard than ever before. He is on the right path. The Oilers need to be rewarding him and molding him at the NHL level. Mactavish has a player that is dying to be in the NHL and is trying to go beyond the call to do just that. If Mactavish keeps him up, I would be VERY surprised if Schremp doesn't bust his tail for him each and every night.What I don't want to see is Schremp playing well and getting a ticket back to Springfield. It is his contract year, and he has been working very hard to curb his deficiencies. The Oilers should be looking at keeping #88 in the lineup unless his play really drops. He was superb in the AHL and was an ES producer while also being a decent 2-way player.
Robbie will learn far more at the NHL level this year than he will back in the AHL. It is time for this team to reward Schremp for buying into their plan and working on the areas that he's been asked to work on.
If the coach does this, IMO it will encourage Rob to keep working hard and to become the player that the coach wants him to be.
The kid needs to be given a long look with the Oilers.
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Tomorrow is huge for Robbie. If he has a big game, he'll stick. If not, all bets are off. Which I'm fine with....Bryan, every AHL player is dying to be in the NHL and most would do anything to stay there. Robbie has more skill than most working for him, but he's not without deficiencies. The fact that its his contract year is completely irrelevant to me, and should be to the Oilers.
That said, I hope he performs and sticks as it can only benefit the Oilers to have another effective offensive player. I've been impressed with his decision making, as well...he's not forcing the play like Nilsson and Gags have at times this year. Plus, I like his attitude and he's a hell of a lot better interview than most Oilers!
Dubya, to be fair most AHL players don't expect to be NHLers and many never will be. His skill level is very relevant. I'm not saying that he wants to be in the show any more than a guy like Sestito, but he has the skill level to really excel if he can bring a lunchbox mentality.
My main point is that he is very receptive to coaching and working on his game right now and that could change if he feels that he gets screwed over. If he plays poorly, he'll know as much and it makes it easier for a demotion. If he doesn't play poorly and he gets sent down it could really end up creating a rift between the player and the team.
I don't disagree with the sentiment, but I do have a couple of points:
1) Lowe/Tambellini will decide if Schremp is demoted or not. MacTavish will decide where in the the lineup he plays, and certainly have a lot of sway, but roster makeup is ultimately the general manager's decision.
2) Schremp looks really good out there, but he does need to tighten things up defensively. He's been on for three goals for and three goals against, and I've seen him turn over the puck a few times. Now, to his credit, he's worked hard to back-check and try and make up for those mistakes, but if he can reduce those sorts of mistakes over the next few games he'll have a far better chance of sticking with the club.
On for 3 goals against. 1 was when he just came on for a change, another he was on for Cogs coughing up the puck into the slot. How exactly was he supposed to be held responsible for those goals? The 3rd goal escapes me, but those 2 are very memorable in my mind. Outside of running into Roli on the backcheck and knocking hi down, IMO he's done well defensively.
Outside of running into Roli on the backcheck and knocking hi down, IMO he's done well defensively.
In the overtime against San Jose Schremp turned the puck over on his own blue-line, but then scrambled back. It was a chance against, but he was still trying.
There have been a couple of those plays that I've seen, BBO - Schremp does turn the puck over, and to his credit he scrambles afterward, but I'm sure it's something that the coaching staff would like to see cut back a bit.
Like I said, I don't disagree that Schremp should have a longer audition, but he can increase his chances if he cuts back on those kind of plays.
Every single Oiler prospect to every put on the Jersey has turned the puck over at least half a dozen times that is no problem. With all due respect to Jeff Truit, Schremp can learn a heck of alot more from MACT and the Old boys club. MaCT knows that, Klowe knows that, Tambo knows it and I'm sure Schremp knows it. Having said that we are in a bit of a pickle. Nilsson and Gagner can't play on the 4th line and neither can Schremp so what can we do??
Jonathan-"In the overtime against San Jose Schremp turned the puck over on his own blue-line, but then scrambled back. It was a chance against, but he was still trying."
How could he turn the puck over when he wasn't playing in OT? I'm pretty sure that he didn't see a shift in OT against SJ (perhaps you're talking about OT against LA?). I have seen him make some passes that have been picked off, that's the life of a playmaker. He'll be better for it in the long run IMO. You have to try things to see how much better NHL players anticipate plays.
He's hardly the only guy on the team to not connect on every pass, however the ones that he connects on are beauties.
Every single Oiler prospect to every put on the Jersey has turned the puck over at least half a dozen times that is no problem.
It isn't a problem if they make noticeable progress and scramble to get back. Schremp's done both - and I think he should be with the team.
That said, he hasn't been perfect and we need to be willing to identify what he needs to work on going forward.
Jonathan, no one has said that he's been "perfect" but who is? The best players in this game often times make a few poor plays in any one game.
He's been very solid and very responsible defensively while producing 3 points in 3 games. Gagner has what? 5 points in 20+ games? I've yet to see Schremp make as bad of plays as Gagner has (albeit in a much smaller sample size.
The kid is trying hard and getting things done, I fail to see anything negative that more work couldn't fix.)
I've said Gagner should get a seat in the pressbox already - so please don't misunderstand me here. Schremp has looked really good, and deserves a longer stay, but you can see that he cheats to offense and needs to stay vigilant if he's going to be an NHL regular.
Look, if he keeps doing what he's doing, no problem, and he deserves an NHL job. If he starts to back off a little bit (which we've seen from plenty of players of that type currently on the team) he might go to the minors for a few games.
And it must have been the L.A. game that I saw - it's a vivid memory, because I went "great, Schremp coughs it up" and then "good job getting back into the play" in quick succession.
Fair enough Jonathan, I just feel that he has done a solid job minus a few poor passes and running Roli. He needs to have a good night tonight to force managements hand to keep him up.
That running Roli thing is kind of a positive actually. He was so focused on keeping track of his man that he forgot where he was.
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