K Lowe and Mac T take notes...

Lee Townsend <tlt10 RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:cAhmc.8301$F04.173@clgrps13...
> I've been thinking the same thing ever since the Flames took the 'Nucks
> to game 7. Why isn't it us instead of them? I don't know if the answer
> is as simple as run and gun hockey is long gone, but I do believe a big
> part of it is that we don't play a team defense like the Flames have
> this year. The only two players they have that we can't compare to are
> Iggy and Kipper, although I always had hope that Smytty would become the
> same caliber of player as Iggy, just not as tough. What has been a big
> killer for us is a good 20 or so games to start the season, then a
> horrible 40 games, then we play like we are the best team in the league
> for the final 20, and that is unacceptable. CONSISTENCY is very
> important, that has always been a weakness we have had.

Exactly, consider the following estimated games where the players brought
their A effort

Smyth- 40, took half the season off
Horcoff 40, ditto
Hemsky- Missing in action, doesn't even get a score.
Oates- 10 the addition of stud Nedved seemed to shame Oates into finally
performing
Laraque- 35- an absolute force when he show up and could've been the
difference with a more devoted effort.
Pisani- he loses sight of his offensive game for long periods of time.
Chimera- 15 didn't force his way into the lineup, disappointing but too
early still to tell.
Smith- 45, never played to his potential however. This is exactly the Smith
that the leafs decided was expendable.
Brewer-25 what a waste of talent. When this guy looks committed he can do it
all.
York- 30 is this guy always injured or playing injured? Consistent with what
rangers fans say I just don't think he's able to play a complete season even
if healthy.

The rest of the guys on the team I have no problem with- they gave their all
even IMO somebody like Izzy who seemed to try hard despite all the injury
trouble. I perhaps cut him more slack because his size is critical in our
lineup as opposed to somebody like York who makes you wonder why he's on the
ice when he's not capable.

This season the
> whole Comrie situation and Salo's play really hurt us, but these are pro
> athletes, they are paid to get past that, and we have the skill to do
> that, and that makes me question the coaching. I think MacT is a good
> coach, but it seems to me that he is too much of a players coach, and
> not a hardass like Sutter can be.

Absolutely! and the players these days always take advantage of that. My
above list describes the motivational deficits that led to our demise.

I've always been a supporter of his
> but maybe it's time for a change, who, I don't know, but a change may be
> due. Our players seem to never be held accountable individually (minus
> Salo, and it was only after he was traded that noise was made about his
> play by management), and that is something MacT isn't capable of it
> seems. Tough love never hurt anyone, if anything it makes a person
> stronger, and if there is a player that can't handle it, AKA Hemsky,
> then get rid of them.

This team needs a serious attitude adjustment. So many players who pretend
to be in a funk , can't find their game etc. Laraque, or Smyth for example
know exactly at this stage in their careers what their game is but to pace
themselves through the season don't bring it half the nights. Iginla on the
other hand played at least 65 solid games plus what he's doing every night
in the playoffs.
>
> We have a very good core group of players here, and there is no reason
> that we shouldn't be in the same position as Calgary.

Totally agree with this especially before the Calgary additions when on
paper we were clearly a better team.

I am happy the
> Flames are where they are, and I'm cheering for them, but I wish it was
> us there, and the potential is there for it to happen, we just need a
> change higher up. Anyways, enough ranting, lets hope next year (if
> there is a next year) we play consistently and wind up in the same boat
> our rivals down south are. In the meantime, Go Flames (I still hate
> saying that:P).

I don't think the coaching change or attitude adjustment will occur.

BTW how many games in a row do you think Sutter would let a player like
Laraque or Brewer slack off?

What do you guys think about a coach like Ted Nolan who is available. I
normally wouldnt consider him but its high time for a shitkicker. Doubt it
will happen but its becoming clear this team was more motivated by a coach
like Low, than MacT.
 >> Stay informed about: K Lowe and Mac T take notes... 

