Thursday, December 18, 2008

9-2


The Oilers lost 9-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, and I'm still frustrated. Why? Because I'm jealous; I'm jealous that the Blackhawks are the team the Oilers should be, a team that recognized its mediocrity and rebuilt itself.

I'm always baffled that the Oilers haven't gone through any serious rebuilding process in the last 10 years. We've always fought with intensity for the final few playoff spots, so a true revamping of the team has never happened. The only real personnel collapse was the mass exodus of 2006 after the vital majority of the Stanley Cup finalist team left Edmonton.

Chicago, on the other hand, recognized its mediocrity and rebuilt their team based on outstanding draft picks. Toews and Kane are two of the best players in the NHL and they're only getting better, and more importantly, they're fun to watch. Chicago is an offensive monster, much like the Oilers of the 1980s.

What bothers me the most is that Edmonton should have a rebuilding plan similar to Chicago - accept that your current squad is poor, draft outstanding offensive talent, develop a team around that talent, and rebuild your team into an offensive dynamo in the legacy of your former glory.

Instead we have a bunch of grinders and high scoring defencemen, and another hope to make 8th place.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

My response exactly. In your rush to love the forwards, don't forget

Buy-foo-glien (or Bufflin as the announcers are saying it now): DRAFTED IN THE 8th ROUND!!!!
(http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/3705)

and

Seabrook: Drafted in the first round
(http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/3352)

Who are we drafting? I'm hoping that the recent drafts of Cogliano (more) and Gagne (less--see previous old-ass-man post) are an indication of upward motion, but we'll see.

Here's what we do, toss everyone out, move the whole AHL team up (or whatever, just keep the contracts to 3 years, pay under 1.5mil). We'll stink it up for 3 years, but we'll get Malkin, Crosby, and Staal.

For the fans: who has done better in the draft: Chicago or Pittsburgh?