Tambellini Continues to Cashier the Irrelevant: Sparky, Ken Lowe, Stafford Sacked
The Oilers have fired everyone on their training staff who isn't Joey Moss, because it's Sparky Kulchisky's fault Jason Strudwick played 143 games in the last two seasons.
This looks less and less like "reorganization" and more and more like "eliminating witnesses".
about 2 years ago
Benjamin Massey
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Even Jim Matheson comes off pretty snarky in that article. I’m surprised the Oilers and/or Tambellini haven’t commented yet. The information vacuum on this one isn’t good for them.
by Scott Reynolds on Apr 23, 2010 11:18 AM MDT reply actions
sources say that may not be completely accurate
Matheson hasn’t been enjoying the departure of all his old cronies at all.
Last year it was the coaches, now its the equipment guys.
Who’s next, Mitzi in accounting?
In fairness, Mitzi has been unable to fix the penalty kill or the Oilers’ woeful record on faceoffs.
A posse ad esse.
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by Jonathan Willis on Apr 23, 2010 1:14 PM MDT up reply actions
And she’s been shockingly unwilling to park the Zamboni behind the CBC truck. Never mind the fact that she’s never driven a Zamboni in her life: that’s just not showing the kind of team spirit the Edmonton Oilers are renowned for across the League.
SNN Sports - A theoretical Oilers blog (i.e. theoretically, I write stuff there). Link now 100% less broken.
Has Tambellini concluded that perhaps Oilers’ training methods are responsible for (approximately) 10,000 man-games lost to injury the last four years? If so, wouldn’t thedrillsergeantchadmoreau be first on the firing line?
The Old Boys Club is dead. Long live the Old Boys Club!
Writer for The Copper & Blue and primary shareholder of Zorg Industries
"Never be ashamed of who you are" -- Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg
To be honest, I don’t think it’s anyone’s fault.
Khabi had a bad back before ever joining the Oilers.
JFJ has had a bad back since junior.
Pouliot’s contracted every illness other than AIDS and has had every sports related injury possible (and that started well before joining the Oilers).
Pisani caught colitis.
Moreau had 2 freak injuries.
Souray has had hand and shoulder issues (which he had prior to being an Oiler).
The only argument you could put against these guys is that if they new these guys were in Danger, they shouldn’t have let them play. Whether they did or not is up for debate, but if they didn’t I don’t see how you could blame this on either the Medical or the training staff.
Side note… how the fuck does the equipment staff have any blame in this?
How many of the Oilers’ many, many injury-prone players weren’t injury-prone before the Oilers got hold of them?
My list runs something like this: “Jarret Stoll”.
by Benjamin Massey on Apr 23, 2010 11:37 AM MDT up reply actions
Horcoff has had enough shoulder problems the last couple years that he may soon fall under that heading, although he hasn’t missed much time because of it.
According to TSN’s list of injuries, Stoll’s concussion history hasn’t resurfaced in LA although he has missed time each of the last two years with groin injuries and that was never an issue before he was traded.
Granted, there is Horcoff… but the list of pro athletes who injure a major joing (hip, shoulder, knee) and can’t get back to 100% and either are less effective or more injury prone is a long one.
It’s nearly impossible for soft tissue to ever get back to 100%. You’re always going to wind up with some laxity in ligaments, or scarring in cartilage, or whatever. Groins, knees, shoulders, and skulls can all be right bitches if you do the wrong thing to them.
SNN Sports - A theoretical Oilers blog (i.e. theoretically, I write stuff there). Link now 100% less broken.
Chad Moreau wasn’t part of the organization this season. He had already been replaced. You can only fire guys you haven’t already fired.
by Scott Reynolds on Apr 23, 2010 11:39 AM MDT up reply actions
Doh! Forgot
Writer for The Copper & Blue and primary shareholder of Zorg Industries
"Never be ashamed of who you are" -- Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg
by Bruce McCurdy on Apr 23, 2010 12:59 PM MDT up reply actions
It would be singularly Oilers to sack president of hockey operations Kevin Lowe’s brother but keep thecaptainethanmoreau’s brother.
by Benjamin Massey on Apr 23, 2010 1:00 PM MDT up reply actions
You can only fire guys you haven’t already fired.
Not true. Derek has fired Ben scores of times.
Writer for The Copper & Blue and primary shareholder of Zorg Industries
"Never be ashamed of who you are" -- Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg
by Bruce McCurdy on Apr 23, 2010 1:10 PM MDT up reply actions
According to C. Moreau, the increase in injuries in his second and subsequent years was due to lack of training time in-season, to maintain fitness, and not overtraining. If guys are really spending next to no time in the weight room, that is in fact a problem, because no matter how much you do on the ice, you’re not necessarily working the muscles you have to work at the level you have to work them to maintain the strength necessary to absorb some of the blows these guys take.
SNN Sports - A theoretical Oilers blog (i.e. theoretically, I write stuff there). Link now 100% less broken.
Pseudo-science!
Of course you’re right here Doogie. That’s one of the reasons that I think a smaller schedule would be good for the quality of the product. If these guys have adequate time to rest during the season, it’s very likely that injuries would be reduced and that their actual level of play would be increased. I think a move to 70 games in a year with no one ever playing back-to-back would do wonders. Not for the bottom line though. And that makes it a pipe dream (but maybe 30-man rosters where you cap the max. games of an individual player at 70 but still play 82…).
by Scott Reynolds on Apr 23, 2010 1:05 PM MDT up reply actions
Definitely. More time to rest weary bones and tissues, more time in the gym, more time to work on drills and video, more time to sleep on long roadies, more time for everything.
