10. Don Van Massenhoven should be fired. Or sent back in time to pre-lockout NHL where players can clutch, grab, interfere. Or sent back to pre-school and learn how to count 8 skaters in Blue and Orange.
9. The Grand Canyon appeared on Wisniewski's face!
8. Only 1.5 veterans left on D. And yes, the .5 is Picard who sadly had the one good chance on the powerplay. But did you ever think you'd see the day when a 5-on-3 was being killed by Gionta, PK, and Weber? (Hey, don't get me wrong. PK and Weber were the best D all night even if PK was trapped up high on the 2nd Oilers goal. Can't fault him for trying to create offense though.).
7. Lack of supporting your goaltender who scared us all when he stumbled and looked to have sprained something. But the fact he only gave up 3 was a miracle considering the swarm of Oilers in his general area. It should have been 3-0 in 5 minutes in the first period.
6. Lack of attacking opposing goaltender who was punting rebounds galor. Of course every time there was an open net, a Hab was immediately GLOMPED and pinned to the ice. I'm also convinced the guy running the shot clock was either drunk and seeing double or counted the missed shots as shots on net. No way they reached 36.
5. Effort was inexcusable. Even Gionta looked slow. And that lack of effort was none more present when Price was pulled for the extra man and the rest of the guys just couldn't be bothered to even get the puck. Even worse is the fact they could have easily been SHUTOUT by this team if Halpern and Eller hadn't crashed the net.
4. The lack of Hal Gill suddenly brings about a lack of communication. Also, can someone put Josh Gorges behind the bench? His team needs his motivational skills BADLY.
3. I really, really, really want a guy or two that can routinely pick corners without taking 5 years to shoot.
2. Mentality and body language. Skating around with your shoulders slumped doesn't give me any confidence. The crowd had more Habs fans than Oilers fans, and that didn't give them any jump at all.
1. The system. Regardless of the personnel and how healthy a lineup he has, Martin's system needs a system to feed off of and the Oilers are basically playing pond hockey. Because Martin's system is one of patience and reaction instead of go-for-the-throat attack, more often than not his players are stuck watching, getting caught flatfooted and then end up looking like a bunch of drooling pylons. It's also why most of his offensive forwards have taken a huge hit in the points category.
Apparently only Vancouver gets the "ya but injuries to their blueline" excuse. All the Habs get is TSN/CBC analysts gleefully rubbing their hands together at the proposition that the Habs may be out of a playoff spot after this trip and the Maple Leaf will suddenly bounce 5 teams to 5th spot.
Fuck it. Bring out the smelling salts, hot cocoa, and those little heat thingies. You better not embarrass yourself at the Heritage Classic on Sunday like this.
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