Breaking Down One Of The Many MSM Defences Of Steve Tambellini
by ryanbatty on Jan 27, 2012 4:55 PM MST
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PrintAgainst my better judgement I read most of what Edmonton's main stream media writes about the Oilers. I don't agree with most, rarely any, of what the people paid to report on the team have to say since it tends to do nothing more than advance the Oilers message without questioning anything. But I read it all the same. What can I say, I'm a glutton for punishment, something you may have already figured out from the fact that I not only pay for season tickets but also continue to attend the games.
Now under normal circumstances when I disagree with something written by the MSM I will respond by mocking the story on Twitter because it's a simple way to vent my frustration, allowing me to get on with my day. Such was the case when I read John MacKinnon's most recent story on the Oilers stressing that Steve Tambellini needs to stay the course with the rebuild. But even after having chirped the story on Twitter I didn't feel any better because this story was, somehow, worse than most. Given that remarkable accomplishment I felt that the story needed closer examination.
Starting with the opening paragraph:
Those who want either Edmonton Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini or head coach Tom Renney to pay with his job for the Oilers’ results in Year 2 of their rebuild are either unclear on the concept or letting passion subdue reason.
That the Oilers are in the second year of their rebuild is just untrue. The Oilers are in the second year of this rebuild. The Oilers have been rebuilding since Ryan Smyth was traded five years ago. Below is an excerpt from an email that Mr. MacKinnon sent to Andy Grabia in October 2007 in which he acknowledges that the Oilers were rebuilding at that time.
Last season, it became clear that, absent Pronger (not to mention Peca, Spacek et al), the Oilers needed to rebuild. Organizationally, they remain better off with the asset base they now possess, which would not have been possible had they kept Smyth. I'm not trying to retroactively suggest this was knowable at the time of the Smyth trade. Obviously, it was not. I'm just saying that, as things unfolded, they will be better able to rebuild in the current reality, with the current bundle of assets. And a key part of that rebuilding job will be the 18-year-old Sam Gagner, who almost certainly would not be here had the Oilers kept Smyth and not cannonballed the way they did.
So what changed between then and now? Well the Oilers announced that they were rebuilding, conveniently at a time that they were falling in the standings on their way to what would be the first of two (three?) last place finishes. The fans were upset and the official party line needed to change. Management needed to be absolved of past mistakes. Since then the media has been sure to spread the new version of the rebuild whenever possible.
More from the story:
After shovelling the accumulated deadwood out of the way in 2009-10, Tambellini’s mandate has been acquiring elite talent through the draft and developing it into a championship team.
Heading into his second season as the Oilers general manager, Steve Tambellini added former Stanley Cup winning goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin and constructed a cap team that he must have felt could compete based on what it cost. He was very, very wrong and so began the second version of the rebuild. Looking at the moves Tambellini made in those first months of the second rebuild, he traded from the roster Denis Grebeshkov, Lubomir Visnovsky, and Steve Staios acquiring Ryan Whitney and a second, third, and sixth round pick. I won't argue that trading Staios was good but I wouldn't exactly call either of Grebeshkov or Visnovsky deadwood.
Beyond trades, Ethan Moreau, Patrick O`Sullivan, and Robert Nilsson were also placed on waivers for the purposes of being bought out. Again moves that made the Oilers better but if you want to give Tambellini credit for removing the deadwood it can't be forgotten that months earlier he'd seen that same deadwood as part of a winning team. If one is a plus the other has to be seen as a negative. The years that led up to the rebuild happened and Tambellini and management should be held accountable for those.
And finally:
Fans, following their hearts, and expecting full value for their hard-earned cash, want to see results now. It may take courage and backbone for the Oilers brain trust not to sacrifice Renney to the myopic whims of the fans.
I'm not sure if it's possible for someone to be more condescending than this. The fans are the reason that the Oilers, and Mr. MacKinnon's job for that matter, exist. I don't for a minute believe that the fans should be in charge of the team or that the Oilers should be consulting ticket holders when it comes to roster moves, but to trivialize the fans like this is unnecessary. Oilers fans are a passionate group which, given six years on the outside looking in come April, should be commended rather than looked down upon.
You know what? I feel a little better now.
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Couldn't agree more
In the context of some of the recent articles on this site which go into great details to dispel the fallacy that Tambellini knows what he’s doing, let’s not forget that from top to bottom the Oilers management has been making perpetual vain promises that there would be accountability, which has come to naught. So let’s forget all the minushae of opinions and just look at the cold hard fact that the Oilers have sucked, and sucked hard, since almost winning the cup in 2006.
