For the first time in the High Definition era, the Oilers have made the playoffs. Game 82 is over and the Oilers are still playing hockey. I don’t know anything about Nolan Patrick or anyone in the top 5 of the Draft. I mean it. I know nothing. I can’t even tell you what team that kid plays for. I could find out in a second. I know how to work the internet. Don’t care enough to do. Lottery? What lottery?
I’ve never done this before. I’ve never covered a playoff team. I’ve been at this for several years, but the Oilers have always been awful. This season they’ve improved by 33 points in the standings. They have the best record against the West out of all the teams in the conference. They are the favorite to win a series and they have home ice advantage. Want to see something fun?
@Deganna @Jmansbox @cam_from_canada @RStuch316 @ShannonBaerwald @chrisrc22 @Aimee_doll @SteelersOilers @OilersNDFan @BeerLeagueHeroe @IMShaneJones Did you guys see this? This was made using regular season head to head records. pic.twitter.com/vGQQbbLJUW
— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) April 10, 2017
It’s hard, if not impossible, to put together a perfect team in the Salary Cap era. You find some extremely high end talent and you build whatever you can around that. You fill the spots down the middle of the ice and pray your goalie stays healthy. Edmonton’s high end talent shines the brightest in the NHL. Down the middle they have McDavid, Nugent-Hopkins, Desharnais, and Letestu with Draisaitl on the wing and capable of playing down the middle if necessary. On the blueline they have several young blueliners who hadn’t yet fully established themselves plus veterans Sekera, Gryba, and Russell. It was a gamble that paid off as Klefbom, Larsson, Benning, and Nurse have all played very well. Backstopping the bunch they’ve had Talbot play at Vezina-consideration level all year.
That’s the short version of how we got here. The key elements here though are McDavid and Talbot. When the Oilers won that lottery it was a transformative moment for the organization. It kick-started everything including management and coaching changes and has made an impact on every aspect of the club. Everything from the top down was reset that day. I’ve been preaching about Edmonton’s window to win being thrown wide open because of this young man, but I didn’t think he could push them to be this good this fast. It’s hard to comprehend how good he really is.
When they got Talbot I was relatively confident that he could be a solid goaltender. I didn’t know he’d be able to play 73 (!) games and keep Edmonton in almost all of those games. With a player like McDavid roaming the ice waiting to strike, if your goalie can keep his end of the bargain then you’re going to win a good number of games. Nobody won more games than Talbot. Holtby tied him in fewer games played, but nobody won more. Nobody appeared in more games than Talbot. The next closest was still 7 fewer games.
It has been a very long time since Oiler fans have seen their team perform this well. A lot of people will say now that it was worth all the pain if it meant getting McDavid in the end. At the time I would have traded anything for the torture to end. (Side Note: I’d be a terrible secret agent.) If other fanbases thought the Oilers were pathetic then imagine being a fan and knowing that the Oilers were pathetic. Imagine what it was like for Nugent-Hopkins and Eberle. To say it was difficult is a gross understatement.
It’s over now. Our long nightmare has ended. It’s over now.
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