EDMONTON OILERS 0
VS.
FLORIDA PANTHERS 2
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I always take a quick check of the forums before starting my Game Report just to get a little sense of mood…and I get the sense out there that some people feel that we not only played well this game but actually “dominated”….
Get off your shot-obsessed horse and smell the freaking reality people. WE STUNK TONIGHT. Period. End of Story. That was a horridly played hockey game.
Those are the type of games where I can’t even rate and judge individual players because EVERYONE was pretty well terrible or indifferent. Nobody showed any extraordinary effort, no one was in position to cash rebounds (of which Anderson; who probably stopped the grand sum of 3 good shots all night) let out many. I cannot believe some people are so shot clock focused that they can’t see how a team playing badly can and in fact is more likely to put up a huge shot count because none are freaking going in and ending the play!
We did 2 things offensively out there: Took horrendous shots from the outside that had no freaking chance of going in, and made ill-advised or badly executed passes. Nothing more. There were no strong individual plays, we had one decent shot that hit a post and almost everything else was aimed directly at the chest and/or pads of one Craig Anderson. He wasn’t good…neither were the Panthers. They got off one really good shot that beat our goalie clean and that’s round about it. Our D were actually okay though their ability to generate offence was rather weak.
And at the end of the game; when we’re trying to score our genius coach has Marc Pouliot out there trying to get it done…freaking hell…
Shawn Horcoff getting completely owned for the puck with our goalie pulled and a stride on the guy was un-freaking believably pathetic. I cannot believe what I saw there with my own eyes. No work, no focus, no nothing.
Erik Cole was probably the only guy who showed something tonight as he was at least driving effectively; but again, as all year, no finish whatsoever. How you waste all that effort taking brutal shots I have no idea.
Penner was BAD tonight…wow was he standing around and putting out weak efforts a lot. I think he has a problem playing extra minutes when MacTavish shortens the bench.
I didn’t mind Brule’s effort much. Robbie might not have made anything sizzle but he certainly didn’t stink either.
We just had absolutely no desire, no finish and no killer instinct tonight. Our positioning was lazy and too deep leading to a lack of rebound collection and no quick organized rushes.
Lastly, the guys got frustrated and pressed rather than relying on their talent and waiting patiently to strike. Weak flip-wristers from the side won’t go in. They just won’t. Our only real chances came from our D-men; Ales should’ve deked on a breakaway and didn’t, shots weren’t caught full-on and Anderson made easy saved never being adequately challenged.
It was a sad night to be a fan and a completely uninspiring effort. How can a team play that way after what should be a few days of terrific prep time and getting ready to rip apart a weak opponent? Where are the guys out there looking to add to point totals if nothing else? Where’s the ONE individual effort to get us through?
If we score on that chance with seconds left in the first I think we’re okay and we get going. We never got any momentum or speed or drive going at all the entire game instead, and got beat by one of the league’s worst teams, missing its best players.
How freaking pathetic.
2 comments:
I remember Boumeester as a PeeWee skating through the KofC team in monor hockey week. Looked the same against the Oilers
Shots on net aren't everything.
But the Oil out-chanced Florida 2-to-1, IMO.
Visnovsky played very well. And Horpensky had plenty of chances.
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