Hey let's talk about the Leafs

[Boges]

7 of 8 points since that 9 goal game against Nashville. I take it the Leafs are good again?

[guyser]

7 of 8 points since that 9 goal game against Nashville. I take it the Leafs are good again?

Respectful at best.

If they all buy in to the programme then perhaps they can have some success if they make the playoffs.

But I also think there should be a new rule instituted called the Oiler Rule. When you suck that bad with that much talent then you are barred from getting another first pick in the draft. I have never seen any team that bad for that long with that much talent. Time for everyone from the coach up to the (but not including)owner Katz to be fired.

Say hello to Todd from San Jose once he is fired (and soon) I dont think Eakin is the problem either, but I dont think he can stay conisdering all the turmoil thats gone on.

It sucks that no one wants to play in Edmonton (or that they have to overpay to get anyone)and for the life of me I dont know why. Sure winters are hard, but so are Minny's winters and frankly there is better life in Edmonton than Minny surely.

[overthere]

Respectful at best.

If they all buy in to the programme then perhaps they can have some success if they make the playoffs.

But I also think there should be a new rule instituted called the Oiler Rule. When you suck that bad with that much talent then you are barred from getting another first pick in the draft. I have never seen any team that bad for that long with that much talent. Time for everyone from the coach up to the (but not including)owner Katz to be fired.

Say hello to Todd from San Jose once he is fired (and soon) I dont think Eakin is the problem either, but I dont think he can stay conisdering all the turmoil thats gone on.

It sucks that no one wants to play in Edmonton (or that they have to overpay to get anyone)and for the life of me I dont know why. Sure winters are hard, but so are Minny's winters and frankly there is better life in Edmonton than Minny surely.

I am a hardcore Oiler fan, and it is now past time to acknowledge we don't have much talent. If we did, we'd see it once in a while, if only by accident. Nugent Hopkins is a good player, but not the franchise player that you should get at #1 overall pick . Hall is a really good p[layer, and good value at #1 overall. Yakupov is a giant stinking pile of mistake. He has no hockey sense, although he is trying harder this year. You heard it here first: he'll be in the KHL next year. He'll want big bucks on his second contract, and nobody inthe NHL including the oIlers will pay ity. Hello Minsk. If the Oilers want any return, they need to trade him now. The best they'll do is likely a plugger or a 3rd round pick. Eberle is an average player on the wrong team. Dreisatl is the latest young man to be ruined by playing him too much too young. Schultz: average. Goalies: horrible. Defence: horrible.

They need to keep Bob Nicholso, and fire everybody else. The pro and amateur scouting has been awful for years. One thing I might enjoy is to move Lowe back to GM and MacTavish onto the bench just for a couple months. It would be instructive for them to get an upclose earful from the fans of just how badly they have screwed up this team. Then fire them all and start over. This season is done. . Oh, and it is only a matter of time before Hall, RNH or both ask for a trade.

Nobody thought it was possible, but they are even worse than last year.

[Boges]

Honestly if the Leafs pull this late season swoon again, I'll be really upset. You beat the Blackhawks, Kings, Redwings twice, Salvage a point against the Penguins. They're beating the NHL elite not the bottom feeders.

The Noobs are also the ones that are making a difference. Who the Hell is Richard Panik and when did he become Doug Gilmour?

[Boges]

Leaf haters are verrrry quiet.

[guyser]

While true, last year around this time the Leafs were 11-2-1 opr somesuch.Tied for first w Les Habs

Maybe the quiet ones are waiting for the collapse.

TO some degree I expect a bit of a slide back but certainly not anywhere near last years fiasco. I am confident they will make the playoffs.

Edited December 17, 2014 by Guyser2

[Boges]

Sure this team could easily collapse again. We won't know until March, so might as well enjoy this run now.

I think the biggest difference this year is that the team has some serious depth. The Kadri, Santorelli, Winnik line is a legit second line and it bumps Lupul and Clarkson down to the third line.

