I’ve been fired. I’ve been dumped. I paid $9.50 to see The Simpsons Movie. Each of us experiences disappointment during our lives, and everyone deals with it differently. Some might look to friends or family to help ease the pain, sharing their trials with people who can relate. Others might turn to a big old carton of Haagen-Dazs, gorging themselves on the guilt-ridden goodness of ice cream. For me, the best coping mechanism has always been Jon Secada.
I first discovered Secada when I was 12 years old. We had nothing in common—he being a Cuban-born Grammy-winning latin pop singer, me being a Canadian-born adolescent who had once won a poetry competition—but his music spoke to me. It was smooth and soulful, and it gave voice to feelings I had yet to experience in my young life. I don’t listen to Secada often, but whenever life gets stormy I turn to his self-titled debut album and the pain melts away.
Stormy doesn’t even begin to describe the Edmonton Oilers’ current plight. Right now the Oilers are facing a magnitude 9.2 earthquake, rumbling underneath an F4 tornado, in the midst of a category 5 hurricane. It’s a full-blown disaster, and the Heartland of Hockey is a state of emergency. The Oilers have allowed 22 goals in four games, losing all four, and the 2014-15 season is already in shambles. At this rate, how many jerseys hit the ice Friday against Vancouver?
There are too many problem areas to address them all, and I don’t want to relive what just happened, so let’s simply focus on goaltending. Wednesday night’s 7-4 loss to the Arizona Coyotes was the second game of the season that can be thrown at Ben Scrivens’ feet. It also happened to be his second start of the season, and with Viktor Fasth out of the lineup due to a groin injury there’s nobody else to turn to for relief. Richard Bachman isn’t going to be an upgrade.
Of course, Scrivens isn’t the only one to blame. The Oilers’ defensive coverage is a circus, falling apart whenever the opposition decides to stop taking shifts off, but the goaltender has to make saves to bail the team out. We saw it last season when the wheels came off Devan Dubnyk. If the goaltender can’t be trusted as the last line of defence it puts everyone on edge, destroying any system the coach has attempted to put into place. You can’t fix horrible goaltending.
What happens next? Looking at Craig MacTavish’s previous netminding solutions (Bryzgalov, Fasth, Scrivens), I have zero confidence in his ability to fix things by bringing in an actual NHL starting goaltender. Instead of securing the position long-term he went the el-cheapo route, dealing third-round draft picks for career backups who were deemed expendable by division rivals. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. Or, in this case, refuse to pay for.
It’s obvious that Obliterated For McDavid is in full swing, and the Oilers are still searching for their first victory of the season. If you’re frustrated, just do what I do and crank up Secada. Pick any song from Secada’s self-titled debut and just let the anxiety subside, floating in a sea of tranquility. Hits like “Just Another Day… and “Do You Believe In Us… are sure to lighten your mood and brighten your day, but if those don’t do the trick turn to the last resort: “I’m Free.…
Do you see what I see A rainbow shining over us In the middle of a hopeless storm Sometimes I'm blinded by my feelings And I can't see beyond my troubled mind Afraid of what I'll find The story of our lives But there's tomorrow.
[Chorus] Cause I'm free, I'm free And things are only as important As I want them to be We'll have a breath of sunshine When the rain goes away I pray, I pray.
Do you need a friend right now In the road that you're going to If you get lost just call me I'll be there Yes I'll be right there Cause though I may not have the answer At least I know what I'm looking for.
Yes I can do without sorrow There's a day after tomorrow So I'm leaving behind.
[Chorus] I'm free, I'm free And things are only as important As I want them to be We'll have a breath of sunshine When the rain goes away I pray, I pray.
And if you want to share my dreams Well all you have to do is say it, say it Let me hear you loud and clear Cause I need you if you wanna be, if you wanna be.
Do you see what I see A rainbow shining over us In the middle of a hopeless storm We'll be safe and warm.
[Repeat chorus]
ryan.garner@hockeybuzz.com
Passing along trick to surviving life's (and #Oilers) storms. Frustrated by the Oilers? Look to Secada and Live http://t.co/3VIFVMbDcs
— Ryan Garner (@RyGarner) October 16, 2014