The Edmonton Oilers

After watching the Oilers lose in game 7 of the Stanley Cup final in 06 I was crushed, devastated and didn't want to face the reality of what happened. That being said, I had reason for optimism for next season...after all the years of being considered the underdog with a small market budget, the Oilers were on an even playing field with the Rangers and Red Wings in the new salary cap NHL. At the trade deadline, Craig MacTavish was finally given a roster that would compliment his style of coaching...and it took right until the end of the season to build that chemistry and squeak into the playoffs but he got the team to peak right when it counted most.

I always wondered, even though Kevin Lowe and Craig MacTavish were teammates, how would they be able to co-exist with each other as G.M and Head Coach? Correct me if I'm wrong on this but from Kevin Lowes interviews over the past years as a coach and GM of the Oilers I perceived that his ideas and philosophy for the team was to bring back the "old school", fun, fast paced, end to end, skilled hockey to the organization. So why hire Craig MacTavish?

Craig MacTavish was an elite, defensive forward in the NHL who played against the top offensive lines of opposing teams. I always thought to myself two things 1) These two played together but can they work together? and 2) Is Craig MacTavish really going to be able to coach the "run and gun" style that Lowe wants?

MacTavish made a living out of cleaning up the mess that the high octane Oilers of the 80's and early 90's left in their defensive zone...he made a living out of shutting down offensive players, blocking shots and killing penalties. Would he really want to coach that offensive style? I thought about it long and hard and I had an epiphany.."wouldn't a guy who shut down top lines and power plays know a thing or two about how to run an offense after he spent most of his career frustrating them?" I figured that's what Lowe must have been thinking but I always had doubts about my assumption because, well, it is an assumption.

Over the past few seasons, I've ready many articles, blogs, listened to sports talk radio, all wondering how Craig MacTavish still has a job? I'll give you my reasons on why I think he does. Look past his history with Kevin Lowe and the Oilers...look past the loyalties, the friendships and you'll see that MacTavish does have a the qualities to be a great NHL coach. Shitty coaches don't take their team to the Stanley Cup finals, shitty coaches wouldn't have been able to out coach, Mike Babcock, Ron Wilson, Randy Carlyle, and Peter Laviolette. Yes, MacT and the Oilers lost in the Stanley Cup final but not because of him being out coached or because of his bad coaching... it was because of Rolosons injury (that series should have been over in 6 had it not been for Conklins massive brain cramp in game 1...Roloson was a man possessed throughout the playoffs).

When MacTavish was finally granted his roster heading into the 06 playoffs he had a team that could play his style. Look at the names of the forwards, Smyth (66pts), Horcoff (73pts), Stoll (68pts), Torres (41pts), Peca (23pts), Dvorak (28pts), Pisani (37pts), Moreau (27pts) and add in the other role players who were in and out of the line-up like: Todd Harvey, Brad Winchester, Georges Laraque, and Rem Murray. What do most of these forwards have in common? They work hard, get their nose in the dirty areas, most are defensively responsible (some better than others), they're fast, physical, blue collar players who play the game in the high traffic areas and sacrifice their bodies when blocking shots. There wasn't one true bona fied super star up front, they had two very skilled stars in Ales Hemsky (77pts) and Sergi Samsonov (53pts - 16 pts in 19 games as an Oiler) who were surrounded by these work horse players who created space and got them the puck.

Look at the defense now. Pronger (56pts), Spacek (43pts - 19pts in 31 games as an Oiler), Bergeron (35pts), Staios (28pts), Smith (17pts), Tarnstrom (14pts - 4pts as an Oiler) and Greene (2pts - 27 games as a rookie). The one superstar we had was Pronger, MacT's security blanket. All these guys play the game tough, except Tarnstrom. All these guys were physical, some young, but a very good looking top 4 defense that could play a lot of minutes. Maybe MacTavish would have liked one more veteran Dman to play in the 5-6 position with Greene or Beregeron.

Goaltending was rotated all year and it wasn't until the Oilers acquired Roloson, that MacT had a true number one goaltender. Think about how many points the Oilers lost that season because of poor goaltending.

These players played into MacT's style perfectly and look at what he accomplished, a western conference title and brought the Oilers within one win of the Stanley Cup. There are many MacT critics, me being one of them, and although I don't agree with his "MacTactics" some of the time, he's a smart man when he has the players to play his system. In his system he knows how to capitalize on a players strength and use it on the ice.

