Based on several sources it looks like Linus Omark won't play in game 2 tomorrow night against the Minnesota Wild. Opinions vary, but most believe there are other options for HS that make more sense.
While true, the Oilers signed Darcy Hordichuk to do a job and Ryan Jones can penalty kill, so they're in. Added to that is the fact that Lennart Petrell can PK too and has shown a willingness to drop the gloves.
And THAT is probably enough for coach Renney to go with the Finn. I don't read much more into it, and I think we need to recall coach Renney's comments (“Sometimes it’s a numbers game and you can’t read into it too much") on where Omark was at practice the other day. They probably want everyone to get into a game early in the year (meaning Potter and NK should play soon too) and after that we'll see how it goes.
But I don't really believe Tom Renney thinks Hordichuk has more value than Omark. Perhaps if the club's powerplay was more of a deterrent for other clubs then Hordichuk and Peckham and Sutton wouldn't be pressed into duty tomorrow night. However, the Oilers are a team that believes in an enforcer type and that impacts Omark, Hartikainen and others. Things will get tougher for Omark when Ben Eager draws back into the lineup.
One area I do agree with is Jonathan Willis' contention that Omark versus Ryan Jones is going to be an issue. I thought it would be Hartikainen who would offer the strongest competition for the skill minutes on the wing, but as Jon points out Jones is the first issue.
When Eager arrives, that's another shuffle and the Finnish kid isn't far away. Linus Omark is a very useful hockey player but I'm starting to think some GM like Ken Holland is about to swoop in and grab him.
I think the Oilers have prioritized work ethic as part of their 'dressing room culture change' and that the rope is very very short for guys who are not interested in being team players or working hard.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how either of those would affect Omark, a guy who gladly goes to the shitty places on the ice.
ReplyDeleteI like Omark and hope he stays, however, asking him to force his way into the lineup with good play and + results shouldn't be an unreasonable request. Same rule applies to Jones.
ReplyDeleteWith Eager coming soon there will be some churn on the bottom end of the roster. Competition is good. Why do you have to move him, or can he not be sent down without clearing waivers?
Everyone seems to want to emulate the Detroit model which includes having NHL ready players sitting in the minors until they are well seasoned (Helm, Abdelkader). Is that so terrible?
I'm not sure if anyone has ever noticed this but the Oilers sometimes struggle to build a balanced roster. A perfectly good forward can't draw in and Harry Potter will play 20 minutes. These forwards are going to die on the vine. Move one for a defenseman stat!
ReplyDeleteEveryone seems to want to emulate the Detroit model which includes having NHL ready players sitting in the minors until they are well seasoned (Helm, Abdelkader). Is that so terrible?
ReplyDeleteNot when you also have NHL-ready players occupying your NHL team.
And Holland can have him if it brings us back Ericsson or Kindl. Simple as that.
ReplyDeleteIf they are going to trade Omark, I hope they know what they are doing with Hemsky.
ReplyDeleteGiven the track record of this management group, this is bound to end terribly, I think.
The writing is on the wall for Omark. He's better than half the players on the club (top 6 player) but the rumblings from coaches, the discontent from the fans, and the leaks to key people (lookin' at you Matheson) indicate Omark is not long for this team. Ridiculous, but then again it is consistent with the Oilers.
ReplyDeletethescri - dead horse creatures in Potter's world
Good decision. Expect they beat the Wild without him.
ReplyDeleteOilers win tomorrow, Omark returns soon and scores 2 goals.
Cue trade rumours.
I think Omark has unfairly gotten a short shrift from the Oilers and management. Always left out of the equation. Generally speaking I see his competitiveness as very high and I'd say he's talented enough to be a top 6 forward, even top 3 some time in the future. The Oilers seem to have made up their minds that their future is Hall, Eberle, Pajaarvi, and Nuge.
ReplyDeleteIf this team were serious about 3 scoring lines, I think we'd eventually see something like this, this season:
Hall-Nuge-Hemsky
Smyth-Gagner-Eberle
Pajaarvi-Lander-Omark
Eager-Horc/Hord-Jones
Bad Wojo: Agreed. Omark is an excellent player and for a team that keeps talking about "3 scoring lines" I find it bordering on ridiculous that they flush him when icing Hemsky, Eberle and Omark means they have three offensive RW capable of posting crooked numbers in the best league on the planet.
ReplyDeleteBut he's been the redheaded stepchild all down the line, so no surprise. But if you're looking for signs from the coach that we have a brand new day, this should be considered very discouraging (Jones over Omark).
