The Day After: Oilers 1, Avalanche 9 RANT

The Day After: Oilers 1, Avalanche 9 RANT

Hello Oilers fans. Austin here with the day after discussion of the Oilers 9:1 ass whooping to the Colorado Avalanche. Yes, it was not a 9 to1 loss. It was a 9 to1 ass whooping. That is a belt to ass type of game. Uh and these day afters for those of you who have been around for a long time, these are usually pretty formal. I usually have a list of talking points that I talk about. Sometimes it’s usually things that I didn’t talk about in the fan reaction. Uh sometimes it’s just a continuation of the fan reaction with just, you know, added thoughts and and and ideas and and speculation and dialogue and then I try and get all of you engaged as well. But last night’s game pissed me off so much. And I know I didn’t scream and shout in the fan reaction. That’s something that I don’t usually do or at least I try to avoid at all costs. I was so mad last night that I woke up this morning bright and early and I went and did a volunteer shift at the Humane Society here in central Alberta because I wanted to do something productive. I wanted to get my brain off of hockey. I wanted to go cuddle some kitties and play with them. I wanted to do some dishes, some laundry. I just wanted to do something instead of focusing on the hockey. And of course, I did that. And I was still pissed off. So, I came home and I I I have a list of things that I want to talk about, but what I’m trying to say here in the intro is it’s okay to be mad at you at the team and it’s also okay to try and channel that energy into something positive. For me, it was volunteering this morning at the Humane Society. For you, it could be as simple as just getting the dishes done or getting the laundry done or getting some homework done or playing with your own animals if you have any pets at home. channel that negativity into some positivity at some point today. It doesn’t have to be right now. Right now, we are all in this together. We are in the hole together with the Mton Oilers. If you’re watching this video, I want you to feel the emotions that I’m feeling right now because the carryover into today, the spillover, I should say, has not has not let up at all. In fact, I think the dam is so busted and so broken. I don’t know if we’re going to get that water to stop coming in until some major changes happen here. The Oilers have an opportunity to have a bounce back on Monday, but the fact that that we have to still talk about bounceback and and and and leadership and a learning experience. God, I don’t even know if Chris Knobblock said if the team was fragile last night, but if he did, I probably blacked out and just forgot about it because of how often he said the team was fragile last season. There are things that this team is struggling with. We have seen it all season long. It’s usually the offense. Sometimes it’s the defense. Sometimes it’s the goalending. Last night was a culmination of literally everything wrong with this group. And to me, it starts with Chris Nawblock. So before we get into NBlock, I do want to address the goalending because there are still a section of fans out there that are like, “Oh, well it doesn’t matter who you put in goal, they’re not saving those pucks.” Listen, I’m not arguing that any goalie right now, you could take Carrie Price in his prime and put him behind that Oilers team last night. I talked about it last night. You could put Dominic Hashik in his prime behind that Oilers team last night and they still likely don’t come out with the win. But as Kevin BX has said in the first intermission during the game, a couple early goals against, especially if they’re kind of on the weaker side, yeah, you can say Kale Mar picked a spots, but one of those shots was from 65 ft out with no traffic in front. And all Steuart Skinner had to do was was cut the angle. Goals against like that do deflate the team. It becomes a mental battle for a lot of these players. And I think they are tired of constantly watching Stu give up one of those goals or more every single game. The Oilers actually started off strong last night. That’s the sad part. I thought the first five or six shifts from Edmonton, they were rolling. They were out shooting the Colorado Avalanche 5 nothing. They had an early power play. They had some looks. Guys were moving the puck. I thought the Rosik dry cidle and Conor McDavid line looked good. And then Colorado on essentially their first real opportunity. Kale Mar posting in. I will say that that is a great shot from Kale Mar. No worries. You’re down by one. It happens. Get back on the horse. 