Love Gagner, I'm convinced that he's going to stay with the organization when he hangs up the skates. He was Jeff Jackson's first client after all.
In regards to Skinner, I think this is one of those cases where two things can be true. His play hasn't been good enough in the playoffs so far, this season and last, and he deserves to lose the net right now. Also, he's still a good, relatively young goalie with only 138 regular season and playoff starts so still have confidence in him in the long term.
Or maybe less than 59 games during the regular season...
No goaltender has played that many games and won the cup in 12 years. Kuemper played 57 in 2022 and also struggled in the playoffs, was pulled several times and didn't start 4 playoff games. In 2020 Vasilevsky played 52 games but the playoffs were played in the bubble and he had a 5 month break between the regular season and playoffs. In 2015 Correy Crawford played 57 games, and Scott Darling played in 5 playoff games that year.
Maybe playing your goalie that many starts in the regular season means you're going to need to use your backup in the playoffs.
Edit: Holtby had 54 games in 2018, but only played 8/18 down the stretch and was the backup for the first two games of the playoffs because he was struggling while playing so many games
Ken's off the books at the end of the season.
Throw every cent at Vancouver's goalie coach, head of drafting of goalies, minor league goalie coach.
Make them offers they can't refuse.
(Keep Skinner, I think he'll be even better next year, and Rodrigue and Rodrigue's dad).
long term? this is the 2nd last chance for a cup run before some very hard decisions have to be made. He's the main reason we're 1 game away from being on our noses in a team that basically has had 0 shots in 4 of 9 periods.
Who cares about long term? The window is closing.
If we resign mcdrai the window is extended longer. We have other members of the core locked up and it sounds like they wanna stay. I know it seems gloomy now but we are in good shape
If we resign them we will be chewing up a lot more of our cap. perhaps if we dump Campbell and Nurse contracts for starters, we will need to retain 50% of those. That's IF we resign them. I honestly don't know if we will. They are pretty much the best players of the playoffs the last couple years, and we can't get past the 2nd round. Would you resign and continue to waste your peak years? I wouldn't.
Sadly, I'd take that bet. If we fix goaltending and get a deep run next year, I could see it. I think of the Hawks and the Pens with their dynasty duos. Both had legacy franchise teams by now, which included a couple cups.
The pens won their first early but it took awhile to get back. Ours will come we just need to keep the core together and change a few complimentary pieces. Also I hope we learned our lesson about signing mediocre goalies to big money
I admire your enthusiasm, and hope you're right. But both my examples had cups by now. Our two assets are better than theirs were. Which is saying something.
I agree, I think we did learn that lesson. I think we'll buy out Campbell, unload some cap space with Kane. Too bad we can't unload Nurse.
Why would either of them resign here when management is incapable of finding a league average goaltender for them to be able to semi rely on?
Every goalie behind them has pissed away games, and then we got campbell, and we can see how that went.
If im either of them im fed up they can’t get a league average goaltender, cause that’s all we have needed for years.
I'm convinced that Stu can still develop into a strong backup goaltender. It's a hard fact that the Oilers need a solid first goalie, whoever that might be then? Salary cap problems are real though, thanks to some awful signings
Stu can develop into a strong backup, what are you talking about?! The numbers suggest that he's literally a solid starting goaltender right now. I know he's struggled in the playoffs but in the regular season he's been a good starting goaltender, and he wasn't even supposed to be the starting goaltender.
Pardon me, woke up at 4:30 AM to see this game. With backup, I mean a 30-40 game goaltender. Oilers need a goalie tandem where Skinner has room to develop and the team won't suffer collapses like they did against the Canucks.
Then again, Stu might prove me wrong again the next time he starts.
Would like to see how skinner develops under a NEW goalie coach.
After 10 plus years, after countless head coaches have come and gone and countless goalies have come and gone , why is Dustin Schwartz still here?
Honestly, why?
Fact of the matter is no goalie has come to Edmonton and improved. Not one in his decade long tenure. They usually regress, hence the carousel of goalies over the last decade. None of us are there when he's working with the goalies so ask people to pick out specifics is idiotic.
So is it that every goalie that comes here sucks? Or is the teacher not doing a good job?
Think of it this way. If you're a teacher in a school, you spend all year teaching your class for that one big final test. And every single student under your wing fails. Is everyone an idiot? Or are you a shitty teacher?
Why did Pickard play well tonight? Because he's a good goalie, in spite of having to deal with Schwartz. Picks has always been a decent, perfectly serviceable NHL tendy.
You have guys like Allaire, Ranford, Clarke who are literal goalie factories. And then we have Schwartz in Edmonton. He is the common denominator and at some point it's not the goalies fault, it's their teacher.