The Wild play a lot of "headless chickens"...Staubitz, Clutterbuck, Bulmer, even Latendresse.
ReplyDeleteThe Oilers are just dressing a bigger, more physical player to respond to that.
Omark is low man on the little guy totem pole. Didn't produce a goal on the 5-on-3. Average first game otherwise.
Renney has a prized asset in RNH, and sees that he is going to be opposing a slew of "headless chickens".
That is why. That is all.
The NHL still is what it is.
Jones appears to work his butt off (even if he's not always effective) and has a good attitude, most coaches like that.
ReplyDeleteAlso I would hope Hordichuk is the one coming out when Eager is healthy.
Renney can do whatever he wants with his roster. Think, though, whatever the reason that Omark is simply not his kind of player. No idea why, but he got sent out last year afetr he earned a spot coming out of training camp. Yet was sent to the AHL. He kicked ass in the AHL and forced his way back onto the NHL roster.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he is lazy,disrepsectful or simply a dick. But he certainly gets little lovin from this coaching staff
Also think that you either play Hordichuk 5-6-7 minutes or put him in the press box. Expect coaches would not want to show up the GM by putting Jones in PB this early in season
Oiler management has murdered this team with a thousand small stabs over the past few years.
ReplyDeleteIt should be noted that 90% of HFers and 75% of LTers agreed with each player personnel decision. That doesn't make them wise. Just popular. And might explain why I think that Lowe/Tambellini should be formally tested for clinical idiocy, while LTers have a gut feel that there is genius just under the surface.
Any road, the patterns are hollering at us ... Omark is gone soon, Gagner probably too. Wish it wasn't so. But that's just me.
MC79 - I don't know, but the rumblings from the last game is that the coach was not happy with Omarks effort on the ice (RB or JG indicated this at Oilers Nation).
ReplyDeleteMartindale sent down to Stockton (ECHL). Defenseman being added?
ReplyDeleteFirst to home on a double, that's good baserunning.
ReplyDeleteLuongo is going to make the NW race exciting this season.
ReplyDeletePujols is a freak. I'm thinking this might be a STL-TEX WS.
ReplyDeleteNot this "lunchpail" with max effort over a top 7 player with skill nonsense again... I thought that ended with Pat Quinn.
ReplyDeleteLook how Renney handled Omark last season, it's consistent with how he's handling him now.
Can't understand why so many people want Omark run out of town after one game.
Rick: I don't think there are many who want Omark run.
ReplyDeleteNot this "lunchpail" with max effort over a top 7 player with skill nonsense again...
ReplyDeleteOk, how about Renney is going to go with players that work every shift over those that don't?
This should be one of the upsides of improved depth: skill or pedigree alone may not guarantee you ice time. You may have to show up to the rink every day with a strong work ethic as well.
Omark is undeniably skilled and I'm pulling for him to stick with this team longterm BUT his body language and comments do remind me of a Robert Nilsson from time to time. It's quite possible he's a challenge to motivate and Renney's decided to send him a message early that he's on a short leash.
Chara just spent all 2 minutes of a PK on the ice. Superfreak.
ReplyDeleteWhat a pass by Couturier.
ReplyDeletePardon the off topic but just in cased it was buried at Oilersnation:
ReplyDeleteOnce upon a time I wrote relevant blog posts at IOF. One that should interest Lowetide and anyone reading his Red Wings series at ON is my look at the rise of Datsyuk and Zetterberg at http://vhockey.blogspot.com/2007/05/by-way-of-example.html
I hope it is interesting to some and please excuse the interruption from the Omark discussion.
Murat: Yeah, I saw that and thanks. Very interesting and pertinent to the subject.
ReplyDeleteAh, apologies for the double post then. I was going through a bunch of my old IOF writings and it seems there was a time in 07 and 08 that I almost carried my weight over there. Hopefully that inspires me to return to more relevant posting in the future.
ReplyDeleteAs for Omark, I sincerely hope it's just a numbers game. He's not amazing but he is good and one game in the season is no time to start dog-housing people IMO. I suppose time will tell.
No worries, lots of posters here don't drop by ON so would have missed it.
ReplyDeleteLook forward to reading you again soon.
Couturier is having a wonderful game.
ReplyDeleteNelson Cruz channeling Ollie Brown there.
ReplyDeletePujols with a bat is Manny Ramirez without the crazy AND the steroids!
