The Edmonton Oilers locker room is an instantly recognizable arena. The beautiful double doors within Rexall Place, decorated with the team’s logo, lead to a huge room, where players are gathered in a circle of locker stalls, all surrounding the giant logo in the middle of the room’s carpet.
It appears to be a place where players suit up, spend their intermissions and even have the time to talk with their fellow teammates and coaches. The team locker room is the equivalent to the players’ home inside of their sports arena. However, according to NHL Insider Pierre LeBrun, this is not the case, at least not for the Edmonton Oilers.
Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot reported on the issue, addressing comments that LeBrun made during an appearance on TSN1260 on Monday.
“I think that there are deep-rooted cultural issues with some of this team. Not everyone. I mean, you don’t have to throw out the entire roster,” LeBrun told TSN1260. “There’s a malaise, from my opinion.”
For our readers who have not heard the term “malaise,” I will define it for you (I had to look it up myself once before). Malaise means discomfort and feeling of uneasiness and unhappiness. The word has been linked to many synonyms, including depression.
This is a huge problem, considering the Oilers’ central conflict. There are some players who buy in and give 100 percent effort, and there are some that do not. In addition, it’s clear that the losing attitude has resulted in some players giving a general pessimistic view when it comes to the offseason, such as Taylor Hall, who said the “stink” of the season remains and that he it’s tough to see the “light at the end of the tunnel.”
Negativity in any kind of environment, including the locker room, can create a losing attitude and cultural issues for the team. Even in the workplace, negative attitudes can create decreased work ethic and leads to uncooperative workers.
LeBrun went into detail about his comments, saying how he personally hasn’t seen it, but has heard stories from in and outside the walls of the team.
“I’m not around the team a lot, but in talking to other people in and outside of the organization, there’s just a malaise there that exists that needs to be stricken from the foundation of this team.”
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As the conversation ended, he said that the Oilers will definitely be working hard to make changes in the offseason, and that General Manager Peter Chiarelli and Head Coach Todd McLellan are ready to handle the issue head on. He then said that Chiarelli may be “busier” than any other GM come this offseason.