I never want to start out my Oilers posts with bad news but today it’s simply unavoidable. I’m sure you’ve heard but yesterday we lost some really special people in a car accident in between Tisdale and Nipawin, Saskatchewan. I don’t know all of the details and frankly, I’m not sure I want to. The number of lives lost is staggering. It’s a dark time for a lot of families right now and the words I’m reaching for to describe how helpless I feel won’t help but I hope they know they have the unending support of the entire hockey community.
I’m not really sure why my heart feels as heavy as it does. I don’t have any ties to the team or the players or the league. I live on a small island off the coast of China but there’s a small town just east of the accident site called Arborfield and that is where my mother’s side of the family grew up. We went there a few times when I was a little boy. Maybe that has something to do with it or possibly just the fact that as writers or fans of hockey when something like this happens, it hits us all.
Either way, that’s not important. What’s important is that the families of the victims, the billets, the people close to the hockey team, they get the support that they require. I understand that there’s a Go Fund Me that has been started and if you can afford to donate, it’s more than a worthy cause.
Edmonton Sun – Ryan Smyth greatly appreciated Sedins on his NHL farewell – “I don’t see them crying like I was,” laughed the former Edmonton Oiler winger who played his 1,270th and last NHL game against the Sedins when the Canucks were here April 12, 2014. The Sedins made sure every Vancouver player shook Smyth’s hand before he took one last sobbing lap around the rink.
Sportsnet – Golden Knights are playoff contenders the Oilers were supposed to be – How much money could you have won back in October if you’d have wagered that, in this April 5, Game 81 meeting between the Stanley Cup-favoured Edmonton Oilers and the tomato can expansion Golden Knights, that the latter would be the team prepping for the playoffs, and the former sending players to the world championships?
Oilersnation – 10 Years: Nation Rising – I had no idea what I was in for as I drove to Earl’s restaurant on 170th Street and 100th Ave. in late February of 2008 for a lunch meeting with three guys I’d never met to talk about getting involved with a website that I’d never heard of…
Oilersnation – Cam Talbot expects to rebound next season – After yesterday’s practice, Cam Talbot spoke to the media about the season that was, where things went wrong, and what to expect from the goaltender heading into next season…
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I would’ve hated to have been an Edmonton Oiler yesterday after that 5-0 loss to Buffalo. My goodness, if you listened to any Oilers talk radio yesterday you would’ve heard Craig Simpson, Ryan Smyth, and Ryan Rishaug give the team a kind of verbal thrashing we haven’t heard in a very long time.
I’d like to share what they said 🙂
Craig Simpson and Ryan Smyth were on Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer and here are a few quotes from their segments.
First up Craig Simpson, former player and special teams coach.
All of the mainstays of good penalty killing, good active stick, stops and starts, don’t turn away from the puck, close off where passing lanes came from, take away cross-seam passes, sticks in lanes, bodies in lanes, are just non-existent.
The things Simpson lays out there that the Oilers aren’t doing don’t seem like skills only superstars can perform if you know what I’m saying.
There are a lot more at fault than just the goaltender. The fact that Al Montoya has been here for 7 games and he’s been in 3 of them replacing your starter is damning enough.
I’m sure the goalie would agree.
I don’t know whether it’s players not understanding the system they’re supposed to be in or getting confused on what the read is from it but If I’m on a powerplay and every time my defenseman gives me the puck on the half-wall, I have the option to give it to him back, I have the option to go down low to my low support, AND I have the option to go cross-seam, I mean you might as well be out against pylons.
Ouch! That has to go deep not only affecting the players but the coaches too.
I do think that it starts with Connor and Draisaitl, that you have to be in an aggressive attack the net mode. At least maybe once you do it 2 or 3 times with some success it’ll back off the pressure a little bit and allow you then to maybe open up where you fake the shot to get that passing lane to get that pass away.
I don’t think this is an attack on the young players on the team but it’s something we’ve been saying since at least last year with regards to Connor’s actions on the PP or a 2v1 for example. SHOOT THE PUCK CONNOR!
There’s something off with the mental stability of the group.
You’re telling me Craig! Whose responsibility is it to rebuild the mental stability of the group though? The coaches?
We’re 48 games later and there’s definitely a disconnect and last night was probably the most damning of them.
That’s a former player and coach of the Oilers digging right into the team and he’s saying there are mental problems and disconnects throughout this roster. I wonder why that is? I wonder what caused it?
Next up is Captain Canada! Ryan Smyth!
Not everybody is going to have it on a nightly basis and that’s what makes a team go round. You rely on certain players at certain times but at some point everyone has to be a factor and contribute and it’s not firing right now for the Oilers.
