I am willing to cut Sutton some slack since he is coming back off injury.
I wonder what it would take for Hartley to figure out that a PP that seems to be built around setting up Mellanby will not work.
A keen insight into the genius of Darren Elliot is that he wants the guy who took a couple of silly 2 minute penalties, at the same time, on his team....and then praises "Stevie Bruise".
We're hard on them because they're making the same mistakes as last year. The only reason why we're leading the divison is we have stable goaltending this year.
I go to Thrashers' practices all the time: I swear they skate harder when they scrimmage. I see a tonne of gliding from our guys all year, and very few guys gasping for breath except for Hossa, Mellanby, and Sim. Everyone looks far too comfortable.
MARIAN, ILYA, SLAVA, turn it on guys, seriously! They don't look like they give half a **** out there. Our defense is just leaving Moose hanging, we NEED to turn it on RIGHT NOW. There is NO time to lose.
And if we're not gonna win, then Bob Hartley needs to work the goonery. At least have this team show SOME sort of emotion.
Another sub-stellar performance so far... not sure what to make of it.
Eventhough it IS a back-to-back game and they've been flying across the country... it's not much of an excuse when you're trying to hold onto the lead of the division.
They've got to do better than this. Edm is a team they should be beating. A 4 minute PP and not many good chances. And another....... not much going on there...lots of perimeter passing and then a giveaway by Kovalchuk..
I honestly give up. This reminds me of watching the Thrashers getting blown out every other night during their first two seasons. We just plain suck. Our record is a complete fluke, padded by easy wins against teams like Florida and Washington. If we were a good team AT ALL we would be working on our 3rd straight win tonight, not losing 4-1 to a team as horrible as Edmonton.
I honestly give up. This reminds me of watching the Thrashers getting blown out every other night during their first two seasons. We just plain suck. Our record is a complete fluke, padded by easy wins against teams like Florida and Washington. If we were a good team AT ALL we would be working on our 3rd straight win tonight, not losing 4-1 to a team as horrible as Edmonton.
You can't have a lineup like Haydar (yesterday), Boulton, Hamel (today), and expect to have teams be afraid of you. Thats borderline AHL material (sorry to Haydar and Hamel). The team is strikingly thin on both defense and offense. You've got a good line of Kozlov and Hossa, and then another line with Kovalchuk practically by himself. ALl they have to do is shut that Hoss line down, and hope that Kovalchuk can't work magic by himself. All they have to do is play him on the 1 on 1 (or in this case 1 on 3) since there aren't many good players with hands to finish his passes. Sim and Metro have filled in dutifully, but still... not enough. The 3rd and 4th are decent, but as PK units they're bad. I think we need Vigier back.....
I've been over the defense a number of times already this season in other threads, and with the loss of Vish, i don't see how we're any better as a team. They can't control their own zone well and they struggle clearing the pucks out (see the game vs. Vancouver), lack of posession killed. THis team needs puck posession and they need good outlook passes to the wings, but that isn't happening as it should these days. Hnidy has improved ten-fold this season but he is certainly overachieving....which sort of speaks of the lack of top talent in the d-corp...
Boulton gets run into Roloson by Bergeron..we score a goal on the play, yet WE get the penalty? refs are so biased to Canadian teams. I say this as a Canucks fan as well, calls usually go their way too.
Last edited by btn: 02-11-2007 at 10:16 PM.
Reason: masked profanity
Rollie is a sissy, and I thought that throughout EDM's great run last year.
Our D is just terrible. X and deVries and Hnidy did okay, and Sutton had his moments, but man McCarthy Havelid killed us.
Three goals were Havelid's fault PERIOD because he can't deal with traffic in the crease or the slot.
PIT, BUF, EDM, VAN, WAS fans in general leave much to be desired on these boards. Their arrogance and inability to listen to opposing views is striking.
EDM played great, including their Drama Queen 'tender.
and what do you have to show for it this year? how far back are you from a playoff spot. and by the way how did the finals turn out for the Oilers?
You don't win a cup in the regular season. The reason for this is because the playoffs are different from the floating you do in the regular season. Detroit is proof of this.
And the playoffs turned out just fine for our owners. They didn't win because Rollie got injured but they would have won if he was in there. 7 games with a backup means a win if rollie was the man.
so you didnt the Cup because Rollie wasnt in net, yet you arent even in the playoffs with Rollie this season.....
yet, remember the oilers were out of the playoffs at this point in the season last season too. They're a team that traditionally has a slump in january and finishes the season on a roll.
