Sorry, I didn't mean teams in a desperate situation I meant desperate GMs trying to keep their job.

I think MacT sees himself as having a need to make urgent moves but with a little time to do so.
- Morris

If we're not in the playoffs next season Katz had better make the business mans decision and can everyone from Lowe down to the towel boy. MacT should feel desperation and so should the entire organization

Almost game time !!! Go Pens !!!
- Bradlee3

Game time ! Suck it Pens fans!

If we're not in the playoffs next season Katz had better make the business mans decision and can everyone from Lowe down to the towel boy. MacT should feel desperation and so should the entire organization
- Ihatebrianburke

If he makes a series of minor moves and avoids a major bad trade that's acceptable. If he makes a good major trade that's obviously great. If he tries to make a desperate move and fails though it's worse than making a few minor moves.

The team needs to get better quickly though, I agree.

If Olympics weren't next month would western Canada be treating Sid like royalty?

geez. How are oiler fans hating this so much?

Letang has 93P in his last 112GP for .83PPG Eberle has 72P in his last 93GP for .77PPG.

Only thing that worries me is Letang's injury history as of late. 63 missed games the past 3 seasons.

Also doesn't really make a lot of sense for pittsburgh. They're backend isn't all that strong without him.

Nurse-Letang would be pretty awesome however many years from now

geez. How are oiler fans hating this so much?

Letang has 93P in his last 112GP for .83PPG Eberle has 72P in his last 93GP for .77PPG.

Only thing that worries me is Letang's injury history as of late. 63 missed games the past 3 seasons.

Also doesn't really make a lot of sense for pittsburgh. They're backend isn't all that strong without him.

Nurse-Letang would be pretty awesome however many years from now
- TheNugeIsHuge

Don't know if Oilers fans are hating him, especially if he's legitimately available.

I think it's more that out of all the D men we could conceivably acquire, he wouldn't be top of the list.

geez. How are oiler fans hating this so much?

Letang has 93P in his last 112GP for .83PPG Eberle has 72P in his last 93GP for .77PPG.

Only thing that worries me is Letang's injury history as of late. 63 missed games the past 3 seasons.

Also doesn't really make a lot of sense for pittsburgh. They're backend isn't all that strong without him.

Nurse-Letang would be pretty awesome however many years from now
- TheNugeIsHuge

He's also a legit allstar puck mover for J. Shultz to learn from. The player we wish he'd become.

Did it just freak anyone else out that e camera is behind the players bench. I was like where the hell are Crosby and Gibbons going.

Did it just freak anyone else out that e camera is behind the players bench. I was like where the hell are Crosby and Gibbons going.
- PensFan1103

Yeah it's an old arena relic.

Interesting: Perron-Gordon-Hemsky against the Malkin line.

Guess that leaves Yak-Arco-Eberle against Pyatt-Sutter-Glass, which I hope they take advantage of.

When EDM has a guy that can play 25 minutes a night, we''ll be surprised at how much better the team plays. Look at LA's D. Doughty is top end and then it's not a whole lot of top end talent (although Muzzin is quite good), but they are considered one of if not the strongest D in the league. EDM needs someone to tow the boat. Is that Letang? Maybe. But people can't be saying that someone like Weber wouldn't make a massive difference

Yeah it's an old arena relic.
- Morris

It just caught me so off guard.

Well the notion of the Oilers drafting weaker players than Pittisburgh with our top picks as a slight towards the organization is annoying. The Whole "it didn't take Pittsburgh that long" argument is moot. Pretty sure if Crosby or Malkin were available in 2010 and 2011, we would have taken them. It's pure luck, or incredibly great planning, to be so bad when such great prospects were available.
- Jeropotato

that's my point... that isn't a shot at Edmonton in any way... sometimes you get lucky with the talent pool available, sometimes you don't... im not saying you guys are inferior in any way...

Interesting: Perron-Gordon-Hemsky against the Malkin line.

Guess that leaves Yak-Arco-Eberle against Pyatt-Sutter-Glass, which I hope they take advantage of.
- Morris

Why's that interesting? I'd only assume the strongest defensive line'd go up against either crosby's line or malkin's

It just caught me so off guard.
- PensFan1103

Also the lights are super bright so other fans often comment the ice looks extra watery.

Not one single player will "solve" Edmonton's issues. It's a culture problem, they don't work hard, they are not consistent, they arent built to be a good team.

