A little blunt to say the least but the Edmonton Oilers are a bad hockey team right now. I will cut them some slack in the fact that two of our better defensemen are on the sidelines and our captain has yet to play a hockey game but in my honest opinion even Gretzky himself cant save us now or for the next couple of years. Hopefully I’m wrong but unless certain changes are made at some point this season or next we will continue to be a laughing stock amongst our northwest division rivals. Tonights game against Calgary was anything less then exciting, the battle of Alberta is supposed to be a hard nosed spirited affair no matter what place either team sits in. While I think neither team is going to be overly successful Calgary took it to us for the better part of 40 minutes tonight. If Kipper gets his game back and Iginla continues to be red hot the Flames will at least have a legitimate shot of making the playoffs, thats more then I can say for the Oilers and heres why.

Our Coaching Staff.
I’ve tried to defend Edmonton coaches for quite sometime but its apparent that they no longer can improve this hockey team. Our powerplay has been worse then anything I’ve seen in Junior B (Ok thats a stretch). It just doesnt work and hasnt worked for far to long. Why? Obviously its a number of things. Souray and Pitkanen are out, both of whom would help our powerplay from the backend dramatically. But it all comes down to strategy and skill. Why Raffi Torres continues to get ice time on the powerplay over a guy with obvious skill and vision in Sam Gagner is beyond me. Through certain stretches Torres has been a good hockey player but his inconsistency and lack of skill isnt a good mix for any Powerplay. He continues to get top line minutes when he should be at best a third line player. He is a grinder, plain and simple. Gagner on the other hand is 19 years old and has the playmaking ability that is needed on a man advantage. From the few shifts they have played together its easy to see that he and Cogliano have some chemistry but they continue to dog Gagner on the powerplay giving his spot to guys like Torres. Gagner has played an abundance of hockey early on this season with the super series but at some point they need to give him a shot with the man advantage.

Management.
Time will tell how well our young superstars turn out. Gagner and Cogliano both look like the real deal but the guy not getting the accolades is Tom Gilbert who for the better part of this season has been our best (and most consistent) defenseman. Heading into this season most fans were to expect a rebuilding year meaning we get rid of the old and come in with the new. My biggest gripe with our management is how they seem to be unable to make up there mind on if we are trying to compete or in full blown rebuilding mode. With 6 rookies in the lineup it appears we are rebuilding. But what confuses me still to this day is the Penner offer sheet. $500,000 to a 4.25 million dollar contract (something like that)is absolutely ludicrous to me given the fact that Anaheim will receive our first round pick in this years upcoming draft…in the midst of a rebuilding season we knew we would finish in the bottom half of the standings and yet pissed away an opportunity to have the first overall pick. Im not saying its going to happen but there is always a chance, had we lost our last game to Calgary last season we could be looking at having arguably the best rookie in the game in Chicago’s Patrick Kane. Considering the recent success of number one picks these days this will be a crucial mistake in the Oilers future and I will have to probably slit my wrists when I see Brian Burke making his way to the podium to thank Kevin Lowe for giving him the first overall selection.

Our Veterans.
Its one thing however to give away good draft picks, its another thing to over spend on guys that are already in your organization. Lowe was put in a tough spot after our miracle run when he had to sign Fernando Pisani and its another signing I thought was a little steep. I dont have a problem with Pisani, I have a problem with our constant signings and raises to guys like Pisani, Moreau, Horcoff, Staois. I will give Horcoff credit, he has been the one guy (despite all the trash talk he gets) that has earned his keep on this team this season. Do I think he is a first line center? No, but he is a solid two way player that can put up 60-70 points, kill penalties, win faceoffs, etc. The problem isnt Horcoff its money tied up in our third and fourth line players when what this team needs a proven superstar to play with Ales Hemsky. So many people talk about Hemsky being overrated but the things he can do the ice show full well what he is capable of. He has no one to play with and he hasnt had anyone to play with since becoming a part of the Oilers. We continue to re-sign third and fourth line players for top line minutes and Hemsky has suffered miserably because of it.

Team Toughness.
Has been missing since the days Laraque was here. Big George never fought a whole heck of a lot in his final few seasons here but the intimidation factor from him alone had other teams not taking as many liberties as they have the past two seasons. Boogard literally dismantled our club last season and what is our answer? Zack Stortini? The guy is a joke and shouldn’t be playing hockey in the N.H.L. I have never seen a so called heavyweight lose countless fights while barely throwing a bunch. Stortini’s specaility is to hold on to try and take the guy down. He is a terrible skater and has no offensive upside what so ever. At least Laraque could start the odd cycle and score a few here and there.

Goaltending.
At last the lone bright spot on this club. Perhaps the best offseason signing Lowe has made was obtaining Mathieu Garon. I’m sorry to say Roloson fans but he is finished. Roli is still a very capable goalie but Garon is the Oilers best chance to win and if Kevin Lowe was smart he would package him and his over signed contract somewhere for draft picks or part of a package deal for someone that could potentially play with Hemsky. Fat chance of that happening knowing Roli is as old as he is and most teams are only going to get a couple years out of him at best. Aside from the rookies Garon has been the lone bright spot on a rather dim team these days making incredible save after incredible save, something Roli hasnt been able to do this season. The real treat is what this club has waiting in the wings in goal. Both Jeff Deslauriers and Devon Dubnyk have a massive amount of potential and it appears that JDD is about ready to make the next step giving Dubnyk time to grow into his potential. It’s safe to say this team is locked up in goal for years to come.

Finally…
This team needs to show some smarts and a little heart. I dont know if its hockey players growing or if its the coaching staff but to many times the club makes bone head plays or plays with too little emotion. It seems the days of when the Oilers were known for there speed and forechecking are gone and whats been brought in from MacT is a defense first mentality. I hope its some sort of brilliant strategy but by the looks of our roster we have enough defensive players already, what we need is some offense perhaps? Worst Powerplay and the lowest goals for prove that. Our goalies will win us some games but our offense needs to win them some games in return.

The sad thing is we cant afford to buy someone to help out in that department because we are already one of the highest paid teams…which is funny because I thought this was a rebuilding year.

Walks