17to85

Not totally sold on the Canadian defence but man oh man is there a hell of a lot of talent at forward.

all the media leeches material from this site. I've heard the commentators on TSN say word for word things people have posted here too.

I was talking to some people out here during the playoffs who had adopted the Jets as their 2nd team because everyone in Canada is rooting for them!, I told him yeah, that's cause they've been doormats for so long, give it time, the fans will make you hate them. Being everyones 2nd favourite team is an insult. Just means you haven't won ****.

Not so much about distance as it is about getting on and off the campus which only has two direct entry/exit points. Will be interesting to see how they have it organized for the Grey Cup, with thousands of people from out of town. I also think they have a lot of work to do in terms of safety/crowd control after the games on University Crescent and Chancellor Matheson. Just a matter of time until someone is killed or seriously injured there. yeah but there's not that much parking on the campus itself right? I think it's quaint that Winnipeggers complain about traffic though. Winnipeg is a breeze for traffic compared to Calgary and Calgary isn't even all that bad compared to some other places.

No one said good team or playoff team ever, only that Eakins made them worse. Remember this is the team that have two double digit losing streaks with only 1 win in the middle with Eakins around. They were effectively eliminated from the playoffs in November. In the lockout year facing only western teams they were in a playoff position at the trade deadline, under Todd Nelson before they traded Petry and lost their other veteran D to injuries they were basically a .500 team. That's the level that should have been expected. With Eakins they were right back to the basement.Downplaying the damage Eakins did is just ignorance of the highest level. I hope someone else hires him just so people can realize how badly he ****** things up in Edmonton. Calm down sugar plum, I never said you said they would be a playoff team or a good team. Just stating my thoughts on the matter. I agree Eakins was a bad coach but the roster still needs work as well. The roster needs work but it was never as bad as people though it was when Eakins was there. They need 2 top pairing D and a goalie who isn't mentally broken and they'll be fine. I took issue with your statement that you didn't think the Eakins effect was that great. He left a meteorite impact on the team not just in the results but it significantly impacted the trade value and development of players on the team. He set the team back at least 2 years that's a huge negative impact.

And? All Winnipeg reporters had to do in Florida was focus on mini-camp... Point is, still gotta get to Florida. I'd think it's easier for a media outlet to send people down the road to the stadium than it is to send people all the way to Florida. $$$$ That's the point... if the newspaper has spent $$ sending these guys to Florida, send back actual content. "Ehhh...good enough. Everyone's focused on Jets right now anyhow..." There is room in the media to focus on 2 things you know. something something ADD Generation something something...... That's a ridiculOOOOOOOSHINY!!!!

No one said good team or playoff team ever, only that Eakins made them worse. Remember this is the team that have two double digit losing streaks with only 1 win in the middle with Eakins around. They were effectively eliminated from the playoffs in November. In the lockout year facing only western teams they were in a playoff position at the trade deadline, under Todd Nelson before they traded Petry and lost their other veteran D to injuries they were basically a .500 team. That's the level that should have been expected. With Eakins they were right back to the basement. Downplaying the damage Eakins did is just ignorance of the highest level. I hope someone else hires him just so people can realize how badly he ****** things up in Edmonton.

And? All Winnipeg reporters had to do in Florida was focus on mini-camp... Point is, still gotta get to Florida. I'd think it's easier for a media outlet to send people down the road to the stadium than it is to send people all the way to Florida. $$$$ That's the point... if the newspaper has spent $$ sending these guys to Florida, send back actual content. "Ehhh...good enough. Everyone's focused on Jets right now anyhow..." There is room in the media to focus on 2 things you know.

You have to replace that player. If league minimum is 55k and you need 100k, you have to cut a player making 155k and replace him with a 55k player to get that. Or two players making 95k and replace them both with players making 55k. So yeah, you do. You don't cut a star player, you cut your over paid middle roster guys and replace them with rookies. Lol like that's nothing at all? The team is already young and inexperienced. Which is why all this talk is ridiculous. You think the team as it stands now has any kind of cap crunch to worry about?

You have to replace that player. If league minimum is 55k and you need 100k, you have to cut a player making 155k and replace him with a 55k player to get that. Or two players making 95k and replace them both with players making 55k. So yeah, you do. You don't cut a star player, you cut your over paid middle roster guys and replace them with rookies.

Did you read what I just wrote? Like at all? I called out people for only caring about where they were in the standings and NOT looking any deeper into what was happening with the team. Jesus Christ people. enough of this "Herp derp LOLOilerz!" bullshit. Look deeper and you will see just how badly Eakins set things back. No one has ever claimed they'd be a great team with a different coach, only that Eakins torpedoed the progress that was being made as small as that progress was. Todd Nelson came in and the team was so much better it wasn't even funny, and that was with Petry traded, Hall hurt for a bunch of it, Perron long gone and a few other injuries as well. Anyone who has taken the time to actually look at the situation properly knows that Eakins was a trainwreck. He should have been fired a month into his tenure, instead MacT got stubborn and kept him around for a year and a half and only fired him when Bob Nicholson made him.

