Edmonton is No Good X: Up and Down Like a Toilet Seat

[Rejean31]

Originally Posted by Party Elephant

Not even kidding, I left this whole part of the article out:



Do other teams have reporters that write these kinds of cringey fanfics?

They don’t have reporters or journalists in Edmonton. They have fanboys!!

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Party Elephant

Not even kidding, I left this whole part of the article out:



Do other teams have reporters that write these kinds of cringey fanfics?

Wtf?..

That's the kind of stuff you see on HF, not in published articles.

What is wrong with them.

[N-E-B]

Originally Posted by Party Elephant

Not even kidding, I left this whole part of the article out:



Do other teams have reporters that write these kinds of cringey fanfics?

That... that's real? Good lord.

[JurassicTunga12]

That's so embarrassing.
Fitting for the Oilers organization.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Party Elephant

Not even kidding, I left this whole part of the article out:



Do other teams have reporters that write these kinds of cringey fanfics?

That has to be one of the most cringey and bizarre things to read. The author should be embarrassed. I feel sorry for anyone who knows him.

[Robbob]

Teams aren't going to help each other. How soon they forget the leafs wanting a decent pick to help lower the cap hit for Hyman.

[dissentowner]

Catching up on Flames Talk on Spotify and not shocked to hear Eric Francis picking the No Goods to win the Pacific. Really wish we could fire that idiot into the sun.

[CaptainCrunch]

Hey right now the Oilers are the shiny toy again where everyone buys into the August mega hype.

Its the same every year. But lets be honest, last years season seems like a lot of good luck and fortune in the face of disaster. They seemed to have picked the right coach who miraculously got them to stick to a system until they ran into Colorado and then Drai and McDavid went right back to being selfish players and they got their heads caved in.

All credit they beat the Flames in a series that came down to goaltending and their top players rising up while the Flames lost their top blueliner to injury and their two top and now dearly departed stars went quit.

But they barely scrapped by a vastly under talented Kings team.

During the regular season they were maybe a week away from a McDavid trade demand.

Are they any better this year? Can we honestly say that?

Up front Janmark is a nice addition to their bottom 6, other then that they're the same team. Clearly McDavid, Draisaitl, RNH, Kane and Hyman are their top 6. But McDavid and Draisaitl are clearly the key to the team. RNH is soft, Kane unpredictable and Hyman has a lot of miles on the tires. They'll score goals.

Their blueline is truly awful. Barrie is terrible, especially without the puck. Bouchard can't play defense and doesn't skate especially well, Ceci and Kulak had nice little seasons last year but are they every night middle 6 guys? No. Nurse is vastly over rated and now has the pressure of a massive contract.

But the biggest factor in the Oilers blueline is Mike Smith, For all of his warts and blunders he made last years blueline better with his ability to move the puck. That's gone and Campbell who played behind a vastly better blueline last year has never been a bonifide we can count on this guy starter. And Skinner is raw as it gets.

Sure, they could fluke and Oilers bounce to the top of the pacific, it could happen. But I look at that team, and it screams, if Draisaitl or McDavid have even a small step back that's an expansion level bad team.

Oh and teams are now going to know their coaches system and how he plays the game and the new coach bounce is gone and its different of saying to the wonder twins for 82 games that they have to back check.

If I was going to call for the highly anticipated team that fails, its the Oilers. Who still have to dump a body due to cap concerns and are well and truly F'd if the league decides that Smith is not injured, that team is in major trouble.

Oilers won't finish last in the West (Spoiler not a prediction). But I have them out of the playoffs by January.

[Mull]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Catching up on Flames Talk on Spotify and not shocked to hear Eric Francis picking the No Goods to win the Pacific. Really wish we could fire that idiot into the sun.

Honestly can't stand Francis but much prefer home media to pick alternatives to their home team instead of just following the Staples book of sucking up to the organization and throwing away any respect people had of their view


But ya, this is still me scraping the bottom of the barrel to find something I respect about Francis.

[GioforPM]

Francis is a hot take, click baity, annoying gadfly. This Oiler take is just him trying to be edgy. But he does have connections and FWIW he ends up being right about internal team matters a fair bit. As an analyst on the whole NHL though, he’s no better than any average fan.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Catching up on Flames Talk on Spotify and not shocked to hear Eric Francis picking the No Goods to win the Pacific. Really wish we could fire that idiot into the sun.

Would rather have this than whatever the f*** that article is posted above.

Barf.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Francis is a hot take, click baity, annoying gadfly. This Oiler take is just him trying to be edgy. But he does have connections and FWIW he ends up being right about internal team matters a fair bit. As an analyst on the whole NHL though, he’s no better than any average fan.