SNN Sports - A theoretical Oilers blog (i.e. theoretically, I write stuff there). Link now 100% less broken.
Git Yer pink Slips Here!
I’m glad Tamblowelinni is taking positive steps to clean up the Oiler’s cancerous locker room.
But, I wonder, are the Oilers still intrested in Drew Satfford. They nearly had him at the draft, you know.
I guess the problem was actual cancer. That it went undetected by the medical staff is more than enough reason for a firing.
In all seriousness, Souray saying that he felt compelled to play early does fall on the trainers to some degree. I know he was trying to be careful not to implicate them but the bottom line is these guys clear people to play and we had someone saying he was playing before he was ready.
by Scott Reynolds on Apr 23, 2010 1:08 PM MDT up reply actions
This is true to a degree, but when your brother is the GM/POHO, that may present a conflict of interest. If he or the coach wants a guy back in the lineup, they may not be terribly interested in what the AT has to say.
Liability probably ultimately falls on the trainer, but the decision may have been so far above his pay grade he really didn’t have a say in the matter.
SNN Sports - A theoretical Oilers blog (i.e. theoretically, I write stuff there). Link now 100% less broken.
“As assistant equipment manager, Kulchisky also looked after the visiting team, trucking their gear to and from the airport. He just finished his 34th season with the club. He started with the Oilers when they were in the World Hockey Association.”
After 34 years, he clearly wasn’t at the cutting edge of sabotaging the opponent’s equipment or driving ever so slowly from the airport to disrupt their training schedules. That piece of shit probably cost us at least four points last year.
So far Ben has evoked Bond villains killing random unrelated underlings and mobsters getting rid of people who “know too much”. It’s no fun when someone loses their job, but I kinda want to know what the next reference would be.
We’re running out of irrelevant Oilers staffers to cull, though!
by Benjamin Massey on Apr 23, 2010 1:35 PM MDT up reply actions
Steve Serdachny and Jeff Lang are still employed.
A posse ad esse.
The Copper & Blue|OilersNation|Hockey or Die!
Twitter: @JonathanWillis
Mail: jonathan.willis@live.ca
by Jonathan Willis on Apr 23, 2010 2:02 PM MDT up reply actions
We’re down to the point where you could be making up random names and no one would know the difference. Which may be the next step; the firings will continue until morale improves!
I really think the ticketing manager needs to go given the demise of the sellout streak.
Writer for The Copper & Blue and primary shareholder of Zorg Industries
"Never be ashamed of who you are" -- Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg
by Bruce McCurdy on Apr 24, 2010 2:41 PM MDT up reply actions
This Just In
Tencer just tweeted that Tambellini fired the guy at the Starbucks around the corner and the guy at his neighbourhood Esso.
Plus Ben and Derek. Scott, you’re on double secret probation. And watch your step McCurdy. He has his eye on you ….
I get fired so often it’s lost all meaning.
by Benjamin Massey on Apr 23, 2010 4:45 PM MDT up reply actions
Ben left Billy Martin in the dust about 20 firings ago.
Writer for The Copper & Blue and primary shareholder of Zorg Industries
"Never be ashamed of who you are" -- Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg
by Bruce McCurdy on Apr 23, 2010 6:36 PM MDT up reply actions
Turns out Tambellini’s also fired me from my position at SNN. And I just got access to all the admin tools on the new WP format, too. =(
SNN Sports - A theoretical Oilers blog (i.e. theoretically, I write stuff there). Link now 100% less broken.
This looks less and less like “reorganization” and more and more like “eliminating witnesses”.
That’s funny, I laughed.
I have no idea whether or not Ken Lowe is responsible for the Oilers policy of playing guys hurt, before they’re fit and able to contribute on the ice. For years I’d always blamed MacTavish. Souray was careful to point the finger only at management, though.
In any case, massive purges of management and workers is not uncommon in industry. Usually the purger is brought in from outside the organization. Almost always he is terminated himself when the deed is done, before the blood is even washed off of the walls. Having said that, I don’t know how Katz’s companies have traditionally behaved in this regard. I’m holding out hope for a Katz master-plan that involves Tambellini and LaForge being the last dominoes to fall.
You seen Up in the Air Vic? Cool movie about a guy who fires people for a living. That’d make Tambo George Clooney though…I’m pretty sure that doesn’t work.
I’ve got Lowe as William H Macy from Fargo. Not sure what that means for Tambellini.
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
Nah, I’d say Kevin Prendergast is Buscemi, and Tambellini is Peter Stormare, the quiet guy who listened and listened and listened to Buscemi’s bullshit and finally fed him to the woodchipper.
Writer for The Copper & Blue and primary shareholder of Zorg Industries
"Never be ashamed of who you are" -- Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg
by Bruce McCurdy on Apr 24, 2010 2:45 PM MDT up reply actions
Except that Stormare’s character is quietly highly competent and Tambellini is, er, none of those things.
by Benjamin Massey on Apr 25, 2010 10:45 PM MDT up reply actions
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