Quote:
Originally Posted by Pliddy
...The point is you cannot reach thier levels unless you have a very high level of compete and personal pride attatched to you. That's what got them there ,yet upon arrival it seems to dissapear so universally that the only explanation is that the organization must have thrown in the towel and has given these former elite players reasons to lose...
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No. That is not the only explanation for the Oilers' magnitude of suck. The other, much more plausible reason is that they are really, honestly, truly THAT bad. Talented forwards, yes. But virtually all of their impact players are supplementary pieces to any other team in the NHL. CC nailed it twice in this thread by pointing to the Oilers' dearth of centre depth. THAT, and their want for NHL quality defensemen is what is killing this team. They are not losing on purpose. They are struggling because Nugent-Hopkins and Gagner form one of the weakest, least intimidating, and ineffective puck possession/distribution units in the entire league.
There is no quick fix to this, and because the Oilers wasted their top picks and their formative years in a hopeless situation, it likely means starting from scratch, and facing down another four or five years of rebuilding to correct the fundamental structural errors committed in shaping the present laughable roster.