By the time rebuild 2.0 is over (if it ever ends), the core group of young, talented players will be moving on in their careers away from Edmonton, just like has happened in the past – the fact of which casts a dubious shadow over the entire concept of a protracted rebuild.
By the time rebuild 2.0 is over (if it ever ends),
Four more years!
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
“That the Oilers are in the second year of their rebuild is just untrue.. The Oilers have been rebuilding since Ryan Smyth was traded five years ago.”
The Oilers were under different management for the end of the 2006-07 season (the Smyth trade), the 2007 Draft as well as the 2007-08 season and 2008 Draft. If you want to call this year four under Tambellini, fine, but a lot of what happened before him is the reason that the team has been bad for so long.
“I won’t argue that trading Staios was good but I wouldn’t exactly call either of Grebeshkov or Visnovsky deadwood.”
Grebeshkov played 6 games for Nashville and then went to the KHL where he has 22 points in 90 games. The return for him ended up being Curtis Hamilton. As for Visnovsky, he’s better than Whitney when both are healthy but Whitney is still a good player. Visnovsky is 35 years old while Whitney is nearly 29. Down the road Vis doesn’t fit.
“If you want to give Tambellini credit for removing the deadwood it can’t be forgotten that months earlier he’d seen that same deadwood as part of a winning team. If one is a plus the other has to been seen as a negative. The years that led up to the rebuild happened and Tambellini and management should be held accountable for those.”
The right person to hold accountable for that is probably Kevin Lowe. That team was built almost completely by Lowe and there wasn’t a slough of NHL-ready players on the farm to replace the crappy ones the Oilers had (also thanks to Lowe). O’Sullivan and Khabibulin are all Tambo, I grant you, but the rest of the team is Lowe’s work, and even Ken Holland couldn’t have traded them for a good group of players.
If you want to call this year four under Tambellini, fine, but a lot of what happened before him is the reason that the team has been bad for so long.
He spent to the cap and finished last. That’s the reason they’ve been so bad since. In all of your defenses of him in the last few days, you’ve yet to cede this point.
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
He didn’t build that team. I guess the argument could be that he didn’t immediately say this team is garbage and tear it down, but the state of the team and the farm system were more the fault of Lowe than Tambellini. Only O’Sullivan, Khabibulin and Comrie were Tambellini hires in 2009-10.
by Jerconjake on Jan 28, 2012 2:33 PM MST via mobile up reply actions
I don’t think it’s accurate to say that he didn’t build that team. The whole coaching staff (which didn’t do a good job) were Tambellini hires that season, and he thought that change would make a positive difference.
There were other players with small roles that Tambellini brought in from outside the organization (Stone, MacIntyre, Arsene, Minard, Linglet); there were several others that Tambellini re-signed to new contracts: one good (Smid); most to small contracts or entry-level deals (Brule, Dubnyk, Potulny, Strudwick, Reddox, Plante, McDonald); and one poor, which led to the player leaving for limited value (Grebeshkov).
He could’ve made moves with several other players, but decided not to. The only guy he moved out via trade before the year was Kyle Brodziak, making the Oilers weaker up the middle than they were the year before when it was already a significant weakness. To fix that, and to provide insurance for injuries on defense (several of his top guys had a history of injury and were older), he could’ve added to those positions via free agency, but he chose mostly to stand pat.
He badly misread the goaltending market in giving Khabibulin his contract and he decided to trust that JDD would be an adequate back-up. That left the Oilers with very little insurance in goal.
He had been the general manager for over a year when the 2009-10 season started, and the only player that was immovable in that time was Horcoff. It was his team.
The biggest fanana of the Havana Bananas.
by Scott Reynolds on Jan 28, 2012 4:20 PM MST up reply actions 1 recs
When it comes to the coaches Tambellini hired and the Brodziak trade I agree. We’ll see about Renney I guess, but Tambellini left a hole at 3C that he eventually filled with an older, more expensive option in Belanger.
The other players you mention were of little consequence though. The main core of the team was built by Lowe, and with Lowe still in place they probably believed that they weren’t as far away as they were based on the finish in 2008-09.
Grebeshkov was headed for arbitration, so he was going to get a pay bump anyway. He didn’t end up being worth the price of what his new contract would have been, so they traded him. He went to Russia because he didn’t want to take less money. It ended up being a good thing because he’s not exactly lighting up the KHL, although he is a plus player. To have him signed for $3M+ would be questionable.
