SBNation.com: All Posts by Derek Zona

GameThread - Oilers at Avalanche: One Day

2013-04-19T22:30:04Z

Game preview: The Wild are hanging on for dear life at the bottom of the playoff pile - an Oilers upset would make things hilariously interesting, but the Wild get the Flames and Oilers again, so they are safe.

Team Reports

Oilers Report: Ralph Malph told Teemu Hartikainen that he's not physical enough and scratched him for Ryan Jones and then complimented Jones for his grit and PK ability. Ralph Krueger may have dementia.

Jerred Smithson draws back into the lineup as well so we should expect plenty of zone time for the Avs.

Avalanche Report: The Avs have something going at forward, but the defense is AHL quality .

Expected Line Combinations

Taylor Hall - Sam Gagner - Nail Yakupov
Magnus Paajarvi - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle
Shawn Horcoff - Anton Lander - Ryan Jones
Ryan Smyth - Jerred Smithson - Mike Brown

Ladislav Smid - Jeff Petry
Nick Schultz - Justin Schultz
Mark Fistric - Corey Potter

Devan Dubnyk

Scratches: Ryan Whitney, Theo Peckham, Eric Belanger, Teemu Hartikainen, Lennart Petrell

Broadcast Information

Rexall Place, 7:00 pm MST

TV - Sportsnet

Radio - 630 CHED

Tickets

By The Numbers

Taylor Hall has a 70% corsi % against Jan Hejda and Ryan O`Byrne. The latter will be missed by the Oilers. Hall has a 54% corsi % against Erik Johnson, 85% against O'Brien and 66% against Greg Zanon.

The Avs are Taylor Hall's #1 favorite opponent to play against.

Team Reports

Jerred Smithson draws back into the lineup as well so we should expect plenty of zone time for the Avs.

Avalanche Report: The Avs have something going at forward, but the defense is AHL quality .

Expected Line Combinations

Taylor Hall - Sam Gagner - Nail Yakupov
Magnus Paajarvi - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle
Shawn Horcoff - Anton Lander - Ryan Jones
Ryan Smyth - Jerred Smithson - Mike Brown

Ladislav Smid - Jeff Petry
Nick Schultz - Justin Schultz
Mark Fistric - Corey Potter

Devan Dubnyk

Scratches: Ryan Whitney, Theo Peckham, Eric Belanger, Teemu Hartikainen, Lennart Petrell

Broadcast Information

Rexall Place, 7:00 pm MST

TV - Sportsnet

Radio - 630 CHED

Tickets

By The Numbers

Taylor Hall has a 70% corsi % against Jan Hejda and Ryan O`Byrne. The latter will be missed by the Oilers. Hall has a 54% corsi % against Erik Johnson, 85% against O'Brien and 66% against Greg Zanon.

The Avs are Taylor Hall's #1 favorite opponent to play against.

Please Welcome Jeff Chapman

2013-04-19T15:15:04Z

Until last night, Jeff Chapman was the Managing Editor of Oil on Whyte, Fansided's Oilers' site.

Effective tonight, I'll be resigning my post as editor of Oil On Whyte.Here's a little note I wrote. Thank you guys oilonwhyte.com/2013/04/18/i-p…
— Jeff Chapman (@OilOnWhyte) April 19, 2013

As of this morning, Jeff is now a valued member of The Copper & Blue's burgeoning writing staff.

Though we were scooped by noted Twitter insider RossCreekNation:

BREAKING: Jeff Chapman (@oilonwhyte) signing on with @copperandblue? Rumblings suggest announcement tomorrow. #insiderr
— Schacher (@RossCreekNation) April 19, 2013

The news is still exciting, nonetheless.

I've known Jeff virutally for quite awhile and had the pleasure of taking in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft with him at a local pub. He's a sharp guy with a dry sense of humor and an encyclopedic knowledge of music, especially 80s music.

Until this season, Jeff was a notorious brightsider, hoping against hope that everything was going to turn out well, but finally gave in to the unending failures of Steve Tambellini. He's back to being hopeful again now that Craig MacTavish is in charge, and his hope is a great foil to me, Ben, Ryan...okay, everyone except Scott.

Chappy has some wonderful hockey stories, especially one involving Stephane Fiset, and hopefully he'll get the chance to share those with us at some point.

Please join me in welcoming Jeff Chapman to the crew.

