The Edmonton Oilers are lacking some major things in their lineup, and it is quite disturbing. Forget the massive hole on defense for a second, forget the fact that Edmonton is smaller and considerably less physical than other western teams and forget the fact that Edmonton’s power play has been bad throughout the course of the season.
It’s time to focus in on the one thing that the players can actually control; Their effort and their give-a-damn meter. Throughout the last ten seasons, we’ve seen minimal effort and a level of content with the results put forward by the team. This has been even more apparent during the last eight years, where Edmonton has finished in the bottom ten each and every season.
When the Oilers bottomed out in 2009-10 and announced that they were rebuilding, we expected a few lean years and then a sharp turn north. Seven years later, and nothing has changed. The Oilers are still a basement dweller, they still have the same exact holes, and they are still giving it a minimal effort every single night.
Our friend Lowetide used a saying over on his blog (here) in regards to Sam Gagner and Justin Schultz, they had one year’s experience year over year. It applied perfectly to those two, and I’d argue that it applies to the organization as whole. For those that watched on Saturday night, this was apparent.
Jordan Eberle will never be known for his defensive play, heck no one expects him to be Patrice Bergeron out there. However, the fact he got beat on that first goal is infuriating and should be inexcusable. Throughout his career, Eberle has been beat on that exact same play countless times. No one expects him to be a shut-down forward, but eventually you need to pick up on things and show some progress.
Jordan Eberle simply has not shown any defensive progress during his NHL career, in fact I would label him as a massive defensive liability in Edmonton. The fact that he struggles so badly on the back-check is a microcosm of Edmonton’s issues throughout the years. One dimensional players who are a liability in a big way elsewhere.
No one is safe from this, either. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Connor McDavid getting confused on that line change is a benchable offensive in my mind. McDavid was two zones away when Nuge took the ice, that’s just being careless and not paying attention.
McDavid being so lax to get back to the bench should not be tolerated either. Let him know early that even though the game doesn’t mean anything in the standings, it should be balls to the wall until game 82 is over.
What we saw on Saturday night was an utter disgrace, there is no other phrase to describe it. If it was just one game, then I wouldn’t sweat it, but we have seen this kind of effort and this kind of indifference time after time for the last ten years. In the final game against the Flames at Rexall Place, to come out and lay an egg like that, to give a pathetic effort like that……It is very telling about this hockey team.
I get it, it’s tough to play out the stretch in a lost season, but this isn’t an issue that we just saw Saturday night. We’ve seen it every single year and we have seen it quite a few times during this season. Quite frankly, I don’t blame it on the coach, I blame it on the core group in the locker room that, year over year, has come to accept losing.
Does that mean Taylor Hall, RNH, Jordan Eberle, etc, like losing? Absolutely not, but they have been told for years that it’s “not their fault” and they know that there would be ZERO repercussions to the losing. They would still get their massive paychecks while fourth liners and third pairing defenders were blamed and traded.
The Edmonton Oilers’ young core, the group that was supposed to save this franchise, is rotten and is entrenched in a losing culture. Saturday night’s effort, if you can even call it that, was another example.
Changes will be made this summer, and I for one am all for it. Yes, this roster must improve in a big way, but until the effort level and give-a-damn meter shoots way up, this organization is doomed to continue losing. It’s time for some leaders to step up and demand that the guy next to them give the same level of effort that they do. You can defend the Hall cluster all you want, but the bottom line is they continue to deliver loss after loss and weak effort after weak effort.
Leaders who don’t just talk the talk in front of the cameras but actually walk the walk on the ice is what Edmonton needs now, folks. Until this team brings it every single night, they will continue to be the butt end of every joke in the NHL, it’s that simple.
Frickin’ embarrassing? I’ve got another word for you to use Todd.
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