Let’s Talk About Goats

The Edmonton Oilers fan community is an odd place sometimes and this year might be the epitome of just how fickle we can be. One common thing we do as fans each year is choose a goat, in fact each season our friends over at OilersNation.com select who they think the fans will criticize, critique, chastise and condemn. This year was a bit different for them as they wished the Oil a goat free season, but that was wishful thinking as it didn’t take long for the fans to pick a player, or two, to direct their vitriol towards.

Early in the season, with the newly signed forward starting slowly, it appeared that Milan Lucic had been anointed the hairy four legged target of hate. That was short lived however as Lucic’s play improved and, let’s face it, he does the things fans like to see. Looch hits, cycles the puck, wins board battles and adds the odd fight to a game. It’s tough not to like his style.

Once Lucic started performing closer to expectations it seemed that us fans, instead of basking in the glory of what was a team doing things we haven’t seen in literally a decade, started looking for another player to direct our frustrations towards. The search light didn’t take long to find one Jordan Eberle.

The Oilers have been a streaky team this year, win a few, lose a few. The wins have been fantastic and the losses have been frustrating, with those losses and a lack of secondary scoring having caused fans to go looking for the next goat. Jordan Eberle is by no means a perfect player, he isn’t as physical as we would like, he doesn’t do his best work in the “hard areas” and he’s missed plenty of ten bell opportunities around the opponent’s net.

One can see why fans would lean towards Ebs being the problem, but here’s the thing. He doesn’t much deserve the criticism he’s been getting these last few weeks. For sure he has his faults, of which I’ve listed a few above, but to be calling for the head of the second leading scorer on a team that sits second in the Pacific Division seems just a tad bit overboard for this writer. After Saturday’s game against the Ducks, Ebs had registered 7 goals and 13 assists for 20 points, which puts him on pace for roughly 60 points this season which is on pace with his career average.

Jordan Eberle isn’t going to show us new things anymore. Sure, as he gains experience and age wisdom will come with that and we may see small tweaks in his game. Little things he can do to help his team win could come, but the fact of the matter is Eberle is who he is and to expect a different version of the player we’ve watched for the last six and a bit seasons is a little much. Eberle’s job is to put points on the board and that is what he has done and continues to do.

Let’s also face some facts here. There are players that seem to remain immune to the criticism, or maybe because expectations are lowered poor performance isn’t as highly critiqued. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, for instance, is struggling mightily this season. His offensive production looks to be on pace for career lows, but because he’s better on the defensive side of the puck people tend to excuse the poor offensive play.

What about Benoit Pouliot? The man has regressed this season in a big way. His offensive numbers are down, his offensive zone penalties are up, his defensive performance is down. So why not him? Is it because the coach is handling Pouliot differently? Benching him when his sub par play deems necessary, while Eberle remains in the line up night in and night out.

What I’d like to see personally is for the fans of this team to maybe take it a little easier on the players. Even writing that sentence, I know that it will never happen. I also know that it’s a bit hypocritical because I’m just as bad, maybe bad isn’t the right word, more like just as likely to throw criticism to players for errors during a game without looking at the bigger picture and sample size.

I’m not sure there is a fanbase in the league that is as quick to turn on a player as us Edmonton Oiler fans are (Editor’s note: Dave, you should listen to Boston sports radio sometime). I suppose after 10 years of suffering it has become almost second nature for us to do so. Who are we to blame?

I’ll leave you with this quote from my friend and former Oilers Rig writer Troy Martinson;

Too many of you want each player to be perfect, they’re not nor will ever be.

For the 1st time since 2006-2007 (aka, TEN LONG YEARS), the Oilers are 14-10-2 & we’re whining about a couple guys who are struggling, even though Pouliot scored last game & Eberle had 3A tonight

I’ll take that record & every player who has contributed to it, all day, everyday

Thanks for Reading

OILERS RIG LIVE4MS

Our 4th annual fundraiser for the MS Society of Alberta is set for January 21, 2017 at The Pint Downtown, at 6:30pm

It’s a Battle of Alberta on HNIC, with the Oilers in Calgary. Puck drop is 8:00pm.

We’ll have a great lineup of silent auction items, as well as raffles throughout the night. We might even have t shirts for sale (but we’ll let you know as we get closer to the date).

All proceeds from the fundraiser go to the MS Society of Alberta.

See you there!