 |
 Adam
Messages: 7757
Registered: August 2005
Location: Edmonton, AB
6 Cups
|
|
| Hibernia wrote on Wed, 18 June 2025 05:14 |
It's clear a lot of people want to blame the goaltending or even the defence, but what happened to the forward depth this team showed in the first three rounds? Our forwards really didn't make a dent in Florida's team D this year. They rarely had sustained pressure like we're used to seeing. They hardly got any chances in the slot, like we're used to seeing. Basically, the Panthers shut the Oilers down. At no point in the series did I feel like Bobrovsky was stealing anything. In fact, half the time he looked shaky to me, but the Oilers couldn't capitalize on second chances. I don't recall a single "Did you see that?" from Cuthbert after a Bob save in the series.
The Oilers were never in this series. Even the two games they won in OT they had to fight their way back into those games. Despite having the what in the long run may be considered the two best players in the series, this Florida team was a way better team. Three forward lines that could've been the top line on any team. Paul Maurice may have been right, this was a better team than they won with last year.
|
The biggest difference in the Finals is that Florida is a well-constructed team with depth in all facets, and the Oilers have a couple of phenomenal players, but little beyond that.
We got some big contributions from the depth in the prior rounds, but they were playing above their heads. With Hyman out and Nuge hobbled and the coach completely unwilling to play Jeff Skinner on a top line, it meant that we were skating guys who are third liners at best on top lines. Meanwhile the Panthers have built basically three top units. The Oilers plan always seems to be to hope that McDavid and Draisaitl can win it on their own. If they run in to a wall, it's game over.
Worth thinking about the third lines on both teams and how dangerous Florida's was in comparison. Marchand scored 6 goals in the Finals. Henrique had 7 points in the entire playoffs. Frederic had all of 4.
Yandle on Spittin' Chiclets talked too about people buying in. There was talk that Kane was pouty about getting moved down the lineup after all his penalties. You just can't have that in the Finals. If a guy can't put aside his ego at that stage? Then you can't have him on the team.
The Oilers management and coaches continually value age and safety over talent and youth. It caught up to us. The team could not sustain the physical play they started the series with. We stopped hitting, we stopped scrumming. It looked like the other guys won that battle especially as games wore on.
Some of that is injuries - as mentioned, Nuge wasn't even practicing. Was Frederic ever okay? Ekholm was clearly not well. The Panthers had the book on Ekholm and knew he wasn't pivoting well. They were attacking down his wing constantly one-on-one and the first goal in the last two games was him getting turnstiled.
I do wish someone could have foreseen that the goaltending probably wasn't good enough. If only there had been some foreshadowing there, then the Oilers could have addressed that last summer or at the trade deadline.
Coaching wasn't great in the Finals either. The Panthers attack always - very aggressive. The Oilers were passive in response especially in the defensive zone. Some of that is likely a lack of trust in the goalies - the coach feels we need as many bodies as possible between the puck and the net, but the number of times we got hemmed...it takes a huge toll.
The breakout was never really tweaked, and we weren't doing a great job getting pucks out even when we did get possession. We gave it back so often. Some of that is on certain players (not sure there's a worse winger at picking pucks up off the rim around than Kane, for instance).
Full marks to the players on the Edmonton Oilers. They have got to back-to-back finals and I don't think there was any quit. I think they wanted it really really badly. They just haven't been a well-managed team and they got there in spite of that, while the Panthers are an excellently managed team who is always building depth - and even has their AHL team in the Finals there too.
The saddest thing is that Bill Zito was one of the guys on the Oilers interview list back after they fired Chiarelli until that moron Bob Nicholson heard that the fossilized remains of Ken Holland might be available, causing them to immediately forget about that plan for a fulsome process...imagine what might have been...
"Thinking that a bad team's best players are the reason the team is bad is the "Tambellini re-signing Lennart Petrell" of sports opinions." @Woodguy55
#FireBobbyNicks
|
|
|
|
Review:
Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: OilFans on Tue, 17 June 2025 20:30 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Leia on Tue, 17 June 2025 20:47 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Jay on Tue, 17 June 2025 20:46 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: cpcos on Tue, 17 June 2025 20:56 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Kr55 on Tue, 17 June 2025 20:52 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Rutuu on Tue, 17 June 2025 20:58 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Kr55 on Tue, 17 June 2025 21:20 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Adam on Tue, 17 June 2025 21:51 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Kr55 on Tue, 17 June 2025 21:39 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: mad90 on Tue, 17 June 2025 22:44 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Mike on Tue, 17 June 2025 23:17 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: MJ on Tue, 17 June 2025 22:43 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Kr55 on Wed, 18 June 2025 08:11 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Adam on Wed, 18 June 2025 11:43 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Adam on Wed, 18 June 2025 14:25 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Adam on Wed, 18 June 2025 14:56 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Adam on Wed, 18 June 2025 15:56 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Rutuu on Wed, 18 June 2025 16:21 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Adam on Wed, 18 June 2025 17:23 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Rutuu on Thu, 19 June 2025 01:08 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Adam on Thu, 19 June 2025 15:37 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Rutuu on Thu, 19 June 2025 15:43 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Kr55 on Thu, 19 June 2025 17:45 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Mike on Thu, 19 June 2025 20:05 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Mike on Fri, 20 June 2025 01:57 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Kr55 on Fri, 20 June 2025 14:27 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Adam on Fri, 20 June 2025 14:42 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Mike on Fri, 20 June 2025 16:33 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Adam on Fri, 20 June 2025 14:21 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Adam on Tue, 24 June 2025 16:53 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
By: Rutuu on Thu, 19 June 2025 20:52 |
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
|
Re: Review: Edmonton @ Florida (Game #6) |
|
