I am trying really hard to not be the guy who cries about Eakins because I dont think bringing a new coach in every year will fix the issue but he makes it really hard for me on somedays
- RatedR80

Cant argue with that... but on the flip side - had there not been injuries for tonight- I confidently say this team made a 90 degree or more turn thus far... way more competitive than the previous 2 seasons... harder to play against- every line had scoring chances- well we missed some in the Vancouver game due to the zebras being douchebags... but definitely in the Calgary game...

Granted I've been under the influence for most the season, but I don't mind Hunt on the PP. Really brings something this team is missing. With that being said it's hard to justify keeping him up very long if that's all he brings. Then again he looks better than Schultz at times.
- Lahey

They're not just "keeping him up"... he's playing 21 minutes a night.

More like 15 minute stand
- Lahey

Well are you (frank)ing the mind or the vagina???

More like 15 minute stand
- Lahey

15 min can turn into 18 years so (frank)ing quickly.

Granted I've been under the influence for most the season, but I don't mind Hunt on the PP. Really brings something this team is missing. With that being said it's hard to justify keeping him up very long if that's all he brings. Then again he looks better than Schultz at times.
- Lahey

Only on the PP... please

It's pretty easy actually, the guy is a (frank)ing idiot.

I make valid points and he does his typical "oh you blame him and him and the gm and him"

He can't give any good reasons as to why yak played 5 minutes to open, as to why yak wasn't given good PP time, as to why he played most of last year on LW with plugs. and on left hand point on 5v4's.

Eakins is a bad coach, Yakupov was misused = fire all coaches, fire the gm, Yakupov is our saviour.

He wants to act like an idiot then i'll call him an idiot
- SpoiledByOil

Yak played about 14 mins to open. Were you talking about last year? or the year before with your facts?

no you really didn't

answer this

1) why was he played less than 5 min in the opener?
2) why was he demoted and scratched less than 2 weeks into the season?
3) why did he play most of the year on the LW
4) why was he not played on 5v3s?
5) why was he played on teh LHD side on 5v4s?
6) what was he supposed to learn playing with Gazdic?
- SpoiledByOil

he was a a second year 19 year old that was a liability defensively on a team that couldnt deal with defensive liabilities.
he was fighting the puck, making bad decisions and generally playing poorly at both ends of the ice.
you dont play the way the coach wants you to, and your a kid that hasnt even played a full season? u ride pine. you make it sound like eakins is the first guy to do this. this is nothing new.
randy carlyle for example doesnt even want his rookies talking unless asked.
point is; short leash for these kids.

he made some errors defensively and eakins went with guys he thought were going better. u are certainly entitled to your opinion, but yours is FAR from fact. u need to understand this. are u sure he only played 5 mins?????

and why dont u ask eakins why he was used on the left side? clearly he thought the guys playing on the right side were more effective?
we know ebs was, at least offensively.

i dont believe in plum playing time for sophmores regardless either. so he got demoted. maybe playing alongside plugs forces one to work on his defensive game as offensive opportunities are few and far between. i dont think its a secret that eakins wanted him to work on his defensive skills. and again; u talk as if a kid getting demoted is something new in the nhl

u keep harping about his one timer. hes also a powerful skater and shouldnt be pigeonholed into a slot shooter. he can use his skating from either side to get defenders on their heels. like he did when he scored off the left side against vancouver.....oh yeah. that

blah bloah blah blah. yaks deployment probably hasnt been perfect, but your continual harping and blaming is an exercise in futility. yaks getting lesser minutes in opener was absolutely NOT why we lost. and again, are u sure only 5 mins?

anyways, your insults are wasted bud. theres a small group of posters that blame everything on eakins. we all know who they are. and for the most part, its this same groups opinions that most of the reasonable posters around here, dont respect. so save ur breath on the 'hockey knowledge' nonsense

Yak played about 14 mins to open. Were you talking about last year? or the year before with your facts?
- ruttager17

do I even need to answer this?

do I even need to answer this?
- SpoiledByOil

No cause it will most likely be a stupid answer, to backpedal over the mistake you made. Stupid people make me angry, so not sure I could handle the answer.

Cant argue with that... but on the flip side - had there not been injuries for tonight- I confidently say this team made a 90 degree or more turn thus far... way more competitive than the previous 2 seasons... harder to play against- every line had scoring chances- well we missed some in the Vancouver game due to the zebras being douchebags... but definitely in the Calgary game...
- saskoil21

I really do like our 4th line this year which many people said was going to be a weakness so hopefully they come out tonight with the same effort and who knows what can happen....either way I wont be shocked

he was a a second year 19 year old that was a liability defensively on a team that couldnt deal with defensive liabilities.
he was fighting the puck, making bad decisions and generally playing poorly at both ends of the ice.
you dont play the way the coach wants you to, and your a kid that hasnt even played a full season? u ride pine. you make it sound like eakins is the first guy to do this. this is nothing new.
randy carlyle for example doesnt even want his rookies talking unless asked.
point is; short leash for these kids.

he made some errors defensively and eakins went with guys he thought were going better. u are certainly entitled to your opinion, but yours is FAR from fact. u need to understand this.

why dont u ask eakins? clearly he thought the guys playing on the right side were more effective?
we know ebs was, at least offensively.

i dont believe in plum playing time for sophmores regardless. so he got demoted. maybe playing alongside plugs forces one to work on his defensive game as offensive opportunities are few and far between. i dont think its a secret that eakins wanted him to work on his defensive skills. and again; u talk as if a kid getting demoted is something new in the nhl

u keep harping about his one timer. hes also a powerful skater and shouldnt be pigeonholed into a slot shooter. he can use his skating from either side to get defenders on their heels. like he did when hescored off the left side against vancouver.....oh yeah. that
blah bloah blah blah. yaks deployment probably hasnt been perfect, but your continual harping and blaming is an exercise in futility. yaks getting lesser minutes in opener was absolutely NOT why we lost.

anyways, your insults are wasted bud. theres a small group of posters that blame everything on eakins. we all know who they are. and for the most part, its this same groups opnions that most of the reasonable posters around here, dont respect. so save ur breath on the 'hockey knowledge' nonsense
- hugefemale dog77

and all of this would be fine if he was holding EVERYONE accountable for their play. are you saying that Yakupov was the only deffensive liability on the team last year? Who else was demoted last year?