Mario R wrote:

..
>
>
> Exactly, consider the following estimated games where the players brought
> their A effort
>
> Smyth- 40, took half the season off
> Horcoff 40, ditto
> Hemsky- Missing in action, doesn't even get a score.
> Oates- 10 the addition of stud Nedved seemed to shame Oates into finally
> performing
> Laraque- 35- an absolute force when he show up and could've been the
> difference with a more devoted effort.
> Pisani- he loses sight of his offensive game for long periods of time.
> Chimera- 15 didn't force his way into the lineup, disappointing but too
> early still to tell.
> Smith- 45, never played to his potential however. This is exactly the Smith
> that the leafs decided was expendable.
> Brewer-25 what a waste of talent. When this guy looks committed he can do it
> all.
> York- 30 is this guy always injured or playing injured? Consistent with what
> rangers fans say I just don't think he's able to play a complete season even
> if healthy.
>
> The rest of the guys on the team I have no problem with- they gave their all
> even IMO somebody like Izzy who seemed to try hard despite all the injury
> trouble. I perhaps cut him more slack because his size is critical in our
> lineup as opposed to somebody like York who makes you wonder why he's on the
> ice when he's not capable.

I thought Izzy was invisible for stretches but he really picked up his
play once he returned from his injuries. The only players I felt played
their hearts out all season were Moreau and Staios. There were so
many guys (Laraque, Smyth, Brewer) that only showed up every third night
or so, and that is what drives everyone crazy.
>
> This season the
>
>>whole Comrie situation and Salo's play really hurt us, but these are pro
>>athletes, they are paid to get past that, and we have the skill to do
>>that, and that makes me question the coaching. I think MacT is a good
>>coach, but it seems to me that he is too much of a players coach, and
>>not a hardass like Sutter can be.
>

>
>
> This team needs a serious attitude adjustment. So many players who pretend
> to be in a funk , can't find their game etc. Laraque, or Smyth for example
> know exactly at this stage in their careers what their game is but to pace
> themselves through the season don't bring it half the nights. Iginla on the
> other hand played at least 65 solid games plus what he's doing every night
> in the playoffs.

That comes from the top down though. Maybe it's time for some new blood
in the front office and behind the bench. I'm not saying drop Lowe and
MacT, but the history of this team has always been to keep it in the
family. Well maybe it's time to bring in some new blood and bring
something new to the table. It can't hurt, and sometimes the best ideas
are from fresh faces.


> I don't think the coaching change or attitude adjustment will occur.
>
> BTW how many games in a row do you think Sutter would let a player like
> Laraque or Brewer slack off?
>
> What do you guys think about a coach like Ted Nolan who is available. I
> normally wouldnt consider him but its high time for a shitkicker. Doubt it
> will happen but its becoming clear this team was more motivated by a coach
> like Low, than MacT.

I don't know about Nolan. I think he's a great coach, but from
everything I've heard and seen it appears he wants to go to a big market
team and take his chances there. I really wouldn't mind seeing an
unknown that has proven himself everywhere else step in, ala Hitchcock,
Quenville. It's just frustrating to be so close yet so far away at the
same time, and it's due to lack of skill, just heart.

Lee
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: K Lowe and Mac T take notes... 

"Lee Townsend" <tlt10.TakeThisOut@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:50kmc.8994$F04.318@clgrps13...
> I never said the Flames were the model NHL franchise, to be honest there
> is no such thing. But the flames have played excellent 90% of this
> current season, where as the Oilers maybe played that way 40 % of the
> season, and that is what killed us.

Yet the Flames only had 5 more points than we did. So the Flames apparently
played their A game for 70 games, and the Oilers for 30 some games - and yet
we're only 3 wins from a better record? Look we didn't make the playoffs,
but we still won more games than we lost - with 3 backup calibre goalies.
Let's not do the sky is falling thing.

> It's hard to break down our not making the playoffs to Smytty having a
> brain cramp against NY and LA near the end of the season, our problems

Nope not hard at all. We were 2 points out. Smyth was directly accountable
for 3 dropped points. If he doesn't have those brain cramps, we're in.
Yeah, I know, he helped win a lot of games too, but bottom line - those 3
points would have got us in. And how many more points were dropped due to
Salo's play? Those 5 points the Flames had on us don't seem like such a big
rift when you look at those two facts.

Bottom line - not a lot seperated the two teams this last season - the 5
points prove that. This was despite the injury to York, the substandard
play of Smyth and Laraque for much of the season, and the total lack of a
number 1 goalie. All of those things can be fixed, and when they're fixed,
I believe the Oilers are a better team, and defintely a more enjoyable team
to watch.
 >> Stay informed about: K Lowe and Mac T take notes... 

