Oilers focus on strong finish to season
COMMENTARY: New regime telling players to start playing like winners, or else — and they mean it
For a full decade, Edmonton Oilers coaches have been telling players and fans those meaningless games in March and April really do matter.
They’ve said it was about playing for pride and jobs next year and finishing strong and probably a bunch of other stuff we might remember if our eyes didn’t glaze over.
There is no such thing as carrying momentum into the next season or the Oilers wouldn’t be 10 years out of the playoffs and there have never been any significant personnel moves based on a player’s performance in the annual death march.
But the coach is saying it all again this year and this time, I don’t think he’s kidding. This time, the new regime isn’t asking the players to start acting like winners, it’s telling them. And it’s keeping track.
“I don’t think we’ve seen all we need to see,” said Todd McLellan, who is calling his stretch drive project a character reveal. “We’re not going to make the playoffs and when that happens, some guys continue to grow their game and really give you and the team everything they have, other guys may choose to take short cuts and we’re watching for that.
“You can’t pick and choose when you play in this league. You can’t have success with a segment of players who are cheating. We’re looking for that and I think it will reveal character issues as we move forward.”
So, after the Feb. 29 trade deadline, McLellan told everyone they were starting at zero for the final 18 games; nobody was going to be weighed down by what they failed to accomplish in the first 64 games, nor be able to rest on what they did.
“We had a meeting, we sat down and discussed some goals,” winger Matt Hendricks said, adding most of the goals are being kept internal, but basics like finishing over .500 in those final 18 games and getting the faceoff percentages to a certain level are on the big board. Players are also being tracked individually.
“It’s a hard thing to find motivation in the season after the deadline when you’re already out of the playoffs,” Hendricks said. “So instead of allowing anyone in this room to fall back on their heels, he challenged each and every player. He said it’s a new season. You have to go out there and battle because you are being evaluated by everyone in the organization.”
It can be easy for a player to hide in a situation like Edmonton’s — this approach doesn’t let them.
Connor McDavid leads the ReSet scoring race with 11 points in 11 games and after that, Mark Letestu and Patrick Maroon are tied for second with six points, Andrej Sekera is fourth with five. Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Leon Draisaitl are next among forwards with four points.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has three goals in the five games he’s played.
The Oilers as a team are 6-5. The power play is 16.1 per cent (5-for31, with four goals coming in one game). The penalty kill is 83.8 per cent (26-for-31).
“So instead of allowing anyone in this room to fall back on their heels, he challenged each and every player.”
— Matt Hendricks