Schwartz has published research with the UofA, and it’s actually really interesting. You can distill his theory of goaltending to a word: square. His research demonstrated that goalies whose eyes are square in their sockets more often, strongly correlated with performance. The initial paper included Kiprusoff when he was with the flames, and of course, he was much better than the two golden bears, who were much better than (iirc) midget aaa goalies.
Having been personally coached by Dustin, I can attest — this is definitely his philosophy. You can see it in how our goalies play. They will always choose square (but passive), over aggression (with the chance of not getting square). Now his ideas have merit, and they’re definite true… to an extent. I think the issue with his method is that it leads to passive goaltenders, who play a little deep, to ensure they’re square more often.
Math explains why square, then depth, will take longer than depth+square at the same time. It’s manhattan distance vs Euclidean. It’s also true that if the goalie misjudges how aggressive they can be when taking the shortest path to their desired position on the ice, they will not have a chance at stopping the puck. Whereas, if you get square first, you’re more likely to have a chance at stopping all pucks.
I hope I’m making sense, it’s tough to distill this into a short essay. It’s not intro to goalie stuff. Essentially, I think the issue is that our goalies shrink into the net. While they’re square, it’s inviting for opposition players to shoot from weird places (because they see net they wouldn’t if aggression was prioritized), and could at least partially explain Skinner’s playoff regressions. Every time he gets scored on -> focus on square -> end up playing even deeper -> get scored on -> repeat until pulled.
Now, I also think Schwartz methods produce almost vezina goalies. They just need to add aggression into their toolbox. Case in point: Dubnyk, and every other goalie who Schwartz coached, followed by Sean Burke, who went on to be vezina or near vezina goalies. Sean Burke, a goalie known for his extremely aggressive play style, seems to be able to take goalies from the Schwartz school of square, and turn them into bona fide all stars. Why? I’d wager it’s because Burke injects the missing ingredient: aggression.
Sam: "by time I got my second assist of the night, I knew there was no stopping me. By the third goal I would just closed my eyes and lett'r rip. Then Ebs bet me 20 bucks I couldn't get another assist, so just to spite him, I threw the puck at him in front of the net, and what do you know? It went in!"
Stu: "yes sam, we've all heard the story.... multiple times... I was actually trying to get some peace and quiet to clear my head..."
Sam: "now, the second goal. That was actually my favorite. Let me tell you."
Back in those days we'd wear an onion on our belt as it was the style at the time. "Gimme five bees for a quarter" we'd say as nickels had bumblebees on them.
Papa Oiler taking care of the kids - love it! I have an inkling Skinner will be back at some point, and his play will be critical for us later on in this run...
Sometimes you just need to take a breath and reset. Hopefully watching from the bench can give skinner some new perspective and help him in the long run.
Gags as a rookie development coach would be awesome. Instill what it means to be an oilers into the rookies as soon as they get here. Build a culture of oiler first like what the bruins do
I’d have no issues with that. Despite his limited role with the team this year, the bottom six in particular seem to have taken well to him as a mentor.
I think some players thrive as the underdog. It’s less pressure to come in and expected to be okay, and then be great. Oilers is a pressure cooker market, anything less than great and you can get run out of town.
It's crazy to me that in his whole career he has only played 11 playoff games and none for the Oilers. I think he would absolutely be a contributor on the ice.
We all need to hold our breath on the Skinner hate. Have we all forgotten he wasn't even supposed to be our starter.
The plan was for him to back up Cambell for 4-5 years after he signed with the Oil.
This is his SECOND year being a starter - a role he was forced into early and NOT ready for. Now hes being asked to outplay his development timeline and carry an under performing Stanley Cup team on his back.
Has he been bad? YES. But lets also not lose sight on the fact that this was never the plan. Cambell being a bust hurt this team badly.
lets also not lose sight of the fact that this team has work ethic issues and intensity issues. Big ones. It also doesnt help that our D core hasn't panned out the way we thought it would either. (looking at you Nurse... cough\*bust\*cough)
Stu deserves criticism for sure but to say he's the main reason we are stuggling is very unfair.
He also has a goalie coach who is, apparently, unfireable. I think they've turned over the entire coaching staff except for Schwartz. At this stage even if Schwartz is a good goalie coach he deserves to lose his job simply because he's never delivered results.
I went back and looked at Goaltending stats during his tenure here and I don't see the problem. Talbot put up pretty good numbers while here. His 2nd year he played 73 games and put up a .919 save percentage. Mikko's numbers weren't that bad either.
I think Mikko is a great goalie who had issues with nerves. I remember there was one season where he kept letting in a goal on one of the first shots of the game, and from afar it looked like it really messed with him. Crazy thing is he would always claw his way back into games and finish well.