They have the offensive weapons to mask their pedestrian defence.

[Black Dog]

Leaf haters are verrrry quiet.

Letting you enjoy this little run. See you when the bottom falls out.

[Shady]

Letting you enjoy this little run. See you when the bottom falls out.

Haters gonna hate.

[Black Dog]

Haters gonna hate.

Leafs gonna Leaf.

[The_Squid]

I am a hardcore Oiler fan, and it is now past time to acknowledge we don't have much talent. If we did, we'd see it once in a while, if only by accident. Nugent Hopkins is a good player, but not the franchise player that you should get at #1 overall pick . Hall is a really good p[layer, and good value at #1 overall. Yakupov is a giant stinking pile of mistake. He has no hockey sense, although he is trying harder this year. You heard it here first: he'll be in the KHL next year. He'll want big bucks on his second contract, and nobody inthe NHL including the oIlers will pay ity. Hello Minsk. If the Oilers want any return, they need to trade him now. The best they'll do is likely a plugger or a 3rd round pick. Eberle is an average player on the wrong team. Dreisatl is the latest young man to be ruined by playing him too much too young. Schultz: average. Goalies: horrible. Defence: horrible.

They need to keep Bob Nicholso, and fire everybody else. The pro and amateur scouting has been awful for years. One thing I might enjoy is to move Lowe back to GM and MacTavish onto the bench just for a couple months. It would be instructive for them to get an upclose earful from the fans of just how badly they have screwed up this team. Then fire them all and start over. This season is done. . Oh, and it is only a matter of time before Hall, RNH or both ask for a trade.

Nobody thought it was possible, but they are even worse than last year.

That is a really sad story.... The management of the Oilers has been atrocious.

[overthere]

It has gotten worse this week. I got my wish for MacT to get behind the bench. Unfortunately, he is there to somehow mentor or tutor the inecpereinced coach he hired, Todd Nelson from the Oilers AHL affiliate. He has only minimal NHL experience, a brief stint as an assistant in Atlanta.

That's the third rookie coach in a row.

MacTs ongoing excuse is" I've only been here 20 months, be patient".

Well no, Oilers fans have been very patient, now we are pissed off and out for blood.

MacTavish made a serious mistake when he started by not firing all of the pro and amateur scouting staff, all of them. Between Lowe and the scouts, they failed completely by not providing a solid supporting cast for the kids. The young stars have no help at all in goal, defence or with some heavier players. The OIlers have gotten nearly nothing out of 2nd round or later draft picks. Nearly all their pro trades and free agents have been worse than useless.

The only guy with any hope of flushing it all is Bob Nicholson.

[Shady]

I feel bad for Oilers fans, it's been way too long and they've had way too many high draft picks not to be better. The coaches aren't the problem it's the front office.

[Shady]

On a Leafs note. Kadri has really improved his game. Especially on the defensive end of the ice. He's now a solid two-way player. He's also improved his faceoff winning percentage by about 8% since last season.

[Black Dog]

It has gotten worse this week. I got my wish for MacT to get behind the bench. Unfortunately, he is there to somehow mentor or tutor the inecpereinced coach he hired, Todd Nelson from the Oilers AHL affiliate. He has only minimal NHL experience, a brief stint as an assistant in Atlanta.

That's the third rookie coach in a row.

MacTs ongoing excuse is" I've only been here 20 months, be patient".

Well no, Oilers fans have been very patient, now we are pissed off and out for blood.

MacTavish made a serious mistake when he started by not firing all of the pro and amateur scouting staff, all of them. Between Lowe and the scouts, they failed completely by not providing a solid supporting cast for the kids. The young stars have no help at all in goal, defence or with some heavier players. The OIlers have gotten nearly nothing out of 2nd round or later draft picks. Nearly all their pro trades and free agents have been worse than useless.

The only guy with any hope of flushing it all is Bob Nicholson.

