 RDOilerfan
Messages: 3908
Registered: January 2016
3 Cups
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Great post Ham! I agree with a lot of what you say and some of it has been things I have mentioned before but others just turn it into another complaint session about management.
To win in the NHL, you have to score goals but probably more importantly, you need to DEFEND. You need to keep your goals against down to win. What gets lost I think among many Oilers fans including many in here is defending isn't just the job of the 2 guys that play defense in a shift. It's an entire team thing. Would adding another dman help some? Sure it would and I think they do need to add a dman and I think they will but inserting whoever fans want, let's say Chychrun, doesn't solve the problem. He's 1 guy. So if the Oilers trade for Chychrun which would make all the fan GM's happy, but the Oilers team plays how they normally do, it won't improve their defense much.
The Oilers main guys, the guys who set the example, the guys who play the most, and I have said this many, many times, they do not play sound hockey. They play to score. Defense is WAY down on their list of to do's in a hockey game and when I say playing sound hockey with defense in mind, I don't mean dumping the puck in and standing at the center line looking to trap. I mean not taking unnecessary chances when it's not there. Not throwing the blind backhanded, cross ice pass that has to get by 3 defenders standing there waiting for it. Not trying to deke 3 defenders when the rest of your line is changing. Not throwing blind passes up the middle or dropping passes when surrounded by defenders. Or deciding to do a low percentage pinch late in the game when you are the only guy back. Not skating hard on the backcheck. Not picking up your man in front of the goal. Not doing a basic shoulder check to see if someone is behind you. All this stuff happens every single game, many, many, many times. All the little "details" of the game that the coaching staff constantly talks about. All things that trading for Chychrun or whoever doesn't fix.
Look at the Oilers stats if you need proof that the Oilers main guys do not place an emphasis on playing sound, winning hockey vs scoring points. Like I said, I think they need to bring in another dman but as a team, the players need to put more of an emphasis on playing sound hockey because adding 1 dman isn't going to magically make the Oilers a great defending team.
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