Hall, Eakins put soaking in the past
Oilers star, coach ready to move on following water-bottle incident
Is hockey’s version of Watergate over?
While an emotionally charged Taylor Hall accidentally sprayed some of the wet stuff on his coach Dallas Eakins during an 8-1 whupping at the hands of the Calgary Flames, which led to some bench bickering, cooler heads had prevailed by Monday when the Edmonton Oilers showed up for work at Rexall Place.
“I thought somebody might get me with some snow (skate shower),” Eakins said jokingly as he finished a press conference following practice.
On Saturday, Eakins tossed a towel on the bench after drying off, also tossing off some invective at Hall, who looked straight ahead at the ice as he sat on the bench.
Hall offered up his two cents on the incident which was caught by the TV cameras. It wasn’t pretty, but Hall wears his heart on his sleeve like Mark Messier, and he was mad at the score.
Eakins wasn’t a happy camper, either, but it was kumbaya time Monday.
They talked before practice (they also talked after the game Saturday), and while we can probably put that disagreement aside, there’s no hiding from the total embarrassment on the scoreboard.
Hall chose to go out Sunday and take his cousin to see The Lego Movie, ironic consider ing how the Oilers can’t seem to build much of anything these days — with their disgruntled fans or in the NHL standings, where only the Buffalo Sabres have fewer points.
Eakins, with two little girls, stayed in all day and played games with them, trying to take his mind off the fright the night before.
“The conversation (between Hall and Eakins) today was straightforward and honest ... listen, a confrontation between a player and a coach or a coach yelling at his team during a timeout, things are caught on camera. It is not a big deal, it happens every day,” said Eakins, who knows Hall’s best trait is the fire in his furnace and how it burns hot, and every now then too hot.
“I’m sure at home, every now and then, you’ll yell at your kid and, boy, that would look bad if caught on camera.
“I know what I expect out of Taylor, and I know what’s expected of me, how I go about my business as a coach, and I know how important Taylor is to our organization.”
Messier, bless his soul, was exactly the same emotionally, only he could be way meaner on the ice to go with his great skill-set.
“After a game, he’s (Eakins) somebody who can forget things quickly, and so can I,” said Hall.
“If we didn’t have a conversation today (water bottle incident and words exchanged), I’d have been fine.”
“We’re putting this behind us (blow-up and the game blow-out). That’s what we have to do.”
Indeed, the San Jose Sharks await, looking for blood after Ben Scrivens stopped all 59 shots Jan. 29 in a remarkable 3-0 Oilers victory here.
Hall knows he walks a tightrope trying to balance his competitive juice with stuff that doesn’t look good, even if it was an accident with the water bottle.
“I walk a fine line, but we haven’t done a lot in my four years here, and sometimes, that weighs on me,” he said. “Frustration, letting things get to me, they don’t turn out to be productive. I know my overall play will be affected negatively if I have bad body language. I have to tone that down.”
Eakins realizes that Hall and every pro athlete has to show emotion, somehow, some way.
“I always find with athletes there will be a question either way. If the athlete is a robot and keeps everything inside and he has his poker face on all night and you don’t know what kind of hand he has, you start to question — does he care? Is he frustrated or mad enough?” said Eakins.
“Then an athlete shows frustration and body language, and people say ‘why can’t he keep it in check?’
“You are always questioned. Taylor was frustrated. I was frustrated. Our team was frustrated. We never came out of that.
“Funny how things turn. A few days ago, we were having our team picture and everything was great (10-4-3 in a 17-game run, then a loss to Buffalo and the beat-down by Calgary),” said Hall’s best buddy Jordan Eberle, who is sick of losing.
“Taylor wants to win. He’s competitive and he probably shows it more than most of us, the way he plays and expresses himself,” said Eberle.
“He’s one of the most watched players on the team, one of the most skilled. When he does stuff, guys see it. He has to control his emotions. He knows it. But when you see him mad, it also
You are always questioned. Taylor was frustrated. I was frustrated. Our team was frustrated. Dallas Eakins
motivates you when your teammates care. Frustration is a big thing with this team, with the losing,” said Eberle, whose stomach is churning but whose fire is quieter.
Hall is fully cognizant of the fire the fans have here, as well, and not just the fan who threw his jersey on the ice, which an angry Scrivens slingshotted back over the glass with his goal-stick, Saturday night. “They don’t forget things quickly, they’re passionate and expect a lot out of us. We respect that,” said Hall, who had to get away from the memory of the woodshed beating by the rival Flames by going to the movie.
“I’m not afraid to go out in public. We need to live lives too, which is why I went to the movie with a 13-year-old cousin.”
Lego was a nice diversion for a couple of hours, some popcorn and some laughs.
“Last year we beat Calgary (at the Saddledome) 8-2 (on trade deadline day) and I’m sure they were feeling the same way we were Saturday,” said Hall.
Eakins knows the water bottle incident and the sweater-throwing do not look good — in the rink, or on national TV. Stuff happens, but there is a perception from the outside that things are unravelling.
“The perception is we’re in 29th place, and that’s the biggest thing for me,” Eakins said.
“It’s bigger because it was Hockey Night in Canada, big because it’s Calgary and big because of the score.”
“I talked to the players today, and we talked about how we’re going to handle this. Are we going to be ‘poor me,’ in a depressed, distressed state? Or are we going to get ready for the next game with the mindset of the 20 previous games where we’ve been pretty good or are we going to wallow in frustration?
“That’s the challenge of pro sports. Some nights you get your butt handed to you, and it’s a horrible night and a horrible day.”