All of this is true, but there's also the fact they steadfastly refuse to use the best lineup possible. Marincin is rotting in OKC, Klefbom is in the pressbox while AHLers like Aulie and Hunt get big minutes. Sending Joensuu, who was part of the first truly functional fourth line we've seen in years, away for useless face puncher Gazdic. Playing Schultz upwards of 20 minutes a night. Baffling stuff.

[overthere]

Agreed

arcobello, but not Lander or Jason Williams???

Teddy Purcell has no point at all.

Poor Dreisatl, learning how to lose when he could be in junior where he belongs.

Joensuu started well but faded badly as usual.

Fourth line should be Gordon Hendricks Pinnozzotto and will be tonight.

Somehow, in this alternate universe we now inhabit, Hunt and Aulie are still better than Nikitin. I wish they'd put Nikiitn on waivers, who knows they might find some desperate fish out there. There is zero chance they'd be able to trade him.

We have ruined Schultz, he'll also either be gone for nothing at the end of this year or be paid way way too much. Another MacTavish bold move.

Petry will be gone soon too, in a trade for very little back or gone for nothing as UFA at end of year.

He is, sadly, still our best defenceman. Another horrible situation for and by Mactavish and Lowe.

[Boges]

That's sooooo Leafs to lose to a last place team after beating the best team in the league 6-2.

[The_Squid]

How's David Booth working out for the Laffs? lol

[Black Dog]

Letting you enjoy this little run. See you when the bottom falls out.

Oh hey what's up?

[guyser]

Oh hey what's up?

3 losses isnt a bottom dropper....a few more sure would be .

The Leafs, like the Raps, are to face the real comp now.

When all is said and done we shall see where they stand.

[overthere]

All of this is true, but there's also the fact they steadfastly refuse to use the best lineup possible. Marincin is rotting in OKC, Klefbom is in the pressbox while AHLers like Aulie and Hunt get big minutes. Sending Joensuu, who was part of the first truly functional fourth line we've seen in years, away for useless face puncher Gazdic. Playing Schultz upwards of 20 minutes a night. Baffling stuff.

The most recent cluster**** is about to play out.

There is of course no way Dreisatl should have started the season with the Oilers, and even less to keep him past 10 games and thereby burn a year of his entry level contract. There was no reason not to let him play with the German national team at the World Juniors either, since he has clearly demonstrated that he is not quite ready for the NHL.

Now they are going to return him to junior but not with his team Prince Albert but to challenge for the Memorial Cup with the powerhouse Kelowna Rockets. It is better than keeping him with the Oilers, but he has learned nothing with the Oilers except how to lose. They should have done this in September, yet another blunder and this one is all MacTavish.

[kimmy]

Lowe and MacTavish have turned the Oilers into the biggest joke in all of professional sports. I can't believe these losers still have jobs.

Almost every decision that they have made has turned out so completely wrong that I think the few things they have done right, like getting David Perron and Mark Fayne happened by accident.

I was hearing about the Sam Pollock "inverted T" model of building a hockey team, where you start with goaltending, then defense, then center. Kevin Lowe has done the exact opposite, where you start with wingers, then add more wingers, and forget about goaltending or defense or centers. What a moron. The Oilers haven't had a top line center since 2000 when Lowe traded away Doug Weight. They haven't had a top defenseman since Lowe traded away Chris Pronger in 2006.

Lowe has been in charge of this team since 2000, first as GM and then as president after 2010. In 14 years with Lowe in charge, the Oilers have only been in the playoffs 3 times. This season will be 12 out of 15 that they miss the playoffs.

MacTavish has only been in charge for a season and a half, but every single part of the team has got worse since he took over. Hiring Dallas Eakins was a big mistake. The players were making progress and excited to be playing for Ralph K. Then Eakins comes on board and all of them have gone backwards. Everybody on the roster is worse now than they were when Ralph was coaching them.

