Edmonton Oilers fans are being asked to remain patient while the guy who can’t get the job done now is replaced by the guys who couldn’t get the job done before.
Seriously.
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In a surreal and combative media conference that some described as a cross between a Saturday Night Live skit and a military dictatorship explaining the latest “election” results, President For Life Kevin Lowe stepped to the microphone Monday and laid out the Oilers master plan:
Steve Tambellini has been fired for his inability to clean up the mess left behind by Lowe, Craig MacTavish and Scott Howson, a task so daunting that owner Daryl Katz decided it can only be tackled by Lowe, MacTavish and Howson.
Seriously. That’s what you are being asked to swallow.
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No word yet on when Tom Renney and Pat Quinn are coming back, or when Ethan Moreau assumes his position as Assistant to the GM.
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His (Lowe) fingerprints have been on this mess longer than anyone’s — the Oilers made the playoffs just three times in 12 years since he stepped up to a management position in 2000 — but he has been apparently granted lifetime immunity by an owner who’s running this organization like a tree fort instead of a professional hockey team.
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This is one of those days you'll remember for a long time as a Flames fan. Ben's goal...nice....but the Oilers sinking deeper into the comical hole that Lowe's soley responsible for in the first place?
No matter how bad...how horrid, things will seem with the Flames (and I think we've already hit the bottom), you just have to remember this day for the circus act that Lowe continues to outdo himself with.
Very interesting that some of the press have started to push back...but the old guard like Jones and Matheson seem to be a lot more muted. Takes a little bit longer to get off the kool-aid drip they've had strapped to their arm for the past decade.
“We have two types of fans, we have paying customers and we have people that watch the game that we still care about,” Lowe said, referring to the club’s vaunted “stay-close-to-the-customer” business approach. “But certainly the people that go to the games and support (the Oilers), we spend a lot of time talking to them, delivering our message.”
Many fans later expressed their outrage that Lowe described a two-tiered hierarchy of fans — the paying customers the club listens to, and the non-paying majority they do not.
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“Lastly, there’s one other guy, I believe, in hockey today that’s still working in the game that has won more Stanley Cups than me. So, I think I know a little bit about winning, if there’s ever a concern.”
MacTavish, too, leaned on past Cups won as a powerful part of his resume, but also as part of the cycle of excellence and replenishment that has to run its course. Yet, it should be noted neither MacTavish nor Lowe won a Stanley Cup in Edmonton except as players.
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Again, many of those skeptics would question whether Lowe or MacTavish have paid any significant price for being at the helm as that Stanley Cup finalist team of ’06 sank to the bottom of the standings, and has now finished 30th, 30th and 29th in the past three seasons and is on pace for a 23rd-place finish this disappointing season.
What I find utterly hilarious is those two clowns had nothing to do with Edmonton winning any cups. With or without them, they would have still won 5. They were both marginal pieces on what was the greatest top 2 forward lines, that ever were assembled on one team. They both could have easily been replaced with equal or better players. They were passengers on those teams.
Location: Wondering when # became hashtag and not a number sign.
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Originally Posted by pylon
What I find utterly hilarious is those two clowns had nothing to do with Edmonton winning any cups. With or without them, they would have still won 5. They were both marginal pieces on what was the greatest top 2 forward lines, that ever were assembled on one team. They both could have easily been replaced with equal or better players. They were passengers on those teams.
Kevin Lowe was not a passenger on that club no matter what you think of his management abilities.
He was their best all around dman by quite a margin actually....always played the toughest minutes.
MacTavish was merely a cog in the machine, but Lowe was an integral piece.
I feel dirty now.
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I see the Oilers acquiring Keith Yandle in the offseason for Yakupov+Whitney and then signing:
David Clarkson
Robyn Regehr
Two gritty guys and Yandle will give them that #1 dman
Actually, if Nashville decides to move Weber once the year anniversary of them matching the Flyers offer sheet comes due (July 1st I think), I could see the Oilers parting ways with one of their young forwards, their 1st round pick and a couple other smaller pieces in order to get him.
Here is the Democratic Peoples Republic of Sweatpants and Good Shoes press conference with their dear great leader. The good parts at least.
Lowe looks just short of steam coming from his ears. The "paying customer" part would buy him an instant pink slip if I was Katz. What an asinine thing to say to alienate potential new paying fans, even if it holds some truth.
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Here is the Democratic Peoples Republic of Sweatpants and Good Shoes press conference with their dear great leader. The good parts at least.
Lowe looks just short of steam coming from his ears. The "paying customer" part would buy him an instant pink slip if I was Katz. What an asinine thing to say to alienate potential new paying fans, even if it holds some truth.
"I think I know a little bit about winning"
What the hell was MacTavish going on about. The only thing missing from that was Drunk Uncle.
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
I see the Oilers acquiring Keith Yandle in the offseason for Yakupov+Whitney and then signing:
David Clarkson
Robyn Regehr
Two gritty guys and Yandle will give them that #1 dman
Those would be positive moves (although Whitney is UFA) no chance they would get done. Regehr is a flame and he's not part of the oiler family. Oilers are looking for 6+ cups on any resume right now.
Gretz! Mess! We have capspace. We'll give semenko 3M too.
BOLD
Last edited by dying4acup; 04-16-2013 at 12:10 AM.
You have to wonder how Katz has been successful in business.
If I got this right he agree's to hire Tambellini to clean up the mess of Lowe, Howson and Mactavish, after 3 wondrous seasons with the best consecutive draft parties ever, a new contract extension. he now has him fired so the same Mactavish, Howson and Lowe can right the ship.
For a team that just got about 500 million in total susidies for an arena Lowes comments about caring more about the paying customer should get him fired.
Amazed that someone could look that unprofrssional in a press conference.
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No one is really talking about them bringing Howson back so quickly. As bad as Lowe and MacTavish have been, they are bringing over someone who made maybe one good move in his entire 3-4 year period in Columbus (trading for Bobrovsky). Aside from that he was probably the worst GM in hockey for the past few years.
I honestly can't believe the guy got back on his feet so quickly; I guess he's lucky that the Oilers run an "old boys club" operation. What other position in hockey was this guy going to find? I wouldn't let him oversee running concessions for the Flames.
I guess there really was a reason why the Oilers hired an outsider to be the team's GM: they needed a fall guy. Tambellini for his part made some poor deals but props to him for smiling through the losses.
As for MacTavish, I really enjoyed listening to him when he was on TSN. He seems to have a pretty good hockey mind but that means nothing if he's not a schrewd negotiator. He must have picked up some "bold" habits from his time in the Canucks organization. It must be a bit worrisome hearing a GM say he's impatient. Oilers trade their first round pick this year?
