Dan Tencer just gave me a gold mine of Kevin Lowe quotes in his podcast tonight. My thoughts on Tencer can wait for another post, but here are some of the interesting things KLowe said tonight on Inside Sports.
Most Oiler fans, after last season especially, were ready to hang both Lowe and GM Steve Tambellini from the crows nest of the Santa Maria at West Edmonton Mall. After finishing dead last in the NHL last season, fans in Oil Country were ready to see heads roll. Heads did roll, but not the ones fans were clamoring for. The training staff was sent packing, including Kevin's own brother Ken, all of whom had been with the Oilers since day one. Tambellini promised sweeping changes to the team and was leaving no stone unturned, in the months after, he 'fired' head coach Pat Quinn, shipping him upstairs as 'Senior Hockey Advisor' Lowe said tonight Tambo has ‘careful not to have expectations too high, let these kids learn the pro game..get comfortable with one another’ whoa?! what is this?! Granted, this is uncharted ground for the team, which really hasn't seen a rebuild since 1979 when they were building from the ground up, but it's nice to see Lowe and, presumably Tambellini, realize that this is a slow process (if they do it right) and not to jump to any foregone conclusions, Lowe went as far to call it a ‘very successful off season for steve tambellini and staff’ I agree.
A couple of players that have been less than stellar during their time with the Oil, have been Andrew Cogliano and Sam Gagner. Both were highly touted coming out of junior (Cogliano went 25th overall in 05 Gagner 6th overall in 07) yet have failed to produce in the pro game. As Oilers blogger Lowetide said in April, Cogliano is going to be one of those people who gets one year's experience many times over. and one look at his numbers since he broke into the league seasons confirms that. Ganger is much the same. He started the beginning of the season on the 4th line, working his way, finally, up to the top line when injuries decimated the team. Ganger found himself on the top line and had some solid chemistry with Dustin Penner, posting identical numbers to the 08-09 campaign, and doing it in 9 less games. Both players come into this season sans contract, but Lowe isn't concerned saying 'negotiations are on-going' and they should be ready for the start of camp. As I said above, neither player has yet to have a break out season, despite being in the league for some time. This sentiment is echoed by Lowe, saying that 'both would like longer term deals...though unsure where their over all game is [going]' and that the 'easiest thing to do would be one term deals' you know what kind of players get one term deals? VETERANS whom teams are unsure of their future, not guys who are supposed to be in the prime of their careers. With all the talent coming down the pipe, and presumably onto the roster this season, we may have a fight on our hands for some stalls in the locker room, Lowe (as I'm sure the rest of Oiler Nation) thinks that now is 'good opportunity for those guys to prove themselves'. So buck up or shut up.
As I noted earlier in the post, the team has no 'pie in the sky' expectations this season, as Lowe said, they're an 'organization committed to the young guys'. All I can say is, finally they might get this right. They could pull a Colorado, as we saw with the Avs, the Oilers could surprise us all. Lowe was quick to point that out saying 'I don't think Colorado went into last season thinking they were going to be as good as they were last season' (spoiler alert: look at any Craig Anderson early season quote, he basically said 'playoffs or bust' so..you know..) Adding to that 'If we can pull a Colorado, we'll be in good shape' (the Avs fan in me: you don't have a goalie) A Final Thought on Souray Richard posted earlier today, his thoughts on Sheldon Souray. Tencer had Lowe touch on it a bit today during his show. Lowe said that 'nothing is immanent on trade talks' and when asked if he could suit up again this season went ' in this business, if you take things personally, you’re not going to last long, the organization has to have an opener mind then that’ (re possibly souray return) yes, he said 'opener mind'.
Thanks for sticking with me on that one! As always, your comments are always welcome!
- Jaye
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