Less Is More

Before the hockey season started almost everyone was making fun of the Leafs and Canucks for their lack of depth and scoring. However, I was one of the few people who respectfully disagreed with those assumptions and predictions of the Canucks and Leafs being basement dwellers. Infact, I remember telling my friend Chris, whose a Canuck fan, that I didn't think Gillis did a terrible job in his first summer as a GM.

He brought in Demitra, Bernier, and Wellwood after the departure of Morrison and Naslund. Demitra is an offensive player who was playing in a defensive system in Minnesota, his offensive skills were dormant and that's why most fans had the impression that Demitra had lost a step in his game. Bernier is from the 2003 draft class. An avid hockey fan, heck, even a casual fan should know how many blue chip franchise players were taken in that draft. It was one of the deepest drafts in 10 years (in case you need your memory refreshed here's an inside look http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl2003e.html). Bernier was taken 16th overall by San Jose, 6'2 -225 pound, powerforward. Now if you've watched San Jose, you'll notice that most of their talent is "home grown" in the sense that they build through the draft and they dont draft crap. Bernier is not crap, he's just taking a little bit more time to develop. Wait until the kid can figure out how to put the whole package, of size, speed and skill together, he's going to be a force. Wellwood was let go by the Leaf's organization because they were fed up with his lack of conditioning. He had two hernia operations and they let him go? I know his work ethic off the ice isnt the greatest but his skill on the ice belongs in the NHL.

So, Gillis brought in 3 offensive players; one that's proven (Demitra) who bearing any injuries will make up for Naslunds production and more; another with massive amounts of potential (Bernier) and another who maybe needed a change of scenery and a fresh start (Wellwood). Add this combo with the Sedins and you have a decent top 5. Throw in the players who are improving every season like Raymond, Kesler and Burrows and now you have a pretty decent top 3 lines.

On the backend Ohlund and Mitchell take up monstrous minutes on the PK and against opposing top lines. Edler is looking more comfortable every game and Biexsa is steady at both ends of the ice. Salo is another offensive dman and a good one when he's healthy. O'Brien is a beast on the back end that alleviates some of the physical play from Ohlund, Biexsa, and Mitchell. It's pretty tough to play against that backend because there are four physical players back there.

And of course in goal...Luongo...nothing else needs to be said.

The skilled forwards upfront are complimented by players who work hard and pitch in on both ends of the ice. The D has a nice mixture of physical players added in with the offensive type.

So do the Canucks have a deep offense? No, not when you compare them to Detroit or San Jose. But do they have enough offense to compete and win games? Yes. Can they play physical, work hard, and contribute at both ends of the ice? They certainly can. They dont have a lot, but they have enough to compete every night and Vigneault is using the tools that he's been given and has created a structured team. The team has a lot of character and they show it most nights.

Now the Maple Leafs. Sundin was the face of the franchise...was. Once he left, the team needed a new identity. Well since Fletcher couldn't acquire a player of super stardom over the summer, (which was against his plan in the first place cause he wanted to rebuild) he moved players like Tucker and McCabe to free up even more salary to build a younger team. Well instead of Sundin being the teams identity, he decided to build a "team identity" for the team rather than having a single identity. He brought in Ron Wilson, who knows how to make a team work; a perfect coach to build a team and identity around. He wants his players to work hard and doesnt like to put up with "locker room divas". Players like, Hagman, Mayers, Hollweg, and Schenn (who was drafted) were brought in to give the team some character...some of that blue collar vibe that lets other teams know that they wont be walked over and will continue to work hard even if the scoreboard isnt always in their favor. Well that character rubs off in the locker room because the Leafs seem to be the comeback kids of the NHL and they continue to work game in and game out.

They don't have all the tools to be a cup contender but they have the tools and coach to compete most nights. Both of these teams have one key that you need to succeed...structure.

The comparison I want to make here is to the Oilers. They're a team with too many pieces that are out of place in all areas of the organization. There is no structure.

