"You'd like a little more consistency." -Chiarelli #QuotesByBM
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Recapping the Chiarelli Press Conference
Photo credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
By baggedmilk
Nov 28, 2017, 14:00 ESTUpdated: Nov 28, 2017, 14:03 EST
This morning, Peter Chiarelli stood in front of the media to answer questions and take his lumps about what is going on with the Edmonton Oilers. Let’s break it down.
Before we get started, one thing I wanted to mention was that the media must have been listening to fan complaints or something because they did not go easy on Chiarelli this morning. The questions they asked were direct, blunt, and to the point. Actually, there was some absolute gas thrown at him today, and despite some of his answers being flimsy at best, it wasn’t for a lack of trying.
When asked about how the season is going…
Nothing new here. Moving on. Blah blah blah he’s disappointed. Who isn’t?
When asked about his summer gambles failing…
"It's fair to say that (the gambles) aren't panning out in general. Part of being a GM is balancing fixing and going with your gut." -Chiarelli on failed gambles from the summer #QuotesByBM
"My point is that there are a lot of things that aren't going right at this point. We're trying to work our way through it." -Chiarelli #QuotesByBM
"Those bets aren't lost wages yet. Part of the broader picture here is that we have to get these players in our lineup at some point. These are players you want to grow. It's not a short term bet" -Chiarelli on expecting players to progress without having proved it #QuotesByBM
I have to admit that I was caught off guard when Mark Spector asked how he explains his failed bets from this summer. There was no easing into that questions and I don’t know if Chiarelli was expecting that one as he was noticeably taken aback by it. For me, this was one of the questions I wanted to hear, but the mistake I made was that I was hoping for Chiarelli to take some ownership of it. He did not.
When asked about working the trade market
"There are opportunities, we've been beating the bushes a little, and there are things that are coming around. You have to be on top of it." -Chiarelli on looking for solutions #QuotesByBM
Oh God no… Please don’t make a panic trade. PLEASE don’t make panic trades. Anyway…
"The alternative to (internal) bets is players that may not fit into future plans." -Chiarelli on looking internally #QuotesByBM
Chiarelli mentioned contracts as a reason he may not look at add impact players. He also preached patience in times like these.
"I don't think that's a question I can answer right now. We're in second last in our division, 2nd or third last in the league, we're obviously disappointed. You have to be vigilant but you can't overreact." -Chiarelli on how much leash the team has #QuotesByBM
This probably the money quote for me. Does this mean Chiarelli is going to stay patient? I hope so. There’s no bigger opportunity for mistakes than when you try to force a trade through from a position of weakness.
"I do believe that this team has the ability to get out of it. That doesn't mean that we won't be looking at moves." -Chiarelli #QuotesByBM
"We obviously have been looking at this deeply. This doesn't mean that we're not looking at other opportunities or players that are out there. We're trying to figure it out. We'd like to see some traction." -Chiarelli #QuotesByBM
Buckle up, Nation. We could see more moves coming if things don’t improve. The next few months could be scary.
On the team being slow…
One of the things we’ve heard a lot this year is that the Edmonton Oilers are a slow team. Peter Chiarelli doesn’t see it that way.
"I don't really see a difference. We do the quick equation every year when you add or subtract players. I don't think that's an issue. I know that's a party line among the media pundits." -Chiarelli on the lack of team speed #QuotesByBM
"There are nights when we look slow but you have to look at how we break the puck out." -Chiarelli #QuotesByBM
Anyone else find it odd that Chiarelli flat out denied what so many other people have said? We’ve had media, other players, fans, and everyone in between talking about the Oilers being slow but ol’ Pete doesn’t see it that way.
On Oscar Klefbom’s struggles…
"He's having a subpar season. There are reasons behind that. We're trying to fix them." -Chiarelli on Klefbom's struggles #QuotesByBM
I don’t know what those issues are but the Oilers need to hire a witch doctor or whatever it takes to fix them. They need Klefbom. NEED HIM. Bring in a psychiatrist or whatever he needs. Figure it out.
On the team being inconsistent from game to game…
"For me, there's a number of things. It goes back to mental when you look at swings like that. It goes back to managing expectations and I think that things can spiral mentally." -Chiarelli on inconsistency from game to game #QuotesByBM
"We've been looking at these swings and they're really hard to pin down. I wish I had a more concrete answer but I think part of it is mental when you have such a swing in performance." -Chiarelli #QuotesByBM
I get rattled by the idea of multi-millionaire athletes being unable to motivate themselves to play hockey. I know that may be a simple way of looking at things, but it’s the truth. Why does it have to be up to the coach to get hockey players ready to go? Weird.
On the special teams struggles…
"Our special teams are improving... there was only one way to go. In general they are improving." -Chiarelli #QuotesByBM
"The special teams are something that is the first thing everyone looks at. To a certain degree that's justifiable. I know they've worked hard on both of them. The start on PK was bad. That's hard to recover from." -Chiarelli on the special teams #QuotesByBM
"Not to put it on our goaltending, but often the best PK guy is your goaltender and he needs to get better." -Chiarelli #QuotesByBM
Not to blame Talbot, but… *blames Talbot*
"It's something that we look at, that the staff looks at, and probably focuses a lot on. Sometimes overfocuses on because they want to get it right." -Chiarelli on the special teams #QuotesByBM
If Chiarelli thinks that they’re spending too much time focusing on the special teams then maybe they could spend some time working on passes to the tape? Cool.
When asked about chemistry in the locker room…
"Chemistry. What is chemistry? What is the difference between attitude and chemistry? Todd and I met over the summer about managing expectations. We talked about the Flames missing a couple years ago." -Chiarelli on the team chemistry not being the same #QuotesByBM
"Is that chemistry that the guys are having trouble dealing with the expectations? To what I've seen, the chemistry, the in room stuff, seems fine. So at what point is it focus?" -Chiarelli #QuotesByBM
We all have heard the rumours circling the team since the first week of the season. I was happy to see that someone (can’t remember who) asked about those rumours without getting salacious. I mean, he flat out denied it but it was interesting to see that he thinks the chemistry is fine. That said, what else is he supposed to say? Then again, he did criticize a few of the players so why avoid others?
THE WRAP
At the end of the day, Peter Chiarelli spent 17 minutes talking about a lot of things without really saying anything. We didn’t really get any information that was new, aside from the fact that this season is caused by “death from 1000 cuts” which was something he repeated several times. From where I blog, I would have liked to see him take a little more ownership of what has gone on here. In the end, a big part of what’s happening here is caused by his roster moves and gambles that young guys would progress in a straight line. That said, it wasn’t exactly surprising that he said a lot of words without a lot of content — that’s kind of Chiarelli’s schtick.
What did you guys think? Do you think Chiarelli covered all of the bases you wanted to be covered? Did he say anything of substance? Do you feel better about anything? What say you, Nation?
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