The Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks are both elite NHL teams. The Hawks will contend for another Stanley Cup this spring while the Penguins will likely be fighting for their second in the Crosby era this spring as well.
There is no shame in losing those two games, especially when you consider that Edmonton had plenty of chances to win both tilts. Really, the Oilers were a few bounces away from going 2-0-0 instead of 0-2-0.
It’s easy to feel bad about it as a fan or even as a member of the team, but folks, the Edmonton Oilers have done this to themselves. The NHL is a 60 minute league, and right now the Oilers are not playing 60 minutes. This is a hockey club that has routinely played only 40 minutes a night this season.
Against Pittsburgh, the Oilers were dominated in the first period but escaped tied. In Chicago they were dominated too but found themselves down 2-0. They lost to the Hawks 4-2 and had to take a bad penalty late that cost the fourth goal while pressing to tie the tilt.
Edmonton’s slow starts hurt them in these games, and it’s sinking their season.
Why The Slow Starts?:
Todd McLellan had a pretty revealing quote on this topic last night following the loss to the Blackhawks, via the Edmonton Journal. You can read the full piece here.
“I think a lot of guys have been here before, and when it doesn’t work well for them, they begin to wonder — and I can feel it a little bit,” said McLellan. “You have to believe you can do it.
“We usually show the opponent we can, but it’s always a little too late.”
“We have to believe we can play against these types of teams. We fall behind, then we have nothing to lose so we go and we play hard. That’s mental. That’s massaging the mindset and the belief system that we have in place right now. It’s just not strong enough.”
As mentioned, all of those quotes come from Joanne Ireland’s article in the Journal from last night. These quotes are pretty revealing too, it shows that the losing culture is still with these guys.
Are Edmonton’s slow starts a case of the team not believing in itself? Do these guys not think they can beat teams like Chicago, Pittsburgh and Washington? The way they have started those games, it certainly seems that way. The fact that McLellan said it really makes it stick out.
The “We have to believe we can play against these types of teams” quote sticks out to me like a sore thumb. This team has a confidence issue, they try too hard to not make mistakes and don’t open it up to play their game until it is far too late. That was the case against the Blackhawks and it cost them two points.
How Do You Fix It?:
The Oilers have to build up confidence, and unfortunately moral victories won’t do it for them anymore. For years, Edmonton’s biggest wins have been keeping it close on the scoreboard with the big dogs, that won’t cut it anymore. The Oilers need to start winning some of these games, beating these elite teams.
Even a win or two against a team like Anaheim or Los Angeles, two elite teams that have owned Edmonton, would go miles towards fixing this issue.
The only way to build the confidence is to win games, that’s it. Once the Oilers start to beat teams like this, they’ll start to believe on a nightly basis and won’t start these games off afraid to screw up and fall behind. The nerves won’t be there, they’ll be ready.
This is tough for Todd McLellan, because all he can do is put the system in place and teach these guys to the best of his abilities. The players have to execute and play the system, they can’t play afraid/scared at the start anymore.
To make the belief system, as McLellan says, stronger, the Oilers need to know they can beat these teams. A few wins would do wonders for the Oilers. The mental game would become a lot easier, the confidence would get a massive boost and these guys would believe in what they are doing.
It’s frustrating, because the Oilers really can play with these teams. We saw it for forty minutes against both the Penguins and the Blackhawks. When the Oilers play their system and play loose, they can run with these teams.
It’s all mental now, it’s a matter of breaking through and playing that loose hockey for 60 minutes. That’s the next big hurdle for Todd McLellan and his team.
Frustrating, but it’s part of the process for a team trying to get over a losing culture.
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