That's Kenta Nilsson being marked by another former Oiler (Bengt Gustafsson). Nilsson resigned as an Oiler scout after the team flushed his son. I think that's the right thing to do, if you flush my family then I'm flushing you.
It is a little disappointing because the team has been doing better in the last few seasons. They spent a few years in the late 90's-early 00's where they seemed to devote high picks (Riesen in '97, Rita in '99, Mikhnov in '00, Niinimaki in '02) to Europe, but then they avoided the region like the plague.
Since Stu (Magnificent Bastard) MacGregor took over the draft in 2008, the club has plucked Johan Motin, Teemu Hartikainen, Magnus Pääjärvi, Anton Lander, Toni Rajala and Martin Marincin. Of MBS's first 23 picks, 7 (or 30%) have been from Europe. The early returns are very positive, and some of it is surely due to draft position. Then again, MPS is the highest European selection in Oilers history (#10 in 2009) and that probably isn't a coincidence.
I'll be very interested to see how the Oilers European scouting staff lines up for next season. It is too important to gloss over.
fist.
ReplyDeletebreasts.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping that wasn't going to start here.
ReplyDeleteLT: Just listened to Oilers lunch. Outstanding stuff, lots to consider and a very good job sketching the last few years w/the Oilers in a concise, rationale manner.
ReplyDeleteI will be interested to see the impact on European procuremenent now that Kenta has moved on. Also, Frank Musil has been a part of that and now wants to be in NA to be near his son so that could have an even deeper influence on what takes place over the next few years.
Any sense for who's now leading the efforts over in Europe and what their background is?
I was hoping that wasn't going to start here.
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
I liked how Stauffer called Macgregor "Stu the magnificent bastard" as well.
ReplyDeleteDid you come up with that? Seems to be catching on.
http://lowetide.blogspot.com/2008/11/crossing-jordan.html
ReplyDeletei'm sure we will find someone good to replace both Nilsson and Musil if he decides to leave as well.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I figured
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I do not see this as a bad thing. The Oilers had a staff of two European for the last few years while Detroit had four European scouts. This provides an opportunity for the Oilers to completely restructure their European Scouting Program. In my not so humble opinion here are some suggestions I have been thinking about for awhile:
ReplyDelete1) Hire a Director of European Scouting (an old GM from one of the European leagues), and allow him to use his contacts to help build the Oilers scouting structure over there.
2) Hire three more scout to assist the Director. Hopefully these individuals have some scouting or management experience in European leagues. An important consideration is to have two of the three come from different European leagues then the director to increase the number of contacts in Europe the Oilers could possible draw on (as well as give the Oilers multiple individuals with different native speaker language skills to conduct interviews in).
3) Decide on a Regional model or a Amateur vs. Professional mode. In the former choose three regions (say Sweden, Russia, Finland/Central Europe) and give them each a dedicated scout for all levels of play, plus have the director looking at all of Europe. In the later model have two scouts doing only amateur scouting and one doing just the professional level, with the director doing work in both departments.
This would give the Oilers more eyes in Europe, and a clearer structure for reporting to Stu "the magnificent bastard" MacGregor. Plus it should be able to help with Professional scouting as well.
As a shameless plug, I did some work on this issue last year it can be found here:
http://bringingbacktheglory.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-ideas-on-scouting.html
I'd think you'd almost need four regional scouts - Russia, Finland, Sweden, Czechs & Slovaks. Coin toss between Russia and Finland to see who will be covering Belarus.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see Frank Musil get a shot - wherever he wishes. If Frank wants to be in NA, then bring him over. Was he behind the Marincin pick this past draft? I can only assume he would be connected to that pick... let's treat the Musil family well. We can draft David Musil next summer and who's not happy?
ReplyDeleteBendelson - From Matheson...
ReplyDeleteThere's a possibility that Frank Musil, who has been the Oilers' European pro scout, might not be in that role next season, as well. Musil has been living in Vancouver the past year because his son, David, is a defenceman with the Western Hockey League's Giants.
Sources say Musil reportedly would rather stay closer to home to watch his son, who could go in the top six to eight players in next June's NHL entry draft.
I know the top 40/classic rock radio theme was in the last thread but as a snobby "the first album was best" indie rock kid I have to add my 2 cents.
ReplyDeleteanytime any of you travel outside the range of your local rock station it'll always be worth your while to tune into any rock station you can find for as long as you can.
I have a theory that every radio stations' DJs sneaks 3 of 4 of their favorite bands/tunes into the ubiquitous din of Stones/Zep/ACDC/Hip...etc. that you wouldn't normally hear regularly (or at all) if your didn't live in the town that said DJs happen to live in.
Over fifteen years of random road trips across the country I've been introduced/re-introduced to bands like Odds via "Truth Untold", Raspberries via "I wanna be with you", Sweet via "fox on the run", and Roxy Music via "love is the drug" none of whom ever get a sniff on any of my home town stations....
The ultimate example of this was scribbling (for god knows what reason) the words "everybody's talkin" on the back of a receipt at 4am in the winter of '99 on a trip to Bathurst to see the Q's Titan in their inaugural season. Got home a few days later to see the name "Harry Nilsson" pop up on my dial-up internet...crazy.
Living in the Maritimes means getting to see some live NHL hockey is a rare treat that asks many hours behind the wheel in return (as well as a few good buds to help buy gas)...besides actually attending the game, fiddling with the tuner and hearing a song I've never heard before has always been my favorite part of the trip.
http://www.coppernblue.com/2010/7/25/1584338/the-magic-man-disappears
ReplyDeleteI think people should read this one
Vince - allmusic.com is much easier. Do yourself a favor and check out all of the performers you name-dropped over there.
ReplyDeletehint: clicking on the little speaker by the song name will play a 30 second sample of the song.
SumOil: A great read on the magic man.
ReplyDeleteRibs: Thanks, I thought I'd read somewhere about Musil.
A chance for a fresh start in Europe, but the results have not been half bad the last couple of years. Of course it helps when your team couldn't beat a peewee squad.
@deano
ReplyDeleteallmusic.com is an amazing resource and a must for any music fan or DJ
I use all music all the time, pitchfork is great too.
ReplyDeleteVince... I don't know if you were joking or not but DJs aren't allowed to just throw in songs from bands they like. The music director is responsible for every song on a station's playlist.
ReplyDeletePosting first on a messageboard thread should be the sign of good fortune.
ReplyDeleteBragging that you are posting first means you have self-conscious issues and that might be the highlight of your day.
I feel a little sorry for those people.
... and if you can't even spell "first", that's a sign of something else. Not sure what, but it can't be good.
ReplyDeleteCould be the best page I have read this year!!
ReplyDeletehttp://gainesinsurance.info