Have to say, class by Legwand. Doesn't (appear to) do the skate down the bench high fiving like is league standard now, on such a junk goal.
Plain and simple, the Oilers can't get anyone that will help that team. Trace it back to the Pronger thing, even the way they treated Souray, and since then Nylander, Heatly, and (alledgely) Jagr, want nothing to do with having to deal with Kevin Lowe's two faced running of that organization.
They need vets to mesh with the young guys up front. They need decent goaltending, not a Russian with a bad back playing out the string. They need stable NHL calibre top 2-3 defenceman.
They need this all, with not a lot of cap space, having to over pay to keep the players they have there.
The media eats that crap up at the beginning and seems to fool a lot of "hockey" people and fans, of the every season for the last 6, because on paper, the individual talent looks like it could be something if everything goes off and clicks, and that will magically cover up the gaping holes everywhere else on the roster...and the fact that its not a team culture because they just don't have the personalities to overcome the losing mentality of the collective team that hasn't done anything since June 2006. The guys that are on there for a while, are so used to losing that they don't know how to win.
Until the Oilers cut ties with Lowe, who's put a layer or two between him and the firing squad (along with cuddling up to a fawning owner still recalling the 80's), the Oilers reputation amongst the UFA's and player, will continue to be in the toilet and this team will spin its wheels while, and once up and coming star junior players get used to losing and accept it (see Gagner, Sam) while stunting their NHL development in the most crucial years of learning.
It's too bad the Oilers our are rivals as they might be desperate enough to trade Gagner for Giordano at this point. He would be a perfectly suitable second line center
It's too bad the Oilers our are rivals as they might be desperate enough to trade Gagner for Giordano at this point. He would be a perfectly suitable second line center
That could be looked at as a trade that helps both teams although the way Giordano is playing it's hard to imagine him helping any team.
I think the bigger question is when will Greaser fans finally just STFU when a season starts till they actually put a good season together. You think they'd be tired of sucking on their own feet year after year after year.
The one thing that kind of stuns me is that everyone keeps looking at the Oilers as the model to rebuild when the REAL model to rebuild is in franchises like St. Louis who put together a team on the fly while missing the playoffs for a couple of seasons. Smart drafting, some good moves and they never really hit rock bottom - if the Flames do falter their way through I'd rather they follow that model than the "blow it up" so many here seem to clamour for.