Which brings me now to Kevin Lowe. I question him more than I question MacT. Here's why; when he hired Craig MacTavish he had to have known what vision MacT had for the team. If it wasn't the style he was looking for then he should have kept MacT as an assistant. I remember watching the 2003 draft...I was sitting on my couch waiting in anticipation for the Oilers to draft one of Parise, Richards, or Getzlaf. Three legitimate, number one line center men who all have traits MacT loves in his players: Tough. Physical. Character, among others things. Instead Lowe traded his pick to New Jersey and stepped up to the podium and drafted Marc Poliout. No offense to Poliout but he's not a MacT player. When Lowe was asked about his reason for taking Poliout he said (paraphrased)...we're looking to draft bigger skilled forwards. I wonder what he thought of Parise, Richards, Getzlaf and Perry? So far Poliout hasn't played a full season in the NHL and he hopes to do so this year.

Over that past few seasons since that memorable cup run, I've seen Smyth, Pronger, Peca, Spacek, Stoll, Torres, Greene, Reasoner, Samsonov, Laraque, Sykora, Lupul, and Pitkanen be dealt or leave via free agency. That's an awful lot of skill, heart, and character gone. Peca, Stoll and Reasoner were some of the best faceoff winning center men in the game and that was only a portion to their game and what they contributed on the ice. Smyth, Pronger, Peca, Stoll, Torres, Greene, Reasoner, Laraque...that's a terrible amount of grit, skill, and passion to lose in a lineup.

In return, Lowe brought in players through drafts, free agency, offer sheets and trades such as: Gagner, Nilsson, Garon, Penner, Cole, Brule (playing in Springfield), MacIntyre, Souray, Visnovsky, Grebeshkov, Smid, and Strudwick and some others. He has seen his previous draft picks, Gilbert (Salo trade), Brodziak, Cogliano, Poliout, Schremp develop and contend for a regular spot on the roster and contribute most notably, Gilbert, Cogliano and Brodziak.


So in essence of all this, instead of replacing these traits MacT needed and wanted in the lineup, he took a bit of a different route. Now I know Lowes hands were tied when it came to trading certain players...that's shit and it happens. The thing I don't get is he seems to be changing a bit of his philosophy. He said he was looking for bigger skilled forwards, well he got that when he signed Penner and traded for Cole, but he traded for a small Nilsson and drafted other small forwards like, Gagner, Schremp, Cogliano and now the latest...Eberle. I'm not knocking any of these players, if they got Oiler silks on I will support them whether they play on the first line or the 4th line. I remember hearing MacT during training camp this year saying something about the amount of small forwards the Oilers have. It almost seemed like a relayed response to Lowe by MacT about what to do with all of them, rather than a response to the reporters question. I just wish Lowe would have come out and said "we're drafting the best player available at our position" rather than addressing a need like he thought he was doing by drafting Poliout, because to me that makes Lowe look bad. It seems like the two different philosophys between the GM and coach are becoming more and more evident.

I'm a huge fan of the Edmonton Oilers and this season I had the pleasure of attending the Oilers training camp and for me, it was a big deal. After seeing aforementioned players leave Edmonton and the new Oilers brought in I was excited. I've never seen the Oilers have such a deep, skilled roster that even leaks down into the Springfield farm system. I was in awe that our roster not only had a top 6 but a top 9 that can contribute on the score sheet. I liked what I saw and read on paper...my only real concern was that, this team is skilled enough to dominate some teams game in and game out, but this isn't a roster like MacT had during the 06 cup run...this roster could be a contender but its not his style of team...is MacT the right coach to be leading this team? My guess was no and so far this season I am right.

Lowe has built a fast, skilled, puck possession team. But he's missing some key elements 1) There is no real threat in the faceoff circle other than Horcoff. Brodziak, Cogliano, Poliout, Gagner, and converted center, Pisani, are struggling down the middle. The pressure cant be put on the kids to win the key draws yet, they have enough expectation on them already. Pisani isn't a natural center and he's trying his best but winning faceoffs is an art, he's not going to turn it around over night. He's been taken from his position of strength and forced into a position of failure. 2) There needs to be a top 4 shut down defensemen back there. Staios is getting older and hes not the same player he was a few years ago, hes been caught out of position because hes been asked to do more than hes able to handle. 3) This 3 goalie system is rough on all 3 net minders...goalies need to feel comfortable but yet challenged. If you have one bad game you don't know if you're going to be in the pressbox or on the bench.

