That's what it has come down to. Barring a run of epic proportions, the Oilers are now relegated to being the thorn in the side of teams who are already destined for the playoffs. That starts tonight against the Flames. The Oilers, the last 2 games, were downright brutal with occasional flashes of mediocrity...however, if there's one team that can bring out the best in the Oilers, it's Calgary. I'm not saying that's a recipe for victory by any stretch, but it most certainly is a recipe for a bit more emotion and intensity than we were treated to the last couple of games. The motivation? Well, beating Calgary is still beating Calgary. It's also a chance to kick their confidence on the road down another notch...from a Calgary perspective, if you can't walk in here and beat a non-playoff team that you've beat all year...well then, my road confidence wouldn't be very high.
At Ryan Smyth's press conference before leaving, he said something that I think all 23 Oilers should listen very closely to. He said "it's a privilege and an honor to play in the National Hockey League". People have asked me what I want to see out of these guys in the last 17 games. Well, I want to see 20 guys showing me night in and night out that they understand that it's a privilege and an honor to play in the National Hockey League. Just an honest night's work, from all 20 guys, regardless of the result. 17 games of that and I'm a happy man.
This is about as much adversity as you could asked to be faced with. The team's best player this season just got traded. You've got basically no shot at the playoffs. You haven't scored a goal in 133 minutes. The fans have resorted to booing you on home ice. What the coaching staff is looking for now are the players who don't dwell on the adversity, but conquer it. If we could get 20 guys out there with the competitiveness and work ethic of Shawn Horcoff every night, they'd win a slew of games down the stretch. As much as you want to win now, it's also as much about next year as it is about the last 17 games of this season. Evaluation starts right now boys, not in training camp. And, something tells me, the evaluators (coaches and fans) aren't going to be putting up with too much monkey-business.
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