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Mactavish has two games left in the season and his Oilers coaching career comes to an end. He will find work elsewhere and that is fine. He is a good coach, not great, but good! His time in Edmonton is simply over, he made too many critical mistakes this year and did not handle his bench very well.

Back in October, MacT declared this team was good enough to compete for the division title. I think they were too but MacT put the pressure on this team and they were too scared all season long. The team was scared to make mistakes, scared from the drop of the puck and man did they grip their sticks tight all year long. This is on Craig’s head…..he put too much pressure on this team. When a player had a bad game, he was in the pressbox (Nilsson and Penner in particular). When they played badly or maybe more accurately, when he perceived them to have played badly, he called them out publicly. The team was full of fear all year long.

It didn’t help matters when it appeared certain players were off-limits to criticism. Moreau, Horcoff and Staios come to mind instantly. Other players were hammered for poor play, bad penalties, no intensity but MacT had his favorites and rarely, if ever, did he criticize their play. How do you explain to the rest of the team why Reddox or Moreau is playing with Hemsky? How is Strudwick on the ice in overtime or in the last minute of a game? You can’t tell me this didn’t cause a disconnect between some of the players and the coach. You can’t treat the players with an uneven hand all year and have it not affect you. You can’t coach a team that doesn’t respect you!

The best example: MacT explains to the media several weeks ago that he has no explanation why the team won’t shoot more. They go over it in practice all the time and in particular, they went over it that very morning. That night, they continue to not shoot when opportunities arise. A disconnect!

Another example is when Hemsky starts complaining about being made a checker, you know you’re putting too much emphasis on the defensive side of the game. This is a player that never speaks out, so you know there are problems. During their last three games, MacT changed his game plan and started focusing more on the offensive part. Gagner, following the Vancouver game, gave a great interview to CBC where he explains the new system, how much he likes the new aggressive approach and how it’s working better. It took MacT until game 78 to bring the system out. Oilers hockey has always been an aggressive, forechecking, skating hard type of system…..he forgot that this year.

MacT, you will always be remembered for 2006 but time is up! Good luck and good bye!

Craig’s reaction after Katz’s text message that he is not going anywhere.

Do the Oil still have a chance? The fan in me hopes they do, and they do if they run the table on their remaining 5 games. But….will they? Can they?

Maybe MacT should try ask for a measurement on Thorton’s stick tonight?

Anyways, check out this interesting article by John Mackinnon at the Journal regarding Mactavish’s future and why firing him is not in the best interests of the Oilers. My favorite part of it:

“MacTavish is a first-class coach; the list of his betters is a short one, indeed.”

He has 299 wins in 651 games (299-249-47-56 record, w-l-t-otl). He’s made the playoffs in 3 of 8 (soon 9?) years and the only playoff rounds that were won were in 2006.

First class indeed! Not that many have better winning percentages, right?

No mention of any of his missteps this year, no mention of playing players out of position, no mention of stubborn treatment of certain players, no mention of mismanaging his goalies, no mention of certain veteran players that MacT played ad nauseum even though they were ineffective, no mention of any of that yet he brings up Penner specifically.

Enough! Penner is not the problem. He is more the solution than the problem. Put him back on the top line. The top line gets results when he plays there!

While I do think MacT is a smart hockey coach, he is certainly not one of the best out there and you can say he didn’t have the bodies this year all you want but he thought he did at the start of the year. MacT stated they would compete for the division title. He believed the team was good enough. Sure, we’d all prefer that Lowe/Tambellini had provided another face-off man, signed only 2 goalies and had found a better shut down defenseman rather than Strudwick. But MacT had his voice in the decision-making. He played a big part of the past two years; make no mistake!

Back to tonight’s game: to stand a chance, they need to kill some penalties (they went 25% against Anaheim, ouch) and score on the powerplay. AND, try not to be the dead walking in the second period. A full 60 minutes please!!

JUST DO IT.

WIN!

Denis Grebeshkov and the Oilers are in Phoenix for another big game tonight. After shitting the bed against Detroit in the third period, they should rebound tonight in the desert. The Oilers played a fairly solid game against Detroit but once again, they got outshot terribly and tried to defend a 1-0 lead for the whole game. They upped their forecheck and put pressure on the Wings at times, but they will need more of that in the next two weeks.

Anaheim is one point up on the Oilers and they play tomorrow night. The next four games are crucial for the Oilers: Phoenix, Anaheim, Minnesota, and Anaheim. Ideally, win all four and then you don’t need to run the table against teams like SJ, Calgary or Vancouver to finish the season. Win at least 3 of those games, then you only need a few points to finish the season. Make it easy on yourselves boys!!

One of the most important Oilers right now is Grebeshkov. He has been the best defenseman during the past few weeks (along with Souray). His mobility on the blue line is impressive, moving the puck quickly and cleanly. I really hope he is resigned next year and remains an Oiler. I think one of Souray, Visnovsky, Gilbert or Grebs gets moved this summer….of course that depends on Grebeshkov’s contract. If they can bring him in a bit cheaper, they could all stay. If not, it’s either Grebs or Gilbert that is gone. I’d prefer Grebeshkov over Gilbert simply for his puck movement and mobility.

Oilers vs Phoenix tonight…..must win and by many goals. I expect a blowout. Deliver boys!!!

