Monday Mailbag – November 16th, 2015

Welcome, friends, to another edition of the Mailbag where you ask our panel of literary wizards anything that pops into that creepy mind of yours. Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. Creepiness aside, the mailbag only works because you guys send me your questions and I’m a little bit light going into next week. If you have a question for the Mailbag you can email them to me at baggedmilk@oilersnation.com or DM me on Twitter at @jsbmbaggedmilk. Now, it’s time for you to learn something. Enjoy.

Coaching matters, but not as much as the quality of player personnel.  Babcock and McLellan are two of the game’s best. Does a slow start after less than 20 games eclipse the track records they’ve established over many, many years? I think not.

In some regards I do think it’s overrated. I mean the “joke” around here for the last five years or so has been that even in-his-prime Scotty Bowman couldn’t have made the Oilers a good team, and I definitely think that does hold water. I think it’s pretty clear that’s what’s happening in Toronto under Mike Babcock so far; the Leafs aren’t playing terribly per se, and they have a coach with a winning track record as long as anyone, and yet they’ve only won three out of 15 games so far this year. They just don’t have the horses to get the results.

I don’t think it is overrated, but no coach can take a D team and make them a B team. You need good players, and coaching can make a B team a B+ team.

Great question, I’m not sure there’s an answer beyond ‘luck plays a big part in all sports.’ I do think Todd McLellan will be successful in Edmonton and I don’t think it will necessarily be with this group of players. This time next season the Oilers could have many new contributors.

Good question. I do think a good coach makes a difference and I have had both. Without talent no team is going to have success but with no coaching a team will underachieve. From watching the Leafs and Oilers I think both coaches are laying a foundation for how their teams will play moving forward. Add in the talent they have or will add I think both teams won’t be at the bottom for long.

Some of good coaching is luck for sure. Mostly, I think the problem is with the way we evaluate coaches. We really should recognize people like Babcock and Joel Quenneville with the Jack Adams more than we do; right now it’s too often a ‘comeback of the year’ award and that often goes to a team that’s riding unsustainable percentages. But it’s not just the Jack Adams, it’s also the obsession with the short term. Babcock and McLellan are 20 games in with their new teams; not only does it take time to win but it also takes time for the G.M. in charge to find the horses.

The coach should be blamed for everything. They go 82 games in a row without scoring a single goal. Think about it. 

I take out Cam Neely and Bill Barber. Dave Andreychuk and Eric Lindros should be inducted.

It’s still crazy to me that Eric Lindros isn’t in there. He was one of the most dominant players during his truncated career, and I think that may play a part in why he’s not there. He obviously has a long history of concussions and other injuries, which more than likely prevented him from reaching even loftier heights in terms of numbers, and maybe even championships. Despite that he’s 19th all time in goals per game, and numbers aside he was an absolute beast out there. He could steamroll through anyone, then dangle through an entire team and snipe one top shelf. Teams could basically only hope to contain him (or concuss him) rather than stop him. He was a great player and as far as I’m concerned should have been a slam dunk for the Hall years ago.

I wouldn’t take someone out, because the ones I’ve seen in my lifetime were good, and we can’t compare stats from decades ago. The one player I would have in now is Eric Lindros.

Bob Pulford. That 1967 Leafs were over-represented moons ago, his induction in 1991 was the low point. Who should be in? well, let’s start with Eric Lindros and go from there. I’d probably add five or six names to the Hall.

I would never say a HOF players should be taken out. That isn’t fair to the players who are in there. I do think Eric Lindros is 100% a HOF. He was a dominating player at some points in his career. I can honestly say the combination of speed/strength/skill that he had was an unique package.

Eric Lindros belongs in the Hockey Hall of Fame, but if I could make one change that wouldn’t be it. I’d ask for voting to be done publicly. 

Do the youngsters know about Eric Lindros? He used to hit like a truck AND put up points seemingly at will. It’s strange that he hasn’t been inducted yet, but I assume his day is coming. Let me tell you, friends, nothing makes you feel younger 300 than seeing all these guys I watched as a kid get their names in the Hall of Fame.

He’s a player on the decline. Unless he signs a bargain contract, I wouldn’t go near him. Possible fits will depend on injuries and the standings as the season moves along.

I think there’s always a chance he comes back. As I’ve mentioned before NHL GMs have weird, selective memories, so it’s not out of the realm of possibilities that someone looks at him as “Mike Richards: Memorial Cup Champion, Olympic and World Junior gold medalist, 2x Stanley Cup winner, and SOOOO good in the room!” rather than “Mike Richards: guy who hasn’t broken 50 points since 2011 and clearly appears to be on the downslope of his career”. 

And if there’s one team I can see buying into the myth of Mike Richards it’s the Boston Bruins, who LOVE grit and being good in the room more than most other teams in the league. They’re also not doing that well this season and I can absolutely see trying to “inject some winning pedigree in the room” or something as an option they look at to try and turn things around.

Yes, someone will sign him to a one-year deal this year. Teams love veterans, and at $1 million a year Richards could help a team down the stretch, or even before.

I think the Oilers might be a good team, but Richards is more likely to catch on with a contender. A team like Boston, New Jersey or even Pittsburgh might fit.

