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Go Oilers Go!

GregH said:
Sadly, I can believe it. Went down that same path with Hemsky too...and Souray...and like you mentioned, Hall.

Now we're the proud owners of the "longest period without playoffs" streak (7 years) since the Leafs sealed their spot in this years playoffs.

Can't even mock the Flames any more since they're now ahead of us too.
Click to expand...

Yep. I'll give them a pass on Hemsky's shoulder since he said he essentially fudged the truth a bit so he could play, and he shouldn't have.

But they did have Hemsky and Staios play through concussions in past seasons. Of course Hopkins wanted to play, and a torn labrum isn't going to get much worse, however, it's up to the team management to make a long term assessment and do what's best. With the pain and discomfort, and seeing how it affected Hall, they shouldn't have waited. Le sigh.

At least the Flames don't have anything great in the pipeline that isn't already in the NHL. Long dark road ahead of them too. They did pick the 2 deepest drafts since 2003 to start a rebuild though, so with Oiler's luck they'll probably get 2 players that develop into franchise cornerstone. They'll likely get Lindholm or something this draft.
 
Anton Belov is exactly the type of minor move the Oilers should have been making. Low-risk, high potential pickup. Hell even if he ends up as a 6-7 defenseman on the roster that's an upgrade.

I can count on one hand all the good 'bets' Tambellini ever made in his tenure. Belanger, Foster, Fraiser, Potter, and Jones (waivers).

Sadly I don't have enough fingers for all his horrible gambles, Barker, Hordichuk, Sestito (redux), Brown, Smithson etc., the latter two costing 4th round picks for a pair of players who were below replacement NHL level (in fact they were both in the botton of the league by every advanced statistic).
 
MacTavish stating that Horcoff and Hemsky moving on to other teams would be the best case scenario. Not sure what he's doing saying this unless something is already in place.

I don't necessarily think that would be a bad thing, but they damn well better get NHL calibre players to replace their minutes.
 
Ralph Krueger dismissed and Dallas Eakins expected to be named as the new head coach. Wow. MacTavish really is owning the phrase "...and now for something completely different."

I mean we all wanted Cooper as the next great AHL coach hype machine, but Dallas Eakins was a close second. I feel really bad for Krueger though; it was obvious he was learning on the job, especially with his perplexing line matching or lack thereof, and odd 'chasing' deployment in the defensive zone that left the centers more times than not out of good coverage position.
 
Holy crap we got rid of Horc and didn't have to take on a bunch of salary as a result. Bravo Mac-T.

Our center depth is looking a bit scary now though:

RNH - Injured
Gagner - not yet signed

um...that's about it!

At this rate Hall is going to end up playing C by default.

Speaking of Hall and C...now that #10 is gone (wonder if Yak will wear #10 now?) give Hall the "C" already!

Ah, Boyd Gordon. Now there's a center we could use. Mind you, I said the same about Belanger...hopefully he works out better than that experiment.

I like Ference but not at that $ for that many years. $3.25 for 2 years, fine. 4 years? ugh.
 
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I don't know what the Oilers were thinking handing Ference 4 years, 3 years maybe, but come on, high salary and term? Gordon is a slight overpay, but that's what the Oilers had to do to get a premier shutdown center, surprised they got him on a 3 year, assumed they'd have to give more term.

MacTavish needs to be going hard after Grabovski, but I have a fear they're not even interested. They also need one more solid bonafide top 4 NHL defenseman and a top 9 LW or winger in general. Gilbert and Penner would fit the bill, but somehow I doubt they'll grab either of them.
 
Sigh...the more things change the more things stay the same.

It amuses me that since Eakins openly praised Hemsky's play that the media has quit picking on him and has found a new whipping boy in Yakupov.

What's he supposed to do stuck on that 3rd line with a couple of pluggers like Gordon and Smyth as linemates? Neither of them can keep up with him, and with limited ice time he's still had the 3rd most shots on net of any Oiler (plus a few posts/crossbars)

What's Eberle done to deserve to stay on that top line? I'd like to see him punted to the 3rd line and Yakupov up there playing with Nuge.

At least Dubnyk looked a bit better last night.
 
GregH said:
Sigh...the more things change the more things stay the same.

It amuses me that since Eakins openly praised Hemsky's play that the media has quit picking on him and has found a new whipping boy in Yakupov.

What's he supposed to do stuck on that 3rd line with a couple of pluggers like Gordon and Smyth as linemates? Neither of them can keep up with him, and with limited ice time he's still had the 3rd most shots on net of any Oiler (plus a few posts/crossbars)

What's Eberle done to deserve to stay on that top line? I'd like to see him punted to the 3rd line and Yakupov up there playing with Nuge.

At least Dubnyk looked a bit better last night.
Click to expand...

Oilers will not make the playoffs until they upgrade their goaltending. Dubnyk is good but not good enough to carry a team that struggles defensively. Oilers have lots of good young forwards but mostly all play the same way. They have to use one of them and 1st rd draft pick to get a legit #1 goalie like Ryan Miller/Buffalo or Anderson/Ottawa.
 
crazyhorsejohnny said:
Oilers will not make the playoffs until they upgrade their goaltending. Dubnyk is good but not good enough to carry a team that struggles defensively. Oilers have lots of good young forwards but mostly all play the same way. They have to use one of them and 1st rd draft pick to get a legit #1 goalie like Ryan Miller/Buffalo or Anderson/Ottawa.
Click to expand...


I concur.....
The thing that drives me crazy about the Oilers is their iinability to hold onto a lead late in the third or in the overtime period.
 
I'm not at all sold on Eakins' swarm defence system.

Sure, maybe that works in the AHL, but at the NHL level there are lots of players who can make those passes through a maze of sticks/bodies, and if you have everyone swarming the puck carrier and the puck makes it through then you have 1-2 guys wide open in the slot.

Sure, we're outshooting our opponents, but those chances we're giving up are really high percentage ones, so it's no wonder our save % is so crap. That being said, our goalies really do need to start making some saves.

Yakupov back in the lineup tonight. I just hope that he's put in a position to succeed with decent linemates.
 
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