|
Oilers Mac-T: A Passive Aggressive Genius + Schlemko to Stars |
|
|
|
|
|
COYOTES
The Coyotes kick off a six game home-stand tonight against the Blue Jackets. A month ago we were talking as if it was a foregone conclusion that the Blue Jackets would be selecting an elite centre next june to line up behind Ryan Johanson, making one of the best combos in hockey, no doubt. Refusing to follow script, the Jackets reeled off an amazing December and now are a .500 hockey team.
When you consider their injury situation, this is quite remarkable. They're still a long-shot for the Playoffs, but they're a much better team than the one they'll play tonight.
The Coyotes will play their first game of 2015 and hopefully they ring in the new year a little better than they sent off the old one. After losing 6-0 to the Stars, they will be hard-pressed to play so terribly tonight, where I imagine Mike Smith will be eager to reclaim his crease and the feel-good ownership news from New Years might just overcome the lost season and the massive amount of trade rumours to give us something worth watching.
Also, Dave Schlemko has been claimed on waivers by the Stars. He wasn't good enough to be anything more than the Coyotes six D man, but with Gormley emerging, he wasn't even that. He has upside and Dallas needs defensemen, so it could work out.
Here's hoping so.
OILERS
I think that yesterday the Oilers made a very smart decision.
Now, most people aren't going to agree with this, but I think Craig McTavish may be among the best GMs in the NHL.
Hear me out:
The world is impatient. We live in the time of instant gratification, instant analysis and instant access. The need for instant results is palpable in today's world because all of this instant-ness has lead people to be entitled. They think their chosen sports team owes them something and if they aren't getting it, they want it immediately.
Beyond that, the level of noise surrounding the sports world has never been louder nor has more money been at stake. Sports is one of the main things that allows us to block out the noise of income disparity, immature politicians, poverty and ebola. But the only way to properly block those pesky little problems is with victory. You can't just exist. You must dominate.
Take team Canada this year at the World Junior Tournament: It's a pathetic display of patriotic boorishness and nothing else. Furthermore, everyone knows this, but it doesn't matter because winning is winning and if you say differently you must have an ulterior motive. The only way Canada can lose this tournament is through luck and variance. But we've set up such a system that you must yell and scream and cheer as if you were just told the war has been won against Eurasia, lest you be accused of "trolling" by the thought police.
Does it matter that I am almost inarguably correct? Of course not, because telling people what they don't want to hear is verboten, my friends. Canada beat Slovakia 8-0. then they beat Germany and Finland. There is a better chance that the Oilers will go on a historic run to make the Playoffs this season than Canada losing any of those games. But you're still supposed to pretend it's fun to watch them win.
Then, on New Years Eve, they played a game against the States, the only team it could possibly be interesting for them to play, but yet the tournament is set up in such a way as to make the game virtually meaningless from anything but a rivalry standpoint.
The first elimination game is Canada vs Denmark, which is a joke, but did that stop a couple million Canadians from watching it and screaming at their TVs? I bought my two year old son a hockey net for Christmas and if I stick him in net and then celebrate when I score, I don't see a difference between the two.
Now, for the right to go to the Gold Medal Game, Canada has to play the team they previously beat 8-0. But let's be honest here: The Canadian World Junior team would probably have no trouble if the Slovaks dressed their Men's Olympic Team. So the game is a bore.
The Gold Medal game will feature Canada vs either the Russians or Swedes, both of which we are supposed to pretend will provide a competitive game, but we all know, deep down, that the only way Canada loses is a hot goalie or severe bad luck. Yet, in spite of what is objectively an noncompetitive and boring tournament I will most likely be attacked as unpatriotic and blasphemous for the same reason that McTavish is called an incompetent idiot: namely, for not going along with the crowd.
And believe me, it's more difficult to not go along with the crowd now than it has at any time during my 32 years on this earth because if you don't you're either incompetent, an idiot or just trying to be different for the sake of it. In 2014/15 there is no reason a person would just think differently from other people unless he or she was interested in attention, trolling, or just a complete dolt.