ReplyDeleteReal or imagined, Omark is believed to be a poor player defensively. With Paajarvi being used as a penalty killer, I have to think that Renney likes his attention to the defensive side of the game. Petrell's reputation has been one of a defensive specialist, so it's possible that the intention is to use the 3rd line as a true defensive, shutdown role. Or maybe Jones is being put on that line for the same purpose, but I don't really understand what Jones has done to earn the reputation as a defensive player.
ReplyDeleteWow, Columbus lost again, Steve Mason is 0-4. How long before Howson makes a deal or gets fired??
ReplyDeleteI know a guy who deals with the team on a daily basis and he says OMark is on the outs with some of his teammates because of his me first attitude. It certainly rings true with everything else weve seen/heard about him. Instead of trying a higher percentage shootout attempt he went for the youtube flip shot. The kid should know hes on a short leash and not be hotdogging out there, he needs results, the sooner the better for his sake.
ReplyDeleteI like OMark, hes got balls. But if hes not 100% committed to this team, I dont mind trading him for something decent.
Omark did beat the goalie. Just saying.
ReplyDeleteSteve Mason has always been an average goalie who's had a couple of decent seasons. Fortunately for him, his first got him drafted in the 3rd round, and the 2nd got him rookie of the year honours in the NHL and a reputation of being a better goalie than he is.
ReplyDeleteFuck what the others think, they can pick their teammates when they win / are legitimately better than them.
ReplyDeleteI can't help but notice a trend among NHL teams on the rise.
Players who were late draft picks / imports and bloomed tend to get punted over the cherished handpicked.
Omark and Gagner aren't the new guys' guys, and they could get the scrap solely for that.
Often it seem management will try to build a club only with what they procured themselves. I don't know if it's idiocy/arrogance, or simply truly believing it matters.
And holy mother.
ReplyDeleteCouturier has near killed 10 PP in 3 games.
Rook'.
Couturier is going to be a beast.
ReplyDeleteWow.
That pass he made tonight to Voracek was a killer. An absolute killer. Good for him,he sure didn't deserve to fall as far as he did at the draft.
ReplyDeleteThe flyers sure are putting an awful lot in rookies.
ReplyDeleteAnd boy is that D solid.
Each year I wonder how come they lost.
Tyler looks a couple shifts before Omark's ice time was clawed back in game 1
ReplyDeleteGood stuff there.
FPB: Re: Handpicked players.
ReplyDeleteIt is basic evolutionary psychology.
When a new Lion takes over a pride he goes around and kills all the young cubs that are not from his lineage. It is also the same reason why a step-child is much more likely to be the victim of a violent crime or receive less access to expensive post-secondary education.
Why would you invest in something that is not yours?
I don't agree with the approach but its a lot harder for the GM's to go to battle for players they never selected in the first place.
Small cocky players need to back it up with points.
ReplyDeleteUnless Hemsky is going or he starts bringing consistent heat, there are better options for meaningful contribution in the league at 3rd RW.
If Jones were to outpoint him, what then?
Woodguy: Great catch. And Tyler too, that's some good knowledge passed along there.
ReplyDeleteWell that makes sense. Watch a game and then get right back on the saddle Saturday night against Luongo.
Fast Oil: You mean like last year? Oh, wait!
ReplyDeleteJust noticed LT deleted ALL of the comments from the last post. I am betting that he got home, started up the old Blogger machine, sat down and began reading and said What the Hell is this crap? Nazis? Religion? Origami? Santorum? WTH? Delete!
ReplyDeleteI feel bad for those of you who did not see it as it was a real winner!
FastOil - are you suggesting that Jones is a threat to Hemsky?
ReplyDeleteWow, LT better watch out, Fastoil is a real threat this year to become a more respected blogger/commentator than LT.
:)
Were you trolling? Be honest!
Announced attendance tonight in Columbus...8,926.
ReplyDeleteLowest ever.
The funny thing about that move is that I think Omark beat Johnson with it about the time it went up on YouTube the first time he tried it. Johnson was hanging back, waiting. Linus should have just finished to the other side.
ReplyDeleteHe's 2/6 in his career, which is better than average. Tough to complain.
