Ken Hitchcock has been saying all the right things when it comes to managing goaltenders Cam Talbot and Mikko Koskinen since he took over as coach. Sweet-talker and savvy bench boss he is, Hitch has made sure to stress he likes both of his stoppers while pointing out he considers goaltending a strength of his Edmonton Oilers. Of course he does.
I’m not buying it. The fact is, Koskinen has been so much better than Talbot to this point of the season, it’s not even close. The big Finn is 8-3-1 with a 2.23 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. Talbot, who’ll get the net back against the St, Louis Blues tonight, is 5-9-1 with a 3.29 and .889 and is in one of the swoons we’ve seen too often during his time with the Oilers.
Don’t me wrong, Koskinen has been a terrific story, one I didn’t expect. But what Hitchcock has here is a 30-year-old stopper with just 17 NHL games on his resume who has grabbed the No. 1 spot and a veteran in Talbot, who has proven capable of great stretches at times, but cannot seem to go wire-to-wire in a season. To me, that’s far from ideal, far from a strength in the big picture.
If Talbot intends to change that, to turn the battle for the blue paint into an actual tug-of-war instead of a one-sided pull for Koskinen, he has to find his game. I can’t think of a better time than tonight in the Show Me State to get on with it. Until that happens, Hitch will have to keep blowing smoke at Talbot without being rewarded for it. Enough talk about and from Talbot. Stop pucks.
WHAT THEY SAY
“We’ve got to get a better rhythm,” said Hitchcock, who has put Koskinen between the pipes for four straight starts. “It’s too spaced out for me. The gap between playing is too big. I think we’re in a position now, when we get back to Edmonton, where we can have a better routine. In my opinion, when you have faith in both guys like I do, both guys have got to play.”
There’s nothing in it for Hitchcock to jump all over Talbot, whose last start was a 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, so I get why he’s been publicly supportive. That said, I’d love to be a fly on the wall when Hitchcock and his staff talk about what they’ve seen from Talbot, who’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer. It stands to reason a call is coming on Talbot. The rest of the season has to be about winning games, not playing footsie in the crease.
“When a guy is playing as well as him (Koskinen) and winning games, that’s what you expect,” said Talbot, who hasn’t won in six starts dating back to a 2-1 decision over the Chicago Blackhawks Oct. 28. “I have to get back to playing my game . . . I’ve always been a professional who supports his partner and his teammates.”
My guess is Hitchcock would rather have Talbot supporting his teammates while stopping pucks instead of cheerleading from the end of the bench with a ball cap on. You can do both, after all. While nobody has come out and said it — certainly not Hitchcock — the clock is ticking on Talbot and how many more games he has to grab the starting job back from Koskinen. There are games to win, and that dictates the best guy gets the net.
WHILE I’M AT IT
- It looks like Jujhar Khaira will get a bump up the line-up tonight against the Blues as he’s pencilled in on left wing on the second line with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jesse Puljujarvi. With just 1-6-7 this season, Khaira hasn’t been nearly as good or productive as I thought he might be after what he showed at times last season.
- Khaira, Milan Lucic, Ty Rattie, Puljujarvi and Zack Kassian have combined for just seven goals this season. Lucic, of course, is the name that sticks out here. While I don’t take the same delight it seems some do in seeing him struggle, I’m at a total loss to understand what’s happened to him. Two goals in 70-plus games dating back to last season? Mercy.
- I love the idea of Seattle getting an expansion franchise and joining the Pacific Division. It’s a great town with a storied hockey past. Curious to know what you think as far as a team name goes and your impression of the old Seattle Totems jerseys I ran on Twitter yesterday.
Can Talbot do anything to get a new contract for next season with the oilers? I vote if he plays better than ever, even starting now, and carries it the rest of the season, look elswere.
Cant afford a goalie that is inconsistant, its impossible to create a solid team with talbots performances.
I’m pretty sure Talbot won’t be back unless he carries the team into the playoffs on his back.
Its the hand were dealt. Enough ink. We know Talbot is an NHL goalie but hasn’t shown us lately. With the Oilers tightening up defensively with Hitch maybe Dadbot can get his mojo back. Just for the love of beer, please save the first shot tonight.
