^ Not only that but Hitchcock has made his career on coaching clutching, grabbing, interference, obstruction hockey.
But we must remember that since Gretzky the Oilers are historically used to having different rules for their superstars than other players in the league.
That said, I don't blame Hitch for trying to get more powerplays and/or McDavid more space. As soon as Koskinen comes back to Earth the team will crash and burn. He needs to get every possible edge he can before the inevitable day comes, sooner than later, that the team tunes him out.
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The of and to a in is I that it for you was with on as have but be they
Hitchcock's "brilliant rip on the referees"? FFS, Staples is embarrassing.
Also this quote is hilarious:
Quote:
“He’s not allowed to play give-and-go. It’s give-and-hold. So we’re going to have to figure out a way to fight through it. We’ll just play toughness with him and figure it out from there.”
I assume this means that Lucic and Kassian will be moved up to the top line again to protect McLotteryball, lol? Oh man, this is gonna be entertaining.
Leave it to the oilers, who are finally playing well, to lose and then have their coach and media start a national crying & complaining campaign about something.
Thank God the Canucks were playing the 2nd of a b2b, or there would be even more complaining about the oilers playing the 3rd game in 4 nights.
Teams are learning that they can just focus on Mcdavid and not have to worry about any other player on the Oil. Plus with this Hitch whining and making it more obvious how frustrating it is for them, teams will just do this more and more. It must suck having no depth whatsoever.
Before, shutting down McDavid was already the key to beating them.
But now it feels even more the case with the trap system with Hitch piling all the skill on the top line and every other line being given the grinder role.
Lean on him, get him whining or his line mates trying to chase guys around to get retribution so that they're not spending energy getting on the board and you're home free since the rest of the roster is next to no threat whatsoever.
He's only elite when moving the puck through the neutral zone and then cutting to the net. If he's put into a cycle game, he's "merely" a really good player, but probably not even on the level of Gaudreau or some of the other tight space stickhanders out there, or elite shooters like Petterson, Monahan, Scheifele, etc. If you funnel him to the boards, don't both following him around the net, and clog the slot when he goes behind the net, he can be contained. Will he throw one to the middle that goes in? Sure, maybe, like last night. But give him his assist (and second star) and score more than a couple goals, you beat Edmonton.
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Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda
I've noticed that too, off the rush McDavid is probably the most dangerous player in the league, but in the cycle he's far less noticeable. Way less dominant along the boards than Crosby, and he doesn't have that heavy shot from the circle you need to worry about like with Ovechkin. I actually wonder how effective he'll be down the road, as he relies on his speed so much and that's the first thing to go as players get older
This. Take away McDavid’s speed through the neutral zone, and he is no scarier (in fact less scary) than many stars on other teams. Teams are learning this, and because the Oilers have nothing else, McDavid is containable. More and more teams are focussing on speed too - so the speed differential between McDavid and the opposition becomes less and less.
Saw in the GDT for the Oil on HF they had a poll on how many goals they would win by last night. Fans getting cocky but the Canucks got the win and we get to laugh
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Saw in the GDT for the Oil on HF they had a poll on how many goals they would win by last night. Fans getting cocky but the Canucks got the win and we get to laugh
That's the difference between us and them. I can't imagine that poll happening on here. No matter the opponent or circumstance.
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Steve Kozari, one of the refs working the Vancouver game, was the same ref that McDavid chirped after scoring an overtime goal against Calgary last year. In that game, the Oilers had had a goal called back after a phantom goalie interference call against McDavid.
Hitchcock's "brilliant rip on the referees"? FFS, Staples is embarrassing.
Also this quote is hilarious:
I assume this means that Lucic and Kassian will be moved up to the top line again to protect McLotteryball, lol? Oh man, this is gonna be entertaining.
What's so brilliant about a head coach calling out the officials for not calling obstruction penalties when the same guy has made a career out coaching teams to clog up the neutral zone?
