So what would you or do you expect? The Oilers driven media types to turn on those cutting the checks? The franchise reacts in accordance with their fans displeasure for the sole purpose of filling seats. Even in the 80s there was disharmony carefully spun by mgmt, media and an even greedier owner.
The spinning of the Gretzky trade, the first sighting of "crocodile tears" and Pocklington's view on it led to the first org instance of a players intent being undermined. Its hard to put a finger on it and why there could be continuance of some element in an org, and karma isn't a thing, but some sort of mindset exists within the org due to, and starting with the Gretzky trade. Which basically meant that any player, employee, person could be devalued, traded, fired by this org. Theres been a certain kind of anger and ambivalence imbued in the org ever since the Gretz trade.
I'll draw a weird parallel in describing how traits or actions can be passed on. Children will often want to be different from their parents, particularly in raising their own children but fallback will often occur where the new parents will very much resemble how they were parented. Despite wanting not to do that. To wit Coffey, Lowe, Mess, Anderson, Fuhr also had more than a candid dislike of many things that were going on in the org. They despised Pocklington. But I can't help but think a good part of Pocklingtons avarice, his tone, his attitude has infected this org. Theres signs of it that persist to present day. A lot of these lads that make up the OBC and hangers on were in a sense raised by Sather and Pocklington. These were formulative times for when those players were young. I think they absorbed and soaked up more than they thought they had.
The short form is its possible to hate someone, and still become them. Indeed its very pronounced in people generationally.
