Situations like these are becoming familiar to the point of resembling tropes.
First, a player says something brash, usually to a foreign outlet.
Next, people pick up on it and the drama boils to a froth.
Finally, said player either backtracks or clears the air, depending upon whom or what you believe.
It’s happening again in the case of Edmonton Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom critiquing Taylor Hall’s big-game credentials ... or not.
To catch you up to speed, people believed that Klefbom claimed that Hall didn’t play his best hockey against tougher teams, at least according to an interview per hockeysverige.se.
#Oilers Klefbom: (on the trade) I believe the team as whole is better. We've got plenty of promising forwards and we desperately (cont)..
— dohfOs (Martin Lundén) (@dohfOs) July 31, 2016
That same outlet gave Klefbom an opportunity to clarify/backpedal - again, it’s down to who you believe - and the Edmonton Journal passed along his updated feelings with help from this imperfect translation:
Klefbom’s statement that Taylor Hall is not performed equally well against the best teams in the league, he meant was more of the team’s players.
– “It’s not that it was only Taylor, but everyone, including myself. The reason we have not taken us to the playoffs is that there are too many players who have underperformed when it is really needed.”
As the Edmonton Journal notes, it’s still probably fair to say that Klefbom believes the trade is a win ... especially for him, as Adam Larsson is a fellow Swede who can bolster the blueline (maybe even pairing with Klefbom).
It’s ultimately one of those “He said I said but I didn’t say it"-type scenarios, and it only matters so much.
But, sure, it adds an extra pinch of spice to the Oilers’ visit to New Jersey on Jan. 7 and Hall’s first game as an away player in Edmonton on Jan. 12.
For a little more, check out the Edmonton Journal’s take.
More fun with damage control
Andrei Kostitsyn’s lockout comments