Thursday, November 20, 2008

MacT gives you wings



Above: Erstwhile defenseman Ladislav Smid shares a prescient Red Bull with former Oilers goalie Mathieu Garon during happier times.

In a bid to add some jam to the toast that is his forward lineup, MacT has pulled the surprising move of sending d-man Ladi Smid to the wing for tonight's game against the Failing Big Three automakers Red Wings. In some circles this move is being looked at as the latest sign that the gaffer has lost the plot and/or his marbles. But I think people are forgetting that MacT has a track record of success when it comes to playing guys out of their natural position:



Ladies and gents, I give you Toby Petersen, former Oilers stalwart who moved from his natural position in the pressbox to the blueline, filling the key role of "warm body" on a injury depleted team back in '89 or something.

This Smid thing is a little different in that the Oilers' training room doesn't currently look like the triage ward in M*A*S*H, so it's not a move born out of necessity. Personally, I like it. It makes sense when you consider he'll be seeing limited minutes on the fourth line and will be looked to to provide some size and defensive zone awareness, so it's pretty low-risk/low-reward. Now, some may chirp that the Oilers should bring up a forward like "Creme" Brule or The Bust Formerly Known As Rob Schremp, but the ongoing three goalie situation has limited the team's options in that regard. Smid has grown on me with his calm and willingness to make his opponents smell his gloves after the whistle. But what I really like about this is it's abject lunacy. Either MacT is convinced it'll work, he's gone insane or he's flipping the bird to the management team. Whatever, the reason, I can't wait to see it. Oh wait: it's another fucking PPV. Er...nevermind. GOil.

3 comments:

oilerdiehard said...

When did Mathieu Garon become the former Oiler goalie?

Interesting experiment with Smid. It was only one game but I am not crazy about the idea.

I know some think it should have been Strudwick since he has played forward in the past. But if I had to choose between the two. I would go with Smid as well because the Staios/Strudwick pairing is looking pretty solid for the most part. Why mess with it?

Rock Deputy said...

To say that MacT has gone insane would suggest that he knew what he was doing previous to the Smid move.

I think that MacT is a bottom end NHL coach that's been getting by on his "Boys on the Bus" status. Any other NHL team would have fired him years ago.

LittleFury said...

When did Mathieu Garon become the former Oiler goalie?

'tis a joke, see?

I would go with Smid as well because the Staios/Strudwick pairing is looking pretty solid for the most part. Why mess with it?

The only problem with that is Staios and Struds have actually been pretty terrible.

bruce posted this over at LT's:

"Strudwick has posted -1 in 5 of the last 6 games, Staios in 4 of the 6. That's in about a dozen minutes of ES TOI per game."

That's not good. Plus, bith guys have played major roles on a PK that has accounted for 1/3 of the Oilers total GA this season. 1/3!