A quote that stuck out to me following Edmonton’s 4-0 loss to Arizona on Saturday night? “That smarter team won, that’s for sure.” That came from Oilers coach Todd McLellan, who again appeared frustrated with his team after a multi-goal loss on home ice.
To say the Oilers laid an egg on Saturday night would not be accurate. To my eyes, they were the better team by a wide margin for the first 40 minutes of play. A combination of missed chances, hit posts and bad mistakes led to a 3-0 deficit. The third period was stale on both sides, the only time Edmonton looked truly out of the hockey game.
Looking good and winning are two totally different things however, and again the Oilers proved that. In the end, while the effort was there and Edmonton was the better team most of the night, they didn’t get the two points, the only thing that really matters.
Oil coach Todd McLellan on ragged loss to Coyotes: “I can tell you the smarter team won tonight, hands down.” #yeg #oilers#nhl
— Marty Klinkenberg (@globemartyk) March 13, 2016
What exactly does “smarter team” mean? Everyone who watches/writes about the Oilers harps on the ability to play a harder game and to be a tougher team to play against. We know that means getting bigger up front, playing more physical and using a no nonsense approach. You see, it’s easy to say that the Oilers need to be “harder” to play against (which, they do) and it’s easy to say they need to get better defensively (again, they do).
The thing with saying the Oilers need to be a smarter team is, how do you do that? David Staples brought up an excellent point on Twitter post game, you can’t really make players smarter. He’s right, you either have a high hockey IQ or you don’t, that simple. You learn about the game as you go, but you can’t go from a player who makes a ton of mistakes to Patrice Bergeron, it doesn’t happen.
The Oilers are going to have to go out and get smarter hockey players. I’m not talking about smart in terms of knowing a system, I’m talking about smart in terms of knowing what to do in certain situations and making the right decision at the right time.
Connor McDavid, Taylor Hall, Oscar Klefbom, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Brandon Davidson, those are smart hockey players. Yes, they make mistakes, but more often than not they learn from them and end up making the right decision in the future. You can probably add Andrej Sekera and Benoit Pouliot to that mix too, but even then it’s a small group.
McLellan on littany of Oilers errors: “It’s a formula for failure. It has been the case here for a couple of years and is now.” #yeg #oilers
— Marty Klinkenberg (@globemartyk) March 13, 2016
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsNow, now the picture is starting to become a little clearer. The errors made by the Oilers over the years have been eerily similar. From blown assignments out front, to ill-timed pinches by defenders, to forwards losing their man in coverage, it’s been the same old, same old. When you watch a number of Oilers games year over year, you see these patterns develop.
These errors are committed by numerous different players, many of whom are now gone and have been replaced with new players making the same mistakes. Two guys that really stick out to me in this area? Nail Yakupov and Jordan Eberle.
Now, both Eberle and Yakupov have exceptional skills. Eberle’s hands are some of the best in the NHL and his offensive ability is through the roof. Yakupov has a nice one-timer and he works as hard as anyone has during this decade of darkness in Edmonton.
That said, when you watch an Oilers game, you’ll see both of these guys make numerous mistakes numerous times. They are both good players in their own right, but it’s my opinion that neither of these guys play are particularly smart game.
They aren’t the only players either. A majority of Edmonton’s current roster doesn’t play smart hockey. It’s not an opinion, it’s a fact.
How can it be fixed? My suggestion is to go out and get smarter players. Adding guys like Travis Hamonic and Jason Demers (the most frequently suggested two) not only would make the Oilers a better team defensively, but it would make them a smarter team overall.
When talking about off-season additions, “smarter players” should be something we consider along with areas of need and “heavier” players. Smarter is just as good as harder, folks.
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