One of the earliest conversations we had on this blog, going back over 20 years ago now, came in regard to elevating the status of the teams that reach the Stanley Cup final, and lose. At first blush, it seems silly, unnecessary, old-man gibberish. Well, I may be old-manning you here, but it’s my sincere belief that the 2006 Edmonton Oilers are in fact an elevated team in this organization’s history.
It isn’t celebrating mediocrity, it’s celebrating achievement and properly framing history. There are 32 teams now, not six teams. Honoring high achievement has always been the practice in baseball. Two teams each year win the pennant. I highly recommend it for hockey. Here are the pennant winners since 1967’s expansion:
1. Montreal (12): ’68, ’69, ’71, ’73, ’76-’79, ’86, ’89, ’93, ’21
2. Boston (10): ’70, ’72, ’74, ’77, ’78, ’88, ’90, ’11, ’13, ’19
3. Edmonton (9): ’83, ’84, ’85, ’87, ’88, ’90, ’06, ’24, ’25
- 4. Philadelphia (8): ’74, ’75, ’76, ’80, ’85, ’87, ’97, ’10
- 5. Pittsburgh (6): ’91, ’92, ’08, ’09, ’16, ’17
- 6. Chicago (6): ’71, ’73, ’92, ’10, ’13, ’15
- 7. Detroit (6): ’95, ’97, ’98, ’02, ’08, ’09
- 8. Dallas (5): ’81, ’91, ’99, ’00, ’20
- 9. New Jersey (5): ’95, ’00, ’01, ’03, ’12
- 10. New York Islanders (5): ’80, ’81, ’82, ’83, ’84
- 11. Tampa Bay (5): ’04, ’15, ’20, ’21, ’22
- 12. Florida (4): ’96, ’23, ’24, ’25
- 13. New York Rangers (4): ’72, ’79, ’94, ’14
- 14. St. Louis (4): ’68, ’69, ’70, ’19
- 15. Calgary (3): ’86, ’89, ’04
- 16. Colorado (3): ’96, ’01, ’22
- 17. Los Angeles (3): ’93, ’12, ’14
- 18. Vancouver (3): ’82, ’94, ’11
- 19. Anaheim (2): ’03, ’07
- 20. Buffalo (2): ’75, ’99
- 21. Carolina (2): ’02, ’06
- 22. Vegas (2): ’18, ’23
- 23. Washington (2): ’98, ’18
- 24. Nashville (1): ’17
- 25. San Jose (1): ’16
- 26. Ottawa (1): ’07
- 27. Winnipeg
- 28. Columbus
- 29. Minnesota
- 30. Seattle
- 31. Utah
- 32. Toronto
The Oilers are the most successful expansion club of the expansion era. I don’t think there’s much pushback against that, unless you’re a Vancouver Canucks fan. As always, I will point you to the Toronto Maple Leafs and the team’s exceptional performance since 1967. In its own way, it is as breathtaking as the Montreal Canadiens number. For those who don’t know, in the summer of 1967, the Canadiens and Maple Leafs were the proud owners of 13 Stanley Cups. Since then, it’s 10-0 Habs. That’s a bad beat.
I wrote about the Oilers-Panthers here. Hope you have time to read it today.
New for The Athletic: The Oilers’ tweak that could change Stanley Cup Final rematch vs. Panthers
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6389143/2025/05/31/oilers-panthers-stanley-cup-final-matchup/
I like this. Very much. It adds more fuel to my argument re how we make a fetish of goalies, making them heros or zeros without understanding the complexity of the dynamic they’re part of in-play (never mind the out-of-play dynamics, including the kind of thing we witnessed with DeBoer-Ott the other day). You note Skinner’s puck handling. I am always on edge when he (or any goalie I’m rooting for – which is most of them as I’m soft on goalies) tries to stickhandle the puck. So much risk! Yet, as an opposing coach mentioned recently (about Skinner? or Pickard?), it can make a big difference on offensive efficacy.
Everyone agrees McDavid and Draisaitl and Bouchard are great. But win the Cup and you’re legendary. Deserved or not.
Wrong thread.
Why?
I know it won’t happen, but is there a math argument for sitting Nurse or Kulak for Stetcher?
