[VERVE]

Growing Pains

It has been a disappointing season thus far for the Oilers especially on this extra long road trip (9 games in about 3 weeks journey). The last leg of the trip is taking its toll on the team having been shut out in the last two games and getting spanked. Darn, I was hoping the Oilers would break the Hawks winning streak (this Sunday) and not the Avs...

A couple of you are correct to state the team is full of skill players in the top six but not much grit. I believe the oilers are easy to play against because they are not physical enough or hit much. The only guy that has more than 20 hits is Eager (but now may incl Mike Brown-BTW, love this guy’s heart and punching speed).

The top line is composed of young players and now learning to play both ends. They are the youngest team in the league. Last year, they were sheltered by mainly taking faceoffs in the offensive zones. RNH for some reason has not been the same as last year in the offensive side. One thing for sure, he has to add more mass perhaps a solid 10 pounds more. That will come with age-he is still 19. Teams are playing him tougher. He will adjust over time.

I believe when a team is not capitalizing on their chances at even strength, they should not be overly cute with their play-making. Meaning Hall should not be shooting between his legs to score mano-a-mano when you are that close to the net. It is a high percentage to fail shot. Or Eberle trying behind a blind back pass to Yakupov when he should have shot the puck at that close range. That is part of the Oilers’ growing pains right now when things are not working well, they are trying too much instead of making simple plays like the dump and chase. As of late, quite a number of plays have ended with Hall and Eberle.

For now, I don’t believe they will trade Hemsky, Smyth or Horcoff and perhaps Gagner too. Then again, desperate GMs do desperate things at trade deadline. They do need some veteran presence and Horcoff is their best leader who has been injured for a month or so now.

There are other tangibles that come into play as well, their D corp has talent but their defensive zone coverage at times has lapses (moreso lately) and better communication between the pairing dmen is lacking. When a young team like the Oilers struggle, their confidence fragile and obviously becomes contagious. Dubnyk has played well during the early stages of the season but now appears shaky and unsure in net.

I am not sure what the answer is but I would rather see them work through the pain of losses than make a rash decision like trading a top six.

They need more leadership from the vets. I was hoping Whitney was going to have a bounce back year and lead the D corp but he has been benched for 6 games already. Perhaps the Oilers will make only minor tweaks such as the latest addition of Mike Brown which makes the bottom 6 grittier but still the top 6 is not physical enough.

If they have 10-15 points more than last year, then it is a positive transition. If they are still in the same position as last year, then Tambellini may not be the GM next year. This is Tambellini’s team and as a result, I do not see Lowe being affected when it is down to crunch time.

Critics and hockey experts have mentioned numerous times that a rebuild such as the Oilers have undergone will be a 5 year process. The scorched-earth rebuild manifesto occurred in mid 2010 translating into a 2.5 years (with the lockout) into their current progression.

I still feel they have to stay the course and work through it as a team. For now, leave the core group in place but must add some more grit. For being the youngest team, they have a lot of great players to build around and a bright future. For now, they have to simplify the game and that means stop making that extra nice looking pass and fire at the net more and pray. Teams are now keying aggressively on the top line and the trio will have to work through it. I have confidence they will come out of this sooner than later and will not be in the bottom 3 in the league this year (I hope).