As I predicted in my last post over a week ago, we came out of the 5 game road trip with only one win. While I write this we are currently 4 points behind Ottawa, in 30th place in the league. Ottawa is playing against the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight and are losing 4-1 at the end of the second period.
Oiler Fans everywhere need to start thinking about what this team needs to do moving forward in terms of drafting, trades, and acquisitions in the off season. Since that seems to be the only thing we have to look forward to in this town.
The string of bad luck this team has had recently is nuts...I mean, Horcoff gets hit by a Paajarvi slapshot, and injured now for 7-10 days. Gagner gets cut sitting on the bench by Ryan Jones' skate blade and is done for the season. The Oilers said today that Hemsky is now done for 4-6 months with a torn ligament. Not to mention that Brule is concussed. This now screws up his trade value in the off-season IMO. To top it all off...the call-ups that will have to be made from the farm are really going to effect the OKC Barons play-off hopes as their best players will be here to fill the gaps. DAMN YOU HOKEY GODS!!
I am not even going to mention how this might get screwed up even further (although I'm thinking it) for fear it will come true and I will be responsible for the jinx.
There is a season seat holder meet & greet event on the 20th of this month with the whole team, including management and coaches. I for one will be asking lots of questions about the direction this team is headed moving forward and what the "plan" is. I did not pay another $6000.00 to sit and watch another non-play-off year again next season. I get that a re-build will take some time, but this will be the fifth year now without as sniff at the play-offs and I for one am getting impatient.
It's getting harder to write this blog without some sort of hope / positive opinions. I am negative at the best of times in most aspects of my life, but I would really like to write something hopeful about this team and just seems to keep piling up.
Two Positives...
I keep hearing the words Curtis Glencross in the same sentence whenever I hear Ryan Jones' name. People I have spoken to, are of the opinion, that because Jones turned down a deal that was offered by the Oilers, that this will turn into another scenario where the Oil will let Jones slip away. Personally...I think the team needs to pony up with some money or the 2 year term, I have heard Jones wants in order to keep this guy. Jones is now are leading scorer among active players! I have been impressed all year with this guy as I have written here before. He has also been one the most entertaining guys that I follow on twitter.
Linus Omark was the best player on the ice the other day for the Oilers against the Penguins. The problem that we have is that he`s got no one that is able to finish the play he makes. You all know by now that this blog might as well be called the Linus Omark fan club as, I have not seen a player like this in quite sometime. he`s a rookie that will make rookie mistakes as we have seen...but he reminds me of everything I like about Ales Hemsky, and he shoots too! I believe that this kid will surpass Paajarvi in points and ice time if he keeps getting the opportunity to prove himself.
Personally I want the Oilers to take the Larsson kid in the draft, try and get another top 5 pick by making a trade with the L.A. pick we got for Penner and possibly Hemsky (if anyone will take him) or maybe a guy like Gagner or Cogliano or both. We don't have much left that a team will want.
Anyways....
GO (scratches head not sure what to say here) GO!
I am with you in the frustration department - this team cannot stay out of it's own way - not much fun being a fan when you realize you're bitching and complaining about the quality of the product and the personnel most of the time, rather than supporting the team - in my eyes, this season cannot end soon enough - the progress of the Oilers organization is questionable in my opinion, because management has yet to make any "now" moves - this cycle of last place finishes has and will continue to produce at least one good draft pick each year, but let’s not get this confused with a “rebuild” - finishing last isn’t progress, regardless of the quality of the pick. The veteran core of this team (Horcoff, Hemsky, Gagner, Cogliano, Whitney, Smid, Gilbert, Khabibulin, and Souray) have failed miserably this year, due to various reasons, but they have failed nonetheless. Injuries have once again been a problem, but it seems like injuries are a problem every year for this team - the “trick” is to establish some depth on the bench, and in the minors. I don’t see this happening currently, and I don’t see the Oilers emerging any time soon without wholesale changes to the veteran core of the team - it’s time for Tambellini and his scouting staff to earn their money, and for Kevin Lowe to be held accountable for his blunders - I expect a lot more from the Oilers next year.
ReplyDeleteYup, been a long year that's for sure. Thanks for pointing out some positives, I think we need to do that a bit more. One thing that I have to disagree with you about though ROL, is the ceiling of PRV vs Omark. PRV is a few years younger and has more dimension to his game. We've only seen small flashes and IMO, he has barely scratched the surface. I see him topping out in the 30g 70pt range. Omark is more of a question mark to me - although I do like his game. I knew about the flash but he has really surprised me with his grit and tenacity. I could see him putting up numbers in the 20g 55pt range if he gets the right opportunity. That's just my eye though, what do you guys think would be their ceilings in terms of numers?
ReplyDeleteDale: I somewhat agree with you about this year. They will never say it, but I honestly think they planned on tanking and didn't address the gaping needs this club has. IMO, they need to start making some minor moves this summer to balance out the roster and fill out the bottom 6 with real NHL players if they want to make any actual progress and not be stuck in a perpetual rebuild.