By eye, Nurse and Kulak have been good together deployed situationally but can be exploited when a regular pairing, which is magnified in the playoffs. Kulak having some trouble clearing the zone because he was on his backhand last game, with chaos to follow, sticks out.
I think both Kulak and Nurse are better players than Stetcher in a vacuum, but I wonder in a playoff series, with the handedness consideration, if sitting one of them (or using 7 defensemen) would be a better strategy.
Both Nurse and Stecher play about 6 minutes more than Stech at 5 on 5 (lead team in 5 on 5 TOI/G among D) and Nurse plays about 9 minutes more that Stech per game overall.
There is no comparison in trust and role as between Nurse and Kulak vs. Stecher and I don’t think any of us can be blind to the materiality of the minutes difference.
I understand the Nurse/Kulak pairing can have wobble and, in my opinion, the better switch is Walman and Kulak being flipped.
Nure/Walman have insane numbers in over 100 minutes together in the regular season.
I’m late to the party today, but thought I’d comment anyway as i really like the point of the blog today.
How often do we hear after a loss or perhaps a poor run of games “it’s over for this year” or “I’m out” “I’m done” or similar.
My kids still play sports and seldom do they end up on championship teams. As they play and lose over and over they lose all hope.
What do I tell them?
“it’s over” “we’re done”
Or do we dig in play your hardest. Play to get better, play for next year, be proud, heard up and all those types of dad messages.
So pretty easy choice here. The team played their best for years simply not being good enough. The payoff has arrived.
Celebrate
Then onwards
I enjoyed the read today.
Friedman on 32TP says Marchessault is open to a trade but the list of teams he’d go to is real small.
y Marchessault is real blunt and honest and that hasn’t really gone over well.
He’s gone from a no tax state to a no tax state, any trade would have to be to another no tax state.
Fact checking is hard for you isn’t it. Given that his contract has a 15 team no trade list, his list of who he can be traded to is 16 other teams. Its irrelevant whether he is open to a trade. Since there are only 6 teams in jurisdictions with no taxes, Nashville has the right to trade him to at least 10 teams that are not in tax free states assuming he didn’t put any of the non tax states on his no trade list, like Seattle. Somebody’s not good at numbers or understanding contracts.
I am sure you saw that he also had an NMC, but in his case that only prevents him from being sent to the minors.
He’s laying the groundwork for his new narrative for next season.
“Oilers bad because taxes”
Did the Yzerplan punt Wallman out of the org because he was too charitable?
https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/s/w66dwagMgY
What a certified beauty.
Yzerman’s eye starts twitching uncontrollably when he sees this
Hintz confirms Nurse did break his foot. Quite the slash.
https://x.com/RobertTiffin/status/1928843795921011026
More like Roope Hurtz.
Someone got a Hurtz Donut.
Guess he regrets that cross-check to Nurse a second beforehand?
FAFO
Perhaps a Tkachuk, Bennett, or Marchand needs a similar “don’t tread on me” treatment?
Slasha Barkov.
In the late ’70’s-early ’80’s, while growing up in Dartmouth, NS, my parents and I had season tickets to the Dartmouth Arrows, who were a Junior A hockey team in the Metro Valley Junior Hockey League (Now the Maritime Jr Hockey League). I remember home games were Thursday nights at the Bowles Arena. It is such a great memory to have now, because at the time, I had that Jr. High attitude where I was “too cool” to be seen in public with my parents, yet they could always win me over with hockey.
Anyway, there is a photo circulating of the 1981 Arrows, and on the roster were Kevin Marchand (Brad’s father) and Perry Kane (Evander’s father). Now, 44 years later, their sons will battle for the Cup. Let’s go Kane and Oilers!
I can’t get the link feature to work so maybe someone can help me with that. Our local radio station in Halifax, Q104 FM posted it on their Facebook page this afternoon.
Thank-you!
Knob has generally give quicker timelines on likely return of players over the season and I think he’s doing the opposite on Connor Brown.
Stauff did a 1 on 1 with coach yesterday and asked if Brown would be available for round 1. Knob was very non-commital, said he’s progressing well but we’ll see. Don’t know if it will be game 1 but, if he keeps pressing, a good chance we’ll see him in the series.
I’ve done my deep thinking and I’m ready to call it. Oilers in 5. There are pathways for Florida to win but just not nearly as many as I see for Edmonton.