Wings are in Edmonton tonight, a potential first round playoff match-up. With 10 games remaining in the regular season, the Oilers are quite firmly in 7th place, 3 pts behind 6th place and a possible Battle of Alberta playoff series. So from here on out, I am cheering for Calgary to keep winning and stay ahead of Vancouver, and for Columbus to lose. We want 6th place so get the hell out of the way! Assholes!

The race is still tight and if the Oilers falter, there is still a decent chance they will miss the playoffs. However, they seem to be getting their game together lately, not withstanding the Minnesota game, and tonight will be a good test for the team. A bonus, most of the teams behind Edmonton are stumbling down the stretch so that is helping.

Roli will get the start again, his 29th consecutive start, and will need to be sharper than his last few games. Roli will be rode more than a lady of the night is during this stretch, at least until a playoff spot is locked up. Only at that point will he get a night off.

I’m calling for an Oilers win tonight. I have a good feeling about the Oilers rebounding from the Minnesota game. Oilers win 3-1.

Update: Interesting story about Hemsky and how he feels he’s being under-utilized. Coach wants him to play more defensively, which is fine, but Hemsky feels this at the expense of his offensive play. He also wants more ice-time, wants to carry the load down the stretch and play a more important role. I like that Hemsky is speaking out and he wants more responsibility. Not all players must play defensively. Hemsky is giving up lots of turnovers recently. Is that because the coach is harping on him, making him self-conscious and affecting his play? Let Hemsky be Hemsky….you can’t turn every player into a defensive-first player. Give him the freedom to dangle!!!

Oilers are in Colorado tonight, a 7th place team against the 15th. This should be a slam dunk for our Oilers but after blowing the game on Saturday against this very team, this game will be closer than it should. The Oilers lost three straight games in overtime and gave everyone some nervous moments in Tuesday’s game vs St. Louis. They almost blew it in overtime again but held on and made it to the shootout. Beauty of a goal by Kotalik….more players should go high back hand!

Roli starts his 26th game in a row. He kept the boys in the game during the overtime session vs St. Louis so he’ll need to be sharp again. Oilers played pretty good against St. Louis, a team on a 7-3 run. So I’m hoping this means they are finally turning it around. I think JDD gets the Chicago game, or it makes sense to give him a start. Roli, while sharp in the St. Louis game, has given up many questionable goals during the past few games. I think at least one stinker a game. He needs a night off, truly!!

I predict Hemsky will break out soon. He’s due for a big game and I just feel he’s getting close again. He has been flying all over the ice the past few games and with newbie O’Sullivan on his line finally, the first line will break out tonight!!

GO OILERS!

This basically sums it ALL up!

Deadline madness begins now with 24 hours of craziness!! But what do our beloved Oilers do in the next 24 hours??

Who is traded? Cole is my bet and I’d be shocked if he was not gone. Why? He’s an unrestricted at the end of the year, he is not resigning here and has been a bust. Sure he’s played somewhat better over the past month but it’s not enough. I say get rid of him for someone who can win faceoffs, kill penalties or a shut-down defenseman. He won’t get you that winger for Hemsky.

Several big name players were put on waivers today including one Miroslav Satan, a former Oiler from the mid-1990s. He has 17 goals for the Pens so he might be a nice temporary fix for our top line. He’s unrestricted after this year and his salary is $3.5 million so that might be about a $1.3 million hit for the Oilers. Doable especially if they unload Cole (or even not). According to nhlnumbers.com, Oilers have $2.1 million in cap space. Soooooo, maybe this works or is at least an option if you can’t get anything else going?

I don’t see the Oilers making a big splash at the deadline. They’re not mortgaging the future in order to make the playoffs. If they can get a couple small deals, they’re probably okay. They need some help in killing penalties. They’re getting slaughtered out there. Satan would probably help the powerplay too, and they need help with that too!!

Who else might be leaving in smaller deals? Pouliot or Nilsson are two players that come to mind, but I’m not sure if they’re going to cut them loose after all the time they’re put into them. But it’s possible.

A busy 24 hours are coming up. But how busy?

Big game for the Oilers tonight as they are in Nashville, trying to distance themselves from the pack which includes the Preds, who are only one point behind. This is a hard game to judge since the Preds are coming off an 8-0 victory over Detroit. They have also only won once in the last 11 games against the Preds so another mountain to climb!

Good news for captain Ethan Moreau as he won’t require surgery to repair the damage to his eye. Even better news, Moreau is out for at least a week so we can be free of his awesome penalties for at least a few games. Glad you’re okay dude, but also extremely elated that you are out of the lineup for a few games.

GO OILERS!!

Update: Apparently, the Oilers are not interesting in Miroslav. That’s too bad; at the very least, his name would fit in nicely with this team and their Ladislav and Lubomir!!!

Oilers welcome Columbus to Rexall tonight and Fernando Pisani makes his return to the ice after sitting out for 14 weeks with a broken ankle. Pisani will be playing with Cogliano and Moreau on the third line.

Will he be effective after such a long lay-off? I’m sure they’ll manage his ice-time carefully tonight and he won’t play big minutes. It would be nice to see a strong return and someone who can help with the power kill which still remains near the bottom at 28th spot (did I see that right on nhl.com? Detroit is 27th on the PK? Gives me hope if that’s correct).

The Oilers need some scoring, even strength AND powerplay (20th is not good enough) to get the team into the playoffs. A big game tonight (they are all big from now on) as a win jumps them over Columbus into possibly 6th place.

Make this easy boys…..WIN!!