Well here we are again. Bottom of the standings, out of the playoffs and about to draft #1 again.
Not impressed would be the first thing to come to mind.
This was supposed to be the season that we saw some improvement. Tambellini brought along all his top talented kids to bolster the lineup and to give the fans something to cheer about. Instead what we saw was a waste of the first year of 3 entry level contracts. We saw no work done on Tambellini's part to bring in the supporting staff that the kids would need if they were going to grow into their role's. Jones might be an exception here but lets be realistic, NOBODY thought he was going to be what he turned into. he was a spare part at most. (on that note, the Oilers should be glad to have him and they better not "glencross" him)
So at what point are we to look at our GM and ask "what have you done for us lately"? I am usually the type to give players the benefit of the doubt as circumstances can alter a year pretty quickly. But there really is no excuse for a GM to build a shit team. If I had the success rate at my own job I wouldn't HAVE a job. Did anyone really think there would be playoffs this year?? I doubt it. But who exactly was cheering loss after loss all the while thinking "we will get the chance to draft #1 again"?
This was a disgusting season and in my honest opinion there is only one person to blame, its not the players and its not the coach. it's the GM. By this time next year if the Oilers aren't playing meaningful games to the end of the season then at least some of that blame must be passed along to the owner as well. It is up to Katz to recognize that his golden boy isn't preforming and should be replaced. This is something that should be recognized as early as mid July. If Tambellini doesn't get the job done. If he cant make the right moves to put a competitive team together it will be time to replace him and give the new GM time to put something together.
And while I'm on the "bitching about Tambellini" bandwagon. I'll take a shot here too... WTF was going on in the war room on T.D.L.??? Penner was realistically only trade-able IF a Penner type player was coming back. To me it looks like they made that trade just to say they made a trade. Worthless and careless at best. Pointless comes to mind, but worse is that it is going to hurt the team more than they think when they get rid of one of their largest players. gathering a low end 1st round pick in a weak draft was NOT worth trading a player of that size. sure they got a defensive prospect back as well, but he's a guy they will see in 2-3 years at best. They needed to get return that they would see right away and that to me is just another example of something that Tambellini has failed to do.
July 15th, that's my cutoff. if there isn't a team in place that can be respected it should be time to say goodbye to the current boss and bring in someone that doesn't have the same lack of foresight.
until next time
Heazues