Vic:
ReplyDeletePerhaps I'm one of the apologists you refer to. From where this management group started, I'd say turning the bus is a passing grade, short of Katz's excursions chasing the young trophy wife. He popped his best line in Kelowna and was rebuffed by an arm-gnawing beauty. He must wake up every morning in a cold sweat, enumerates his limbs like Iron Man, then addresses his body stick side: "sorry pal, I nearly blew it". His fingers twitch back "c'est la vie". A flechette or two lingering in his chest cavity from his amorous days will keep him on the straight and narrow with the sober plan. Unless he is really Obadiah Stane and goons the team off to Quebec City.
Katz has done an OK job here when he's not thinking with his glory bone. The procurement system and smoke house are much improved.
Then you get to Mr Dithers. I tend to think about the movie Rounders in this context. (Some nice bits, but flawed in dramatic structure.) There's a lot in there about how you sit down at the table and assess the other players.
GM is a weird poker game, because everyone can see your orb, and you can see everyone else's. Our orb was not glowing goblin. It's like one of your hole cards is face up and it stays there round after round. Every so often you are offered a chance to upgrade your exposed hole card. We've done that twice in a row. Lucky us.
While he was sitting there with the orb of suck, he didn't do a lot at the table. Maybe he could have won his blinds back once or twice if he was more of a yap dog. I don't lose a lot of sleep over a guy who sits tight on weakness everyone else can see.
Then we get to the whole issue of young asset development. The LT community has done a nice job of finding middle ground in "saw him good".
Concerning the wives tale of "developed him good" we've got a long ways to go. Certainly there are better ways and worse. I'm not the least bit confident we can tell the difference. Yet. That's what the discussion is all about, on my end.
(FFS I've spilled out of my bra again.)
(Breasts rebound.)
ReplyDeleteThe only one I'm clear on myself is that if you take a young defenseman with a modicum of offensive potential, then you slot him over several seasons into a troubled roster as a 3rd line stay at home with the instructions "don't ever jump up", it would be a shock for this player to add that facet to his game after the age of 25. You simply can't master a skill you're not allowed to use.
Whether other hardships are good or bad depends entirely on the player. God gave Sakic twenty lumps of coal in Staneville, and look how he turned out.
Expectations can be a bitch. This team hasn't had many. When that changes, my scrutiny of Tambi & co will intensify sharply.
You can argue that we'd be way ahead of ourselves if we had properly fondled our sixes and sevens. The economist in me says, uh, net present value of small fish, projected six years into the future when it finally matters, uh, pretty much bupkus on the credit rating spreadsheet. Yeah, it would be nice to have that one extra supporting cast member when the chips are down. It's a long bumpy road, shit happens, you've got many other concerns in the meantime. Stick to your knitting. A small good decision on Hall is worth ten good decisions on Chorney.
I personally have trouble drawing harsh conclusions about Tambi while he sat there behind the dull orb, with the worst exposed hole card, cashing in two rounds of gravy.
One of the guys of the coach is not to do so much that you interfere with the guys on the ice winning game. Same for the GM. If the GM is too active, instead of the players thinking "we have to do this ourselves" it turns into "what's in our stocking this morning".
As suffering fans, I understand the fetish for stockings at breakfast. But is it good GM or pusher GM we're adulating?
I don't see genius in Tambi, but he hasn't played himself out of the game, which is a lot more than I can say about any online poker table I've sat down to where real money isn't at stake. I give one full point to every player who outlasts the bozo attrition.
Guess I'm an easy marker.
Deadman: Enjoyable post.
ReplyDeleteBookie:
ReplyDeleteI read on the Al gore that Omark:
1. Put up a big sign above his locker after training camp that said MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
2.Then he went around bragging about deserting.
3. Then prevented public displays of sadness for the fighting dead.
Management was so pissed at him!
Relief Arrives! AHL Barons tweet...
ReplyDeleteKevin Montgomery returns to OKC! Florida Everblades loaned Montgomery to the #OKCBarons.
Well, that solves that. He's better than three of our guys. :-)
ReplyDeleteIf this really is a benching because of a shootout attempt (one that only failed btw because the puck stuck to his stick a hair too long) then we really are doomed.
ReplyDeleteI'm constantly fighting the notion that the Oilers are managed and coached by morons.
LT had Couturier's junior coach on Nation Radio prior to the draft. Guy raved about Couturier's defense. At the time, as with anyone's own coach, took his comments with a grain of salt.
ReplyDeleteHe may actually have been underselling his defense. Flyers had horseshoes up their ass that he fell to them
Just played 17:45 against a SC finalist and was +1 and played 7:28 on the PK
If Jones were to outpoint him, what then?
