Pronger w/ Spacek vs. Bergeron

[4th_Liner]

i wouldn't be comfortable seeing mab with anybody other than pronger.. and that right there tells you what i think mab as a d-man.. he's not a top 4 d-man.. so in crunch time like this spacek smith and even staios are better candidates than mab for the 1st pairing position to complement pronger..

[Rin]

Originally Posted by NB_Oiler_Fan

Hahahaha.... I knew there would be a thread started about this when Bergy scored on the PP when Spacek had to sit off for helmet repairs.

Too funny how predictable most of us fans are.

Sorry to burst your bubble here, but this was started before the game even started.

[Marconius]

Originally Posted by CAZZ

Spacek with PRonger, means MAB suffers big time. His development & progress has stalled since spacek came on board. PS. Greene should play every game...MacT & rookies is a scary thing!

*sigh*

Mactavish has been head coach since 2000, I believe, since that time he has developed the following rookies still with the Oilers:

Torres, Stoll, MAB, Greene, Pisani, Hemsky,

Of the above listed players:

- Torres was never projected (at the time of his arrival anyway) to be more then a 3/4 line **** disturber

- Stoll, while viewed by most as 'captain material' upon his arrival, was never projected to have the offensive upside he has displayed this season

- MAB went undrafted...'nuff said

- Greene, although we have not seen a lot yet, seems to be progressing very well under Mactavish's tutelage

- Pisani was an 8th round choice, Mactavish turned him into a servicable 3rd liner who can jump to any other line if someone goes down. Pisani is currently being used as the responsible veteran presence on a line with Pouliot and Winchester

- Hemsky, despite all the 'backseat coaching' at HFboards, it looks like Mactavish's slow & gradual use of Hemsky has turned him into quite a player in his 3rd season with the Oilers

I'm not saying that Mactavish is perfect, but this reputation of being a poor rookie coach is completly unfounded and is parroted by a lot of people who refuse to take a look at this *actual* track record with rookies.

I'd almost go as far to say he is above average with his rookies. He demands that they learn some defensive responsibility and does a great job of protecting them within the game.

[shawnmullin]

Originally Posted by Marconius

*sigh*

Mactavish has been head coach since 2000, I believe, since that time he has developed the following rookies still with the Oilers:

Cut the post out but great job

[IceDragoon]

Originally Posted by Marconius

Torres, Stoll, MAB, Greene, Pisani, Hemsky,

Add Horcoff.

[fuhr]

This is all very true because the Oil have taken a lot of crap for a long time for not being able to develop guys. If you look at that list above, I'd have to say MacT and the boys have developed a far amount of very good if not great young talent.

Originally Posted by Marconius

- Torres was never projected (at the time of his arrival anyway) to be more then a 3/4 line **** disturber

This one I really don't agree with. Torres has turned into exactly what the Oil expected and frankly what the Islanders were hoping he'd turn into. Torres was not traded for to be a 3rd/4th line guy. He was traded for because he had the type of game to be a top 6 forward who could cause ***** on the ice and score 20+ goals. So, I give them credit for taking a guy and turning him into what many people thought was very possible for him.Everyone else you mentioned I agree with.