NHL Thread: Season 2018-2019

[rotten42]

Originally Posted by 240glt

Oilers'll suck as long as Daryl Katz owns the team and his lackeys' focus is on selling overpriced real estate, not running a hockey team.

Anecdotally, I've heard from someone who's met with both the Flames and Oilers senior officials numerous times in the last while that there is quite a stark contrast between the two teams. Flames management was agreeable, enthusiastic and community minded. Oilers management was petulant, arrogant and dismissive. Given how the two teams are playing I wonder if that is not translating into their respective teams on ice performance.

That's understandable. You got Kevin Lowe telling people how much he knows about hockey because of his 6 rings and also don;t forget the "two tiers of fans" comment....just brutal. This is the reason why the Oilers are not going to get any better anytime soon and why they won;t attract a good GM. Katz and the ol' boy Oilers are what's wrong and until that is solved, nothing changes.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Denscity

I heard on Vancouver sports radio this morning that there exists the "red wine club" where a bunch of 80s Oilers big names meet with Katz and give him their two cents about what the team should do. Anyone else heard of this?
And any guesses who replaces interim GM Keith Gretzky?

They need to find a younger GM like Dubas or Chayka. The new guy's first order of business has got to be cleaning house, starting with the entire coaching and scouting staffs. I'd probably fire the stick boy if it was up to me. (Sorry Joey)

That's really the only way to truly change the culture.

[BlaineN]

Originally Posted by logan5

Nicholson is saying they are not rebuilding but I can’t see it his current incarnation of the Oilers Ever being good. They’ve got to wait out these contracts, for the love of god, draft smart. Forget the play offs. Go for lottery picks. It’s back to square one.

The part that's funny is he's saying they're a playoff team right now, which seems unbelievable, but they are only three points behind Colorado and Dallas, and 4 points behind Minnesota for the final wild card. Luckily for the Oilers there are some other teams who don't want success either. In a normal year they'd be long gone from the playoff picture.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

They need to find a younger GM like Dubas or Chayka.

Highly doubt the old boys in Edmonton have any desire to do this and Edmonton media seems afraid of stepping on said old boys' toes. Nothing will change under current ownership.

[Calgarian]

Katz seems to be a fanboy of the Oilers glory days, so he'll probably hire one of them as GM. I hope Lowe or MacT get the job back, that would make my day!

[SHOFEAR]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

They need to find a younger GM like Dubas or Chayka. The new guy's first order of business has got to be cleaning house, starting with the entire coaching and scouting staffs. I'd probably fire the stick boy if it was up to me. (Sorry Joey)

That's really the only way to truly change the culture.

Would Ryan Smyth count as a younger GM....cause...well...that would be very Oilers.

[Coldrsx]

HA!

EPCOR
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Verified account

@EPCOR
7h7 hours ago

The water in #yeg is just fine, Bob. We get the water right every day for over one million people. #LetsGoOilers #oilers

[suburbanite]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

They need to find a younger GM like Dubas or Chayka. The new guy's first order of business has got to be cleaning house, starting with the entire coaching and scouting staffs. I'd probably fire the stick boy if it was up to me. (Sorry Joey)

That's really the only way to truly change the culture.

Dubas had a significant grooming process that I dont see the Oilers ownership having the patience for. The leafs didnt just pick him out of thin air and drop him in the gm position. He ran the Marlies and basically spearheaded their shift from a group of old fringe-nhlers into the youth development group that they are today. All the while he was sitting next to Lou and learning from one of the most experienced in the business.

The Oilers need someone like Shanahan to come in first and change the culture. Once again I dont see edmonton ownership letting someone come in and have Carte blanche over hockey decisions.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

He ran the Marlies and basically spearheaded their shift from a group of old fringe-nhlers into the youth development group that they are today.

More importantly, he GM'd in Sault Ste. Marie before even getting involved with the Leafs at all. He had been around hockey circles for yeeeears before joining the Leafs, and the Oilers would be hard-pressed to find someone that young with that much pedigree.

[DoubleK]

Chayka
Dubas
Botterill

Three 'rookie' GMs two of which have their teams playing better than anyone expected before the season started.