MacT doesn't know what to do, or how to use all the skill in this lineup. At one point he had 4 players playing out of their natural positions. He shifted Cole to the LW to play with Horcoff and Hemsky. He had Penner move from LW on the 1st line to RW on the 3rd line with Pisani and Moreau; and as I eluded to earlier, Pisani has moved from the wing to the center position leaving Poliout, a natural centre, playing on the wing, on the 4th line with Brodziak and Stortini/MacIntyre. I got so sick of seeing the forced chemistry, it was hard to watch, it looked like a cluster of madness on the ice...a bunch of pieces thrown together in hopes of something would fit.

That's not proper talent management. Last season the line of Penner-Horcoff-Hemsky were all having career years up until Horcoffs injury during the all-star game. Why not reunite that line and let them build that chemistry back up?

I loved the kid line last year, they were let loose on the ice and not many teams knew about them so called "kids" and they were fun to watch....but now I think it's time to break them up and spread them out throughout the line-up to learn the rest of their game. I have two ideas for lines here 1) Nilsson-Cogliano- Cole or 2) Nilsson-Gagner-Cole. My reasoning here is, Cole gets back to his natural dominating RW position. I think Nilsson ads speed and skill to the LW and his play making ability is unbelievable, plus he has an underrated shot. Gagner excelled in the points department last year when he was moved to the center position, his only weaknesses were faceoffs and his transition speed on both ends. If you put Cogliano in the middle he has the speed to cover both ends and when he takes on dmen one-on-one he can create space and back them up easily and he has a knack for finding the back door seems.

The third line would be my "versatility" line consisting of Moreau-Brodziak-Pisani. This line can hit, pitch in on scoring, and change momentum. I wouldn't even mind Poliout in that center position between Moreau and Pisani. All those players can skate and contribute in anyway MacT needs them to and I'd follow with Macintyre-Brodziak/Poliout-Stortini on the 4th line.

Since I saw them in training camp I never liked the pairing of Souray/Visnovsky. Two very good defensemen, but man they don't work well together. Souray and Visnovsky on the point during a powerplay is too obvious of a game plan. I personally would like to see the pairing of Souray/Gilbert and Visnovsky/Grebs and Smid/Staios or Strudwick. I loved Grebs and Gilbert last year but the two have had issues this year. It's time for them to learn more by being paired with Souray and Visnovsky. Smid needs more minutes in key situations, on the PK put him with Souray, Strudwick, or Staios...let him learn how and when to use that 6'3 225 pound frame of his (I saw him at camp and he's ripped).

I predicted when this season started either it was going to be a train wreck or a complete success. So far, in my eyes and from the expectations I had of this roster its been a mess of things. I've been a loyal Oiler fan through the worst of times and best of times, and I will admit to anyone who reads this that I cried two nights in a row after the Oilers lost game 7 in 06. I've heard former players bash my beloved Oilers, seen free agents use the organization to get better contracts with different teams, watched star player after star player get traded away for financial reason in the past, heard and accepted many reasons and excuses for things not panning out, and I've settled for mediocrity long enough. This is my time, our time as Oiler fans to expect more than the mediocre, its time that we see a winning franchise, a team that runs over its competition because it can and will do it by any means necessary, a team that doesn't have to wait until the last 20 games to make a playoff push, an organization that will reignite the fire in the name "City Of Champions", and a team that will bring home Lord Stanley to "The House That Gretzky Built"

Before I fell in love with the Oilers and their brand of hockey I fell in love with the game of hockey itself and I think that's what separates "homer" fans from the true passionate and realistic fans. That's why I see it as me having two sides to Hockey. The Oiler fan in me says they will win the division and make a deep run in the playoffs. The realistic hockey fan in me tells me that I should prepare for more frustration unless MacT finds a way to coach the team to their strength and style rather than his style or Lowe needs to accommodate MacT more and give him the players he needs.

Anyways...Go Oilers Go!