Edmonton Oilers - What else can they do?

[UMD Fan]

So I am wondering - the Oilers have the 2nd worst record in the NHL - only ahead of the lowly Islanders.

So my question - what (realistically) can the Oilers do to salvage the season? We all hear about teams rebuilding - look at the Blackhawks for example - but those were some rough years in Chicago while that happened.

I admit I know little about the Oilers org. You wonder why they don't try to pick up at least a few free agents or veterans to help the team. Are they really going to be this bad for the whole season? If I were an Edmonton fan I'd be furious.

Any Edmonton guys on this forum? Sure like to hear your point of view. How is attendance up there?

[DaveC]

Man the Oilers are getting killed this year. They show flashes of talent then it seems like they regress back.

They have the most goals against in the NHL with 88. A -33 goal differential. I think hockey is big enough in Canada where they won't have many attendance problems. I think the bigger problem in Edmonton is the new arena. Anyone know how that's going?

[Bill Haverchuck]

I think its just the word all sports fans dread to hear, "rebuilding". They dont want to bring in free agents or vets because theyre molding the organization for the future. If you bring in some big dog that helps immediatley, then hes gone next season and the organization is in the same boat they are now. Paraphrasing something I heard on Oil Change "The fans and players hate stretches like these, but you learn alot. Then at some point you look back and see that the struggle was neccesary and paid off".

On another note, how did Gerber do against Ottawa last night? I know he got the W but how many saves and what not?

[The Reasoner]

So my question - what (realistically) can the Oilers do to salvage the season?

I don't think they are overly concerned about winning this season, so I wouldn't expect any drastic changes to try for a short term fix.


I admit I know little about the Oilers org. You wonder why they don't try to pick up at least a few free agents or veterans to help the team. Are they really going to be this bad for the whole season? If I were an Edmonton fan I'd be furious.

I would expect them to be better as the season goes on. But most fans in Edmonton have pretty much accepted that we are rebuilding. Many fans have called for a rebuild for several years and that combined with the dissappointment of the past three years when expectations were higher has led to fans being overall pleased with the direction of the team. I think people are happy not have any expectations for a few years while we see what our young players can do.


Any Edmonton guys on this forum? Sure like to hear your point of view. How is attendance up there

Attendance is fine. Every game has been sold out for years here and it looks to continue. Tickets for the remaining 25 games of the season go on sale this month and I would expect them to sell out. Also it is worth onting that Edmonton has the smallest arena in the league at some in the 16,000s for maximum capacity.


I think the bigger problem in Edmonton is the new arena. Anyone know how that's going?

My guess is that it will get done one way or the other. Katz is kind of like the "Mr. Burns" of the city and therefore I assume will probably get what he wants. The mayor wanted to make a bid to host like the World's fair expo 2017 thing that goes on every few years and wanted to spend craploads of money on that. They requested around $700 million from the feds to help fund it and got rejected. Not to turn this into a political discussion but to me it's disgusting to have the federal government spend that kind of money on a fair going on in one city so I am glad it got rejected. I see this as a good sign for the arena though that this idiotic proposal got shot down. Spending $500 million on an arena that lasts for like 50 years seems like a great idea compared to spending three times that for a fair in 2017. So maybe the areana idea won't seem too bad anymore. But there are always those people who think "never spend a dime of taxpayer money on anything" who will always be against an arena. So you never know but I am pretty confident it will get done in the next few years.


I think its just the word all sports fans dread to hear, "rebuilding". They dont want to bring in free agents or vets because theyre molding the organization for the future.

That's pretty much it. The free agents type guys they brought in were younger journeyman types like Foster, Jones, Gerber, Belle, etc. All low cost guys that are basically stop gap players until the youth gets more experience.


On another note, how did Gerber do against Ottawa last night? I know he got the W but how many saves and what not?

Gerber played great. A first star performance. Better than his first game. He looked more solid and made severeal key saves when the oilers were down 1-0 to keep the game close until that surprising third period burst. A key moment of the game was when the oilers gave up a shorthanded breakaway down 1-0 and gerber made a nice stop. Of course with the hyperactive fan base in Edmonton there is already talk of Gerber replacing Khabibulin in the veteran goalie role, but I don't see that happening just yet.

[Brett]

Great info sir. Appreciate it!