Oilers call press conference for Friday 9am

[Jiggy]

Originally Posted by jg13

Buffalo must be terrified after that press conference. Gutted their entire roster to draft 1st over all and now Edmonton is going to show them a proper tank job

Tim Murray: "Haha, we suck, here comes McDavid."

MacT: I'll take your we suck, and raise you a Edmonton is no good."

Tim Murray: "Uhhh, Terry P, we have an issue ".

[calumniate]

Good point by Button in regards to tanking. If the oilers finish last the worst they can do in the draft is second. Maybe a new oilers rule is needed.. like a lottery for the top five draft positions and not just the first?

[Meers]

The solution is relegation.

It's the only response to the unforgivable black smear on the game of hockey that is the Edmonton Oilers that penalizes the real culprits here - not just mangement and the players - but ownership, fans, media and the city of Edmonton itself.

Edmonton simply does not deserve an NHL franchise any more.

Take it from them

[Coach]

Can't draft top 3 two years in a row. If you're last, you draft 4th and 26th takes 3rd.

[browna]

Going against the "No Oilers win is ever a good win" ideology of mine that I never sway from (unless, for some reason, that Oilers win direct results in the Flames making the playoffs), I somewhat hope that they do win tomorrow...Lowe and MacT, maybe even Nicholson will pat themselves at the back and realize it just takes a hastily arranged media conference to solve all on ice problems.

In the future, it will mean further delusion that no organizational changes have to be made. That means more losses, and then more pressers held in vain to rectify the problem, which means more nugget soundbites.

[Boblobla]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Can't draft top 3 two years in a row. If you're last, you draft 4th and 26th takes 3rd.

Is this an opinion or a fact?

[formulate]

[bob-loblaw]

Originally Posted by formulate

They're visually trolling the Oilers.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

Is this an opinion or a fact?

It's a simple change they could make to avoid all this nonsense.

[Locke]

I dont know if someone else said it here but:

No one was banging MacT's door down to manage their hockey club, and he had no managerial experience.

No one was lining up to employ Scott Howson after Columbus. He had managerial experience, it was just no good.

No one was competing for Eakins' services other than Vancouver and even then Mike Gillis passed very quickly and again, Eakins had zero experience.

No one has been looking to pry Kevin Lowe out of Edmonton to show their team the way to victory.

You've got 4 guys who arent qualified to manage a Tim Hortons running a hockey team.

Now, the question you have to ask yourself is: "Why?"

Is it a coincidence? 4 completely unqualified guys all at the same time?

[nik-]

I think for the sake of comedy, the best thing that could happen in the first game after that press conference is for the Oilers to lay a stinker on the ice and get blown out ... again.

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by calumniate

Good point by Button in regards to tanking. If the oilers finish last the worst they can do in the draft is second. Maybe a new oilers rule is needed.. like a lottery for the top five draft positions and not just the first?

Or like a few of us have been saying, a cap in how low you can draft over a 5 year period before you get relegated to 6th, or 10th, or whatever, automatically. IE, a team cannot have more than three top 3 picks over a five year period.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by nik-

I think for the sake of comedy, the best thing that could happen in the first game after that press conference is for the Oilers to lay a stinker on the ice and get blown out ... again.

And its likely going to happen. The Sharks are on a roll right now and the Oilers are still hot garbage.

MacT threw that presser when he did for a reason, because he couldnt wait 4 more games if the Oil get completely blown out.

As pathetic as that presser was, MacT basically threw in the towel and the season has been written off, if hed waited any longer he'd likely have had to actually do something.

The thing is, this Oiler team is hot garbage when they had a shot, the rest of this season is going to be a comedy of epic but grim proportions.

Its over. Why bother playing now?

[ramizle]

Originally Posted by Locke

Now, the question you have to ask yourself is: "Why?"

Is it a coincidence? 4 completely unqualified guys all at the same time?

Just following your trail of thought.. Could it be that Katz is unqualified to be an owner? He seems to be a rich oiler fanboy/armchair GM.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Locke

You've got 4 guys who arent qualified to manage a Tim Hortons running a hockey team.

Now, the question you have to ask yourself is: "Why?"

Is it a coincidence? 4 completely unqualified guys all at the same time?

No, it’s not a coincidence. But it isn’t because the team is deliberately trying to lose, either.

The problem is, the incompetence starts right at the top. Katz hired his buddy Lowe, because he is so ignorant about hockey management that he has no idea how to find a capable president.

Lowe hired his buddy MacTavish, because he is so ignorant that he has no idea how to find a capable GM. I don’t know if Howson is his buddy or not, but they had worked together before, and that was good enough for Lowe.

MacTavish hired Eakins, because he is so ignorant that he has no idea how to find a good coach.

