OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD
9 years ago
I wasn’t expecting the Edmonton Oilers to actually beat the Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center Thursday, but after coach Todd Nelson publicly challenged his team, I didn’t expect an 8-2 embarrassment on the heels of the 5-1 drubbing they took in Anaheim the night before.
Yes, the Kings are a vastly superior team from top to bottom and they needed the two points way more than the Oilers did. Yes, an Oiler line-up already lacking at the best of times has been shot full of holes by injuries and filled by some overmatched AHL call-ups. We know these things. So does Nelson, yet he obviously expected more:
Well, Nelson saw what the Oilers were able to do and it was a whole bunch of nothing, save for a handful of shifts before Ben Scrivens once again channelled Andre Racicot and gave up a 3-0 lead on just six shots in the first 9:13 of the game. That led to rusty call-up Tyler Bunz being put between the pipes for the final 20 minutes with the Kings already up 5-1.
Given the sieve-like performance by Scrivens, it’s not so much the final score I find troubling. It’s the lack of emotion and willingness to compete I can’t buy, even if the cause was predictably lost. Jordan Eberle, again courtesy of Tychkowski, summed it up:
NOTHING DOING
Nelson set the table with the playoff reference. The Oilers responded like it was Dallas Eakins talking. That’s what I found jarring. One of the things we’ve credited Nelson with since taking over is that he seems to be able to coax the best out of the players he’s got to work with, that the team responds to him. That didn’t happen against the Kings. Not even close.
That’s on the players, even allowing for the goaltending and the injuries. It’s not good enough, even if the Oilers have been beaten down again by another losing season and are playing out the string. Show something. Don’t turn the other cheek a night after getting slapped around in Anaheim.
It’s no news flash that the Oilers aren’t talented enough or deep enough or experienced enough to beat teams as good as the Kings, even when their coach frames a game as a measuring stick – it’s up to GM Craig MacTavish to do something about that.
But give fans the best you’ve got, men. If you’re willing to go quietly, that’s just one more thing that MacTavish has to add to his to-do list, and he’s got more than enough on his plate already. Don’t shrug your shoulders and quit like that when the Calgary Flames come calling Saturday.
SURVEY SAYS
I can’t wait for the results of the forensic analysis we’ve been assured is being done within the organization, although I don’t have a lot of confidence that it will result in any meaningful changes where actual change needs to happen. Do you?
Meaningful change has to be put in motion right at the top and I have no faith whatsoever that owner Daryl Katz, even if he has a hand in the process, is ready to fire his friends. He’s already shown more than once he’s willing to look the other way when it comes to that. Katz can’t leave it to Kevin Lowe or MacTavish or it becomes an obvious farce.
Bob Nicholson? He’d seem like the most obvious and best choice. If Nicholson is the guy, has Katz given him the green light to clean house as he sees fit? Call me doubtful. I foresee significant changes to the pro and amateur scouting staffs, but I’m from the Show Me State when it comes to anything beyond that
WHILE I’M AT IT
The Oilers have recalled David Musil from Oklahoma City. This, via team news release: “The Edmonton Oilers announced today they have recalled defenceman David Musil on an emergency basis from the American Hockey League’s Oklahoma City Barons. Musil, 21, has registered 10 points (1G, 9A), and 33 penalty minutes in 62 games with the Barons this season. The 6’4”, 203-pound defenceman has appeared in 123 career AHL games, accumulating 22 points (3G, 19A) and 87 penalty minutes.”
Listen to Robin Brownlee Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the Jason Gregor Show on TSN 1260.
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