I joined host Alicia Asquith on the CBC Edmonton News for my weekly segment to discuss all things Oilers. Clip is here and starts at the 15:00 mark: CBC Edmonton News (2018, November 22)
Topics we covered:
- The hiring of Ken Hitchcock, and what we can expect from the new head coach.
- The key factors that lead to Todd McLellan’s dismissal, including the general manager’s poorly constructed roster.
- The acquisition of Ryan Spooner last weekend and Chris Wideman earlier today, and what to expect from each player.
- The upcoming games against Anaheim and Los Angeles, and really how poor the Pacific division has been.
Couple other thoughts bouncing around in my drafts that I haven’t converted into articles.
Coaching change
- This does not appear to be a Peter Chiarelli hire. I’d speculate that the decision to bring in Ken Hitchcock came from higher up. And it signals, to me at least, that the team is now evaluating the general manager’s work.
- I think Chiarelli’s preference would’ve been to replace McLellan with one of the experienced assistant coaches that he hired in the summer.
- I understand why the head coach had to be replaced. The results weren’t there, and we didn’t see enough progress from some of the higher-end draft picks like Yamamoto and Puljujarvi. He didn’t line match, and I don’t think he put together optimal line combinations. It doesn’t help either when the roster he was given had so many flaws, so many holes. And I get the sense he was pressured by management to play Lucic in the top six and do everything he could to have Draisatl center his own line.
- Not absolving McLellan for the team’s poor results, but there’s a lot of external factors that I hope Hitchcock, or the future coach, doesn’t have to put up with.
- If the organization was committed to the management group, I think there would’ve been a more exhaustive search, lead by the general manager, to find the next head coach.
- I’m really curious to see how much the shots against drop with Hitchcock behind the bench. The Oilers are league average right now when it comes to shots, unblocked shot attempts and scoring chances against per hour. Worth tracking after another 20 games.
Strome/Spooner trade
- I didn’t understand the Strome-for-Spooner trade before the coaching change. I especially don’t understand it now. The trade itself came across to me as something the coach influenced, perhaps thinking that Cooper Marody could slide into that third line center spot. And that an additional winger who has some speed would help the team.
- One line I wanted to see was Strome with Marody and Khaira. Wasn’t going to happen because Lucic was stapled to Strome’s wing, and he wasn’t going to be on the fourth line or healthy scratched. Aaand now we definitely won’t see it.
- Can’t help but wonder how Hitchcock would’ve handled a player like Strome had the trade not been made. Strome is such a non-event player; he doesn’t create much and doesn’t allow much against either. I would think he’d have found a spot in the top six on the wing or maybe remain as a third line pivot and a key penalty killer.
- I had a good laugh when I noticed that Spooner’s career shooting percentage is just as lame as Strome’s. I was hoping that maybe Spooner would be closer to league average and that maybe he could find some success playing with RNH on the second line. Expectations are fairly low at this point for Spooner.
Shooting percentage
- I suspect we’ll see the team’s shooting percentage at even-strength gradually improve, and the credit will automatically go to the new head coach. Heading into Tuesday’s game in San Jose, the Oilers ranked 26th in the league with a 6.60% shooting percentage. They’re 13th in terms of generating shots on goal (31.62 shots per hour).
- The team’s high danger shooting percentage is also extremely low. They’re 29th in the league with a 13.19% shooting percentage. I want to think that they should improve since they’re right around league average when it comes to high danger shot attempts per hour. The problem is they don’t have enough skill outside of McDavid, RNH and Draisaitl to be finishers. Currently the top two players in terms of individual high danger shot attempts per hour are Rattie and Caggiula – not exactly the most talented guys that strike fear into goalies.
Such a brutal spot that the Oilers are in right now. They need to change how they operate and how they assemble a roster, but that’s only going to happen if they overhaul their management group, and even make some changes to the executive group above the general manager. So much potential being wasted. In my opinion, they need to start changing their overall approach and strategy right away and get a jump on things for next season.