My main reason is that I believe this team, specifically the defense, was built to beat Florida’s astonishing forecheck. Florida’s F1 gets in and forces D1 to move the puck quickly and if that’s a below average puck mover that puck is going exactly where the Panthers want it; up either wall. Defensive zone shifts get long and the Panthers are excellent in the half court.
The second area Florida dominates is in physicality. But It takes two to tango and the Oilers can play this game, and people think they will, but I think KK has shown how little he values the after the whistle nonsense and 97/29 have zero interest in losing a Stanley Cup to look tough. I think they’ll turn the other cheek and that will frustrate the Panthers.
Now on to game states…
1. Playing from in front- the Oilers proved how clinical they can be defending a lead in the 3rd period. Florida doesn’t have the game breakers at forward or defense to create consistently if they have to come 200 feet. The Oilers will pounce on turnovers and wins couple games in blowouts.
2. Amazingly, the Oilers have also proven how deadly they are when trailing in games. What was it…six straight come from behind wins?
Florida can win some games for sure. But even their strengths run into Oiler strengths.
Their PK is excellent which allows them to play their bully-style. Can they win a game like this creating chaos and counting on the Oil PP to be icy cold? Sure but I don’t see that working for a series.
Bob can steal a game but the Oilers have solved every goalie they’ve faced since Hill in 2023 (since solved). They solved him last year.
The Panthers can wear teams down. By game 7 last year the Oil were emotionally and physically drained. But gosh, 97/29 haven’t even gotten out of third gear. It feels like they’re being saved for this exact moment. Their tanks are full enough they could play 28 minutes for seven straight games if needed. And that doesn’t count how emotionally rested they seem to be. Plus the Oilers are incredible late in series so their strength meets our strength.
Home ice is one more check mark.
Barring injury or a goaltending meltdown I just don’t see enough pathways to make a Florida series win probable
I’m with you. Let’s go Oilers! Another ENG for Kapanen
This feels exactly the same as the rematch against the Islanders. We will dominate this series and win in 5 in the City of Champions. The Cup is coming back to where it belongs.
The objective hockey observer in me agrees with this take 100%. The unhinged Oilers fan in me will live and die by every goal scored in the series.
I like that the team “dared” to touch the trophy that they steamrolled their way to winning, and I don’t think that is flouting the hockey Gords. First of all, who’s the grand arbiter who decided that it needed to be a superstition in the first place? Second, I like the message I think it sends to the Panthers. “We don’t need a superstition to beat you. We’re about to show you on the ice and in the alleys.” I think the Oilers have a tougher team, at least in terms of if the mitts get dropped, but they can hit hard too. This is going to be an absolute war, and I can’t wait.
In 2008, the Pens (probably led by Sid’s superstitious nature) didn’t touch the Prince of Whales trophy, and they lost to DET in the finals. In 2009, they touched the trophy and history shows they beat DET for the Cup.
I’m really hoping for a similar arc for EDM.
I’m not sure of the origin of the superstition but a web search AI agent had this to say:
Yup.
Overwrought thought:
I have a slight obsession with Brent Burns playing one more season so the chain from Dit Clapper (3) to Gordie Howe (4) to Mark Messier (6) to Burns (0) reaches 100 years. I even emailed the Carolina Hurricanes, mapped it all out and asked them to forward my findings to Burns in the hope he can be swayed. Anyway, all hall of famers. Being a great hockey player is prerequisite to playing 20+ years in the NHL, after all.
Those numbers in parentheses indicate Stanley Cup wins. Prior to Burns, a hall of fame career over multiple decades would usually assure one or two championships. In fact (as of 2022) there were only 24 NHLers in the Hall of Fame without a ring. This ratio will surely increase with expansion.
I wonder, what conversations would Dit, Mark, Gordie, and Brent have, if they could, were they to compare the sport they played during the times they did. The sport itself has changed and so has the league, and it is now almost impossible to win the Stanley Cup. I fear the league Burns inherited, is at a precipice, where, soon, the Stanley Cup will start to decline in importance as it becomes harder and harder to attain. One must be able to imagine and see themselves reaching that point not born from lottery or charity but from hard work and perseverance. This is becoming harder. It is tough to say JT Compher (sorry to pick on you) deserves to win it all more than Connor McDavid, for instance. But thats just the sport. The superstar can do only so much.