You can say Talbot is an NHL goalie all you want. The fact is his stats over the last two season prove Talbot is at the bottom for NHL goalies during that period of time.
That ON $ subscription getting too costly?
Love those Totems jerseys Robin
Hmmm…sounds like cultural appropriation to me…let the snowflakes start screaming!
I read somewhere “The Seattle Kraken” and I really liked it.
It also places it on that list of teams that doesn’t end in an “s”
Team name:
The Seattle Grunge
The Seattle Slewfooters
The Seattle Sticklebacks
Seattle Sockeye’s
Talbot has been on the same flight path as Lucic lately,which is not good. He needs to right the plane fast, or it could’ve end up landing in another city in the coming months. Seattle will help cut down the travel time some what for the Oilers,which is good. The totems uniform was a good one, brings to mind Guyle Fielder,a true pure goal scorer. Thought of the Sounders for a name, but I think the soccer team has that name already. Maybe the Seagulls, then they could squawk at the refs all the time.
Oilman: I don’ know if you actually saw Fielder play — I did, but I was a kid and don’t remember him — but he was a playmaker, not a goal-scorer. In 22 pro seasons, he only reached 30 goals twice. He was primarily a set-up man. His career stats were 438-1,491-1,929.
Was a young lad, saw him play against the Flyers at the old Gardens in the WHL.Only played a handful of games in the NHL[not sure why, because his minor league points are legendry.Some good players from that era.. Glen Hall, Bucyk,Ullman,Poile bros., etc.
I am not sure why the drop of in Lucic was so unexpected. He was trending down fast the prior two years, and there are many examples of his type of player falling off a cliff at that age. If you pay attention to the actual numbers rather than the narrative around the player it was painfully obvious that he was a bad bet. See also, David Clarkson.
In which prior two years was he “trending down fast?” In his last four seasons heading into last season, he had 59, 44, 55 and 50 points.
Gravis82, is one of these guys who finds it easy to predict the future, after it happens
Aren’t the numbers in a few of those seasons really bolstered by PP points? His EV numbers being bad for a few years now?
Not before this contract. His first season with Edmonton was the first with high PP production, it also coincided with the first time he struggled 5×5
Those aren’t the numbers that are important. Those are the ones Chiarelli was looking at. They represent where a player was, and not where he is going.
This is the problem
This so reminds me of a few seasons ago with Anders Nilsson taking the spot in November then crashing for Talbot to shine.
Talbot really doesn’t have much time left to prove himself and get his SV% back up above .910. Some shutouts would be nice.
Why would you bring Talbot back next year ? The oilers are always getting screwed with their high priced defencemen, Whitney, Ferance, and now Sekera. Maybe Lucic needs a good fight to turn things around.
Maybe Lucic should be stipped of the #27 in respect for Semenko and Laraque. Lurch and theGina should just be fired!
stripped
As a fan of the show Frasier…how about the Seattle Moon Cranes? (ok I’m kidding).
Lucic has one of the hardest shots on the team. This needs to be utilized more, and the entire line needs to crash the net looking for rebounds. They’re getting a lot more rebounds then they seem to expect and the puck is going past them.
I hope Talbot wall’s up the net and get’s a shutout and the boy’s score more than 4 goals. And now let the nay sayer’s take over this thread and trash my comment atleast 100 times.
One game or one shut out does not make a season. Its a body of work. Talbot is inconsistent. He is either great or awful. Currently he is awful. I hope plays great for the rest of the season as i want playoffs but i wouldn’t resign him
Meanwhile the flames win 9-6 and poor goaltending is a non issue
Himynameistaylor
3 MONTHS AGO
TRASH IT! 2
CHEERS 8
REPLY
Do u ever stop?
Can’t wait til Talbot shuts you up this year.
And We wait!
What’s your point here?
Talbots history has been he is a 2nd half of the season goalie, much like Jerome I in Calgary was
Great, too bad other than one season which is the anomaly the Oilers were out of the playoff chase by they time Talbot payed like a higher than average NHL starter.
Talbot’s history has proven he cannot stop pucks.
That does little for a team if their goalie only shows up for half a year. A forward can skate by not getting points for a while but if your goalie is mailing in a half season don’t ever expect to make the playoffs.