Admittedly this is just a rant thread so feel free to lock or ignore it. I just wanted to get this off my chest.
I've been a fan since 2006. Man that was a year. I joined the Oilers fanbase late in that season just in time for the playoffs and what a ride that was! After that year, I mistakenly thought that every year was going to be a ride just the same. We all know what happened in 2007 and beyond... Year after year of constant disappointment. We struck gold with high draft picks but that never translated into success because the organization just assumed that high draft picks = contenders. There were a few years where we approached the playoffs but fell short, other years we just bottomed out and never really recovered. And then there were the years where they were toast by Halloween.
In 2015 we were blessed with a gift from the Heavens in the form of Connor McDavid. We thought, "this time for sure we're going to be good and we're going to turn it around and maybe, just maybe, the Oilers will take the business of hockey seriously and transform this team into the contender we've wanted it to be for so, so long".
And the early returns were promising. McDavid was everything we hoped for, and the team was playoff bound for the first time in a decade. Hell, we even won a series and were one game away from the Western Conference Final. Things had finally turned around, the Oilers were contenders... And well, the offseason from Hell pushed this team back years until Chiarelli was fired. Awful signings, trades, and questionable decisions put this team back in a hole for the next couple years. For a team that was supposed to be a contender this was a major setback.
In comes Holland and Tippett, another new GM with veteran experience and a coach with the same. And once again the early returns are promising. The team has a strong regular season that's interrupted. And when it returns... The Oilers are unceremoniously bounced by the Hawks, a team they should've beaten with all due respect to Chicago. But okay, shit happens. It was a short series. We'll get them next year, in a division with the other Canadian teams. I think most of us expected to be at worst the third best Canadian team. After a tepid start, the team roars to the second best record in the division and lines up a series with the Winnipeg Jets, a team that, again with all due respect, the Oilers should beat.
And well, here we are. Three in the hole with virtually no hope after losing two heartbreaking games. I will happily eat my words if this team pulls off a miracle rally but I just don't see it. If they aren't bounced tomorrow I'll be mildly impressed.
I recognize that being a hockey exec is difficult. There are so many factors to consider. Cap, movement clauses, players in the minors.. all that. But, at the same time, ever since Chiarelli was fired and Holland was brought on board, I've started to wonder how much effort this organization has really put into its hires. Holland has a winning pedigree and he is responsible for Detroit becoming the team they were... But he's also just as responsible for Detroit becoming the team they are. Just as Boston fans warned us about Chiarelli, Detroit fans warned us about Holland...
Now this isn't throwing this mess completely at his feet. The cap was f***ed royally due to the previous dipshit and the Oilers brass not recognizing the damage he was doing until it was too late. I'm willing to give him one more offseason and if this team falls flat again then he can hit the bricks. As for his choice in coach... Well, I've filled up another thread on that already.
I've voiced my displeasure on the hires of this org numerous times, and whether fair or not, I feel like they keep dipping into the Hockey Canada well because it's the easy route. It's just a different OBC in my eyes. Holland could have the offseason of a lifetime and make me look like a complete tool, and I sure hope he does, but even his limited body of work hasn't been all that impressive. His biggest hits were players we already had or were simple prayers. But there is still too much bloat on this roster. This offseason he needs to completely overhaul about half of the roster. I don't think ANY UFA should be re-signed at this point. Larsson, RNH, et al. They should be cut loose. Mike Smith would make an ideal backup but unless Koskinen vanishes that's not happening.
As for the front office, Holland gets one more year to at least push this franchise forward. That being said, anyone part of the org that was hired before him should be handed a pink slip. The pro scouts have simply done an awful job. The minor scouts have fared slightly better but I'm not sure how much better they've really been. Tippett of course can f*** off and be replaced with another dinosaur Hockey Canada hasbeen.
And as for me... Man, I just don't know if I care anymore. I was pissed after they lost game 2 because that felt like the series to me. After tonight's loss... I just shrugged my shoulders and accepted my fate. Because that's what the Oilers do. No matter how they lose, they just accept it and move on. There's no real anger or frustration. There's minimal accountability. Coaches are hired, fired, replaced with dead weight, and the cycle goes on. Same with management. They don't really care about winning. They always try to find the easy way out. How Bobby Nicholson and Kevin Lowe still have jobs with this org is something I'll never understand. Nobody takes winning seriously on the Oilers. Not the players, not the coaching, not the management.
I'll watch and see how the offseason plays out, but without major overhauls, this team is just going to be playoff fodder again. And that's exactly worst spot to be in as a sports fan: Not bad enough to earn a high draft pick (which we were for several years), but not good enough to make any noise. Just mediocrity. A living joke. Second to Buffalo in being a laughingstock.
Losing has eaten away at my soul for so long. Hours, days, months, years wasted following a team that would rather smell its own farts than get serious about winning. Season after season of bad signings, awful trades, players falling flat (and succeeding elsewhere), and endless disappointment in critical moments.
I don't know it's worth paying attention to this team anymore. The best f***ing player on the planet and they still f*** it up.
