From Robin Brownlee over at OilersNation:
MacTavish thought he had it right when he asked the referees to measure the blade of Selanne’s stick with 2:11 to play, thinking it was too wide, but he got it wrong because he got bad information.
It was just another blunder to add to the misery of Oiler fans who’ve now packed Rexall Place for 151 straight games and in return have been treated to expensive beer, too many half-assed efforts, a grand total of 16 wins in 37 home games and untold heartache this season.
Read the entire post here.
Alright, MacTavish obviously made a terrible error last night against Anaheim by calling for a stick measurement and being wrong (considering that this happened with just over two minutes to play and the Oilers down one makes it even worse). But at least give him credit for putting his neck on the line; granted, I know many people will claim he is already on the chopping block so what does he have to lose? Even so, he still has to look those players in the eyes after the game and obviously is confident enough to make such a bold decision.
To me, the real issue is that MacTavish doesn’t have the confidence in his team to score that goal at even strength/with the advantage of the goalie pulled and, you know what, who can blame him? Watching this game just confirmed the fact that the Oilers were up against a better team. Just look at who was on the ice for the Ducks first power play (Niedermayer, Pronger, Getzlaf, Perry and Selanne). The Oilers can’t match that talent and couldn’t all night. The fact of the matter is that they lost to the better team (wasn’t it apparent that Anaheim was the better team at the Honda Center last week too?).
Desperate times calls for desperate measures and if the Oilers had actually scored more than one goal in the first 50+ minutes of the game then MacTavish wouldn’t have had to try such a move. Sure he will probably be fired at season’s end, and it is probably time for a change but the players should be held responsible just as well.