30 seconds later, Kale Mar again. Essentially the same spot. Oh well, that’s not a great goal. And you could feel it, the energy in the building. You could see everyone sag on the ice. You can see the shoulders slump. And you could you could tell that the players at that point had given up on the game. Now, is it professional of them to have done that? No. You don’t want to just give up on a hockey game 15 minutes into the first period. That That’s not a good look. That’s not a good look for the players on the ice. That’s that’s not a good look for the fans who paid hard-earned money to go and watch you on a Saturday night, hockey night in Canada. People bringing their kids. I remember my first game and uh you know, excited. The Oilers ended up losing that game, but at least it wasn’t 9-1. There are probably a lot of kids who witnessed their first game last night and got to witness a 9-1 absolute thumping. But I’m looking at this from the perspective of the Oilers team that has been together for a long time. That that leadership group, the McDavid, Dryidle, Nooj, um Bousard, Echome, Nurse, like the the guys that have been on this roster for a long time that have constantly seen bad goals going against Steuart Skinner every single night. Even Stu this season, the games that he’s played well, there are still those absolute stinkers and you can’t expect him to play perfect every single night. I I understand that. But at some point, it it weighs on a player. It weighs on the on the psyche. And last night was a game where I think the the group collectively gave up not only on their goalending, but they gave up on themselves. And Chris Knobblock had absolutely no answer for that. He tried to put Calvin Pickard into the crease, tried to stop the bleeding, but Calvin Pickard ended up giving up five goals on 21 shots. And speaking of Calvin Pickard, I think he’s done. I think he’s completely unplayable. If we look at Calvin Pickard’s stats in his last five games, 818 save percentage against New Jersey, 8:15 save percentage against Montreal, 852 against Vancouver, 864 against the St. Louis Blues, and a 762 against the Colorado Avalanche. Four goals against, five goals against, four goals against, three goals against, five goals against. How are you going to win hockey games with this type of goalending? How How are you going to win hockey games with this type of goalending? If you take a look at last year, 271 goals against, 900 save percentage. A slight drop off from his 90945 in his first year with the team. This year, four goals against average, 836 save percentage. He’s statistically one of the worst goalenders in the entire NHL. And that’s pretty crazy to think about because you know what the Oilers did with Calvin Pickard for two years in a row? They relied on Calvin Pickard to be the guy to save their team season during the playoffs when Steuart Skinner couldn’t get the job done. Two years ago against the Vancouver Conucks in round two. Steuart Skinner was so unplayable that they started Calvin Pickard in game four on home ice. He got the win. He gets the start in game five. The team gives up a late backb breakaking goal. They lose 3-2 in regulation. They go back to Stuart Skinner and yeah, credit to Stu. He goes on a run. They go to the cup final. They go to game seven. They lost. It is what it is. But then last season, last year in the playoffs again, Calvin Pickard had to be the savior in the crease because Steuart Skinner was unplayable. Steuart Skinner game one against LA absolutely shits the bed. Game two against the Kings, he shits the bed so hard that he actually he he regressed mentally and was just laughing the whole time. and then he gets pulled and then and Calvin Pickard has to go into that crease and save the whole season. Your Journeyman backup was relied on to save the Oilers season in the playoffs two years in a row and fans will still sit here and tell me that goalending is not the problem on this team. How can you actually look at me and other fans and believe that? How do you believe that Calvin Picker did what he could last year in the playoffs? He rattled off what was it? Six wins in a row or seven wins in a row, whatever it was. Six, I think it was six wins in a row uh before he got hurt against the Vegas Gold Knights. And maybe he’s still hurt. Tomas Hurdle fell on his leg and I think busted it up or something. I don’t know. And then Stu came in up and down. He had two shutouts against Vegas. He played well against Dallas and he stunk the bet against the Florida Panthers in the cup final for the second year in a row. Would Stew playing good against Florida this year have even mattered? Probably not because Florida was just that good. But the fact that you had Calvin Pickard, your journeyman