The SuperFan 
Nice article.
Hitch is moonlighting…he is deadly serious about his craft ..but this is his swansong…the single shortened season is a Bucket-List item checked off…..I would be overly excited about longevity it is absolutely in Hitches hands.The future is anyones guess.
Chia has been disarmed IMHO…things are in flux now…the implications of a major System change on the minor league processes is staggering and the changes needed to make a wholesale System transfusion are many and complicated….Hitch rides alone….no accessories…now wingmen…Los Lobos…this throws a monkey Wrench into making predictions.My feeling is that Hitch and Gully will work together trying to use a Hitch simple gameplan to bring a strong RIGHT SIDE OF THE PUCK MOST influence..I personally believe in Hitches method and it fits everything he has said is required to enable remediations of the Oilers problems…I would prefer to see Moma2s suggestion of an entire 60 minute NHL game where only give-and-gos are allowed….I would prefer to see this type of high level therapy and bonding done under an OFFENSIVE UMBRELLA not a DEFENSIVE ONE….the lessons on playing FOR each other instead of WITH each other are the same and Hitch will drive this stake so deep into the players hearts and minds over repeated games that THEY WILL NEVER FORGET IT….I like Moma2s presentation of the Coles notes version of Hitches methods and lesson…same end result.
The external factors will NOT go away not in Edmonton…and Hitch will not be impacted because he is working on a brief Bucket-List basis…T-Macs career curve spot and his contract weight and McDavids noteriety were critical pressure points.that Hitch doesn’t have to deal with.Nothing can be held over Hitches head.
There are 2 schools of thought…one that you begin with a System then man it up with the perfect pieces….another is that you take what you have and build a System around them all as per their ability to buy-in and adjust their own strengths to fit the program….one method is a path of least resistance and one is a path of most resistance…the Oilers have been in LIMBO in this area for over a DECADE and will remain their because of the externally identified but internally catalysed influences that never seem to go away.
All stats are System generated….all stats are useless to ponder because they are records of past events and are in no way precursors of future events…..in order to use stats in an anticipatory or predictive manner you require an ALGORITHEM….and currently the only one known is proprietary property and none of the Stats sources MSM or online have knowledge nor acess…this is not likely to change anytime soon.
So shooting % and shots on net and all the other pretty little numbers are not worth discussing when we have the ear of a public forum….those types of unproven evidence deficient prognastations are something for drinks after work….not something to bring to work with you….now some of the online Analytics DO IN FACT offer tangible tools and materials NHL Players and Coaches AND Fans can take home with them.However the NHL is a results based excusatory business and unfortunately for the game and for the Players Owners and Fans this numbers based business catalysed focus was easy to sell for the Stats con-jobs now like Dellow and Dubas and others who are in the process of doing their very best to make easy money and who are ruining NHL Hockey.Creating an even bigger numbers convoluted GAP between the People Marketing the game and the average everyday Fan.
The Oilers need to find cohesion. between what Hitch will do on the ice and on what they will be teaching their assets…then they need to move players who are not the Big Three to make the boat float NOW not later….Hitches adjustments will require a few personal changes and he will not take long in making them….they wont be HUGE Players moving…but he will find the support cast his methods require without ripping any big holes in Oilers Fans high hopes.
The Oilers will look ugly to begin with win or not…but soon results will show green arrows…relatively soon like in 10-15 games we will see a positive push in the numbers…..this seasons Oilers Playoff push will be ALL ABOUT the last 15 games of the year…that will be when we can judge Hitches work IMHO.
