Tag Archives: Oilers Fans

Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

Shocking News! Oilers Recent Losing Streak Coincides with Injuries to Klefbom and Russell, Fans Blame Secondary Scoring?

From November 23rd until December 11th, the Edmonton Oilers were 7-2-1 but on the last day of that ten game stretch, they lost both Oscar Klefbom and Kris Russell to injury.

As a result, everyone, save for Adam Larsson, was moved up a slot in the lineup.

(Didn’t Hitchcock say something about the importance of where players are slotted in the lineup? I feel like this was predicted.)

Against the Winnipeg Jets and the Philadelphia Flyers, the Oilers gutted out three points, an overtime loss in the ‘Peg and an easy win at home to the Flyers. Back to back games might I add.

https://twitter.com/HoltzPelle/status/1081218752358735874

But the adrenaline wasn’t to last. For the next six games, five of them at home against teams who were playing VERY well, the Oilers couldn’t manage a single measly Bettman point.

Now the story that pundits and grumpy Oilers fans are grasping onto for dear life is,  if they had better secondary scoring, the team would be better off for it. I’m assuming they think that the Oilers wouldn’t have lost those 6 games as well.

Well, how many goals did they score in the losing streak that lasted from December 16th to New Year’s Eve?

15 goals for in six losses for, 29 against.

Just to put it into a bit of perspective. Let’s look at how many goals they scored during the six games previous to Klefbom and Russell getting hurt.

17 goals in 5 wins and a loss, 11 goals against.

Well that’s a shade over three goals per game, right?

So you’re telling me that when Klefbom and Russell are out of the lineup, the Oilers have trouble not getting scored on? Furthermore, you’re telling me that they should go out and trade for a forward when it’s their defense and goaltending that is leaking?

Put the bottle down son… I think you’ve had enough.

Did we notice that after Chiarelli went out and upgraded the Oilers defense that the way the team was playing changed too? Another tight game versus a Stanley Cup favorite in Winnipeg and a resounding win over a team the Oilers are competing with for a wild card spot.

Thank God Peter got us those two defensemen because they made a huge difference again tonight. – Oilers Head Coach Ken Hitchcock folling the Arizona win. 

Two games, six goals for and five against.

So tell me more about this secondary scoring problem because it shouldn’t even be on the radar.

Now you might want to throw some more statistics at me to show me the long-term effects of having poor scoring depth and some irresponsible cap management. That’s fine but it’s a waste of your time to do that mid-season.

My feeling is that I do not give one flying f*ck who does the scoring (No offense to Jameson here). Seriously. If it’s Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Alex Chiasson only, GOOD! Someone has to put the puck in the net and I’m glad it’s those guys. But if it weren’t those players, someone else would step up.

My concern is if the rest of the team can keep the puck out of the net and it should be yours too if you’re a fan of playoff success because that is a MASSIVE key to success in the post-season. The risk-taking and open play stops once the puck drops in the playoffs. It’s a grind and you need players that can do that effectively.

Defense wins championships. Well, that and stellar goaltending.

All I’m concerned about is the next game and at the end of the season we can all sit down, grab a pint, and see where it all went right or wrong. 

King Me!

Good teams have a couple of great pairs in their top-6, right? Looks to me that Edmonton has two GREAT pairs with Chiasson returning tonight in LA.

Ideally, you’d like to compliment those great pairs with another solid NHL-level player or highly touted prospect. Zack Kassian (Who had 5 shots on net vs. ARI) and Tobias Rieder (Not my choice personally) will be the ones responsible for rounding out the top-6.

I’m not concerned about the Lucic-Khaira-Puljujarvi line as much, I think they’re job is to lean on the Kings and really cause them some trouble in the dirty areas. Milan will be in good spirits I’m guessing and JJ and Pulju have formed some chemistry this season. I’d give them the edge over what LA might send onto the ice to face them.

And since when do we give two shits about a team’s 4th line? Oh yeah, Oilers fans… Spooner (most likely), Brodziak, and Rattie form one of the weirdest lines I’ve ever seen since I started this site. I guess it could throw off the Kings or it could get dominated brutally. 

One thing is certain, the lines you see posted later today will not be the lines that end the game. Hitch loves him a line blender.

More on Spooner

Do you actually think that Drake Caggiula was going to move the needle for the Oilers this year after that hot start? He and Ryan Spooner have the EXACT same amount of goals 5×5 since the beginning of last season. Fourteen! Caggiula actually has one more goal that Spooner in all situations as well. Twenty.

