[OOT] December 17th - 11 Games

[trackercowe]

The funny thing is we all know it will only take two wins for everyone to jump back aboard the Oilers bandwagon again. It doesn't matter how many in a row they lose, just a small streak and everyone will clammer that Eakins has turned the ship around and that the youngsters are unstoppable.

They could start the season 0-80, and end up winning the last two games and still all the commentators would state to be on the lookout for them next season.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

Yakupov is of course a -2, didn't even really need to look it up.

The Oilers are pretty much short-handed whenever he's on the ice.

He's been a + player once since October 22nd. That's 25 of 26 games where he's either been even or a minus player for the night. Probably the worst top six player in the league right now.

Edit: I must apologize to Resolute btw; no way would I want Yakupov on the Flames anymore, he's just absolutely terrible in almost every facet of the game.

I really have to question the scouting on Yakapov and what made him a number 1 pick. Yes he skates well, he's got above average speed and above average shot.

But plays just die on his stick, his on ice awareness is way below average. He doesn't like going into the corner, he's lazy on the back check he rarely seems to be in a dangerous scoring position.

Yes you can blame the coach for this but he just doesn't seem to have the high end hockey instincts and IQ.

Yes he had a decent rookie year but he pulled a mediocre season out of the fire by having a good streak of games playing in a no pressure situation.

I just watch him and I really don't think he's near the best player in that 2012 draft anymore in terms of his tool kit.

[btimbit]

Yup. They'll go on a 2-3 game run and people will be back to claiming the 0.1% chance of them making the playoffs was going to happen. This is the year. Eberle and Hall are unstoppable. Pretending it's the '80s again. Go Oilers go.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

The funny thing is we all know it will only take two wins for everyone to jump back aboard the Oilers bandwagon again. It doesn't matter how many in a row they lose, just a small streak and everyone will clammer that Eakins has turned the ship around and that the youngsters are unstoppable.

They could start the season 0-80, and end up winning the last two games and still all the commentators would state to be on the lookout for them next season.

don't you remember when they "turned their season around" against the Flames...you know that game where they were outplayed the entire night but Berra gave them an early christmas gift

[Major Major]

Originally Posted by nik-

The Oilers are 20 points out of the last playoff spot in the West ... after 36 games. What a horrifying feeling it must be that the team you've been hyping the crap out of for years is a legitimate disaster. They're going to have to blow it up. After all the talking from that fanbase, it looks good on them.

They should blow it up, but they won't. That's the best part.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

MacTavish mentioned several times during the press conference when he was hired that he was 'impatient'. He kept making it sound like some big moves were just around the corner.

Yet, he we are. Again.

Unless he meant dealing his best defensive d-man away to bring in a headcase goalie was going to be his big move?

[nik-]

He's a deer in the headlights. He's so shocked that he can't react ... and it's hilarious. Venison for all!

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

MacTavish mentioned several times during the press conference when he was hired that he was 'impatient'. He kept making it sound like some big moves were just around the corner.

Yet, he we are. Again.

Unless he meant dealing his best defensive d-man away to bring in a headcase goalie was going to be his big move?

All flash to calm the fans. What big moves can he make? Reports are out saying no one wants Yakupov, so what can he do? He really only has the first rounder this year to trade, and that won't fetch much as the player they get from just a first rounder isn't enough to really propel them to anything not than mediocre. His hands are likely much more tied than he originally thought.

They're young, so maybe they just keep assuming it'll turn around. It has to, right?.... Right???

My thoughts are that when your open plan is to suck, then turn it around when your draft picks "come of age" harms you in that all the draft picks must have a linear progression or you're screwed. They have to magically flip a switch at some point.

[Street Pharmacist]

Rob Tychkowski (@Sun_Tychkowski) tweeted at 10:21 PM on Tue, Dec 17, 2013:
“I’ve seen this game a lot. This was my 200th game tonight and I’ve seen it too many times." - Taylor Hall. #Oilers #Lose
(https://twitter.com/Sun_Tychkowski/s...92291222687745)

Translation: Trade meeeeeeee

[Tsawwassen]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

I see that, and raise you the actual playoff seedings with the Wild Card...

http://www.nhl.com/ice/standings.htm?season=20132014&type=WC#&navid=nav-stn-conf

Carolina is one of the top 3 in their weak arse division, so they actually sit higher in the standings than the Leafs.....seeding wise.

Since FLA is in the same division as TO they have to pass TO, passing Carolina does nothing for them.

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Yes, and Toronto is already the fifth place team in their division getting the cross over you are speaking about.

Boston
Tampa
Montreal
Detroit
Toronto

The Rangers, Devils, etc are trying to catch Carolina because they are in that division with Carolina and passing them would put them third in that division.

Florida has to catch Toronto for fifth place in that division, or no dice.

This is the problem with the current standings format and last year's format, it is way too confusing with division leaders and now the wild cards. The league has to get rid of these silly divisions and just have conferences, east and west with the top eight from each making the playoffs. Make it simple Butthead, these division banners are a joke.

[Textcritic]

I loved Dwight King's goal, almost purely for Gagner's hilarious reaction.

He circles around in the zone, watching the Kings cycle the puck while never getting anywhere within a 2 m vicinity of it. He literally watches Drew Doughty analyse the play, and then decide to take it himself directly to the net. Doughty skates right past him and he looks on, and then just as King is slipping the puck under Bryzgalov, it's like Gagner suddenly remembers that he should probably join the play.

Then he's all irate, and shatters his stick over the goal. What the hell was he so mad about? The weird out-of-body experience that left him entranced on the ice?

