Poor Omark, he gets his shoot playing offensive wich is great.
But Hemsky seemed to waffle at the puck and wasnt really hands on with the passes or the lines.
And Gagner? Where to even start, firstly he doesnt seem to want to pass to Omark even at all. Secondly he turned over the puck how many times today? Overworked how many possitions when easy options were available? Got caught out of possition how many times?
Tbh im just waiting for Replecement to come out and chop Gagners head off.
Ohh well compared to Peckham Gagner had a solid performance lol.
I actually think the fourth line was the best line today, i think they looked good offensivly and did create some nice chances.
Gagner played another stupid game tonight. Not sure quite what gets into his head when he's playing with Omark, who actually had a good game.
I'll be honest here. Gagner looks like he can't stand playing with Omark and hopes this line is reworked asap. Its like he's trying to deepsix it.
I'd like to see Omark with Smyth and Horcoff myself. I suspect Gagner does as well.
Not excusing Gagner as he was a big ole mess tonight but WHY try this pairing again.
Zero chemistry between these players who are on the same line and detest passing the puck to each other.
It looks like the team has quit on Rene. Usually when that happens there is a coaching change.
I wouldn't mind seeing eager get some top line minute's seeing as he etleast gives a crap. Not to mention he will help protect guy's like nuge and eberle.
Guys, calm down. It's one game. You've been through awful games before. There have actually been fewer of them lately.
Try to have some perspective. This is a bad hockey team that has improved, somewhat, over last year. If you're going to be negative, be negative based on a long-term trend of this team, rather than in reaction to one game. Otherwise, you start believing silly things, like Gagner being a bad player.
There are some things that are pretty messed up about this team, IMO. But I get that from stepping back, looking at the big picture, and noting some disturbing trends. I don't get it from getting emotionally invested in one game, and then assuming that my emotions afterwards have ANYTHING to do with what the overall picture is.
I'm getting emotionally invested and worked up over this game because the Habs were in blatant full-on tank mode going into this game and the Oilers proceeded to thoroughly embarrass themselves. How many games has Budaj started this year again? The Habs completely telegraphed their intentions.
Gagner played another stupid game tonight. Not sure quite what gets into his head when he's playing with Omark, who actually had a good game.
I'll be honest here. Gagner looks like he can't stand playing with Omark and hopes this line is reworked asap. Its like he's trying to deepsix it.
I'd like to see Omark with Smyth and Horcoff myself. I suspect Gagner does as well.
Not excusing Gagner as he was a big ole mess tonight but WHY try this pairing again.
Zero chemistry between these players who are on the same line and detest passing the puck to each other.:help:
Yep...Renney tried to bring his best offensive players into the top six today and apparently some of them were not on board with this...Gagner sucked the life out of this line.
Guys, calm down. It's one game. You've been through awful games before. There have actually been fewer of them lately.
Try to have some perspective. This is a bad hockey team that has improved, somewhat, over last year. If you're going to be negative, be negative based on a long-term trend of this team, rather than in reaction to one game. Otherwise, you start believing silly things, like Gagner being a bad player.
There are some things that are pretty messed up about this team, IMO. But I get that from stepping back, looking at the big picture, and noting some disturbing trends. I don't get it from getting emotionally invested in one game, and then assuming that my emotions afterwards have ANYTHING to do with what the overall picture is.
Three straight years of 1-1-2ish picks is a pretty negative long term trend. That is where the frustration comes from, not from a random loss. I get what you are saying but man, this aint an easy team to love.
Embarrassing to give up 2 PP goals to that team.
Peckham could've been called on 10 penalties tonight. He's not clever at all with his "toughness." A complete non-factor in on ice intimidation.
Khabibulin cannot let shots in from behind the net.
There were other minutiae going wrong tonight but the above are the top 3 imo.
Hall needs to play with a shorter stick. I understand his shot gets better velocity with the long stick but his passing is not good.
Guys, calm down. It's one game. You've been through awful games before. There have actually been fewer of them lately.
Try to have some perspective. This is a bad hockey team that has improved, somewhat, over last year. If you're going to be negative, be negative based on a long-term trend of this team, rather than in reaction to one game. Otherwise, you start believing silly things, like Gagner being a bad player.
There are some things that are pretty messed up about this team, IMO. But I get that from stepping back, looking at the big picture, and noting some disturbing trends. I don't get it from getting emotionally invested in one game, and then assuming that my emotions afterwards have ANYTHING to do with what the overall picture is.
