3 Stars from Saturday Night couldn’t be more Oiler
Oilers politburo choose their own goalie who didn’t let in a goal in a game they lost because:
1. Calgary lives rent free in their head, &
2. They have to shame their newly minted goalie with a 5 year contract, to reaffirm their status as a goalie graveyard.
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I have quickly developed a dislike for that weasel of a head coach they hired last year in Woodcroft. The guy carries himself with an arrogance that really irks me. I really hope last year was just the new coach bump and the Oilers fall back to their typical hot and cold play that comes with having 2 top 5 players on their team while also having an extremely mediocre blueline and goaltender.
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It's hysterical that Oiler fans are trying to argue that the slow start is because Woodcroft's system is more difficult, while at the same time giving him full credit for the new-coach bump they got last year. If he had immediate positive results, the system couldn't have been that difficult. (spoiler: it isn't)
He is employing the same strategies that every coach before him employed: generate speed in the neutral zone, and allow the offense to take care of itself. The defensive strategy is pretty simple: get the puck, and get it out of the zone and into the hands of the forwards in the neutral zone. The problem is that their defensemen, and their depth, aren't good. So they rely on McDavid and Draisaitl to outscore the opposition.
Anyone who thinks that is complicated is a fool.
Before ending this rant, I just want to point out that Holloway's zone starts so far this year are 28% (Selke-candidate Draisaitl's are 62%). You have a young, talented rookie, and you play him 6 minutes a night, with Devon Shore and Marcus Neimelainen, and you give them a steady diet of defensive zone starts. Some people might call that a complicated system, but I call it stupidity.
Last edited by Enoch Root; 10-20-2022 at 08:33 AM.
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It's hysterical that Oiler fans are trying to argue that the slow start is because Woodcroft's system is more difficult, while at the same time giving him full credit for the new-coach bump they got last year. If he had immediate positive results, the system couldn't have been that difficult. (spoiler: it isn't)
He is employing the same strategies that every coach before him employed: generate speed in the neutral zone, and allow the offense to take care of itself. The defensive strategy is pretty simple: get the puck, and get it out of the zone and into the hands of the forwards in the neutral zone. The problem is that their defensemen, and their depth, aren't good. So they rely on McDavid and Draisaitl to outscore the opposition.
Anyone who thinks that is complicated is a fool.
Before ending this rant, I just want to point out that Holloway's zone starts so far this year are 28% (Selke-candidate Draisaitl's are 62%). You have a young, talented rookie, and you play him 6 minutes a night, with Devon Shore and Marcus Neimelainen, and you give them a steady diet of defensive zone starts. Some people might call that a complicated system, but I call it stupidity.
I’m sure either Stauffer or Oiler fans are making a false equivalency comparison of Holloway with Dube 4 years ago. Both Calgary area kids. However, Dube wasn’t in a checking role, and to Sutter’s point, he needed more time in the AHL to figure out how to be a safe player to leverage both his usefulness & his speed in playmaking.
It's hysterical that Oiler fans are trying to argue that the slow start is because Woodcroft's system is more difficult, while at the same time giving him full credit for the new-coach bump they got last year.
Defense is more difficult... and who wants to do defense, that's not fun, especially when you can pad you stats offensively instead. Skating back into the defensive zone and picking up a guy - that seems like too much work, just coast back slowly and hopefully before you get back, the puck gets turned over and those lower class grunts can figure out a way to push the pack ahead to you. Besides, we have a 9+ million dollar defense man now - so he can take care of those jobs we just don't like to do and that certainly don't help us get the scoring title.
ohhhh.... and if Woodcroft expects us to do defense.... well.... Kevin Low, a man that knows a thing or two about winning - we'll just have to schedule a meeting with him to discuss our coaching situation and Woodcroft's need to teach in Bakersfield.
Defense is more difficult... and who wants to do defense, that's not fun, especially when you can pad you stats offensively instead. Skating back into the defensive zone and picking up a guy - that seems like too much work, just coast back slowly and hopefully before you get back, the puck gets turned over and those lower class grunts can figure out a way to push the pack ahead to you. Besides, we have a 9+ million dollar defense man now - so he can take care of those jobs we just don't like to do and that certainly don't help us get the scoring title.
Defense is more difficult, yes. But the point was with respect to whether Woodcroft's system is more difficult than other coaches' (specifically Sutter's). It isn't.
It will be interesting to see how they perform against stingy Carolina tonight... although Carolina hasn't had hard competition yet this season, they have only allowed 1 goal in each of their 3 wins and I think they go 4-0 to start the season.
I have quickly developed a dislike for that weasel of a head coach they hired last year in Woodcroft. The guy carries himself with an arrogance that really irks me. I really hope last year was just the new coach bump and the Oilers fall back to their typical hot and cold play that comes with having 2 top 5 players on their team while also having an extremely mediocre blueline and goaltender.
He certainly has an air of arrogance about him. Things kind of fell into place for him as he benefited from the Kane boost and Smith becoming healthy. We are going to find out this season how he handles the team when they aren't playing well for a long stretch. IMO there's not nearly enough evidence to conclude he's going to be a really good NHL coach as he's already resorted to overplaying McDrai which is what the guys that got fired before him resorted to when all else failed and if that's all he's got then he's probably going to have a similar fate to Tippett and McLellan.
Oiler fans coming up with the theory that Huberdeau and Weegar lead the way in the 4AM strip club rumours when down 3-0 in the Tampa series and thats why Zito was willing to trade both ahahaha
Oiler fans coming up with the theory that Huberdeau and Weegar lead the way in the 4AM strip club rumours when down 3-0 in the Tampa series and thats why Zito was willing to trade both ahahaha
First of all, eye roll.
But let's say it's true for the sake of argument - that means we got them at a discounted price.
Remember when Johnny and Monahan were rumoured to be partying too much? If Treliving had traded them at that time, for that reason, it would have been a bad decision.
People like to have a good time, this isn't news. And if those players (or any other players) made a bad decision, they will learn from it.
