Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay Random
Partly, of course, they've been riding a hot goalie. And part of it, of course, is luck: you don't get a 16-game winning streak without being lucky.
But I think a lot of it is that they've imported coachable players who got their experience in better organizations than the Oilers. Hyman was already 29 when he signed in Edmonton, Foegele came from a winning system in Carolina, Janmark came through Dallas and Vegas, Derek Ryan was a wily old defensive forward (as Flames fans knew). On the blue line, Ekholm learned everything the Predators had to teach him about defensive play.
In the process, the Oilers became one of the oldest teams in the league. They benefited from the experience of better organizations by importing their veteran players. The homegrown stars (plus Kane) still have the same 10-cent heads they always had, but they're reinforced by guys who know enough to buy what Knoblauch is selling.
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Skinner's been better in the second half but I think he's getting more help than he was before.
There are still a lot of home grown rotten apples that went through the inept Oilers development system (to say there is one might be giving them too much credit), but maybe you're right and the "right" guys from superior external systems have seized the leadership in the room.
If they're listening to the right players it probably pulls them in a better direction than they were before. Too bad. I preferred the disorganized tug of war and collection of individuals & cliques that was the Oilers earlier on. The old, nothing earned and everything given (if you were drafted high!)
Thankfully the window has one calendar year remaining and they took too long to reach this point.