Despite being in last place, the Oilers have something to play for.
When you play every second day, practice and travel, it's sometimes hard to see exactly what the bigger picture is because you are so immersed with the smaller one.
Well after a few days off for the All-Star break, if you are the Edmonton Oilers the bigger picture, right now, is making the playoffs.
Heading into the unofficial second half of the season, the Oilers have 38 points and are fighting for eighth place, which is currently occupied by San Jose with 56 points.
Edmonton has 33 games left and to get to let's say 95-96 points, the Oilers would have to go something like 28-3-2.
Now I'm no Einstein, but this isn't happening for Edmonton this year which means the Oilers will have missed the playoffs five years in a row.
But you can't take your puck and go home. There is still hockey to be played.
In fact Tom Renney said on Monday, he expects the Oilers to make some noise in the West and that they could throw a monkey wrench into the plans of teams trying to make the playoffs.
He says teams are slowly starting to respect his club and he added that Devan Dubnyk will play a fair amount of the remaining 33 games.
The coach had a lot to say because he feels there's still a lot to play for this season.
That sounds like a coach who isn't throwing in the towel even if the writing is on the wall.
When the season began, Edmonton's intent was to be playing meaningful games late in the year and they will be, it's just they'll mean something different.