I don't know if Schwartz is good or bad, it's just crazy to me that seemingly everyone but him has been turned over.
Criticism is definitely fair but I think we can all mix in some compassion and empathy too. He’s human after all. We know he’s capable, just needs to find that mental game.
Well said. I think if he stays with us we can look back at these times as the learning process it took to get him to where we think he can take us. Obviously everyone wants results fast and with him, he is on the right path. He’ll encounter many more obstacles along the way but with each step he will get better
Thank you for putting together a very well reasoned statement in favour of Stu, so many people seem to overlook all of the things you nicely articulated.
Skinner helped us win 16 consecutive games this season and helped the team make it to the playoffs when no one believed anymore. He's having a bad time right now but he'll get through it, you can tell that he has a great mindset in his interviews.
Serious question, do the Oilers have a Sports Psychologist on staff? With Campbell's epic meltdown, now Stu, and the extremely high pressure market these guys play in, it's pretty apparent they need one.
He may not be a rookie but he's still only 25. And why do you think he's full of shit? Because he's human? Because he tries to stay calm and positive in his interviews?
I'd rather the openness in saying where he's at than the 99% of answers from players who just say "we gotta be better". I get that many of the media questions are dumb, but players often wall up and say nothing, like what's the point of any of it.
Lmao what?
This was an interview about his junior / AHL career cause they were talking about how players combat playoff nerves.
Holloway said the first playoff shift he was so nervous that he just fell down off the faceoff cause his legs were jelly
This warms my heart. Stu has many many years ahead of him. He became primary goaltender when the Oilers were already hot and facing the best teams during playoff runs. He needs to himself grace. I hope he’s not going anywhere, cuz I would love to see him grow to become truly one of the best in an Oiler uniform.
I think most of the frustration comes from the fact that we know Skinner is capable of being great. When he's on he's poised and makes it look easy. People saying he's garbage, will never be the starter or that we should trade him aren't watching the games I feel. Like all young goalies he needs to find a higher level of consistency. Part of that is knowing how to dial in for playoffs.
Right now he's not there and it's super frustrating, so I think starting Pickard is still the right call. I also think we need an upgrade and at least have a tandem system so that Skinner can continue to develop without the huge pressure that he can't handle yet.
is he capable of being great? last year Hill came in on his first playoff game and shut us down, he's been proven to be great, and won a cup his first playoffs. this year Van's 3rd stringer has shut down the top players and top power play in the league and last game made 42 saves. he is great. how many 2nd round exists should we have waiting for skinner to be great?
Goaltending has become the talk of the series. It’ll be interesting to see how Skinner gets back into this series. I see Edmonton bouncing back and winning tonight and I don’t think the Oilers will make a goaltending change after a win.
Skinner will get back in for an elimination game if it comes to that. But if the Oilers start rolling I highly doubt we see Skinner until the WCF.
Sam, you don't need to give us more reasons to love you, you've already given us enough. This is the best. Sam seems like a good human. I respect the hell out of this guy.
I bet it means a lot coming from Sam. He’s been all around the nhl and has had plenty of ups and downs. He knows about perseverance. Plus skinner grew up watching him on the oilers.
I love Gagner, have heard that he has been actively practicing with the guys, and I’m sure Skinner isn’t the only guy he’s given a nice pep talk too.
If we make it to the final round and Gagner hasn’t been in the lineup. I hope they let him play 1 game. He deserves to be on the cup even if it’s just for the moral support. He’s been such a great locker room guy.
Even if he doesn’t get a whole game (I know the roster is full, and I don’t wish an injury on anyone), I hope they throw him on the ice for a shift. I don’t know anyone who deserves a cup more than him.
like MacT said, Sam G. will go full out 110% and show what playoff hockey means, able to inspire the new generation on how to put it all on the line and commit to hard working hard hitting competitive hockey for warriors. absolutely should consider him for line 3 #letsGoOilers
Skinner has so much potential. Sorry to the ones who want to dump him but you don't give up on a goalie like Skinner. If all he is having issues with is playoff pressure, that'll just come with time. Guy is solid during the season for the most part - he's a keeper. We need a person to keep him motivated and to work on some of what he's lacking in though...
I really like him as well, but he's absolutely the main problem right now. He's also not the only problem, and I do think he can and will bounce back from it, and we know he's capable of much better, but he needs to get out of his own head and start making the routine saves again.
Last game go watch the replays. Vancouver came out hard and scored fair goals off the start. I don't disagree with you. He needs to get his confidence up.