backup, have to come in and save Steu’s ass multiple times in the playoffs, the most important time of the year. And if it wasn’t for Jay Woodcraftoft refusing to play Jack Campbell in the 2023 playoffs, especially that Vegas series where Steuart Skinner was pulled three times, Steu would have had to have been pulled for another goalie to step up and save their season once again. Jack Campbell for all of the, you know, we know what happened to Jack Campbell in Edmonton, but when he was called upon in relief for Steuart Skinner during the playoffs in 2023, that Kings series and that Vegas series, Jack Campbell stepped up, but Jay Woodcraftoft refused to start him. lived and died by the sword with Stu and and Jay Woodcrop got fired after a 29 and one start in the 23 24 season because Stu and and Campbell were putting up 3.5 goals against average and like an 870 save percentage. People will say, well, no, Wood got fired because he tried to change the defensive system and it wasn’t working and the team looked confused and defensively they were off. And that’s all also correct. But analytically, the underlying metrics for that Oilers team before Jay Woodcraftoft was fired were very solid. Most fans knew that they were going to turn the season around. What we’re seeing right now with Chris Knobblog’s group, this is a team that is not going to turn the season around. The Oilers underlying metrics are absolutely putrid. They have no offensive punch. They have no offensive attacking rhythm. They shoot everything from distance, low danger, mid-range shots. They do not cycle enough. They do not get the puck into the inner slot. They don’t generate anything. The only thing that they’re generating right now is on the power play. This is a fundamentally flawed coached team right now. And it starts and it starts with Chris Knoblock. And and for the team, I’m going back to the goalies here. So since the 23 24 season, the Oilers have made changes everywhere in their organization. They have a new general manager. Chris Knobblock came in for Jay Woodcraftoft. They picked up a couple defenseman. J uh Jake Walman. What a trade. What a trade that was from from uh from from Stam Bowman. They get Wman. They pick up different forwards. They got guys like Jack Rosik now and Ros’s been playing good. They’ve bolstered their bottom six with some some, you know, European players who came out overseas. Uh Ike Howard, they signed him or traded for him from Tampa out of college. Matthew Seavoy, they traded for him, right? They gave up Brian Mloud in the Matthew Seavoy deal. High upside, hasn’t shown it at the NHL level yet. They have essentially changed everything top to bottom in this organization to improve. But the one thing that they have not done is change the goalending. It has been stew and picks for the past two and a half almost three years and people will still sit here and tell you it’s not the goalending. If you have tried to fix literally everything else and you’re getting results in other areas, but the one area that you still need results in is not giving you results, maybe that’s the area that this this organization needs to focus on right now. Maybe Chris Knobblock has lost the room, too. Maybe there’s a combination of that. Maybe Knobblock’s lost the room or maybe he’s lost the ability to motivate his team. But Chris Knobblock does not instill confidence in me as a fan when you’re getting absolutely pumped on home ice and every time they show him on the bench, he’s just like what is that? If I was the head coach of a team getting blown out nine to one and my players were lethargic, showing no emotion, I would be breaking sticks. I would take several penalties, several bench miners. I would be so mad at my group. And do you need do you need a John Tortoella style coach behind the bench to just scream at everyone the whole time? No, I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s what they need. Is it what they needed last night? Maybe they need something. And Chris Knobblock right now, if he can’t motivate his guys to go and if he can’t instill any emotion in this group when they’re being absolutely pumped on home ice, I keep reiterating this is on home ice. This is your barn. This is where you are not supposed to lose like that. This is where your fans are paying hardearned money to watch you. You are getting blown out on home ice. And your response is, “Now that sucks.” You know how awful that is? There’s a reason why I am not in upper management. I don’t work in a front office. I took courses to learn how front offices work in the NHL. I have spoken personally with people like Harry Syninden, uh Mike Oak, who’s the the general manager of the Pure