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Canwest News Service
EDMONTON OILERS
Pat Quinn has been around the game too long to worry about how his post-game comments will be dissected by the media. He doesn't worry if they may ruffle some feathers in the Oilers dressing room or get some notable noses out of joint. Can't take it? Tough.
Quinn roasted his confusing club following a 5-2 home-ice loss to Chicago on Nov. 21. Two nights later, the Oilers responded with a 4-0 blanking of Phoenix at Rexall Place. Now, it will be interesting to measure the pulse of a club that lost eight of its previous 10 games before the Coyotes triumph and were allowing the sixth-most goals per game. Quinn believes the fear factor is choking a club that was a game below .500 after 24 outings and he threw them under the bus for allowing the Hawks four third-period goals.
"We got beat in all the fundamentals of the game," the former Canucks coach told the Edmonton Journal. "Our first shift we got a big hit (by J.F. Jacques). Now our supposed best line comes out and we have three turnovers and it starts to go (bad). Now, our defence is watching their kids come at them. It was like line rushes.
"We lay a game plan out and the players go where they want. They abandon it. Breakouts? The players think they're too skilled to get in the right spots. They're thinking, 'I'll just dick around myself, and oops, I've turned it over.' There is some intelligence needed in this game — you need some IQ. We have some skill, but skill hasn't done squat for us yet."
CALGARY FLAMES
One good tongue-lashing deserves another in the Battle of Alberta.
Not only did Pat Quinn go off on his troops, much has been made of a supposed post-game screaming match between Flames coach Brent Sutter and defenceman Dion Phaneuf. It was loud enough that the confrontation in the coach's office was heard by the media following a 3-2 loss to Colorado on Nov. 17.
"Sometimes coaches will challenge players," Phaneuf told the Calgary Herald after initially refusing to comment on the context of the conflict.
"When they do that, you have to respond. It is part of the game. It has been part of the game. Coaches are going to push players. That's the way it is.
Sutter wasn't about to deliver the minutes of the meeting either. That has led to speculation about how a coach — who said the atmosphere around the club is too casual — is being perceived by his players. After all, the Flames were then hammered 7-1 at home by Colorado.
"Things do get intense, but what happens behind closed doors inside the dressing room is between players and coaches — it's no one else's business," said Sutter. "There's always intensity and emotions in games. That's what hockey is, that's what it is about. All it is, is people showing their passion and their caring side. There's not much more to say about that."
MINNESOTA WILD
With only eight wins in their first 22 games, the Minnesota Wild were running out of excuses.
The worst team in the Western Conference was sixth-lowest in scoring at 2.41 goals per outing, its power play was ranked 20th and no player had hit double digits in season goal totals.
So, the Wild did what any other team would do. They made a minor trade hoping for big results in sending Benoit Pouliot to Montreal last week for Guillaume Latendresse.
Pouliot, 23, never blossomed after the Wild drafted the winger fourth overall in 2005 and he had just three points in his first 23 games this season. Latendresse, 22, the 45th pick in '05, had four points through 14 games.
"These are two players whose best days are ahead of them," hopeful Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. "We just felt it was an opportunity to get a big, strong power forward and somebody who has the potential to be a contributor for us for years to come.
— Ben Kuzma