I would give him a chance but it would be starting in the AHL for a month or two. He would need to show he has some speed and tenacity back. He was a very good NHL player for quite a while but that doesn’t come back because he wants it to.

I think he’ll get a shot; I imagine most teams are just waiting to see what happens at his trial in December. There are lots of clubs out there that could give him a shot based on having lousy centre depth, so it’s probably going to depend on how willing the G.M. is to take a chance on him. Right now, Edmonton’s centre ice depth chart is looking pretty exposed.

Absolutely someone will. I’m not saying that they should, but I think someone will. Mike Richards isn’t ancient at 30 years old, and he’ll probably sign for plane fare. Is he slow? Yes. Are GMs dumb sometimes? Almost every time. 

Don’t have a gut feeling about either guy. Nilsson has been the better of the two, but will need to see both over the course of this season before making a call either way.

It’s still a coin flip to me at this point. Nilsson has looked good since his forgettable performance against Washington, and SPEAKING of games we’d like to forget I think that game against Calgary is the only one where Cam Talbot has looked legitimately bad. I know there is a vocal minority out there who love to blame goalies for everything and are already crying about wanting to take back the Talbot trade, but I think that’s crazy and he’s going to SIUTBOHC any day now. At this point it looks like they may just platoon them and go with the hot hand, which isn’t the worst strategy.

Don’t see anyone else grabbing it. I think they both will have good stretches, but I’m not certain one will grab it. I think both will be re-signed, but neither to a long-term, big money contract.

I’ll bet Cam Talbot. He has a great resume and two tough weeks shouldn’t erase it. He’ll get his chance and will shine.

We love to talk about the goalies on Oilersnation! Watch the Rangers/Habs/Wild play. They all have very good goalies but the structure in front of them is solid. The same can’t be said yet for the Oilers. Although it is improving from week to week it still has a ways to go.

I’d give Talbot the nod right now, but as I said in the summer it’s a gamble. Nilsson’s career track record does not encourage me.

I think Cam Talbot will still be the goalie that the Oilers traded for him to be. It won’t be a miracle either that when the defense improves so will the goalie stats. 

I knew nothing about the website until the owners invited me to a west-end eatery, offered me a percentage of nothing and asked me to write for them in March of 2008. I countered by asking for a ham sandwich and they said yes and threw in a large side of fries. The deal was done. 

Baggedmilk texted me one day back in 2008, telling me about this guy named “Wanye” who wrote funny articles about the Oilers and made crude MS Paint drawings. Obviously that was right up my alley, so I checked it out and was immediately intrigued. We both started reading and commenting on the blog regularly, then one day we were like “IF THESE IDIOTS CAN MAKE A WEBSITE WHY CAN’T THEESSEEE IDIOTS *points at selves*??” We started our own blog, Wanye reached out to us saying HE was a fan of US for some reason, and years later he followed through on all his threats and officially put us on the payroll. It’s a story as old as time itself.

Wanye emailed me asking to meet him and discuss possibly writing on the site. A mutual acquaintance had put us in contact. I was interested from the very beginning and saw the potential in the site and the plan to grow the Nation. It has been a fun seven years so far. I can only imagine the insanity if the team every makes the playoffs. Wanye might even write an article if that happens.

Someone asked me to link to it on my blog, and I visited—really enjoyed Wanye as a writer, still do. I think OilersNation approached me about writing via Jason Gregor, could be wrong. Any way, I have very much enjoyed my time at ON and am honoroed to be associated with outstanding writers and idea people. Except Baggedmilk. Guy is completely crazy, parks too close in the parking lot and is a close talker. Plus he talks a lot, I mean A LOT and it’s about nothing. “Remember when they used to sell milk in bags? That’s why I’m called Baggedmilk, because it’s something that people remember.” Exhausting.

Jason Gregor wrote an article about my family and our struggle with infertility. He did a great job (don’t tell him that).

I think Lowetide linked to the site and that was the first time I saw it. As for how I got involved, basically it just came down to getting asked.

I was cruising for babes in some old hockey forums and I saw a comment that mentioned the site. Soon after I was one of about 15 people hanging around the site on a daily basis for the first few months it was up. It was around that time that Jeanshorts and I started our terrible blog that caught Wanye’s attention. I certainly didn’t think I would be working here full time only six years later. If I did, I would have picked a cooler pseudonym.  

 

A few days back, Nation real estate aficionado Adam Dirksen suggested that we partner up to raise some money for the Edmonton Food Bank going into the Christmas season. We couldn’t have agreed more, and so we got to work. With Adam’s tickets in hand, we contacted our partners to see if they wanted to be involved and as always they jumped at the opportunity to help out. 

Over the next few days we will be holding an auction to benefit the Edmonton Food Bank, and give you an Oilers experience to remember. What are we talking about? We put together a package that includes two gold seats (with club access) to the Oilers vs Devils on Friday night, a ride to and from the game in the brand new Nation Limo, $50 in Pint gift cards, Oodle Noodle gift cards, and NationGear by Print Machine to wear to the game. 

The auction runs straight through until Thursday (November 19th) at noon with every penny going directly to the Edmonton Food Bank. We will be updating the bids in all GDB and Wrap Up articles, and on Twitter, until the auction closes. The high bidder will be notified via email to arrange for payment and transfer of the tickets.