"Chris W" <cwoo1.DeleteThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<TNlmc.386606$oR5.278865@pd7tw3no>...>
> Bottom line - not a lot seperated the two teams this last season - the 5
> points prove that. This was despite the injury to York, the substandard
> play of Smyth and Laraque for much of the season, and the total lack of a
> number 1 goalie. All of those things can be fixed, and when they're fixed,
> I believe the Oilers are a better team, and defintely a more enjoyable team
> to watch.

Well said.

There's good news and bad news for Oiler fans. The good news is
that after this season, when major league hockey starts getting
played again, there should be a cap and such in place. And so,
making the playoffs, and going as deep as Calgary shouldn't be
as steep a mountain to climb.

The bad news is that the mountain won't be as steep.
Think of it this way. If Calgary wins the Cup, it will be
as a small market team from a small dollar country winning
against a tournament field of teams stocked with superstars
that were ripped away from smaller market clubs. Every Cup winner
thereafter will have its trophy compared to Calgary's of 2004.

And that fellow fans, is something Flames fans will be able to
throw in our faces for an eternity.

For Edmonton, especially the way it peaked in the final 20 games,
missing the playoffs was tragic. It could have been an all Alberta
Western final.

With Colorado (no Forsberg next year, and no way to dump Selanne's
salary) and Vancouver (hey, let's fire the GM that
built the team that ended Colorado's division title reign, and
not blame Bertuzzi for putting his team in a talent hole)
sure to decay further, Dallas and Detroit just getting older,
it almost makes one wish for one more season of the pre-cap era.
 >> Stay informed about: K Lowe and Mac T take notes... 

Mike Eisler <spamisevi1.TakeThisOut@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:36f0f19f.0405060747.4621e583@posting.google.com...
> "Chris W" <cwoo1.TakeThisOut@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:<TNlmc.386606$oR5.278865@pd7tw3no>...>
> > Bottom line - not a lot seperated the two teams this last season - the 5
> > points prove that. This was despite the injury to York, the substandard
> > play of Smyth and Laraque for much of the season, and the total lack of
a
> > number 1 goalie. All of those things can be fixed, and when they're
fixed,
> > I believe the Oilers are a better team, and defintely a more enjoyable
team
> > to watch.
>
> Well said.
>
> There's good news and bad news for Oiler fans. The good news is
> that after this season, when major league hockey starts getting
> played again, there should be a cap and such in place. And so,
> making the playoffs, and going as deep as Calgary shouldn't be
> as steep a mountain to climb.
>
> The bad news is that the mountain won't be as steep.
> Think of it this way. If Calgary wins the Cup, it will be
> as a small market team from a small dollar country winning
> against a tournament field of teams stocked with superstars
> that were ripped away from smaller market clubs. Every Cup winner
> thereafter will have its trophy compared to Calgary's of 2004.
>
> And that fellow fans, is something Flames fans will be able to
> throw in our faces for an eternity.
>
> For Edmonton, especially the way it peaked in the final 20 games,
> missing the playoffs was tragic. It could have been an all Alberta
> Western final.

Your use of tragic is appropriate but IMO the word tragic in this
connotation would imply a disastrous, unavoidable, inescapable circumstance.
The result was only tragic because the oil have a tendency to do just enough
to get in the playoffs and not one iota more. Due to this tendency a couple
bad results during the season were the critical difference between making
the playoffs and not. To me the Oilers play in Feb, Mar, was indicative that
they are a better team than they showed through much of the earlier part of
the season. With proper resolve all season the team would have readily made
the playoffs despite their injury/goaltending issues. The real tragedy IMO
is that the Oil lack the consistency to demand more from themselves through
82 games. 2 out of 3 years out of the playoffs is cause for consternation.
 >> Stay informed about: K Lowe and Mac T take notes... 

Rod Gramlich <rod.gramlich RemoveThis @ualberta.ca> wrote in message
news:c7df8a$puh$1@tabloid.srv.ualberta.ca...
> Blame who you may - but IMHO, if tommy salo had stopped - oh, say about
5
> more shots (thereby bolstering his .850 save %), we'd have made it. If you
> want to pint fingers, point em' at tommy - but make sure you point towards
> the ground, so as to make sure you don't miss pointing AT him.

