Oilers Coach Knoblauch Makes Unconventional Decision at Practice that Draws Criticism from Fans
The Edmonton Oilers had a disappointing 5-3 loss last night to the Minnesota Wild, and when some fans wanted to hear the Oilers were bag skated, they took a light approach to practice today.
According to Oilers reporter Tony Brar, many of the players took today's practice off, and the rest of the group practice only did light work.
Players like Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and more were all absent.
It's likely that the players not on the ice were just taking a maintenance day, but after last night's very disappointing effort resulted in another loss on home ice, plenty of fans wanted to see the team take more accountability and work harder today.
It's especially harder to understand a light practice today when the Oilers only play one game in the next six days.
Interestingly, the entire group of missing players absent from practice were veterans and the core leadership group.
Perhaps the core group of the Oilers spent some time together off the ice today, discussing the changes they need to make this year.
The Oilers are barely staying above the .500 line, and the problem surprisingly hasn't been their defence - it's the lack of scoring and the goaltending.
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl still have another gear to reach this season, and the rest of the offence can be better too, but the Oilers goaltending is quickly becoming a catastrophe, and prompting trade rumours.
After tomorrow's game against the Rangers, the Oilers will get some much needed time off to rest and recover injuries to Zach Hyman and Victor Arvidsson, as well as some time to step back and really evaluate this season's alarmingly mediocre start.
Hopefully the Oilers utilize this upcoming break to be better when they return next week. A light practice is an unconventional method to start, but we'll see how it turns out.
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