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IanO said:
how many penalties they were taking
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This is legit one of their biggest issues this season. Such an undisciplined team. Hopefully the new coaching staff can fix this (only a week of work, give'm more time), because it could very well be this team's undoing.

Other than that, glad to bank 3rd straight win and rescue some players from their slumber (Hyman, Kane and even Leon, somewhat). We still need 29 and 97 to light up for good, though.
 
IanO said:
Never really warmed up to his style/approach and overriding calmness, but I feel for the guy as this was on the GM and players, but Woody lost the room and the writing was on the wall.

Can somebody fill me in on this choice though? Seems odd for so many reasons... or temporary.

Another tie back to the old boys club with Smith too??!?!?

---

HARTFORD, CT – New York Rangers President and General Manager Chris Drury and Rangers Assistant General Manager and Hartford Wolf Pack General Manager Ryan Martin announced today that the club has named Steve Smith as interim Head Coach of the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack.

Smith, 60, is in his third season with the Wolf Pack. He was named an Assistant Coach with the club on August 24th, 2021, and spent the last two seasons in that role under Head Coach Kris Knoblauch. Smith spent two games as the Wolf Pack’s interim Head Coach during the 2021-22 season while Knoblauch was with the Rangers due to COVID-19 protocols.

Prior to joining the Wolf Pack, Smith served as an Assistant Coach with the NHL’s Calgary Flames (1997-98), Edmonton Oilers (2010-14), Carolina Hurricanes (2014-18), and Buffalo Sabres (2018-21).

Smith enjoyed an 804 game NHL career, playing with the Oilers, Chicago Blackhawks, and Flames. He scored 375 points (72 g, 303 a) in his career, and won the Stanley Cup three times as a member of the Oilers (1987, 1988, 1990).

Earlier today, the Oilers announced that Wolf Pack Head Coach Kris Knoblauch has been named the team’s new head coach.

Knoblauch was named the seventh head coach in Wolf Pack history on July 29th, 2019. He posted a record of 119-90-18-14 in 241 games as the Wolf Pack’s Head Coach.

www.hartfordwolfpack.com

Hockey Staff | Hartford Wolf Pack

www.hartfordwolfpack.com www.hartfordwolfpack.com
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So the club that selected Alexis Lafreniere over Tim Stuetzle has given a key coaching position to the guy who was the reason the Oilers didn't win the Stanley Cup in 1985-86.
Sounds about right.
 
Edmontonian said:
I was a big fan of Jay Woodcroft, it might sound crazy but I do believe he was our best coach since Glen Sather. I think our current record is a reflection of a very unlucky month more-so than his abilities as a coach. Holland himself mentioned he didn't feel that Jay had lost the room, and considering the way the players played for him in the game against Seattle I don't think he had lost it either. He was a very good coach for us and I know he will be for the next team that snags him up as well, wish him the best.

I've seen a lot of people saying how dumb the organization is for firing him, to me it's the simple business of hockey. We have a team that is supposed to be a cup contender and found themselves tied last in the standings, the coach being fired was inevitable.

I also do like the new hire, while I agree there isn't a ton of sense in firing our young homegrown coach and then hiring another young coach in Chris Knoblauch, I'm glad they did it. I wouldn't have been opposed to 1 year of a highly experienced NHL coach to ride the ship and get the team back on track, but I wouldn't want anyone available at the moment for more than this season. Chris Knoblauch was 2nd on my list of coaches I wanted behind Jay Woodcroft after the Dave Tippett firing, this isn't just a hiring of McDavids junior coach to appease to him as some have suggested, I believe he will be good for us. I also don't hate hiring Paul Coffey as the assistant, it's no secret he's been looking to get into the coaching game, he was going to get this position with another team if one didn't suddenly become available with us. I can't help but get the feeling of that "old boys club" hearing his name though.
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I go based on results. John Muckler delivered a Cup win, the only Oilers coach besides Sather to do so. Craig MacTavish got an underdog team to within a game of an utterly unexpected sixth Cup. At best, Woodcroft is #4.

While I wish Knoblauch the best, I'm so sick of being sold a bill of goods by this team's management about coaches. We were told Tom Renney was the answer, that he had a great track record, that he was going to do amazing things. We were told Pat Quinn was just what the team needed. We were told Dallas Eakins was a brilliant hire and we were so lucky to snag him from the Leafs organization. We were told Todd McLellan was incredible and would work wonders. We were told Dave Tippet was just what the club needed. We were told Jay Woodcroft was the guy. None of them accomplished anything. Not a single President's Trophy, Campbell Bowl or Stanley Cup.

