And mercifully it will all come to an end tonight. The season that was promised to us never materialized and in its stead we were given one that has been wrought disappointment. This campaign has been a disaster from the first game of the year. Looking back on the season MacT identified the Rookie Head Coach with a new system, the goaltending situation, and 8 new faces into the lineup as factors that played into the horrific start that sank the Oil right out of the gate.
Hearing him speak more frequently as the season stumbles to a stop it's clear that MacTavish is doing his best not to throw Dubnyk under the bus, but his season effectively took Edmonton to the AHL with him. Though still not good enough, the club has been effectively .500 without him. Fortunately for the Oilers they have addressed the situation in net as best as they could, adding Scrivens and Fasth.
Unfortunately for the Oilers there are still questions about Eakins' effectiveness and the team should have a significant amount of turnover again next year. The coach has the support of management and changing him out for Pete DeBoer (whose Devils team is one of the best possession clubs in the NHL) is undesirable because the team exhausted its coaching change card about 3 coaches ago. Eakins will be a year smarter and hopefully figures out the PP in the summer.
The starting lineup tonight will feature a myriad of players who arent NHL calibre but are forced into NHL positions because of injury and a lack of depth. If we compare tonight's Oilers to the starting lineup on opening night in October I imagine we will see at least 7 different faces, more if the GM gives the core a shakeup. The task for the GM is to yet again rebuild the bottom 6.
This has been a season of frustration for a fanbase who patiently accepted years of losing. The paying and loyal customers of the Oil have been pushed to strange limits this year. From the outside looking in it must look like we are a group coming apart at the seams. Billboards and social media campaigns were aimed against the club, newspaper ads were taken out apologizing on behalf of "True" fans, and a strange new tradition of throwing jersey's in displays of dissent was born.
All that's left for Oiler fans is the promise of yet another high draft pick. If Edmonton loses tonight or Florida wins they are guaranteed to pick in the top 3. If they win and the Panthers lose then they can finish no lower than 4th. Perhaps after about 15 high picks in a row that doesnt appeal to you anymore but the fact is there are good players who address organizational needs who will be available.
However, despite all that disappointment and frustration the Oilers faithful should be able to unite one more time to send off one of their heroes and thank him for everything he gave to the team and the city. I think we can put away all of the pain that this season has inflicted and show Ryan Smyth how much he meant to the Oilers. And if the hockey gods are willing to show us any favour at all then perhaps we can see Smyth break the franchise record for PP goals in his final game.
Edmonton's Mayor, Don Iveson, has proclaimed April 12th Ryan Smyth Day in the city as a testament to the service Smytty has done for his community. This truly is going to be a legendary send off for an Oiler great like Smyth. With the lengths the Oil are going to to honour 94 I'm beginning to think they may waive the HHoF entrance requirement to retire his jersey. This is your last chance to see him play a National Hockey League game. Dont miss this opportunity, it wont come again.
LINEUPS
It's Nuge's birthday today and I have it on good authority that coach said he could have that puppy he always wanted but only if he promised to walk it every day. This day belongs to the other Ryan, however, so I'm hoping he gets to play in all kinds of offensive situations. 5 of the bottom 6 forwards are AHL players and I dont know how you overcome that. Gagner was injured in the last game and Roman Horak has been called up. Im not sure where he actually plays so I inserted him in Gagner's spot.
Hall RNH Eberle Smyth Horak Perron Hendricks Lander Pitlick Pinnizotto Acton Larsen
Klefbom Schultz Marincin Petry Belov Fraser
Scrivens
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Last Change Advantage. For the life of me I cant figure out why Eakins will put out his 4th against the Gaborik line or have Schultz out against top opponents when he doesnt have to. He has the last change. He can use it to his advantage any time now, and if not now then he better start next season.
2) Pride. There arent many other reasons left to give it a complete effort except Pride. It's the last game of the year, the fans deserve it but the motivation has to come from within for these guys.
3) Goodbye Smytty. One of the greatest Oilers of all time in terms of his contributions on and off the ice. No player has ever displayed the kind of passion for this team that Ryan Smyth has. I hope the fans at the game tonight turn that passion back towards him. Go get that last PP goal, Smytty.
It has been a pleasure to write the Game Day Blogs for HB this year despite the fact that the Oil have let us all down again. Here's to hoping that next year will be better.
Puck drops tonight at 8:10PM Mountain Time on CBC. Game On!
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