So it goes back to the intangibles, right? Well since we can’t quantify those, we shouldn’t really be talking about it, should we? Or maybe, just maybe Coach Hitchcock couldn’t stand the poor defense and all the mistakes coming from Caggiula…

Yeah, that’s a guy I’d be using my valuable airtime to be championing if I were a radio host in Edmonton.

Grab this sweet Nintendo parody shirt! Click the image above!

Radio Bla Bla

Speaking of radio hosts, when is Jason Gregor going to stop humping this dead horse?

This week Jason Gregor had the audacity to say that Puljujarvi wasn’t even dominating at the AHL level. That goes to show you how ignorant this guy is.

He didn’t watch one minute of Jesse’s games in Bakersfield this year and he’s claiming that?! He should be ashamed. Most pundits have the integrity to know what they’re talking about instead of going on a crusade to run a 20-year-old player out of town.

Did you know that Gregor didn’t even want Puljujarvi if the Oilers were choosing at #3 in the 2016 draft? Check this out from a Reddit AMA from back in 2016,

Peluche99: Hey Jason, Is this year finally ‘the year’ for the Oilers? And who do you think the Oilers draft if they stay at #4?

Gregor: If I’m picking I would take Dubois.

So is he playing the long game here? Using his platform to slowing push Puljujarvi out of town and say he was right all along if the Oilers do trade him?

How about this Sather-like trade proposal from the stick guru himself?

I would trade the fourth pick for Travis Hamonic in a heartbeat, but I suspect the Oilers would have to give up more than the pick to acquire him. (source)

Nice! This would be some gold over at HFBoards…

Do you remember how good Hamonic was last year? Not very…

Funny that Dan Tencer, the head scout for the Saskatoon Blades, called Puljujarvi a potential reclamation project. At 20 years of age… We’re calling him a reclamation project now… You’d think a guy that makes a living projecting hockey players would have a more informed outlook at a player other than “he doesn’t look part of the core of the team.”

Absolutely white hot elephant diarrhea wrapped in moldy cheese and covered in stinky tofu are these opinions. 

A new season means a new design! Click the image above to get the new Pulju shirt!

At the moment, Jesse is playing 13 minutes a night approximately. Isn’t that exactly where you’d want a 20-year-old to be playing at? Nooooo… He’s a reclamation project now. Right…

Over the last three seasons, our big Finn has some interesting 5×5 metrics when it concerns which of the Oilers’ big name centers he’s played with.

McDavid – 385 min TOI, 2.18 pts/60
Draisaitl – 263 min TOI, 1.59 pts/60
RNH – 331 min TOI, 0.9 pts/60

(source)

I’m a huge supporter of Jesse Puljujarvi if you can’t tell and I might be tempted to hop on the fire Chiarelli train 100% if he does trade him. Maybe, just maybe, try him with Connor and Leon for more than 5 seconds…

How Can the Oilers Fix the Forward Depth IF It Needs Fixing?

I won’t sit here and tell you that the scoring on the wings past the second line is adequate. It’s not. I also won’t sit here and tell you that the players that are playing there are playing to their potential either and that’s something I feel like a lot of people are missing here.

Some forwards aren’t scoring right now but that doesn’t mean they won’t score in the future.

According to the lines posted yesterday, Edmonton has Pulju, Milan Lucic, Ty Rattie, and Joe Gambardella/Ryan Spooner slated to play wing in their bottom six. My opinion is that those players have not lost the ability to score, they’re just not doing what’s necessary to twinkle the twine.

The boss says they’ve got to kick it up a gear and I agree. The coach says they have to do more than pass the time on the ice, I agree.

So the answer is better defensive play in their own zone.

Stop the other team from controlling the puck in the defensive zone and start controlling it in the offensive zone. Get pucks on the net, asses in the blue paint, and I guarantee you the ketchup bottle will start to flow!

Give me some proactivity and a little less reactivity please!

But if you’re looking for a few names to tease the palate, here are a few:

  • Alexander Wennberg (CBJ) – Same 5×5 shooting percentage as Lucic… ZERO!
  • Kevin Labanc (SJ) – Shooting 3.54% (5×5) with two goals to show for it.
  • Connor Brown (TOR) – Two goals, 5.13% shooting percentage.

All three players are shooting blanks this year. They’re not scoring and their shooting % is in the toilet. Buy low, sell high.

Elias Pettersson’s nickname is “Alien”. Here’s a shirt to celebrate it! Click the image to buy one!

San Jose has a kid on their AHL club named Francis Perron (AHL All-Star this year) that is having a very good season, he could be due for a call-up if the Sharks were to move Labanc. Toronto might move Brown to bolster their defense for a deep playoff run and we know Brown as one of McDavid’s old linemates in junior, right? Wennberg is another story. He was playing 1st line center for them the other night but he’s not getting it done this year at all.