Trading Sam Gagner for that big loser Ted Purcell was pretty stupid. Purcell might be taller than Sam, but he's also a bigger wimp. Also, Sam is a center and Purcell isn't and if we had Sam we wouldn't have to have our 18 year old kid skating around looking lost because we're so short of centers. I think MacTavish probably decided on draft day that Draisaitl would be in the NHL this season, regardless.

These guys are so dumb. I can't believe that such idiots get to run a quarter-billion-dollar business. I think it's great that Edmonton fans are taking out ads and billboards to call out these big fat failures. I can't believe that Daryl Katz is letting these complete morons ruin his franchise. By the time his new downtown arena opens, it will be empty.

People think that Edmonton fans will always keep buying tickets no matter how dog-crap the on-ice product is. But the novelty of having Taylor Hall is wearing off and people are getting sick of being told that things are turning around because it is obvious now that things are just getting worse. The team is being laughed at around the league now, and nobody wants to spend thousands of dollars to support something that everybody is laughing at. With the price of oil falling by half this year, and fans getting tired of losing, I think there will be repercussions this time.

-k

[Shady]

3 losses isnt a bottom dropper....a few more sure would be .The Leafs, like the Raps, are to face the real comp now.When all is said and done we shall see where they stand.

Exactly. Leafs beat Dallas 4 - 0 last game. I guess were suppose to comment on every up and down during the regular season. Maybe he wants to do that, but the rest of us have lives.

[Boges]

Those were bad L's. We'll see what they do on the road coming off the Christmas break.

[The_Squid]

Lowe and MacTavish have turned the Oilers into the biggest joke in all of professional sports. I can't believe these losers still have jobs.

Almost every decision that they have made has turned out so completely wrong that I think the few things they have done right, like getting David Perron and Mark Fayne happened by accident.

I was hearing about the Sam Pollock "inverted T" model of building a hockey team, where you start with goaltending, then defense, then center. Kevin Lowe has done the exact opposite, where you start with wingers, then add more wingers, and forget about goaltending or defense or centers. What a moron. The Oilers haven't had a top line center since 2000 when Lowe traded away Doug Weight. They haven't had a top defenseman since Lowe traded away Chris Pronger in 2006.

Lowe has been in charge of this team since 2000, first as GM and then as president after 2010. In 14 years with Lowe in charge, the Oilers have only been in the playoffs 3 times. This season will be 12 out of 15 that they miss the playoffs.

MacTavish has only been in charge for a season and a half, but every single part of the team has got worse since he took over. Hiring Dallas Eakins was a big mistake. The players were making progress and excited to be playing for Ralph K. Then Eakins comes on board and all of them have gone backwards. Everybody on the roster is worse now than they were when Ralph was coaching them.

Trading Sam Gagner for that big loser Ted Purcell was pretty stupid. Purcell might be taller than Sam, but he's also a bigger wimp. Also, Sam is a center and Purcell isn't and if we had Sam we wouldn't have to have our 18 year old kid skating around looking lost because we're so short of centers. I think MacTavish probably decided on draft day that Draisaitl would be in the NHL this season, regardless.

These guys are so dumb. I can't believe that such idiots get to run a quarter-billion-dollar business. I think it's great that Edmonton fans are taking out ads and billboards to call out these big fat failures. I can't believe that Daryl Katz is letting these complete morons ruin his franchise. By the time his new downtown arena opens, it will be empty.

People think that Edmonton fans will always keep buying tickets no matter how dog-crap the on-ice product is. But the novelty of having Taylor Hall is wearing off and people are getting sick of being told that things are turning around because it is obvious now that things are just getting worse. The team is being laughed at around the league now, and nobody wants to spend thousands of dollars to support something that everybody is laughing at. With the price of oil falling by half this year, and fans getting tired of losing, I think there will be repercussions this time.

-k

Ouch..... scathing review. Someone needs to forward this to Oilers management.... except I'd be worried about mass suicide at Oilers head office if they read it!!