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Chapter 1: What is the purpose of the Oilers Now podcast?
Hey, it's Bob Stauffer. I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to Oilers Now ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime.
We return to Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer. Brought to you by World of Spas, Edmonton's number one hot tub and swim spa dealer. The ideal place to start your daily vacation on Oilers Radio.
880-CHECK. I'm 34 in oil country. We have one line open on the River Creek Resort Casino Hotline 780-451-8800. Fully interactive segment here. The chiseler, a.k.a. the voice from the past, says, Bob, rumor has it you were a talented, at times bluffing your way around, cocky player. On the Guy Gudowski line on the Southside Athletic Club back in the early 1980s, can you either confirm or deny?
I wouldn't say I was cocky. I would say I was immature. No question. And I did some things on the ice that I wasn't really proud of years later. But damn it, sometimes those guys just deserved it. But thanks a lot, Chisler, for bringing it. All right. Royal Pizza. Pizza passes so much more. Edmonton-owned and operated for 55-plus years. Pick up the news.
Spicy vegetarian pizza only for a limited time. For a menu and a list of locations, visit royalpizza.ca or the staff recommendations Mediterranean chicken. Seven minutes left. First period. No score. Canadians and Tampa. Yes, I want Montreal to win this series. You can figure out why. Let's go to, holy cow, Alex has been waiting 24 minutes on line one. Hello, Alex. Thank you for waiting.
Hi there.
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Chapter 2: How do past Oilers players reflect on their careers?
I used to live in Edmonton. Now I live in the L.A. County area. So you can imagine I'm in enemy territory for the past two heartaches with the Semi-Cup Finals, the Blue Jays losing, and even this past series. I was just wondering, you know, back in 2017 when the Oilers were leading 3-1 and then eventually lost to the Ducks,
Uh, they were up to, they were up to, oh, sorry, a game five. You're, they were up three, nothing in the third period of game five. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah. And then, you know, I read that that probably unraveled, um, the young Oilers, Trice Soto and McDavid. But I was just wondering, like almost 10 years later, if the same two people at this point in their lives going through all those things, like at what point do we think there might still be something lacking, like something to the leadership quality that they can't get over that hump?
Well, first of all, they were down to four defensemen to conclude the final five minutes. Secondly, the refs blew the call on the 3-3 goal. I got to tell you, based on the playoff runs the last couple of years, I think most of the fans... There's a degree of fans out there, Alex, that might sit there and suggest they don't have enough. I mean, Dreisaitl's leading the playoffs in scoring.
He's basically playing on one knee right now. So, but... You're not the only person to suggest this, Alex. So thank you for taking the time to call us out of Orange County. I'm sorry you had to wait 24 minutes, okay? Thank you. Let's go to Vince on line two. Hello, Vince. How are you doing?
Good, Bob. At the beginning of the year, I know I talked to you about a few things. I think our team was not as good as the 24-25. No question it wasn't. I thought it had a chance to be as good, but it never got there. I didn't see it because I am a big Perry fan. You lost Brown. You lost some speed. Maybe on Perry you lost toughness and keeping that stretch. Then the mistake.
And I never blamed Stuart Skinner for the problems that... You understand a lot of the fans wanted Skinner gone, did not believe it. That's right. Just like they wanted Jason Arnott gone. And Glenn Saylor said, you know what? I hate trading this kid, but I got to get him out of town. That's where the problem started, losing Kulak. Then I think a lot of the blame has to go to Bowman.
I think he's made some really bad deals. Actually, it starts with Jackson, with Probert, and Holloway.
Not getting those guys signed before he went out and signed Skinner and signed Arvidsson. Is that what you're saying?
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Chapter 3: What are the current challenges facing the Oilers team?
Now, I can tell you right ā 100%. that it was discussed with Ken Holland as early as the night the owners lost 6-1 to the Vancouver Canucks. And there's only one way I can 100% guarantee the conversation occurred. You can figure out how I personally would be able to guarantee that conversation occurred. You better be prepared for an offer sheet on Broberg. Who knows? Maybe Holloway.
You might want to get those guys bridged. So, you know, and Holloway had five years with Broberg and four years with Holloway, and Broberg spent most of that year in 23-24 in the minors. Vince, thanks for the call. Let's go to ā we're busting. Let's go to Tony on three. Tony, how are you doing?