Who at this point has any faith in any of the decisions that this utterly dysfunctional organization makes any more?
 
The Oilers are still in a severe PDO slump (essentially an indirect measure of luck). They're no longer the lowest PDO in the league however, as the Sharks now have worse PDO (but only slightly). I only saw the third period but heard the Oilers could have easily run away after the first period and got shut down but even so, 4 goals should be more than enough to win giving up <25 shots against. The problem was, Skinner didn't play super well and they were undisciplined (though the Diving Bay Lightning helped this along). People will still blame the defense (and especially Bouchard) but they're still not the problem if you look at the stats. Pickard will be starting tonight which I think is a good decision and I think he probably should have started last game. Skinner played a few good games in a row but any goalie will start to get tired after that many starts in a row and after a poor performance last game, it's time to give Pickard a chance.

Also, McDrai need to be better, I know McDavid is playing hurt right now so I'm less worried about him (though my fantasy team is). Leon on the other hand... he actually has been climbing the NHL scoring race fairly quickly the last little while (but he got shut out last game), one game he seems dialed and dominates and then the next he goes ghost mode and starts getting frustrated, taking stupid penalties that eventually cost them. He's been very inconsistent and need to step it up in general last game was not a good showing for him.
 
Up 2-0 and lose 5-3 with pretty good play by our call up goaltender.

Drai looks lost and missed two open nets.

McD - 2Gs and did about everything that he could.

The rest of the team looked like shit.

0-3 on the PP and 0-8 on the last run of those things.

Time is running out on the season and other things.
 
^

next thing you know they’ll be looking to fire the head coach…

oh, wait a minute, they just did that last week…

yet again…
 
St. Louis had a horrible start to 2018-19 and the Blues' head coach was fired. By January 2 they were dead last in the league.

After that they went on a run and snagged third place in their division. They proceeded to beat the Boston Bruins and win their first Stanley Cup in their 51 year history.

So, the hole the OIlers are in is by no means insurmountable, but with every lousy effort like today's, they leave themselves less and less leeway down the line.
 
The ENTIRE team looks like they're skating in sand right now. Especially (but not exclusively) in their own end. It looks like they've already given up on the season. Which is obviously disappointing but not entirely surprising considering the circumstances that have led them to this point. While there are exceptions, they've continually outshot and outplayed the opposition, dominating vast stretches of play only to end up down or tied. This is the script that practically every Oilers game has followed so far this season:

1. The team comes out hot, and dominates the first 15 -17 minutes of the first period. The other teams goalie, stands on their head though and they only end up giving up 1 or 2 goals where they could have given up 3-4.

2. The other team gets 2-3 chances towards the end of the 1st period and scores on most or all of them since the Oilers goalies are unable to stop anything that isn't a simple unscreened wrist shot from far out (sometimes not even that).

3. The team gets demoralized due to dominating a period and somehow ending up tied or down. They proceed to look soft in their own end and give up at least one more goal in the second.

4. They come out slow at the start of period 3 but slowly find their footing, they maybe get 1 goal back but eventually they run out of time and lose.

I bet you couldn't tell which game that was because it's the story of the majority of Oilers games this year. The only solution to this is to get competent goaltending, when they won those 3 straight games, Skinner played well and you could see the difference in the team when you trust your goalie. Pickard didn't necessarily play terrible, but he also wasn't great. He definitely should have stopped the first Mikkola goal, that was a basic shot from pretty far out that he let sneak through. With the Stenlund goal, I saw some blaming Bouchard which is completely ridiculous to me, he had no momentum to go get the guy behind the net and if he did he would have been late and ended up out of position, he opted to try to block the shot which he was unsuccessful at but it was the right play imo. The problem on that play was the enormous rebounds Pickard was letting out, not defensive coverage. Ekholm didn't look good last game, especially in his own end which is concerning because he's probably the Oilers best all around defenseman.

At this point it's very unlikely the Oilers salvage this season, I hope they do and I thought after they won 3 in a row that they had finally found their groove again, but these last 2 games were terrible. They are not back and it doesn't look like they're coming back anytime soon. I hope I'm wrong but I think they have given up.