The players on the roster had little value around the league, so I don’t really know what moves could have been made with them to improve the team in the immediate future. Free agents are tricky too. Lots of quality depth guys sign with better teams that haven’t already been floundering, or in warmer or less hockey-mad markets. If we assume that everyone who signed where they did in 2009 did so because that’s where they wanted to be, it doesn’t leave much quality left on the market for the Oilers. The Khabibulin signing (which was certainly a misstep) shows what they have to give up in term and salary to get free agents here that are supposed to make an impact.
I’m not saying Tambellini is perfect because obviously he isn’t, but the problems with this organization reach back long before him. I just don’t think it’s fair to only blame Tambellini for problems that existed before him, like the lack of depth in the system, and the makeup of the bulk of the team.
by Jerconjake on Jan 28, 2012 8:21 PM MST via mobile up reply actions
I don’t think that he’s the only one at fault, but it seems clear to me that he was part of a management team that believed the Oilers to be a pretty solid club going into the 2009-10 season. The moves he made and tried to make indicate that this was the case. I am entirely unwilling to say that he shouldn’t have been held accountable simply because the core players (many of whom were actually very good) were brought in by someone else. If Tambellini saw problems with those players or in other areas, he should have been working to fix them. He did a terrible job of that, and should therefore take a large share of the blame. Should Lowe be held accountable for that disastrous season as well? Absolutely.
The biggest fanana of the Havana Bananas.
by Scott Reynolds on Jan 29, 2012 3:31 PM MST up reply actions
For ever and ever amen
Beyond trades Ethan Moreau, Patrick O`Sullivan, and Robert Nilsson were also placed on waivers for the purposes of being bought out
If you’ll recall, Phoenix ph’d and offered to trade the Oilers the gritty Vandermeer so that they could buyout O’Sullivan instead.
I’m not sure if it’s possible for someone to be more condescending than this
Condescending is one of MacKinnon’s best things.
It, boring, and reverence for authority are his Holy Trinity.
Visnovsky is 35 years old while Whitney is nearly 29. Down the road Vis doesn’t fit.
Their ages don’t matter, they both go UFA the same day.
Something your Paid Media guys never mention.
If you’ll recall, Phoenix ph’d and offered to trade the Oilers the gritty Vandermeer so that they could buyout O’Sullivan instead.
Which was more expensive for the Oilers:
http://www.coppernblue.com/2010/11/10/1804682/we-miss-you-kevin-lowe
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
Which means that if you’re going to have to re-sign either one anyway, you go with the younger man who fits into a rebuilding plan.
by Jerconjake on Jan 28, 2012 8:44 PM MST via mobile up reply actions
What does this mean? They go UFA at the same time. Again, it’s about control and leverage.
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
What is the record of players taking it to UFA and signing with a different team? It’s not terribly high – so I think this argument doesn’t hold water.
by till_horcoff_is_coach on Jan 29, 2012 1:01 AM MST up reply actions
You’re asking for the percentage of players who sign elsewhere?
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
Forget Girlfriends and Injuries
Whitney will be 30 and will have earned $5.5 Million in he last year of his contract.
So what does his new contract look like?
Lubo age 37 will be coming off a season where he earned $3 mm
Which of the two would sign a contract that would better fit the rebuild?
The thing of it is
Most Oiler fans just want to hear good things about their team. I’m talking about the hordes who show up for the skills contest or early season practices at Millwoods arena.
They outnumber critical fans 1000 to 1. The Oilers know it and the MSM knows it too. They’re the ones who buy the crap at the Oilers store, ther cars at Kentwood Ford (because Taylor Hall tells them to) and most of the tickets. Whether or not you want to admit it, they are the ones that blindly support the team. For crying out loud, we’ve sold out how many games in a row now? Sheesh.
What stuns me is how some of you guys simply don’t want to admit this. You wax poetically about how bland and subservient the MSM is, while totally ignoring the fact that they quite clearly know who pays the bills. And I hate to say it, but it’s not us. Edmonton is a small market town and the Oilers are the only big game in that town. What idiot would upset that apple cart?
I love your work Ryan, and all of you guys. But please don’t waste your energy in some Don Juan quest to convince the MSM to change their spots. It’ll never happen.
But please don’t waste your energy in some Don Juan quest to convince the MSM to change their spots.