Shea Weber won't make them a playoff team, they need a major change. I'm actually a little suprised they hired Eakins.
- sbroads24

that last bit was in reference to this

Why's that interesting? I'd only assume the strongest defensive line'd go up against either crosby's line or malkin's
- TheNugeIsHuge

Just feel like that's going to end up severely limiting the Eberle line's ES minutes. It's not bad, it'll just be neat to see what 64-26-14 will do with few shifts and a favourable matchup.

that last bit was in reference to this
- TheNugeIsHuge

Can we release t pyatt before the game ends??? depres in the press box, this clown in the penalty box on his second offensive zone penalty in two games... disco will find some way to blame it on depres, he breathed wrong

that's my point... that isn't a shot at Edmonton in any way... sometimes you get lucky with the talent pool available, sometimes you don't... im not saying you guys are inferior in any way...
- SuperHenderson13

well Edmonton is inferior in many ways!

Why's that interesting? I'd only assume the strongest defensive line'd go up against either crosby's line or malkin's
- TheNugeIsHuge

Boy you are your usual 'pissy' self today. Need a nap?

The point of the Shea Weber comment was that changing the makeup of the team, not the culture is key.

What's a bigger contributing factor to the Oilers losing: a losing culture, or not having a dman even 2/3rds as good as Shea Weber? It's definitely the latter.

If we added a top pairing dman (even if he wasn't as good as Weber), what would be the bigger change: the culture of losing, or the fact that filling that gaping hole in our roster gives us more talent to succeed? Again, I'd say the latter.

I see 'locker room issues' as so comparatively minor that it's barely worth talking about.

Second, our team has some players that are overall very talented, but it is devoid of talent in many ways. That has little to do with culture and a lot to do with skillsets. You can teach Gagner or Hall to be wily on the boards, and expect them to be passionate, but even if they're trying their hardest they're not going to win the majority of battles in the corner with Chara. There are certain skillsets that independent of effort, we don't have like most of the other teams in the league. I listed six of them a couple pages back.

Third, I'd actually contest that we're overall more talented on paper than a lot of teams in the league. If I had to think of teams in this league that have worse forwards, defense and goaltending than us, I don't think I could come up with one. A lot of teams have us beat in two categories, and a lot of teams have us beat in 3.

Jury's out on Eakins, but I don't think another coaching change is prudent at this point. Insofar as a culture of losing is present with the oilers. The "blame it on the coach" mentality is really a major contributing factor.

Thanks for your input though. Short of calling me champ in a patronizing matter, this has been a pleasant exchange.
- Morris

you guys are a lot like our baseball team. we had that losing culture, had a couple good young guys, but just could never make it work. then we got a guy named aj burnett. burnett is a guy who played for the Blue Jays and was a stud, got signed by the Yankees for a huge amount of money, won a world series, and then got traded to Pittsburgh for pretty much nothing because he wasn't living up to his expectations. he was our first bad@ss to play for the pirates in a long time. the first actually decent player in his prime who wanted to play here. changed the culture, changed the teams outlook and this season we made the playoffs for the first time since the 90s.

oilers need to find that guy. don't know who he is or what the cost would be, but one could argue that culture is more important than talent on a team.

I agree with you, your team on paper is as talented a most teams in the league. but we have seen teams in this league make it work with very little talent. they had some great coaching and structure, to me, the oilers have neither of those right now.

and don't take the "champ" thing personally. I call everyone that.

When EDM has a guy that can play 25 minutes a night, we''ll be surprised at how much better the team plays. Look at LA's D. Doughty is top end and then it's not a whole lot of top end talent (although Muzzin is quite good), but they are considered one of if not the strongest D in the league. EDM needs someone to tow the boat. Is that Letang? Maybe. But people can't be saying that someone like Weber wouldn't make a massive difference
- TheNugeIsHuge

Who said that getting one of the best defenseman, if not the best, in the league wouldn't make a difference? I don't think there's anybody that's ever watched a hockey game that could say that

well Edmonton is inferior in many ways!
- Morris

ah we were in that dark place back in the day. brighter days are ahead. just gotta find the flashlight first.

that last bit was in reference to this
- TheNugeIsHuge

Oh wow never saw that. One of the worst comments I've ever read on here. And that's saying something

uninspired start for the Pens.