Undoubtedly, but I don't see us pursueing a #1 goalie so will we just have
one more season where we replay the goaltending problem? I don't think stand
pat with Conks and Marky is gonna get it done.
>
> And I really don't like the "tune" of this thread. It is promoting
> (rationalizing) boring hockey. Well I guess if there is some hitting and
> banging included in that 'defence first', mentality, then it ain't all
bad.

Just to clarify I'm not saying we replicate the style of the flames but that
we play with the same consistent resolve. The Oil arguably dropped 10pts
during the season due to not being able to get 60 effective minutes from the
players.

Particularly the Oil don't have a clue what to do with a 2 or 3 goal lead.
Their prevent D which drives me crazy consists primarily of playing the rest
of the game in their end. Maybe they oughta at least experiment with a
middle ice shutdown/transition strategy employed ONLY in those games where
we are ahead a couple goals. It drives me nuts watching them play 5 minutes
at a time in their own end virtually willing the other team to come back!
 >> Stay informed about: K Lowe and Mac T take notes... 

"Mario and Carole" <vanhalenmcs.DeleteThis@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:P1gmc.44829$ZJ5.1428688@news20.bellglobal.com...

<load of garbage snipped>

So to make a LONG story short, you want the Oilers to succumb to the
pattern most of the rest of the NHL is following and play the NZT or some
variation thereof. This coming from a poster who actually took HL's ranting
seriously. Get a clue, ok? Think for a second about WHY most of the rest
of the NHL plays the trap night in and night out (hint: it has to do with
payrolls and which teams perenially win the Cup). I'd rather start watching
golf than watch the Oilers start trapping and icing the puck- it would
probably be more exciting. The fact is that the team came within a hair of
making the playoffs, that hair being Nedved and no Salo. If they had those
pieces in place at the START of the season they'd have made it in this year.

So the Flames are going further into the playoffs than anyone would have
thought- they haven't won the Cup yet. What happened to last year's
Cinderella stories, the Wild and Ducks? Oh yeah, they missed the playoffs
this year. Take a big step back and look at the larger picture.

Ragnarok73
--
"Life is warfare and the sojourn of a stranger in a strange land."
- Marcus Aurelius
 >> Stay informed about: K Lowe and Mac T take notes... 

"Ragnarok73" <nabiki73 RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:zbAmc.392249$oR5.84300@pd7tw3no...
> "Mario and Carole" <vanhalenmcs RemoveThis @sympatico.ca> wrote in message
> news:P1gmc.44829$ZJ5.1428688@news20.bellglobal.com...
>
> <load of garbage snipped>
>
> So to make a LONG story short, you want the Oilers to succumb to the
> pattern most of the rest of the NHL is following and play the NZT or some
> variation thereof. This coming from a poster who actually took HL's
ranting
> seriously. Get a clue, ok? Think for a second about WHY most of the rest
> of the NHL plays the trap night in and night out (hint: it has to do with
> payrolls and which teams perenially win the Cup). I'd rather start
watching
> golf than watch the Oilers start trapping and icing the puck- it would
> probably be more exciting. The fact is that the team came within a hair
of
> making the playoffs, that hair being Nedved and no Salo. If they had
those
> pieces in place at the START of the season they'd have made it in this
year.
>
> So the Flames are going further into the playoffs than anyone would have
> thought- they haven't won the Cup yet. What happened to last year's
> Cinderella stories, the Wild and Ducks? Oh yeah, they missed the playoffs
> this year. Take a big step back and look at the larger picture.
>
> Ragnarok73
> --
> "Life is warfare and the sojourn of a stranger in a strange land."
> - Marcus Aurelius
>
>

Looks like you just let a floater in from the blueline. You missed my
point entirely. I'm not asking the Oil to play trap hockey. Big difference
between defensive accountability and trap hockey. Their were at least a
half dozen games this year where we had 2-3 goal leads which we pissed away.
The game early in the season against St. Louis, Dallas and Vancouver where
we ended up losing in OT. It's called consistency dude check the word out
in the dictionary if you don't know the definition. It's having a work
ethic for 60 minutes and the lack of it has cost this team a playoff spot 2
of the last 3 seasons. The personel on the team is good enough to win but
there are too many nights where not enough of the guys show up. Daryl
Sutter held his player accountable this year in Calgary and look at the
results. That's something to strive for.

