Well well well. After a VERY long summer, draft talk that damn near split the city directly down the middle debating Taylor vs Tyler, a Souray story that just wont die already... ooo and a DUI convictoin.... lemme see, oh ya! its time for some LEGIT hockey. The debate was finished, Taylor it is, Souray is probably the highest paid AHL player of all time, and Khabi wont see a jail cell for at least a couple of months. Now that all the drama is out of the way, its time to start evaluating the team again on a game by game basis.
Can you feel it? The city is abuzz with excitement over this new crop of Oilers. Can you hear it? Whispers of great things to come. There is a noticable vibration going on, and if you want to feel it, just go and ask ANY fan in Edmonton right now what he/she thinks of the Oilers. IF your ear isnt talked off, you will come to realize a level of excitement not seen in these parts in years. Most fans are resigned to understanding there will most likely be no playoffs, or if there IS an appearance it will be a short one. But just ask and you will hear many many MANY reasons for a fan to look to the future and smile.
Oh it is so very nice to have hockey back.
Game #1 @ home against Calgary:
Moment of truth, lay the cards on the table, for all the marbles... whatever you wanted to call it, THIS ones for real. And i'll freely admit it, I was a little scared for the Oilers on opening night. I had visions of Hall, MPS, and Eberle getting exposed. I had visions of a weak defense being unable to clear the zone. Heck at one point in a conversation we were talking about the odds that Khabi's back would go out on game 1.
Well I have never been so happy to be proven wrong. In my opinion, the Oilers learned exactly what it is going to take for a young and inexperienced team to win. The first period was a bit of a stalemate. To me, Calgary forced them to slow down and play "smart" hockey in which case they hoped that they could expose the kids and youth on the Oilers. Yes the Oil came out ahead by a goal, but really it was a scary period to watch, I had the feeling for 20 mins that Calg was going to pounce at any moment and show the kids who's boss.(didnt happen) 2nd period comes around, and all of a sudden the Flames were being physical. Banging bodies, stiring shit and generally making life hard on the Oil. Again I thought to myself "here we go, another episode of The Shrinking Violets". NOPE wrong again... yes the team looked shaky playing a game like that, but the players that needed to, stepped up and answered the bell. Suddenly there was no worry that Hemmer, Gagner or ANY of the small skilled forwards were going to pay in blood anymore. 2nd period ended much like the first, but you could see just a hint of an identity creeping through. 3rd period comes around, and I think the lights turned on. Everyone realized that speed was the true advantage with this team. And with speed, its much more likely that you will draw a power play for your team. This team should in theory be a hell of a PP team, and I cannot think of another team that has as much downright speed 3 lines deep. If the Oilers play to their strengths like they did the other night, they will win some very exciting games this year. I have no illusions that there wont be growing pains, and I still doubt a playoff spot is in the cards... but it's finally time to be proud again. Proud to be here to see this, proud to be one of the few that stuck with the team even when it hurt just flipping the channel to the next game. PROUD TO BE AN OILER FAN!
It would have been a hell of a game at any time, and it made for a great home opener. I cant wait to see whats next.
until next time.