Did you perhaps mean “Don Quixote” here? Otherwise, we’re talking about Ryan playing a mandolin underneath John MacKinnon’s bedroom window at night. NTTAWWT.
Sorry, couldn’t resist – I’ll go now. :)
You wax poetically about how bland and subservient the MSM is, while totally ignoring the fact that they quite clearly know who pays the bills.
Very true. But doesn’t that mean it’s all the more important that someone atleast holds them accountable?
To blindly follow without question is rather ignorant. But to know it’s all crap, say nothing and watch the train wreck continue unabated is worse in my opinion.
It's an entertainment business before a sport
I have to agree most fans are into the passion of being a fan more than the underpinnings of the sport. Don’t know, don’t care, probably wouldn’t understand it.
“convince the MSM to change their spots. It’ll never happen”
I’ve been on that type of quest before with a major corporation, went at it for years. At the end of the day it just burnt me out. I pick my spots more carefully now.
I guess it’s up to the fine bloggers to keep the heat on and boil the frog. Just don’t let it get to you too much guys.
Love Hurts - Performed by your Edmonton Oilers
Money For Nothing
Players on bad teams look bad. Players on good teams look good. I can’t support a GM that doesn’t know this and doesn’t wait for the best opportunity to make a deal. Fire sales cause to much of a loss of player equity.
This is a nervous time of the year, the trade deadline. And I hope to goodness damaged goods coming our way aren’t on any bill of lading this time. Hopefully they have learned their lesson with Whitney and apparently “bad back Belanger”. Surprising a two way centre in the NHL at 5’11" and 185 has a bad back isn’t it? (Datsyuk 5’11" 198).
Love Hurts - Performed by your Edmonton Oilers
Players on bad teams look bad. Players on good teams look good. I can’t support a GM that doesn’t know this and doesn’t wait for the best opportunity to make a deal. Fire sales cause to much of a loss of player equity.
Whoa.. I thought everyone was bitching last year and this that he hasn’t done enough?
Tambi may not be capable of making a trade at the appropriate time, but I can’t say he’s rushed into trading players at their low point only to see them rebound.
by till_horcoff_is_coach on Jan 27, 2012 10:46 PM MST reply actions
Why trade any player at a low point at all if you are a bad team? The only point of a trade should be to get better as opposed to clearing house in a self imposed hurry (imposed by GM or puppet master). Seats are full, lots of cash, hope for tomorrow still being bought. A lot of NHL players have left town for little that is solid. I suppose unless you want to weaken the team by leaving no experience to gain the coveted draft picks.
I do agree he hasn’t committed a grievous error up to now. But the next month will be worrisome.
Love Hurts - Performed by your Edmonton Oilers
Again moves that made the Oilers better but if you want to give Tambellini credit for removing the deadwood it can’t be forgotten that months earlier he’d seen that same deadwood as part of a winning team. If one is a plus the other has to be seen as a negative.
This is a very good point, Ryan; it does an excellent job of illustrating just how poor Tambellini’s original evaluation of the team really was.
The biggest fanana of the Havana Bananas.
by Scott Reynolds on Jan 27, 2012 10:48 PM MST reply actions
Agreed. The defense that this is a “FULL” tear-down is insane. He caused it.
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
a buy out is a red alarm light, especially when he bought (or traded for) this player. How many errors can make a GM (Tambo and Lowe) until the owner takes his consequences?
Nilsson? O’Sullivan, Foster, Struds, JFJ, Fraser, Brule, Barker?
Put another way, how much of my money can lose another, until I call stop?
bring Sheldon Souray back!
I tried to write a rebutal to this article on the Journal website, but was thwarted by the 1000 character limit for thier comments section.
There is plenty of evidence to at least question the decision making of both Tambo and Renney. To whitewash some of their mistakes and ignore others is ridiculous.
Rebuilds within rebuilds
Ryan and the rest of Copper and Blue gang, I’m thinking of switching teams. I already have some Florida Panthers ballcaps that I got real cheap for you guys.
JOIN ME.
I’m waiting to see where Gagner ends up.
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
Rebuilds within rebuilds
I believe the correct term is Infinibuild™
by David S on Jan 28, 2012 1:13 PM MST up reply actions 3 recs
Rebuilds within rebuilds
Rebuildeption – Lowe can go 4 layers deep.
by till_horcoff_is_coach on Jan 29, 2012 1:04 AM MST up reply actions 2 recs
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