There is no structure on any of the lines because the roles of the players have been lost in the shuffle. Sure the Oilers look good on paper but that's not the reality of the current situation. MacTavish is really a simple coach; get him his type of players and let him run with the roster. Lowe has done the opposite. He let Marty Reasoner walk as a ufa and traded Stoll and Greene for Visnovsky and now everyone thinks the reason our pk sucks is because we cant win faceoffs. That's not what I or the Oilers miss most about those two…what's missed is Stoll and Reasoner's ability to block shots on the PK. Right now the Oilers pk is ranked 26th! There are way too many shots allowed to come through the middle. Smith and Greene were also vital parts to the pk because they were tough to play against on the backend. Where has that physicality gone? Lowe got rid of those players what did he replace it with? He replaced it with pieces that don’t fit in with the mold of MacT’s team. When you hire a chef you have to let him cook with his ingredients and right now MacT hasn’t been given the right ingredients.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love Erik Cole and Lubomir Visnovsky. Cole looks, plays, and skates like an Oiler but his role on the team has been misguided and it’s not all MacTs fault. Throughout the season we’ve seen Cole being put in various positions throughout the line-up and so far nothing has complimented his strength. Hemsky would be a great play maker for Cole but, Hemsky, like Cole is also a right winger. There are offensive weapons on the Oilers that can’t be utilized to their full potential because the pieces don’t fit.

Visnovsky is a world class puck moving dman, but at times he’s a defensive liability. He’s paired with Souray who is also a defensive liability at times. There needs to be a shutdown dman back their, who can let the offensive dmen free wheel…and no Staios or Strudwick are not the kind of shutdown dmen I’m talking about. There defense as it stands right now doesn’t compliment each other that well. There is no structure up front or on the back end.

Players are playing out of position, which leads to turnovers, frustration for the players, coaches and fans, more line shuffling (like most I gave my line-up predictions in the previous blog), lack of structure and an overall lack of chemistry. Right now MacT has been forced to move at least 4 players out of their regular positions of strength to try and accommodate the roster for what they are missing. Well it’s quite evident that it’s not working.

It’s a simple philosophy a hockey fan should be able to recognize when it comes to a successful franchise. Take a look at the Red Wings. They draft or trade for players that resemble the players they have on their current roster in order to keep the winning formula (ie. Darren Helm = Kris Draper). They add to the formula of their success by bringing in players like Hossa. His skill and style mesh well with their system and he compliments their group of forwards and vice versa. They’re structured. Ken Holland brings in pieces that fit and make sense. When Schneider left the Red Wings he signed Brian Rafalski, not only did he fit, but many considered Rafalski an upgrade (as did I). When Lowe makes a move, it seems like he believes he has to sacrifice one aspect of the Oilers game in order to achieve another. It is evident that Lowe has traded and let go of players who were great at doing the little things right in order to trade to get more of an offensive game.

Right now the boat is tipping, and it has been the individual skill of some players that have saved the boat from sinking all together. It’s going to take a team effort to get the ship balanced and on course to make up the ground that it has lost but I don’t know if it will be able to. It pains me to say that but like I said before, there are two sides to my views on hockey, one being the insane Oiler crazed fan…and the realist. Until the current piece’s get put back into their places of strength and the holes that were carved out of the Oilers by Lowe are replaced, I don’t see the sail setting in the near future for the Oilers.

Maybe the change will have to come through a trade, a firing, a benching or an injury. Maybe Lowe needs to trade some of this depth upfront that he acquired in order to improve the team where players are being forced to play out of position. Maybe he can trade some of that skill for some of players who compliment the rest of the forwards and defense. There would be less of a cluster upfront if he did and maybe with the moves (if any) players can get back to their positions of strength and Chef MacT can finally have the proper ingredients that he needs to make a masterpiece and create the structure on the ice thats needed to succeed. Now going back to my original point…Less is More.