Math suggests that the Edmonton Oilers won't make the playoffs. Their hearts and heads may tell a different story. A story about bringing a team together and making a push, if not for the post season, then for the future.
The Oilers know that they would have to run the table with maybe a blemish or two in order to have a chance. Anything less would be uncivilized and mean no playoffs. It would mean spring has sprung but the post-season hasn't.
Yet along with two points every game and keeping the dream alive as long as possible there are no shortage of things to play for and to keep in mind. Starting in goal with Mathieu Garon. A No. 1 before and a No. 1 again - for now. Will his fine form continue to the end of the season? There's no reason to suggest it won't.
How about the kids? Sam Gagner, Andrew Cogliano, Robert Nilsson, Tom Gilbert and anyone else in his first year, under the age of 25, or both. They are gaining an experience now that can't be matched in any other league but the best one in the world.
Let's not forget Dustin Penner. His first full season is coming to a close. When it started it was all about the money he was offered. Wouldn't it be nice for him to hit 20 goals or more? Might look good and make him feel good with more to come in the years ahead.
For the injured guys - and there are a lot of them - a chance to get healthy... to get even stronger... to build their bodies back so that next year when they talk about "season-ending injuries" it's about the past not the present.
For Craig MacTavish and Kevin Lowe, a chance to look into their crystal ball... to map out what lies ahead. They need to see what they have, what they want and then what they do about getting better. So that this time next year they'll once again be part of the "in" crowd when it comes to the playoffs.
Haha. You're kidding right. Penner steals $5M and he should 'feel good' about maybe getting 20 goals? Yikes.
And the 'kids' losing all year will somehow make them better players?
Double yikes! I wonder if the management will pack their golf bags with these warm fuzzy feelings in April?
Gene, I want to make a comment about Penner because I know non Oiler fans will try make the point that since he doesn't have 30 goals now he wasn't worth the money! That couldn't be further from the truth. Penner's presence in front of the net on the power play is invaluable. I think this is where the injuries have hurt him (& Hemmer)in particular. Penner's point totals would be much higher with Souray hammering away & the tenacious Horcoff doing what he does. The goals they do score now quite often find him screening the goalie & that never shows up in the stats. I personally like him a lot & when we get all the guys out of the MASH unit the Oil will fly again!
Just for comparison sake, it's interesting to look around the league & see what other players are doing that are in the $4M/yr. range & when the season is said & done Penner won't be out of place!
The Oil just need to finish out of the bottom 5 in the league. I don't think anyone wants to see the Ducks get a top draft pick.
After they traded Ryan Smyth, the team went downhill, psychologically. They are happy to be a .500 team at best. When the Dallas Stars were a .500 team at the beginning of the season, they fired their GM. And look what happened..!! When is Mr Katz finally going to fire Mr Lowe? It is about time to get rid of him and other overpaid personell such as Mr Penner. To be a .500 team on the one hand and the team with the 5th highest payroll on the other is simply not good enough. Get rid of Kevin Lowe - now!
Yes, I'm sure it'll be really nice for a $5 million player who cost you a lottery pick, plus and 2nd and 3rd in one of the deepest drafts in recent memory, to score all of 20 goals this year!!!
And really, what reason is there to believe the Oilers are going to be that much better in coming years? They're already up against the cap, will be stuck with contracts like Souray's and Penner's in coming years, and if the kids continue to play well they'll demand huge raises the team won't be able to afford (not to mention they'll probably want to go elsewhere anyway).
It's fun being a Flames fan right now. We'll think of you in May and (hopefully) June when Oilers fans having nothing to do except prepare for the draft and their lottery pick....oh wait Brian Burke has it. And maybe there'll be another exodus of a star player. Better start working on those DVDs again Lowe!!!
Wow, how is everyone so dumb as to think that the Oilers are paying Penner so much because he is worth exactly that much? They are paying him that much because that was just over the threshold that Anaheim would match. If they tried to sign him for less say, what he's worth, Anaheim would undoubtedly match it, and they don't have Dustin Penner on their team. And all the young players on this team are only going to get better. They do need to learn how to lose. Plus, it's not like they're gonna lose every game down the stretch (like last year) so they will also learn how to win. The Oilers are only going to get better over the next few years (see Pittsburgh and Chicago) All of this definitely scares me, cuz I am a Canucks fan. Playing a team that is going to be that good 6-8 times/year is not gonna help our record
Hey Sedinsanwich, The mighty Canucks have the grand total of two more wins than that bunch of losers in E-town. Impressive.