Follow him on Twitter here:

Good morning!Please adjust your bookmarks.@oilonwhyte is now @newwaveoil.Same flavor, half the fat.
— Jeff Chapman (@NewWaveOil) April 19, 2013

Oilers @ Avs Game 43 Preview: One Day

2013-04-19T14:00:00Z

	@
16-19-7, .93 p/g		14-22-7 0.81 p/g
Western Conf: 12th		Western Conf: 15th

7:00 p.m. MST | Sportsnet

Pepsi Center
Tickets

The opposing view: Mile High Hockey

Top Story: The events in Boston have the continent riveted to the television and Twitter and it's a miserable reminder of our never-ending quest to end our own species.

It won't start anytime soon, but my hope for mankind is that one day we'll stop trying to destroy each other, that we'll stop living in the past, that we'll stop fearing the future, that we'll strive for greatness and that if we can't do any of that, we'll aim to leave everyone else alone to do so.

I like to read (okay, listen on my commute) Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius. One of my favorite meditations is this:

The passing minute is every man's equal possession but what has once gone by is not ours.

Maybe one day we'll all figure out what Aurelius knew 1800 years ago.

The Oilers are saying:

"I’ve put that aside. That’s why we have agents. We did have little conversation before the trade deadline. They made a quick back and forth, but it died off. There was an offer, but over two or three days we couldn’t find the middle ground."

--Mark Fistric, telling Jim Matheson that the Oilers offered him a contract extension prior to the trade deadline.

Steve Tambellini was so terrible.

Maybe one day the Oilers will be a winning team, organization and franchise.

The Opponent is saying:

"I love Denver. I love the boys. I love the coaching staff. They've been great to me. I can't ask for a better fit. You never know what you're going to get when signing as a free agent. For some guys, it never works for them. I'm pretty happy so far, and I like the way I'm playing so far."

--P.A. Parenteau on his season in Denver so far.

Parenteau has been one of the best under-the-radar stories of the 2013 season. He's been attached to Matt Duchene's hip for most of the season, and he's been producing. Colorado has fallen apart this season (their defense is as good as Edmonton's), but Duchene, Parenteau and Jamie McGinn are finding remarkable success as a group.

Key matchup: Taylor Hall has absolutely wrecked the Avs' defense this season. Unfortunately, noted pylon Ryan O`Byrne has moved on to Toronto, but Hall has eaten the rest of the Avs' defense alive as well.

Edmonton Oilers Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Andy Sutton	knee	01/16/2013
Eric Belanger	groin	03/26/2013

Colorado Avalanche Injuries

Probable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Milan Hejduk	shoulder	04/18/2013

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Erik Johnson	hand	04/16/2013

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Ryan Wilson	ankle	03/26/2013
Steve Downie	knee	01/23/2013

The Oilers Struggles At Centre Aren't A Slump - It's The System. Again.

2013-04-17T17:30:05Z

The struggles of the Oilers' centremen through the entire 2013 season have been discussed at length. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins can't score anymore. Sam Gagner can't play defense anymore. Ryan Smyth look like an ECHL'er when he moves over. The AHL call-ups are being fed their lunch through a tube and Shawn Horcoff and Eric Belanger both stepped into the elevator shaft at the same time. It's one thing for a centre or two to slump, but for an entire squadron of centres to forget how to play the game is something else altogether. When your best centre has possession just 42% of the time away from his regular right wing, something is very, very wrong. Horcoff's numbers might be explained away by tough minutes or zonestarts, but someone, somewhere should benefit. And no one else is. Hopkins is 38% away from Hall. Gagner is 42% overall. Belanger is 37% overall. What is happening?!

I ripped through the numbers and found...nothing. There were a couple of effective combos, but by and large every person to play centre for the Oilers collapsed this season. Since the numbers weren't working, I kicked around some theories and started focusing solely on the struggling centres while watching night in and night out to see if I could recognize anything amiss in the zone.

What I picked up over a number of games was that I believe Ralph Krueger's defensive system is asking too much of the Oilers' centres in their own zone. The pivots, all of them, are playing the entire ice from sidewall to sidewall and through the slot in a combination with the two defensemen. The wingers, both of them, are allowed to stay very high in the zone, much higher than in Craig MacTavish or Tom Renney's schemes.

Typically Renney used one forward high in the zone and a second supporting the puck or patrolling the middle of the zone. In Krueger's system, the forwards were literally watching the centres lose 1-on-2 puck battles along the walls, sometimes just a stride or two away while they ferociously guarded the point shot most times and the boards and glass others. Even when the forwards were in the correct spot to support puck movement, they weren't getting to the puck. And they were leaving the centres on an island.