I know this sounds counter-intuitive, it should hold more value as its rarity increases. And it would in some capacity, but not in the collective imagination. Not if the greats are denied as a result of oversaturation or market manipulation. Her greatness is reciprocal: the great players also have to lift her.
She needs to remain within the realm of the possible, before entering the realm of the seemingly magical. Hockey is just too much chaos. Too much left to chance. Thats why you need to just be able to get there, year in year out, and eventually it should all line up. That’s success. Those who think McDavid without multiple cups is an organisational failure are speaking the language of a different time.
There are Clarence Campbell and Prince of Wales trophies for a reason. Perhaps the debate around touching it or not, this ritualistic public negotiation that we have increasingly each year is just that: how much are we going to accept the or deny the magic? It is not to say Stanley isn’t the ultimate prize but touching her seems to say — this matters, and is real. So I guess my point is it is the players themselves who will determined how much mysticism, or history, matters each Semi-Finals. It is their physical relationship to the already existing signifiers of Conference success — the trophies themselves — that will either continue to deny, or promote, respect for a pennant’s legitimacy.
Great post!
Why Brent Burns?
Why not Ryan Suter, or Corey Perry?
Perry is probably going to play next year, for what it’s worth. And he’s won a Cup and has more trophies.
They never played a game against Mark Messier, in fact Burns is the only active player to have played a game prior to the lockout.
The chain is such that each player’s final year was the next players rookie season, and they did suit up against each other.
Ah. I remember that qualification from an earlier post, but I didn’t verify if Suter or Perry had done so too. Merely looked up the draft year and found players who might also merit consideration by career GP and active status.
I mean this is just my own personal criteria and curiosity.
No need to quantify — when you’re right you’re right.
It’s the four degrees of Dit Clapper, and I’m here for it.
Using raw numbers for pennant wins doesn’t quite capture the excellence of more than a few teams.
For example, Tampa Bay did not enter the NHL until the 1992/93 season.
Despite playing as many as 25 fewer seasons than many teams on the list, they’ve managed to win 5 pennants.
The Oilers record is also understated since they didn’t enter the NHL until 1979 and might be leading the post-67 era had they been around since 67,
Sure. One can make those mental notes and it adds to the experience. a team like Vegas shold be recognized in the same fashion.
I think Edmonton needs to win a cup with McDavid before they can pull the Expansion Crown away from Pittsburgh. The pennants and total amount of them, as well as Stanleys, matter — but to do it over two different eras to me is important.
Forgot the Leafs. 0/57 = 0.
Every other team that has been around for the 57 seasons since expansion has made the cup final at least 3 times.
Thanks for doing this!
More context helps.
Another stat of interest would be cups won / pennants won… Avalanche are stone-cold killaz there
Looking at the d.
Kulak is our number 3. Averaging 23:18 per night. A bit surprising. 58%GF and 53% xGF%.
Walman and Klingberg have been very solid additions.
I always liked Grier as an Oiler. As a GM, he’s been solid for us.
If Ekholm is remotely healthy, I think we have a big edge over the Panthers on the blue line.
Jones has been a huge add for them, but Kulikov isn’t a top four d anymore. Ekblad is fading. Mikkola is a bit meh.
The Panthers don’t get much offensive production from their D, must have something to do with their systems.
Both teams have a deep defensive group – I don’t imagine the Panthers have the likes of Stecher and Emberson as 7/8D.
The Oilers also have, far and away, the best d-man in the series – Evan Bouchard is the best playoff d-man in the NHL and on his way to being one of the best playoff d-men of all time.
“What Florida’s blue line lacks offensively compared to Edmonton’s, they make up for in shutdown talent.
It starts with Gustav Forsling, who has emerged as one of the best shutdown defensemen in the league. He plays a quietly effective game against the league’s best forwards, while his partner, Aaron Ekblad, has added some more scoring and bite to his game this postseason.
Niko Mikkola and Seth Jones help shoulder the burden of tough minutes on the second pair, and they have put up sparkling numbers despite their workload. They’re extremely stingy, only giving up 1.48 xGA/60 in their minutes, which is one of the best marks of the playoffs.