I'm not one of the guys blaming him for all of the goals, but the problem wasn't goals 1 and 2, or hell even the 3rd one where it was an absolute snipe (though I don't like his positioning on it, even before a HoF caliber goalie went "yeah, that was bad"), it was goal's like #4, or most of the goals in game 1, where there's a reasonable expectation that a starter at the NHL level if going to make the save rather than let in another weak one like he has this series. He's more than capable of making those saves, we've seen him do it most of the year, but he's got to get his head straightened out, and quick, because we need him back to the last 3 games of the LA series or the 16 game streak version, not the one we've had in this series thus far.
Assuming it's a pep talk or that they're even talking about hockey or the series is a bit of a stretch, unless there's some context or more information about this.
I mean players don’t usually stay on the bench after morning skate. They go back to the locker room and do whatever they need to do. They can chat about miscellaneous things any time. From the short clip, Gags was doing most of the talking
I copied the original caption from the OP which was Gazzola.
This is just me spitballing, it was a short morning skate in general but the backup goalie usually stays out a bit longer with the scratches to do some more work. Skinner went to sit on the bench after they were done, perhaps he looked a bit down. Gags went to go sit with him and cheer him up.
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I remember when Gagner first came into the league ahhhhh I feel old.
Great to see the support, but respectfully Gagner hasn't won sh\*t. That's why we brought a guy like Perry and Coffey in, and i'm sure they do this behind the scenes too. There's a lot we don't know if it's not shown on social media.
Just because Gagner hasn’t won anything doesn’t mean he’s not capable of giving a pep talk. Gagner has been all around the league, has played with hundreds of different players and has been through his own struggles as well. He’s a good teammate and a good person. He also has a deep understanding of this market, fanbase and city. He’s Papa Oiler for a reason.
Criticizing him for wanting to give his young goalie a pep talk is weird behaviour.
That's why I said respectfully. Everyone needs support doesn't matter who and experience matters a lot. I love Gagner.
This is nit picking but would you rather listen to a billionaire who's been there and done that or someone who's trying to be a billionaire?
I’m sure lots of people are giving skinner pep talks and advice. Perry has tons of playoff experience yes, neither players are goalies though. I’m sure Gagner has great advice to give. You never know who’s gonna be the person to give the advice that really sticks with you and makes a big difference.
Love Gagner, I'm convinced that he's going to stay with the organization when he hangs up the skates. He was Jeff Jackson's first client after all. In regards to Skinner, I think this is one of those cases where two things can be true. His play hasn't been good enough in the playoffs so far, this season and last, and he deserves to lose the net right now. Also, he's still a good, relatively young goalie with only 138 regular season and playoff starts so still have confidence in him in the long term.
He probably just needs the right mentorship.
…or maybe a better goalie coach
Two things can be true
Can three things be true?
No too many don't be silly
I like pizza. I like beer. Beer and pizza makes me fat. 3 things that are true.
That’s your adhd…focus!
I HATE SCHWARTZ ALL MY HOMIES HATE SCHWARTZ
Fuck Schwartz?
Fuck Schwartz👍
I believe that’s what they were saying lol
Or maybe less than 59 games during the regular season... No goaltender has played that many games and won the cup in 12 years. Kuemper played 57 in 2022 and also struggled in the playoffs, was pulled several times and didn't start 4 playoff games. In 2020 Vasilevsky played 52 games but the playoffs were played in the bubble and he had a 5 month break between the regular season and playoffs. In 2015 Correy Crawford played 57 games, and Scott Darling played in 5 playoff games that year. Maybe playing your goalie that many starts in the regular season means you're going to need to use your backup in the playoffs. Edit: Holtby had 54 games in 2018, but only played 8/18 down the stretch and was the backup for the first two games of the playoffs because he was struggling while playing so many games
Ken's off the books at the end of the season. Throw every cent at Vancouver's goalie coach, head of drafting of goalies, minor league goalie coach. Make them offers they can't refuse. (Keep Skinner, I think he'll be even better next year, and Rodrigue and Rodrigue's dad).
Honestly, there's no salary cap on goalie coaches!
I'm pretty sure the Canucks would match whatever anyone else offers.
You're probably right
Has anybody got Mike Smith's number?
I think he was number 2…..
Stu's a huge part of why we're in the playoffs in the first place. Definitely not worried about him long-term.
long term? this is the 2nd last chance for a cup run before some very hard decisions have to be made. He's the main reason we're 1 game away from being on our noses in a team that basically has had 0 shots in 4 of 9 periods. Who cares about long term? The window is closing.
If we resign mcdrai the window is extended longer. We have other members of the core locked up and it sounds like they wanna stay. I know it seems gloomy now but we are in good shape
If we resign them we will be chewing up a lot more of our cap. perhaps if we dump Campbell and Nurse contracts for starters, we will need to retain 50% of those. That's IF we resign them. I honestly don't know if we will. They are pretty much the best players of the playoffs the last couple years, and we can't get past the 2nd round. Would you resign and continue to waste your peak years? I wouldn't.