[Textcritic]

To add:

The Oilers looked like the most ineptly offensively harmless team in professional hockey from start to finish of that game. I think that this is also probably a credit to the Kings. There was just never any mistakes, never any openings; everything in their zone was kept to the outside, and every opposing player was covered. It was beautiful because it looked so ridiculously easy.

[Poe969]

Well it's not even half way through the season and the flames aren't that far from the bottom. The sabres have been actually playing hockey lately and hopefully the oilers do something to move up to that 10-13 spot. This is going to be a year of leaning and growing for sure, les just hope it pays off in the long run

[Textcritic]

^
You won't hear me complaining a lick about finishing ahead of the Oilers at the end of the season.

[Table 5]

I'm starting to get a little worried. Too many of these and they might change something. We need a 5 game winning streak.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I really have to question the scouting on Yakapov and what made him a number 1 pick. Yes he skates well, he's got above average speed and above average shot.

But plays just die on his stick, his on ice awareness is way below average. He doesn't like going into the corner, he's lazy on the back check he rarely seems to be in a dangerous scoring position.

Yes you can blame the coach for this but he just doesn't seem to have the high end hockey instincts and IQ.

Yes he had a decent rookie year but he pulled a mediocre season out of the fire by having a good streak of games playing in a no pressure situation.

I just watch him and I really don't think he's near the best player in that 2012 draft anymore in terms of his tool kit.

Not every team had him at the top of their list including the Flames. He wouldn't be a 1st overall pick in most drafts it's more an indictment on a draft where lots of the top prospects had warts and there was a clear lack of franchise player type talent. That said the Oilers being the Oilers had to pick the most one-dimensional player in the first round because they don't seem to have a grasp on how to properly build a hockey team.

[Scoreface]

Didn't the Oiler scouts want Murray, and Lowe vetoed it? I thought I read that somewhere.
Who knows? Maybe Katz had a man crush on the kid.

[CaptainCrunch]

Now to be fair, Mac-T's trade for David Perron was a very good one. The Boyd Gordon signing was probably a good idea but he ended up overpaying by a little bit but Gordon has been pretty good. The Oktober signing I get, he wanted to address the weaksauce blue line and the lack of leadership, but Andrew isn't that guy and he is an older vet now and isn't much more then a bottom pairing guy, so they overpaid and over termed him.

The Gagner contract extention is looking absolutely terrible. I mean Gagner does put up points in spurts that makes him look a lot better then he is, but he's small, weak, not all that physical, and he's not a great skater, he's not a true second line center in my mind and he's not a bang and crash third line guy, and he's been a disaster this year, add to that Mac-T gave him a gentlemen's no movement clause so he's trapped with that contract.

Yes The Oilers wanted Murray Lowe wanted Yakapov, where's the surprise in that, Lowe has always liked fancy nancy boy players who look good on youtube, but Oiler fans for years have said that Lowe doesn't have anything to do with the GM role, but as much as we complain about ownership and presidents interfering here, Its pretty clear that Lowe is the architect up in Edmonton and GM's are there to deflect blame to, fetch coffee for and execute his directives.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Oilers look back on the three and possibly four years of number 1 picks as the lost opportunity.

I mean I like Darrell Nurse, I think he's got the tools to be a very good top pairing guy, though there are heavy questions about his decision making, but I believe he's three years away from being a full time blueliner, and I believe that the guy smells like Dennis Guathier with a bit more offense.

And that has to scare the crap out of the Oilers.

I also have no doubt that if things continue the way they are, that at least one of the big 4 will demand to be moved, I also believe that the smart thing to do would be to move Schultz to the farm because he looks like he's been positively ruined.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

To add:

The Oilers looked like the most ineptly offensively harmless team in professional hockey from start to finish of that game. I think that this is also probably a credit to the Kings. There was just never any mistakes, never any openings; everything in their zone was kept to the outside, and every opposing player was covered. It was beautiful because it looked so ridiculously easy.

To their credit, the Oilers pre-game panel basically predicted the Kings would make Edmonton look silly. One of them said that Oiler fans were about to get a big taste of how LA manages to shrink the ice and take opportunity away from you.

As to the other national embarrassment, I swear to god, Calgary would be a playoff team in the East right now. We're only six points back of Toronto with two games in hand despite having a much tougher schedule. And for how amazingly bad Philly was to start the year, it is only a matter of time before the Flyers dump the Leafs out of that last spot. Berube has to be considered a serious Jack Adams contender at this point of the season.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

To their credit, the Oilers pre-game panel basically predicted the Kings would make Edmonton look silly. One of them said that Oiler fans were about to get a big taste of how LA manages to shrink the ice and take opportunity away from you.

As to the other national embarrassment, I swear to god, Calgary would be a playoff team in the East right now. We're only six points back of Toronto with two games in hand despite having a much tougher schedule. And for how amazingly bad Philly was to start the year, it is only a matter of time before the Flyers dump the Leafs out of that last spot. Berube has to be considered a serious Jack Adams contender at this point of the season.

I watched that Flyer's washington game and I really like where the Flyers are going game plan wise, they are always attacking the puck, they don't sit back, and yeah they allow goals because of it, they've also gotten back to a really nasty physical game and the big thing is that their goaltending while not great isn't costing them games right now.

Toronto looks terrible in their own end, and you have to wonder what happens if they fall out of a playoff spot, do they try to deal Phaneuf at the deadline to make sure that they get something for a guy that's going to be highly sought after?

And how would leaf fans react to that.