ReplyDeleteAs long as Omark was still the superior defensive player, I play him.
FastOil - are you suggesting that Jones is a threat to Hemsky?
Just noticed LT deleted ALL of the comments from the last post. I am betting that he got home, started up the old Blogger machine, sat down and began reading and said What the Hell is this crap? Nazis? Religion? Origami? Santorum? WTH? Delete!
I'm picturing him going "Whoa, *that* post has got to go. And that one. Well, now that one makes no sense. Maybe I'll just delete that sequence there, and...'Jewish KKK?' Oh, to hell with it."
Though the antecedent was admittedly unclear, I think he meant Omark, not Hemsky.
Im not buying the poor play/shoot out miss as the reason for the change. Theyre going up against a real tenacious forecheking team with clutterbuck, staubitz, and the new kid bullmer.
ReplyDeleteThey want some size and presence just in case things get out of hand.
Brownlee says...
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that, barring any setbacks, Whitney and the Oilers have targeted next Tuesday's game against the Flames in Calgary as a return date.
I think that if he's getting benched for the shoot out move, it was something that was arranged prior to him doing it with the coach.
ReplyDeleteI don't belive it to be the case, though. It sounds like they're just trying to get some guys some ice time. It's very early into the season.
Don't panic.
ReplyDeleteAll this whining about the shootout move is ridiculous. Linus Omark will do cocky things in the shootout; that's just his game.
ReplyDeleteComplaining about his actual performance vs. Pittsburgh is fair game - as Tyler's post shows.
Then there's the whole dressing room issue. I can't begin to mention how many people told me - with absolute certainty, mind you - that the reason Mike Comrie wanted out of Edmonton because he had a fling with Tommy Salo's wife. Wasn't true, but that didn't prevent either the reports or the certainty with which they were delivered.
It's funny - for a big place, Edmonton sure is a small town. And all those rumours about player attitudes deserve pretty much zero consideration unless it's somebody with the organization publicly acknowledging them.
At the end of the day, it comes down to performance - not style, not flourishes in the shootout, and certainly not rumours about attitude.
If you think Omark's a worse player than the other options, there's a case to be made. If you - as I do - think he's better than the other options, that's a different case.
But focusing on irrelevancies/gossip is pointless.
If Omark is going to play in the top six he has to outplay two of Hall, Eberle, Hemsky, MPS and Smyth.
ReplyDeleteHe didn't do that.
If he's going to play in the bottom six he has to generate enough offence with lesser teammates, and play sufficiently well away from the puck and defensively, to be more useful than players like Petrell and Jones (as well as Eager and Hartikainen).
He didn't do that either.
The fact that he could potentially be a top six player shouldn't get him extra leeway for his actual play on the ice any more than Khabi's 'experience' should get him starts over Dubnyk, or Brule's one way contract should get him on the team over Lander, or the time invested in developing CHorney should help him win out over Potter.
On ice play matters this year, and OMark will just have to adapt and improve, or ultimately leave the team. I take this as a positive sign, not a negative.
Given 91-10-23's zone starts of 22% in game 1, it looks like Renney has them pegged for most of the tough sledding.
ReplyDeleteIf he's doing that, then Omark is going to be held to a higher defensive standard and Tyler probably nailed why he is going to sit.
Jones will fill in with hair flying, arms and legs flailing and not a clue where to be in the D zone either, but at least he looks like he's trying.
This is the exact reason Harski should be on the roster.
Woodguy - are you saying Harski is a better defensive option than RJo? I highly disagree. Sure, Jonesy might not be the smartest player in his own end, but from what I saw out of Hartikainen, neither is he.
ReplyDeleteHartikainen seemed to be more dominant in the corners, but had no finish in preseason. Jonesy can score and does an "ok" job on the PK. I would prefer using Eb's in his place killing penalties though...
LT:
ReplyDeleteSorry I wasn't more clear. I like Omark better than Jones or whatever half player, but I have also watched enough hockey to know guys Omark's size with 'tude had better produce and be a significantly better option, to over come size bias. And also to back up that he makes himself stand out.
If Omark has a slow start to the year and Jones has the horseshoes again, and Omark doesn't seem better defensively, I don't like his chances.
Bookie:
Sorry, I meant Omark.
Wow, LT better watch out, Fastoil is a real threat this year to become a more respected blogger/commentator than LT.
:)
Were you trolling? Be honest!
Sarcasm, lowest form of humour and all that.