Broats. I have spoken to former players. I’ve spoken to former NHL coaches, how front offices work, how how organizations work. There’s a reason why I am not working in the NHL right now or or probably any form of actual hockey because I am way too emotional. There’s a reason why I’m doing this in front of a camera. A game last night, if I was Stan Bowman, I legitimately would not have allowed Knoblock uh into the arena. If they if they do a morning skate today, I wouldn’t let him in. I’d be like, “Yeah, you’re done. You’re done, son. See you later. Can’t have that.” Who would you even hire to replace him? I don’t know. Maybe we get Pete Dower, the sad looking clown. He always looks sad on the bench. Pete Dower, the guy who just could never get the job done with any of the super teams that he’s been given, whether it was with Vegas or Dallas. Do you go after Pete Dbor? Is that who the Oilers would replace Chris Knoblock with? I certainly hope not. He doesn’t seem like someone that would instill confidence in this group or energy. But my god, he might tell these guys to start playing with an edge. You’re down 9-1 and you don’t even want to hit anyone. And and Trent Frederick last night. I have to talk about Trent Frederick. He’s he’s being asked about, you know, going out there starting fights or or laying hits and and and Trent, you know what Trent Frederick said after the game? He said, “Well, no one’s going to want to fight someone who has one goal. Who cares how many goals you have? If you’re not scoring, what are you doing, Trent? What if if you had 15 goals on this? If you were leading the league in goals, suddenly everyone on the other team is going to be like, “I want to fight Trent Frederick cuz he scores goals.” No, they fight Trent Frederick because you’re a thirdline grinder who fought all the time in Boston who plays on an edge or at least I thought played on an edge. What kind of response is that? Th It’s This is embarrassing, man. Trent Frederick, we’re in year one of eight. It’s gotten off to the worst start imaginable. And it’s not just Trent Frederick. The fact that he even spoke after the game. I give credit to Trent Frederick actually for going out in front of the media after a game like that. But you know who did not go in front of the media last night after that game. Conor McDavid did not go out in front of the media, their captain. Leon Dryidle, their assistant captain. Ryan Nent Hopkins, their assistant captain. Longest tenure Oiler. Darnell Nurse, assistant captain. One of the longest tenur Oilers, I think second longest tenure Oilers, Darnell Nurse, who was a minus two and had an expected goal scorage of I think 10% last night. Darnell Nurse, who was on the ice for three shot attempts, four. When Nurse was on the ice, the Oilers only generated three shot attempts towards the opposition net. He didn’t talk in front of the media. Stu Skinner didn’t talk in front of the media and Calvin Picker didn’t talk in front of the media. your leadership group and your goalenders, none of them had the balls to go in front of the media. Now, obviously, when your leadership group is not in front of the media, that’s usually an organizational decision. That was either a knob block or a Bowman decision to shelter them, right? But they should not be the ones being sheltered after a 9 to1 loss. You should be sheltering your role players. It is not the role players fault that the team is where they’re at. This is on the leadership group. This is on n block. This is on his leadership group. Why are we sheltering the leadership group from having to answer for a game like that on home ice? Maybe if it was on the road, I would understand not having uh the big dogs in front of the cameras. This is on home ice. We need to hear from you. We need to hear what your thought process is. And maybe it’s actually a good thing that they didn’t speak in front of the media because if they said something stupid like Trent Frederick did, it would have just made everyone else even more mad. Stu Skinner probably would have went in front of the media and went, “Oh, I think I’m playing pretty good like he always does. Yeah, I’m I’m I feel good. My game feels good.” Meanwhile, you have uh Dobbish in Montreal who is 6 and0 on the season. Gave up a late goal for a loss, basically crying at his locker because he felt like he cost the team the game. That’s how much that goalie cares about winning. You have Elvis Mlickens in Columbus. Gave up a late goal in the third period to the Islanders after having a 2-1 lead. Gave up two late goals. Islanders win in regulation. Elvis Mickens was on the bench after the game, not even wearing his equipment. And he was essentially