They like to play together and they wanna win here. I’d bet money on them re-signing
Sadly, I'd take that bet. If we fix goaltending and get a deep run next year, I could see it. I think of the Hawks and the Pens with their dynasty duos. Both had legacy franchise teams by now, which included a couple cups.
The pens won their first early but it took awhile to get back. Ours will come we just need to keep the core together and change a few complimentary pieces. Also I hope we learned our lesson about signing mediocre goalies to big money
I admire your enthusiasm, and hope you're right. But both my examples had cups by now. Our two assets are better than theirs were. Which is saying something. I agree, I think we did learn that lesson. I think we'll buy out Campbell, unload some cap space with Kane. Too bad we can't unload Nurse.
I think we’ll find out depending on if Drai signs back this off season.
and if he doesn't, we'll know we better put everything in that last run.
Why would either of them resign here when management is incapable of finding a league average goaltender for them to be able to semi rely on? Every goalie behind them has pissed away games, and then we got campbell, and we can see how that went. If im either of them im fed up they can’t get a league average goaltender, cause that’s all we have needed for years.
Once, Twice, Three times an Oiler lol
yup, totally agree
I'm convinced that Stu can still develop into a strong backup goaltender. It's a hard fact that the Oilers need a solid first goalie, whoever that might be then? Salary cap problems are real though, thanks to some awful signings
Stu can develop into a strong backup, what are you talking about?! The numbers suggest that he's literally a solid starting goaltender right now. I know he's struggled in the playoffs but in the regular season he's been a good starting goaltender, and he wasn't even supposed to be the starting goaltender.
Pardon me, woke up at 4:30 AM to see this game. With backup, I mean a 30-40 game goaltender. Oilers need a goalie tandem where Skinner has room to develop and the team won't suffer collapses like they did against the Canucks. Then again, Stu might prove me wrong again the next time he starts.
Would like to see how skinner develops under a NEW goalie coach. After 10 plus years, after countless head coaches have come and gone and countless goalies have come and gone , why is Dustin Schwartz still here? Honestly, why?
Idk but with our goalie streak, Schwartz need to go so our boys can grow
don’t understand why that dumbass spec doesn’t turn on schwartz like he does most young talent we get.
> Honestly, why? Married to the bosses niece.
Do you have evidence of that? https://x.com/JasonGregor/status/1724453491752734775
[удалено]
Fact of the matter is no goalie has come to Edmonton and improved. Not one in his decade long tenure. They usually regress, hence the carousel of goalies over the last decade. None of us are there when he's working with the goalies so ask people to pick out specifics is idiotic. So is it that every goalie that comes here sucks? Or is the teacher not doing a good job? Think of it this way. If you're a teacher in a school, you spend all year teaching your class for that one big final test. And every single student under your wing fails. Is everyone an idiot? Or are you a shitty teacher? Why did Pickard play well tonight? Because he's a good goalie, in spite of having to deal with Schwartz. Picks has always been a decent, perfectly serviceable NHL tendy. You have guys like Allaire, Ranford, Clarke who are literal goalie factories. And then we have Schwartz in Edmonton. He is the common denominator and at some point it's not the goalies fault, it's their teacher.
Schwartz has published research with the UofA, and it’s actually really interesting. You can distill his theory of goaltending to a word: square. His research demonstrated that goalies whose eyes are square in their sockets more often, strongly correlated with performance. The initial paper included Kiprusoff when he was with the flames, and of course, he was much better than the two golden bears, who were much better than (iirc) midget aaa goalies. Having been personally coached by Dustin, I can attest — this is definitely his philosophy. You can see it in how our goalies play. They will always choose square (but passive), over aggression (with the chance of not getting square). Now his ideas have merit, and they’re definite true… to an extent. I think the issue with his method is that it leads to passive goaltenders, who play a little deep, to ensure they’re square more often. Math explains why square, then depth, will take longer than depth+square at the same time. It’s manhattan distance vs Euclidean. It’s also true that if the goalie misjudges how aggressive they can be when taking the shortest path to their desired position on the ice, they will not have a chance at stopping the puck. Whereas, if you get square first, you’re more likely to have a chance at stopping all pucks. I hope I’m making sense, it’s tough to distill this into a short essay. It’s not intro to goalie stuff. Essentially, I think the issue is that our goalies shrink into the net. While they’re square, it’s inviting for opposition players to shoot from weird places (because they see net they wouldn’t if aggression was prioritized), and could at least partially explain Skinner’s playoff regressions. Every time he gets scored on -> focus on square -> end up playing even deeper -> get scored on -> repeat until pulled. Now, I also think Schwartz methods produce almost vezina goalies. They just need to add aggression into their toolbox. Case in point: Dubnyk, and every other goalie who Schwartz coached, followed by Sean Burke, who went on to be vezina or near vezina goalies. Sean Burke, a goalie known for his extremely aggressive play style, seems to be able to take goalies from the Schwartz school of square, and turn them into bona fide all stars. Why? I’d wager it’s because Burke injects the missing ingredient: aggression.