The Bottom Line Because BLH Said So!

I think that the Oilers are going to fire Chiarelli at season’s end. I won’t shed a tear though. You can see it coming a mile away even if you don’t spend time on Oilers social media. But whatever happens, he must not be allowed to mortgage the future.

At some point between now and February 25th, there’s going to be an audit on the roster and the brass is going to have to come to a conclusion regarding their playoff chances. Whatever that conclusion is, patience with the young players MUST be practiced.

Go the way of Winnipeg and Tampa and if that costs Chiarelli his job, so be it. You can be assured the next guy who comes in will make the most of the amateur work done by Chiarelli’s staff (hopefully) and have the Oilers back in the post-season for 2019-20.

The Vegas Golden Misfits are going to the Stanley Cup Final in 2018!!! Love ’em or hate ’em it’s an amazing story and this is one punk rocker’s way of giving tribute! Click the pic above and get yours today!
Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Guest Post: The One Responsibility an Oilers Fan Has

Edmonton Fans have a responsibility to appreciate Connor McDavid and the Oilers WIN, LOSE, or DRAW.

I have been long contemplating making somewhat of a big deal about this issue, but after yesterday’s revelation in the form of a Connor McDavid GQ interview, I feel compelled to extend my thoughts to the Edmonton people through more than a twitter thread. In the interview, the Oilers captain said the words that should petrify anyone that has ever called themselves a fan of the team.

“When you’re winning, you’re a hero in this city, and when you’re losing they want to run you right out of it.”  SOUND THE ALARMS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THIS IS NOT A DRILL, the greatest player to grace this city since Gretzky himself feels even SLIGHTLY unwelcome, and that’s unacceptable. Now, anyone with a semblance of intelligence could probably read that and take away less of a serious message. In the interview, he cites a specific, and well-documented occurrence of a couple of guys chirping him as he’s leaving a restaurant with his family. I don’t think I’m the first to say this, and I’m sure I won’t be the last but I’ll do it anyways. That’s not cool. That’s never cool. Doesn’t matter if Kessler, Pronger, and Bieksa are sitting down to a meal where Mike Smith is bringing out drinks in a bow tie, they are people just like us and they don’t deserve to be harassed for living their lives.

That’s not a fire take, it’s an easy one. It makes sense, it follows the golden rule and most people seem to have no issue with respecting it. So with that in mind, I can see how some may minimize the importance of McDavid’s comments. It’s when you read deeper into the comments that begin to illustrate a somewhat alarming picture regarding the culture of the Edmonton fan base. When asked about how miserable Edmonton was last season, McDavid responded quite bluntly “It was awful. It was terrible. It was miserable around town. I remember everyone just chirping at you all the time.” It’s the opening sentiment about being in Edmonton that makes my heart sink. The future of the Edmonton Oilers, the 2 time Art Ross Ted Lindsay and Hart Trophy winner at 21 years of age doesn’t like being in his city unless the team is winning.

This thought inspires so many questions that maybe an interviewer wanting to talk about more than his (STUNNING) new wardrobe would have followed up with. But alas, it’s all we have to go off of. The questions I would have asked him in response to his obvious criticism of Oilers fans would have been something like “does it bother you personally when fans and local media take pot shots at your teammates?” Or “how much does the locker room talk about the fans or being chirped by locals online or in person?” I would bet my lunch that his diplomatic response would include something about “we don’t really pay attention to all of the noise” and “we don’t really have time for all the social media stuff.” But would that be the truth or just a way to avoid a barrage of criticism from the “I pay the Oilers thousands of dollars so I get to be as obnoxious as I want” fan base?

This is honestly a question that I think gets ignored and taken for granted across all forms of sport and fame. How does player A feel about constant vitriol towards Player B? I guess for me it comes down to the lessons that I learned from sports personally. When you are on the ice, or the field, you are in a battle. You and your brothers in arms are there to accomplish a task of winning at all costs. It’s not always easy and sometimes you will lose, but the one thing you will always have are the ones that are suiting up and going into battle with you. It’s not too different from your co-workers. I work with some pretty awesome people that I would most certainly defend at all costs. We don’t always get along, and sometimes one of us drops the ball. But we always help each other to get back on the right track mentally, physically, spiritually, etc. Anyone that means to challenge my teammates or my co-workers has to first go through me and they would do the same.

Imagine for a second an environment where your teammates are your co-workers. Now imagine someone on your team being so inundated with comments of ridicule, and vitriol. Constantly being reminded by the masses of social media that he doesn’t deserve to make the money he’s making. Imagine those same people taking every pot shot possible at the guy that hired you, that assembled the team that you love being a part of. Imagine being out to dinner with your teammates and wondering how many people that come up to you and ask you all for an autograph are going back to their phones during the next game you lose and pooping all over your teammates via Twitter with the hashtag “FireChiarelli.”