Below are three examples of what I've seen:

Note that in the goal against above, Horcoff is acting as the left wing and has moved well up the boards, though he could be supporting a chipped puck and doesn't want the point defenseman to gain easy possession. But Horcoff is an agile fellow - he can take a step down to meet the puck. He doesn't. Where is Ales Hemsky? He's positioned himself so far away from the play that he's out of the shot.

Here's a case of Yakupov moving low into the zone to cover in the zone, and Belanger recovering, but watch Yakupov's next move - he turns his back to the play and skates towards the point. The entire time Ryan Jones has the boards on lockdown.

This is one of my favorites. Smyth, playing centre, gets down to engage and pushes the puck up the wall, but Mike Brown is cemented to the point, staring slack-jawed at the play, and does nothing to corral the aforementioned puck. Lennart Petrell, hanging out by the blue line, watches as Tommy Wingels roars down the centre of the ice for the goal.

One of the first things that wingers are taught during defensive instruction is that shots coming from above the slot hashes, inside the faceoff dots and below the points are their fault. Goals scored by players skating through that area are their fault. The Oilers' wingers are in no position to stop shots from their territory and are so far away from the play that they can't recover if someone chooses to skate through their territory.

Yes, these are three egregious examples, but they point to a problem I'm seeing over and over again - there is no support for the centres in the defensive zone (though Taylor Hall does not abide by the system - he's all over the place), the wings are so high and wide that the middle of the ice is undefended and even when the Oilers do recover the puck or move it towards the wings, they're so far away that they can't gain possession of the puck. It happens multiple times per period.

I asked our resident tactics guru, dawgbone, about this and he saw it long before me:

I mentioned this early on in the year, but the Oiler wingers chase really high in the defensive zone, almost like they are supposed to cover the point men tight.
Generally speaking when you play man on man in your own zone, it's the 2D's and the C who are playing strict man on man and the 2 wingers are supposed to play a soft zone where they cover the areas between the face-off dots and the blueline, which allow them to drop in when their team needs help while still being able to get to the points. When the puck goes up, you only really need the winger who is on that side, while the Oilers often seem to send both up which puts them in trouble against teams that go low-high-low.

I was alerted that Woodguy, hockey's most famous wood expert, was also in pursuit of the answer, so I kicked my theory over to him and he answered in the affirmative, then pointed out the downstream impact. Because puck support is lacking:

Too many of the 1st and 2nd passes have to be good 40ft passes hitting a guy on the fly. [Those passes are] too easy to break up in the neutral zone and demand that passer and passee be very good.

I threw my thoughts and a couple of NHL.com clips at a Western Conference scout and asked if he noticed anything similar or if I was barking up a non-existent tree. His answer was succinct and to the point: "I'm not going to give away the store here, but there are no other teams in the league playing the [Edmonton] system"

So there you have it. This is by no means a definitive explanation, but should serve as an opening to more discussion about the shortcomings in Ralph Krueger's systems and how the coach has submarined his team in their own zone.

Personally, the investigation and subsequent discussion changed my mind on two things:

This isn't a Gagner problem. This isn't a Smyth problem. This isn't a Hopkins problem and it's not a matter of finding chemistry. This is Ralph Krueger's problem, and the more I watch from Krueger, the less I like him. Line matching and in-zone tactics aren't something he can blame anyone else. These are things he should be able to fix and fix quickly. Knowing the underlying reason for the struggles in the middle this season reminds me of Tom Renney's awful experiment with the Diamond Penalty Kill.
I've repeatedly knocked Jordan Eberle and Ryan Jones for not engaging in the defensive zone, and hanging out at the blueline (or in Jones' case, on the boards) while their teammates drown. It seems this is systemic, and not by choice, so I need to drop that line. Jones leaving the zone early at every opportunity is still something unique to his game and he deserves continued criticism. Though, with luck, he won't play in Oilers' silks again and we won't have to worry about it.

UPDATE: dawgbone points out that Lennart Petrell was guilty last night on this goal. Interestingly, he goes from a good spot to no-man's land on purpose:

Game Thread - Wild at Oilers: Tank You Very Much

2013-04-16T22:30:03Z

Team Reports

Oilers Report: Hurricane Craig got the job and immediately called up Anton Lander and Teemu Hartikainen, sent Jerred Smithson, Ryan Whitney and Ryan Jones to the press box and hauled out the trusty old MacBlender to change up the lines in what I call "Operation make sure the hobbit can still possess the puck before we decide to trade or sign him".