With the top four playing at this level, the third pair of Dmitry Kulikov and Nate Schmidt is maximized in sheltered minutes.”
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6393979/2025/05/31/stanley-cup-final-2025-oilers-panthers-preview/
Jake Walman/John Klingerg – 1.44 GA/60
Brett Kulak/Evan Bouchard – 0.47 GA/60 (1.48 xGA/60)
Strategy that should be implemented but likely won’t be: for the two home games, first one should be Skinner, then second should be Pickard. Regardless of result.
This assumes Pickard is actually healthy.
It keeps Skinner fresh. It is massively demoralizing for Florida if you win both. Both guys have shown they can win. It gets Pickard going if you need him again. It keeps the Oilers focused. I could go on.
I highly doubt it occurs, but would love to see it.
It might occur if Bennett decides one concussed goalie isn’t enough for him.
Game one both Kane and Perry need to go right up to Bob and explain what will happen if anyone even breathes on an Oilers goalie. And be direct.
How they handle Bennett will be the story within the story.
I 100% diagree with this.
Skinner will be coming off a full week of rest and then, after game 2, there is 2 full days in between games. In fact, there are 2 full days off in between games 4 times in the schedule.
Lets not forget, Pickard was just OK in his 6 games. Yes, he did enough to win each game, just enough to win most time, but there was lots of leak among some great and timely saves.
No, don’t mess with it while it ain’t broken.
I am still kind of in shock we’re in the finals again.
Any news on Hyman’s actual injury?
Hand, wrist, shoulder, or just “upper body?”
Gregor confirmed wrist.
Thanks. Huge loss for us.
I think this pretty much sums up this year’s Stanley Cup finals.
https://clip.cafe/dune-1984/usul-called-a-big-one-s2/
To reach Success, you must first achieve Pennant.
This is true not just in hockey, but also when driving down Sask Hwy #32 towards Swift Current.
Man I drove the hell out of those highways. Guarantee I’m the only one on this board today who has been to Turtle Lake, Loon Lake, Midnight Lake, Meadow Lake, Maidstone, Outlook, Rosetown, Gull Lake, Climax, Cadillac and Eastend. 🙂
Ya got me there. Have yet to experience the first three on your list.
But you haven’t lived until you’ve done the tri-town area of Turner, Havre and Climax.
You forgot Chauvin.
That’s a 100 minute trip from Montana!
Even longer if you go through Divide and Eastend.
Shoutout to Meadow Whoo!
my dad’s folks.
Just came across this particular landmark. Guessing it’s close to your old stomping grounds, LT?
Been to Climax quite a few times. More than my wife, though.
Can’t say I have been to all the lakes but I have been a stones throw away from them playing hockey in Glaslyn, Turtleford, Paradise hill, St Walburg. Hockey also took me to Outlook, Rosetown, Meadow lake. And work has taken me through Gull lake, Climax, Cadillac, and eastend.
And Maidstone being about 25 mins from where I grew up I had been there for hockey, baseball, school sports, and floor hockey tournaments.
The real question is who has used the ferry crossing at Edam. Lol
Damn you Tarkus. Damn you to hell.
Take your thumbs up and get outta my sight.
Silver medals should only be appreciated post facto.
Since coming back against Vegas, Stuart Skinner has a 6-2-0 record with a 1.73 GAA and a .931 sv%. Excellent. However, over the same time frame Bobrovsky is 7-2-0 with a 1.34 GAA and a .944 sv%. Even better!
But here’s the thing, Bob hasn’t faced a team like the Oilers. The Oilers have a habit of destroying great goalies in the playoffs. Let’s look at it round by round.
1. Kuemper finished the regular season with a 31-11-7 record, 2.02 GAA and .922 sv%. First rate numbers. Only Stolarz (.926) and Hellebuyck (.925) had better a save percentage, and Kuemper ranked 6th for wins. Keeper went 2-4 against the Oilers with a 3.74 GAA and a .889 sv%. Destroyed.
2. Adin Hill was another outstanding goalie, having posted a regular season record of 32-13-5, 2.47 GAA and .906 sv%. He ranked 5th for wins. In the first round of the playoffs he went 4-2, 2.83 GAA, .880 sv%. The Oilers turned that into 1-4, 3.83 GAA and .893 sv%.