One thing to note:

While I'm extremely unhappy with the amount of stupid penalties he's taking, I have to praise Evander Kane for seemingly being the only Oiler playing with any semblance of passion right now.
 
erudyk_29 said:
The ENTIRE team looks like they're skating in sand right now. Especially (but not exclusively) in their own end. It looks like they've already given up on the season. Which is obviously disappointing but not entirely surprising considering the circumstances that have led them to this point. While there are exceptions, they've continually outshot and outplayed the opposition, dominating vast stretches of play only to end up down or tied. This is the script that practically every Oilers game has followed so far this season:

1. The team comes out hot, and dominates the first 15 -17 minutes of the first period. The other teams goalie, stands on their head though and they only end up giving up 1 or 2 goals where they could have given up 3-4.

2. The other team gets 2-3 chances towards the end of the 1st period and scores on most or all of them since the Oilers goalies are unable to stop anything that isn't a simple unscreened wrist shot from far out (sometimes not even that).

3. The team gets demoralized due to dominating a period and somehow ending up tied or down. They proceed to look soft in their own end and give up at least one more goal in the second.

4. They come out slow at the start of period 3 but slowly find their footing, they maybe get 1 goal back but eventually they run out of time and lose.

I bet you couldn't tell which game that was because it's the story of the majority of Oilers games this year. The only solution to this is to get competent goaltending, when they won those 3 straight games, Skinner played well and you could see the difference in the team when you trust your goalie. Pickard didn't necessarily play terrible, but he also wasn't great. He definitely should have stopped the first Mikkola goal, that was a basic shot from pretty far out that he let sneak through. With the Stenlund goal, I saw some blaming Bouchard which is completely ridiculous to me, he had no momentum to go get the guy behind the net and if he did he would have been late and ended up out of position, he opted to try to block the shot which he was unsuccessful at but it was the right play imo. The problem on that play was the enormous rebounds Pickard was letting out, not defensive coverage. Ekholm didn't look good last game, especially in his own end which is concerning because he's probably the Oilers best all around defenseman.

At this point it's very unlikely the Oilers salvage this season, I hope they do and I thought after they won 3 in a row that they had finally found their groove again, but these last 2 games were terrible. They are not back and it doesn't look like they're coming back anytime soon. I hope I'm wrong but I think they have given up.

One thing to note:

While I'm extremely unhappy with the amount of stupid penalties he's taking, I have to praise Evander Kane for seemingly being the only Oiler playing with any semblance of passion right now.
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Bang on. Oilers need goaltending help immediately. Skinner had three good games in a row and then reverted back to being the second best goalie in the game. Pickard wasn't awful, but was still the second best goalie in the game. People like to point out defensive breakdowns, but the reality is every team has defensive breakdowns but they often go unnoticed because they have NHL caliber goaltending. Save for a very small handful of games, the Oilers have not had anywhere near even average goaltending. Add an unbelievably bad run of shooting luck and the Oilers are where they are. I believe the shooting will come back and has already started to a bit, but I have way less faith in the ability of our goalies to keep the puck out of the net at key times. They need a goalie and Holland to be fired.
 
scyeg said:
Bang on. Oilers need goaltending help immediately. Skinner had three good games in a row and then reverted back to being the second best goalie in the game. Pickard wasn't awful, but was still the second best goalie in the game. People like to point out defensive breakdowns, but the reality is every team has defensive breakdowns but they often go unnoticed because they have NHL caliber goaltending. Save for a very small handful of games, the Oilers have not had anywhere near even average goaltending. Add an unbelievably bad run of shooting luck and the Oilers are where they are. I believe the shooting will come back and has already started to a bit, but I have way less faith in the ability of our goalies to keep the puck out of the net at key times. They need a goalie and Holland to be fired.
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They should have moved Draisatl at the end of last season and gotten a goaltender who could steal games for them.

I said earlier this year on this very forum that 2022-23 was going to be the high-water mark for certain players and it looks like #97, #29 and #93 are determined to prove me right. The problem is that by not dealing #29 earlier, his value is dropping due to his poor results this year (six goals in 17 games???). RNH was never going to be worth more than he was after cracking the 100 point plateau for the first (and almost certainly only) time in his career. But I'm willing to let him stay as he seems to want to be a lifetime Oiler and the club needs to make up for the mistake it made with #94--who also should have been lifetime blue and orange.

Yeah, yeah, nobody wanted to see Draisatl moved. But we always knew that we weren't going to be able to pay market rates for both #97 and #29 past 2024-25 unless we were willing to gut the entire team, fill out the other positions with a bunch of 16 year olds from the AJHL and put a plastic Shooter Tutor between the pipes to avoid having to pay a goaltender. So management should have moved him when his value was at its peak--he ain't staying here past April 2025 anyway.

The silver lining is that, playing as Draisatl is right now, his market value is dropping, so the future salary he can expect to command may be moderated.
 
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