FOREWARNING: If you can’t be bothered with hearing about Taylor Hall’s supposed character flaws, this post isn’t for you. Don’t scroll down. Don’t read any further. I’m just commenting on what I heard with my own ears and if you do choose to read on, what you will hear with your own two ears or read with your own two eyes.
Seriously. You’ve been warned and you carry on at your own peril.
I was going through the Twittersphere as I usually do after dinner and I came across an interesting tweet from Lochlin Cross. Apparently he’s a radio personality in town and has a morning show on 97.5 CRUZ fm. Check it out.
. @LochlinCross has a theory on why Hall was traded: https://t.co/nj7Ut5cl86 #CrosbieAndCross @nicolaweather @957CRUZFM #Oilers #yeg
— Lochlin Cross (@LochlinCross) July 4, 2016
Now I have to admit, I don’t know who this radio personality is. I haven’t lived in Edmonton for nearly 15 years so I can’t only imagine the radio stations that I grew up listening to are long gone by now. I only listen to 630 CHED when Oilers Now is on it and TSN 1260 for Lowetide, Gregor, Flaming, and Millard. Maybe you can fill me in on who this Lochlin Cross fella is.
Anyways, you need to check out this radio clip and what his theory on Taylor Hall being traded is. I was shocked when I heard it. If you can’t get to the clip I’ll transcribe it below.
Lochlin Cross: I had a conversation on the weekend that I thought was interesting. It was with a manager and I’m not gonna mention his name but he made a very interesting comment about his hiring practices. He hires people with very little experience and trains them to do their job. And the reason, he said, is it’s easier to train good people, it’s harder to train good humans.
He works in an industry where a lot of people who are good at those jobs aren’t necessarily good humans.
*I find the timing a tad convenient. Now that Hall is out of town, I suppose we can shit on him. Then again when he was with the team all of this was being said.*
Co-Host: So you think Taylor Hall was traded because he’s not a good human?
*R-O-U-G-H question… And very unfair in my opinion. Hitler wasn’t a good human, Stalin was not a good human. A guy that goes out and says what he feels or is looking for some company that evening, that is not a person who you should consider to be a bad human.*
LC: I honestly think that that was a part of the decision to move him out of Edmonton is ’cause he’s a dick. I’m sorry I need to use that expression but it’s the best way of describing the type of person-
*My draw seriously hit the desk when I heard Cross say this. I mean it’s different when fans say it because nobody gives flying fack. It’s just talk. But somehow when a media member comes out and says it, it has a different feel. Maybe it’s the size of the platform he has to which he can get his message out.*
CH: With his teammates?! I thought he was pretty popular with his team.
LC: Go and ask anybody in the last two years who has worked at “The Rack”.
CH: What’s “The Rack”?
LC: It’s a bar in town!
CH: Okay.
LC: The guy’s a dick.
CH: right.
LC: He is. He’s just that kind of guy and I’m guessing that behind closed doors when they were having discussions about ya know… The chemistry in this locker room and the success that they’ve had, I’m thinking that they’re trying to put good character people in there and they’re willing to sacrifice somebody who can get them 80 points in a year.
*At this point I’m wondering if Cross had an unfortunate experience with Hall or someone close to him because it sounds like he has an axe to grind with Hall.
That being said, and correct me if I’m wrong but Hall was living with Gazdic and McDavid right? What happened to Nugent-Hopkins and Eberle? I thought they were all good friends off the ice and he only got a year with McDavid before he was moved.
Is Cross onto something? I know McDavid’s review of Hall was glowingly but he’s been trained in the arts of handling the media since he was an early teen. You can never really know unless the player/coach/manager goes off script a bit.*
CH: Yeah, cause he can. He’s led the scoring in the last three or four seasons or three out the four or whatever.
LC: He’s a great a great offensive player. I just, I think the same thing happened in Montreal. I think the same explanation can be given to the- but no one does that. No one stands up on a podium and does a press conference and goes, “Well, we got rid of him because he’s a dick.”
I wish they would! I’d love to see Peter Chiarelli say it. I would love Bergevin to say it about PK Subban. No one likes him. Yeah he’s a great player but he’s holding us back because no one wants to play on his line with him. No one wants to be in the dressing room with him.
