Joined Lowetide on Monday morning to talk Oilers and my recent piece over at The Copper & Blue. Clip starts around the 25 minute mark.

Just a quick note. I know my work can be perceived as being too negative, as the Oilers are a competitive team this year and yet my work, and the work of others, tends to highlight the flaws. The issue for me personally is that while winning today is awesome, I like looking at ways that the winning can remain sustainable. The end goal is to win the Stanley Cup, and to do that the team needs to establish an extended window, at least a five year term, where they can be legitimate, championship contenders. And while the pieces for success are coming together, there remains plenty of things that I think the team needs to do better to be a real contender going forward. This includes player acquitions, player deployment, cap management, roster construction, line combinations, special teams, as well as the actual outputs including goals and shots.

I try my best to include as much information as possible into my analysis, and do place a critical lens on all facets of this team. My main objective is to raise questions that I think are important to evaluate this team and uncover aspects of the game that I think the Oilers should focus on for long-term success.

If that makes me a lousy, negative fan, so be it. I’ll create my own fan experience, and everyone else can create their own.