Kevin Bieksa tears apart Edmonton Oilers media for being worst in NHL
At the end of yesterday's Oilers win over the Dallas Stars, Sportsnet analyst Kevin Bieksa went after the Edmonton media for their treatment of the team.
- Kevin Bieksa
Bieksa was referencing Darnell Nurse's encounter with the media before game 4, which turned out to be very contentious. Nurse has been taking heat from the media, and when he spoke yesterday, he gave only one or two word answers and really showed some frustration. Bieksa usually sides with the players with most issues, and this time too, he had Nurse's back from constant criticism. Still, his comment tearing apart the Edmonton media was surprising enough to get a shocked reaction out of the panel.
Not only that, Bieksa also showed the Oilers jersey the ultimate respect by not allowing Ron MacLean to toss it on the floor. Instead, Bieksa grabbed the jersey quickly, and held it up while the segment continued. For such a fierce rival for so many years, Bieksa's really doing a complete 180 for Oilers fans.
Nurse had a rough start to last night's game, but as did the team, it was turned around quickly. Nurse has been greatly underperforming his contract in the last few seasons, and especially the playoffs, but at this moment the team and its fans need to rally around Nurse to get the most out of him - not constantly tear him down while still in the playoffs.
Not only did Kevin Bieksa step up to throw a shot at the Edmonton media, Connor McDavid stood up yesterday to take a tough question about Nurse away from Stuart Skinner to answer it himself. Connor Brown as well defended Nurse in his post game comments, saying everyone and their dog is criticizing him.
Like the team clearly is, Oilers fans and media alike need to rally around the team right now and give them our support. In the third round of the playoffs, contracts nearly become irrelevant - every player needs to find a way to contribute. Nurse knows he needs to be better, but he always needs the support of the Oilers and Edmonton right now.
| POLL | ||
MAI 30 | 461 ANSWERS Kevin Bieksa tears apart Edmonton Oilers media for being worst in NHL Do you think Bieksa's criticism of the Oilers media is right? | ||
| Yes, they're too hard on the players | 371 | 80.5 % |
| No, the Oilers media is fine | 43 | 9.3 % |
| Why do I actually like Bieksa now?! | 24 | 5.2 % |
| See Results | 23 | 5 % |
| List of polls | ||
