Posted - 11/10/2010 : 11:15:47 I don't know if it's a trend, but it seems that when ex-Oilers come back to play against their old team, they always haunt the Oilers.
In the last four games, the Oilers have been stung by players who played with them in the past.
Here are the results from the Oilers last four games, with the most recent game taking place last night:
~ Carolina 7 Oilers 1 (Cole, Samsonov both scored, and Pitknanen got two assists) ~ Oilers 2 Chicago 1 (Pisani scored Chicago's lone goal) ~ Detroit 3 Oilers 1 (Cleary got 3 points: 1 goal and 2 assists) ~ Vancouver 4 Oilers 3 (Torres got his first ever hat trick)
The above players are hardly point-a-game players, but they looked good against their old team.
I haven't bothered to check if this usually happens, but it seems whenever the Oilers play against a player who played with them in the past, the ex-Oiler plays well.
I'm not sure if this happens with other players (or with other teams), but perhaps it makes sense because a player traded (or left unprotected) will want to show their old team they made a mistake. In addition, an ex-player is likely to have many fans (and perhaps family members) in the crowd there to cheer them on!
Which begs the question – why can't players like Dan Cleary, Raffi Torres, etc. put out the same kind of effort when they play against other teams?
2 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First)
Beans15
Posted - 11/10/2010 : 12:28:06 There is also a spotlight on former players. No one is talking about the 4 points Staal got last night or the 3 from Jeff Skinner are they?
And let's not say the Oilers got 'stung' by anyone. They got stung with horrible defense, below average transition, and Khabibulin (although some might disagree) can not walk on water every single night.
The Oilers are getting beat by better teams and through poor execution.
nuxfan
Posted - 11/10/2010 : 11:28:08 it happens more often than not with other players from other teams. I would imagine that there is an added emphasis to do well against the team that gave up on you for one reason or another.