To assume that any player that deals with these realities is somehow numb to it, or okay with it, or fine with the status quo would be insanely unfair to a passionate guy like Connor McDavid. He has dealt with shortcomings on the ice from his team in seasons that he has decorated his trophy case, and I’m sure his first criticism would be of himself. He’s humble, a leader that knows what it means to eat last, and the day to day commentary from the fanbase that has to quarantine himself from probably heavily outweighs the instances of guys coming up to him and chirping his family. That doesn’t lend any less severity to one over the other.

I’m a big believer that perception is reality. Connor illustrated very well that his perception of the fan base is largely negative unless the team is putting up consistent W’s. A player like 97 will certainly use that as motivation, but it’s not fair to ignore the sentiment. To the fans, he is Connor McDavid, the 2nd coming of Gretz, the future of the Edmonton Oilers. To himself, he’s the captain of a team of 20 guys that go to battle every night same as him. A group assembled by Peter Chiarelli, the man that drafted him, and directed by Todd McLellan, the man that coached him to a Hart trophy and an exciting playoff run.

So here’s what I’m proposing. Let’s take a page out of Vegas’ handbook. Instead of complaining about the burnt orange jerseys, let’s bleed burnt orange. Instead of tweeting about how inept of a defencemen Kris Russell is, let’s voice our support for the ENTIRE D core especially number 4. Instead of mentioning every time the Oilers don’t score, that they could have had Barzal and Taylor Hall, let’s hold up signs at Rogers Place saying how much we love having guys like Lucic and Strome. We know McDavid does. “Doesn’t that sound a little cheerleader-ish?” Sure it does, but what’s the harm in supporting someone publicly and verbally? After all, many fans love to go back to how much they support the team financially. Why don’t we try putting our mouth where our money is?

So let’s run down the list of reasons why what I’m proposing is at best an absurdly, immature or somehow unconstitutional notion.

“They make millions of dollars, so I’m allowed to complain.”

“The management needs to be held accountable after so much lack of production.”

“If this were a job, the whole staff would have been fired and replaced by now.”

“The only way we are going to see change is by demanding it from the ownership.”

“Screw you, don’t tell me how to fan.”

“McDavid was only talking about the fans that chirp him in public and your thoughts are too in depth.”

“I’m a blogger with some kind of platform and it’s not up to me to cheer on players, it’s up to me to analyze them honestly.”

“I pay so much money to go every game and see the same crappy product and find a lack of motivation to change unacceptable.”

“It’s a free country and I can say whatever the hell I want.

If you were moved to respond with any of these, or identify with their messages, that’s 100% your prerogative. A pretty good rule of thumb is to ask yourself, “would I say this comment about a player or a manager to their face? Would I say it in front of McDavid?” If the answer is no, there is probably a valid reason. So rather than pretending that players don’t spend time on social media, reading their mentions and ruining their days, let’s try to contribute some positivity. Failing to appreciate the fact that a disregard for the feelings of players has likely cost Edmonton star power, and maybe even motivation to win games is a miss for growth. Let’s take the opportunities to change the entire persona of Oilers twitter BEFORE the season starts and then keep it moving through the season all the way to a Cup Run. Vegas did it with a bunch of unwanted players motivated by hard work and love from their city, why shouldn’t the Oilers be able to do it with Connor freaking McDavid?

Let’s look forward to next offseason, no matter what happens from now until June, and be excited about the fact that we have done everything to make Edmonton a viable option for UFAs or potential trade targets to bring their families, and skillsets. Let’s redefine the narrative that players don’t want to play in Edmonton to one where players are chomping at the bit to get to a city where they are appreciated by diehard hockey fans. Maybe that will outweigh the excuse of “weather conditions” when a player puts Edmonton on their no-trade list. That McDavid quote will be on my timeline, on my phone, on my desk at work and any time I need a reminder of what’s at stake here. We may not have all been on Twitter or been alive in some cases, but losing Gretzky was something that has affected the city and the fans for a long, long time. I don’t know what would happen if one day we were forced to endure seeing a picture of a 9-year-old Connor McDavid in his Leafs pajamas as he signs his next deal.

This was a guest post by a great friend and follower of the blog named Jeremy Thompson. You can follow him on Twitter here.

Click the pic and grab a 16-bit McDavid tee!
A new season means a new design! Click the image above to get the new Pulju shirt!
Grab this sweet Nintendo parody shirt! Click the image above!