EDMONTON — Stan Bowman, you are officially on the clock.
It’s time for the hockey world to stop talking about how hard it is for the Edmonton Oilers to upgrade their goaltending situation, and begin talking about how the Oilers general manager has found a solution.
Time to stop talking about how Stu Skinner’s teammates have lost their belief in his game, and begin a new conversation about a new No. 1 — a guy that the Oilers players know can get them to the place they’ve been trying to reach for five years now.
It’s over in Edmonton for Skinner as the unchallenged No. 1. Finished.
He can be part of things, but Bowman needs to find a better netminder as Skinner’s partner — full stop. If that makes Skinner a better goalie as well, then Bravo.
“You’ve always got to earn trust,” Skinner said Monday, after a 9-1 loss on home ice against Colorado on Saturday in which he played mediocre and was pulled. “It’s not something that’s just given to you. No matter who you are, no matter what situation you’re in, you’re always trying to earn the trust of your teammates.”
Alas, he has lost that trust.
Two seasons ago Stuart Skinner graded out as a Top 10 goalie in the National Hockey League, taking his team to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, where they lost 2-1. He would improve, conventional wisdom said, and give Edmonton enough goaltending to win a Stanley Cup or two down the road.
Then, last season, Skinner’s numbers plummeted. He went from a .905 save percentage and a 2.62 goals-against average two seasons ago, to .896 and 2.81 last year. Again, Sergei Bobrovsky was the best goalie in the Cup Final, and again, the Oilers lost to Florida.
So, when this season opened, the objective, unemotional observer thought, “let’s see who the real Stu Skinner is.”
He lost some weight, got a new goalie coach, had a fresh outlook and his ever present positive attitude… Now on Nov. 10, the numbers read .889 and 2.81. Either the real Stu Skinner has shown up, or the real Stu Skinner is late to the party.
Either way, in the opinion of this unemotional, objective observer, Skinner has lost the trust and belief of this hockey team. They no longer believe that he can get them where they’re trying to go.
“As a goaltender, it doesn’t really matter what’s going on,” Skinner said Monday, hours before starting against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the cacophony of the Colorado blow-out still bouncing off the walls. “It just matters if you’re able to make a save at the right time and give your team a chance to win. Because the wins are all that matter.
“It’s not really about the save percentage,” he stressed. “It’s not about how I’m doing (or) my personal game. It’s about my win column.
“It’s about the team’s win column.”
After six wins in 16 starts this season, the win column is light. It’s time for Bowman to earn his check.
We know, teams who have goalies who are better than Skinner don’t usually trade them.
We know that Juuse Saros — shackled to a rudderless Nashville franchise — has seven years left on his deal at $7.74 million per season.
We’re well aware that St. Louis, where Jordan Binnington’s numbers are worse than Skinner’s, may not want to move their franchise goalie. We know Bowman missed out on Scott Wedgewood last year, who went to Colorado. We know that it was likely wise to pass on John Gibson, who has an .882 in Detroit and may never have wanted to come to Canada anyhow.
But it’s time to stop talking about what didn’t happen with this file.
It’s time for Bowman to find a solution, not absolution. Time to get the job done.
Here’s what we respect about Skinner:
“Obviously, I really didn’t like that second goal last game,” he said of a Cale Makar wrist shot that beat him low blocker, after which his team curled up in a ball of defeat. “I’ve definitely got a lot of work here to do. I’ve got to make some timely saves; some saves when we do give up a breakaway (where) I’ve got to be the guy to come up with a save.
“In Dallas (a 4-3 shootout loss) — you’ve got to come up with a shootout save. Maybe that gives us the extra point.”
We’ve covered hundreds of NHL goalies over the years, and a goodly percentage of those netminders would never publicly diagnose their own game in front of the cameras that way. So props to Skinner, who does it all the time, which is great.
But he’s doing this all the time, which isn’t great. If you know what we mean.
“I can only control so much. That’s my job. My job is just stop the puck, whether people like it or not,” Skinner said. “If I’m at the top of my game, we always have a chance to win. If I’m not, then there’s a good chance we’re losing. That’s every goalie in the league.”
Skinner, a hometown boy who was drafted and developed by Edmonton, is beginning to fit the description of a player who may have to move on to find his best game. A new team, a fresh start.
Edmonton is a rough town when you’re the goalie, and a large part of the fan base perceives goaltending to be the Oilers’ weak link. Any Canadian city would fit that description.
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At worst, Skinner requires a partner who can share some of the responsibility of being the No. 1. Rather than a guy like Calvin Pickard, who is just fine as a backup — providing the starter is a legit NHL No. 1.
It’s getting hard here for Skinner, and he’s not playing his way out of that.
“Nobody remembers the saves,” he mused. “Normally, everyone remembers the goals against. I also remember the goals against. It’s kind of just the life of a goalie.
“You let in a tough squeaker, but you have an amazing game,. You feel like you’re on top of the world, but everyone else thinks you’re terrible.”