3. We were told Dallas had a goalie advantage too, with Oettinger coming into the series with a 36-18-4 regular season, with a 2.59 GAA and a .909 sv%. He was 3rd for wins. He brought a playoff record of 8-5, 2.47 GAA and .919 sv% into the Conference Finals. Against the Oilers he posted a 1-3 record with a 3.93 GAA and .893 sv%. Destroyed.
4. Bobrovsky ranked 4th for regular season wins, with a 33-19-2 record, 2.44 GAA and .906 sv%. He enters the finals with a playoff record of 12-5, 2.11 GAA and .912 sv%. Solid numbers. But he hasn’t faced the Oiler attack yet.
As a kid I fell in love with playoff hockey and goalies watching Ken Dryden win the Cup for the Habs in the spring of 1971. He had help, for sure, but that is one of the few times I ever saw a goalie “steal” a series or a Cup.
In the next eight years I watched Dryden closely. I never felt the confidence of that 71 run. In the 72 Summit series, and often, he was less than stellar. But my affection for the position persisted.
I think there are stretches where an individual goalie makes the difference. But, and I think as Skinner/Oilers watchers we see this, the bigger reason for success lies in a complex relationship between team (all players on the ice), fans, coach, personal life, etc. Too many moving parts to be reduced to GAA, SV%, Quality Starts, winning percentage (my current favourite goalie stat). We make a fetish of the goalie position, because we do not (cannot?) really understand WTF is going on there.
I wrote a little about this here: https://medium.com/@rev.hanspetermeyer/what-if-we-didnt-make-a-fetish-of-the-goaltender-928a770b99fa
If it rhymes (or not), I’d love your comments.
Ps. Thanks for this post. It may find its way into an upcoming article.
I’m just tired of hearing that our opponent has the goaltending advantage only to find out that their goalie is in fact human when facing a team like Edmonton.
Even in the finals last year, Skinner outplayed Bobrovsky.
SB: 4-3, 2.67 GAA, .899 sv%
SS: 3-4, 2.33 GAA, .909 sv%
Bob actually got pulled in one game and his backup allowed 3 goals. Bob himself allowed 17 in the series, Skinner allowed 16.
I just skimmed the article, very well written. In your conclusion, does your comment about “greater flexibility” mean that spending a lot of money on a big name goalie is cap inefficient and doesn’t increase the odds of winning in the playoffs?
Thanks for skimming —and your question: I wrote about “flexibility” viz starting and “relieving” goalies, to treat them in a way similar to MLB pitchers. It’s not a perfect analogy. The positions are different. But if the “charge” is removed, then the impact on the team is somewhat mitigated. For example, if DeBoers would have been less clumsy in his handling of the remove-Ott-to-inspire-team situation, and had put Ott back in to start the second period, it becomes more tactical rather than a perceived judgment on Ott’s performance. If Pickard “relieves” Skinner in LA, rather than, as some fans perceive it, “replacing” Skinner as starting goalie, the drama gets dialled down. The inscrutability of goalies & how they play (much like pitchers & how they hot and cold) becomes less of an issue. The focus is on the team and winning.
I do not expect this flexibility of attitude to begin with fans (or pundits). I would hope that coaches would lead the way. I think we may see some of that kind of leadership and innovation viz deployment of goalies emerging w Knoblauch and co.
Edmonton’s even strength goaltending is a big strength. Carolina was a shitty opponent that inflated Florida’s stats. But man, the FLA PK is otherworldly.
FLA (5×5 save percentage by round)
(Bob has started all games AFAIK)
Round one: 90.7%
Round two: 89.3%
Round three: 94.6%
FLA PK save percentage: 89.4%
EDM
Round one: 89.1%
Round two: 92.9%
Round three: 95.24%
EDM PK save percentage: 76.5% 🚨🚨🚨
What’s with the fricken down vote?
New to the Internet?
Thanks LT
I think these conference Championships matter. It’s not the final destination but a significant accomplishment in the journey particularly in the context of a 32 team league.
if you look at the pennants since the Oilers entered the NHL they are the class of the crowd. Something this team should be proud of.
Now, let’s finish it!