Also, naslund is 22-25-47 in 67 games; Penner is 18-21-39 in 67. You're right: 2 mill more for 8 points is a GOOD deal!
Oh and the only thing the Sedins "sanwich" is pickled herring between two slices of Wasa crisp bread.
"After they traded Ryan Smyth, the team went downhill, psychologically"
LOL, most of the young guys who make us this team didn't play with Smyth so that argument makes no sense.
"To be a .500 team on the one hand and the team with the 5th highest payroll on the other is simply not good enough. Get rid of Kevin Lowe - now!"
oh brother, a team full of rookies playing there first year of NHL hockey is suppose to be among the elite talent, like Detroit, Dallas, Anahiem and other cup favorites? gimme a break.....for one this was a team at the start of year everyone including the media was saying they were going to be absolutley dreadful. They were going to have a season similar to how they finished 06/07 season. Finishing off at .500 isn't a bad start for a rebuilding club.
As an Oilers fan I knew the playoffs this season would be a stretch, since it's basically been all about "rebuilding" this year. Compare us to Dallas all you want pucknut56 but if you compare rosters they have a lot more depth with the player like Modano, Morrow, Ribero, Turco, ect. who can take over a game. Did Brett Hull taking over really cause the team to improve? I mean he really didn't make any changes until the trade deadline and Dallas was already up in the standings before then, so I don't think you can credit him for the Stars record. They had the expierience/talent to able to move up in the standing like they did. Firing K-Lowe is going to do what? Prevent the injury bug from hitting this team? A new GM will be able to bring a guy like Hossa in? Inspire the players to be a cup favorite???? Usually a team looks at replacing the coach before the GM when it comes to trying to spark a team, but it really hasn't helped Ottawa so you can't even argue that would work.
How are the Oilers a .500 team? If you lose in OT or a SO it is still a loss, the other team got more points in the standings than you. In my book the Oilers are 5 games under .500 right now while in comparison the Canucks are 1 game under .500.
Love the jealous comments from Nucks and Flames fans. Let us know what youngsters you have that are comparable to Gagner, Cogliano or Gilbert.
Oilers fans know the score, this season wasn't about making the playoffs... that would have just been gravy. This team looks good down the road and Oilers fans like myselves are fine with this team. Threads like this really reinforce hockey knowledge - Oilers fans have it but Flames and Canucks fans sure don't (unless you're talking about their team and their team only).
This season was about rebuilding...penner is our future captain and dominant power forward.In his first full season he might hit 50 points Id take that for a top pick anyday,guaranteed points over prospects.This oiler team is stacked with prospects and can trade assets they have to lower payroll to sign younsters unlike flamers and nucks teams who have signed players that have guaranteed medicrity on their teams for years to come...the jealousy the oil face is cause of the fear of this developing juggernaut called the oilers!!!
BigWilliam:
Why is this so hard to understand for some people? The NHL is recorded on a point scale rather than winning percentage (like the NBA for example). Recording exactly 50% of the maximum possible points you can have is playing .500. That is how it is calculated by the league, so why should we calculate it differently.
Like slugging % in baseball records your percetage of the possible number of bases you could have had.
In basketball nobody shoots the percentage that they are given because they don't count shot when they were fouled unless they go in. Should we say that a 50% shooter in the NBA isn't because he didn't actually make half the shots he took?
When the league starts to tally by winning percentage you can complain. Until then please recognize that the league uses points to calculate standings, no matter how badly you wish they didn't.
Big William, the NHL decides how wins and losses are broken down....not the fans wins earn two points and get noted in the WIN column, regulation losses equal no points and are appropriately placed in the loss column overtime and shootout losses earn 1 point and are therefore placed in the third column. By your calulations the Canucks are only one game under .500, but if you take away the 10 points they've received for losing overtime games (which would be appropriate if your agreument was valid) your precious Canucks would be a mere 2 points up on the oilers.