Another former player tells us how it is and you can’t really blame these guys for having an off night from time to time. I know these players are elite athletes and their bodies are fine-tuned to be able to perform many nights per week but hockey is a tough tough sport to play as much as these guys do. That being said, when the entire team shuts down like they did vs. Buffalo, concern is a given.
Honestly, I feel that the drive isn’t there. The Passion. Not like it was last year and honestly I don’t know what the disjointment is but I feel that there’s enough great skill and enough great hockey players on that team that it can prevail.
Preach it Cap!
The work ethic. There’s one thing you can control on a nightly basis.
Stauffer had asked the question, “Do you think something’s missing in that regard with this group?” The regard he was speaking to was having everyone on board to have a chance. #OUCH…
Instead of watching, just play. Just play the game. It’s a great game!
Leave it to Ryan Smyth to warm your heart whilst criticizing his old team.
What I’ve noticed from both Simpson’s and Smyth’s quotes is they both mentioned a disconnect or a disjoint in the team and I’ve been getting that old decade of darkness feeling right before Eakins was fired. You know the one where you see players not playing for each other and not sticking up for one another. A lack of intensity… I hope I’m wrong because it took a major jolt to the roster to knock that out of them last time and I’m not sure they can afford to do that again. I mean with Calgary up tonight, I’m willing to be that we’re going to see a VERY good hockey game because if we don’t, somebody is gonna get a hurt… Real bad.
Ryan Rishaug was on Gregor’s show last night and he was FIRED UP! Here are the quotes:
There’s something wrong. It’s something in the leadership group in that room, in the core players who are relied on the most. Something’s missing.
I love the answer the player’s and McLellan gives when a question predicated on the response above is asked.
“If we knew, we’d have fixed it by now.”
But they’re not wrong and either is Rishaug.
What they absolutely cannot let happen is for the rest of this season to mean nothing.
I agree wholeheartedly. I’ve been told that since the season is lost, there’s nothing left to play for and that kind of attitude is how the Oilers wound up getting McDavid and Puljujarvi. So maybe they really should give up and maybe the Oilers would end up with Rasmus Dahlin?
Far too many years they were out of the playoffs, spent 3 months of meaningless hockey and terrible habits developed, terrible work ethic developed, and more problems crept into their game that showed up the next year and they need to learn from that mistake.
I’ll just go out on a limb and say Rishaug is talking about the decade of darkness here. I mean even Hall was questioning whether there was a light at the end of the tunnel before he was moved out (a quote that bought his ticket out of town btw).
Let’s use Connor McDavid as the example, he’s far from the problem but he DEFINITELY holds the key to a solution. If you’re Connor McDavid, you’re a brilliant player, you’re 41% in the faceoff circle. It’s not good enough.
You have not yet developed a one-time threat from one of the most important positions on the powerplay. It’s not acceptable to just say I don’t have a good one-timer and oh well.
So why not make it a goal from now to the end of the season to be working on your faceoffs non-stop, take it to a new level and to continue to try to develop a one-timer? Why not tap a couple of teammates on the shoulder and challenge them and drag them along as well.
He’s going on a huge rant here. Almost Lowetide-esque. So there’s more to come. One thing you might think right away is that Rishaug is picking on the kids again. On the surface that’s how it looks but if you can look past the person in the example, you might see that he just wants the Oilers to do a bit extra so that next season they’re that much better.
Rant cont.
I’m telling you. I DO NOT LIKE THE WORK HABITS OF THE YOUNG PLAYERS ON THIS TEAM. I don’t like it. I don’t think it’s good enough. I don’t think that the young players on this team and some of the players on this team like working on things they’re not good at and I don’t see dog-on-a-bone effort to fix them. And that’s what it takes to be world class and elite on a whole new level.
I’m not at the practices (or in the country let alone the city for that matter) but I can see where Rishaug is coming from. Last year we did see that intense never-give-up attitude that we’re not seeing this year. Why that is, I haven’t the foggiest. I mean nobody really enjoys working on things they’re bad at but that harkens back to Rishaug’s point and even to Simpson’s and Smyth’s to a degree. Work ethic, does it need to be improved?
We watched for years. It started with Ales Hemsky and it worked its way through Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov. Two generations of talented players come through the organization that never developed the proper practice habits to push their game to the next level.
And I’m telling you, I’m seeing it happening again and I don’t think it’s okay. I think these players need to take the rest of this season and put new habits in place so that does not happen again and so that better habits are developed.
I’m telling you if Connor McDavid does this, players will follow. In other organizations, this happens.