I'm not doing too bad. Well, I need to ā I want to say this because I said this since the Olympic break, maybe even before Christmas. But one thing Knobloch said when he came to Edmonton was, I'm going to have an identity for every line. And in the entire time he has been here, he has always line jumbled. I believe it was 20-some-odd line combinations at the start of the season. Yeah.
This season, this season, because when they went 24 and three, it seemed like he had more clear role clarity for the players in that year. And that's this is here's the biggest difference between this year and the past two years. So Knobloch comes in, whatever it was, November 10th, November or November 12th of 2023.
because the last game Jay coached was in Seattle on November 11th because the Golden Bears lost the Hardy Cup that day in football. I remember going off to the game and was somewhat surprised. I've always liked Chris Knobloch, but was somewhat surprised that move was made in season. So the Oilers went 24-3 at one point under Chris Knobloch in 23-24. In 24-25, you can look it up, February 7th,
Sorry, from November the 7th, they went into Vancouver and just pounded the Canucks bad. Chase Lankanen in that game. From November the 7th until February 6th, for three months, the Amazon owners had the best record in the National Hockey League, just before we went to the Four Nations face-off. They never had a stretch like that this year. You know what I'm saying? They never got there.
So if you're saying there wasn't a good enough job finding role clarity for some of the bottom six players... I would agree with you. I don't think that happened this year, and I think it played a bit of a factor in the lack of sustainability with the squad this season in terms of being able to put together wins. Okay? That was ā let's try Douglas on ā hey, you can keep the collar on.
It sounds like we're cutting him off. I don't like doing that. Let's go to Douglas on four. Hey, Douglas, how you doing?
Robert, how's it going today?
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Chapter 4: What insights do fans have about the Oilers' playoff performance?
What do you got?
Well, I don't know. I just kind of jumped in my car, so I don't know if you've discussed this or not, but just let me regurgitate it all, and then you can tell me what you think. But I think after watching McDavid the whole season, I think he's really frustrated with things, and I think that, I mean, after whatever I saw him on the news, I think that you should trade this man, and like right now,
You've got an asset that's under contract for two years at a bargain price, I might add.
I would be stunned if that happened, just for the record.
And he's got lots of life left in him. He could get the moon for him still, right?
Yeah, I just don't see that happening, okay? I think that Connor would be the first to tell you he wished he could have done more in this series. I think the team was beaten down. I think they got outplayed, especially the three games in Anaheim. Neither team got great goaltending in the series. The Oilers didn't get a steal in the series. But I respectfully disagree, Douglas.
I don't see a trade required. being originated by the Edmonton Oilers for Connor McDavid in the offseason. The origin coming from Edmonton. I just mean that there's a lot of... You're going to hear smoke all the time, and you're going to hear smoke from other markets because they'd love to see nothing more. And that's the difference.
When you're in a city where the team's won five Stanley Cups and has been to the Stanley Cup more than any other NHL team since coming to the league in 79-80,
You look at life differently than if you're in a market in Vancouver that's, you know, had zero cups and two riots or a market in Calgary that's won six playoff series since 1990 when the owners have won nine playoff series in the last four years. Like the fans just see things differently. Hey, thanks for the call. OK, thanks a lot, Douglas. Let's go to Jason. Yep. Thanks, man.
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Chapter 5: How does Edmonton's coaching affect player performance?
On the flip side, when you look at Edmonton in the playoffs here, it's hard to, you know, I don't have an opinion. I'm not an expert, but, you know, if you look at the guys playing, it'd even be hard to coach. I hear a lot of blame on the coach, but when you've got guys like They're two best players in the world. I even think the coach gets in his head and says, we're going to ride these guys.
How many minutes a game do they play?
Try telling them they're not playing. Those guys just give you the look on the bench. Jason, good point by you. I want to get some more calls in. Thanks a lot. Let's go to Carmen on line number two. Carmen, how are you doing?
Not too well after yesterday, Bob, but I just wanted to say I love listening to your show. And first of all, I just wanted to say it's hilarious listening to a Litter fan say, you know, let's trade McDavid and everything. I just find that really hilarious. And yeah, we know that's not going to happen and we don't want that to happen.