This Blog was written with purpose of illustrating the promise the Oil have for the future, why all the haters trying desperately to disprove the FACT that the Oilers have a talented young team and are only going to get better. Dustin Penner won't score 30 this year, so what, he's got another 4 years on his deal and this kid will be good in that time and like Gene said when this team gets healthy there is a hell of a alot of potential to do some damage around the league.
Olierz94 just to "reinforce" your hockey knowledge the Canucks have many yougsters playing on their roster who are more than comparable to the likes of gagner, gilbert, cogliano. Ryan Kesler, Alexandre Burrows, Alex Edler, Luc Bourdon, Mason Raymond, Ryan Shannon...need i say more. I would much rather take this core and a guy like luongo than any oiler prospect or 'young-gun' in the oilers system. By the way what ever happened to the next superstar Rob Schremp?
All things considering the Oilers are looking good, the team is having fun, the rookies have looked impressive but have more development to go. Penner makes 4.25mil a year people!! Garon's .916 save % is impressive. This team has maybe another year to go, but don't be surprised if it makes a solid playoff push, and is a playoff contender next year.
Penner: It was an exciting move that challenged the player to play better, with a team to grow up and work with, with the mentoring of the staff.
Kids: They are exciting to watch. Give all 5 of them two years.
Torres: Don't miss him. Probably trade bait.
Pikannen(sp?): He challenges his team and other team to keep up with him.
Lupal: Don't miss him. He's better off now.
Staios: The new Smith.
Stortini: Will spend the summer getting faster and practicing flipping pucks into a milk crate.
NOTE: Sick of the whining of the Canucks. At least we are not going down their road.
There's no point in listening to Flames and Knucklehead fans. But I will say this to one poster who talked about the OT loss. Keep in mind that the OT loss has benefited the Nucks more than the Oilers Last I checked 10 points is more than 5. So that being said if you don't count OT losses as one point then the Nucks only have two more points then the bad Oiler team that you suggest we are. Just keep in mind that the Oilers at least have a future with the great young talent unlike your old and useless Nucks.
Hey, the Canucks have been in 10 shotouts since Jan.1st, while the Oilers have been in 5, so Vancouver shouldn't even be talking about shootouts. Overall this season, Edmonton has been in 17, Vancouver 15...huge difference, I know...only difference is that Edmonton can actually get it done there.
The future looks great for us. In Calgary, they keep signing the same old "stars" who have proven time and time again that they can't get it done. In Vancouver, without Luongo they're nothing, and even WITH Luigi they're quickly showing how incapable they are of playing at a high enough level to do damage in the playoffs. So who really cares what Flamers and Nuckleheads think? The future is bright in Edmonton.
I'll lay it out there you for you all:
Smyth chased Hemsky to the net and picked up a lot of garbage goals. Penner does not. Penner is a second line winger at best. We paid him 4 mill for 20 plus goals this year. Burke paid Bertuzzi 4.5 for ??? If we kept Smith we wouldn't have Gagne or Cogs. What's the better move? The future is bright in Edmonton for now, but what happens in 2009 when Brodziak, Gilbert, Gagne, cogliano, Horcoff, Nillsen are all due for extreme raises??? But yes my biggest question is how good could this Oil team be at 100% healthy?? And Flames and Canucks fans, I dont want to hear that "nobody is 100% healthy in the NHL" arguement. Im talking NHL record breaking man games lost to injury..Im talking key players.. Leading scorer (Horcoff), PP specialist and All star D (Souray), our Captain (Mauerau), second line winger worth 25 g, (Torres), all out for the season.. not even mentioning Pasani out for half the season, Smid, Pitkanen, Hemmer and Stoll all out for while..at one point we were running 5 AHL defensmen against the Flames and Canucks. Crap, take out one of the Sedin's and Vancouver's hooped. Iggie, Phanueff and Regier..Oh Oh!!
We're not making the playoffs, but we are getting those young guys some solid experience and it looks good. Could you imagine next year when say Pasani goes down with an injury. Well who do we bring up to the second line?? Cogliano, Gagne or Nilsen? What an option..Im backing you Lowe!
First of all bigwilliam, if there was no loser points the nucks/flames would be in pretty much deadheat against mentioned teams!!!
This team is for real and will be a force to be reckoned with for years to come! I'm glad MacT wasn't fired, and why fire Klowe?
Go Oilers I Believe!!!