Wild Report: The Wild traded for Jason Pominville, but lost Dany Heatley. Jonas Brodin has been a pleasant surprise, Mikael Granlund has been a disappointment.

Expected Line Combinations

Taylor Hall - Sam Gagner - Nail Yakupov
Magnus Paajarvi - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle
Shawn Horcoff - Anton Lander - Teemu Hartikainen
Lennart Petrell - Ryan Smyth - Mike Brown

Ladislav Smid - Jeff Petry
Nick Schultz - Justin Schultz
Mark Fistric - Corey Potter

Devan Dubnyk

Scratches: Ryan Whitney, Theo Peckham, Eric Belanger, Jerred Smithson, Ryan Jones

Broadcast Information

Rexall Place, 7:30 pm MST

TV - Sportsnet

Radio - 630 CHED

Tickets

By The Numbers

Kevin Lowe has six rings.

Steve Tambellini, hired by Kevin Lowe to manage the team Lowe couldn't, had a .374 winning percentage as a GM.

Team Reports

Wild Report: The Wild traded for Jason Pominville, but lost Dany Heatley. Jonas Brodin has been a pleasant surprise, Mikael Granlund has been a disappointment.

Expected Line Combinations

Taylor Hall - Sam Gagner - Nail Yakupov
Magnus Paajarvi - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle
Shawn Horcoff - Anton Lander - Teemu Hartikainen
Lennart Petrell - Ryan Smyth - Mike Brown

Ladislav Smid - Jeff Petry
Nick Schultz - Justin Schultz
Mark Fistric - Corey Potter

Devan Dubnyk

Scratches: Ryan Whitney, Theo Peckham, Eric Belanger, Jerred Smithson, Ryan Jones

Broadcast Information

Rexall Place, 7:30 pm MST

TV - Sportsnet

Radio - 630 CHED

Tickets

By The Numbers

Kevin Lowe has six rings.

Steve Tambellini, hired by Kevin Lowe to manage the team Lowe couldn't, had a .374 winning percentage as a GM.

Dual Offer Sheets Could Yield A Bounty In A Reduced Cap World

2013-04-16T14:30:00Z

I've talked about this idea before, both here and here.

The concept of a dual offer sheet is simple: send offer sheets to two separate restricted free agents currently employed by the same team, especially when that team is in some amount of cap distress. Essentially, you are forcing a team to make a choice between their assets.

With the cap dipping to $64 million next season here are the estimated salary ranges and corresponding compensation for 2013-2014:

Salary Range		Compensation
	$ 1,024,845	No Compensation
$ 1,024,845	$ 1,552,794	2014 3rd round pick
$ 1,552,794	$ 3,105,684	2014 2nd round pick
$ 3,105,684	$ 4,658,386	2014 1st round pick, 2014 3rd round pick
$ 4,658,386	$ 6,211,182	2014 1st round pick, 2014 2nd round pick, 2014 3rd round pick
$ 6,211,182	$ 7,763,978	2014 1st round pick, 2015 1st round pick, 2014 2nd round pick, 2014 3rd round pick
$ 7,763,978		2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 1st round picks.

A sharp General Manager could send two offer sheets and risk his 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round picks in the 2014 draft. An offer sheet between $1,552,794 and $3,105,684 would require a 2nd round pick as compensation. An offer sheet between $3,105,684 and $4,658,386 would require a 1st and a 3rd round pick as compensation.

The best way to make sure the strategy makes an impact is to target teams who are either cash poor or cap-strapped with two worthwhile RFAs and force that team's General Manager to make a decision. Below is a list of teams with financial issues and attractive RFAs.

Chicago Blackhawks:
Nick Leddy ($1,116,666)
Marcus Kruger ($900,000)

These are both nice young players, but neither are worth the top tier of compensation with other better options available.

Columbus Blue Jackets
Artem Anisimov ($1,875,000)
Sergei Bobrovsky ($1,750,000)
Cam Atkinson ($875,000)

Anisimov is at the very top of my list as one of the three most desirable players available, but any plans of getting him below $3.1 million won't work unless you're also a GM who really likes goaltending and might be willing to offer Bobrovsky more than $3.1 million. But Anisimov might be worth the upper range, especially if it gives a team a shot at Cam Atkinson in the lower range. Atkinson is just developing his offensive game, but Anisimov is the real prize. He's an enormous tough minutes centre who tilts the ice, kills penalties, and will contribute offensively, even in a tough situation. At 24, he's certainly worth the 1st and 3rd round picks.

