Embrace being the Villian

[CaptainCrunch]

After the last 4 weeks of this team being villified by the media and fans around the league, and with the commentary and analysts pretty much solidly cheering the Oilers last night and praying for a stick toss on the penalty shot goal, I've come to realize one related but not related thing.


This team isn't hard to play against, they fall asleep too many times, take long stretches of time off, only respond on occasion when other teams push them around.



This team culturally is not that hard to play against, when I watch them they rarely finish checks unless they decide they want to, They skate away from confrontation too many times.


I know we talk about adding at the deadline, bringing in more top 6 skill. But at the same time, I think we need to address team nastiness, not fighting and brawling. But we need to find players that like to hit and like to stir things up and like to draw penalties ala MT.


At the same time, this coach or whoever we get really needs to foster a ruthless attitude and us against them culture. We just don't have that or whatever it takes to win.


Basically this team seems to run up the white flag when things aren't going their way.



We might have the wrong mix of players, but we know that playoffs are a controlled mugging if you let it happen.



But maybe if we're going to be portrayed as the villains and a team filled with dirty spot checkers, maybe we should embrace it, stick a few elbows in faces and be that.

[Lanny_McDonald]

This team doesn't have the makeup to adopt that persona. You would have to dump a number of players to go down that road.

[motorcrosser]

I have contended for a while that, although this team has many great players, they just don't work well together. Something needs to change.

[bubbsy]

I have no idea what you are talking about, we traded for lucic.

That is literally the only thing that this conference champ needed to add in the off season to improve. That it!

[Johnhitbox]

Had an old wwe gif of a chair shot all lined up.

Anyway. So embrace like Boston did back in 2010/2011

[Redrum]

Originally Posted by Johnhitbox

So embrace like Boston did back in 2010/2011

Normally that would be the case, except that Canucks team was pretty much universally hated. They cheated their way to the cup final. The Bruins were heroes that year because it would have been incredibly bad for the sport to have a team dive their way to a championship that they had no business being anywhere near.

[nik-]

a villain with severe osteoporosis. We're Mr. Glass.

[Buff]

Quite a few years ago, maybe around 2007 - 2011 or so, many of us would get upset with the teams inability to be consistent. Back then I was certain they needed an agitator. I often said we needed a guy or two like Nieminen on the team again. Some agreed with me.

Now we have Tkachuk. He's what we needed. We have it but there are too many who still aren't interested in getting involved in a rough game. I don't think we need all of the players to be the type who seek that style of play out, but we need the players who won't run and hide when the going gets rough. We have too many guys who don't elevate their compete level when the games get tough. Some are guys who used to, like Gaudreau and Lucic. Johnny used to have passion and emotion but that has waned considerably. Lucic... The big tough guy was just a big guy who didn't use his toughness this week. Did he get a special warning from league or team to not do anything out of hand after his suspension? His give a crap meter doesn't seem to be registering anything lately.

Those aren't the only two but just two big examples I've noticed the most.

I still maintain that they need that agitator. Not just Tkachuk, another one to help stir the drink. Then get more players who enjoy rough and tough games and a coach to fire them up and unleash the reigns.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Imagine how many more penalties they could be given!

What could possibly go wrong?

[powderjunkie]

Impossible, Kassian is off the market.

I'm not one to rue close-calls, but acquiring Kadri would have gone a long way in this regard.

We're not the villains, we're just irrelevant.

[Manhattanboy]

With the exception of just a few I don’t think this group has the nuts to embrace being anything.

[Poe969]

I feel I'm part of a group of posters who are villains and want the flames to lose and become sellers and get a few good picks in the draft.

[CalgaryFan1988]

Originally Posted by Poe969

I feel I'm part of a group of posters who are villains and want the flames to lose and become sellers and get a few good picks in the draft.

With the ownership group we have and the fact that we are currently in a playoff position. I don't feel so much that people wanting to be sellers at the deadline are villains, just unrealistic.

[bubbsy]

If this management group is smart they sacrifice the next year or so to ensure they have a team fans care to spend $ on by the time the new building opens.

With the economy as it is, can you imagine the flames start their bottoming out, or in the middle of the rebuild (a la Detroit and NJ) in the first year of the new building??

[btimbit]

Screw it, it works for Boston teams, let's do it here too

[flamesforthecup2017]

lol "embrace the hate" what are we some lame canuck fans

my plan is simple but will turn the them around quick

1)rehire gully (great coach but dealt a bad hand)
2)trade for number one goalie (maybe someone like price???)
3)juggle the lines
4)fire treliving and hire shero ASAP
5) win a fing game ya scrubs
6) toss a stick after every goal

[djsFlames]

Many great parts are there, some that GMs out there would pay an arm and a leg for. But the team is not the sum of its parts. Why is that? I think perhaps redundancy in terms of a mix of playing style and character.

We purposely seeked out "character" guys when we drafted high, and we did well at that, and maybe TOO well.

There are so many good, admirable characters on the roster aside from perhaps Tkachuk and Rinaldo (Lucic has softened since becoming a family man) that there isn't the nastiness and dare I say arrogance.

The issue you get (as cap alluded to) with a room full of humble, easy going pros is that when you want them to get fired up they're not going to a lot of times. The team needs an evander kane or two who are core level players to give a better balance to the room of leadership, character but also grit.

Trading a couple small bodies for bigger ones that like to use there size would also be of huge benefit.

It's a shame really, this is - on paper - a very promising group of individuals that theoretically should be able to challenge for this conference, and even did. But its not the right mix to sustain that kind of success. Too much of the same thing. Brad needs to make some exotic imports, so to speak.. before they take another step.

Team needs more backbone on its bench. You can't have third periods like Saturday where you throw the game. That cant happen against that opponent.

[zamler]

Become goons because stupid Edmonton media whines about everything. Hard pass.

[djsFlames]

Also I hope we become so hated that it makes every media personality in the division and the guys at sportsnet pound their desks and cry on a weekly basis. Bring on the salt. We know our guys are class acts, they dont have to agree.

Like Boston has done with zero ####s given out east. Better to have bitter chicken littles chirping you on Twitter than to be irrelevant.

[Samonadreau]

Originally Posted by flamesforthecup2017

lol "embrace the hate" what are we some lame canuck fans

my plan is simple but will turn the them around quick

1)rehire gully (great coach but dealt a bad hand)
2)trade for number one goalie (maybe someone like price???)
3)juggle the lines
4)fire treliving and hire shero ASAP
5) win a fing game ya scrubs
6) toss a stick after every goal

Cant quite put my finger on if you are really an Oilers fan or actually just an Oilers fan. Not sure which one.