I think a lot of fans and media seem to figure that not only does management, et al owe it to us to keep us in the loop at all times, but they also believe that this is a good idea. *sarcasm alert*… because it’s a good idea for management to play with their cards face up at all times. Really, they’re pretty secretive about things, and they have to be. Sometimes I think these guys are a bunch of idiots.. and they might be.. but other times I do realize that they can’t let us know who they’re picking, or they have no collateral in a trade. They can’t tell us whether we’re in lose mode or win mode, because the players aren’t going to like being here if we’re in lose mode. They can’t tell us if Gagner is being shopped in trades, because Gagner isn’t going to like it.

This is why I laugh at media when they say with authority that so-and-so player is not on the market because the GM told them so. Riiiiight… because you guys would be the first people for Tambellini to break the news to. I also have to laugh when I hear guys like Burke, Torterella (when it comes to coaching questions) and even Mike Gillis recently (when asked about Luongo being shopped) snap back at the media and retort with something like “what.. like I’m going to tell you?”

So yah, there might be moments when the media are used to pump out fake information or test fan reaction, or whathaveyou, but I have no problem with that.

Racki:
FYI, I google searched for the quote that you mentioned. I found it on Oilers Nation.. one of the visitors there posted it. I found it on HF Boards.. but I didn’t find it anywhere else. I could be wrong, but it sounds actually like the user that posted it made it up. I don’t know the user though, so I don’t want to call someone I don’t even know a liar. But, I would definitely say take it with a grain of salt, because he doesn’t link to the actual article where he says that came from.. and the quotes don’t show up on Google.

Even if the story was from a real source, I think it’s bull anyways. I don’t buy it.. doesn’t add up to me.

I googled the quote before I posted it and found the same. I’m not really sure I agree or disagree, but I posted it on the basis that I found it interesting. The rumor du jour is that Katz used the ownership power of veto to ensure Yak was the selection and not RM. In reality, we’ll likely never know for years what really happened. I do believe though that the Oilers management does use the 630 Ched media for its own personal propaganda machine.

The other thing is that if your top three lines become very good, and I would suggest we are approaching that threshold, then your fourth line becomes guys who are not relied upon to create offense and a guy like Colin Fraser is an effective role player. Top teams all have some guys that only see limited minutes that rotate through the fourth line with usually two solid guys there. Then one has the luxury of easing better prospects into the NHL on limited fourth line minutes. We have not been able to do that for years. I am hoping MacT builds this part of our development strategy and structure. He is good at finding a strength in a player and being able to show he could use that skillset to help the bottom lines. We need some muscle. Now we have it. Hopefully it was not at the expense of wishful thinking.

Even if the story was from a real source, I think it’s bull anyways. I don’t buy it.. doesn’t add up to me.

What I think is just that the Oilers tried to convince the Blue Jackets that they had a raging one for Murray… they wanted to convince them that this was the guy we were taking, so that the Blue Jackets would be more willing to get up their pick, thinking their man was gone.

That’s my take on it. But I definitely could be wrong. I will say though that Nail does strike me as a guy who thrives under pressure. And without a doubt, the Oilers would have wanted both players.. so I think that’s true.