So uh, why is Horcoff still being spoonfed minutes? What does he accomplish out there, exactly? Both RNH and Gagner had better face-off win percentages tonight.
Gagner wasnt great tonight but he was still over 50% on the dot horcoff under 50%
You just described Dubnyk perfectly; he is a great backup goaltender, but nothing more.
Unfortunately for Dubnyk the "back-up" role doesn't suit him either. He's maddingly inconsistent but he usually plays his best hockey when he's given multiple starts in a row.
I think schultz looked alright..
But why in the world would Jones have a minute more Ice time than Eberle? I know there was a five min. Major but Cmon!
Hemsky was NOT good tonight..Hall was Hall..Eberle was oils best forward on Ice..
Gagner needs more Ice time..
Everyone was bad except for the Nuge. Hall needs to quit trying to beat 3 guys at once. Eberle was good in the last few, when the game was already out of reach.
Barker is SO stupid. I bet he wipes his ass with his hand. No toliet paper. Just his bare friggin hand.
Agreed.
The guy is seriously barely better than a beer leaguer. He annoys the **** out of me. You can't even play a drinking game around him, you'll end up in the ICU.
I did not catch Smyth's hit, but was it as bad of a call as the fans of Edmonton would lead you to believe? All I heard was booing once I turned the channel back to the game.
I think that everybody just has a problem with him routinely getting more minutes than guys like Eberle and even Gagner. That had better come to an ABRUPT stop next year.
Blame idiot Renney for that, not Horcoff. I thought Horcoff was playing better with limited minutes in the last several games, Renney needs to take notes but somehow i have the feeling that he won't change his ways because the kids need protecting or something like that.
Totally out classed, the difference in coaching was real noticeable, the Blues system play was awesome, while the Oilers system play was non-existent.
I was on CoH, and I suggested that maybe barker might be (and the Oilers as well) better off being tried at 4th line wing. The chat ended before I could explain, so I will here.
The one thing that struck me is Barker is actually playing like a forward, though unfortunately, he's a defense man. But... He does have some offensive skill, is a bigger body, likes to hit, and being shuffled over to the wing means a lot less responsibility. Considering we are dress Horichuck and giving him 3-4 minutes per game, maybe give Barker that spot a couple games and see what happens. He is trying too hard, that's the reason he keeps making those bad mistakes, so maybe take that pressure off of him, he can relax, and might do better in a different role and responsibility.
The worst that happens is he fails, which he already has been doing all season anyway, and then maybe waiver him if he does. On the other hand, he may find a bit more success up front, and the management would be happy, because then they don't actually have to admit they made a very very VERY bad mistake signing him.
We have a couple more games before the AHL cut off on Tuesday, and then we can call up Omark. In the meanwhile, why not? Not losing anything.
Okay, I will find a big rock to hide behind so you can start flaming away...
Everyone was bad except for the Nuge. Hall needs to quit trying to beat 3 guys at once. Eberle was good in the last few, when the game was already out of reach.
Hall needs to put in a lot of work on his stick-handling during the off-season. The kid has all the heart and drive you would want out of a player, but the on-ice IQ is minimal.
You dont need a big goalie. Compare Halak's foot work and Dubnyk's. Big goalies suffer a big weakness, if you get it into their feet, they lose it. Some huge goalies have that ability like Rinne.
I thought we held our own pretty good against a physical Blues team. I saw, on multiple occasions, Smid, Petry, Schultz, and even Hall, Eberle, Hemsky and RNH up front, dish out some solid hits. Yes, the Blues killed us with their cycle, but that's where we need to be meaner. Our forwards cheat too much, which is why they seem to hold the puck in the O-zone a lot. That will come with experience for the kids.
An NHL goalie and Sutton instead of Barker, and this game is pretty close.
Barker sucks. Only played 11 minutes, but it felt like 40 because every time he was out there, something bad was happening.
Schultz is decent, makes calm steady plays and seems to understand puck support. He was the opposite of Barker, played the 4th most minutes tonight of the Oilers, yet barely noticed him.
Best shift all night was when there was a partial line change and Eberle/Hall/RNH proceeded to dominate the Blues for a full minute. It ended in disaster, but Hemsky was laughably out of place there. Regardless, it should have clued in the coach that maybe he should put that line together, but it's becoming apparent that he has no interest in doing that.
Pretty obvious that Hall drives results on whatever line he is on though. Hall/Gagner/Eberle together? Gagner goes god mode, Eberle looks like a 10 top NHL scorer. Take Hall off that line and put him with Hemsky? Hemsky looks rejuvenated, Eberle goes cold, and Gagner looks like a rookie again. Hopefully they'll at least keep Hall/RNH together to give RNH a shot at the calder though, even if it's unlikely he'll get the 10+ points clear of Henrique to overcome the eastern conference voting bias.
Dubnyk didn't help his team tonight at all, wasn't ready to play right from the get go. Doubt Danis is all that much better, but he needs to get the next start if Bulin isn't ready to go.
Terrible start overall, but at least they made a game of it. It looked like the blues were going to take an easy game 2 or 3 to nothing early on.
Everyone was bad except for the Nuge. Hall needs to quit trying to beat 3 guys at once. Eberle was good in the last few, when the game was already out of reach.
Hall was awesome tonight, easily our best forward.
it wasn't Hemsky that ran into hall it was pam barker, worst game of the year by him tonight. Potter had no magic outside that goal tonight. Dubnyk Danis looked ok. reffing was sweet.
can't say I'm surprised by the outcome, still makes me sad though.
Love that Petrell Tambo resign this kid, shoot barker out of a chicken cannon, Pk did a hell of a job, our special teams are fine. shame Sutton wasn't in barkers spot he seems to calm potter down when they are paired. Good game by a big chunk of the team. Like what I saw from Schultz. Rushed passes/turnovers killed us tonight.
Totally out classed, the difference in coaching was real noticeable, the Blues system play was awesome, while the Oilers system play was non-existent.
I was on CoH, and I suggested that maybe barker might be (and the Oilers as well) better off being tried at 4th line wing. The chat ended before I could explain, so I will here.
The one thing that struck me is Barker is actually playing like a forward, though unfortunately, he's a defense man. But... He does have some offensive skill, is a bigger body, likes to hit, and being shuffled over to the wing means a lot less responsibility. Considering we are dress Horichuck and giving him 3-4 minutes per game, maybe give Barker that spot a couple games and see what happens. He is trying too hard, that's the reason he keeps making those bad mistakes, so maybe take that pressure off of him, he can relax, and might do better in a different role and responsibility.
The worst that happens is he fails, which he already has been doing all season anyway, and then maybe waiver him if he does. On the other hand, he may find a bit more success up front, and the management would be happy, because then they don't actually have to admit they made a very very VERY bad mistake signing him.
We have a couple more games before the AHL cut off on Tuesday, and then we can call up Omark. In the meanwhile, why not? Not losing anything.
Okay, I will find a big rock to hide behind so you can start flaming away...
There is zero reason to give a forward spot to Barker, even if he could play forward. He flatout sucks.
The kids dominate but the problem is when you combine them we have 1 amazing line and 3 useless lines who bleed goals against
Even now Rob Brown is saying the same: "Jordan Eberle has to be playing with good players." (meaning he wasn't tonight). "His only good shift was with Hall and Nuge. Eberle plays the game at a high level. He needs to play with players who play the game the way he does."
wtf
<-- Credit goes to The Nemesis.
Danis looked ok. reffing was sweet.
