Steve Tambellini: It's Injuries, Guys
Jonathan Willis
November 22 2009 10:16AM
There's an interesting article up on NHL.com this morning, and Oilers' GM Steve Tambellini talks at some length about his team and the problems facing them.
I should warn you: he sounds pretty happy with his team.
Tambellini starts by explaining the injury situation his team has had to slog thorugh; H1N1, concussions, etc. But then he says something that I didn't expect at all.
"We had a really good camp and a very strong start and I like the look of our team and I like the balance of scoring and grit. The focus now is keeping the group together."
That would be the Oilers 6-2-1 start to the season that Tambellini is referring to with those comments. It's identical to the argument David Staples made the other day, an argument I had an in-depth look at here. The short story is this: during that 6-2-1 start, the Oilers were getting outshot by even worse margins than they are now. After looking at the injuries, Dan Rosen of NHL.com said, "It's no wonder they were allowing nearly five more shots per game than they were taking", but the fact is that during that 6-2-1 start the Oilers were allowing eight more shots than they were taking. Maybe Tambellini's playing PR here, but if he honestly believes that his team's play warranted a 6-2-1 record, he ought to be kicked out of the GM's seat right now — or at the very least forced to listen to his coach's post-game press conferences over and over until he realizes that this team wasn't the picture of perfection indicated by that record.
Tambellini went on to explain what he expects to happen when the Oilers get back to (relative) health:
"The scoring will come when we have more balance in our lineup and that's just getting some bodies back,"
The only problem with that logic is that the scoring has actually been okay. The Oilers were ninth in the NHL in 5-on-5 offence and 12th in the NHL on the power play going into last night's game against Chicago. Those are playoff numbers.
No, the problem has been the teams goals against (25th in the league), penalty kill (just 1.5% better than last year's miserable number), 5-on-5 goal against (26th in the league), shot differential (27th in the league) and faceoffs (dead last in the NHL). None of that has to do with scoring; it galls me that when listing the problems caused by injury the first thing that comes to Steve Tambellini's mind is scoring. Next quote.
"When you're watching the game from up top you can see overall energy in the team. You can see the way people move and sustain it, and the last couple of games you're starting to see signs of that coming back."
Presumably that comment was made before last night's game, a low-energy affair (aside from a few shifts by the fourth line) that saw the Oilers not only picked apart but also outworked by the Blackhawks. Finally:
"You want to see what your team looks like when you're healthy. That part I am really looking forward to."
In short: stay the course. If Steve Tambellini believes what he's saying here, there isn't going to be a move to fix the personnel problems on this team any time soon.
Meanwhile, Lowetide suggests that Tambellini's inertia will cost him his job.
Gregor and RB,
Any insights to the team meeting held yesterday? I heard on the radio this morning that they were complaining about the coaches. Any truth to this rumor?
And for the record I heard this from Hallsy on 630 Ched (I was only tuning in there during the ads on 1260, I swear!)
isnt chris clark the captain of the capitals?
wiki has: 2006-present Chris Clark
comparable career PPG stats with moreau, injury problems the last couple years as well.
More on Hemsky.
I'm predicting an all time low for oiler PPV sales tonight.
The league might call it a hard cap, but in reality it's a soft cap. Ask Philly/Det/Chicago or any other team that's placed vets in the A or signed a long term, front loaded deal that is (highly) unlikely to be completed.
Quit teasing...
Don't want to spoil it, but does it have anything to do with a Dustin Penner that is tied for 10th in league scoring. Haven't we all been saying for years that Hemsky is a complimentary player? "If only we had someone who could score to take those Hemsky passes? etc.."
PS. Maybe just maybe, Tambo said what he said because you can't coach scoring, but you can coach faceoffs and PK and defensive coverage. So perhaps that all-star cast of coaches just needs a healthy lineup THAT LISTENS to them and we could start winning.
*Takes off Oiler goggles [strange shade of rose disappears] and goes back to work*
Oh, I don't know. As much as everyone* is unhappy with the team, nobody is going anywhere. How many people do you know that spouted off about how "I'm done with hockey" during the lockout?
With that in mind, I shudder to think what's going to happen if they don't show up against the Coyotes.
*Except Tambellini, of course.
Agreed, but it's not like a team can simply dish out bad contract after bad contract and hope that buyouts and waivers to the minors will cure all ills. It works for a few players, but at the end of the day there's only so much money to go around.
Still think we have too many small players that get knocked around to easy and that don't get in the tough spots. Add to that, that most of those guys can't play two way hockey and we don't know where to be positionally and there lies the problems.
Maybe we just sit back and let these guys learn these things, I don't know. But what I do know is adding one piece isn't going to fix the problem as a whole, unless of course that piece is an Ovechkin or human rake.
Well in theory they could. Like Barry was saying, the teams salary limit is really how much Katz is willing to pay, not the number the league assigns.
"As a valued customer the Edmonton Oilers would like to invite you to a season seat holder event being held Wednesday, November 25th. The event provides the opportunity for us to hear your feedback and opinions about your experience with the Oilers. The event is being held at 6pm before the Los Angeles game at All Stars in Rexall Place where you and a guest can join us for dinner with Oilers management. I hope that you are able to attend."
Koolaid in fancy glasses!
I'm predicting all time high site traffic for atdhe.net and justintv.com
This whole team is at an all-time Lowe - that may be our problem.
Oh-ho. Good one!
It also doesn't help that Phoenix is suffering from 'Wayne-ing' attendance. bwahaha.
@Librarian Mike
nice one - see what you can work out for "Tambellini".
@TigerUnderGlass
We need more people to take the time and effort to find the stats like you did before posting. That being said, the problem most have with ol Hemmer is the lack of effort that can be displayed. Good value for money? Sure, ok, but imagine how good he could be if he put the effort in and still be in that salary range. Is he good? Yes, but is he a winner?
@Shawn Cronin
Even if what you say is true, and I'm not willing to concede that, why would a player who tries harder but does not perform as well be automatically more of a winner?