crying on the bench. He was so upset at himself that he let that game go. And all I hear from Edmonton’s goalenders are, “Oh, I think I’m playing pretty good.” That’s embarrassing. There is a standard that other players are holding themselves to. There is a standard that other organizations are holding their players to. And then there’s a standard of whatever the Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard are being given in Edmonton. Not only from the organization, but from the fans, too. Anyone that is defending this, I don’t know what to say. I am more than willing to engage on a lot of topics here. This is a very rare crash out for me. This is a very rare situation where I’m having none of it. Absolutely none of it. The Oilers are 66 and4 this season. They are 500. Somehow this team is 500 because the only two games that they’ve played that I think they actually deserve to win was the second game of the season against Vancouver and then the game against Utah in October 28th where they played for a a really solid 40 minutes and maybe the game against Calgary. So three three out of 16 games where I think they have deserved the win and they somehow have six wins in those games. six wins in 16 games. The loser Bman point is inflating this team in the standings and if they do not course correct as soon as possible, they are going to be a bottom feeder and we are going to be talking about their lottery protected firstrounder that they like they don’t have a firstrounder but it’s lottery protected. So, if the Oilers were to somehow miss the playoffs, finish bottom five in the league, and win the lottery, one of the lottery picks, the Oilers get that pick back. And I don’t want to be talking about that. I don’t want to be in January talking about the the Gavin McKenna sweep stakes and doing the lottery simulators. This is a team that is supposed to be competing for a Stanley Cup, not competing for Gavin McKenna. No offense to Gavin McKenna. I would love to have Gavin McKenna on my team, but as a Bruins fan, as my second favorite team, I kind of want McKenna on Boston. But even the Boston Bruins are playing with more heart. Nico Sturm called out his team and benched a bunch of guys and he sat Mason Lorai for five games and that team has suddenly rattled off six wins in a row. Look, I I implore all of you, look at the lineup that the the Boston Bruins are rolling with and you tell me if they should be winning six games in a row or if that should be a lottery team. The Boston Bruins, there’s a culture there from top to bottom. What is expected in Boston? In Edmonton, they don’t have that. And there’s a clear difference in how those two teams play. The Oilers are going to miss the playoffs if they keep playing like this. They are going to be out of the playoff hunt by Christmas, maybe even sooner if this is what they get. They play Columbus tomorrow. If there is no response tomorrow, if tomorrow night against Columbus, you’re on home ice again. By the way, if tomorrow night they get absolutely canned again. Big problems. Big big problems. Not only for the team, but there’s going to be big problems for my own psyche regarding this team. the content that I create. I don’t want to be the guy that is sitting in front of a camera yelling, but I’m showing some emotion. So, I want the damn team to show some emotion, too. The fans deserve so much better than this. There better be a response on Monday. Someone better drop the gloves. Somebody better hit somebody and somebody make a goddamn save. Play for each other. Chris Knobblock better be vocal behind that bench. figure it out. Y’all are millionaires. You’re all acting like a bunch of babies. Crazy, man. Crazy. If you’re still watching to this point in the video or listening, thank you so much. Hit the like button. Subscribe if you’re not yet subscribed. Tell them that you love them. And as always, fight like a kid, fight like Ben. I’m not saying let’s go Oilers. I’m saying fight like a kid, fight like Ben. That’s how I’m ending these videos for the time being. Until the Oilers prove and show me that they deserve to be cheered for like like they like they are, not ending the video like that. Tell someone that you love them. Fight like a kid. Fight like Ben.

No description needed. Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below. #oilers #edmontonoilers #nhl

Timestamps:

0:00 – Intro
2:20 – The Same Old Same Old
5:10 – From a Players Perspective
6:00 – THE GOALTENDING
12:10 – Kris Knoblauch
15:20 – Trent Frederic RANT
16:29 – No “Leadership”
18:15 – Standards
20:05 – Response
21:00 – Bruins Culture vs Oilers
21:51 – Finishing Thoughts

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