🏒🥅👍
Maybe I’m a curmudgeon but I feel like celebrating a trip to the finals merely a participation trophy.
The only thing that counts is having your name etched on Lord Stanley’s chalice.
Anything else is a distraction from the ultimate prize in sports.
I believe your opinion is shared by 95 percent (as a guess) of hockey fans.
I think it’s rooted in the psyche of the game.
Yeah. I think the mental and physical grind of NHL playoffs is so much greater than the other major sport playoffs. MLB playoffs are so exciting, but NHL is two months of trench warfare every 2nd day. I think by the time the players get there, they don’t want to think about anything but winning the big one. That attitude carries over to most fans.
That said, as I approach 50 my passion for the team hasn’t changed, but I am increasingly able to appreciate the good times. We may never have a combo like McDrai again, and tomorrow is promised to no one. I’m very much enjoying the sustained success, the growth and maturation of those two, watching Baby Nuge find his old man strength, Bouchard’s ice cold patience, and all the other unique aspects of the playoff runs of the last four years. Win or lose I will consider these last two seasons successes.
I don’t agree. Celebrating successes is a good thing. If you never celebrate successes unless it’s the peak, it doesn’t give you time to reflect on how far you’ve come. It’s a great motivator to reach that ultimate prize imo. Look how far we’ve come, this next step is the biggest, lets keep moving forward.
Eyes on the prize.
Winning a pennant is a byproduct, not the goal. You can’t win the Cup without winning a pennant, but can fall short of the Cup with a pennant.
Feel like I am reading the words of Ricky Bobby here! If your not first, your last!
While humorous, it’s not how I encourage one to go through life.
If in life you only appreciate, celebrate, or enjoy the milestones, you could just be missing out on one helluva journey.
No, don’t get me wrong, I get it — but don’t take the foot off the gas until you arrive.
Unless you’re happy enough making it to the starting grid, instead of summiting Pike’s Peak.
I had a coach once say: be happy but never content. I think it was pretty much the same message as your giving. Be mindful, but don’t get caught standing still because your celebrating.
Like don’t sit their admiring the play you just made…
I am not ok in the moment losing. Agreed the point of pro sports is winning not participation
Once the pain of losing moves into the past, it is nice to look and see how successful our team has been, via pennants , especially compared to teams with a lot more time to build their resumes
Both can be true
I really like the way you framed this
thank you
Nice post LT. When a MLB team makes the post season, its champagne time, and then more champagne every rung up the ladder to the World Series
I just LOVE this post (every year). Thanks LT
I wonder if the Oilers fanbase in general will start to “relax a bit” during the regular season. When the team goes through slumps in October or March, when Bouchard is giving pucks away for goal in January, when Skinner is leaking goals and not making big stops in February, I wonder if the “McDavid is not-resigning” and Knob is not an NHL coach and Bouchard should be traded and Skinner is not an NHL starter will stop?
I found this regular season the most negatively emotional for the fanbase ever – EVERY loss, every blown lead, every 2-goal deficit was catastrophized. McDavid was past-prime. Bouchard is not worth more than $5MM. The team is too old. The team is slow. Jackson closed the window.
If the Oilers win the cup, then probably yes.
Saturday nights are for fighting.
Regular seasons are for complaining.
0% chance.
Social media gives a disproportionate voice to those at the extreme ends of any position, boosting outrage to encourage engagement.
No. The need to tell people they are wrong has grown since the beginning of this blog, and pushed out most debate, conversation and good behaviour. Everyone chose sides long ago, most comments are basically ‘here’s why you’re stupid’ and one doubts it will ever change. We can’t even agree on the best way to keep our children healthy, so discussing hockey has no chance of returning to civil.
There’s still lots of civil productive discourse here.
It’s like driving on the 401 close to the big smoke.
You never remember the thousands of ninjas being perfect.
It’s the three idiots who almost killed us all that are burned into memory.
Oh my God I laughed. I thank you.