Are you saying that it wouldn't be putting him in a position to succeed having him out on the 5v3?

What is your reasoning for playing him on the left hand defensive wall on the 5v4?

Where is accountability? Why was nobody else on the team held accountable for poor defensive play?

That's my arguement. I've never blamed the coaches ever before Eakins, i've never once said fire management, i never once said Yakupov was our saviour. I say he was used horribly, which he was, and I said he was demoted and benched for playing no worse than other players on the team which he was. I said that he wasn't put into positions to succeed, which he wasn't.

No cause it will most likely be a stupid answer, to backpedal over the mistake you made. Stupid people make me angry, so not sure I could handle the answer.
- ruttager17

Obiously I was talking about last year, nice joke though backpedal over what? That i stated last year he played less than 5 minutes in the opener? Really? holy (frank)

So much beef in here, peeps need to chill. Feels like everyone has a case of the mondays.. or the oilers are playing the defending champs without 3 of their top players.....

so saying that's what happens when you play a young offensive sniper in a grinder role on his OFF wing isn't a very good arguement for why said player is struggeling? Cool
- SpoiledByOil

No what I'm saying is that he struggled with tougher matchups as was pushed on down the line. You make it seem like Gazdic was his regular line mate, it happened here and there but not as much as you claim.
Fact is he couldn't be trusted against more talented opposition and we had options.

No what I'm saying is that he struggled with tougher matchups as was pushed on down the line. You make it seem like Gazdic was his regular line mate, it happened here and there but not as much as you claim.
Fact is he couldn't be trusted against more talented opposition and we had options.
- Jeropotato

And Gagner could? Hemsky? Eberle wasn't a defensive liability? Jones?

So much beef in here, peeps need to chill. Feels like everyone has a case of the mondays.. or the oilers are playing the defending champs without 3 of their top players.....
- Oilfan19

That Petry healthy scratch was a nice tipping point.

So much beef in here, peeps need to chill. Feels like everyone has a case of the mondays.. or the oilers are playing the defending champs without 3 of their top players.....
- Oilfan19

Well sir I hate to bring this up but according to some of our fine posters losing Nuge aint all that bad coz now we have super Yak2 to save the day so in reality we didnt lose our top 3 players at all.....we simply made solid additions

That Petry healthy scratch was a nice tipping point.
- Nucker101

HB just went into chaos after that, I guess its fair enough, Gregor is lost on that one too.

Like 1 NHL centre and 1.5 top 4 D tonight against the reigning cup champs. Unfortunate that RNH and Eberle are out, but not playing Marincin-Petry is so dumb and so discouraging to know that's what EDM is thinking. Bring in Mark Fraser and swarm because we're going back to bad decision (frank)in central aaah

No what I'm saying is that he struggled with tougher matchups as was pushed on down the line. You make it seem like Gazdic was his regular line mate, it happened here and there but not as much as you claim.
Fact is he couldn't be trusted against more talented opposition and we had options.
- Jeropotato

Well I think the simple solution is to put Yak on the PK so when we do get a ton of penaltys at least Yak will get minutes and that will appease the rabbid fanbase....so what if our PK goes down the tubes coz Yak isnt a PK guy? At least he will get his minutes

Granted I've been under the influence for most the season, but I don't mind Hunt on the PP. Really brings something this team is missing. With that being said it's hard to justify keeping him up very long if that's all he brings. Then again he looks better than Schultz at times.
- Lahey

I'm also fine with Hunt on the PP, but he's not an NHL defender. We've had more issues with keeping the puck out of our net than putting it in, especially on the PP.

The fact that Schultz doesn't look that great only extends the problem further. Why aren't Petry and Marincin playing instead of these guys?

I'm also fine with Hunt on the PP, but he's not an NHL defender. We've had more issues with keeping the puck out of our net than putting it in, especially on the PP.

The fact that Schultz doesn't look that great only extends the problem further. Why aren't Petry and Marincin playing instead of these guys?
- NugentHallberle

Another important question would be why does Ference keep getting minutes? If anyone appears to be behind the 8 ball I think he is a prime suspect

Well I think the simple solution is to put Yak on the PK so when we do get a ton of penaltys at least Yak will get minutes and that will appease the rabbid fanbase....so what if our PK goes down the tubes coz Yak isnt a PK guy? At least he will get his minutes
- RatedR80

So saying Yak deserves more minutes means play him more on the PK

Typical response, reflect, crack joke, disregard any actual conversation taking place.

You Rutts and Hugefemale dog must get along great

Another important question would be why does Ference keep getting minutes? If anyone appears to be behind the 8 ball I think he is a prime suspect
- RatedR80

Don't even get me started on Ference.. More useless then Fraser.

So saying Yak deserves more minutes means play him more on the PK

Typical response, reflect, crack joke, disregard any actual conversation taking place.

You Rutts and Hugefemale dog must get along great
- SpoiledByOil

Hey im all for Yak getting minutes but when was he supposed to get minutes the last game? In case you missed it we played a large chunk of the game on the PK so where was he supposed to get his minutes? Also he played for a bit in game one so I dont see where Yak is getting screwed this year at all