Edmonton Oilers
Sam Gagner ($3,200,000)
Magnus Paajarvi ($1,525,000)

Gagner is enjoying his finest offensive season of his career and his worst possession season of his career at the same time. His scoring numbers are going to take a step back, but if his possession numbers rebound - a 24 year old 50 point centre with 400 games under his belt is certainly worth $3.1 - $4.0 million. The gem in Edmonton is Paajarvi - he's been a breakeven possession player all along, but he's not yet put the complete offensive package together. He's also shown flashes of talent on the penalty kill and could easily fetch the mid point of the 2nd round compensation range.

Los Angeles Kings
Alec Martinez ($737,500)
Jake Muzzin ($577,500)
Slava Voynov ($816,666)

The Kings have a group of young, effective defensemen all hitting RFA at the same time. It's doubtful any of them are worth the upper range.

Nashville Predators
Patric Hornqvist ($3,083,333)
Roman Josi ($1,000,000)
Jonathan Blum ($650,000)

The second guy at the top of my list is Josi. He's clearly benefiting from playing with Shea Weber, but Josi is marvelous with the puck, both on his own or in transition. He's playing 23 minutes a night in Nashville and totaled 16 points in 34 games (11 at even strength), second to Weber among defensemen, but tied with Weber at even strength. He's 22 and playing tough minutes, but he's slightly in the hole when it comes to possession. Put him on a second pairing and he would wreak havoc through the neutral zone. He's talented enough with the puck and has a big enough shot that he will be a weapon on the power play as well. Getting him out of Nashville will be the issue. I'm not a big fan of Hornqvist, and wouldn't offer him the upper bound, but Jonathan Blum in the lower bound isn't exciting either. Josi is certainly worth the upper range, however.

New York Rangers
Ryan McDonagh ($1,300,000)
Carl Hagelin ($875,000)

Carl Hagelin is the absolute nuts when it comes to underrated players. He tilts the ice no matter who he's playing with - his WOWYs are something to behold. He has a bit of offense to go with the possession game as well. He's definitely worth the bottom tier max. Ryan McDonagh is going to get paid by the Rangers and is definitely worth $4.6 million per if the Rangers choose to fiddle with him.

St. Louis Blues
Alex Pietrangelo ($3,166,666)
Chris Stewart ($3,000,000)
Patrik Berglund ($2,250,000)
Ian Cole ($1,300,000)
Kris Russell ($1,300,000)
Kevin Shattenkirk ($1,300,000)

So you say you're in the market for a defenseman. Well, St. Louis is here to help. The Blues have four defensemen available here, and already have Jay Bouwmeester, Barret Jackman and Roman Polak under contract. Pietrangelo is clearly the best of the bunch, is worth more than $4.6 million per year and will get more than $4.6 million per year. If he doesn't, don't make the same mistake everyone made with Subban - pay the man and steal him. Ian Cole is another interesting guy in the lower category. Prior to the Bouwmeester trade, he was playing second-level minutes and doing well, but he needs a partner who can get the puck out on his own - he's a defensive guy that doesn't contribute much to the offensive side of things.

Toronto Maple Leafs
Nazem Kadri ($1,720,000)
Carl Gunnarsson ($1,325,000)

Kadri will come crashing back to earth next season, and Gunnarsson isn't as good as others available through RFA. But they're an interesting combination to check out, especially if you can peg Kadri's value going forward.

Winnipeg Jets
Blake Wheeler ($2,550,000)
Zach Bogosian ($2,500,000)
Bryan Little ($2,383,333)
Alexander Burmistrov ($1,500,000)

The Jets are the team that have my favorite dual sheet. Offer Bogosian the upper range, towards $4.25 - $4.5 million and Burmistrov the lower range around $2.75 million. While neither are individually my favorite RFAs, as a GM, I'd be extremely happy with either one at that price. Bogosian is playing top competition and breaking even when zonestarts are accounted for. He's developing into a very good penalty killer and at 23 minutes per night, he can handle the workload of a first-pairing defenseman. Burmistrov might be in the doghouse in Winnipeg, but he's an excellent even strength player and capable of playing in a variety of roles with a variety of linemates.