Mario
 >> Stay informed about: K Lowe and Mac T take notes... 

"Don" <fake DeleteThis @fake.com> wrote in message
news:_0tmc.389192$oR5.265626@pd7tw3no...
> Kipper is NOT this year's Giguere. Giguere's only big and able to cover up
> 80% of the net just standing there but otherwise has no talent whatsoever,
> he just fluked out last season. Kiprusoff has real talent, and this is
just
> the beginning for him.

LOL, I'll bet Ducks fans and hockey observers said the same thing about
Giguerre last year too. Kiprusoff plays behind a team that employs the
trap- that makes it difficult to see exactly how good he actually is.
Facing 30+ shots means nothing if most of them are from the perimeter or
from bad angles. Boucher set the modern-day NHL record for consecutive
shutouts, Giguerre led his team to the finals, Weekes/Irbe led their teams
to the finals as well, but are any of them REAL talent? If their progress
in later games after their feats are any indication: HELL NO. Time will
tell with Kipper...

> Also it's kind of weird but from a playoffs standpoint, players tend to
> elevate their game to a whole new level. When the new regular season
comes,
> it's back to the way they were.

And what "way" is that? Back to mediocrity?

> Which is why Edmonton would've been a threat if they made the playoffs in
> the first place. But it's Calgary's turn to shine now.

If a cap is put into place next year BOTH teams will have the chance to
shine. Maybe the Battle of Alberta might even become a reality once
more....

> At least Edmonton made the playoffs 6 of the last 8 years, going winning 2
> and losing 6 series. Calgary was absent for the previous seven and
Vancouver
> didn't make it the first 4 seasons before finally getting in the previous
4
> seasons, winning 1 series and losing 4. If it takes Calgary to beat this
> Western Canada curse of, well, losing, then so be it. They're 2 and 0 so
> far.

The Flames took a differing approach on player development and signing-
they chose to keep their superstar player at the expense of most of the rest
of the line-up and it hurt them until some of the youngsters they brought up
started to gel under Sutter's coaching. The Oilers dumped players that
became too good to be affordable and chose to have a team stocked with
mid-level talent and grit that was just good enough to contend for the
playoffs under the steady coaching of MacT. If the Oilers could have
afforded a guy like Nedved at the start of the season, then perhaps the
Battle of Alberta could have happened this year (the difference between
their 32 mil payroll and the Flames' 36). Oh well, here's to seeing a cap
put in place next season....

Ragnarok73
--
"Life is warfare and the sojourn of a stranger in a strange land."
- Marcus Aurelius
 >> Stay informed about: K Lowe and Mac T take notes... 

In article <zbAmc.392249$oR5.84300@pd7tw3no>, Ragnarok73
<nabiki73.TakeThisOut@hotmail.com> wrote:

> <load of garbage quoted next>
>
> So to make a LONG story short, you want the Oilers to succumb to the
> pattern most of the rest of the NHL is following and play the NZT or some
> variation thereof. This coming from a poster who actually took HL's ranting
> seriously. Get a clue, ok? Think for a second about WHY most of the rest
> of the NHL plays the trap night in and night out (hint: it has to do with
> payrolls and which teams perenially win the Cup). I'd rather start watching
> golf than watch the Oilers start trapping and icing the puck- it would
> probably be more exciting. The fact is that the team came within a hair of
> making the playoffs, that hair being Nedved and no Salo. If they had those
> pieces in place at the START of the season they'd have made it in this year.

Do you even know what the NZT is? If you do, please describe its
variations for us. I imagine this request will be an impossibility for
you since you really don't know what the trap is. Having watched the
Flames almost as much as the Oil, I'll tell you they don't trap. They
generally have 3 in on the forecheck .. pretty hard to trap there. Then
they back check like hell which accounts for the defensive
accountability that the poster earlier referred to. The Wings, one of
the highest scoring teams in the league, prefer the left wing lock as
soon as they get a lead .. yep, they play boring hockey. As for the Oil
and the playoffs, unfortunately no. If they hadn't been so far out and
in "playoff" mode when everyone else was not, they would not have been
able to turn it on for that long of a stretch. So in conclusion, I
think we all realize that it's YOU that needs to get a clue, umm ok?