LEts not go overboard, Omark didn't do much and the goal was a total fluke that he just threw on net from near the blueline.
I thought that Hemsky actually skated hard and tried to create offense but with Gagner a total no show and with Omark being a similar player, that line was destined for major fail. I don't know what Renney was thinking with that line. Omark should have been on the RNH-Eberle line and Hall on the Gagner-Hemsky line.
Agreed with your assessment of the Gagner Omark pairing but Linus played a good smart game. Have to say it.
I didn't mind him in any area of the ice tonight.
Replace these guys with even half decent players and we are going to be okay next year:
Peckham - NHL toughness, AHL skillset, ECHL hockey sense.
Barker - NHL skill, AHL hockey sense, zero heart and determination.
Khabibulin - Time to retire. Looked tired even he's got good rest in between games. Need someone to push Dubnyk instead of allowing DD to stay in that comfort zone. Hard not for Dubnyk taking things for granted when he'll get at least half the games even when he can cost the team couple goals every night. And he knows Renney will come back to him because Khabby is just terrible.
The question is, can Tambellini find good replacements?
And man, did Quinn ever get on my nerves tonight. Even more so than normal. He was slobbering all over Khabibulin in the third period AFTER he yielded that absurd Eller goal.
Agreed with your assessment of the Gagner Omark pairing but Linus played a good smart game. Have to say it.
I didn't mind him in any area of the ice tonight.
Agree on Omark - he played a good game at both ends. Best game I have seen him play as an Oiler.
Its insane how many loose pucks the Oilers skate by and how many board battles they lose. It was almost a given tonight that the Habs would come out of a scrum with the puck in their own end. Brutal passing, too. Remember the first 10 games? Laser passes. That is long gone.
And man, did Quinn ever get on my nerves tonight. Even more so than normal. He was slobbering all over Khabibulin in the third period AFTER he yielded that absurd Eller goal.
Winner winner Quinner dinner. The Excitement in his voice when the Oil are floundering is maddening. It's like the stanley cup playoffs when we score a late goal when we are getting savaged.
I'm I the only one that hates it when Sportsnet shows random opposing fans cheering and hooping it up when we get scored on? I can't stand that. These aren't national games, I don't wanna see some drunk Philly fan taunting the camera when my team ***** the bed.
Its insane how many loose pucks the Oilers skate by and how many board battles they lose. It was almost a given tonight that the Habs would come out of a scrum with the puck in their own end. Brutal passing, too. Remember the first 10 games? Laser passes. That is long gone.
Phew. I'm not the only one that notices this lazy phenomenon.
Gagner is way too defensively inconsistent (I only caught the tail end on the radio back from class and heard that his turnover nearly caused a goal against, I can only imagine his play the rest of the night after I watched the last 5 minutes on TV) and relies too much on other players to bring him up a notch. This team can't afford forwards that don't have at least passable defensive play day in and day out.
Three straight years of 1-1-2ish picks is a pretty negative long term trend. That is where the frustration comes from, not from a random loss.
Then why don't I read these posts when they win? -_-
No, there's legitimate frustration out there, but on the whole, just reading through post game threads, it's more volatile than it should be. Especially when... they have been less, awful, on the whole, in the last little while.
But I think the thing that bothers me is that people try to demonize specific players as the reason for why the Oilers are performing poorly after they have one underperforming game. Gagner played poorly tonight, he's the reason we're 29th! Peckham has struggled this season, he'll never be a NHL player! The lack of perspective is frustrating, particularly when it's targeted at players that have, at different times, stemmed the tide of poor play in this organization.
Things do not stay the same in the NHL--they change. And the smaller the sample size is, the less likely a thing will be like that going forward long-term. Hemsky has had one middling season, he must be washed up! Well... he's historically been near a point per game player, so... Gagner is useless, he's already been here too long! But he's just starting to hit the age where players start finding their comfort zone, has been on the whole a better player this year after a slow start, and has a history of producing reasonable, second-line quality offence. Ryan Whitney is done forever! Maybe, but we don't know if he will ultimately recover his mobility, or if he'll be able to adjust.
It's just all so... near-sighted. And ultimately, I think near-sightedness is one of the major reasons why this management group has been poor (trading Piktanen for a pending UFA in Cole comes to mind), which is why I am frustrated with some fans--what they want to see done is, in principle, part of the problem.
