Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
Fair enough, but at that point you have to also have a harsh evaluation of the on ice leadership.
The continual blaming of the management and coaching is fine because god knows they were terrible and we've laughed at them for years. But I will contend that the Oilers on ice leader ship has to take a big sandwich smeared with poop and mustard and take a hearty bite.
The urban legend that Hall is this guy like Mark Messier who will do anything to win doesn't pass the visibility test, the fact is that the core of that team is rotten effort wise and leadership wise, and they haven't addressed it, in fact the guy that basically was a player on Edmonton that I respected because he was that guy, was moved. (Gordon)
I will contend that a team with Hall in a leadership position won't win anything. Look to his play away from the puck, there's no effort.
And again its easy to blame the coaching, but prior to Eakins this team had quit on two very good NHL guys, and it was apparent when you watched them play.
You can blame Eakins for the swarm, but the problems with the Oilers structure and the players that they've picked goes far deeper then that.
From a standpoint of positivity it would probably be better for the Oilers to crack and fail dismally this year so the new management will get around the everything is awesome, everything is cool now that we have another number one pick like McDavid in the lineup mentality and rebuild the Oilers properly.
right now its a hockey card collection, even after the weird deals by Chia.
The hardest thing for any NHL coach is to manage the ego's in the locker room, it almost seems to be a bigger challenge in Edmonton and will remain that way until management gets by their own love affair with their high end selection based talent.
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I do not believe Mark Messier would have turned out to be the leader he was if it weren't for Wayne Gretzky. He was the leader and did his talking on the ice. He made everyone better around him. Alot of those players of the 80s-Kurri, Anderson, Coffee, Fuhr, Lowe, Messier, Tik etc turned out the way they did in a big part due to Gretzky.
Now to put a bunch of teenagers ie Hall, RNH Ebs on the ice from 2010 on and hope they became your leaders while playing top line minutes against older players on the top line does not always work (and it showed). They need leadership and mentorship.
I can unequivocally blame the Oilers woes on Eakins during their last two years. He was in over his head. A rookie GM hiring a rookie head coach-disastrous in this case. Once the snowball effect of poor coaching and poor team play takes place, there is no relief in sight until major changes occur.