Second, I just wanted to say, based on how the Oilers played during the whole year, like the players that we had from the last two years, you could tell there was mileage on them from those two cup runs. So I'm really not that surprised based on how this season went and based on how the playoffs went. In terms of goaltending, that's been an Achilles heel for a while.
So do you think the Oilers will be in the market for a goalie? Yes. Who? Who? Someone younger, like Sebastian Cosa, for example.
I'm watching Detroit with interest. They've got Postava, who kind of supplanted Cosa a bit, and then they got Trey Augustine. Jerry Johansson represents Sebastian Cosa. I mean, you know, Jesper Wahlstadt, there was no need for him. I can...
Again, 100% guarantee you that somebody fired a text off to Bob Nicholson and Ken Holland at the 21 draft and said, well, you're going to surely take Wollstat at 19 here. And that did not occur. And they traded down and Minnesota got him. And my guess is Kosa's chomping at the bit to get an opportunity in the NHL. So whoever gets him, I don't know if it's going to happen with Detroit.
If it doesn't, whoever gets Kosa ā is going to get a motivated goaltender. You know what? If you can make a deal to get a guy like that, I would be intrigued to do so. Thanks for the call.
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Chapter 6: What are the implications of player trades for the Oilers?
All right. I know you waited a long time, Carmen. Thank you. I think we've kept Farron waiting the longest. I think he's at like 30 minutes. Holy cow. Sorry, Farron. My apologies. How are you doing?
Good, buddy. No problem. I felt like I had a game misconduct here. But anyway, I'll cut to the chase. What I found interesting, and I don't think anybody noticed this, but when Hyman kicked that puck in, did you see how he was can-openered? That stick was between his two arms and lifted off the ground to the point where he couldn't put his stick on the ground to even get near the puck.
Yeah, he's a guy that's in front of the net. Look, they were physical with Edmonton's top players. The Oilers couldn't sustain any forecheck themselves. They finished some hits. You know, the first time they play the Ducks next year, somebody's got to go fight Jeff Yell because the Ducks are surely going to resign him. But Colson did fine against them.
But you've got to have a memory for this sort of stuff. And as much as... I do think Edmonton needs to evaluate their bottom six and bring a physical impetus. So anything else you wanted to add? Because we kept you waiting a long time.
Okay, penalty kill. Yeah, it was a disaster. One thing that I noticed that, I don't know, nobody pointed this out. When they were playing the box... They were not even coming close to pressuring the point men or the pinning guys.
They completely changed their penalty kill from last... Think about it this way. They gave up eight goals shorthanded in this series in six games. Anaheim scored in every game, okay? The Oilers gave up four goals shorthanded when they went to the seventh game of the Stanley Cup final in 2024. And I think either two or three of those goals was in one game against Vancouver.
that's how good edmonton's pk was there was three teams killing penalties like edmonton in 23 24 and 24 25 mark stewart ran that pk he switched to a more conservative passive pk the orders also switched to a more conservative passive defensive zone coverage after the olympics to protect the goalies a bit I think you can make an argument. Neither worked.
Yeah.
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Chapter 7: How do injuries impact the Oilers' game strategy?
It drove me crazy standing literally 10 feet away from the point, man. I hear you. And waving your stick and not moving.
Okay, thanks.
Sorry you had to wait so long.
I'm going to try to get Derek's been waiting a while here. Derek, you're on orders now. How are you doing? Hey, Bob.
How's it going?
Good.
What do you got? Well, I guess, you know, I'm a bit of a younger fan and, you know, watching the
the duck series in 2017 uh 2018 you know we we had obviously the talbot pad incident and things like that and then you get to you know after that i was told basically veteran teams they kind of get that extra call and uh it just it didn't seem like it in this series but i think that's just because anaheim looked like the quicker faster team
I 100% agree, and I think we lose regardless of any, you know, reffing. But it just, I don't know, it feels like in my heart that we're just not going to ever get those. And I could be wrong, and I hope maybe we do one day. But, yeah, that's how it feels. deep down to me. And I know you shouldn't ever be the guy to agree with that because you're an Oilers guy and that would look terrible on us.
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Chapter 8: What historical moments are highlighted in this episode?
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