Gawd I hate wannabes.
 >> Stay informed about: K Lowe and Mac T take notes... 

"Oily" <me DeleteThis @there.net> wrote in message
news:060520042358320089%me@there.net...
> Do you even know what the NZT is? If you do, please describe its
> variations for us. I imagine this request will be an impossibility for
> you since you really don't know what the trap is. Having watched the
> Flames almost as much as the Oil, I'll tell you they don't trap. They
> generally have 3 in on the forecheck .. pretty hard to trap there. Then
> they back check like hell which accounts for the defensive
> accountability that the poster earlier referred to. The Wings, one of
> the highest scoring teams in the league, prefer the left wing lock as
> soon as they get a lead .. yep, they play boring hockey.

You're an idiot. Watch those Flames games again- they send in only ONE
man while the other 4 wait in the neutral zone looking to put pressure on
anyone attempting to break out of their own zone. If a turnover is caused
before the opposing team gets to the blue-line, then the Flames send in more
than one player on the counter-attack. That is the trap. You dare to
accuse the WINGS of being the only team in that series that played boring
hockey? You know what- I think I insulted idiots everywhere with my first
line.

> As for the Oil and the playoffs, unfortunately no. If they hadn't been so
far out and
> in "playoff" mode when everyone else was not, they would not have been
> able to turn it on for that long of a stretch. So in conclusion, I
> think we all realize that it's YOU that needs to get a clue, umm ok?

LOL, so why were they so "far out", smart guy? I'll wait right here while
you give me some specific reasons rather than a generalization.

> Gawd I hate wannabes.

I love morons like you- you give me something to do in the off-season.

Ragnarok73
--
"Life is warfare and the sojourn of a stranger in a strange land." - Marcus
Aurelius
 >> Stay informed about: K Lowe and Mac T take notes... 

"Mario and Carole" <vanhalenmcs RemoveThis @sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:T1Dmc.63557$ZJ5.1834452@news20.bellglobal.com...
> Looks like you just let a floater in from the blueline. You missed my
> point entirely. I'm not asking the Oil to play trap hockey. Big
difference
> between defensive accountability and trap hockey. Their were at least a
> half dozen games this year where we had 2-3 goal leads which we pissed
away.

The Oilers DID try the "defensive accountability" idea 3 seasons ago:
remember that year that Salo actually played well? They set all kinds of
team records for defence- and still missed the playoffs. The team has shown
it IS capable of doing this while MacT has shown himself to be one of the
best coaches in Oiler history in terms of preaching being responsible in
your own end. But there is little anyone can do if you suffer key injuries
to your defence corps such as Smith. There is also little the coaching can
do if UFA again bites the team in the ass in sapping away its depth such as
losing Marchant (and his contribution in the PK department). Lowe at least
put talent back INTO the team with Nedved- let's all pray that he can
somehow arrange to keep him here next season (if there is one).

> The game early in the season against St. Louis, Dallas and Vancouver where
> we ended up losing in OT. It's called consistency dude check the word out
> in the dictionary if you don't know the definition. It's having a work
> ethic for 60 minutes and the lack of it has cost this team a playoff spot
2
> of the last 3 seasons. The personel on the team is good enough to win but
> there are too many nights where not enough of the guys show up. Daryl
> Sutter held his player accountable this year in Calgary and look at the
> results. That's something to strive for.

I guess if this were 6 years ago, when having an above .500 record (a feat
that MacT has managed to accomplish in EVERY one of his years as head coach)
would have actually gotten teams into the playoffs, whiners like you would
have nothing to say. The fact is that the Western Conference right now is
the harder one to compete in because most of the teams are good because they
have to be against the top dogs like the Wings, Avs, and Stars. The fact
that Oilers even have a chance to compete despite all the talent they've
lost every year except this one (and that happened too late to save the the
season) is a tribute to the coaching staff. Cry all you want about the past
season- MacT isn't going anywhere, nor should he, at least until a cap is
put into the place and the team is still unable to go any further. One last
thing: I don't know how you can say the personnel is good enough when this
team couldn't even afford to keep Marchant on the roster, never mind a
legitimate first-line center and didn't get one until Nedved arrived. I
won't even mention the lack of a d-man who could actually anchor a
power-play. The Flames on the other hand were able to afford to keep their
superstar (if you actually look, you'd notice that their payroll is higher
than the Oilers'). You've always seemed to have your head in the sand where
it came to the economic reality of the NHL- wake up.

