As a teenager, I had a number of incidents that diminished my parents’ trust in me. Missed curfew by a couple hours and stumbled through the door reeking of Tommy Girl? Gone. Skipped class only to have my parents catch me in an adjacent restaurant parking lot as they waited in the Great Canadian Bagel drive-thru? Kaput. Blamed a less-than-favorable report card on a mix of nearsightedness and lack of vitamin C? Adios.
After each of these incidents my parents told me it would take some time to regain their trust. They said I would need to shape up and fly straight for a few weeks/months/years until I demonstrated I was responsible enough to restore privileges that had been taken away, like driving the car, staying out past midnight, and eating nutritious food. I suppose I wasn’t much different than the Edmonton Oilers, who have spent several weeks/months/seasons trying, and failing, to gain the trust of their fans.
That’s the crux of Monday night’s 5-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. Prior to the game, the Oilers had produced three consecutive performances that warmed the failing hearts of a weary fanbase. However, trust is earned gradually and disappears suddenly. Monday night’s game obliterated all the goodwill that had been built up during the Oilers’ three-game winning streak over a collection of also-rans. Facing a legitimate opponent, Edmonton floundered and failed, turning in an effort that wouldn’t pass even pass a toothed whale’s smell test.
With three days rest, playing on home ice, it shouldn’t be unrealistic to expect the Oilers to hang with one of the best teams in the Western Conference. But after a loss as uninspiring as the one on Monday night, we’re all left wondering exactly what this team is, and what they’re ultimately capable of. Are these growing pains, the missed curfews and shoddy report cards of a young team that doesn’t have the maturity to compete at a higher level? Or were the Oilers simply overwhelmed by a team with superior talent, discipline and coaching? It’s hard to say.
I like to think that these losses are all part of the process, and each one provides lessons for the young Oilers core. However, when players and coaches blame the loss on a lack of effort you have to wonder if there’s something deeper at work, some inherent flaw in the team’s mental makeup. There’s no reason for the Oilers to be outshot by a team that had the game in hand midway through the first period, and there’s no excuse for the lack of pushback by a group that seemed resigned to its fate after the Blackhawks’ third goal.
Of course, there were some positives to pull from the loss. Ilya Bryzgalov played well in his Oilers debut, displaying some impressive acrobatics as he stopped 12 of 13 shots. Expect to see more of him as the season progresses, especially if Devan Dubnyk wanders from his crease and flops around as much as he did Monday night. After a shaky first period Jeff Petry stepped up his game, finishing with nine hits and breaking up a number of quality chances, and Justin Schultz put the Oilers on the board with a wicked one-timer for his third goal of the season.
But losing because of a shoddy effort, even to a team as good as Chicago, trumps all those positives and destroys trust. The Oilers hit the road for their next three games, facing Nashville, Columbus and Dallas – three teams on the outside of the playoff picture. That gives Edmonton three games to start slowly rebuilding our trust before returning home for tests against Phoenix and Colorado.
Moving forward, it might be beneficial to judge the team on its effort each night, rather than the end result. Because while the Oilers might not be capable of competing with a team like Chicago, they’re too good to chalk up losses to nearsightedness and lack of vitamin C.
ryan.garner@hockeybuzz.com