Chiarelli talks Oilers struggles and #GeneralDisappointment
By baggedmilk
6 years agoOver at ESPN, Greg Wyshynski transcribed a quick scrum with Peter Chiarelli where he describes feeling disappointed in the Oilers’ season so far. While he didn’t get too specific about what’s gone wrong, he did help spawn a new hashtag for us that will live on for as long as the Oilers are struggling. Ladies and gentlemen, I present the 2017 edition of #GeneralDisappointment.
Before I get started, I want to mention quickly that I hate writing this kind of stuff. I love the Oilers and the fact that they’re dropped turds all over the ice on a consistent basis after the season we had last year is heart breaking. I don’t want to do this. I want to write posts about other fanbases being horrible, or giving reasons why we should be even more arrogant than ever. Instead, I have to get angry and talk about things that are going wrong. THAT’S NOT WHAT THIS YEAR WAS SUPPOSED TO BE!
Anyway…
When asked how he was feeling about the season, Chiarelli pretty much said what we’ve all been thinking.
“We’re in second-last in the division, so it’s obviously not satisfactory.”
Not only are the Oilers in second-last in the division, they’re doing it with the best player on the planet with the cheapest contract he’s ever going to have. THAT’S what is unacceptable, Pete. The fact that we’re even talking about a team that can’t score after the pieces you traded away is completely absurd.
“I think the way that we started we were loose, and now we’ve tightened up, and when you tighten up generally as a team you have trouble scoring goals.”
I actually agree with this. What I don’t agree with is that all of the blame should fall on the players. How about the fact that the bottom six has been pretty much non-existent? How about the fact that the scoring that was traded away was never replaced? Last year, the Oilers were able to score their way out of their issues and that’s just not the case anymore. Unless the top five players do all of the heavy lifting on a nightly basis, the team is basically screwed.
“We’re almost at the 20-game mark and it’s obviously disappointing where we are, but I see some positives and it’s a grind.”
I also see some positives but moral victories don’t pay the bills and rent is due every single day. The fact that we’re looking for silver linings is just a garbage tactic that sweeps the real problems under the rug.
“We have to get some traction in terms of winning just one game or losing just one. (The) takeaway is general disappointment. There’s your headline.”
General disappointment… We can do something with that. Thanks for spawning our new hashtag for the year that you’ve created.
“But I do believe in the critical mass of the team and I do believe that we’re still in it.”
What you’re in, Pete, is a position where your moves have backfired and are blowing up in your face. You can say you believe in the critical mass all you want, but until there are wins on the board no one is going to care what you believe. I want to believe that the Oilers are going to win every single night rather than worry about whether or not eating beets again is going to make me stain my toilet bowl.
Unless the Oilers turn the ship around quickly, you’ll be the one on record as the GM that wasted the last cheap year of one of the best players on the planet. In a way, it’s almost impressive that the GM has gone from being a hero to a meme in the span of a few months. Nice job.
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