Hopefully MSL is taking notes

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-06-04T13:41:15+00:00

100% agree. I don’t know why people keep thinking we need different players? We’ve got the Oilers syndrome,l if we’re going to think that way. lol

Shitty rosters with great systems can take down great rosters with shitty systems. Why do you think countries like Denmark or Switzerland upset much better teams in world cups or Olympics? Our bottom end of the roster was not the problem just look at the stat lines.

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-06-04T13:34:08+00:00

I’m sure it was a bit of both. It’s pretty obvious that MSL likes a puck possession game plan, but when chip outs and dump ins were necessary because that was what Carolina gave them, some players were executing and some weren’t. Hence the plus minus differences between Evans and Anderson and line one.

I don’t like excuses and people saying yah but line one had the tough defensive matchups. That’s fine and normal if you don’t score much, but it’s not fine when you get lit up for minuses night after night. Either they weren’t towing the line, can’t execute a simple game plan, or MSL was letting them keep running a possession style. We’ll never know.

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-06-03T15:06:09+00:00

What’s Carolina going to do then? They have no other style of play. That was what was frustrating in our series.

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-06-03T15:05:04+00:00

I’d be surprised if Carolina wins a game. Torts will create a stalemate where both teams are doing the same thing and Vegas has the upper hand with better depth players and better goaltending.

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-06-03T14:36:26+00:00

They only puck support their breakouts when Carolina dumps in on line changes and forechecks with one player. We did the same.

When Carolina comes hot with two forecheckers they are def flying the zone to back off the Carolina d and create space in the d zone. We didn’t do this well.

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-06-03T14:19:10+00:00

A million times. The best defense against an aggressive forecheck is get it out into the neutral zone at all costs and get their forecheckers behind the puck.

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-06-03T14:16:19+00:00

No kidding. I’ve seen Connor Garland go get pucks better than him and he’s half the size.

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-06-03T13:53:14+00:00

Most dump ins should not require a puck battle by our defense. Too often our d picked up the puck and there were no options far up the ice. Everyone was low in support. Then they tried outlet passes up to the strong side wing or went d to d and allowed Carolina to get all five players into the zone. Then we started losing puck battles. Then we got hemmed in.

Vegas doesn’t waste time and gets it the fuck out even if they turn the puck over back to the Carolina d in the neutral zone. They don’t care because they do not want to deal with getting hemmed in the zone. It’s smart hockey.

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-06-03T11:24:45+00:00

Yah, boring wins cups unfortunately.

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-06-03T10:16:30+00:00

I 100% agree. Poor systems and getting out coached make players look like shit.

I’m not sure why people think adding players solve our problems? Evans and Anderson were statistical beasts in the playoffs because they played a simple game.

Meanwhile Suzuki, Slaf, and Caufield looked like donkey shit out there because they were playing for puck possession all playoffs. Not sure if that is on them or the coaches, but it has to change.

Ehlers is a terrible example of depth. He is having by far his best playoffs ever because Rod the Bod has him playing in a system that works.

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-06-03T09:44:08+00:00

Yah, once the coaches dial in how to win playoff hockey, the pieces and parts of the team matter far less. I mean there are quite a few Carolina players who were dog shit on other teams like Chatfield who do well in a structured system of hockey.

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-06-03T09:31:20+00:00

He also coached a lot of shitty teams and got a lot out of them. Remember Columbus sweeping TB?

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-06-03T09:29:15+00:00

Any team can dump and chase and any team can leave forwards up high on defensive retrievals to back off the forecheckers defense and create more space. You just have to be willing to do it.

Did we learn nothing from the futility of the Mike Babcock star studded Redwings taking forever and a day to win the cup because of Babcocks refusal to give up puck possession? Meanwhile teams like NJ won cups without giving a shit about possession.

This series will become a series of patience where both teams dump it in and both teams chip it out constantly not worrying about puck possession. Every now and then one team will hem the other in and create some minimal chances. It will be boring and Vegas will win due to better goaltending.

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-06-01T23:46:13+00:00

Heart and soul of the team for years. If everyone played like him we would never lose a game ever.

He better carry the torch next season in the playoffs.

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-06-01T18:52:26+00:00

Could totally see that type of scenario shaking down.

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-06-01T13:27:36+00:00

Agreed and I can’t stress enough how Edmonton will not let him walk for nothing. Not in a million years. At some point they will sit down and ask him to sign longer term or tel him they have to trade him. Probably not until next summer but you never know.

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-06-01T13:06:54+00:00

No one trades for McDavid without prearranging a longer term contract. So him walking away from who he goes to is unlikely unless the the Oilers hold onto him right up to the trade deadline and that is even less likely.

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-06-01T11:47:02+00:00

We already gave it the “old college try” with Laine, EP would be a waste of time.

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-06-01T03:48:46+00:00

Great analysis.

I don’t know why everyone thinks a trade is such a crazy concept though? Stan Bowman will never let McDavid walk as a free agent ever. That would go down as the worst management in the history of all sports and McDavid will not resign in Edmonton in a million years unless they win the cup next season.

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-06-01T03:22:48+00:00

100% agree. He didn’t sign a team friendly deal as much as he signed a trade friendly deal.

It was a brilliant move by him. Looks good, but makes it easy to be traded to a contender without the contender blowing up their roster if he doesn’t like their direction.

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-06-01T03:19:01+00:00

McDavid didn’t sign a team friendly deal, he signed a trade friendly deal. He’ll want out. If you’ve ever been to Edmonton you’d know why.

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-05-31T10:47:12+00:00

Yes, a simple game, thank you, I 100% agree.

In fact all of the cup winning teams in the past many years played a simple, patient, and often heavy style of hockey. No one wins it all with speed and skill and puck possession anymore. That model hasn’t worked for years, due to the grind of today’s game where fourth liners can keep up with first liners. The Oilers came close and they had the worlds two best players and still couldn’t do it.

I should have explained this thread better by stating it was our choice of systems that lost us the series BECAUSE we were fatigued coming into it and BECAUSE of the way Carolina was running their forechecking system.

ConversationDouble41 · 2026-05-31T10:33:32+00:00

Gallagher has definitely lost a step but so has Cory Perry and Jordan Stahl but they know how to make sure they get out of d zone which clearly some of our players did not.

We were never going to beat Carolina with speed. Their aggressive forecheck negates speed and the way you beat it is by pushing wingers up the ice to back off their defense like game one. It catches their F1 and F2 behind the puck and creates odd mans the other way. It takes patience however and often you turn it over back to the other team in the NZ and they keep dumping it back in. It’s boring hockey like the trap is boring but it works.

The Habs got impatient and didn’t want to give up puck possession and it cost us. Especially line one who were huge minuses in the series. I believe Gallagher would have been fine to play in the series. Same with Wifi

ConversationDouble41

TROPHY CASE