In every instance, the person doing the hiring just handed the job to the first candidate he thought of hiring. There was no search for candidates; no interviewing; no organized process of any kind. Just hire the first person you can think of who hasn’t already got a job. (And all of those guys were unemployed for a reason.)

The weakness of the Flames, for many years, was that the owners didn’t know how to hire people either. When Cliff Fletcher quit, they hired Bill Hay as president (who pretty much did zilch during his tenure), and gave the GM’s job to Doug Risebrough, who was already an employee (but totally unprepared for the promotion). When they fired Risebrough, they replaced him with Al Coates, who was already on the payroll, and when they fired Hay, they replaced him with Ron Bremner and then Ken King, neither of whom had hockey qualifications. Bremner hired Craig Button, not because he was the best man for the job, but because he had a good reputation around the league and was cheaper than anybody with prior GM experience.

Fortunately, Ken King at least knows how to conduct a proper search for qualified employees. Sutter and Feaster were not ideal GMs, but they were a lot better than Risebrough, Coates, or Button. After that, King was smart enough to recognize his weakness, and hired Brian Burke specifically to take over the job of hiring hockey personnel.

The difference between the Flames and the Oilers today is that the Flames hired senior executives who knew how to conduct a proper hiring process, and the Oilers hired guys who just give jobs to their pals. Everything else flows from that.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by ramizle

Just following your trail of thought.. Could it be that Katz is unqualified to be an owner? He seems to be a rich oiler fanboy/armchair GM.

Say what you will about Katz, fanboy, whatever, he didnt get to where he is by being an idiot. He didnt fall ass-backwards into upwards of 2 billion dollars.

I understand Katz's financial motivations with the development of real estate via a new arena in Edmonton, what I dont understand is how he can let Larry, Curly, Moe and Shemp run the team in the meantime.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Locke

Say what you will about Katz, fanboy, whatever, he didnt get to where he is by being an idiot. He didnt fall ass-backwards into upwards of 2 billion dollars.

True. But nothing in his experience as CEO of Rexall Drugs is particularly relevant to the sports business. He seems to have the idea that his expertise in one industry means that he is equally qualified to run totally different businesses. He is not the first billionaire to fool himself in this way.

[ramizle]

I was just explaining to my girlfriend the other day how sometimes being in corporate is better than working for family run small businesses. Corporate is less emotional and is very procedural and methodic in their operations.

The Oilers feel like it's a family business. No rhyme or reason, just decisions on whim.

[Saqe]

Originally Posted by Locke

I understand Katz's financial motivations with the development of real estate via a new arena in Edmonton, what I dont understand is how he can let Larry, Curly, Moe and Shemp run the team in the meantime.

Maybe he just doesn't care about hockey that much.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

No, it’s not a coincidence. But it isn’t because the team is deliberately trying to lose, either.

The problem is, the incompetence starts right at the top. Katz hired his buddy Lowe, because he is so ignorant about hockey management that he has no idea how to find a capable president.

Lowe hired his buddy MacTavish, because he is so ignorant that he has no idea how to find a capable GM. I don’t know if Howson is his buddy or not, but they had worked together before, and that was good enough for Lowe.

MacTavish hired Eakins, because he is so ignorant that he has no idea how to find a good coach.

In every instance, the person doing the hiring just handed the job to the first candidate he thought of hiring. There was no search for candidates; no interviewing; no organized process of any kind. Just hire the first person you can think of who hasn’t already got a job. (And all of those guys were unemployed for a reason.)

The weakness of the Flames, for many years, was that the owners didn’t know how to hire people either. When Cliff Fletcher quit, they hired Bill Hay as president (who pretty much did zilch during his tenure), and gave the GM’s job to Doug Risebrough, who was already an employee (but totally unprepared for the promotion). When they fired Risebrough, they replaced him with Al Coates, who was already on the payroll, and when they fired Hay, they replaced him with Ron Bremner and then Ken King, neither of whom had hockey qualifications. Bremner hired Craig Button, not because he was the best man for the job, but because he had a good reputation around the league and was cheaper than anybody with prior GM experience.

Fortunately, Ken King at least knows how to conduct a proper search for qualified employees. Sutter and Feaster were not ideal GMs, but they were a lot better than Risebrough, Coates, or Button. After that, King was smart enough to recognize his weakness, and hired Brian Burke specifically to take over the job of hiring hockey personnel.

The difference between the Flames and the Oilers today is that the Flames hired senior executives who knew how to conduct a proper hiring process, and the Oilers hired guys who just give jobs to their pals. Everything else flows from that.

I agree with everything you've said, but I just have a hard time believing that anyone let it get to this point.

I generally dont think Katz is an idiot, but I cant say I know much about him either.

Its just that it isnt the 70s/80s/90s anymore where corporate cronyism is rampant. Business structures and corporate ladders have come light years since then, I find it hard to believe that no one has stepped up and said: "Hey...this is obviously stupid."