Former Edmonton Oilers goaltender Ben Scrivens gave a surprising response when asked about former teammate Oscar Klefbom’s comments regarding Taylor Hall in which Klefbom stated that “Hall never played his best games against the tough teams.”
Scrivens didn’t disagree with Klefbom, telling Igor Eronko of Sports-Express “I can’t say he’s wrong.”
Ben Scrivens on Klefbom's comment on Hall: 'He would know pretty well, he played with him for a while, and I can't say he's wrong' #Oilers
— Igor Eronko (@IgorEronko) August 5, 2016
Hall, who was traded to the New Jersey Devils in a one-for-one trade in exchange for Adam Larsson, was teammates with Scrivens for a season and a half. Klefbom, meanwhile, had been teammates with Hall for parts of three seasons. It’s interesting Scrivens, who now calls the KHL home and is one of the most mature, well-spoken athletes to play in the NHL, is confirming Klefbom’s statements. Hall must have made a bad impression on his teammates in Edmonton.
Whatever Klefbom and Scrivens think, Hall’s goals did come against weaker teams, but that doesn’t really matter. As Dominik Luszczyszyn of the Hockey News points out, winning is what’s ultimately important, and Hall scored more times than any of his Oilers teammates. Do those goals suddenly not matter? There’s a case to be made if Hall underachieved, produced a low goal total and was a pain to deal with, but he was a bonafide goal-scorer for Edmonton. Who he scored against shouldn’t matter.
Scrivens might be speaking in actualities, and not throwing shade at his former teammate. Perhaps, he’s read the data and is just speaking truthfully about Hall’s numbers. Still, the comment, however small, doesn’t look good. There’s nothing to be gained from being salty about former teammates. It will be interesting to see if Hall responds.