I am always amazed at the massive GAP between the NHL Clubs tangible action and the Fanbsases newer members understanding of the game. Since 2009 there has been a definitive albeit failed attempt to fiscalise the advanced stats con-job dialects we see all over the place created by anyone willing to pick up a calculator and count shots or chances or rebounds or saves or something else like that and then slap some silly name on the entire mess and spindoctor everything.They try to gather together fleeting moments of the Worlds greatest Game and then package them into something they can sell to NHL Teams and to NHL Fans and MAKE MONEY OFF OF they are schills not promoters of our great game of NHL Hockey and all it does is WIDEN THE GAP between what we see on the ice and what Fans are understanding and enjoying….there is such a thing as to much icing on the cake and all stats do is ruin the sweet science of NHL Hockey by distracting the Fanbase from truly becoming involved in the anticipatory nature of Hockey.The NHL Fanbase now needs a NewAge method of understanding more of the SYSTEMS focus and intentions that NHL Clubs are projecting.The NHL Fanbase needs to be brought CLOSER to the game not pushed FURTHER AWAY by stats-based excusatory confusing numbers games.
I am quite sure that Hitch doesn’t rely on stats much. He is a touchy feely Coach who NEEDS to be MAINLINED INTO THE PLAYERS HEADS….then he can do what Moma2 does….this is what Hitch has HISTORICLLY DONE ….he eliminates old communication conduits and builds newer SHORTER ONES …Hitch was a Bicycle Salesman when he decided to become first a Hockey Analyst watching Mr.Drake and his methods and then he set his sights on forging his way to being an NHL Coach ….this is NOT A TRADITIONAL OR USUAL HOCKEY GUY….this man is soooo removed from the game that it is incredible that he achieved the incredible things he did achieve…he is as UNCONVENTIONAL AS THEY COME…..Hitch is like Moma2 who Is also a non-hockey player who has made incredible inroads into todays NHL game albeit inroads camouflaged by the advanced stats con-jobs theft of NewAge Hockey System ideas philosophies and concepts. introduced SINCE 2009 which they stole from published online data they scalped then re-packaged with NUMBERS and sold to the NHL. What the Oilers need to do is provide Hitch with a modern-day mirror of HIS OWN HISTORICAL IMPACTS .Dellow and Kyle Dubas and others in their advanced stats cabal STOLE from Moma2 in their attempt to use Moma2s Newage Hockey System and its Philosophies concepts and tactics to BS their way into the real National Hockey League….they stole Moma2s work to enable them to jump from the obscurity of the internet right into a Professional Sport….While Moma2 is an innovator and has been an an anomaly since pre-2009 when Pat Quinn recognised and used Moma2s online work ON THE ICE WITH THE OILERS like Hitch was ..the advanced stats group or cabal aided greatly by things like the MIT Sports Analytics Conference which was set up by Katz to help the Oilers(Dellow -Eakins-Lowe) and by the earlier inaugural con-job attempt called Darkhorse Analytics which was ALSO and entity set up by the Oilers to directly rip off Moma2 and REPACKAGE for sale the proprietary data being skimmed from online.Anyone following the team loyally online would know that the Hackathon which was set up by the Oilers to harvest online skillsets was a direct attempt to muzzle Moma2 to lure this new online source into a position where suppression could occur,it failed.
