Change Up The Team Leadership
Over the past couple of seasons, the Edmonton Oilers have struggled with some of the same issues. They seem to struggle early in games, but pick it up once behind and seem to have a lack of effort in the defensive end.
These aren’t things that the coach can really get the players to do better. This comes from the player individually. It isn’t the coach’s job to tell you to start playing the game right when it starts. The players are professionals and should be ready at game time.
Same with play in their own end, the coach tells the players how to cover in their end, but it is up to the player to execute these plans. If the player knows what to do and doesn’t do it that is on the player, not the coach.
The Captian and Assistant Captians Need To Hold Players Responsible
The best way to get a player to buy in is from pressure from his peers. Getting yelled at by the coach may be bad, but letting down your teammates should affect a player more. When you are let down by your teammate it is like letting down your family.
I don’t sense that this is the feeling in the Edmonton Oilers locker room. If Bouchard makes a bad play does Nugent-Hopkins go talk to him and let him know that he let the team down? I don’t know, but it seems like year in and year out they have the same issues and the only thing that has stayed the same is the leaders.
Hopefully, They Can Turn It Around
If the Edmonton Oilers can turn things around then it would silence all of these potential changes. My concern is that they don’t turn it around and at the end of the season I am writing about potential draft picks and not about a deep playoff run.