ROCK BOTTOM?
EDMONTON – If Dallas Eakins is to be believed, the Edmonton Oilers love misery.
Chris Stewart scored a hat trick and added an assist as the Blues took advantage of a reeling Oilers team with a 6-0 victory on Saturday night.
The loss was so ugly that Eakins held a lengthy team meeting after the game. The Oilers’ head coach called out a team that is once again playing terrible hockey despite years of rebuilding efforts.
“I’m pinning this loss on the bone-headed mistakes we make when we have everything going in our favour,” said Eakins.
“It is like we love misery. It’s like ‘Oh hold on a second, things are going too well here. Let’s have some misery.’ I’ve had enough misery already and we’ve got some players who have been here for a number of years that have to be done with it.”
The Oilers (11-24-3) have lost a season-high six games in a row and fell to 5-11-1 on home ice. It was the sixth time this season the Oilers have been shut out and the third time in the last five games.
Edmonton started well, but had a complete collapse in the final 40 minutes. Oilers forward David Perron said his coach was calmer in his questioning than he would have been.
“(Eakins) wants us to look in the mirror and see if we are part of the solution,” said Perron. “I think he is completely right. If I was him I think I would have been tearing all four walls down. It is unacceptable the way we played in the second and third after a good first period like that.”
Brenden Morrow, Patrik Berglund and Jaden Schwartz also scored for the Blues (24-7-4) who are 5-1-1 in their last seven outings.
Brian Elliot made 23 saves to record his second shutout of the season and 23rd of his career.
Both teams return to the ice on Monday night as the Oilers play host to the Winnipeg Jets and the Blues travel to Calgary to face the Flames.
Notes: It was the first meeting since an off-season trade that saw David Perron go from the Blues to the Oilers in return for Magnus Paajarvi and a second-round pick. Perron entered the game with 27 points in 33 games, while Paajarvi had just two points in 15 games. … Edmonton defenceman Corey Potter returned from a two-game suspension. … Oilers forward Ryan Jones missed the game after being knocked unconscious in a collision with captain Andrew Ference in the morning skate. … St. Louis captain David Backes returned to the lineup after missing the last two games with a concussion. Also out for the Blues were forwards Vladimir Sobotka (upper body) Ryan Reaves (hand) and defenceman Jordan Leopold (hand).
(Canadian Press)
I would suggest that Eakins better start looking for another job because i believe he will be gone right after Christmas.These guys just don't want to play for him and that is the bottom line.
They don't want to play for anyone
This team is bad, no compete left, no strength, no guts.
MacT's faced challenges in the past, this is a guy who spent time in jail and is a cancer survivor.
Katz has to pull the plug on old 6 rings Lowe and let MacT see what can be done.
I am not ready just yet to send my Oilers items back just yet.
Hate to say it but time for the Oil to move Ebs, Yak
and Gagne for some power.
A fan threw their Oiler jersey on the ice at the conclusion of the game. Oilernation has spoken. This a total clusterf**k!!
The Oilers have to stop living in the past. Get rid of the old Oiler connection and bring in a whole new upper management team and lose Eakins as well. Then lose some of the "stars" and bring in some players that will show up in their end once in a while.
As an Oiler fan I don't even care anymore. Six years of losing and counting, you just disengage after awhile.
I feel sorry for the fans in Edmonton who have been paying to watch this crap for all these years. They are out thousands of dollars for what. All it costs me is some Oilers merchandise.
The only consolation to this season is how hot the Leafs started, and all my Leafs friends were planning the parade in November. Now they have come crashing back down to earth and people are realizing that they are not very good either.
T-dog
They don't want to play for anyone and the fact is those top draft picks just didn't develop. Great one way offensive junior players don't translate to NHL'ers that can play a 200 foot game.
Watch the structure St. Louis plays with and that is NHL hockey. It's all 3 zones and pressure. The Oilers are so unsound from the net out and behind the bench they are garbage.
It's not going to get better anytime soon either.
The Oilers will miss the playoffs for the eighth straight season. Only one team – Florida – has ever had a longer streak. I have been an Oilers fan since childhood but giving away Smid for magic beans was the last straw. They have to learn how to backcheck. Eakins is trying to force them to do it, but few of them are listening. Somebody let me know if/when they start. Until then, I couldn't care less about them. As a 'Rider fan since long before it was cool to be a 'Rider fan, I can deal with a lot… Read more »
Lowe brought in a number of high end junior hockey players but never taught them how to be pros. He is trying to recreate the old Oilers run and gun dynasty. The game has changed but he hasn't. The put Hall, RNH, and Eberle on one line and expect it to dominate anything on the ice. We've all seen the results. With Burke in Calgary, they will see playoff hockey in their rink long before the Oilers ever do. The Oilers are an old boys retirement club and they have to be cleaned out top to bottom. If they don't… Read more »
Ha ha ha ha ha! As a Flames fan I found this so hilariously funny watching the Oilers still suck! All I heard from Oiler fans was Calgary is going to suck now that Iginla and Kipper are gone, they will hardly win. Edmonton is going to crush them with all their great talent.Well yes the Flames are struggling too in the standings but hey they are still better than the Oilers! And they lead the league in one goal games, 23 games. So at least they compete. Could the Flames rebuild faster than the Oilers? Only time will tell.… Read more »
I wouldn't be bragging there Flames fan. Both the Oilers and your Flames suck. 1 Cup, remember.
All the Oilers have to do is start evaluating the 3 #1 overall picks (forgetting Eberle for a minute) based on what kind of players they actually are, and not on the fact that they were #1 draft picks. It's a big hang-up. It's like, "Yeah, we suck as a team. But look at all these top picks we have! Surely these 3 guys will turn into Crosby, Ovechkin and Malkin. I mean, they were #1 and #2 overall picks too! So let's just wait a few more years, and pay these guys big money, because sooner or later they… Read more »
Montreal's Eller was right – they play like a Junior Team. Eakin has a habit of throwing the players under the bus after each loss so I can see why the players may have tuned him out.
The Oilers tried to trade Hemsky last summer. They couldn't even get a nibble, nobody wanted him. So what do they do with the player nobody wants? They put him on the second line. That's how pathetic they are.
They are so predictable. They've coached the creativity out of them.