The year is 1997. The undermanned and under-budgeted Edmonton Oilers have barely squeaked into the first round of the NHL playoffs with hard work, grit, determination, heart, and pride. They would go on to defeat the heavily favored Dallas Stars with multiple future Hall of Famers in 7 games.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ1Ewaf-k0o
The next season it happened again vs the Colorado Avalanche who had just won a Stanley Cup in 1996. These Oiler teams were what many fans identified with and still identify with. We were underdogs. Afterthoughts. Had no business playing with the big boys. But they underestimated us. And we proved people wrong.
Fast forward to the decade of darkness and the present… It’s fair to say some things have changed. That hard-working group of rag tags turned into just rag tags. Mismanagement at all levels turned the Oilers into the joke of the NHL. Many fans embraced the suck hoping for the next first overall draft pick to help turn it around, but it was not to be.
When things go this bad for this long, it’s an even worse and longer process to fix it. And on April 18, 2015, the process sped up in a big way. We. Won… Connor! McDavid!
Unfortunately, McDavid doesn’t play defence or goaltender as well, but having the best player since Mario Lemieux fall into your laps is the greatest blessing a fan base could ever hope for.
The city and fans were absolutely ecstatic. For once there was serious hope it was going to turn around and with the greatest player (and person) to lead the way. At this point, we also added an experienced coach in Todd McLellan and an experienced Stanley Cup winning GM in Peter Chiarelli. Both were pretty quick to temper expectations, citing the massive amount of work to be done to rebuild after the awful mismanagement from previous years. This was described as a 5-year plan.
Nobody wanted to wait 5 years though. I didn’t. The “smart” fans (hate that term) saw the value in McDavid’s entry-level contract being the cheapest he’d ever be and felt that the next 3 years should be the time to make a run for the cup… After losing for 10 years. Go for The Cup!
This was pretty delusional as the team was far from complete. Something had to change. Everybody knew we needed an overhauled defence and goaltending to even get to the playoffs, let alone make a cup run. Even the said “smart” fans wanted a trade for a defenceman and to sign one or two more. Chiarelli did acquire Cam Talbot so we got the goalie. Then he signed Andrej Sekera. That was one defenceman. Still a little work to do…
After 2015-16 (another year missing the playoffs) it was crystal clear something big was going to change. There was no way to go on with a team so unbalanced with skilled forwards and no reliable defencemen. Many suggested trading Jordan Eberle as he was viewed as the more desirable player to give up between him, Hall, and Nuge. I was definitely in this camp but also wondered was that enough to get the lockdown defenceman we needed?
Then the Hall trade happened. I was livid just like everyone else. After a couple weeks, I calmed down. My thinking was if we make the playoffs, it’s worth it.
We made the playoffs. 2 rounds. (Would have been 3 had we not been screwed by the NHL, but that’s another story)
Now I’m very active on Twitter. I have a balanced feed of fans with all kinds of different opinions and stances. Many were grateful that we finally made the playoffs, many thought that wasn’t enough. I saw some prominent people with a large following say things like “The only way to justify the Hall trade is if the Oilers win the Cup”.. So we went from 10 years no playoffs to THE CUP OR FIRE CHIARELLI? .. What?
This isn’t the only thing I’ve seen, and I’m sure you have too. “The Oilers have wasted McDavids ELC”, “If we don’t win now, we’ll never win because of the McDavid and Draisaitl contracts”, and my favorite “McDavid should guarantee you at least 3 Cups”.
This is an absolutely ridiculous line of thinking. A certain portion of fans pretty much wanted the NHL to hand over the Stanley Cup once we won the lottery in 2015. It doesn’t work like that. Nothing is handed to you. Yes, we got extremely lucky but that’s not the finish line. That’s the starting gate.
Connor McDavid is only 21 years old. We are witnessing a young man creating magic night after night in the regular season. It’s incredible to watch. I’m thankful every night I get to watch him.
Let’s stop expecting the Stanley Cup every year and just enjoy the journey. When we get there it’ll be unexpected and therefore much more fulfilling. It will all be worth it one day.
The Dirtbag
