Those three words I use as a title all have something in common. What do they have in common you ask? They perfectly describe the Edmonton Oilers season, their nightly effort, and their latest ‘effort’ against the Red Wings on Saturday night. I felt embarrassed for the players on the ice just watching it on TV, that should say it all.
The Oilers are a mess right now. Pull the cord on the season, it’s over folks. This team isn’t going to the playoffs, heck this team isn’t leaving the basement at this rate.
The Oilers are the same old team that has been a joke for seven seasons now, scratch that, let’s make it eight. There is no urgency from this team, not enough effort from the team, not enough commitment or buy-in to playing a complete game. It shows big time, not just in the 3-10-2 record, but on the ice too.
The rebuild excuse? Throw it out the window, that’s a load of BS. The Colorado Avalanche are a young team that just picked first overall. What are they up to? Just casually running through their schedule and making it look easy. Oh by the way, their young guys have totally bought in and play a complete game, no junior pretty plays like a certain other young team.
Remember Calgary started their rebuild this summer? They are ahead of Edmonton too! They don’t have near the talent the Oilers have, but they actually bring it every night, novel concept I know. The Flames compete hard and I respect them a heck of a lot more on the ice than I respect the Oilers right now, who have no urgency or give-a-damn out there.
It starts at the top. It starts with Daryl Katz, who has stood by through the toughest time in franchise and watched this team burn to the ground without doing a thing about it. Kevin Lowe, who has been in on decision making for over a decade and helped destroy this team. Its with assistant coaches like Steve Smith and Kelly Buchberger, who know no matter what they do know they aren’t going anywhere, The Edmonton Oilers country club if you will.
It’s not just those guys either, it’s just as much the guys on the ice too. Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle and Nail Yakupov, the ‘future’, don’t seem to want to do what it takes to win. Not enough emphasis on learning the NHL game, and too busy trying to score the highlight reel goal, beating a man one-on-one or making the pretty pass. Not enough grittiness, no defensive awareness.
Same goes for Sam Gagner, whose defensive game has been a mess since he came into the league. Ales Hemsky is the same kind of player too. Offensive skill and that’s it.
The top-six in Edmonton is a mess. It’s a bunch of forwards that are only interested in scoring goals and that’s it. They aren’t interested in doing anything else, and are far too content playing junior style hockey on the NHL rink. If this team ever wants to do some winning, it MUST change. This group needs a different element to it and needs some kind of major shake-up. One of the kids has to go.
It’s not just the top-six either, the bottom six is a mess too. Players like Will Acton, Luke Gazdic, Steve MacIntyre, Ben Eager and Ryan Hamilton are not NHL players, yet are getting all sorts of time and playing roles on this roster. That’s a major problem. No good NHL team would employ any of these guys, not one. Sorry, that’s a fact, not an opinion.
The defense? Justin Schultz is like the young guns up front, only focused on scoring. That’s a death sentence for a defender, and he’s been the Oilers worst defenseman all season long. Nick Schultz isn’t a guy that can handle top-six NHL minutes anymore, Anton Belov is learning the NHL game, and Ladislav Smid is struggling big time. That, that is a mess of a blue-line.
Only guys I trust out there? Andrew Ference and Jeff Petry, and Petry is starting to really scare me with how he has played recently. It hasn’t been pretty. The Oilers lack the ability to play defense. They don’t know how to grasp a system and quite frankly that is mind-boggling at this level. It’s quite painful to watch this team defend if you want my honest opinion.
The Edmonton Oilers’ record of 3-10-2 is embarrassing to the team, the city and the fans. This is a team many thought would be at the very least fighting for a playoff spot, but is instead looking at adding yet another top prospect this summer. Eight years of no playoffs in the NHL? That’s embarrassing.
The Edmonton Oilers’ effort? It’s unacceptable. It was understandable, the losing, early on in the season. A lot of new players, a new coach, it happens, and you could see some positives in those games. Recently? There haven’t been any kinds of positives and the Oilers are folding like a cheap lawn chair you’d buy at a garage sale.
There hasn’t been any urgency or give-a-damn either in these recent losses. Heck, the team had a closed door meeting after they got smacked by the Leafs, and then came out and played WORSE on Saturday against the Wings! That’s a HUGE red flag and says everything you need to know about this team.
The Edmonton Oilers’ play? It’s been utterly pathetic to this point in the season. Not enough urgency out there, and they are playing like a junior hockey club. Too focused on making the pretty play, too focused on dangling through everyone on the ice and not focused on getting the puck to the net. Too busy trying to make the pretty pass and not just firing away.
The Oilers commit way too many turnovers too, and that is a direct result of the way they play, that junior style offense. The failed ability of the forwards to play a complete game is a big part of this too, and it’s very apparent if you pay attention to it.
The Edmonton Oilers are only 15 games into 2013-14, but it’s quite clear things have gone very wrong, very quick, Pull the plug on the season and blow this thing up. Buckle up friends, it’s going to get much worse before it gets any better.
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