Wild @ Oilers Game 42 Preview: Tank You Very Much

2013-04-16T12:30:06Z

	@
23-16-3, 1.17 p/g		16-18-7, 0.95 p/g
Western Conf: 7th		Western Conf: 12th

7:30 p.m. MST | Sportsnet

Rexall Place
Tickets

The opposing view: Hashtag Hockey

Top Story: The Nashville Predators are barging in on the Oilers territory:

The Oilers do have three games in hand, so with some effort, they could have an 8-game streak at game 44. It's time for the Oilers to step up and show that southern market team how things are done.

With some luck and some pluck, the Oilers can get themselves into the 4 or 5 slot in the draft.

The Oilers are saying:

"Tamby was good to all of us, but we have the record we have and are in the position we're in." - Shawn Horcoff on today's change
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) April 15, 2013

The Opponent is saying:

"I'm very excited. I responded as well as I had hoped. I'm feeling very good. It's good to be back. I feel really good, and I was happy with how it's been feeling the last couple days. And as is my custom, I'm going to take out all of my pent up energy on the Oilers with a three point night."

--Matt Cullen, while discussing his return from injury.

Doughty rules.

Key matchup: Matt Cullen is a noted Oilers killer. Can anyone stop him?

Edmonton Oilers Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Ales Hemsky	foot	04/14/2013

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Andy Sutton	knee	01/16/2013
Eric Belanger	groin	03/26/2013

Minnesota Wild Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Josh Harding	other-illness	02/12/2013

Craig MacTavish Has The Qualifications, It's The Baggage That Makes Fans Nervous

2013-04-16T01:15:00Z

Three-and-a-half years ago, I wrote:

When it comes to roster management, MacTavish was put into situations by his general manager, whether it was Kevin Lowe or Steven Tambellini, that forced him to coach majorly unbalanced rosters. Whether it was a lack of defense, a lack of forwards, an over-abundance of unproven rookies, or an shortage of proven veterans, each year the roster was incomplete. The effect was two-fold. The general manager's mistakes left him with a deep understanding of the need for a balanced roster as well as an understanding of the value of real NHL players, especially relatively cheap veterans from the Wes Walz genus.

It was obvious then that Craig MacTavish was on the fast track to management in the NHL. Of course, it helps that he's a member of the largest make work program in the province of Alberta, but even without his personal relationship with Kevin Lowe, MacTavish was going to make it into the front office of an NHL team, it was just a matter of time.

His qualifications match those of nearly any new executive in the NHL, and he's far more qualified than at least half of a dozen current GMs. If not for the meddling nature of the worst executive in the NHL, Edmonton fans would be very happy about the hiring. In fact, MacTavish would be a solid hire in places like Miami, Calgary, Philadelphia, and Denver.

His press conference was bizarre, with MacTavish passionately pleading for action and change and Lowe arrogantly defending his record as a manager with his record as a player. But throughout the press conference (when he wasn't trying to bail Lowe out), he said the right things, anti-Oilers, anti-Lowe things.

We need greater depth. We’ve got a lot of great primary pieces and this has a little bit of a wake feel walking in here and I want to put that all behind us from this point forward. I think that the future is extremely bright with these young players but we’ve got to add some depth. We’ve got primary pieces here but we’ve got to add some depth.

He said "depth" once every 23 words in that passage. I think he's concerned about the team's depth. Note he didn't say "poise" or "compete level" or "poise".

Grit without skill, as I mentioned, is not something’s that’s going to move the dial of our team forward.

Nothing about "harder to play against".

"Bottom line is getting good players..."

Nothing in there about players who see what Tambellini is building and want to be a part of it. Nothing about players Steve Yzerman recommended. Nothing about international experience.

But for all of the good things Craig Mactavish said, there's still...

"Holy mackerel, we've got a lot of guys here"

"Is it me?"

"And lastly I’ll say that there’s one other guy in hockey today that is still working in the game that has won more Stanley Cups than me. So I think I know a little bit about winning, if there’s ever a concern."

The qualifications are there. The experience will come. If Kevin Lowe can stay out of the way, Craig MacTavish should be successful at the helm in Edmonton. More successful than the last two GMs, anyway.

More on the Craig MacTavish hiring:

Batty: Tough Questions For Oilers Management

Parkatti: The Storming of the #YEG

Hull: Steve Tambellini Fired