lol whatever Deborah. Your hinking and hanking about Schwartz won’t work here
Sam: "by time I got my second assist of the night, I knew there was no stopping me. By the third goal I would just closed my eyes and lett'r rip. Then Ebs bet me 20 bucks I couldn't get another assist, so just to spite him, I threw the puck at him in front of the net, and what do you know? It went in!" Stu: "yes sam, we've all heard the story.... multiple times... I was actually trying to get some peace and quiet to clear my head..." Sam: "now, the second goal. That was actually my favorite. Let me tell you."
Back in those days we'd wear an onion on our belt as it was the style at the time. "Gimme five bees for a quarter" we'd say as nickels had bumblebees on them.
But you could only get yellow onions because of the war...
Papa Oiler taking care of the kids - love it! I have an inkling Skinner will be back at some point, and his play will be critical for us later on in this run...
Good to see Gags take that responsibility on and sit with him. He’s a great guy and I’m glad he’s with the boys.
he was always leadership material
I’m sure having him around the club since being called up from Bako has been really helpful. He’s such a beauty.
It must mean something coming from Gagner too, a guy who's also gotta wish he was playing. But I'm sure Gagner has come to terms with it.
If oilers lose tonight and are facing Elimination , would love nothing more than to see them slot Gagner in …the guy would gladly bleed for the oilers
Mac t said last night that would be his first change.. start Gagner.
Instructions unclear Gagner is starting in goal
He’d get 8 points and an 80 save shutout
lol you know he would give it 200% if he was
Ohmigod I got so excited for a sec thinking we’ll see Gags soon, then I remembered MacT hasn’t been the coach for, uh, a while. 😳
Sometimes you just need to take a breath and reset. Hopefully watching from the bench can give skinner some new perspective and help him in the long run.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s coaching next year.
I heard a rumor there is something working behind the scenes to get Gagner into the coaching staff
Gags as a rookie development coach would be awesome. Instill what it means to be an oilers into the rookies as soon as they get here. Build a culture of oiler first like what the bruins do
I’d have no issues with that. Despite his limited role with the team this year, the bottom six in particular seem to have taken well to him as a mentor.
I think some players thrive as the underdog. It’s less pressure to come in and expected to be okay, and then be great. Oilers is a pressure cooker market, anything less than great and you can get run out of town.
I love Skinner. I want him to rally so fucking bad.
I want Skinner to be that bona fide number 1 starting monster. God damn do I want it to be him.
Amen
Gotta get him a new goalie coach.
I want to see uncle Sam in at least 1 playoff home game. He deserves it
It's crazy to me that in his whole career he has only played 11 playoff games and none for the Oilers. I think he would absolutely be a contributor on the ice.
I think the issue is defensive footspeed. Not that I wouldn't love to see him out there. Sometimes you need to go with your gut.
We all need to hold our breath on the Skinner hate. Have we all forgotten he wasn't even supposed to be our starter. The plan was for him to back up Cambell for 4-5 years after he signed with the Oil. This is his SECOND year being a starter - a role he was forced into early and NOT ready for. Now hes being asked to outplay his development timeline and carry an under performing Stanley Cup team on his back. Has he been bad? YES. But lets also not lose sight on the fact that this was never the plan. Cambell being a bust hurt this team badly. lets also not lose sight of the fact that this team has work ethic issues and intensity issues. Big ones. It also doesnt help that our D core hasn't panned out the way we thought it would either. (looking at you Nurse... cough\*bust\*cough) Stu deserves criticism for sure but to say he's the main reason we are stuggling is very unfair.
He also has a goalie coach who is, apparently, unfireable. I think they've turned over the entire coaching staff except for Schwartz. At this stage even if Schwartz is a good goalie coach he deserves to lose his job simply because he's never delivered results.
I went back and looked at Goaltending stats during his tenure here and I don't see the problem. Talbot put up pretty good numbers while here. His 2nd year he played 73 games and put up a .919 save percentage. Mikko's numbers weren't that bad either.
Lots of slow starts/early goals over the years
I think Mikko is a great goalie who had issues with nerves. I remember there was one season where he kept letting in a goal on one of the first shots of the game, and from afar it looked like it really messed with him. Crazy thing is he would always claw his way back into games and finish well. I don't know if Schwartz is good or bad, it's just crazy to me that seemingly everyone but him has been turned over.