Was wrong about Boudreau being Flames head coach. Also I recall him pumping Ward's tires when he got the coaching gig full time so clearly his analytical skills are pretty weak. Being right about Johnny leaving is low hanging fruit as a lot of us suspected that for years as well. I would argue Dean Molberg has been more connected to the Flames than he has.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Was wrong about Boudreau being Flames head coach. Also I recall him pumping Ward's tires when he got the coaching gig full time so clearly his analytical skills are pretty weak. Being right about Johnny leaving is low hanging fruit as a lot of us suspected that for years as well. I would argue Dean Molberg has been more connected to the Flames than he has.

I think Francis’ connections are with ownership and management to a degree. Which is why he is their back channel moving threat over arena negotiations. I don’t recall the Ward business but that makes sense - he’d support a management decision.

But he’s just not a sports reporter. He’s got zero background aside from just being around. He does have pretty good access for gossip.

[Beatle17]

Originally Posted by Mull

Honestly can't stand Francis but much prefer home media to pick alternatives to their home team instead of just following the Staples book of sucking up to the organization and throwing away any respect people had of their view


But ya, this is still me scraping the bottom of the barrel to find something I respect about Francis.

This article by Staples sounds very familiar to the crap Spector wrote a couple years back about the Oilers having the Flames in the rear view mirror from then on. Every time they get on a fluke run in the playoffs everything is fixed and they are on top for years.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I think Francis’ connections are with ownership and management to a degree. Which is why he is their back channel moving threat over arena negotiations. I don’t recall the Ward business but that makes sense - he’d support a management decision.

But he’s just not a sports reporter. He’s got zero background aside from just being around. He does have pretty good access for gossip.

He was awful covering the Stamps as well as he’s just not a football guy. We all know how he got this sports gig. It is what it is and unfortunately he’s going to be around for a while like a bad rash.

[Vinny01]

Oilers fans are pretty triggered about the flames resurgent offseason. At the beginning it was all about how they broke the flames and forced the team into a rebuild and Treliving has flipped the narrative about players not wanting to be here by quickly signing Huberdeau and Kadri with Weegar likely not far behind. The national media has been praising the Flames quite a bit over the past month and they are sour up north.

Some of the reasons the Oilers think they will be better are reasons I think they will be at least a little worse. Kane is paid so his motivation is questionable. He is a locker room cancer that hasn’t spread yet since he hasn’t faced any hard times or harsh winters in that town yet. They enjoyed a new coach bump off Woodcroft that was refreshing post Tippet who they were incredibly tired of. The fans seem to think they will be as good next year but that remains to be seen. Lastly they signed Campbell to a long term deal that makes him their starter for the next 5 years. Toronto decided Matt Murray was a better solution so that doesn’t give me any confidence the Oilers found their answer and between the pipes is where the question marks remain.

They talk about the Flames not having a ton of injuries last year but their team is an injury away from being a thin lineup. No McDrai no playoffs.

It is hard to say if Calgary is better or worse yet because the team is vastly different but the Oilers seemingly reshuffled the deck chairs and I don’t see any way they are proven to be better than last year

[djsFlames]

Kane coming back isn't an improvement. He'll settle in and level out now with his long term security, and likely come off his best behahiour act now that he's no longer on probation & seeking that contract.

Campbell will probably be less shaky in net, this is true. But his highs probably won't be as good as Smith when he's on his game. Overall I think you're looking at numbers a bit below Smith's even with all his peaks and vallys, just because Campbell is sure to get peppered with rubber nightly, face a bigger workload than he's used to, and doesn't have the puck handling chops to clear the zone as effectively as shaggy old flat brim.

I keep hearing improved but I just see a team that kept the band together. What am I missing.

Broberg won't replace Keith. That brings us to the point that their defence will definitely be worse.

So... better? Um how.

[Erick Estrada]

I expect Kane should score 30+ because any decent scoring winger will on a line with McDavid. However now he's got the four year deal he will be a lot more comfortable in that locker room and the real Kane will come out. It won't happen right away but in time he will start to wear on players in the locker room as he always wears out his welcome.

[GioforPM]

Kane back isn’t an improvement. He was already there. It’s like saying “Zadorov back is an improvement”.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Kane back isn’t an improvement. He was already there. It’s like saying “Zadorov back is an improvement”.

There is no doubt that adding Kane helped the Oilers last season and keeping him is likely better than losing him in the short term. He is a good hockey player. But everyone knows that Kane has a shelf life with every team he has played for before he becomes annoying and disruptive. He probably has diminishing returns for the overall fate of the Oilers this year, so if keeping him came at the opportunity coast of adding someone else, it will probably be less than status quo for them.

I actually think adding Kane was a much bigger difference than the coaching change. If Kane slows down this season, it will be funny to see Woodcroft exposed as the hack he is.