Buttery soft. That’s the most appropriate way to describe these Edmonton Oilers. They come the same way I prefer my Orange juice, with no pulp. There’s just nothing there. Whether it’s their shattered psyche or simply their internal makeup, the vast majority of Oiler players lack the fire and courage it takes to engage physically in the NHL.
The coach has already said it, the Oilers are playing scared. Eakins was quick to specify that they were playing afraid to lose after he said it, but that’s where I disagree. They aren’t afraid to lose, they’ve been doing that for 7 years. After losing for this long they’ve become desensitized to the whole topic. They aren’t afraid to lose. They’re just plain afraid out there. Afraid to be hit, afraid to battle, afraid to get in the middle of a scrum, afraid to go to the front of the net.
Maybe these young impressionable minds have been tainted by too many campfire stories from old man Smyth talking about Derian Hatcher and now they can’t sleep at night because of the nightmares. I’m not sure, really. Whatever it is, the Oilers aren’t ever going to win another game if they keep it up. The NHL is a tough league and being afraid of a little contact is unacceptable. Games are won at the front of the net, not on the sidewall and that’s where the Oilers have been playing their games.
Surely injuries have taken their toll on the club and the list of wounded include some of their more physical forwards. Ryan Smyth has made a career at the front of the net, Hall is no stranger to physical play, Joensuu was brought in for his size, and Pitlick was finishing checks in his brief stay with the team. Not to mention Perron who has been unsettling goalies since he arrived in Edmonton. But taking those players out has just highlighted how soft the rest of the team is. Instead of giving someone else the opportunity to step up all it has done is highlight the fact that they have all stepped back.
Where is the body driving to the net? Where are the players who battle for the puck? All I see is a constant stream of drop passes and toe drags when even the slightest suggestion of physicality appears on the ice, and from defensemen too! Just who are the Oilers defensemen dropping passes to exactly? If I was Dallas Eakins I would be pulling my hair out of my head every time Jordan Eberle tries to dangle against NHL defensemen. It isn’t a display of skill; it’s a display of fear. When defensemen step up on Oiler players their first reaction is to toss that puck like it’s a live grenade or avoid the contact at all costs.
Take those ridiculous drop passes for example. You can call it “being too fancy”, I call it being afraid to take a hit to make a play. When the team is coming down on the opposition defense with speed the last thing they should be doing is moving the puck backwards in a low percentage play. It doesn’t work, or at least it rarely ever does. So why are they doing it over and over again? At this point they are either incredibly dense or just unwilling to take the puck themselves to the hard areas of the ice. All they do is prevent the puck carrier from taking a hit by the defender stepping up.
Same goes for the incessant toe drags. Those moves may have worked in Junior but in the NHL toe drags only work when the defender is sprawled out on the ice in complete desperation. If he is standing up then the toe drag is just insulting to him and the profession of “NHL Defenseman”. For someone like Jordan Eberle who can stick handle in a phone booth (The kids are saying “What’s a phone booth?”) that toe drag move is just an escape chute. There’s no attempt to go to the net or through the man covering him, it’s a weak attempt to get around him without getting a booboo.
Eakins said his team is playing scared and they are, but it isn’t because they’re scared to lose. They’re afraid to engage. There is no fight in this group. At some point MacTavish will need to address this and when he does there will be prominent Oilers shown the door.
MOVEMBER UPDATE
My stubble is at the stage where it can either be used as a replacement for Velcro or to sand down lumber and another shave is in order. A decision on style is needed.
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