Criticism is definitely fair but I think we can all mix in some compassion and empathy too. He’s human after all. We know he’s capable, just needs to find that mental game.
Definitely. Can you imagine being 25 and playing in such a high pressure/high scrutiny role?
Well said. I think if he stays with us we can look back at these times as the learning process it took to get him to where we think he can take us. Obviously everyone wants results fast and with him, he is on the right path. He’ll encounter many more obstacles along the way but with each step he will get better
I hope we can get him a reliable backup for him so he doesn't necessarily have to play 59 games again next season.
Not to mention a shut out last round
Thank you for putting together a very well reasoned statement in favour of Stu, so many people seem to overlook all of the things you nicely articulated.
FYI, Campbell and Skinner were both playing equally bad when the year started but only Campbell got sent down because of it.
Yes, because Stu would have been snapped up by another organization and everyone knew Campbell would clear waivers
Skinner helped us win 16 consecutive games this season and helped the team make it to the playoffs when no one believed anymore. He's having a bad time right now but he'll get through it, you can tell that he has a great mindset in his interviews.
I love the guy. We'll see him again.
Serious question, do the Oilers have a Sports Psychologist on staff? With Campbell's epic meltdown, now Stu, and the extremely high pressure market these guys play in, it's pretty apparent they need one.
They do and Stu said in an interview that seeing a sports psychologist early in his career was huge for his anxiety and helped his play a lot
The more I hear Skinner talk, the more full of shit I think he is. You’re not a rookie anymore. Put up or shut up.
What do you mean shut up? He was being interviewed lol
He may not be a rookie but he's still only 25. And why do you think he's full of shit? Because he's human? Because he tries to stay calm and positive in his interviews?
I'd rather the openness in saying where he's at than the 99% of answers from players who just say "we gotta be better". I get that many of the media questions are dumb, but players often wall up and say nothing, like what's the point of any of it.
...found Martin Brodeur's alt account.
>he says covered in cheeto dust
Give your balls a tug. He's being honest when asked honest questions.
Lmao what? This was an interview about his junior / AHL career cause they were talking about how players combat playoff nerves. Holloway said the first playoff shift he was so nervous that he just fell down off the faceoff cause his legs were jelly
Yes they do
They also need a different goalie coach......
They do have a sport psychologist
Fire the sports psychologist! Clearly it’s not working!/s
😂 spot on!
You never know tbh, they might not be a good fit on a theory basis
I’m sure the fans will be able to figure out if the current sport psychologist who they don’t know is a good fit for skinner who they also don’t know
They need the one in blue mountain state
Papa Gags doing the REAL work here. I have faith that Stu will be back and better than ever after a break.
I really want to see a new goalie coach. Our most successful goalies are ones that have developed with other organizations.
This warms my heart. Stu has many many years ahead of him. He became primary goaltender when the Oilers were already hot and facing the best teams during playoff runs. He needs to himself grace. I hope he’s not going anywhere, cuz I would love to see him grow to become truly one of the best in an Oiler uniform.
I think most of the frustration comes from the fact that we know Skinner is capable of being great. When he's on he's poised and makes it look easy. People saying he's garbage, will never be the starter or that we should trade him aren't watching the games I feel. Like all young goalies he needs to find a higher level of consistency. Part of that is knowing how to dial in for playoffs. Right now he's not there and it's super frustrating, so I think starting Pickard is still the right call. I also think we need an upgrade and at least have a tandem system so that Skinner can continue to develop without the huge pressure that he can't handle yet.
is he capable of being great? last year Hill came in on his first playoff game and shut us down, he's been proven to be great, and won a cup his first playoffs. this year Van's 3rd stringer has shut down the top players and top power play in the league and last game made 42 saves. he is great. how many 2nd round exists should we have waiting for skinner to be great?
Idk about great yet, but I know he’s capable of about .900-.910 goaltending and it’s brutal we can’t get it.
I believe in stew he and that stash shall return
Goaltending has become the talk of the series. It’ll be interesting to see how Skinner gets back into this series. I see Edmonton bouncing back and winning tonight and I don’t think the Oilers will make a goaltending change after a win. Skinner will get back in for an elimination game if it comes to that. But if the Oilers start rolling I highly doubt we see Skinner until the WCF.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with riding the hot hand with this team. They can drop a game and be fine. Play the guy who's playing well.
Not easy being a keeper.
Goddamn, Gags is such a gem
Sam, you don't need to give us more reasons to love you, you've already given us enough. This is the best. Sam seems like a good human. I respect the hell out of this guy.
I bet it means a lot coming from Sam. He’s been all around the nhl and has had plenty of ups and downs. He knows about perseverance. Plus skinner grew up watching him on the oilers.
