“There’s a lot of teams…you take out the number one goaltender on an NHL roster, you never can replace normally a legitimate number one goaltender, whether it’s Brodeur or Khabibulin or Luongo or things like that so…we have two people in there that have proven they can play.”
-Steve Tambellini, the GM of your Edmonton Oilers
I get that he can’t bury anyone and say “Yeah, well we’re dead. JDD and DD are nightmares.” The problem is that there’s mouthing platitudes that your deeds reveal you don’t believe - see MacT’s vote of confidence late last year - and then there’s actually acting like you believe what you’re saying. Kudos to the assembled knights of the keyboard for not laughing out loud at the suggestion that Khabibulin belonged in a group with Brodeur and Luongo. Boo for not asking him whether he made a mistake running with an injury-prone Khabby and guys who have not, no matter what he says, “proven they can play.”
It’s going to be a long, long season.
Or a long five years, depending on his tenure.
Is it not a long season already? Watching Quinn now I’m impressed as to how long MacT was able to keep his humour and composure.
Actually, Quinn was much better after the Vancouver game.
I think he’s reached the acceptance stage.
He sounded much more at peace on the post-game.
Tambo sounded very annoyed with the questions from the reporting pool today.
Maybe he should go back to working for the Canucks and see if he can’t get passed over again when they’re looking for a new GM; perhaps twice jilted wasn’t enough.
That’s why, at the end of the day, I hate Bob Gainey. He decides Latendresse is to be traded. Fine, no problem. But he burns the big oaf on uh, some guy of his age and not a third of the track record (except the fact he was drafted high). And the dude plays a position (bottom 6 F/LW) we have a gaggle of options for.
Tell me he couldn’t fleece the Oilers out of something right now, dangling Latendresse and Halak and some other trinkets (Chipchura? He’s a center! He is [somewhat] big! He is a leader and a defensive forward! A WJC Alumni!).
Dammit.
The more I hear from Tambs… the more I worry about the future of this franchise.
The fact that we know he offered an injury prone 4th liner Ethan Moreau’s contract confirms that…
Best thing to happen to the Oilers “braintrust” was the Hemsky injury. It buys them another year of mediocrity, and Oilers fans another year of suffering. We’re going to hear how it was injuries that derailed the season all year long. That will be the narrative of choice. Book it.
AG: Injuries in lieu of success: The Kevin Lowe story.
Dennis:
I think it’s Tambellini in charge now. When Lowe was in charge, the team made decisions (no comment on the quality of those decisions).
Now, they don’t.
Considering how in demand Tambo Wasn’t and how revered Lowe always has Been, I have a hard job believing that any move gets done without Lowe’s signing off on it.