Whether management quit on him first so he obliged or vice versa doesn't really matter. It was some mutual undoing where the end result is that Neal was checked out by the end of the season and management had the rock to clear the sheet of ice for the next round.
What Neal has done in Edmonton, good on him I guess. But there definitely were plenty of nights where some of us would watch Neal and wish that #18 had the Stajan name bar on it instead, less salary to staple to a bench and less locker room distraction as well. Neal is ready to go and ready to prove us wrong. That sucks major for us. However, that's not a bad thing in terms of making sure that the BOA is a spectacle and both teams sharpen swords on each other to prepare for greater things after the post season.
I'm a Flames fan, so yes, at times, there's that glee that the Oilers aren't doing as well as the Flames. But as time went on, that lack of ire in the BOA and that ability to push each other to be better was something I missed and I wanted back. Too many fans and players have gone to the point where they view a rivalry as pure enemy and hatred, but it doesn't always have to be. There can be mutual respect in a rivalry. One where you always want to beat the other guy, but also want to challenge them at the pinnacle. We can still quietly hope that the other will maintain and reach a high standard as part of the rivalry so that we can mutually pound the living daylights out of each other on the brightest stage, and not some back alley of a dive bar. Hemsky for all the punishment he endured at the hands of Regehr in the tunnel of doom never actually hated Regehr. Years later, he praised him for never being dirty, a difficult guy to play against and a guy who merely finishes his checks. Regehr to a certain extent must have felt somewhat the same in terms of respect. Though it all started from a high stick or something, Hemsky never backed down and would go deep to make a play, even if he knew there was a price to pay for that play.
Personally (and I know I'm probably going to be laughed at by those on both sides of the BOA), if the only way I can live with this deal is illogically hope that it pushes the BOA and the Oilers to the point where sweeter tears of victory and more bitter tears of sorrow can be lapped up in the post season, I guess I'll consider it to be the silver lining of the deal. Because, it's a deal that was won handily by the Oilers when first announced and even more now. This is our Hall for Larsson. Enjoy those tears and the salt trucks plenty, but I really hope that as a fan base, the Oilers do not settle on this minor swill as a victory drink. Think bigger, think better. Let Death Valley replace the aged California road trip as the place where its mention is received by groans by the rest of the league and lap up the tears from the rest of the league from Lord Stanley.
I believe the destinies of the two clubs are intertwined. One cannot compete for the cup while the other rebuilds. Unfortunately, it seems both clubs must rebuild and compete at the same time. The cup deserves to come back to Canada. As loathe as I am to contemplate that the Oilers will be the ones to win it first, I hope that the two teams in Alberta can be the ones pushing each other to the next level to consistently compete for it and carve their legacies multiple times into this trophy in the coming years.
Thanks for dealing with my wall of texts.