Scrivens not upset about Oilers bringing in Talbot

Gene Principe sat down with new Oilers head coach Todd McLellan to talk about everything from Connor McDavid to goaltending to the high expectations of Edmonton’s patient fans.

The easiest conclusion last season after a woeful season in Edmonton was to blame Ben Scrivens.

He was the last line of defence more often than not, and the one left fishing the biscuit out of the Oilers’ net so often that he ended up with a save percentage of .890.

Yecch.

Scrivens had 53 starts and won a paltry 15 games, but trying to play goal behind Dallas Eakins’ failed “swarm” system was like being charged with fact-checking the federal election campaign. By the end of the season, Scrivens’ game had deteriorated to the point where new general manager Peter Chiarelli made it well known that his primary summer objective was to improve in goal, and on defence.

In comes Cam Talbot from the New York Rangers. And frankly, it seems like the No. 1 job in Edmonton is Talbot’s to lose.

“We need two goalies to play,” Scrivens said after a workout at the Royal Glenora Club in Edmonton. “Look, we didn’t have a great year as a team last year, I didn’t personally have a great year. I don’t see how I could be upset about our organization trying to get better in any way it can.”

Scrivens was aligned with Eakins from their days together in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. Eakins’ failure to get the Oilers to play any semblance of responsible defence cost the coach his job and cost Scrivens the confidence of fans and — to a large extent — management.

“I’m not putting any onus on anyone but myself,” began the Spruce Grove, Alberta native who will turn 29 on Sept. 11. “But I definitely feel I am the same goalie that played in Toronto, played in L.A., who showed up here in the second half two seasons ago. I don’t think my skill level is diminished.

“Adding an (Andrej) Sekera, an (Eric) Gryba… The pieces that were acquired over the summer are going to pay dividends for us — whether through the draft or free agency,” he said. “But we can bring in all the personnel we want. Having [new coach] Todd [McLellan] on board and establishing winning habits that served him so well in San Jose for all those years, that’s going to be our catalyst.”

Talbot comes to town in much the same way Scrivens did two seasons ago. He had piled up 15 starts in Los Angeles when Jonathan Quick went down, and fashioned a .931 save percentage.

“He hates being scored on, which is the Allaire philosophy,” Scrivens said of Talbot. “He worked with Benoit [in New York], I worked with Francois in Toronto.”

Talbot started 34 times with the Rangers last season, most of them coming in a stretch when starter Henrik Lundqvist was out with his neck injury. Talbot was stellar in relief (21-9, 2.21 GAA, .926 save percentage), but like Scrivens, no one knows if he can be that good as a 60-game starter.

“I probably didn’t handle it as well as I could have. Part of that was being too competitive. Trying to do too much,” Scrivens said of his chance at claiming the top spot in Edmonton. “When you care about the result and you’re invested in what you’re trying to accomplish sometimes that’s the slope you slip down.

“At the end of the day … we all want the same thing: We want the Oilers in the playoffs. We all want to be in the net for that game, but the coaches make that decision.”

While steady, consistent goaltending is something a team can take for granted. Below-average goaltending can eat into every crevice of a team’s game. Players cheat because they don’t trust that a low percentage shot will be saved, and in the post-game interviews, they all have to lie and say it was a team loss — even when you could see from miles away that the goalie simply didn’t give his team a chance to win.

In Edmonton, the team’s shoddy defensive play left the goalie’s game in tatters one night, while a couple of easy goals against shredded the skaters’ collective confidence the next. If this is ever going to turn around, it will start with a far stiffer defensive posture by the skaters, and be augmented by better goaltending than Scrivens gave his team last season.

“The thing that’s going to pay dividends the most is having a coach like Todd come in and establish the habits that he wants everyone on our team to have. Right from (captain) Andrew Ference to me; from the top line down to the backup goalie. Everybody has to have the same expectation about how hard you work. If we’re going to have success, that’s where it’s going to come from.”

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