The Oilers are Awesome

I apologize for the title, it’s a little misleading.  The Oilers are awesome.  In the sense of how the word means to inspire awe.  So the title could be read as “I’m in awe of how bad the Oilers are”.  Five games into the year the Oilers are 0-4-1 and are losing games by an average score of 5-2.  Their negative fourteen goal differential is the worst in the league (next up is Buffalo and Colorado at negative ten, yeah Colorado).

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To get a true comparable for where one should expect the Oilers to be one only need look south to the Calgary Flames.  The teams lost consecutive Stanley Cup Finals (2004 for Calgary, then we had a lockout, 2006 for Edmonton) and then had complete implosions followed by rebuilds.  Since 2007 the Edmonton Oilers first pick in the draft has averaged out to be around the 6th or 7th pick in the draft.  The Flames, granted this number is skewed by some trading and not picking til 64th in 2010, is the 22nd or 23rd pick.  Now you may argue that it makes sense that the Flames are doing better than the Oilers considering they had higher draft picks because they had a better team but the Flames only won six more games than the Oilers last year.

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Now some are asking why I make it seem like the Flames are much better than the Oilers.  I will admit that they are not but the Flames are doing two things that help a team start the transition from lottery pick doormat to a team that is showing improvement.  The first is that they have solidified their goaltending situation.

 Jonas Hiller

and

Karri Ramo

are truly looking like number 1 and 1a goalies though the first five games of the season.  They are staying in games they have no business being in, like a game in Chicago in which Calgary was outshot 50-18.  Now the goalies play will not always be this strong but that is where Calgary’s other strength comes in.  They play the entire sixty minutes.  Last night they were in Columbus and were down 3-0.  The Flames fought back to make it 3-2  and played a chaotic final 90 seconds in which the Blue Jackets needed the assistance of the pipe to hold off the charge.

Calgary has made a change.  They have NHL caliber goaltending and a locker room that believes that they can win every night.  When I watch the Oilers, I know the same can’t be said of them.  This isn’t an issue of firing everyone in the Oilers front office as most of those folks have only been in place for two years, but the franchise wide frustration is understandable.

Until changes happen, the Oilers will continue to be awesome.