Leadership is a funny thing. If Lowe and MacTavish had supported their vets and coaching staff instead of giving their support (and keys to the city) to Hallsy and the kids, would we be sitting here looking at a different team? A more successful one.
Now I know you can’t be as hard on kids these days as generations past but you are allowed to put a foot down and feelings are actually allowed to be hurt because they heal and they heal even faster if you’re winning. I mean, I had some mean teachers in my day but if I was succeeding in their class, I didn’t mind the harshness of their ways and as I got older I found that the teachers and coaches I didn’t like as a kid, I respected more.
This team might be relying on Connor a bit too much this year and McDavid could use that to his advantage like Rishaug is saying here. I bet the coaches would love it. I bet the GM would love it and I bet ol’ Wayner would love it too.
Last one. Louie Debrusk during the 1st intermission of the Buffalo game.
It (the powerplay) absolutely sucked the life out of them (the Oilers) and gave life to the Buffalo Sabres. And you know what? We’ve seen this a little too often this season where this team has an opportunity on the powerplay to do something and these are the types of plays we see on the ice.
Not sharp. Not disciplined. Just not together.
I don’t know what it is. I can’t put my finger on it but one thing I do know is stop trying to make the easy play, go to work, put pucks in behind, and create your opportunities from that.
Hmmmm. Another hint from a former player suggesting a lack of togetherness.
That is what’s wrong with this powerplay right now is guys not willing to pay the price and they’re not willing to go out there and outwork the penalty kill which by the way is 30th in the National Hockey League.
Yet another former player directing us to the issue or work ethic…
So, what do you think? Are these ex-Oilers and pundits way off base? Let us know in the comments below!
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Millard: And were you waiting for the phone to ring from the boss?
Marek: Ummm, no! No.
Millard: Bosses call?
Marek: One, yes. He said he had our back.
This is from the March 3rd Hockey Central @ Noon podcast hosted by Darren Millard. Disgusting that there’s nobody being held accountable for the embarrassing performances from Armstrong, Whitney and now Marek. I actually was okay with Marek’s response during the telecast but after listening to this podcast, I can’t side with him on this one. I like the guy and I think he’s the heir apparent to Ron MacLean but his judgment on this one is right bloody terrible.
Could you imagine if Whitney or Armstrong would’ve made fun of Wendel Clark, Mats Sundin, Doug Gilmour, Saku Koivu, or Ray Bourque? There’d be backlash no doubt. But since it was Ryan Smyth and he’s from out west, that’s fine.
Weird that Whitney and Armstrong haven’t been heard from since…
— B.L.H. (Edmonton Oilers Enthusiast) (@BeerLeagueHeroe) March 5, 2017
“I told Horcoff I wouldn’t do it!” – Ryan Whitney
That’s two times in a week he’s taken a shot at Horcoff. Whitney and Taylor Hall had a good chuckle at the former Oilers’ captain’s expense on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast last week. Now, Gretzky AND Smytty… Wonder what kind of gems Whitney has up his sleeve next? Maybe he takes a shot at Messier’s guarantee at some point? Or maybe this is a gentleman (barely) that is so sickened with himself and his career as an NHLer that he has to revert to taking pot shots at some of the classiest players to put on an NHL sweater.
So, this is what was said if u don’t want to listen to the link in the tweet above.
Marek: At the intermission we thought we’d do a little bit about pranking players, chirping players, that kinda stuff. Ryan (Whitney) told a story about Ryan Malone about how whenever he’d see Whitney come by the bench, he’d you know, loosen the Gatorade bottle and sure enough, dump all over him.
And Colby told a funny story when he played in Atlanta in a game against the Colorado Avalanche and Ryan Smyth was a member of the Avalanche. And all in unison, like all 16 guys all along the bench, started crying. Like doing the Ryan Smyth 2007 press conference when he was an Islander.
**Somehow I don’t think that these two stories equate… Maybe it’s just me.**
Millard: Oh, when he was traded from Edmonton and he was at the airport?
Marek: Correct, when he decided to turn down the offer to stay in Edmonton and ended up getting traded instead and then Ryan Whitney jumped on it and talked more about, you know, cause in the press conference Ryan Smyth talked about bringing the Cup back to Edmonton. He (Whitney) said,
“The Islanders? Potvin’s not there anymore, Billy Smith’s not there anymore.”
And Twitter was not amused. The nerves were close to the skin. We just thought it was a harmless chirp story involving the Atlanta Thrashers and a member of the Avalanche.