Enter Mac-T: the People are sick of losing and demand a winner. He brings you two more seasons that are not only terrible, they're probably the worst out of the whole rebuild. The logic is - and I've heard it from people who should know better - is that if they aren't good by now, they never will be. Let's just forget about the fact that Jordan Eberle, the oldest pieces of their core.
But let us just assume for a second that MacTavish isn't a complete idiot. That he has some semblance of an idea how to run a hockey team, having witnessed four Stanley Cup teams and being involved in the NHL for roughly 40 years. Let's just try to think what he might be thinking if we grant him the benefit of the doubt that he isn't an incompetent boob.
He took over the Oilers after the 2013 season, which means he's been a year and a half on the job. People are pretty quick to call him an idiot, but a look at his moves shows he really hasn't done anything wrong, outside of maybe overpaying a FA or two, well, except for not turning the team into an immediate winner, that is. There's that.
When MacTavish took over the team, he probably thought to himself "Self, you have at least two seasons before anyone can really blame you for anything, so how do you turn this team into a winner?"
The answer was that the only way - outside of doing nothing - was to make some trades and hope you get lucky. The thing is, trading in the NHL is next to impossible in the first place because of the salary cap and teams also aren't run by idiots lining up to give you a great deal or overpay for your duds. Pulling a fast one is difficult and very, very luck based.
So, what's he do? He moves out these players: Khabibulin Smid, Schultz, Potter, Fistric, Whitney, Pekham, Horcoff, Gagner, Hemsky, Jones, Paajarvi, Brown, Belanger, Smithson, Lander and Smyth.
Basically, he got rid of all the non-essential players on a last place team. The Paarjarvi trade for Perron, who is turned into a first round pick and a usefull Klinkhammer yesterday, is a stroke of genius. Beyond that, he improved the bottom of the roster. He didn't get a starting goalie or either of the necessary top pairing defenseman needed to compete, but he used a year in which he was bullet proof to draft third and add Draisaitll. Beyond that, the bottom six and bottom pairings of the D are better than when he took over and if you look at Cap Geek, outside questionable commitments to Fayne and Pouliot, he pretty much has no long term commitments to anyone but his core set of star players.
Now, considering the plight of the Oilers this year, everyone considers Mac-T an abject failure. However, the only thing he really failed at was thinking he could get through two years of being a bad team without it sticking to him.
Because if I know that you can't compete in the NHL with a Ben Scrivens as your #1 goalie and some combination of Schultz/Ference/Petry/Nikitin/Fayne as your top pairing, then you can be damn sure that Craig MacTavish knows this. And if he knows this, it means he is doing this on p purpose.
Think about it: Before MacT even assumes his role of GM, his team has drafted 3 first overall picks. But he also knows that none of those three are a Crosby, i.e a generational talent. He also knows that if he is bad for two more years, he will get his Crosby as well as another high-end talent while giving his young and high-end defense a chance to grow up a bit.
And, so, instead of gambling on trades of young, star players, and thinking that he had at least two bullet-proof seasons, he looked at his roster before the start of the 2013-14 season and thought to himself "The best way to build this continues to be through the draft." The only real risk was to his own job, since no matter how many jerseys are thrown on the ice, the Coliseum is going to sell out when the team starts winning with Jack Eichel leading the way.
Sure, we all thought the Oilers would be better than they currently are by now. But I don't think Mac-T did. I think he knew that if he gave his team the defense and goalies that he did, that they would be a bad team. How could he not?
But consider that this bad team, further made bad by yesterday's trade, is going to finish in last place and be guaranteed one of McDavid or Eichel. And that that is going to be added to a team with Hall, Eberle and Yakupov on the wings. The Oilers will eventually boast the best 1-2-3 centre combo in the NHL with Draisaitl and RNH and whoever they end up picking this year. On D you have Klefbom, Nurse, Petry, Schultz, Marincin and whoever they can add if they do decide to trade one of their core pieces for a top flight D - Like, does that first rounder go with Yakupov to get Yandle? (Just a thought!).
Maybe it's next year. Maybe the year after. But this team is not just going to be good, they are going to be frigging awesome.
I present to you Craig MacTavish: Passive Aggressive Genius
Thanks for Reading
Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»