I see it this way. There is a lot of good discussion and debate. Civil. There are a few that are over the top and reactionary and a few that come by time to time that are way out there
The fretting and debating over season games is the point of the blog isn’t it? If everyone went full zen and didn’t have opinions or care about anything – it’ll work out or it won’t – why bother dropping by? There would be nothing to say and no point
The players always talk about development each season. Because each season is unique and team has to build to be their best at playoffs. Connor mentioned this season it started in playoffs
There is plenty to critique as they go along. After several seasons they are attacking offensively as I commented many times how they should. Not because I know anything special, more that they weren’t always doing the time tested basic things you have to in certain game styles that many playoff games are like. And they had too much trouble scoring for a team so talented
This development has also correlated to a dominant run so far. So there isn’t much to critique right now, just to enjoy it, and compliment them as I have made a point of doing
Oil fans can agree HH is here only to troll Oiler fans on their blog and try to wind them up. No actual care or discussion about the team or the purpose of the blog…
Based on the posters who get downvoted 10+ times, HH is the clear leader. However, you’d be surprised at how many posters have their legit comments disappear due to pushback from those who don’t agree.
And inevitably this chain of replies to OP’s post will also disappear for many of the same reasons…..
That’s strange because HH is as devote an Oiler fan as anyone.
If you can’t see it that’s your problem.
HH is actually a man ahead of his time. Prescient, if you will.
On social media, trolling has gone through a process of amelioration. It’s now called “engagement farming.” Engagement farming increases clicks for those who monetize their accounts on x.
In that regard. HH has been doing his part to keep engagement in the comments up.
Although I think you are one of the most insightful posters here, I found this comment a bit heavy handed and petulant. Fans are fanatics and we all love this team, but everyone expresses it differently. Bouchard is criticized when he makes mistakes. He is appreciated when he plays like he is now. There isn’t anyone who suggested mcdavid is past his prime. You can do better than this.
I don’t remember if I read those specific words, but there was discourse in the Oilogosphere this year about McDavid’s regular season performance questioning if he is over the hump.
I remember a lot of people speculating he was injured.
The Oilers have set an impossibly high standard. If they win the cup this year it may only get tougher for the fanbase to understand a single blip in the Oilersphere.
You know what is exactly the cure for this. Winning a cup.
Should the Oilers win, 10 seconds after the final whistle, an Oilers fan will tweet, text or post “okay, that’s one. What about the other four?” because it aids their view/group/side. It’s an online Jets v Sharks (a West Side Story reference).
I honestly don’t think that’s what would happen. The goodwill a cup would generate with fans would last at least a year or two. And it would erase all the doom that we’ve had hanging over us forever. It would also go a long way towards silencing the criticism from other fanbases.
And probably the biggest thing is that we’d finally trust this organization again. There’d be no more talk of the Decade of Darkness, wasting McDavid’s prime, or “Because Oilers”.
We’d finally be Andy Dufresne!
Or maybe I’m way off.
The Greasers and the Soc’s.
Sad but true.
Another tweet would be complaining that they didn’t win it the “right way” (ie my way).
Agreed. I would wager that 5 minutes after the Oilers (hopefully!) win the Cup, there will be people writing the oilers should have won 3 Cups by now, Nurse’s contact is too much, and how they still miss Taylor Hall. They will then just wait for their next chance to gleefully write “because Oilers” or “fireable offence” again. Same as it always was.
They could sweep the finals and people online will still be bitching about how they win at least two of the games and crapping on the goalie for not stopping a backdoor tap-in.
Interesting I find it’s the outside media and market that loves to troll the Oilers. The better we get the more other Canadian Cities dislike and want to see us lose. If we spring a leak the market’s all over it like a dog on a bone. Nobody talks about the Flames it’s Oilers this Oilers that you know how maddening that is for a die-hard Flames fan.
I had a Canuck-loving friend (he’s told me repeatedly over the years that he “hates the Oilers”) say as much to me the other day. “It’s not that I hate the Oilers. I’m jealous that they’ve got McDavid and Draisaitl. And I’m angry they’ve squandered that wealth and haven’t built a Cup-winning team yet.”
You’re as guilty as anyone.
I remember people telling me that Wayne Gretzky was past his prime in 1983.
People are stupid, but try telling them that and see what happens….
We are the masters of our domain. If we want more positive, let’s make sure we comment positively. If we want less negative, do not engage with the negative. It is really our choice!
I like it. Three rounds of hard hockey signifies something. Something for a club and a fan base to celebrate and be proud of. Not just another hurdle to the SCF. But that too.