*I have no issues moving a player if he’s not the type for the team. Whether that be through playing style or attitude or off-ice issues, if he’s not part of the plans, he’s not. Simple as that. Maybe previous regimes couldn’t nut up and deal Hall even if they wanted to. Maybe it wasn’t a feasible option either. Perhaps the combination of getting McDavid, Puljujarvi, and Lucic in a matter of 12 months made him expendable.
But…
Taylor Hall seems to have a really hard time breaking onto the Team Canada roster when it plays an important tournament and Hockey Canada has the pick of the litter, add to that the return Chiarelli got for him in the trade… Is there something that management types in the NHL know that the public does not?
I suppose one can think himself into any scenario that makes sense in his/her mind if they try hard enough though, right?*
Without a doubt he was a problem! Been saying it for two yrs. I don’t have to know him personally to see this. Numerous examples throughout his career on and off the ice has had every indication he was a problem. The whole team canada thing is just one of those examples. There’s more, many more. As far as I’m concerned the day oilers hired Nicholson the writing was on the wall, winning the mcdavid sweepstakes just sped things up. I believe it would have happened last yr if there weren’t so many injuries within the top 6. This was a bigger issue than we all realize! I do believe Hall is starting to mature as an individual and teammate, it appeared that way throughout last yr but imo the damage was done and minds were made up.
Based on his comments in his post-trade conference call, he very much took the trade personally. He’s an emotional player and he hasn’t quite mastered the balance between confidence and arrogance.
Consider this: the orchestration of Hall and McDavid’s roommate situation was as much about McDavid learning the NHL ropes from Hall as it was about Hall learning humility and professionalism from McDavid.
Hall has always had trouble keeping his emotions in check. The officials, coaches, media, and fans have all noticed it. His competitiveness and passion for hockey have a direct line to his voice, which results in unfiltered emotion. He has had trouble finding a balance that allows him to have a fire in his belly while keeping his thoughts and emotions to himself.
If you’ve ever been in a locker room (as a team member), you might recognize the guy that has loads of talent and skill, but always needs to vent. He sulks when he’s held pointless, craves attention for his accomplishments, grudgingly congratulates others for their success and finds ways to draw every conversation back to their favorite topic; themselves.
Teammates don’t generally correct such players because none of those qualities are technically “wrong”. They are simply annoying and selfish. Teammates tend to tune them out and say things like, “that’s just Johnny.” The sad thing is, it creates resentment amongst the team and affects morale.
I have often wondered if Hall was that player. Since 2010, there have been veiled comments on this topic from both current and former players. Only they know for sure, but it’s not their problem anymore. All they (and the fans) care about is that the team plays good hockey and competes for a playoff spot in 2016-17.
It’ll be interesting to see how Hall and Cammalleri do in the room together.
Really insightful comments! Thank you for sharing them here. I agree it’ll be interesting to see how Hall gets along with say Andy Greene, Cory Schneider or more importantly Patrik Elias. Kovalchuk seemed to do okay in NJ though, perhaps there’s hope for young Taylor.
Just to add my two cents worth…these characters are out there, the “Hall types” because I have played with a few. I know I didn’t say much or my teammates either as they are the better/best players on a team however when my time was over playing with said player(s) you moved on and thanked your lucky stars the torture was over, you know listening to it and putting up with the stinky arrogance. One thing I’ll say is that it sure does not help team moral…I have a funny feeling that the dressing room dynamics will be changing this upcoming season…for the better!
For what it’s worth, Hall acted like a dick during the brief time he played here in Oklahoma City during the last lockout.
I know this is a bit of a reach but at the worlds when Nicholson was handing out the gold medals he shook McDavids hand and embraced him like you would think the president of the oilers would as one of his own but when Hall came up he shook his hand he did it like he was a stranger .I remember turning to my friend and asked if he saw that he said yeah Bob shook his hand like he was gone and not a oiler anymore we both said I wonder !!! and here we are a month or so later.
Never liked Hall and was greatly disappointed when they called Taylor over Tyler, oh well the mistake has taken care of itself and it is now water under the bridge. Go Oil