Continuing on with the break it down series. The others can be found at the following location.

I called last years goaltending situation a clusterfuck. It looks better this year. No really. It does. Dubnyk has proven to be at the very least a NHL level backup. That’s a plus. Khabibulin has one less year on his contract. That’s a plus. It is quite possible he learned how to be more nimble in prison too.

Continue reading 'Break it Down! – Goaltending (2011/12 Edition)'»

Continuing on with my series of posts that break down the Oiler’s different areas, today we look at the defense.

This years edition of the Oilers defense will be bad. Maybe not the worst we have ever seen, cause that is a pretty special group, but it’ll be pretty bad.
Continue reading 'Break it Down! – Defense (2011/12 Edition)'»

Since we have been getting just hammered under all this Oilers news, I figure I’ll try and sneak this years edition of break it down in and hope that people see it. Plus it looks as though the GM has finished making moves for the summer and I’m leaving for europe for a month right away.

Again, much like I did last year, I am going to do a series of posts discussing the team and how I think they will do in the coming year. Reading musts is Lowetide and his breakdown of each player, and big props to Behind the Net and Capgeek for all of my stats/salary info.
Continue reading 'Break It Down! – Forwards (2011/12 Edition)'»

And after procrastinating as long as possible here is the final post with this years Break it Down series. The rest can be found here.

Last year I commented on how I didn’t like the hiring of Quinn and would have preferred to see Renney hired, so I guess a year later it worked out for me. I just can’t stand to see a guy roll the lines at this level. They just get eaten alive.

Also, how shitty was it that Tippett got fired a couple weeks after we found our guys. That would be a killer coach.

As for Tambellini, I am kind of happy with the past year. But there are still issues that need to be figured out.

Continue reading 'Breaking it Down! – Coaching/Management (2010/11 Edition)'»

Continuing on with my series of Break it Down posts. The others can be found in the following location.

Next up, special teams. Last year I had these in separate posts, but this year I decided to combine them.

The Oilers last year had a average powerplay (18th) but got just hammered on the penalty kill (26th).

I wish I could see what the splits were for the PP – with Hemsky and without Hemsky (* – we can, see footnote – Racki). I think that Hemsky will again be the player that sets up the powerplay, and hopefully Foster can replace the shot of Souray (from what I’ve heard Foster has a killer shot). I’m also hoping for more down-low work (other teams focused on blocking Souray and it worked too well against us). I also like to think that we got a whole lot more finishing ability with the kids this year.

As for the PK, holy crap did they suck last year. I’m not sure which part played a bigger role however. Could have been the goaltending. Could have been the lack of PK talent. Could have been the league worst at faceoffs (30th @ 46.4%). Regardless, what was an usual strength of the Oilers turned into an absolute shit show.
Continue reading 'Break it Down! – PP/PK (2010/11 Edition)'»