Ragnarok73
--
"Life is warfare and the sojourn of a stranger in a strange land."
- Marcus Aurelius
 >> Stay informed about: K Lowe and Mac T take notes... 

"Ragnarok73" <nabiki73 DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:JdPmc.377057$Pk3.224196@pd7tw1no...
> "Mario and Carole" <vanhalenmcs DeleteThis @sympatico.ca> wrote in message
> news:T1Dmc.63557$ZJ5.1834452@news20.bellglobal.com...
> > Looks like you just let a floater in from the blueline. You missed my
> > point entirely. I'm not asking the Oil to play trap hockey. Big
> difference
> > between defensive accountability and trap hockey. Their were at least a
> > half dozen games this year where we had 2-3 goal leads which we pissed
> away.
>
> The Oilers DID try the "defensive accountability" idea 3 seasons ago:
> remember that year that Salo actually played well? They set all kinds of
> team records for defence- and still missed the playoffs. The team has
shown
> it IS capable of doing this while MacT has shown himself to be one of the
> best coaches in Oiler history in terms of preaching being responsible in
> your own end. But there is little anyone can do if you suffer key
injuries
> to your defence corps such as Smith. There is also little the coaching
can
> do if UFA again bites the team in the ass in sapping away its depth such
as
> losing Marchant (and his contribution in the PK department). Lowe at
least
> put talent back INTO the team with Nedved- let's all pray that he can
> somehow arrange to keep him here next season (if there is one).
>
> > The game early in the season against St. Louis, Dallas and Vancouver
where
> > we ended up losing in OT. It's called consistency dude check the word
out
> > in the dictionary if you don't know the definition. It's having a work
> > ethic for 60 minutes and the lack of it has cost this team a playoff
spot
> 2
> > of the last 3 seasons. The personel on the team is good enough to win
but
> > there are too many nights where not enough of the guys show up. Daryl
> > Sutter held his player accountable this year in Calgary and look at the
> > results. That's something to strive for.
>
> I guess if this were 6 years ago, when having an above .500 record (a
feat
> that MacT has managed to accomplish in EVERY one of his years as head
coach)
> would have actually gotten teams into the playoffs, whiners like you would
> have nothing to say. The fact is that the Western Conference right now is
> the harder one to compete in because most of the teams are good because
they
> have to be against the top dogs like the Wings, Avs, and Stars. The fact
> that Oilers even have a chance to compete despite all the talent they've
> lost every year except this one (and that happened too late to save the
the
> season) is a tribute to the coaching staff. Cry all you want about the
past
> season- MacT isn't going anywhere, nor should he, at least until a cap is
> put into the place and the team is still unable to go any further. One
last
> thing: I don't know how you can say the personnel is good enough when this
> team couldn't even afford to keep Marchant on the roster, never mind a
> legitimate first-line center and didn't get one until Nedved arrived. I
> won't even mention the lack of a d-man who could actually anchor a
> power-play. The Flames on the other hand were able to afford to keep
their
> superstar (if you actually look, you'd notice that their payroll is higher
> than the Oilers'). You've always seemed to have your head in the sand
where
> it came to the economic reality of the NHL- wake up.
>
> Ragnarok73
> --
> "Life is warfare and the sojourn of a stranger in a strange land."
> - Marcus Aurelius
>
>

Newsflash!!!! The Flames, Lightning and Sharks are all in the bottom tier
of payrolls in the NHL so it is possible to have a winner in a small market.
Your're one of those Oil fans that accepts mediocrity, scrape into the
postseason and get hammered by Dallas and that in your mind that constitutes
a successful season. Can we maybe aspire as an organization to be a bit
more? No doubt injuries, holdouts and player inconsistency is going to
effect a hockey club during the course of an 82 game schedule but playing
only half a season the way the Oilers did this year is the bigger problem.
Look at the strides both Calgary and San Jose made this year coming off
miserable seasons a year ago. Defensive accountability and solid specialty
team play would translate the Oiler 89 point seaon this year to 4 or 5th in
the conference. The team scored enough goals this year to win we just gave
up way too many.

Mario
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