To date…the Oilers have used Bob Nicholson to buy time while they made attempts to purge the con-job advanced stats poisons they WILLINGLY BOUGHT AND PAID FOR as they deeply covered their tracks in terms of any links to the NewAge Hockey System or to the online source of that data Moma2….the reason the Oilers have suffered such an epic incredible historic run of futility is because ultimately since 2009 Moma2s NewAge Hockey System has had such a meaningful impact upon the entire NHLs growth and evolution that is is now cutting edge and the OILERS have been fighting to snuff out this influence since 2009 when their Head Coach Pat Quinn discovered vetted and USED ON THE NHL ICE…Moma2s NewAge Hockey System data….Oilers upper management did not like the online influences and impacts leaping over their control processes with individual players…they knew who and what Moma2 was (online innovator and hockey analyst) and they knew who and what the Advanced Stats con-jobs trying to rip-off Moma2 were….so they made the choice to support the advanced stats thieves ..when the Hackathon did not let them get control of Moma2s data they went into aggressive mode and began to help set up COMPANIES like Darkhorse Analytics who could legitimise the data taken off of the Oilers website and this evolved into things like the MIT Sports Analytics Conference where the thieving advanced stats con-jobs were taken up on a world stage where they were allowed to FRAUDULENTLY REPRESENT NEWAGE HOCKEY SYSTEM PHILOSOPHIES CONCEPTS AND TACTICS all of which were and still are proprietary property AS IF THEY WERE THEIR OWN CREATIONS AND IDEAS…..Take Hitch in his early days when he was eating his Peanut Butter-Jam Sangy watching Clare Drake teach Hockey…watch him go home and log onto the Oilers home website to present his NEW AND ORIGINAL PERSPECTIVES AND IDEAS to online fans and Players and Coaches and everyone else …his PROPRIETARY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY specifically to HELP the Oilers…now watch these NEWAGE IDEAS quickly impact individual Oilers PLAYERS who happened to be into the EARLY STAGES of online interactions and see INCREDIBLE RECORD BREAKING results being produced by NHL Players ADDING these ideas to their toolboxes…now see the moderator Bronco on the Oilers website overseeing all of this and see that person LEAK THIS DATA FROM THE OILERS SITE to other online sites and sources WHILE DELETING THE ORIGINAL DATA POSTED ON THE OILERS SITE to cover the theft(traitor)….now AT THE SAME TIME see the Oilers Asst. Coaches begin to realise that something new and impactful is seeping into their worksite and see them find the online source identify it valuate it and decide to OWN IT……now see the Asst.Coaches or SOMEONE OILERS make an online overture to the source of this NewAge data an overture THAT BRONCO THE WEBSITE MODERATOR WAS OVERSEEING…..then see Bronco INTENTIONALLY BAN HITCH FROM THE WEBSITE THE VERY DAY A POSSIBLE OILERS COACHING AND HITCH CONNECTION WAS TO BE MADE…. watch this intentional interference by Bronco from WITHIN THE OILERS ORGANISATION catalyse into a tangible and managed battle scenario where Bronco hoping to keep feeding data to online buddies intentionally kept Oilers and Hitch from meeting and fanned the flames to encourage them to clash…and predictably when the Oilers could not gain control of this online impact via the hackathon they decided to take what they wanted and then to support this need by aiding and abetting the online buddies of Bronco the Moderator…online buddies who were then living in their Parents Basements as kids who were very involved online…buddies who later formed the Advanced Stats Cabal which has since Trojan Horsed Dellow to be rejected and then in their 2nd more versed attempt Dubas directly into the NHL… now watch Jarret Stoll and Matt Greene be traded to L.A taking all of what they had learned from Hitch online with them and giving it all to Sutter to work with….now watch Hittch go online to help them win he 2012 Cup now cry because Pat Quinn TRIED to do it for the Oilers…now watch Sam Gagner ABSOLUTELY INCINERATE the Hawks using the Hitch data…now see Stan Bowman Post-game swear his managers will uncover the new transition tactics the Oilers are using….now watch the Kings refuse to aknowledge Hitch after their win becoming Pirates…now see Hitch respod by HELPING THE AWKS ONLINE who win the 3013 Cup then themselves refuse to aknowledge Hitches work whereupon Hitch says to remediate he will help LA win it back …then they again balk and its back to LA with Hitches help….. Hitches data and work MONOPOLISING THE STANLEY CUP….
Enough because we need to replace Hitch with Moma2 in this history to get it correct and to understand todays NHL game its evolution and how it got to todays state of affairs…..Hitch is NOT the catalyst of todays cutting edge NHL evolution that as we speak is ushering the NHL into a NewAge of offensive thrills and excitement…..Moma2s NewAge Hockey System in fact is.Hitch NEEDS the NHS and Mma2 now….they are more similar than dis-similar…and the Oilers know very well where to find the data they need online where it has always been.
Great article , keep them coming just like this please.Thank you velly velly much.