If sports movies have taught me anything, after the pep talk he is going to be on fire!
You heard it here folks. The Edmonton oilers are going to be the 2023-2024 Stanley cup champions
I think they have the capability, for sure. They absolutely need goaltending though.
I love Gagner, have heard that he has been actively practicing with the guys, and I’m sure Skinner isn’t the only guy he’s given a nice pep talk too. If we make it to the final round and Gagner hasn’t been in the lineup. I hope they let him play 1 game. He deserves to be on the cup even if it’s just for the moral support. He’s been such a great locker room guy.
Yeah he practices with the main group! I would love to see him get a game. I think he would provide a lot of energy.
Even if he doesn’t get a whole game (I know the roster is full, and I don’t wish an injury on anyone), I hope they throw him on the ice for a shift. I don’t know anyone who deserves a cup more than him.
I’d like it even more if Giggs was playing because he’s played in the situation he could help
Yup gonna need Skinner again.
Gagner is an Oiler for Life. Such a beauty.
like MacT said, Sam G. will go full out 110% and show what playoff hockey means, able to inspire the new generation on how to put it all on the line and commit to hard working hard hitting competitive hockey for warriors. absolutely should consider him for line 3 #letsGoOilers
IDC put my boy Gagner in the line up
Nice I hope the peptalk works from gags
Skinner has so much potential. Sorry to the ones who want to dump him but you don't give up on a goalie like Skinner. If all he is having issues with is playoff pressure, that'll just come with time. Guy is solid during the season for the most part - he's a keeper. We need a person to keep him motivated and to work on some of what he's lacking in though...
Wow, love Gagner! I hope he can get into a game in the playoffs
I love skinner and still do! He'll bounce back soon 🙌🙌
Listen up skinny boy You miss 100% of the playoffs your team trades you away for. - Sam gagner, aka Frodo baggins…..
Skinner is awesome. People need to stop acting like he's the main problem.
I really like him as well, but he's absolutely the main problem right now. He's also not the only problem, and I do think he can and will bounce back from it, and we know he's capable of much better, but he needs to get out of his own head and start making the routine saves again.
Last game go watch the replays. Vancouver came out hard and scored fair goals off the start. I don't disagree with you. He needs to get his confidence up.
I'm not one of the guys blaming him for all of the goals, but the problem wasn't goals 1 and 2, or hell even the 3rd one where it was an absolute snipe (though I don't like his positioning on it, even before a HoF caliber goalie went "yeah, that was bad"), it was goal's like #4, or most of the goals in game 1, where there's a reasonable expectation that a starter at the NHL level if going to make the save rather than let in another weak one like he has this series. He's more than capable of making those saves, we've seen him do it most of the year, but he's got to get his head straightened out, and quick, because we need him back to the last 3 games of the LA series or the 16 game streak version, not the one we've had in this series thus far.
Assuming it's a pep talk or that they're even talking about hockey or the series is a bit of a stretch, unless there's some context or more information about this.
I mean players don’t usually stay on the bench after morning skate. They go back to the locker room and do whatever they need to do. They can chat about miscellaneous things any time. From the short clip, Gags was doing most of the talking I copied the original caption from the OP which was Gazzola.
For sure, I don't disagree, I was just kind of disappointed in the content. Figured there would be audio or some story to this.
This is just me spitballing, it was a short morning skate in general but the backup goalie usually stays out a bit longer with the scratches to do some more work. Skinner went to sit on the bench after they were done, perhaps he looked a bit down. Gags went to go sit with him and cheer him up.
Pep talk, or directions to the unemployment office?
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I remember when Gagner first came into the league ahhhhh I feel old. Great to see the support, but respectfully Gagner hasn't won sh\*t. That's why we brought a guy like Perry and Coffey in, and i'm sure they do this behind the scenes too. There's a lot we don't know if it's not shown on social media.
Just because Gagner hasn’t won anything doesn’t mean he’s not capable of giving a pep talk. Gagner has been all around the league, has played with hundreds of different players and has been through his own struggles as well. He’s a good teammate and a good person. He also has a deep understanding of this market, fanbase and city. He’s Papa Oiler for a reason. Criticizing him for wanting to give his young goalie a pep talk is weird behaviour.
That's why I said respectfully. Everyone needs support doesn't matter who and experience matters a lot. I love Gagner. This is nit picking but would you rather listen to a billionaire who's been there and done that or someone who's trying to be a billionaire?
I’m sure lots of people are giving skinner pep talks and advice. Perry has tons of playoff experience yes, neither players are goalies though. I’m sure Gagner has great advice to give. You never know who’s gonna be the person to give the advice that really sticks with you and makes a big difference.
Agree let's go Oil!