I'm on Twitter, so sign me up! @rdcloutier
One of my followers on Twitter is named Samantha Costa. She wrote the following comment after the Oilers loss to the Anaheim Ducks:
"Being pissed off about your team playing bad isn't "jumping the bandwagon." Just because we like a team doesn't mean we need to be blind."
I liked this comment. I think most Oilers fans would agree with it. Obviously the season is done with respect to a playoff chance. As I said a few blogs ago (the blog that several people took the time to email me to say it was the worst blog since the invention of the wheel), if the Oilers are going to miss the playoffs, they might as well lose as many games possible so they can draft higher. There's a big difference in prospect quality between #5 and #10 or #14.
But let's not stray from the subject here. The question is, do Oilers fans have a right to be angry? I use to be a master debater when I was in high school, so let me present a case for both sides of this.
Oilers Fans Have a Right to be Angry, and Here's Why:
- Oilers management didn't do anything to help the team at the trade deadline. Yes, they acquired a depth forward, but that's not what the team is lacking and we all know it. The Oilers need to add a left-handed puck-moving defenseman of significance.
- Oilers management also didn't address the team's lack of size up front. Every time you see the Oil play against a bigger opponent (Ducks and Kings most recently) they lose.
- Most Oilers fans shell out thousands a year to watch this team, so it gets disheartening when what you get in return for your investment is season-after-season of meaningless hockey games and no playoffs. Hey, as a blogger, I have a bone to pick with the team. You folks get season-after-season of bad hockey to watch, but I get season-after-season of negative and depressing blogs to write. Some people have noted that I am mentally unstable because I jump on and off the bandwagon daily. Truth is, I want so much to love this team and to be happy with the results that I overact when they do something good, and write ridiculously positive blogs about the team I wish this was. Perhaps I'm a little mood-swingy, because I do tend to lose my mind after seeing the Oilers suck ass the very next game after they do something brilliant.
- One final reason to be angry: The Oilers have all the talent in the world now. So why aren't they winning? Is it just me, or does it seem like this "rebuild" has been going on forever? You have teams like the Calgary Flames that completely deny the concept of a rebuild, suggesting their fans deserve better than that. Calgary is stupid I realize, but are the Oilers run any better? There's too much patience in Edmonton. You'd think by now some people higher up than the Head Coach would start losing their jobs over this. Here's a concept for you: Steve Tambellini out as GM at the end of this season, replaced by Scott Howson. Hey, the Jackets team he put together this season before he got canned is playing as well as the Oilers with a whole lot less talent. Maybe Tambellini is the problem and Howson is the cure?
Oilers Fans Don't Have a Right to be Angry, and Here's Why:
- Obviously the team has improved from last season, and getting better takes time. The kids all have more depth to their games now. Hall in particular has shown incredible growth as an all-hockey player. The core of the Oilers are a bunch of kids, and if you look at other teams that had to go full-rebuild (Penguins and Hawk in particular) success didn't come immediately. This season will be better next season that this season. We all know that.
- The Oilers have had key injuries the entire season. Hall, Nugent-Hopkins and Eberle have all been playing hurt. You can go up and down the roster...half the team has been playing injured, and it's hard to expect them to win games when they are more MASH unit than hockey team.
- Oilers management doesn't have the trade bait needed to make a big deal. Obviously, Hall, Eberle, Nuge, Yakupov, Schultz and a few others are untouchables. If you look at the Oilers farm team roster, you quickly realize the GM doesn't have too many Grade A prospects to deal away for the purpose of acquiring a "now" impact player. I suppose there's Klefbom, but it makes no sense to deal him, as he's a solution to a roster issue (need for a left-pairing big moose of a defenseman who is also mobile and skilled). The only thing the Oilers had that could be dealt for an immediate player is their 1st round pick, and as we're seeing, it likely will be a lottery pick. Tambellini and Co. do the right thing when they protect a pick that high.
- Here's another reason the fans have no right to complain: The Oilers sell regular season tickets. Meaning, the team doesn't owe us anything. Hey, playoff tickets are not the same thing as regular season tickets. You can't be angry over the loss of something that doesn't exist yet.
- And do we really know for sure that Tambellini and Co. didn't try to make 100 great deals happen at the deadline? Oilers management doesn't talk to media, or at least, they don't say anything relevant and specific when they do. Tambellini isn't going to explain players he made offers on, and what he offered up in return. It seems like, to the outside world, that Oilers management sits around all day with their feet on the desk while listening to Jimmy Buffett and smoking illegally imported Cuba cigars. Maybe this isn't the case. Maybe Oilers management pull their hair out on a daily basis trying to improve things, but other teams won't offer anything unless one of the superkids is dealt.
My Jerry Springer-Like Final Thoughts
As an Oilers fan, I'm angry and frustrated. I'm not going to call for Steve Tambellini's head...Well, not specifically. Do we really know who really runs the show in Edmonton? The answer is no.
It's all about next season, again. That's what has me annoyed. It's not that I dislike the team or can't see the progress it is making. Management in Edmonton seems to be too nervous to do something decisive. At the draft every season I find myself thinking, "this will be the season management does something big." Outside of drafting 1st overall, nothing significant happens. It's a message that unfortunately gets in the heads of the young superstars. Losing is contagious, the management's lack of faith in their own team is obvious.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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