Winnipeg is still a small city, no where in that city is really out of the way for anyone.

wait people are actually worried about this? Come on, they're working on a deal guranteed, it'll get worked out.

yeah and all those other coaches got more out of that team. Eakins also had the best roster on paper to work with too. See it's assessments like yours that only take into account the ranking in the league and don't actually look at what was happening with that team. Every year before Eakins that team had made progress. Maybe not a lot, but it was progress. More points in the standings, goals for were going up, goals against were going down, then Eakins comes in and sets it all back to where it was when they started.

In fairness, you legitimately expect that for every word you've ever said or typed... not every word....

Since you left are you saying you can suck yourself? How do you know I left? Location: West Kelowna would be the tip off that you left the province.

wasn't there talk about Morley being on the way out the door before the fan forum anyway? I swear to god.... Ok I'm predicting Drew Willy will be the starting qb out of training camp. If it happens I expect you all to pat me on the back and tell me how brilliant I am.

No one is saying he's not a battler, just that he's not talented enough to be our best option at DE. People are fine with him as a rotational guy, but people justifiably want more from the position. It's akin to being happy with Rory Kohlert as your best receiver.

Greg Peach is vastly under-rated by the majority of posters on this board. Peach might've been our best DL last year. I recall a few games sitting the stands and going, somewhat to my surprise: 'Woah! Peach." I like him. Tough. Hits hard. And the DL sucked balls last year for the most part. That's the thing about Peach. People don't hate him, they just recognize that if he's your depth that's fine, if he's your best then your DL sucks.

$$$ yep guy coming back from the NFL I doubt was making chump change. Probably figured it was a good place to save money. They damned sure better have some good recruits coming in though cause if we have to start Peach it'll be another crappy year for the DL.

no kidding. The Jets are in big danger of becoming the Riders of the NHL and that's not a compliment.

Yeah I hate players who can score at about a .8ppg rate. That's even taking into account the Dallas Eakins Regression Phenomenon (DERP) Eberle isn't a giant but he's a damned good player. Sublime hands and knows how to put up points when he doesn't have a ***** for a coach.

are you going to actually cite Spector as a guy who knows what the **** he's talking about? He's one of those idiots who thinks grit is one certain thing and it's more important than anything else. Listen to what Chiarelli said about getting tougher as a team in his press conference. It's not about being big or even hitting, it's about a mentality and that starts from buying into the coaching. No one bought into Eakins who came up with such marvellous quotes as "the perfect game you throw 0 hits because you always have the puck" Hall would skate through a wall if it meant scoring, Yakupov plays physical a lot, I don't think people realize how much of a chip on his shoulder RNH actually plays with... he'll take shots at guys regularly. Eberle does most of his scoring in close to the net, that takes grit. The problem isn't grit or work ethic or anything like that. The Oilers problems were in this order: Eakins, poor puck moving defence and goaltending. Check the point totals of the oilers D the past few years, it's embarassing. That's the difference between Calgary and Edmonton. Calgary has 4 guys who are real strong puck movers they get the puck going the right way and out of the zone. The oilers had soft as baby **** Justin Schultz and Jeff Petry as guys who could move the puck and they stupidly ran Petry out of town. The NHL game today is all about puck possession and transition. Defensive hockey doesn't really exist, what exists is gaining control of the puck and getting it out of your zone quickly and efficiently so you don't have to play defense.

Oh please not this. Hall is 6'1 he's not small, Draisaitl is a big kid, RNH is around 6'1 as well and not the skinny kid he was when he was drafted. Again not huge but not small either. Yakupov is on the short side but he's stocky and while not big, he's not small either. Eberle is on the shorter side but again, he's not exactly a small player just not a big one. McDavid is listed at 6'1 as well so once again, not huge but not small either. Simply put the size issue is over blown in a big big way. Those players all have their own type of grit as well. They're not grinders who run around throwing hits, but they stick their noses into the dirty areas all the time. You know what the Oilers really need? They need some guys on the backend who can generate offense. Full stop that is the biggest problem with the Oilers. They lack a serious amount of puck moving ability from the back end and too often forwards are not getting pucks in full flight and it leads to opposing teams being able to defend them easier. Do they have to trade someone? Not right now. Maybe in the future but for next year no they really don't need to trade anyone unless the return is too good to pass up. The biggest thing that will help the Oilers is Klefbom and Marincin continuing to develop and someone like Nurse to be as good as they hope he can be. If they can make a smart free agency signing or get someone in a trade (sort of like the Isles did with Boychuk and Leddy) things look a hell of a lot different. It is quite frankly sickening to listen to people continually harp on the lack of size and grit arguments which have no basis in reality yet keep getting perpetuated.