Surely there is someone in a front office in an AGM or player personnel role with fresh ideas and that has enough experience to take the next step.

As a Flames fan, I hope they go for someone terrible like Dean Lombardi or Pierre McGuire.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

HA!

EPCOR
‏
Verified account

@EPCOR
7h7 hours ago

The water in #yeg is just fine, Bob. We get the water right every day for over one million people. #LetsGoOilers #oilers

haha, that's awesome.

[logan5]

There's not a lot of good experienced GM's out there. There was lots of controversy surrounding Mike Gillis in his final few years in Vancouver, but his record here, as far as team success goes, was stellar. As good a candidate as any.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Nylander didn't look like a problem last night. 3A, +4 in 13 minutes and change of ice time.

Whatever the Oilers do I'm sure it will be followed by a bunch of optimism in Edmonton followed by a half season honeymoon and then more stupidity.

[suburbanite]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

Nylander didn't look like a problem last night. 3A, +4 in 13 minutes and change of ice time.

He hasn't been a problem offensively since his first 5 or so games, it just wasnt translating onto the scoresheet. Still not showing the defensive responsibility needed, but neither are 80% of the team so not much fault there.

[ExcaliburKid]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Katz seems to be a fanboy of the Oilers glory days, so he'll probably hire one of them as GM. I hope Lowe or MacT get the job back, that would make my day!

One could argue that Lowe was the best GM Oilers have had since Sather. His teams were competitive, almost annual post season appearances during his tenure and all before the cap era

Some perspective; this is the Oilers 4th best points total at the all-star break since the '05 lockout. Almost unbelievable considering the on-ice product, but entirely plausible considering the missteps and mismanagement

The apathy in town towards the team this year is alarming, it just feels...different than years past. The comments regarding the Oilers' management arrogance toward the community is spot on

[BlaineN]

Originally Posted by logan5

Nicholson is saying they are not rebuilding but I can’t see it his current incarnation of the Oilers Ever being good. They’ve got to wait out these contracts, for the love of god, draft smart. Forget the play offs. Go for lottery picks. It’s back to square one.

They'll have to rebuild to some extent, but not that much really. They have some good pieces. McDavid of course, and Draisaitl, and you've got a good young D-man in Nurse. Guys like Puljijarvi (sp) and Yamamoto have strong potential under the right guidance. RNH still has to time. With a decent goaltender which could help them win here and there, they could get the pieces they have on track again, and can continue adding and make for a quick rebuild.

[Calgarian]

The Toronto Sun just named the Flames as Canada's team lol.

[BlaineN]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

The Toronto Sun just named the Flames as Canada's team lol.

Purposely taking a dig at the Leafs no doubt. Hard to argue though, as the Flames have the best record of a Canadian team at the moment, but when you look at the top two lines, you see only one Canadian (Monahan) 2 Swedes, 2 Americans, and a Czech.

[BlaineN]

Originally Posted by ExcaliburKid

One could argue that Lowe was the best GM Oilers have had since Sather. His teams were competitive, almost annual post season appearances during his tenure and all before the cap era

Some perspective; this is the Oilers 4th best points total at the all-star break since the '05 lockout. Almost unbelievable considering the on-ice product, but entirely plausible considering the missteps and mismanagement

The apathy in town towards the team this year is alarming, it just feels...different than years past. The comments regarding the Oilers' management arrogance toward the community is spot on

But that's just it. Before the cap era good or decent teams could stay at that level for long periods. It's 100 x more challenging to keep a team at the top or competitive in this cap era. Back in the old days, Chiarelli could have kept all the players he wanted as long as the owners were willing to pay. Now with Conner/Lean making over $20Million between the two of them, the cap era is making it difficult to build and sustain.

Not trying to say Chiarelli didn't screw up, but I would like to see Lowe try and juggle around all the salaries. Weren't Hall and Eberly around $6million each? It was part of the reason they were traded.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by BlaineN

Purposely taking a dig at the Leafs no doubt. Hard to argue though, as the Flames have the best record of a Canadian team at the moment, but when you look at the top two lines, you see only one Canadian (Monahan) 2 Swedes, 2 Americans, and a Czech.

I don't care about the nationality of the players at all, I care about the team.