**The thing that pisses me off here is that Marek insists on identifying Smyth as an Islander in this instance. Technically, that’s true but come on… He knows very well that even he played for the Islanders, the Avs, and the Kings, that Ryan Smyth was really an Oiler his whole career. And Kevin Lowe could’ve very easily kept Smyth if HE were willing to pay him a little bit more at that time.**
Millard: Here’s how deep it went. Elliotte Friedman was MC-ing a charity dinner in Winnipeg last night and Scott Oake was being honored, Darcy Oake was there as well. And Elliotte looks at his phone and he’s starting to get troll tweets,
“You’ve never played the game. Why are you chirping Ryan Smyth?”
Elliotte said what the hell happened, so we brought him up to date. So…
Stellick: You kid Eddie Olczyk about his speech right? Like he knows… (inaudible)… When the emotion of when the Jets left, “We’re gonna bring it back”, and we said, “Eddie, what were you going to bring back exactly? Were you gonna win it in Arizona and bring it back or?” anyway, people get caught up in the emotion.
**Jesus… They’re comparing Olczyk’s speech to what happened to Smyth? Reaching much?**
Marek: I understand the nerves are close to the skin in certain markets. We all do. I think we all know where those markets are.
“We built this Smytty on greasy goals!” Click the image and pick up a 16-bit Smytty right now!
Millar: The idea of crying after a trade, that’s a long gone, uh, habit. This year, Curtis Lazar was skipping out of Ottawa.
Marek: Oh I know. But that was a new lease on life and he was going back out west.
Millar: But your first trade is always supposed to be this shocker.
Marek: Well Colby mentioned up in strategy room on trade deadline day that when his mom called him to tell him that he was traded from Pittsburgh to Atlanta, that he cried.
Millard: Colby cries when the weather changes more than three degrees.
Marek: I know… When the waitress messes up his order at the restaurant for breakfast, “I asked for the hash browns, what has the world come to? What kind of god would allow this to happen?”
Stellick: Devante Smith-Pelly, he cried. Got caught up in the emotion right? It’s part of realizing he was going. You know other guys… Whatever.
**So this is how they justify it? Armstrong cried… Is that right? So why weren’t we hearing THAT story? Can they honestly compare Colby Armstrong and Devante Smith-Pelly to Ryan Smyth in any way, shape, or form apart from they all played NHL hockey?**
Millard: So, do you apologize?
Marek: For what?
Millard: For taking up Twitter’s valuable space and time last night.
**I’m pretty certain this isn’t what Millard wanted to say. There was a little pause before he forced this out and that’s too bad. I would’ve like to have heard Marek’s response to the real question that wasn’t asked here.**
Marek: I didn’t send out any tweets about it. I responded to a couple. Man did we hear it. Just when you think, like, your summing up; no, you’re still adding up. I got a note from Colby this morning, he’s flying home to Pittsburgh; he’s in the air and he’s sending me the tweets. He goes,
“Still coming in.”
Millard: When did you realize last night was becoming something?
Marek: Right away. As soon as the intermission was over, we went back upstairs to the next period and BOOM! Timeline explosion. Timeline bomb. Boom!
Millard: My first inclination is, because I’m panicky worry wort, all that kinda stuff, was ‘oh no, oh no’. Then there’s other kind of people, Doug MacLean would be that, where were you guys?
Marek: Uhhh Colby was a little surprised at the reaction because he’s loveable, nice guy Colb. Right? He’s everyone’s buddy. I think he was surprised at the nature of the negativity.
Millard: That’s a little worried to me.
Marek: A little bit worried, yeah. Ryan (Whitney) just kinda ‘unh’. Boston boy, shrug it off. Big deal, hit by a pitch, you know, no autopsy-no foul.
Millard: And were you waiting for the phone to ring from the boss?
Marek: Ummm, no! No.
Millard: Bosses call?
Marek: One, yes. He said he had our back.
**One called. I wonder how the other bosses communicated their opinion on the matter?**
Millard: GOOD!
Marek: It’s what you want from a boss.
Millard: So, did you pile on after that?
Marek: No, we left it. I said,
“Guys, back up, phones down. We gotta watch the game anyway.”
Millard: Hey guys, have you ever had an entire city mad at you? Well yeah, actually you did. Sorry Gord (Gord Stellick was the GM of the Maple Leafs for a short time from April of ’88 to August of ’89).
Some of the interesting comments from Smyth re: Whitney/Armstrong:
You know obviously I’m not going to stoop to that level. Not appropriate. They do what they want on the panel and I let them be.
There is a time and a place for it (chirping) in my opinion and in this situation, that’s how they obviously felt and let ’em be.
THAT is how you respond to clowns like Whitney and Armstrong.
Ryan Smyth is a class act and has always been a class act. Not only for the Edmonton Oilers but for every hockey team he’s every played for, including Team Canada.
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