The Oilers Room – A Rift

The Oilers have lost ten games in a row. It’s sad, really, that a team that was once so good, and that I once fell in love with because of their work ethic and blue-collar attitude, could turn into something that is legit the TOTAL opposite of those great traits. Yet, here we are, December 2nd of 2014, last place in the NHL, lost ten in a row, and about to miss the playoffs for the ninth year in a row.

Is the roster good enough for the playoffs? Nope, it isn’t, but you know what, it isn’t as bad as these results. Yes, the Oilers are weak at center and do not have a number one or even number two defender, but they aren’t 30th place bad, especially when there are teams trying to set themselves up for McDavid.

So why are the Oilers so bad? Execution is part of the problem, and I could write all day about the poor play, poor coaching and poor management moves, but in reality, it pails in comparison to an ugly problem which started to leak out after Edmonton’s 5-2 loss on Monday to the Arizona Coyotes.

There is a locker-room issue in Edmonton, and it certainly seems like it starts with the young ‘core’ of this rebuild.

Wait What?:

Andrew Ference is a class act, he’s a veteran of the league, he knows how to win, and he knows how to lead. He’s been on arguably the most successful eastern team in the last decade in Boston, and was a key part of those teams on and off the ice. Say what you will about his play, it has declined since coming to Edmonton but improved this season, but Ference is a legit leader and a guy you have to listen to.

For years, while in Boston, I never heard him say a single bad word about his teammates or about the situation in the locker-room, it was always positive from Ference, and the results were positive as well. Now don’t sit here and tell me it’s because Ference just won in Boston, because that isn’t true. That first year and a half, the Bruins lost more than their fair share of games, but the team learned, they worked hard, and they developed.

In Edmonton, that is no where to be seen. The mistakes being made are the same lazy ones by the same players who have been making them the last few seasons. Accountability? Not there. Learning from their mistakes? Pshhhh please!

Andrew Ference is a very level headed guy, rarely showing raw emotion when talking to the media, but last night, after the team’s tenth loss in a row, Ference let it rip, and personally, I’m thrilled he did so. John MacKinnon has a TERRIFIC piece on it, and I recommend every Oiler fan reads it. It is here.

“Asked to clarify whether he has seen players moping in the locker-room, Ference was emphatic: “Well, yeah. You can’t see it? I think it would be obvious to some people. It’s not everybody (on the team). Whether it’s in practice, whether it’s in pre-game skates, whether it’s in games sometimes, in-between periods. Obviously, you guys (reporters) can’t see it in here.””

“Like I said, you guys can’t run in here all the time between periods or before games.”

“You don’t hear what the coaches say, you don’t hear what I say. But, it’s not magical speeches, it’s fundamental things that winning hockey teams do. And that has to happen, the action has to happen.”

“You feel for coaches that are trying to have the same message. It’s a winning message. I’ve had a lot of success on a lot of teams. The message is the right message and the X’s and O’s are the right X’s and O’s.

“It’s there, it has to be done (on the ice). To come in here and try to convince guys that they should be excited to play in the NHL and have some pride and not mope around — it’s a joke. It shouldn’t happen at this level. Until guys can figure that part out, it’s going to be a constant cycle.

“It’s about working hard and learning and not making the same mistakes over and over again. And that’s not something that we’ve been doing. To do it, it has to come from players, from individuals making up their mind to do those things. But, we’re hammering the same nail.”

I hate quoting so much of one piece, but these quotes are needed to paint a picture, again, check out John’s piece listed above. This is only a small sliver of it, and his points are very good.

Anyways, these quotes say A LOT to me. There seems to be a rift in that locker-room. To me, and this is pure speculation, there are players in that room who simply feel bad for themselves and take playing in the NHL as a right and not a privilege. That is a massive recipe for disaster, a disaster we have seen unfold on the ice these last few months.

When a veteran like Ference backs the coach and the X’s and O’s, it is tough to doubt him. He’s seen systems that have worked, he’s played in them. Maybe, just maybe, this isn’t a system problem, it isn’t a coaching problem, maybe it’s a who is trying to execute the system problem. Did anyone ever think of that?

To me, the names not named are pretty obvious, it has to be the young core of this team. Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Justin Schultz, hell even Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, these guys make the same mistakes over and over again, and these mistakes cost the team goals. I can’t confirm that is who Ference was talking about, but I will say these are the first names that came to my mind.

I don’t care how good a player is, if he is going to act spoiled, act like it’s his right to play professional sports and not care enough to learn from his mistakes, which are costing the team by the way, then I don’t want him on my team.

It’s this kind of attitude, this indifference, which has held the Oilers back for years, and has the rebuild dead and gone. If Edmonton EVER wants to fix this thing, it needs to start with weeding out the guys who Ference spoke about. I don’t care about draft pedigree, or even talent level, I want 23 guys willing to work their ass off and play for each other. Right now, Edmonton doesn’t have that.

The worst part? It certainly seems like the core of golden kids doesn’t have those traits either. We don’t know for sure, but the signs are not good.

There is only one thing to do with this organization, kill it with fire Mr. Katz, throw us a bone here please.