Update today is Campbell took the puck in the nose, and not the eye.
At least he finally stopped a puck. It's a start.
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The Delhi police have announced the formation of a crack team dedicated to nabbing the elusive 'Monkey Man' and offered a reward for his -- or its -- capture.
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Are people aware of how small the odds of making the NHL playoffs are,historically, when you are not in a playoff spot, based on winning %, at USA Thanksgiving (this Thursday)
Flames are in 1st wildcard, going into Wednesday.
Oilers are out!!! Cup contenders? Don’t think so.
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Staples waking a fine line here in terms of the Media Conformity policy of the Oilers. The singling out critique of Driasital, no matter how much he qualifies his analysis and reasoning, is not likely to sit well with the coddled player or coddling organization who never wants to show weakness.
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He’s a two-way force, almost unstoppable both on the attack and in the defensive end when he’s bringing his “A” game, as he often does in the toughest of games against the most difficult of opponents.
I don't get why they keep trying over to call him out as a 2-way player when he's always coasted on the back-check.
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The Oiler fans need to realize something, and its the cruel but necessary fact of life.
Last years sprint to the playoffs, their win over LA and their win over Calgary was simply a fluke, an anomaly. A perfect storm of a coach coming in to replace a tired old coach, who actually used Tippets system and applied some enthusiasm to it. That they were lucky to get by the Kings, and got by the flames not even because they were all that much better, but that the Flames goalie imploded.
That a team that has missed about 15 out of the last 20 seasons and usually doesn't make noise when they get in, is a dreadful franchise with he expectation that it is more Barry Horowitz then Hulk Hogan.
That a team that literally got worse not only on the ice but in the locker room with the departure of Smith and Keith isn't going to be better. That the coach now freed from Tippett's system and free to put in his own, and that coach who isn't all that experienced, is going to get not only badly outcoached every night, but who's response is the same as every other coach which is "Durrrrr, I'll give Conna and McDavid on the ice more".
Is going to fall.
If the NHL is a beauty pagent, the Oilers are the homely girl thats put in as a runner up once in a while for a feel good on camera moment, but everyone knows that she's not at the same level as the other girls in the pageant, and when she's not the recipient of pity votes (First round draft picks). That she actually has no idea what she's doing to make herself better.
Its true, its true.
The Oilers are the toad of the NHL. The league would be better off relegating them to the AHL where they belong, and sending Conna and Draisaitl to a team that's serious about its success and not just coasting away to irrelevancy.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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The Oilers saved their season last year by getting a new coach bump, strong streaky play from Mike Smith, and getting a highly motivated Evander Kane who was given his 11th second chance.
I was told by an Oiler fan that they are missing Keith on the back end and Kane up front which is why they have struggled out of the gate. The only reason the Oilers made the playoffs last year was their 16-5 start and the end of the year stretch which was highlighted by the moves I mentioned at the start of this post.
They shuffled their goaltending but definitely did not improve it. They did nothing to add to their blueline and not surprising Kulak is not a top 4 D and with pressure Bouchard is struggling. This is still a poorly built team around 2 drafted superstars and they are missing several factors required to be a cup contender.
I don’t want to name names, but this is not the perspective of the past president of the professional hockey writers association M. Spector… wait… that’s too obvious let’s call him Mark S.
His emotional support evidence is overwhelming!
Most notably votes for the Selke, emotionally supported by Mark himself.
What are the odds the Oilers buy out Campbell after this season with 4 years and $20 million remaining on his contract?
Quote:
Originally Posted by flamingred89
Probably lower than the Oilers putting him on LTIR for the rest of his career for the puck he took to face last night.
They really handcuffed themselves with this contract. Unless Campbell changes, he was not a good fit in Edmonton and now there is really no good way out of it. LTIR would be a gift but there is no way Campbell will go for that lie if it's not true (like Smith is doing). A buyout (after this year) only saves them about 2 million next year (2022-2023), about 3.5 million in 2023-2024, about 4 million in 2024-2025 (the best) and then 2.75 (2025-2026) and 2.5 (2026-2027) and 3.5 for the next 5 years after that.
If Campbell doesn't improve here... of course a trade would be the best alternative, but if he doesn't improve, you're trading a depreciating asset.
The Oilers' aren't even accumulating cap space for a goalie rental at the deadline, that's if they are even in a spot to require one, they have really painted themselves into an corner here. Campbell getting better is really their only hope, they can ride Skinner a suppose, this really reminds me of when they signed Koskinen, he was never really their number one and they signed him to 4.5 million - this is worse in both terms of contract size and term and already, Skinner seems like the number 1 guy to me.
